News Archive for 02/09/18

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iPod helps CBS reality TV contestants

09/18, 10:25pm

iPod helps CBS reality TV contestants

One duo in CBS's latest reality TV show swears by their Apple iPod for entertainment during their journeys. On October 2nd, 12 Teams of two people will race around the world for a chance to win $1 million. The team of 'Aaron and Arianne' say the most import items they carry are their wristbands, Persian scarves and their iPod.

Geneforge updated to work with OS X

09/18, 8:15pm

Geneforge updated to work with OS X

Geneforge 1.1 adds a number of bugs fixes and full Mac OS X compatibility to the fantasy role-playing game by Spiderweb Software. Geneforge is an adventure game in which the main character, "Shaper," uses "secret and powerful magical sect with the ability to create and mold life to do your bidding."

New furniture promotes "digital lifestyle"

09/18, 6:30pm

New furniture promotes "digital lifestyle"

Bretford unveiled on Wednesday what it describes as the "ultimate ergonomic environment." Built with Macs in mind, and borrowing form Apple's 'digital hub' philosophy, the Digital Hub Workspace is a furniture system designed specifically to enhance organization and comfort. The workspace is height-adjustable, employs a wrap-around design, includes a "cable management hopper" and is guaranteed for ten years.

USB-XFormer 2.0: fast USB 2.0 SCSI controller

09/18, 6:10pm

USB-XFormer 2.0: fast USB 2.0 SCSI controller

USB-XFormer 2.0 is a USB 2.0-based Ultra SCSI controller that sports the "fastest" USB to SCSI adapter on the market. XFormer, short for transformer, sells at a suggested retail price of about $130. It fully utilizes the 480Mb/s bandwidth of USB 2.0, providing a 20MB/s Ultra SCSI transfer rate for high-performance hard drives and Iomega Jaz devices. "Out of the box" Mac OS X support is included; a DB25 adapter is also included for Iomega Zip drive support.

Synergy Creations adds 10.2 support to apps

09/18, 4:50pm

Synergy Creations adds 10.2 support to apps

Synergy Creations has updated two of its shareware applications to include Mac OS X 10.2 support. Both Periodic Table 3.2 and ConverTable Units 2.1.5 are native Mac OS X programs, which sell for $15 each. [Download - CTU: Classic , OS X | PT: Classic , OS X ]

Tech: virtual keyboard; translator; security

09/18, 4:35pm

Tech: virtual keyboard; translator; security

Afternoon tech news: Canesta will demonstrate a working model of its "virtual keyboard" today, and said the technology will be rolled out by PDA manufacturers early next year; IBM's ViaVoice Translator, which runs on the Pocket PC platform, translates between the English, French, Italian, German and Spanish languages via both text and speech interfaces; as the U.S. government prepares to release its cyberspace security plan, controversial sections of the report appear to be in flux.

Apple releases Mac OS 10.2.1 update

09/18, 4:30pm

Apple releases Mac OS 10.2.1 update

Apple has released Mac OS X 10.2.1 via the Software Update Control Panel. It "delivers enhancements and improvements to the following applications, technologies and components: Mail, Image Capture, Help Viewer, graphics, printing, networking, Rendezvous, Kerberos, USB, FireWire, SCSI device compatibility and includes additional Digital Hub peripheral device support." Neither the Knowledge Base article nor the update is yet available online.

Apple: dual-1.25GHz G4s now shipping

09/18, 3:35pm

Apple: dual-1.25GHz G4s now shipping

Apple today confirmed that it has begun shipping the new dual-1.25GHz Power Mac G4. Yesterday, MacNN reported that several Apple customers had received shipment notices. The new Power Mac is the "fastest Mac ever made," featuring 512MB of DDR SDRAM, the ATI Radeon 9000 graphics card and a CPU that is "up to 440 percent faster than a 2.53 GHz Pentium 4-based PC."

iTunes 3.0.1 released via Software Update

09/18, 3:10pm

iTunes 3.0.1 released via Software Update

Apple has released iTunes 3.0.1 via Mac OS X's built-in Software Update application. Release notes are not currently available.

More than 2M iTools users abandon service

09/18, 1:40pm

More than 2M iTools users abandon service

Apple yesterday confirmed that up to 2.1 million former iTools subscribers have abandoned the service the company now calls .Mac, according to Macworld UK: "The previously free iTools had 2.2 million members, according to Apple's own figures as reported by The Seattle Times. Apple's introductory special offer extends until the end of September for existing users. The conversion rate so far stands at 4.54 per cent - representing a massive 95 per cent non-take-up rate."

PageSpinner 4.1.1 Web design tool updated

09/18, 1:35pm

PageSpinner 4.1.1 Web design tool updated

Optima's Web page design tool PageSpinner 4.1.1 for Classic and OS X now features updated HTML Examples, enhanced Tooltips performance, improvements in the Find & Replace dialog, OS X support for transferring local pages to a mounted server volume or an iDisk, and support for more file name extensions in OS X as well as other improvements and bug fixes. The $30 utility is available with SitePrint, the company's Web page printing tool for $50.

Apple VP Cheryl Vedoe leaves for Apex

09/18, 1:05pm

Apple VP Cheryl Vedoe leaves for Apex

Apex Learning today announced the appointment of Cheryl Vedoe as President and Chief Executive Officer. Vedoe, VP of education products and marketing and president of Apple's PowerSchool, will join Apex on September 23. Apex Learning offers online courses and instructional materials, helping high schools expand access to online learning opportunities through online Advanced Placement, general studies, and foreign language courses; preparation for standards-based exams; and classroom teaching resources.

Free contact manager works on Macs, PCs

09/18, 12:45pm

Free contact manager works on Macs, PCs

Centromedia has released a free version of Address Office 3.2, its advanced address book and PIM (Personal Information Manager) for small/home business. The multiplatform, multi-lingual telephone and address book allows users to manage addresses, phone numbers, URLs, AIM, ICQ and Email addresses and offers support for Microsoft Entourage, Outlook, and FAXstf. It is available for Classic and OS X in English, German, French, Spanish, Italian.

MacCVSClient 1.7 available for OS X

09/18, 12:45pm

MacCVSClient 1.7 available for OS X

MacCVSClient 1.7, now available for OS X, is a free CVS source code revision control client running that "shows 'checked out' files in an intuitive hierarchical list view (with filtering options) so that you are aware of their status anytime." It displays file log histories as well as file differences and change conflicts. Version 1.7 also brings mouse wheel support under OS X, long file name support, more contextual menu support, and other bug fixes and enhancements.

NI shipping Kontakt 1.1 audio sampler

09/18, 12:40pm

NI shipping Kontakt 1.1 audio sampler

Native Instruments is now shipping Kontakt 1.1, its software sampler that now adds support for HALion, EXS, and SDII files in addition to the Gigasampler, AKAI, Sound Font, and BATTERY file formats as well as AltiVec optimizations. It also announced that "Direct From Disk" technology will soon be available for KONTAKT as a free update for registered users in November 2002: "Sample size will no longer be limited by the amount of physical RAM - an instrument can be as large as available hard drive space. All instruments utilizing this technology will load many times faster than RAM-based instruments." Kontakt is $400.

Pioneer drives require firmware update

09/18, 10:30am

Pioneer drives require firmware update

Pioneer has announced that many of its DVD-R/RW computer drives and DVD recorders will require a firmware update in order to avoid potential damage to the units and discs when using the 4X for DVD-R and 2X for DVD-RW as recently approved by the DVD Forum: "The source of the problem is a firmware "bug" in certain Pioneer DVD-R/RW recorders and drives, and not with the high-speed media itself. As a result, use of the new high-speed discs for recording on these particular Pioneer products may cause damage to both the loaded disc and to the drive/recorder." It affects the following models: Pioneer DVR-7000, PRV-9000 Professional DVD recorder, DVR-A03, DVR-103, DVR-A04, and the DVR-104 and all users "should conduct the free firmware update immediately, prior to using the new high-speed media." Apple has not yet released a firmware update for its SuperDrives (found in Macs), which are also affected by the the same problem when using the new high-speed media.

VINC v1.2 supports MSWord X conversion

09/18, 10:20am

VINC v1.2 supports MSWord X conversion

RecoSoft's VINC v1.2 is an upgrade to its integrated disk navigation, document viewing and conversion software, offering rapid viewing and conversion of files created in different word processing and graphics software, including the display and conversion of MSWord, AppleWorks, HTML, RTF, PNG, JPEG, and Photoshop files. Version 1.2 adds support for Microsoft Word X documents, AppleWorks 5, RTF 1.7 files, WMF images, HTML UTF-8, and JPEG 2000 (requires QuickTime 6.0) as well as improves conversion speed, better converts Windows character encoding mappings, and better retains document formats during conversions. A single user license is $50 (with a $10 discount for education customers).

WW II Online Mac Edition coming in November

09/18, 10:15am

WW II Online Mac Edition coming in November

Strategy First, Playnet and Cornered Rat Software announced that they will ship World War II Online Mac Edition in November. The online combined arms simulation is "set in a relentless, action-packed environment where players can command and crew a variety of accurately modeled vehicles and aircraft, sling weapons, and fight as foot soldiers with and against thousands of other gamers. Set in the early war years, it includes equipment and major battle points: strongholds, fortresses, forests, rivers and more – much as it was on the battlefields of Europe." It is first and only multiplayer first-person virtual battlefield that covers a ½ scale map of Europe with accurate terrain modeling. World War II Online Mac Edition contains special bonus items, such as a large foldout wall map of the game world, the official music track, and 20 original illustrations and wallpapers inspired by the game.

Blobber 1.1 modifies Rainbow pinwheel

09/18, 10:00am

Blobber 1.1 modifies Rainbow pinwheel

Baxter Computer has posted Blobber 1.1, a freeware utility that allows you to change the Rainbow Pinwheel easily in Mac OS 10.2: "I want it to be an on-going project. I accept any working submissions of .diff files (what is used to edit the cursor). I am trying to get a tutorial put together. I do stress reading the instructions before use of this software."

TurboTool 2.0 automates system actions

09/18, 9:55am

TurboTool 2.0 automates system actions

TurboTool 2.0 is described as "a drag-n-drop and Service tool hiding the power of UNIX under a user-friendly graphical frontend." TurboTool uses 'Atomics', the building blocks of 'Actions', which can be performed on files, on the pasteboard or standalone, by using TurboTool or 'Droplets'. The types of atomics range from simple info dialogs to shell scripts. A demo of the $15 shareware is available online.

FileMaker Mobile 2.1 to ship later this month

09/18, 9:50am

FileMaker Mobile 2.1 to ship later this month

FileMaker will preview FileMaker Mobile 2.1 at DEMOmobile 2002, the annual gathering of technology executives, which will be held in La Jolla, CA, from Sept. 18-20. The company said it plans to ship the new mobile database software, which adds support for the Pocket PC 2002 operating system and for bar code scanning, on Sept. 30. FileMaker Mobile allows users to transfer and synchronize data between FileMaker Pro databases on desktop computers and handheld Palm OS or Pocket PC devices. It is compatible with FileMaker Pro 6 and 5.5 v2, runs on handhelds with Pocket PC 2002, Palm OS 3.1 or greater and desktop computers with Windows 2000, 98, Me, NT 4.0, XP, Mac OS X v10.1 (requires Palm HotSync Manager 3.0), or Mac OS 8/9.