News Archive for 03/09/11

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Pixar to launch RenderMan Pro Server for Mac

09/11, 7:45pm

Pixar to launch RenderMan Pro Server for Mac

Pixar has officially announced that RenderMan Pro Server will be available for the Mac, bringing Pixar's "Academy Award winning rendering technology to the Apple community." RenderMan Pro Server will include the latest release of Pixar's RenderMan 11.5, featuring technology developed during Pixar's work on "Finding Nemo." It will be available fourth quarter of 2003.

MicroWarehouse files for bankruptcy

09/11, 7:00pm

MicroWarehouse files for bankruptcy

MicroWarehouse, parent company of MacWarehouse filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection yesterday in the U.S., according to MacWorld UK. The company lists assets of over $100 million and debts of more than $100 million. The company announced agreement September 8 that it would sell its assets at a cost of $22 million to U.S. independent direct seller of computers and software, CDW.

The Beatles sue Apple over iPod, iTunes

09/11, 6:40pm

The Beatles sue Apple over iPod, iTunes

The Beatles' band company, Apple Corps, has sued Apple over the iPod and iTunes Music Store, according to Fox News: "The case was apparently filed a short time ago in London's High Court of Justice, but was just served on Apple Computers in California in the last couple of days." Apple has been sued twice before by the company and paid an nearly $50 million in settlements--initially for a trademark settlement on its name and then subsequently when "computers starting having music come through attachable speakers" because it had agreed previously to solely use its brand in the computer business and not to enter the music business under its brand name.

Mac Digital Photography explores iLife, Mac

09/11, 5:00pm

Mac Digital Photography explores iLife, Mac

"Mac Digital Photography" is a new book by Erica Sadun that covers topics that range from choosing equipment to effectively composing and lighting photos, image repair to processing and sharing pictures. "This unique book shows how to revolutionize your approach to photography using Macintosh systems and iLife software."  Mac Digital Photography is among the first guides to address itself specifically to digital photography with the Macintosh and iLife platforms, according to the publisher.

Sharp ships 37-inch professional LCD monitor

09/11, 3:30pm

Sharp ships 37-inch professional LCD monitor

Sharp Electronics today announced it has begun shipping the LC-M3700, a 37-inch professional LCD video monitor. The LC-M3700's backlight has a 60,000-hour life, widescreen high-definition resolution, true 16 x 9 aspect ratio and 1366 x 768 native resolution, and an 800:1 contrast ratio on its non- glare screen as well as a 170-degree viewing angles. It also features a Black TFT/Bright Pixel Elimination feature that ensures that failed pixels are virtually invisible to the viewer while eliminating the risk of "ghost" images that can occasionally appear on plasma monitors. It is available now for $8,000.

Prosoft updates Data Rescue 10.3 utility

09/11, 2:55pm

Prosoft updates Data Rescue 10.3 utility

Prosoft Engineering today released Data Rescue 10.3, an update to its popular emergency file recovery program. The free update includes support of long file names and re-designed algorithms make this version close to 300% faster than the previous version. The $90 utility runs on Mac OS X (as well as Mac OS 8/9 with its older Classic and Legacy applications). An optional emergency bootable CD is also available as well as a free evaluation version.

Agfa adds new font collections to Fonts.com

09/11, 2:05pm

Agfa adds new font collections to Fonts.com

Agfa Monotype has added 25 fonts and font packages from Bannigan Artworks (Celti-BA and Hallock), Chris Costello (Blackstone and Virus) and Joe VanDerBos (Beachbuoy and CandyKitchen) on Fonts.com, following the recent additions from Fontsmith and Baseline Fonts. The font packages are available in both PostScript and TrueType formats and range in price starting $22 for a single font and $74 for full volumes.

HiSoftware offers Flash accessibility plugins

09/11, 1:55pm

HiSoftware offers Flash accessibility plugins

HiSoftware has released Hi-Caption SE and AccRepair for Macromedia Flash MX 2004. These solutions offers tools from within Flash for managing captioning and the accessibility of their Flash projects--in complete conformance with standards mandated by Section 508 and the W3C accessibility guidelines. directly within the Flash authoring tool. AccRepair offers testing and remediation of the accessibility of Flash content and applications, while Hi-Caption SE offers caption creation, editing, and testing. Each tool is $100.

SimplyProjects manages developer projects

09/11, 1:50pm

SimplyProjects manages developer projects

Anarakis Software's SimplyProjects is a project management system for small-scale and shareware software development. Developers can enter and track feature requests, to-do tasks and bug reports on a per-project basis. Users can also export project information either as plain text (ASCII) or HTML files as well as generate report documents such as Read-Me's and Version Histories. It is $25 per user and runs on Mac OS X.

OWC cuts prices on Extreme G4 upgrades

09/11, 1:45pm

OWC cuts prices on Extreme G4 upgrades

Other World Computing today lowered pricing of its Mercury Extreme G4 processor upgrades by up to $50. "Featuring an ultra-quiet custom cooling solution and Tantalum-dipped components (which resist damage from electrostatic discharge), Mercury Extreme G4 upgrades are designed for extreme reliability and longevity" and are backed by a three-year warranty and a 30-day money-back guarantee. Prices are $250 for the G4/800MHz model ($20 drop), $450 for the G4/1.25GHz ($50 drop), $530 for the G4/1.33GHz ($20 drop), and $580 for the G4/1.4GHz ($30 drop) model.

Apps: PDF Viewer, Herodotus, JAlbum...

09/11, 11:25am

Apps: PDF Viewer, Herodotus, JAlbum...

object craft has released PDF Viewer 1.3, a free alternative to the standard PDF viewer. "PDFViewer is a barebones PDF viewer. It is simple, small and much faster than the alternatives." [143KB]
Qdea's Synchronize! Plus 1.2 is a file synchronization and backup utility for personal data on Mac OS X. Version 1.2 allows multiple syncs to be started at one time, adds better navigation features, and other changes. It is $30 for an initial one-year license and $20 for a two-year renewal. [514KB]
Herodotus 1.1 is a web browser history search application. It allows you to search the history file of many popular Mac web browsers. Supported browsers include: Safari, Internet Explorer, OmniWeb, Netscape / Mozilla, Firebird, Camino and Opera. [1MB]
iPhotoToGallery 0.3-beta adds Gallery 1.4 support to the tool that allows users to export your pictures from iPhoto to Gallery (PHP-based web gallery tool) simply and quickly using a simple iPhoto plugin. [53KB
David Ekholm's JAlbum 3.6 is a freeware Java-based utility for generating Web galleries, with functions for thumbnails, scaling, slideshows, integrated ftp, EXIF support, image filters, etc.: "It does not touch or modify your original images in any way. It just adds some files and folders to the image folder you specify during web creation." [2.2MB]
Northern Softworks has released Jaguar Cache Cleaner 1.8.6 ($8), an update to its utility for system maintenance and optimization .Mac users with Virex installed can now run Safe Folder scanning. It also adds the ability to optimize file caching via the kern.maxvnodes parameter and the ability to force delete files and folders. [2.6MB]

Baltimore Sun looks at Apple's .Mac services

09/11, 10:50am

Baltimore Sun looks at Apple's .Mac services

Dot Mac revisited looks at value of Apple's .Mac subscription service: " When I wrote about .Mac last year, I noted that while it had some compelling features, the service was not worth $100 every year -- and that it would attract few renewals unless Apple enhanced it significantly. On the surface, it would seem that the .Mac of September 2003 doesn't offer much more than the .Mac of September 2002....but for the technically challenged who need a basic, easy means of sharing files over the Web and synching their data, .Mac lives up to its promise."

MySQL Studio 4.2.5 manages databases

09/11, 10:40am

MySQL Studio 4.2.5 manages databases

MySQL Studio 4.2.5 is a set of MySQL GUI tools for database management, import/export, backup and monitoring tools; it offers full control over any MySQL database server, including a graphical manager for users and access privileges, data transfer from one MySQL server to another, backup and restore of databases, local and remote connections, and more. The new version supports to configure Foreign Keys and contains many enhancements and refinements to other features. It is available for $85 through the end of the month.

Scalado releases ImagePilot for Flash MX 2004

09/11, 10:35am

Scalado releases ImagePilot for Flash MX 2004

Scalado AB today launched ImagePilot, an extension that adds smart interactivity to images with Flash MX 2004. Using ImagePilot in Flash will enable users to quickly and effectively develop interactive image presentations with numerous effects without leaving the Flash environment. It has been designed for web developers who need to make high-resolution image presentations and details available for various platforms, such as the web and for mobile devices. Users can create bandwidth efficient image presentations with hot spots and other effects as well as automatically crop high-resolution JPEG photos straight from a digital still camera. It is $100.

SubRosaSoft ships HomeGuardian for Mac OS X

09/11, 4:45am

SubRosaSoft ships HomeGuardian for Mac OS X

SubRosaSoft today released HomeGuardian, an application that turns a Mac and a web camera into a security system by integrating motion detection with extremely flexible reporting: "When HomeGuardian detects any movement, it can sound an audio alert and snap a series of photos then immediately send them via eMail away from the scene to a designated eMail account. Any evidence will be kept secure since it's sent offsite." It offers both on-screen and email alerts as well as logging features. The $35 application runs on Mac OS X.