News Archive for 03/06/05

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Q & A session with Corel on Bryce

06/05, 10:10pm

Q & A session with Corel on Bryce

Corel representative Meredith Dundas provided us with answers to a number of questions relating to the discontinuation of Bryce for the Mac.

SoftRAID enters final beta testing

06/05, 8:15pm

SoftRAID enters final beta testing

SoftRAID 3.0, the long-awaited Mac OS X version of the popular utility, today entered its third-party beta testing phase. The new version supports RAID levels 0 and 1 volumes on any combination of FireWire, ATA, SCSI and Fibre Channel drives. Version 3 also offers automatic rebuilding of Mirror volumes, volume optimization, and a new concept of Mirror sets, "all with the high reliability and performance SoftRAID users have come to expect." It is expected to ship on July 25, 2003; the suggested retail price for SoftRAID 3.0 will be $150.

O'Reilly publishes iPhoto2 Missing Manual

06/05, 7:35pm

O'Reilly publishes iPhoto2 Missing Manual

O'Reilly has released "iPhoto2: The Missing Manual," a guide to iPhoto and digital imaging in general. "The book covers choosing and mastering a digital camera, the basics of good photocomposition, and tips for shooting special subjects like sports, kids, nighttime shots, and more." The book explored iPhoto's wide range of tools, shortcuts, and database-like features, in addition to reviewing the application's "complete arsenal of photo-presentation features, and sophisticated multimedia and internet hooks."

Cleveland store location background

06/05, 5:40pm

Cleveland store location background

MacNN reader Robert Ortenzi pointed us to some background information on the 'Legacy Village' in Cleveland, Ohio -- the anticipated location for an upcoming Apple retail store in the city. “Retailers were clamoring for the site because of its location — at the corner of Cedar and Richmond roads, directly across from Beachwood Place, one of Ohio’s top-performing centers. Beachwood Place is anchored by Northern Ohio’s only Saks Fifth Avenue and Nordstrom, and demographics in the area are among the highest in OH.”

Kanguru debuts new dual reader device

06/05, 3:25pm

Kanguru debuts new dual reader device

Kanguru today announced the release of a new Compact Flash card reader and USB flash drive. The new drive, dubbed the KanguruMicro CF, can be plugged into any USB port and is driverless with most operating systems. The KanguruMicro CF will appear as two drives, providing the option of storing data on the drive or on either the Compact Flash card or the IBM MicroDrive. It fits in the palm of your hand and weighs 20 grams. It is available in three capacities including 32MB, 64MB and 128MB, starting at $40.

OmniWeb 4.5 beta supports Internet standards

06/05, 2:10pm

OmniWeb 4.5 beta supports Internet standards

The Omni Group today released the first public beta of OmniWeb 4.5, an update to its popular web browser. OmniWeb 4.5 beta is the first widely available version of OmniWeb to incorporate the open source WebCore and JavaScriptCore frameworks from Apple, bringing greatly improved support for the latest Internet standards like CSS, HTML, XHTML, and JavaScript to the browser. In addition to greater compatibility, OmniWeb 4.5 also contains many enhancements and fixes a number of bugs over previous versions. Improvements have been made to bookmarks, AutoFill, plug-ins, history indexing, and more. It requires Mac OS X 10.2 or later.

Apple to patch Apache 2.0 in OS X Server

06/05, 2:05pm

Apple to patch Apache 2.0 in OS X Server

eWeek reports that "Apple is preparing to release a security update to Mac OS X Server, sources said. The patch will reportedly update Mac OS X's installation of Apache 2.0, fixing a security vulnerability. The company Wednesday seeded a pre-release copy of the update to developers. The security update was marked June 5, indicating that Apple plans to release it to users today."

Qdea releases Synchronize! Pro X 3.0

06/05, 12:10pm

Qdea releases Synchronize! Pro X 3.0

Qdea today released Synchronize! Pro X 3.0, a "major" upgrade to its Mac OS X backup and file synchronization utility. The new version archives files that are replaced or deleted, so that old files can be accessed later. Archived files can be grouped into convenient sizes for writing to CD-R or DVD, and archive disk space is automatically reclaimed by removing the oldest files to make space for new files. It can also create bootable OS X backups, offers scheduling features, and supports 255-character Unicode file names and OS X file permissions. A demo of the $100 application is available online.

Apple to open store in Chestnut Hill, MA

06/05, 11:40am

Apple to open store in Chestnut Hill, MA

Apple will hold the grand opening for its Apple Store Chestnut Hill in Chestnut Hill, MA on Saturday, June 14, as noted by a MacNN reader last February. Apple will giveaway T-shirt to the first 1000 people to visit the Apple Store and will also feature a week of free educational presentations, demonstrations, and workshops. The Apple Store Chestnut Hill is located on the ground level near Filene's retail store in the Mall at Chestnut Hill.

dvGarage releases The Terrain Toolkit

06/05, 11:30am

dvGarage releases The Terrain Toolkit

dvGarage has released The Terrain Toolkit. "Converted from USGS Digital Elevation Map (DEM) data, the product contains over 900 grayscale images that represent height data of many locations in the US: "Though free, DEM files can only be used in a handful of applications in their raw form. By converting the files to grayscale imagery, 3D artists can easily use the information as displacement maps.... Conversion also allows for further editing in Photoshop to create landscapes based on reality but conforming to specific needs of production." The Mac version includes a DEM viewer capable of opening, viewing, and converting DEM files to grayscale images. The $130 kit is available for $80 through June 13, 2003.

Stupendous debuts iMovie plugin 'sixpacks'

06/05, 11:25am

Stupendous debuts iMovie plugin 'sixpacks'

Stupendous Software has released two new iMovie plugin packs. Each "sixpack" contains six of Stupendous Software's effects plugin packs, priced at a $50 discount. The "Sixpack Alpha" (147 effects) contains the following plugin packs: Glows & Blurs, Labels & Overlays, Scratch & Dirt, Smoke & Glass, Time Effects, Time Effects 2. The "Sixpack Beta" (163 effects) contains the following plugin packs: Ascii & Art, Color Effects, Crops & Zooms, Levels & Balances, Masks & Compositing, SplitScreen & PiP. Each pack is $100 ($50 off), while individual plugins are $25 each.

Gentoo platform to support Mac OS X

06/05, 11:20am

Gentoo platform to support Mac OS X

After releasing bootable CDs for Macs yesterday, Gentoo Linux today announced that it would bring its Fink-like package ("port") system to Mac OS X: "We're pleased to announce that the Gentoo platform will soon be available for Mac OS X. This means that users will be able to enjoy the the power and simplicity of the Gentoo platform and Portage where they happen to be, on the operating system they are currently using -- even if that operating system isn't GNU/Linux. We want to give our users more choices than anyone else, including the ability to use non-GNU operating systems and non-Linux kernels if they have that particular requirement or desire."

Apps: LaunchBar, SwitchRes, Cocoa eFax...

06/05, 11:00am

Apps: LaunchBar, SwitchRes, Cocoa eFax...

Objective Development today released LaunchBar 3.2.11, an update to popular keyboard-based launcher utility that offers the ability to launch any application, URL, and/or document by simply typing the first letters of the application (or any custom abbreviation). The update fixes copmatibility with other applications (Hide/Show functions), Camino bookmarks, Mac OS X's Address Book, and iTunes new AAC format files. A home user license is $20, while a business license is $40. [243KB]
Flash AV Players 1.6 is an application that broadcasts SWF (Audio and Video) and JPEG files by loading XML playlists. It also features navigation and sound controls (across tracks and playlists), preloading according to connection speed, crossfade of movies, and other features.
Ben Mackin's Cocoa eFax 1.2 allows you to send faxes from your computer using your internal or external modem. Users can receive unlimited numbers of documents, but can only send 5 documents before paying the $10 shareware registration. The update fixes a wake-from-sleep issue, adds a new template-based coversheet with new items, has the ability to manually send faxes, and other features. [1.7MB]
Jaguar Cache Cleaner 1.8.1 is a utility designed to provide easy access to numerous OS X maintenance and utility options. It helps simplify system maintenance chores with an easy point and click interface to many OS X functions. JCC's Deep Cleaning option is no longer limited to the single logged in user and it also hooks into the .Mac version of the Virex command line scanner for automated or scheduled virus scanning and cleaning of all users home folders. [162KB]
SearchWare has released Print Window 2.1.1, its utility for printing file listings from directly within the Mac OS X Finder. The new version adds the ability to initiate the generation of a file listing from Print Window's Dock Menu and improves the reliability of the Command-P shortcut. The donationware runs on Mac OS X only. [1.4MB]
SwitchRes X 3.04 is a background application that allows you to control the resolutions of all your displays via a Control Panel, a Menu Extra, and/or a Contextual Menu extension are bundled. It allows you access some system resolutions not available via the standard 'Displays' preference pain and can add custom name tags to individual resolutions. [1.2MB]

Apple announces launch of Final Cut Pro 4

06/05, 10:30am

Apple announces launch of Final Cut Pro 4

Apple today announced that Final Cut Pro 4, the next generation of Apple's editing software for film, HD, SD and DV, will be available at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, June 14, at participating Apple Authorized Resellers and Apple retail stores. Selected stores will host a "4@4" kick-off event with theater demos and industry-leading editors sharing how their latest projects were made with Final Cut Pro. Pricing starts at $1000 for a new license and $400 for upgrades.