News Archive for 03/02/03

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Apple iMovie 3 coverage

02/03, 9:35pm

Apple iMovie 3 coverage

We are now developing a catalog of known iMovie 3 bugs, incompatibilities, and noteworthy features. We ask those users experienced with the software to contribute any relevant findings.

MS in talks with Apple to avoid court battle

02/03, 8:25pm

MS in talks with Apple to avoid court battle

Microsoft is talking to Apple to avoid a challenge to a planned $1.1 billion antitrust settlement the computer maker claims gives Microsoft an unfair advantage in the education market, according to Bloomberg.

"Microsoft has agreed to settle California consumer lawsuits accusing it of violating state antitrust law and driving up software prices. Apple, whose sales to U.S. schools fell 15 percent last year, says the agreement that would give Microsoft products to California schools amounts to unfair competition.

"The talks indicate that Microsoft is seeking to prevent a prolonged battle to win court approval for the settlement, analysts say. Apple's complaints helped derail a proposed Microsoft settlement in 2001. By insisting the new agreement provide only cash, Apple is trying to protect its sales to schools. Microsoft says the settlement is fair."

Apps: MacWise, MegaSeg, Alfred

02/03, 6:30pm

Apps: MacWise, MegaSeg, Alfred

MacWise 10.3.1 adds transparent windows and bug fixes to the $100 emulation utility. Among the problems addresses with the release, are bugs related to VT220 emulation. The addition of window transparency allows the user to see what's behind a MacWise window. [Download - 1.6MB]

Fidelity Media released an update to its MegaSeg application for radio music automation and mobile DJ mixing. The MegaSeg 2.5.4 release includes improvements to Playlist Events, Hot Keys, administration mode protection, and importing entire drive volumes. It also solves problems that could prevent MegaSeg from launching if the user's hard drive contains bullet points in the name, or if the documents folder does not have the proper permissions. MegaSeg is available for $170. [Download - 2.2MB]

Alfred 1.4.1 is an easy to use, customizable, universal plug-ins manager for Mac OS X, inspired by Mac OS 9's Extensions Manager. Version 1.4.1 is a minor update that focuses on "improving managers refresh performances and user interface." Alfred can be used to manage add-ons such as screen savers, preference panes, and fonts. [Download - 1.2MB]

ALPS Electric has released Mac OS X drivers for its MicroDry color printers, including the MD-5000, MD-1300, and MD-1000 models. The printer units, which could print metallic colors, as well as opaque white, are no longer available. [Download - 2.5MB]

Stone Design today updated a number of components from its Stone Studio suite.

MacResQ offers PowerBook service to Canada

02/03, 6:05pm

MacResQ offers PowerBook service to Canada

MacResQ announced today a new Canadian repair service as part of their PowerBookResQ repair program. The new service offers Canadian PowerBook and iBook owners "an affordable source for service parts and labor" with PowerBookResQ's quick turnaround and convenience. The cost of the new PowerBookResQ Canada service is just CDN$180 (US$115), accepted in U.S. or Canadian funds. This includes the 3-way express shipping, the initial diagnostic service, and the PowerBox, which the customer may keep for future use.

12" Aluminum PowerBook coverage

02/03, 5:45pm

12" Aluminum PowerBook coverage

We've published a special report containing a timeline of events and reader reports relating to Apple's new 12" PowerBook. Included are user reports of unit overheating and shipment notices.

VLC 0.50 multimedia player gains new features

02/03, 4:20pm

VLC 0.50 multimedia player gains new features

The VideoLAN team has released VLC 0.5.0, an update to its cross-platform multimedia player. It can read from network (UDP, RTP, HTTP, ipv4 or ipv6), file or DVD and supports multiple media formats MPEG1/2 PS/TS, MP3, DivX, Mpeg4, OggVorbis codecs, etc. It adds DVD navigation, a new stream output architecture, allowing to act as a stream server, a new audio output architecture (with S/PDIF support, multi-channel support, volume setting), new codecs (Ogg/Vorbis, AAC, ADPCM, Xvid, DV), support for DivX subtitles, a Mozilla plugin based on VLC, and localization support. The freeware runs on Mac OS X only. [3.4MB]

Hemeris 64 dual-Power Mac cluster for "rent

02/03, 2:55pm

Hemeris 64 dual-Power Mac cluster for "rent

HEMERIS Computing today the public availability of raw computing power based on 64 dual-PowerMac cluster. Computing power will be sold on "pay per use" model. Prices start below $1 per processor/hour. The company say it is also building a huge supercomputer (around 2500 processors) based on "in-house" designed dual PowerPC blades to sell computing power to labs, R&D departments, and universities.

WiebeTech cuts prices on desktop drives

02/03, 2:45pm

WiebeTech cuts prices on desktop drives

WiebeTech has cut prices on select models of its high-performance desktop drives, including DesktopGB (FireWire/USB2 drive); DesktopGB+ (fanless aluminum FireWire Drive); Super DesktopGB (bus-powered FireWire drive); and UltraGB, the bus-powered, fanless, transportable FireWire drive in an aluminum enclosure. WiebeTech has also added two new high performance configurations to the UltraGB, bus-powered transportable drives. These two new configurations utilize 80GB ($360) and 120GB ($400) drives with 7200RPM spindle speeds. WeibeTech reduced prices by $20 on its 80GB (now $200) and 120GB (now $260) on its DesktopGB models; by up to $50 on its DesktopGB+ models; and up to $120 on its UltraGB.

Apps: OmniWeb, DEVONthink, PayGo POS

02/03, 2:40pm

Apps: OmniWeb, DEVONthink, PayGo POS

PayGo POS 1.7 for MacOS X handles sales, inventory management, purchase orders, customer tracking and much more with an intuitive and refreshing interface. PayGo works with point-of-sale hardware to provide a POS transaction for both users and customers, including a bar-coding inventory management system. Pricing is $200 with a monthly fee based on transactions or $1,300 for yearly license.
The Omni Group has released a beta update to OmniWeb, the web browser built exclusively for Mac OS X. OmniWeb 4.2b1 adds preferences to improve the process of downloading files and to allow the management of Internet plug-ins. It also includes a new 'Send Link' function and a new 'Zoomed Text Editor' lets you input large amounts of text into forms more easily. [3.5MB]
DEVONthink Personal Edition 1.5 is "revolutionary" information manager and freeform database. The new version further improves reliability and the overall user experience, introduces a German localization, improves performance, adds simple AppleScript support and fixes some minor and major bugs. Version 1.5 alsoincludes improved PDF support, better parsing and displaying of HTML pages, better data security, verifies and repairs more database structures, and custom database locations. The Mac OS X utility is $45. [2.2MB]

Apps: Switch, Spy, Enkoder, forty-two...

02/03, 11:50am

Apps: Switch, Spy, Enkoder, forty-two...

Drew Hamlin's Switch is a freeware application that "lets you play, download, and manage Switchads from Apple's website with a simple and intuitive user interface. The application has two modes, for viewing both local and online ads [and] can read each Switcher's personal story right from the application." [1.0MB]
Spy 1.0 is a free snapshot tool that lets you run a server on your Mac, that when accessed via a web browser, lets anyone view a PNG or JPEG image of your desktop. It allows users to view the desktop live via a web browser, without any web browser plugins or Java. [Classic, OSX]
Hiveware's Enkoder 1.0 can encrypt your Email address and wrap the result in JavaScript, hiding it from Email-harvesting robots which crawl the web looking for exposed addresses: "Just paste the resulting JavaScript into your website's HTML. Your address will be displayed correctly by web-browsers, but will be virtually indecipherable to Email harvesting robots." [140KB]
forty-two v1.01 is a "donationware" tool for converting NTSC DVDs to other formats, such as DiVX, SVCD or VCD: "it determines proper encoding framerates, cropping etc and produces in-sync, set and forget results for all dvd types it supports." The download contains forty-two.app GUI, the dvdmp and dvdvx engines and certain *nix tools used for video compression and conversion. [7.2]
Em Software's InData 2.0 and InCatalog 2.0 are newly released plugins for Adobe InDesign 2.0. Both plugins solve common production problems for data-intensive publishing tasks. InData ($400) takes raw data and very quickly creates a fully formatted document (directories, catalogs, mail merges, etc.) based on a template. InCatalog ($800, $1200 for the ODBC version) is a powerful linking and updating tool, creating bi-directional links between InDesign documents and external data.

Infoworld interviews Tevanian, Rubinstein

02/03, 11:35am

Infoworld interviews Tevanian, Rubinstein

An Infoworld interview with  Apple Senior VPs Avie Tevanian and Jon Rubinstein discuss the convergence of business and consumer markets in Keynote and iLife as well as other issues such as the launch of AirPort Extreme based on "unapproved" 802.11g technology and the target audience for the new 17-inch PowerBook G4 notebooks.

Safari browser has fast adoption rate

02/03, 9:50am

Safari browser has fast adoption rate

OneStat.com announced that Apple's Safari browser has shown a fast adoptation rate with a global usage share of 0.11 percent in the first weeks of its public launch, besting Opera 7 (only available for Windows), which has a global usage share of 0.03 percent in the first weeks of its public launch. Microsoft dominates the browser market with a 95.2 percent global usage share market, while Netscape is 2.9 percent and the global usage share of Netscape 7 is 0.64 percent.

SF Chronicle: Apple dealers biting back

02/03, 9:40am

SF Chronicle: Apple dealers biting back

The SF Chronicle's Henry Norr writes "Apple has been hit by a growing number of lawsuits filed by Mac dealers who are upset by the company's alleged efforts to lure their customers to outlets that Apple owns. They are also fed up with what they say are long-standing problems in the company's service and billing systems."

Adobe offers 'Work Smart' mail-in rebates

02/03, 9:40am

Adobe offers 'Work Smart' mail-in rebates

Adobe's new "Work Smart. Save Big" promo is a new rebate program offering savings on new purchases of two or more Adobe products, including Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, GoLive, Premiere, and After Effects as well as Adobe Web Collection and Adobe Design Collection. Adobe is offering a rebate of $75 on two or more products that total at least $350 or $150 back on products that cost $750. The promotion ends April 30, 2003.

Sharp announces two new LCD monitors

02/03, 9:30am

Sharp announces two new LCD monitors

Sharp has announced two new LCD monitors: the LL-T17D3 is a 17-inch LC with integrated stereo speakers and is compatible with both analog and digital video inputs, supports SXGA resolution (1280x1024), and offers 250-nit brightness and 500:1 contrast ratio as well as a 17ms response rate and color management functions. It is available now for $500. The new 18-inch Sharp LL-T18A1, a dual-input LCD monitor (both analog and digital), offers a viewing angle of 160-degrees, a contrast ratio of 350:1 and a brightness of 250 nits, and features white balance (color temperature) adjustment and color management functions. It is available in black or white for $700.

Canon intros new inkjet printers

02/03, 9:20am

Canon intros new inkjet printers

Canon today announced its i70 Color Bubble Jet Printer, its new portable printer, which replaces the BJC-85. It features 13 ppm monochrome/9ppm color print speeds, up to 4800x1200 color dpi resolution, Bubble Jet Direct printing from select Canon digital cameras and digital video camcorders, borderless printing and advanced MicroFine Droplet Technology. An optional $100 Portable Kit includes a Lithium Ion battery with a 450-page life per two-hour charge. The $300 printer is expected to ship later this February 2003.

The new Canon i950 Photo Printer doubles the maximum print resolution to 4800x1200 dpi from the S900's maximum resolution, offers two-picoliters ink droplets for better photo printing in the mid-range tones, and Vivid Photo, which "actively exceeds the sRGB-based color matching of conventional monitors to produce more life-like colors." Both printers will ship wtih Easy-PhotoPrint, PhotoRecord, PhotoStitch, ZoomBrowser and ImageBrowser. An updated Canon driver also features a new Photo Noise Reduction function.

Apps: Copernicus, Key Xing, Kairos...

02/03, 8:55am

Apps: Copernicus, Key Xing, Kairos...

Copernicus 1.2 allows you to capture and handle screenshots in Mac OS X. Verson 1.2 of the $10 shareware adds a simplified preview window, the ability to hide the dock icon, resizable and draggable selection tools, the ability to adjust the watermark and the cursor display, improved movie capture, and other enhancements. It is $10. [920KB]
Parker Software's Archer 2.3.2 adds a custom background selection using the color picker to the free slide show player and image viewer for Mac OS X. [1.0MB]
Bleu Rose has released Black & Bleu 7.1, an update to its comprehensive collection of Macintosh OS error codes with a detailed explanation and suggestions for dealing with many of the errors. It also includes 500 Sad Mac error codes and all 30 PostScript error codes. The standard version is $30 while the Pro version ($130) adds export features. [2.1MB]
Key Xing 2.6 is an update to Luma Code's $7 shareware utility that allows you to launch files, programs, folders, URLs, and AppleScripts from the keyboard. Version 2.6 adds a Google search window, application-specific hot keys, UI improvements, and also disables the Force-Quit option while the screen saver is active. [891KB]
MP3 Sushi beta allows you to turn your Mac into a Jukebox or a Radio broadcast station. The two application bundle can share and stream and share your music over a local network or the Internet. The Mac OS X-only software uses Rendezvous technology and can automatically locate other Jukebox and Radio servers. The "sushi-ware" product is now in beta. [1.1MB]
Kairos 1.1 is a $15 weather graphing and monitoring application for Mac OS X: "[it] records the weather conditions for any location you specify and graphs the data. Current weather conditions can be spoken and displayed in the dock. In addition Kairos can monitor the temperature and send out warning emails if it detects the conditions are becoming icy." It adds dock-based display of weather info, UI enhancements to the preferences, and improved notification. [725KB]
Version 4.1.2 of PowerMail can now import tab delimited or LDIF address files even, improves key word searching, has AppleScript improvements, and other enhancemens. The $50 email client offers Mac OS X Address Book integration, inline spell-checking and multi-level Undo as well as support for POP3, IMAP 4rev1, SMTP protocols as well as APOP and ESMTP authentication standards. [5.0MB]
Red Stone Software's OSXvnc 1.1 is a full featured VNC server providing remote access to the GUI, keyboard and mouse using any VNC client. It adds scroll wheel support, can be restricted to local connections, has enhanced keyboard mapping preferences, and other bug fixes. [206KB]
Pith 1.0b2 is a utility for Safari that tracks the currently open sites and displays them in a window: "If Safari crashes, relaunch it, and Pith can recover the windows that were open." [156KB]

RealViz ships ReTimer SD for AE

02/03, 8:25am

RealViz ships ReTimer SD for AE

RealViz is now shipping ReTimer SD for Mac OS X, a post-production video 'entry' retiming solution that provides a one-stop solution for time warping. ReTimer SD automatically generates new frames in between existing frames for high-quality slow downs or speed-ups--without the need for expensive slow motion cameras. Users can process images in SD Pal, or NTSC formats. The $800 plugin is compatible with After Effects 5.5 and other products, such as combustion and Final Cut Pro.