News Archive for 02/08/01

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Mac OS 10.2 "Jaguar" quietly goes 'GM'

08/01, 11:55pm

Mac OS 10.2 "Jaguar" quietly goes 'GM'

Apple this afternoon declared Mac OS X 10.2 'GM" at (internal) release 6C115, according to MacNN sources. The internal "Golden Master" designation completes months of testing and development, including the delivery of multiple builds per day over the past few weeks to resolve outstanding bugs. The OS is to be delivered to manufacturing for CD replication in the next few days and Apple is expected to officially ship Mac OS 10.2 to retail outlets on August 24th. (Apple also may ship Apple Store customers the release for delivery earlier that week, as it has done in the past).

Formac updates tevion 1.2; adds prefs, more

08/01, 9:00pm

Formac updates tevion 1.2; adds prefs, more

Formac today released a new version of 'tevion,' the software for its 'studio dv/tv' media converter. tevion 1.2 offers many new preferences, improved video and audio quality (with synchronization), better channel identification for TV-Tuner and antenna cards, and a link to Formac's DVD authoring software -- 'devideon.'

Catalyst projector relies on Apple technology

08/01, 7:40pm

Catalyst projector relies on Apple technology

High End Systems' Catalyst is a remotely-controlled video projector system, driven by a lighting console and a Power Mac G4. Catalyst can directly pan, tilt, zoom and focus content created in Apple Final Cut Pro, Adobe After Effects and Adobe Photoshop. Catalyst offers new tools that "integrate the video and lighting industries" using the latest technologies -- including FireWire and Apple's QuickTime. In addition to robust computer equipment and software, Catalyst utilizes projection lenses with micro-stepped 250-degree (axis 1) and 360-degree (axis 2) motion.

eWeek: Quark to debut XPress 6 in 2003

08/01, 7:30pm

eWeek: Quark to debut XPress 6 in 2003

Quark is a readying major upgrade to its QuarkXPress publishing software, according to eWeek. While competing developers like Adobe transition to Mac OS X with native applications, QuarkXPress 5.0 -- a key player in the publishing industry -- remains available for 'Classic' versions of the Mac OS only. The article eWeek suggests that XPress 6.0 for Mac OS X (and Windows) may debut early next year, possibly being previewed at January's Macworld San Francisco. Version 6 is expected to include a bevy of new features, but may also have some shortcomings, such as a lack of support for older third-part plug-ins.

Freeverse: GameSmith in six weeks

08/01, 6:30pm

Freeverse: GameSmith in six weeks

GameSmith -- first previewed at Macworld Expo in July -- is now expected to debut in September. GameSmith is an online gaming service that enables users to seamlessly arrange games over the Internet. The joint project by Freeverse and IFD.com promises to compete with the long-standing GameRanger gaming/chat solution. GameSmith is a cross-platform service, meaning client software will be available to both Windows and Macintosh users. GameSmith was originally slated for an earlier debut, but several major changes are necessary due to developer demand.

DragThing 4.3.1 updater posted

08/01, 3:20pm

DragThing 4.3.1 updater posted

DragThing 4.3.1 is the twenty-third release of TLA Systems' popular dock application for Mac OS 9/X. This update fixes several issues relating to Mac OS X 10.2 (unreleased); removes a warning that appears when Finder not running (under Mac OS X); adds various optimizations; fixes several bugs, including problems with Unicode, full screen applications and "Disk Dock." DragThing is $25 for new users.

DallasNews: .Mac reaction was "sticker shock

08/01, 2:15pm

DallasNews: .Mac reaction was "sticker shock

DallasNews.com takes a critical look at Apple's new .Mac service. "Basically, Apple is making it a mandatory migration," says columnist Craig Crossman. Instead of wowing the Macworld audience with an "exciting, innovative Apple product," Apple CEO Steve Jobs released a product that caused "a stillness in the air [...] akin to sticker shock," the article suggests.

SmartSound bundle with Adobe Premiere updated

08/01, 1:50pm

SmartSound bundle with Adobe Premiere updated

Sonic Desktop has announced an upgrade to their soundtrack creation software, SmartSound Quicktracks, which will be bundled with Adobe Premiere 6.5. The specially designed plug-in offers custom length royalty-free soundtracks to add to video produced in Adobe Premiere. "Its ability to create seamless loops for interactive menus is a perfect complement to Adobe Premiere's new DVD authoring capabilities."

Amazon pulls $50 rebate on Jaguar

08/01, 1:35pm

Amazon pulls $50 rebate on Jaguar

Several readers note that Amazon.com has pulled its $50 rebate on Mac OS X 10.2, after the OS X upgrade recently reached the No. 1 sales rank at the online computer store. The item is also no longer listed on the company's School of Rebates coupon

Links Championship Edition now for the Mac

08/01, 1:35pm

Links Championship Edition now for the Mac

Links Championship Edition, Microsoft's top-selling golf sim, is now available for the Mac OS 9 & X. It includes 13 full courses as well as being entirely re-written to improve graphic and physics. 17 golfers are available, including Sergio Garcia, Annika Sorenstam and more. The price is $50.

Medical Billing Circle: medical office app

08/01, 1:20pm

Medical Billing Circle: medical office app

The Medical Billing Circle 6.8 is a medical office product for Mac OS 9 that features Electronic Claims submissions and automates dialup uploads in the ANSI X 12 4010 Professional Claims format as mandated by HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act). Pricing starts at $960.

Apple's strategy will increase market share

08/01, 12:55pm

Apple's strategy will increase market share

A Multex Investor article shows how Apple could break away from its niche of multimedia-savvy users and educational institutions. "If you can visualize where the Internet is headed—interactive games, streaming media, and other entertainment products that capitalize on broadband—then you can see how Apple's digital media focus will start to pay off." The release of iPod for Windows, as well as expanding retail stores will also increase the number of new users. "Technology research firm IDC thinks the iPod could capture up to 20 percent of the MP3 portable music player market in 2003. If they're right, that would translate into about $1 billion in additional sales and $0.35 more in EPS for Apple in 2003."

PowerCore 1.6.1 improves sample-rate changes

08/01, 12:50pm

PowerCore 1.6.1 improves sample-rate changes

PowerCore 1.6.1, the open DSP hardware platform for any VST or MAS recording application, has been updated. "The handling of sample-rate changes and the system functionality with the DSound VL2 Multichannel Valve Interface Plug-In have been enhanced. Additionally, improved automation, especially for Cubase SX and Nuendo, as well as greater compatibility of the Plug-Ins with the latest host application versions are part of this update." The free update is now available.

WebDesign 1.6.1 improves scroll wheel support

08/01, 12:30pm

WebDesign 1.6.1 improves scroll wheel support

A maintenance update to the fully featured web design application for Mac OS 9 & X, WebDesign v1.6.1 improves scroll wheel support and includes an improved interface. Other features are visual creation of HTML elements including forms and image maps, editing tag attributes and values using a built in tag attribute editor and built in FTP. A signle license is $30.

Budget 3.1: personal finance application

08/01, 12:20pm

Budget 3.1: personal finance application

Budget 3.1 is a Mac OS X personal finance application with powerful checkbook management capabilities. Features include the ability to print checks, reports, and statistics as well as savings and investment information; the price is $25.

Apple called a 'tech survivor"

08/01, 11:50am

Apple called a 'tech survivor"

Wendell Perkins, manager of the JohnsonFamily mutual funds, says that Apple is a tech survivor along with Oracle and Microsoft, according to CNN/Money: "though Apple has been struggling lately (it issued an earnings warning earlier this month), Perkins thinks that the stock is worth a look because it is the only innovative company in the personal computer sector. Apple spent about 7.5 percent of its revenue in the last quarter on research and development, a higher percentage than Dell, Gateway, and Hewlett-Packard."

Tech: Free wireless net, hacker obligation...

08/01, 11:50am

Tech: Free wireless net, hacker obligation...

Morning tech news: A wireless "cloud" is covering Athens, Georgia, which spans 3 blocks and soon will expand to cover 24 and offers free internet access to anybody with the proper equipment (802.11b); President Bush's computer security advisor told hackers at the Black Hat conference that hackers are obligated to find flaws; retail computer software sales were up in the first half of this year (compared with the same period last year) thanks to a strong market for business and game titles, including Mac OS X.

Altiverb 2.0: reverb plug-in for MOTU Digital

08/01, 11:30am

Altiverb 2.0: reverb plug-in for MOTU Digital

Audio Ease has released Altiverb 2.0, a major update to their reverb plug-in for MOTU Digital Performer. It is a sampled acoustics processor that offers realistic one-, two- and four-channel sampled acoustics of real halls, cathedrals, bathrooms and any other enviroment. It provides mono-to-mono, mono-to-stereo, stereo-to-stereo, mono-to-quad, and stereo-to-quad effects as well as many others. Downloadable demos are available; the price is $495.

Barcode Producer 1.5 bundles OCR typefaces

08/01, 11:30am

Barcode Producer 1.5 bundles OCR typefaces

Intelli Innovations today released Barcode Producer 1.5, a "major" upgrade to its vector barcode generation software for the Mac. Version 1.5 bundles OCR-A and OCR-B typefaces (PostScript and TrueType), has ISSN barcode support, supports JAN-8 and JAN-13 barcodes used for retail operations in Japan, has a new ISBN Assistant for creating accurate Bookland EAN barcodes, and has more optimization of Barcode Producer's vector EPS output. Upgrades to the $90 utility are $25.

Fugu 0.8.2: graphical SFTP frontend

08/01, 11:25am

Fugu 0.8.2: graphical SFTP frontend

Fugu 0.8.2 is a graphical Mac OS X frontend to the command line Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP). Features include drag and drop upload and download, directory upload and a full Aqua interface.

Columnist praises Apple, iApps, 'Switch'

08/01, 11:10am

Columnist praises Apple, iApps, 'Switch'

"If you are looking for a new computer and are open to a superior ownership and computing experience, look at an Apple before you buy," states Don Lindich of the Post-Gazette. The "Switch" campaign struck a chord because "with a Mac, programs and peripherals install without fuss, and there are no more missing .dll files, hardware or software conflicts, system slowdowns or surprise crashes. The last time I was forced to reboot my Macintosh was eight months ago, and it was my fault that it crashed." Lindich praises Apple's iApps, and also states "Microsoft Office for Mac OS X is superior to the Windows version."

HotApp 1.4: powerful application launcher

08/01, 10:25am

HotApp 1.4: powerful application launcher

HotApp v1.4 is a powerful application launcher that features automatic software updates, the addition of new system actions and keyboard remapping. The update brings improved illegal license copying and the fix of a major bug that caused improper installation. A free demo license is available; the full price is $15.

QueueSocket 1.0: REALbasic Internet control

08/01, 10:10am

QueueSocket 1.0: REALbasic Internet control

QueueSocket 1.0 is the first open-source solution made available to REALbasic developers that improves Internet and network communication using the Socket control. It provides a simple introduction program as well as a complex, fully developed Network Tic-Tac-Toe game with source code and an Internet tracker. QueueSocket was developed using REALbasic 4.5, but is backwards compatible with all version of REALbasic (with little or no code revision).

Reader receives USB Bluetooth adapter

08/01, 9:50am

Reader receives USB Bluetooth adapter

A MacNN reader notes that he has received his USB Bluetooth Adapter from Apple. "I have installed the software on an iBook and a G4/867. I copied my Entourage contacts from the G4/867 to my Ericsson T68 - worked great! I connected to the 'Net from the iBook, and it too, worked."

CorelDRAW Graphics Suite 11 now available

08/01, 9:35am

CorelDRAW Graphics Suite 11 now available

CorelDRAW Graphics Suite 11 is now shipping across North America. The collection of professional graphics tools is designed to make graphic design work more creative, enjoyable and fun. The latest version features tools to assist in basic drawing, creating Web elements, improved vector animation and more. The Mac OS X software cost $250.

RCA announces 2 MP3 players, more

08/01, 9:20am

RCA announces 2 MP3 players, more

RCA announced the 10GB LYRA RD2800 MP3 player. The RD2800, which is priced at $250, uses USB and is compatible with Mac OS X. A 20GB version (RD2820) is priced at $300 and will be available in August. RCA also announced the LYRA RD1080 Personal Digital Player. The compact unit, weighing two ounces, includes 128MB of internal flash memory, a digital FM tuner, a USB connector, and a slot that accepts multimedia or SD memory cards. The LYRA RD1080 is priced at $130.

Sharp introduces 20.1" LCD

08/01, 9:15am

Sharp introduces 20.1" LCD

Sharp has introduced its latest member of their line of LCDs, the 20.1" LL-T2010W. It is capable of displaying a true resolution of 1.9 Megapixels (1600x1200) and features AGLR, a multi-layer surface treatment that reduces reflectance to approximately one-third that of a conventional LCD by means of optical cancellation. The $2100 display yields the high pixel response speed needed to display games, video, and other dynamic media. [site not updated]

Seybold 2002 will feature Apple, Adobe execs.

08/01, 9:05am

Seybold 2002 will feature Apple, Adobe execs.

Seybold Seminars announced that the senior executives from Apple and Adobe will present keynote addresses at Seybold 2002, which takes place at the Moscone Center in San Francisco on September 9-12. On Tuesday, September 10 at 9 a.m., Phil Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide product marketing, will present Apple's current developments and strategies for creative professionals. Shantanu Nayaren, executive vice president of worldwide products at Adobe, will expand on the company's network publishing vision and address the market trends and technologies that will drive the future of the publishing industry. Nayaren's keynote takes place at noon on Tuesday.