New products showcased at FireWire conference
Leading FireWire (IEEE 1394) developers and supporters gathered at last week\'s sixth annual 1394 Developers\' Conference to showcase new products. Apple touted its iPhoto software by demonstrating compatibility with Nikon\'s DI still camera. In addition to veteran FireWire developers, newcomers like FireMedia Communication unveiled new products. Microsoft demoed the first PC speakers running 1394-based audio as part of its Hybrid Home Network; FireMedia showed a new wireless video and data network, transmitting real-time video at more than 30 Megabits/second.
Tech: mobile Internet, Linux on Xbox, ...
Evening tech news: Japan leads the world with the most people accessing the Internet through mobile phones, a government report released today indicates (providers like EarthLink offer North American cell phone email access); Dell is giving away $50,000 to a lucky customer each day this month, with the hope of boosting back-to-school sales; the Xbox Linux Project seeks to find a \"simple and completely legal\" way of running Linux on the Xbox gaming machine, with rewards of up to $200,000; shipments of liquid crystal display monitors fell this quarter -- despite a good first quarter -- as a result of supply problems.
Xserve power issue; 10.1.5 dim; standalones
An Apple Knowledge Base document explains that users cannot use the power button on the front of an Apple display to turn on an Xserve. Instead users are advised to use the button on the front of the server. Another document outlines the steps necessary to avoid unwanted LCD screen dimming on machines running Mac OS X 10.1.5 as a result of Energy Saver enhancements. Finally, Apple has posted standalone versions of iMac Update 1.0 and Security Update July 2002 for Mac OS X
PocketDock 2.5 adds lock-out to dock
PocketDock 2.5 adds the ability to \'lock\' or child proof a dock, updates the skin system, adds 10 new skins, and fixes a number of other minor bugs. The shareware launcher utility offers the ability to organize your applications, documents, web links and email addresses.
Advanced newsgroup utility: Hogwasher 3.0
Asar has released Hogwasher 3.0, a Carbonized version of its advanced newsgroup utility. Version 3.0 adds OS X compatibility, optional Quartz anti-aliased text rendering in list views under OS X, long file name support under OS X, and built-in yEnc encoding and decoding support. Other features include filtering, scheduling, thread tree display, email and image viewing support, and a full address book. A 60-day trial of the $50 Usenet utility is available online. Upgrades from previous versions are $25.
Ridge 1.0: Internet connection app for OS X
Ridge 1.0 is a shareware ($10) internet connection viewer that offers the ability to measure your Internet speed, a graphical representation of data transfer over the past 60 seconds, packet hexadecimal dump and parsing for PPP/IP/TCP/UDP packets, and other features.
Apple stores coming to Indianapolis, NYC
Apple is expected to launch a new retail store in Indianapolis at the Crossing Mall. Residents of the city note that the store will address a lack of Macintosh retailers in the area. Apple will also debut its much-anticipated New York City store, Apple Store SoHo, at this month\'s Macworld Expo NY with the Grand Opening scheduled for Thursday, July 18th.
Apple posts new Real People ads
Apple today posted two new television advertisements on its Web site, as a part of its Real People advertising campaign. Long-time PC user Juan Proano describes in a TV spot his recent switch to the Mac platform; magazine publisher David Carey notes that Microsoft and Lotus suites work well on his Macintosh.
Beta testing of software RAID 5 app: NXRAID
NYRO Technix has announced a beta version of NXRAID, a software-based RAID 5 product for Mac OS X. RAID 5 provides data striping (spreading out blocks of each file across multiple disks) and stripe error correction information using 3 or more disk drives. Interested beta testers email nxrbeta@nyro.com.
Ambrosia to release pop-pop at Macworld Expo
Ambrosia software today announced that pop-pop, its fast-paced action game title, will be released at the MacWorld/NYC. The shareware title, described as \"a wild fusion of Arkanoid and Street Fighter, with a good spot of the PowerPuff girls thrown in for good measure,\" supports both single/multi-player game modes and has support for the popular GameRanger online gaming service. (Pricing for the title has not been announced.)
Paste Without Style! 2.0 XTension for DTP
Paste Without Style! 2.0 is a free (\"donationware\") XTension that works with Quark 4/5: \"It allows you to move and paste text easily and faster with a key shortcut (Apple+Option+V). This text automatically acquires all text attributes of the location where are you pasting. The type, size, font and other text parameters you can also adapt many more. All text is adjusted correctly into place, where you paste it.\"
Macromedia to integrate Opera browser
Opera announced an agreement with Macromedia, in which the two companies will work together to integrate their products for the Mac platform. Opera will deliver a full-featured, embeddable version of its desktop browser to be integrated into a wide range of Macromedia Web development products.
Proteus 2.0b goes shareware, has new features
An early preview release of Proteus 2.0pr, a new version of the multi-protocol messaging cilent, is now available. The client supports AIM, ICQ, Jabber, MSN, Yahoo protocols. The shareware adds mail notifications, new sounds and emoticons, speech support single window mode, shell commands, file transer for Yahoo and MSN, Yahoo! Japan suppot, new keyboard shortcuts, ICQ/MSN block lists, and other changes.
eKiosk 3.1 manages Internet access
eKiosk 3.1 adds URL filtering to the application for limiting Internet activity and securing a Mac in publicly accessible areas. Version 4.0 with OS X compatibility is due in September; however a beta is available now.
MacAT 6.2: automated task scheduling app
MacAT 6.2 is an update to the shareware ($50) automated task scheduling application for Mac server administrators that \"allows more than 42 of the most common MacOS tasks to be run daily, weekly, fortnightly, monthly or yearly without user intervention.\"
MacPlay to debut Fallout 2 for Mac at MWNY
MacPlay today announced that it will bring Fallout 2 to the Mac. The company says the title is in final testing and will debut in the MacPlay Booth at Macworld Expo New York--with limited quantities available at the show. Fallout 2 is the sequel to the critically acclaimed RPG. The official release date of the $30 title is July 31, 2002. It will be available for both Classic and OS X.
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Cirrus creates Lightning-headphone dev kit
Apple supplier Cirrus Logic has introduced a MFi-compliant new development kit for companies interested in using Cirrus' chips to create Lightning-based headphones, which -- regardless of whether rumors about Apple dropping the analog headphone jack in its iPhone this fall -- can offer advantages to music-loving iOS device users. The kit mentions some of the advantages of an all-digital headset or headphone connector, including higher-bitrate support, a more customizable experience, and support for power and data transfer into headphone hardware. Several companies already make Lightning headphones, and Apple has supported the concept since June 2014. http://bit.ly/29giiZj
Apple Store app offers Procreate Pocket
The Apple Store app for iPhone, which periodically rewards users with free app gifts, is now offering the iPhone "Pocket" version of drawing app Procreate for those who have the free Apple Store app until July 28. Users who have redeemed the offer by navigating to the "Stores" tab of the app and swiping past the "iPhone Upgrade Program" banner to the "Procreate" banner have noted that only the limited Pocket (iPhone) version of the app is available free, even if the Apple Store app is installed and the offer redeemed on an iPad. The Pocket version currently sells for $3 on the iOS App Store. [32.4MB]
Porsche adds CarPlay to 2017 Panamera
Porsche has added a fifth model of vehicle to its CarPlay-supported lineup, announcing that the 2017 Panamera -- which will arrive in the US in January -- will include Apple's infotainment technology, and be seen on a giant 12.3-inch touchscreen as part of an all-new Porsche Communication Management system. The luxury sedan starts at $99,900 for the 4S model, and scales up to the Panamera Turbo, which sells for $146,900. Other vehicles that currently support CarPlay include the 2016 911 and the 2017 models of Macan, 718 Boxster, and 718 Cayman. The company did not mention support for Google's corresponding Android Auto in its announcement. http://bit.ly/295ZQ94
Apple employees testing wheelchair features
New features included in the forthcoming watchOS 3 are being tested by Apple retail store employees, including a new activity-tracking feature that has been designed with wheelchair users in mind. The move is slightly unusual in that, while retail employees have previously been used to test pre-release versions of OS X and iOS, this marks the first time they've been included in the otherwise developer-only watchOS betas. The company is said to have gone to great lengths to modify the activity tracker for wheelchair users, including changing the "time to stand" notification to "time to roll" and including two wheelchair-centric workout apps. http://bit.ly/2955JDa
SanDisk reveals two 256GB microSDXC cards
SanDisk has introduced two 256GB microSDXC cards. Arriving in August for $150, the Ultra microSDXC UHS-I Premium Edition card offers transfer speeds of up to 95MB/s for reading data. The Extreme microSDXC UHS-I card can read at a fast 100MB/s and write at up to 90MB/s, and will be shipping sometime in the fourth quarter for $200. http://bit.ly/294Q1If
Apple's third-quarter results due July 26
Apple has advised it will be issuing its third-quarter results on July 26, with a conference call to answer investor and analyst queries about the earnings set to take place later that day. The stream of the call will go live at 2pm PT (5pm ET) via Apple's investor site, with the results themselves expected to be released roughly 30 minutes before the call commences. Apple's guidance for the quarter put revenue at between $41 billion and $43 billion. http://apple.co/1oi1Pbm
Twitter stickers slowly roll out to users
Twitter has introduced "stickers," allowing users to add extra graphical elements to their photos before uploading them to the micro-blogging service. A library of hundreds of accessories, props, and emoji will be available to use as stickers, which can be resized, rotated, and placed anywhere on the photograph. Images with stickers will also become searchable with viewers able to select a sticker to see how others use the same graphic in their own posts. Twitter advises stickers will be rolling out to users over the next few weeks, and will work on both the mobile apps and through the browser. http://bit.ly/29bbwUE
