News Archive for 03/01/31

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FireWire Depot unveils secure enclosure

01/31, 5:10pm

FireWire Depot unveils secure enclosure

FireWire Depot today introduced its SuperGuard 3.5" FireWire enclosure ($140). It offers "ultimate protection for your data," by incorporating DES 64-bit/ 40bit key strength. "Even if the entire drive was stolen, no one could read your data," explains the developer. SuperGuard is intended for use by banks, insurance providers, government agencies, and those individuals with sensitive digital intellectual property. It supports the IEEE 1394a connectivity standard, in addition to USB 1.1 and 2.0. It offers data transfer rates over FireWire 400 of 100, 200, or 400 Mbps. The SuperGuard is expected to be available February 7.

Apple releases iMovie 3.01, iPhoto 2 via SUCP

01/31, 3:10pm

Apple releases iMovie 3.01, iPhoto 2 via SUCP

Apple has posted iMovie 3.01 and iPhoto 2.0 via its Software Update mechanism in Mac OS X as well as on the Web. [use links above]

iMovie 3.01 offers a new Liquid Timeline editing interface, new audio effects from Skywalker Sound; Ken Burns documentary-style effects; complete control of clips, music and sound effect volumes; pro-quality special effects and new titles; chapter markers for use with your DVD projects; and the ability to send movies to iDVD with one click

iPhoto 2 offers the ability to archive your iPhoto Library to CD or DVD, single-click enhancement of photos, expanded email support for more mail clients, new .Mac screen effects share your slideshows, and new printing templates.

KB: DVD-R discs, FTP volumes, trackpad...

01/31, 11:55am

KB: DVD-R discs, FTP volumes, trackpad...

Apple Knowledge Base articles: The Server Monitor monitor under Mac OS X 10.2 Server may incorrectly indicate that the Journaled RAID Volume Is "Degraded"; FTP server volumes available in the Finder have read-only access, even when the FTP server is set to allow you write access; DVD-R discs burned in the Finder are Mac OS Extended (HFS Plus) format and may not be viewed by Windows users; Power Mac G4 Cubes must have a Nvidia Geforce 2MX graphics card to be compatible with the Apple Cinema Display HD or Apple Cinema Display (20-inch); and The Mouse preference pane option to "Ignore trackpad when mouse is present" for PowerBooks and iBooks may not work when non-Apple mice or newer models of Apple mice are connected to the computer.

Readers: AirPort Extreme, shipping delays

01/31, 11:55am

Readers: AirPort Extreme, shipping delays

Readers are reporting shipping delays (by FedEx) in shipments of their 12-inch PowerBooks and AirPort Extreme Cards, which Apple began shipping earlier this week (and some readers have located at local retail Apple Stores, including Townson, MD. ). One reader provided some details on the delay which apparently is not related to the Chinese New Year (today):

"I got an email from apple stating that my shipment went out today for BTO Powerbook 12" CD DVDR Airport Extreme! Anyway when I checked the tracking number it was sent to Indianapolis Indiana, not UT where I live, I called Fed-Ex [and] I asked speak w/ the person in charge of the shipment, she gave me some interesting details, the chinese new year will not change anything about the status of the shipment, this shipment affects 636 people, (that is how many items are in it) once it gets to Indianapolis Indiana then it will take about 2 days to get to the customers whose names are on the individual parcels."

Apps: AirPort Port Inspector, Pod Manager...

01/31, 11:55am

Apps: AirPort Port Inspector, Pod Manager...

The free Java-based AirPort Port Inspector 1.0 (for "Snow" base station) provides monitoring of the port maps used by hosts associated with an AirPort base station when NAT is used. It provides both a detailed and simplified view of open ports. [54KB]
Pod Manager 1.4.1 is an $8 shareware utility for extracting music files stored on an iPod. This new version features improved drag&drop support and a close button to the main window. [238KB]
SoundConverter is a Cocoa MacOSX application for converting sound files between different sound formats. AIF, WAV, AU, SND, SVX, NIST, IRCAM, SF, VOC, W64 formats are supported. MP3 and Vorbis support are expected in a future version. [137KB]
MPlayerOSX Beta 4 contains MacOSX port of MPlayer (The Movie Player for Linux) and MPlayerOSXgui: "After installation you can play almost all DivX 3,4,5 and other codecs files." [2.7MB]

solidThinking 5.1 shipping; FormZ 4.0 coming

01/31, 9:30am

solidThinking 5.1 shipping; FormZ 4.0 coming

Architosh reports that GESTEL's solidThinking 5.1 modeling application is now shipping for Mac OS 9 with improved speed and dimensioning and that auto.des.sys will ship FormZ 4.0, its 3D form synthesizer in February.

Seapine updates TestTrack Pro, Surround SCM

01/31, 9:20am

Seapine updates TestTrack Pro, Surround SCM

Seapine today released TestTrack Pro 5.1, its defect-tracking and change request management solution and now includes a bulk field change feature that enables users to change field values for multiple defects from a single window as well as other security options. It also began shipping Surround SCM 1.2, Seapine's source control tool, is equipped with additional security restrictions at the repository leve, allowing administrators to apply these options globally across all branches or individually at each specific branch. Version 1.2 also features encrypted and compressed data transfer as well as performance improvements.

MS security push failing, users consider Mac

01/31, 9:15am

MS security push failing, users consider Mac

Computer security experts said the recent "SQL Slammer" worm, the worst in more than a year, is evidence that Microsoft's year-old security push is not working, according to Reuters. The article quotes one CTO (as well as a security consultant) as saying the security issues have prompted them to consider the Mac as an alternate platform: "A Consumer Reports survey last year found that virus infection rates on Macs are half what they are on Windows, noted Smith. 'Is that because Macs are safer? I think the answer is yeah.'"

Griffin Final Vinyl, gPort Serial MIDI Driver

01/31, 9:05am

Griffin Final Vinyl, gPort Serial MIDI Driver

Griffin today released Final Vinyl 1.0, a free utility that allows the recording of vinyl records using just the Griffin iMic or PowerWave and a turntable. It can be used to record instruments, microphones, tapes and any other analogue source. It offers a 10-band equalizer, Cue Marking for real-time entry of song track marks, and the ability to dynamically set and adjust audio levels. (The iMic adds high-quality stereo input and output to any USB-based Mac, while Griffin's PowerWave includes audio input and output plus adds an integrated 30 watt amplifier.) [3.0MB]

Griffin Technology also announced the release of the gPort Serial MIDI Driver for Mac OS X 10.2.3. This driver allows most serial MIDI devices to operate with Apple's Core MIDI software and OS X when connected to the Griffin gPort or g4Port, allowing owners of legacy serial MIDI interfaces (such as classic Opcode Studio 5, MOTU's Midi Time Piece) to use Mac OS X. [510KB]

Photos of opened 12-inch PowerBook, ACD

01/31, 9:05am

Photos of opened 12-inch PowerBook, ACD

MacNN reader Kodawarisan no Oheya has posted photos of his disassembled 12" PowerBook and reader Michael Van Gorkom has posted photos of his new 20-inch Apple Cinema Display.

Price protection on direct Apple purchases

01/31, 12:35am

Price protection on direct Apple purchases

MacNN reader Phil Lefebvr notes that the Apple Store offers a price protection for purchases for official price changes from its retail stores and the online stores (some other vendors also have similiar policies: "Should Apple reduce its price on any shipped product within 10 calendar days of shipment, you may contact Apple Sales Support at 1-800-676-2775 to request a refund or credit of the difference between the price you were charged and the current selling price.  To receive the refund or credit you must contact Apple within 14 business days of shipment. "