News Archive for 02/02/13

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eWeek: Apple's desktop publishing; Seybold

02/13, 11:40pm

eWeek: Apple's desktop publishing; Seybold

eWeek writer Matthew Rothenberg reports on Apple's desktop publishing scene, the absence from Seybold in New York (historically, Apple is involved), and new Mac OS X software from companies such as Adobe and Quark.

Genforge 1.0.2 maintenance update

02/13, 11:30pm

Genforge 1.0.2 maintenance update

Spiderweb Software has released Geneforge v1.0.2, a maintenance update to its fantasy role-playing game. Also announced by Spiderweb Software is the possibility of Geneforge 2, which -- if ever released-- would be ready in 2003.[Demo,Update]

Adium 1.5b8 brings URL support, other fixes

02/13, 6:15pm

Adium 1.5b8 brings URL support, other fixes

A new version of Adium 1.5b8, the popular AOL instant messager client clone, is available, bringing support for automatic URL recognition/creation, line breaks, and other bug fixes. [version updated at 5:00 pm ET]

Busycalc 1.01 offers enhanced calculator

02/13, 4:15pm

Busycalc 1.01 offers enhanced calculator

Neterate Software has released Busycalc 1.01 for both Classic and OS X. the $8 shareware includes scientific, trigonometrical and memory functions. [Classic, Carbon]

Seagull Video Player 2 has multiple playlists

02/13, 4:10pm

Seagull Video Player 2 has multiple playlists

Trinfinity Software's Seagull Video Player 2 offers the ability to easily create video playlists and display full-screen movies. Version 2 supports multiple playlists, displays more info about each video, has sorting options for playlists, and offers editing features for video information. [Classic, Carbon]

Analog 5.2 supports MacHTTP log files

02/13, 3:45pm

Analog 5.2 supports MacHTTP log files

Summary.net has posted Analog 5.2, an update to the freeware utility for log analysis. It adds the ability to plot the lower levels of hierarchical reports on the pie charts and now automaticaly recognizes MacHTTP logs.

Nokia Contact Sender 1.3 manages contacts

02/13, 3:10pm

Nokia Contact Sender 1.3 manages contacts

Nokia Contact Sender 1.3 is a freeware application that transfers names, phone numbers, and email addresses from your Mac to a vCard-enabled mobile phone (including the Nokia 8260, 3360, 5165 and possibly others) over the Internet. It includes improved reliability and list imports, the ability to save user lists between sessions, improved sending via external mailers, improved imports from Now Contact and Palm Desktop, and "dramatic" user interface enhancements.

Watson 1.1.1: aqua facade for Web services

02/13, 2:50pm

Watson 1.1.1: aqua facade for Web services

Karelia Software today released Watson 1.1.1, an update to its application that provides an "Aqua" facade to a number of useful Web services such as Phone listings, Movie and TV schedules, package tracking, and eBay auctions. The upgrade fixes crashes and other issues associated with the application and many of the tools.

GNU-Darwin has more than 2100 packages online

02/13, 1:55pm

GNU-Darwin has more than 2100 packages online

In preparation for the beta 2 release, The GNU-Darwin Distribution, which "aims to be the most free Darwin-based Unix distribution," has put over 2100 unique packages online (and over 2400 total) by bootstrapping the FreeBSD port tree. [updated]

Gideon 1.0a4: FTP/SFTP client

02/13, 1:40pm

Gideon 1.0a4: FTP/SFTP client

Gideon Softworks has released Gideon 1.0a4, its FTP/SFTP client that includes features such as Secure FTP, queueing, scheduling, and file/transfer filtering.

QT 6, QTB on hold due to MPEG-4 licensing

02/13, 1:30pm

QT 6, QTB on hold due to MPEG-4 licensing

Apple has put QuickTime 6 on hold due because of per-minute usage charges that are currently in the proposed MPEG-4 licensing terms, according to c|net: "We have delayed QuickTime 6 and QuickTime Broadcast for licensing reasons...The MPEG-4 license...hasn't met up to all of our expectations yet. It's amazing technology but it needs a...license...to go with it." Apple said it had no problem with the proposed $0.25 for each MPEG-4 product (decoders/encoders), which is capped at $1 million year (for a total of $2M for Apple), but that Apple believed the licensing terms were unfair to its customers who would also have to pay a per-minute rate (with no cap) for streaming MPEG-4 content.

EFI ships eBeam System 3, digital whiteboard

02/13, 1:10pm

EFI ships eBeam System 3, digital whiteboard

EFI is shipping its eBeam System 3 digital whiteboard appliance, which captures meeting notes and diagrams as they are created on whiteboards and broadcasts them over the Internet or corporate intranet in real-time. The hand-sized unit can be attached to the corner of any whiteboard or flipchart. It is available in both serial and native USB versions and ships with both Macintosh and PC system software, which supports synchronization with Palm OS devices and works with a digital projector to turn the display area into a virtual touchscreen. The USB version is $750.

MacVCD 3.2 adds new features to VCD app

02/13, 10:50am

MacVCD 3.2 adds new features to VCD app

Mireth Technology has released MacVCD 3.2, an update to its full-screen Video CD Player that adds handsfree speech activated control, support for playback on a second display (like a TV), and advanced movie controls including slow motion. a demo of the $15 shareware is available online. [Classic, Carbon]

Epson confirms no support for 5700i

02/13, 10:45am

Epson confirms no support for 5700i

Bohdan Zachary received a message from Epson confirming that the company will not support the 5700i laser printer under OS X: "We won't be able to backdate to the older printers. It's quite expensive and we don't think there are many manufacturers who are going to address older units. if somehow the resources are available to work with the other operating system we'll put that information on our web site."

New beta of X-Plane flight sim supports OS X

02/13, 10:40am

New beta of X-Plane flight sim supports OS X

Several readers note the release of X-Plane 6.10b5, an OS X-compatible version of the visually-stunning 3D flight simulator ("this is unquestionably the biggest X-Plane update ever"). It is a free download for all X-Plane 6.x customers.

MacASP 0.91: dynamic websites for Mac servers

02/13, 10:35am

MacASP 0.91: dynamic websites for Mac servers

MacASP 0.91 is a cgi that provides server side processing to Macintosh Web servers, including WebStar 3, 4 and V, WebTen, macHTTP, Apache and Personal Web Sharing. It offers automatic session handling, BASIC-like syntax, database connectivity, and OSA support (AppleScript). [Classic, Carbon]

Tech: MS lawsuit, Comcast tracking, SNMP flaw

02/13, 10:30am

Tech: MS lawsuit, Comcast tracking, SNMP flaw

Morning tech news: Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer "loudly dismissed the demands of nine states opposing the settlement agreement in the software giant's antitrust case, calling the holdout states' proposals 'absolutely unbelievable.'"; Comcast has begun tracking Web-browsing activities of its subscribers without notifying them; and CERT has warned of an SNMP protocol flaw that could pose widespread security risks for many Internet network devices.

Candy Cruncher 1.15 adds OS X support

02/13, 10:25am

Candy Cruncher 1.15 adds OS X support

Pyrogon's Candy Cruncher 1.15 adds OS X compatibility to the puzzle game by former Id programmer, Brian Hook. Other improvements include a bonus for starting at later levels, reduced CPU utilization when paused, faster load times, and compatibility/performance optimizations. A demo is available.

Grammarian 2.1.5: grammar checker updated

02/13, 10:15am

Grammarian 2.1.5: grammar checker updated

Grammarian 2.1.5, Casady & Greene's grammar checker, now offers content-scrolling in the Check Grammar window, live text-scrolling for all scrolling text fields, support for PageMaker 7/Netscape 6.2/Idea Keeper, and fixes for the compatibility issue with the Multiple User Control Panel and RTF clipboard formatting issues with Microsoft Word 2000 or later. [site not responding as of 10:20 am ET]

CatDV 2.5 offers live capture functions

02/13, 10:10am

CatDV 2.5 offers live capture functions

Square Box Systems has announced CatDV 2.5, a major new version of its media cataloging and video logging utility. Version 2.5 offers interface improvements and live capture functions (building previews from tape without capture) as well as bulk edit; online help; support for Exif, ID3 and QuickTime metadata tags; compressed archives; AVIs and other QT-supported file exports; and the ability to search for clips across multiple catalogs. A $20 discount is being offered on the $80 application until February 16th. Upgrades are $30.

MySQLConnect for 4D 1.0.4 supports OS X

02/13, 10:05am

MySQLConnect for 4D 1.0.4 supports OS X

MySQLConnect for 4D 1.0.4 adds OS X support to the 4th Dimension plugin which provides connection routines between 4th Dimension-4D Server-4D Runtime-4D Runtime Classic-4D Engine applications and MySQL Database Servers.

FWB ships Catalog ToolKit

02/13, 9:50am

FWB ships Catalog ToolKit

FWB Software is shipping Catalog ToolKit, a licensed version of Tri-Catalog's application for organizing and archiving digital media assets. it creates previews and customizable thumbnail views and the ability to export to HTML and PDF formats. The $90 utility is available for both Classic and OS X.

DMOD Workspace offers secure sharing for OS X

02/13, 9:50am

DMOD Workspace offers secure sharing for OS X

DMOD yesterday announced OS X-support for DMOD WorkSpace, its secure digital media collaboration and distribution application that offers real-time encryption technology. It offers the ability to securely share, review, and approve media files over the Internet on a wide range of projects, including music CDs, films, film trailers, film scores, television programming, special effects, and DVD creation. The DMOD WorkSpace Desktop peer-to-peer software is currently available, and the DMOD WorkSpace Gateway, a client/server solution, is targeted for release in Spring 2002.

EZQuest ships high-performance USB 2.0 drive

02/13, 9:40am

EZQuest ships high-performance USB 2.0 drive

EZQuest has introduced and is shipping its new USB 2.0 Cobra 120GB, 7200 RPM hard drive. The $360 drive ships with Intech Hard-Disk Speed Tools software for Mac USB 1.0 users (USB 2.0 support is not yet available.) Last month, it introduced a FireWire version of the same drive, Cobra+ FireWire.

Macs used to build Waking Life' animation

02/13, 9:30am

Macs used to build Waking Life' animation

Roger Ebert's latest column notes that the Mac-made "Waking-Life" was passed over in the Best Animated Feature category, which he says "was not only a better film but introduced a revolutionary new low-cost technique for bringing animation into the world of independent film. Perhaps old-line Hollywood pros resent that upstarts from Austin, Texas, could use desktop Macintoshes to compete with multimillion-dollar CGI workstations."

OS X: National Instruments, Adium 1.5b7

02/13, 9:25am

OS X: National Instruments, Adium 1.5b7

osx.macnn.com has news of a new version of Adium 1.5b7 IM client, a free screen ruler, a new multiservice messaging client, National Instruments support for OS X, Bookit 2.2, and Opera 5.0b4 (yesterday).

Proteus 1.4.1: multiservice messaging client

02/13, 9:20am

Proteus 1.4.1: multiservice messaging client

Proteus 1.4.1 is a maintenance release to the multiple service OS X messaging client that has support for AIM, ICQ, Jabber, MSN, and Yahoo. It is now available in Japanese and Norwegian and brings better AIM and ICQ support.

NI pledges partial support for OS X

02/13, 9:10am

NI pledges partial support for OS X

Jeff Kodosky of National Instruments says that an OS X version of NI LabVIEW is targeted for release by the end of 2002, however it will only offer a limited number of I/O VIs, while it develops its higher-end LabVIEW Real-Time for OS X for use with its networked PXI modular instruments. MacNN reader Chris Rau provided some commentary on the release:

"As a LabVIEW programmer, I read this release with considerable disappointment. NI is basically turning its back on it's affordable PCI- and FireWire-based data acquisition solutions in lieu of very expensive PXI hardware systems (which are at their heart Intel PCs) to which the Mac just becomes a user interface "terminal." I'd like to see the Mac LabVIEW community rally Apple and lean on NI to provide E-series Ni-DAQ drivers for OS X (just as they do for Linux!), which would allow all my legacy data acquisition hardware and programs to move seamlessly to Mac OS X."

MS posts Office 2001 Data Access Update

02/13, 9:05am

MS posts Office 2001 Data Access Update

Microsoft's Office 2001 Data Access Update installs ODBC drivers and a control panel, enabling Office 2001 to connect to and retrieve data from Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle, dBASE, Microsoft Visual FoxPro, and America Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) text files.

Free ruler util for OS X: Free Ruler 1.0

02/13, 9:05am

Free ruler util for OS X: Free Ruler 1.0

Pascal has released a free ruler for OS X, Free Ruler 1.0, a utility that can place multiple rulers on the screen to help in the design process. Rulles can be used horizontally and vertically, nudged in any direction using the arrow keys, resized independently, and grouped together.

SymmetryWorks for Illustrator 10, OS X

02/13, 9:00am

SymmetryWorks for Illustrator 10, OS X

Artlandia has announced SymmetryWorks for Adobe Illustrator 10, an OS X-compatible version of its plug-in for creating interactive patterns and surface designs. The plugin performs "thousands of behind-the-scenes translations, rotations, reflections, alignments, and other precise operations that otherwise make the process of composing a pattern a tedious and painstaking task." It is a free upgrade to the $125 application.

Web Dumper 1.2: offline browsing tool

02/13, 8:50am

Web Dumper 1.2: offline browsing tool

Web Dumper v1.2, Maxprog's $15 shareware offline Website browsing tool, now offers a bandwidth selector, an option to process "deeper" URLs only, and other enhancements. [Classic, Carbon]

Bookit 2.2 improves OmniWeb, iCab support

02/13, 8:45am

Bookit 2.2 improves OmniWeb, iCab support

Everyday Software has released Bookit 2.2, an update to its bookmark management utility that adds OmniWeb 4.1 support, iCab 2.7 support, divider support in OmniWeb, and the ability to import bookmarks from URL Manager Pro.

Alpha8 text editor now in beta

02/13, 8:45am

Alpha8 text editor now in beta

The Alpha-Cabal jas released the first public beta release of Alpha8, the next generation of the venerable Alpha text editor (formerly developed by original author P.Keleher). Alpha8 contains many changes & fixes to the core Alpha application, including implementation of Tcl 8.3.4, which results in large speedups for many complex operations. (AlphaX, a MacOS X native version of Alpha8, is currently in private alpha testing.)