News Archive for 02/08/28

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xBack 2.0: screen saver as the desktop

08/28, 10:05pm

xBack 2.0: screen saver as the desktop

Gideon Softworks has released xBack v2.0, a $12 'honorware' utility that allows users to replace thir Mac OS X desktop with a screen saver. The update is now fully Jaguar compatible and sports other improvements.

MacNN announcements

08/28, 7:55pm

MacNN announcements

MacNN today announced the discontinuation of its Mac OS X-specific section, osx.macnn.com. Mac OS X has grown immeasurably since its early days, and as such is now considered to be an integral and seamless part of the Mac platform. MacNN intends to offer innovative new ways of getting Mac news this Fall, for users who still enjoy specialized content. MacNN also introduced today a simplified version of the MacNN home page -- MacNN Slim Edition. The 'Slim' edition will allow users with slower connections/computers to keep pace on the latest Mac news. A more comprehensive and universal Mobile Edition of MacNN is still in development. The initial stages of MacNN's server upgrades are complete, and MacNN's mail services have returned to normal. We will also restore the 'Related Stories' feature, as it will no longer have a damaging impact on server performance. Finally, MacNN is very pleased to inform users of Microsoft Internet Explorer that initial testing shows that the "MacNN/IE" conflict has been resolved. No further browser crashes as a result of MacNN.com or the MacNN Forums should occur. Note to users dissatisfied with MacNN's news comment system: a more robust solution is still in development, and we expect to replace our current system shortly.

Two Photoshop utilities released for Jaguar

08/28, 7:45pm

Two Photoshop utilities released for Jaguar

Adobe has released two small utilities for Photoshop 7: the Mac OS X Keyboard Shortcut Fix and the Ignore EXIF Color Space plug-in. The Keyboard Shortcut Fix allows Photoshop to override the Command + Tilde shortcut that was included with Jaguar. The Ignore EXIF Color Space plug-in disregards the problem data that some digital cameras include with attached images (which caused incorrect color space information). [Keyboard, Ignore]

irEdit 1.0: source code and text editor

08/28, 6:10pm

irEdit 1.0: source code and text editor

irEdit 1.0 is a $20 source code and general text editor for Mac OS X. It features dual syntax coloring, user-defined languages, a quick find tool and is cocoa-native.

Blueworld announces Jaguar support

08/28, 6:05pm

Blueworld announces Jaguar support

Blue World Communications announced Mac OS X 10.2 support for Lasso Professional 5, its Web application for data-driven Web sites. Only minor configuration changes are required in order to run Lasso on Mac OS X 10.2.

Non-beta Umax scanner drivers from Euro site

08/28, 4:45pm

Non-beta Umax scanner drivers from Euro site

A MacNN reader notes that new non-beta drivers for several higher-end Umax scanners have been released on the European site. "[It] installed well, seems to work pretty quickly, OSX native, includes a plug-in for Photoshop that works too."

NewsFactor: Jaguar a hit, Apple still sinking

08/28, 3:20pm

NewsFactor: Jaguar a hit, Apple still sinking

Despite the technical and aesthetic milestones achieved with its new "Jaguar" OS, Apple faces an "uphill battle" in recuperating lost market share, explains a NewsFactor columnist. Citing comments by both the Giga Information Group and IDC firms, the article concludes that Apple has made many "strategic errors," which have only been compounded by the "overwhelming dominance" of Microsoft Windows. One glaring strategic fault, according to the report, is that Apple operating systems lock buyers in to Apple hardware, whereas Microsoft Windows works on countless brands.

Jaguar: special report

08/28, 2:30pm

Jaguar: special report

MacNN's special Jaguar coverage will continue throughout the day and week, as more information and tips become available. Check the page often for software news, compatibility reports, and further developments. Updated: Aug. 28.

Perlidex 1.0.1: Perl development environment

08/28, 2:20pm

Perlidex 1.0.1: Perl development environment

Perlidex v1.0.1 is a $25 shareware Perl development environment for Mac OS X. The update improves documentation as well as fixes bugs.

Yamaha CRW-F1 external CD-RW now shipping

08/28, 1:35pm

Yamaha CRW-F1 external CD-RW now shipping

Yamaha has begun shipping its external CRW-F1 line of CD-RW drives. The drives offer 44x write and 24x re-write speeds, 8MB of buffer memory, and the new DiscT@2 Laser Labeling System, which burns graphics and text directly onto CD-R discs. Three different versions of the drive are available: the $230 USB 2.0 (currently shipping), the $280 FireWire and USB 2.0 (shipping first week of September), and the $330 SCSI (shipping second week of September).

AppleCentre coming "soon" to Beijing

08/28, 1:10pm

AppleCentre coming "soon" to Beijing

Apple is opening a second AppleCentre in downtown Beijing, China, according to the Beijing Mac User Group. The building is opening "soon", and photos of the decorated store-front are available on the website.

BW: Jaguar is spectacular

08/28, 12:50pm

BW: Jaguar is spectacular

Charles Haddad of Business Week states that "Jaguar, the latest version of Apple's new operating system released on Saturday, Aug. 24, is spectacular. [...] It's arguably the best OS ever released for personal computers. Fast, stable, elegant, and intuitively easy to use, OS X makes owning a Mac once again a mark of distinction."

tranquility 5.2: visual effcts game for OS X

08/28, 12:35pm

tranquility 5.2: visual effcts game for OS X

tranquility v5.2 is a visual effects game now for Mac OS X 10.2. The update also brings 10% faster frame rates and an on-screen guide for new players. A demo of the $18 is available.

MacLoggerDX 1.6: app for amateur radio ops

08/28, 10:55am

MacLoggerDX 1.6: app for amateur radio ops

Dog Park Software's MacLoggerDX 1.6 adds Jaguar optimizations, increased memory, a new city database, and other enhancements to its $70 application used by Amateur Radio Operators and Short Wave Listeners to "get the most out of their computer controlled radio transceivers."

Wildform updates Flix video encoding line

08/28, 10:25am

Wildform updates Flix video encoding line

Wildform has announced the release of its updated Flix product line:

• Flix Pro ($150) is a video encoding solution that encodes virtually any type of video, audio and image file, outputs all types of Flash video and offers advanced Flash features. It includes both 1-pass and high resolution 2-pass VBR (variable bitrate) encoding, editing, cropping, batch encoding, projectors, preloaders and other features.
• Flix is also available in two consumer versions: Flix Lite ($30) offers the basic features required to encode and deploy Flash video, while Flix Standard ($90) adds 2-pass VBR compression and other "time saving" features.
• The Flix SDK (software developer's kit) includes everything required to create robust client and server applications with complete Flix Pro functionality. (Pricing depends on usage.)

ForMac adds TiVeRon app to studo dv/tv

08/28, 10:15am

ForMac adds TiVeRon app to studo dv/tv

Formac has released TiVeRon, new digital video recording software for its studio dv/tv media converter. Formac's TiVeRon software is a native Cocoa application that allows users to schedule and record TV shows ahead of time--from either the local machine or from remote locations via the Web. It is compatible with Jaguar is shipping immediately with all studio dv/tv and is available as free upgrade to existing owners. The software adds AppleScript support, preview of recordings in thumbnail size, access movie sequences instantly by scrolling the timeline bar, infinite opacity adjustment of the TV display frame, and a new 720 x 480 viewing option. The studo dv/tv media converter sells for $400.

OWC releases XPostFacto 2.2 for Jaguar

08/28, 9:55am

OWC releases XPostFacto 2.2 for Jaguar

Other World Computing has released XPostFacto 2.2, its software utility developed by Ryan Rempel that allows owners of computers unsupported by Apple to install and boot Mac OS X 10.2 (Jaguar) (as well as other versions of Mac OS X). It adds support for the Beige G3s, support for UltraTek IDE cards (along with OWC's firmware update), support for some additional PowerComputing models, support for leaving onboard video disconnected when using a video card; and, improved documentation. A $10 registration fee offers additional access to OWC's OS X tech forum and helps "contribute to XPostFacto's continuing development."

AFBR 4.9 improves Finder rename utility

08/28, 9:45am

AFBR 4.9 improves Finder rename utility

A Better Finder Rename 4.9 introduces a new DOS 8.3 truncation feature and improved date and time handling to the $15 shareware tool for renaming multiple items quickly and conveniently. It also features further enhancements to the learnability of the tool and two minor bug fixes. [Classic, OSX]