News Archive for 02/04/03

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osXigen 1.2.1 builds on previous versions

04/03, 10:40pm

osXigen 1.2.1 builds on previous versions

osXigen 1.2.1 adds new French documentation, includes a German localization, supports FTP Proxy authentication and offers a handful of bug fixes. osXigen is $20 until the end of April, at which point it will cost $25.

PC Mall aquires PBS, ClubMac

04/03, 9:40pm

PC Mall aquires PBS, ClubMac

PC Mall, which owns the MacMall brand, today announced that it has acquired Pacific Business Systems, which does business under the ClubMac and PBS brands. PBS reported net sales of $84 million for 2001 and has enjoyed eighteen consecutive years of profitability. Under the terms, PC Mall will acquire PBS' customer database, accounts receivable, inventory, certain fixed assets and certain intellectual property in exchange for 300,000 shares of its common stock and a capped three year earn-out with consideration for the future results of the acquired business. PC Mall also said it would extend offers of employment to PBS sales and support employees.

Tech News: MS COO out, part of reorganization

04/03, 9:05pm

Tech News: MS COO out, part of reorganization

Evening Tech News: Microsoft Chief Operating Officer Rick Belluzzo has announced his resignation from the position, effective May 1st, 2002. Microsoft has not named a replacement, but indicates that the move is part of a company-wide reorganization.

c|net: 10Gb iPod "makes a good thing better

04/03, 7:40pm

c|net: 10Gb iPod "makes a good thing better

c|net has posted a review praising Apple's new 10GB iPod, which has "made a good thing even better." Pointing out the "near-perfect design" and ease-of-use, the review also covers the additions to the new generation of iPods as well as what could be improved -- namely Windows support.

Adobe to ship "Power Pack" for After Effect

04/03, 6:10pm

Adobe to ship "Power Pack" for After Effect

Adobe Systems today announced the Adobe After Effects Plug-In Power Pack for After Effects v5.5, an industry standard for in motion graphics and digital video editing. The After Effects 5.5 Plug-In Power Pack incorporates sixteen new effects that offer enhanced creative control and improved productivity. New plug-ins include the Calculations, 3D Glasses, Magnify and Turbulent Displacement effects. The Mac OS X-native software package lets users customize settings, embed metadata, create multi-stream movies and optimize audio and video independently. The software is expected to ship in May, 2002 for $25.

NVIDIA Driver Update 3.0 updates OS 9 cards

04/03, 5:25pm

NVIDIA Driver Update 3.0 updates OS 9 cards

Apple has released NVIDIA Driver Update 3.0 for Mac OS 9, an update for its NVIDIA graphics cards. Additions of the update are not known at this time. The update is available from directly from Apple's download page or through Software Update.

PrefsOverload 4.1.2 fixes bugs, interface

04/03, 4:00pm

PrefsOverload 4.1.2 fixes bugs, interface

PrefsOverload v4.1.2 is a tool for managing the Prefernces Folder on Mac OS 9/X. It helps resolve problems by displaying a list of damaged or unnecessary Preference Files, allowing users to delete them or put them into the Trash. Changed in the latest version are fixes for a few minor bugs and the application may be quit from the main window's close box. The sharware product costs $15.

ActiveDeveloper v2.10: Objective-C & C IDE

04/03, 3:30pm

ActiveDeveloper v2.10: Objective-C & C IDE

InterACTIVE-Technology has released their Objective-C and C IDE for Cocoa and WebObjects, ActiveDeveloper v2.10. It allows development, testing, debugging, and playing of the software at runtime, as well as "edit-compile-play cycles" in 1-2 seconds. Pricing is $50 for a single liscense, $100 for a multi license, and $250 for 5 licenses.

Contour ShuttlePRO: jog & shuttle controller

04/03, 3:30pm

Contour ShuttlePRO: jog & shuttle controller

Contour ShuttlePRO is a jog and shuttle multimedia controller that provides control over digital editing software such as Final Cut Pro and Cubase. Improvements in the device include a hybrid Mac/PC compaible software, fully automated installer, pre-printed labels for 13 programmable buttons and pre-programmed settings. Contour ShuttlePRO is available for $125 and works on both Mac OS 9 and X.

JQA: Java development tool improves code

04/03, 3:10pm

JQA: Java development tool improves code

publicspace.net and ISM have released a new Java development tool for Mac OS X -- named JQA -- which helps software developers improve the quality of their Java code. The software, already available in a Windows version, "provides a comprehensive set of quality metrics offering objective measurements of code quality" as well as the ability to compare code against a quality baseline to help improve the code; price on the software is $50.

Whistle Blower 3.0: enterprise server monitor

04/03, 2:15pm

Whistle Blower 3.0: enterprise server monitor

James Sentman today released Whistle Blower 3.0, an enterprise server monitoring and restart utility. An updated FileMaker client/server check can now verify the list of shared databases and make sure that all your databases are still being shared, and an updated DNS server task can now run a query against a specific server and validate that the correct IP address is being returned. It also adds the ability to verify the return from SSL web servers. The $100 utility monitors a large variety of servers and a "lite' version limited to monitoring of 10 servers is $50; a 45-day demo is available. [Classic, Carbon]

3ivx 4.0PR1: MPEG-4 codec plays DivX

04/03, 1:35pm

3ivx 4.0PR1: MPEG-4 codec plays DivX

3ivx 4.0PR1, an MPEG-4-compliant video codec, dramatically improves quality and speed as well as compatibility. It can now play most MPEG-4 variants including DivX and adds skip protection and AltiVec support. Additionally, DivX Doctor II, corrects stuttering sound and jerky playback on DivX Movies by updating DivX .avi videos to 3ivx QuickTime (.mov) videos: "After the conversion you will be able to play the video smoothly, and the audio glitches inherrant in the AVI format will be fixed. The conversion is fast." It also provides WMA audio decompression and can also process non-AVI files. [3iVX4.0PR1, DDII]

Liquid Ledger 1.0: personal finance app

04/03, 1:25pm

Liquid Ledger 1.0: personal finance app

Modeless Software today announced the availability of Liquid Ledger 1.0, a "complete personal finance application based on the object-oriented Cocoa framework. [It] is a comprehensive, user-friendly tool that enables consumers to effortlessly manage and analyse their personal finances." It includes functions to record bank account and credit card activity, track income/expenses/ and investments/assets/liabilities, track capital gains, and other functions. A demo of the $40 utility is available online.

Youpi Key 1.7: freeware automation util

04/03, 12:55pm

Youpi Key 1.7: freeware automation util

Youpi Key 1.7 is an automation utility, which can run actions based on a keyboard equivalent, a menu item, or a scheduled or regular time. French and English versions of the freeware application are available. It adds import/export of sets and shortcuts, menu simplification, contextual menu support, and better AppleScript support.

Reader: eject key issue on flat-panel iMac

04/03, 12:55pm

Reader: eject key issue on flat-panel iMac

A MacNN reader notes a problem with new flat-panel iMacs: "I discovered a bug in my new 700 MHz CD-RW iMac today. When I boot into OS 9, the media eject button doesn't work (it works perfectly when I boot into OS X). At first, I thought I'd installed a conflicting extension, but when I checked on Apple's web site, other users had already reported the problem."

StampInStone 1.0: PDF watermarking app

04/03, 12:00pm

StampInStone 1.0: PDF watermarking app

Stone Design is now shipping StampInStone 1.0, a native OS X PDF watermarking application that allows you to instantly add text or an image to every page of a PDF document. It offers control over color, font, size and placement. A 30-day trial of the $50 application is available online.

OmniWeb 4.1 Public Beta 2 now available

04/03, 11:55am

OmniWeb 4.1 Public Beta 2 now available

The Omni Group has release OmniWeb 4.1 Public Beta 2, a new version of the popular browser for OS X. The second public beta adds better Java support, improved JavaScript compatibility, more CSS improvements, less memory utilization, improved stability, user interface enhancements, a Dock indicator for changed bookmarks, and compatibility preferences for easily masquerading as another browser, and a Find/Replace function in the Source View as well as other enhancements.

SPARK 2.5: OS X compatible audio processing

04/03, 9:40am

SPARK 2.5: OS X compatible audio processing

TC WORKS has announced SPARK 2.5, an OS X-compatible version of its audio processing application that includes enhanced editing features, such a new scrub tool which enables tape-style acoustic navigation through a file and a streamlined waveform overview and zoom handling. The OS X version supports Apple's Core Audio for extremely low latencies and Apple's Core MIDI for playback of the modular synthesizer from any connected MIDI device. It is expected to ship later this month for $400.

Proteus 1.6: multiservice IM client

04/03, 9:35am

Proteus 1.6: multiservice IM client

Proteus 1.6 is a new version of the multiservice IM client, offering custom Emoticons, Sound Packs, Icon Packs, and Fonts. Other changes include a revamped preferences section, improved performance, and a few bug fixes.

Report: MS to reaffirm commitment to Mac

04/03, 9:25am

Report: MS to reaffirm commitment to Mac

Microsoft will renew its commitment to the Mac in a presentation by MacBU General Manager Kevin Browne scheduled for April 10. The 5-year contract between Apple and Microsoft, which included a $150 million investment and continued development of Mac Office, ends this summer. The MacWorld UK article notes that the presentation will also touch on the .NET's role in the Mac community, noting that Corel and Microsoft have been developing an alternatve version of the .NET runtime for FreeBSD.