News Archive for 03/07/29

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Pheon offers pre-press conversion tools

07/29, 6:10pm

Pheon offers pre-press conversion tools

Apago today released Pheon, its $1000 Mac OS X conversion application that can convert from TIFF/IT, Creo Brisque, copydot, JPEG, PNG, and TIFF formats to PDF/X-1a, PDF/X-3, EPS, DCS, JPEG, PNG and TIFF formats. It also provides a full-featured image viewer that supports common formats as well as complex formats such as TIFF/IT-P1 and Brisque native LW+CT files. The viewer provides spot color simulation and separation previews along with an eyedropper tool and rulers for precise inspection. It also offers batch-processing functions.

Apple to fight piracy by competing

07/29, 6:00pm

Apple to fight piracy by competing

The way to go after illegal file sharing services is to compete with them, says Peter Lowe, Apple's Director of Marketing for Applications and Services. This can be done by offering quality and speed that is greater than that of file-swapping services, Lowe says. In the view of Apple, people use these services because they are quick, not because they are free. Lowe also stated that "we fundamentally believe subscriptions are the wrong path," because "that's not what consumers are doing offline [when they buy music]."

iCorrect EditLab 4.0 offers color correction

07/29, 5:30pm

iCorrect EditLab 4.0 offers color correction

Pictographics' iCorrect EditLab 4.0 offers professional quality color correction with a unique AutoQueue function correcting multiple photos. iCorrect offers color balance, white/black point, brightness, contrast, saturation, and hue selective editing functions. It includes special alogrithms for corrrecting colors such as sky blue, foliage green, and skin tones and includes TIFF, TIFF/LZW, JPEG, and BMP support. It runs on Mac OS 9/X and is for $60 ($20 off) for a limited time.

FirewireDirect unveils FireWire 800 enclosure

07/29, 4:50pm

FirewireDirect unveils FireWire 800 enclosure

FirewireDirect has begun shipping its StingRay 800, a dual-interface USB 2.0 and FireWire 800 3.5" desktop hard drive. The StingRay 800 is FirewireDirect's first storage offering available in up to 320GB capacities: "Most users will see sustained reads of over 50MB/s and writes of over 40MB/s." Pricing for the enclosure starts at $140.

Apps: BASh, FruitMenu, ActiveDeveloper, ...

07/29, 4:45pm

Apps: BASh, FruitMenu, ActiveDeveloper, ...

Deep Sky has released BASh 1.8.5, an update to its 4th Dimension component, which provides a dynamic stack space module for reusing variable space, and encoding and cryptography routines and other functions. Version 1.8.5 contains 24 new methods and a whole new module of code. [Download - 6.6MB]
Unsanity has released FruitMenu 3.1.1, an update to its $10 Mac OS X 'haxie' for Apple Menu customization. The new version includes a German localization and a few bug fixes. FruitMenu's visual editor can customize the contents of the Apple Menu and contextual menus for easier file navigation and launching. [Download - 1.1MB]
ActiveDeveloper 2.14 is a maintenance update to the incremental Objective-C & C IDE, JIT compiler and debugger. In addition to Cocoa, version 2.14 now also supports developing QuickTime apps in Objective-C and includes an updated user guide Licensing starts at $50. [Download - form]
Runtime Revolution's Revolution 2.0.2 is a free maintenance update to its multi-platform software development environment. The update offers improved database library access, distribution builder, script editor, and stability improvements. Pricing starts at $75 for a limited time. [Download - 13.3MB]
Dantz has released Retrospect Driver Update 4.0103 for Retrospect 5.1, which adds support Certance/Seagate DAT72, Pioneer DVR-105 (Apple version), Pioneer DVR-106, and three other Tandberg drives. It also includes improved support for Sony's DRU-500A optical drive and improved tape library support. [busy server]
IGG Software has released iWork 1.4, an update to its intuitive time-billing and invoicing application. New features include completely customizable invoice templates, a drop down menu for quickly adding work events and some UI changes as well as bug fixes. iWork costs $25. [Download - 3.2MB]

Reader: LL Bean/Safari conflict

07/29, 2:30pm

Reader: LL Bean/Safari conflict

LL Bean customers who use Apple's Safari Web browser will not be able to place orders, due to a Javascript incompatibility between the site and Safari, according to MacNN reader Drew Saunders. Moreover, the company blames Safari, and suggest customers use Internet Explorer or Netscape to place na order. "The funny thing is that when you use their form to complain, you can enter the information into the form fields just fine, so clearly they need to fix their programming," comments Saunders.

Canon unveils dual-function Optura camcorders

07/29, 1:30pm

Canon unveils dual-function Optura camcorders

Canon today unveiled two new dual-function camcorders, the Optura 300 and the Optura Xi - capture vibrant video or still images, which can then be directly printed on any PictBridge-enabled photo printer. Canon's mini DV Camcorders offer a 10x or 11x optical zoom and a 200x and 220x digital zoom, respectively as well as a 2.0 megapixel CCD.

BuyMusic.com fails to match iTunes experience

07/29, 1:00pm

BuyMusic.com fails to match iTunes experience

Last week Buy.com tried to burst into the online music sales scene, taking cues from Apple's successful iTunes Music Store. Like iTunes, it features no monthly subscription fees and charges a small fee to download a song.

Apps: LiveSearch, iSynCal, SignalScope...

07/29, 12:50pm

Apps: LiveSearch, iSynCal, SignalScope...

LiveSearch 1.0 ($20) locates your files by typing a few letters of its name. It can locate, preview, and launch files, bookmarks, images, and other info. It supports drag & drop, screen saver indexing, file inspection, image browsing, and regular expressions. [1.8MB]
Hog Bay Notebook 2.0 is a $20 personal tool to help organize your ideas. Version 2.0 is a complete rewrite, offering multiple notebooks for easy notebook sharing; wiki links; note titles; real-time search; multiple windows for each note; note highlighting; drop from finder support; "find similar" command and more. [704KB]
RegExTest 1.1 is a shareware Cocoa application used to prototype regular expressions for use in Perl, grep and other applications that use regular expressions. It supplies real-time evaluation of the regular expression against sample text. It is free for educational use and $10 shareware for others. [186KB]
iSynCal 1.6 is built to synchronize events and todo from iCal calendars between two or more Mac computers using the standard Mac OS X File Sharing: "You will no longer need to publish the calendars to be synchronized on an external Ftp or WebDav server nor a .Mac account." A 15-day demo of the is $17 application is available. [467KB]
Benjamin Faber's SignalScope 1.3 is a 2-channel real time audio spectrum analyzer and oscilloscope for Mac OS X. The free update to the $25 shareware offers enhanced trigger controls in on oscilloscope mode. [684KB]
Brian Dunning's Calendar Snap is a FileMaker Pro "snap-in" that allows develpers to integrate a popup calendar (to grab dates) into any FileMaker solution. It now supports non-US dates. Calendar Snap is available for "as-is" integration for free or is $15 for an unlocked version. [21KB]
theKompany.com's Quanta Gold 3.6 is a $40 Web design tool for Mac OS X. It offers syntax highlighting, an integrated ftp client, contextual help for attributes/tags, a tree view for site structure analysis, and contextual documentation for scripting languages such as PHP, JavaScript and CSS as well as other features. [6.5MB]
idleWeb 1.0 is a free screen saver module for Mac OS X that allows you to load websites while your computer sleeps: "However, this is not a web browser and therefor you are unable to actively browse the website. You can set it to work in the background so that the site loads on your desktop." [16MB]

Sonnet offers 1.4GHz G4 upgrade

07/29, 12:20pm

Sonnet offers 1.4GHz G4 upgrade

Sonnet today introduced Encore/ST G4 1.4 GHz, its fastest upgrade card for the Power Mac G4. It utilizes the 745X series of Motorola G4 chips, has 2MB DDR (Double Data Rate) L3 backside cache, and delivers processor performance of up to four times that of the original system. The Encore/ST line also includes upgrades with speeds of 800MHz, 1.0GHz, and 1.2GHz. All models are compatible with many G4 systems that employ AGP graphics. The Encore/ST G4 1.4GHz is priced at $600; the $60 Cube Dealer Installation Kit will be available "soon".

Iconfactory releases Clipper System icon set

07/29, 11:55am

Iconfactory releases Clipper System icon set

Iconfactory's "New Icon Tuesdays" offers Clipper System, a set of freeware system replacement icons from resident artist, Gedeon Maheux. Clipper contains over 80 all-new icons for use with CandyBar, our popular system icon utility for Mac OS X. Clipper's icons are simple and clean with open/drop states included for all folder icons. It is available as Mac OS X, and Win XP icons or as an easy-to-use iContainer for use with CandyBar and the newly released Pixadex.

NewTek previews LightWave 3D [8] at SIGGRAPH

07/29, 11:45am

NewTek previews LightWave 3D [8] at SIGGRAPH

NewTek previewed LightWave 3D [8] at SIGGRAPH 2003 and also announced that NewTek's LightWave was the winner of a 2003 Primetime Emmy Engineering Award. LightWave combines a state-of-the-art photo-real renderer with intuitive and powerful modeling and animation tools to create a 3D production solution for broadcast graphics, games, print, web, and visual effects for film and television. Version 8, due later this year, offers enhancements in dynamics, character animation, modeling workflow, animation workflow, and texturing tools.

Anark ships Anark Studio 2 for Mac OS X

07/29, 11:35am

Anark ships Anark Studio 2 for Mac OS X

Anark today released Anark Studio 2 for Mac OS X, offering a revolutionary platform for integrating 3D, video, images, audio and interactivity, and delivering over CD-ROM, DVD-ROM and the Web. Anark Studio supports OpenGL, QuickTime video export, an improved timeline, screensaver export, and improved rendering. Featuring an optimized workflow and industry standard timeline, Anark Studio 2 utilizes a flexible workspace, drag-and-drop JavaScript-based behaviors, and compositing and 3D features found only in high-end compositing and rendering systems. It is available now for $1000.

Alias launches new Maya Learning Tools

07/29, 11:30am

Alias launches new Maya Learning Tools

Alias Systems announced today the launch of new Maya 'Learning Tools' books and DVDs. Over 75 Learning Tools are now available, including a new DVD series for beginners looking familiarize themselves with the recently-released Maya 5. There are also Maya 5 books for intermediate artists, and new techniques DVDs for advanced users. Prices range from $20 to $130 for training materials; prices of Maya 5 books have been reduced to $60 from $80.

Fuji debuts new FinePix digital cameras

07/29, 8:40am

Fuji debuts new FinePix digital cameras

Fuji Photo Film today announced its flagship FinePix S7000, a 6 megapixel camera that offers "the highest" resolution image files available to consumers. Other new cameras from the company include the FinePix S5000 ($500) with 10x optical zoom, the FinePix A310 ($300) with its advanced CCD, and two new digital cameras for consumers--the 2.1MP FinePix A205 ($280) and the 3.2MP FinePix A210 ($300). The FinePix S7000 ($800) will ship in October, while the others are expected to be available next month.

MadsonLine intros Neoprene iPod Jogging Pack

07/29, 8:20am

MadsonLine intros Neoprene iPod Jogging Pack

MadsonLine today announced the Neoprene iPod Jogging Pack, a hip-pack for convenient storage of Apple's popular MP3 player. The lightweight neoprene construction offers compatibility with all iPod models iPods and includes a velcro strap to hold iPod securely in place: "The iPod Jogging Pack is designed with active people in mind. Ideal for everyone from the casual walker to the serious athlete." It is available for a special introductory price of $30 (regularly $40).

Apps: Thunderbird, Intaglio, Ask the DJ...

07/29, 1:20am

Apps: Thunderbird, Intaglio, Ask the DJ...

Mozilla Thunderbird is a redesign of the Mozilla mail component: "Our goal is to produce a cross platform stand alone mail application using the XUL user interface language. Our intended customer is someone who uses [a stand alone browser] as his primary browser and wants a mail client based on Mozilla that 'plays nice' with the browser." [11MB]
Intaglio 1.5 is an update to the Mac OS X drawing and illustration application by Purgatory Design. It adds the ability to bind text to a graphics path and fixes a few bugs. Intaglio is available for an introductory price of $60 until August 1st and will be $90 thereafter. [1.5MB]
Wild Bits has released Ask the DJ 1.3, an update to the sophisticated mix engine which analyses the music's rhythm to perform DJ-like transitions between tracks. Version 1.3 handles AAC protected (".m4p") files from the Music Store and can index FAT (MS-DOS) volumes, such as iPods. The $30 shareware runs on Mac OS X. [1.1MB]
AB2FM 1.1 is a tool that automatically imports all records of the Apple Address Book into a FileMaker-file. It is free for personal use, but requires a $5 license for full access. [32KB]
Manyetas has released Ritmo 1.0.3, a new free update to its $25 streamlined drum sampler AudioUnit. It can now select the audio device on which sample auditions will be heard as well as handles the master volume and all notes off MIDI controllers and MIDI pitch bend. [3.4MB]
MacFamilyTree 3.6b7, now in beta, helps document, store, and display information about your family. Users can draw and print family trees, lists, cards, heritage charts, descendant charts and genograms as well as include multiple partners and people in same sex relationships. The $25 application runs on Mac OS 9/X. [1.5MB]

iTools 7.1 supports Apache 2, Apache 1.3

07/29, 1:00am

iTools 7.1 supports Apache 2, Apache 1.3

Tenon today released iTools 7.1, adding the ability to support either Apache 2 or Apache 1.3 to its Web server configuration application. It now allows administrators to now toggle back to Apache 1.3 for FileMaker Web Connectorsupport and includes Apache 2.0.47, PHP 4.3.2, phpMyAdmin 2.5.1 and MySQL 4.0.13. Other changes include: an improved interface, disk quotas for ftp users, new web log reports, and easier MySQL set-up. Existing Apache settings are also now imported automatically. It is a free update to the $350 application.

Uwe Gohlke offers HELIOS backup on Mac OS X

07/29, 12:45am

Uwe Gohlke offers HELIOS backup on Mac OS X

Uwe Gohlke Software has released ES-Backup 3.2, which offers data backup and archiving solution for HELIOS publishing servers as an HELIOS independant version. It brings HFS+ support for Mac OS X computers, barcode support in tape changers, faster backup and restore as well as software write-protection and recycling of tapes. The new script implementation allows to run customizable commands before and after backup and restore jobs. SCSI and FireWire tape changers and tape drives such as AIT, DLT, SLR and VXA as well as backup to hard drives are all supported.