News Archive for 03/12/01

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Apple Europe Store boss: 'crisis under control'

12/01, 9:55pm

Store trouble under control

Apple has admitted that its European Apple Store experienced “teething problems” this year following the implementation of a new logistics system, reports MacWorld UK. Apple Europe admits that at one time 39 per cent of its online customers experienced delivery delays. Despite this, Apple Store Europe director Francois Duquesne insists that “the crisis is now under control", adding: "We have fixed the broken parts, and have the capacity to respond. Now we only have problems with 10-15 per cent of orders. I predict that in two weeks we will see a resolution of these issues.”

Reader: Apple iPod ads "branded" with smear message

12/01, 9:35pm

iPod ads branded with smear

A MacNN reader reports that disgruntled iPod users have vandalized advertisements for the music player in Manhattan. "Just noticed as I walked down 6th Avenue in Manhattan, only a few blocks from the Apple store [...] all iPod posters have been "branded" with a smear-like message," the reader reports. The branding reads, "iPod's unreplaceable (sic) battery lasts only 18 months.” Last week we reported on a "anti-advertising" Web site launched to highlight this problem with the popular music player. Update: Meanwhile, one reader calls the video "grossly inaccurate" in his iPod retailation video, while another MacNN reader has posted a conversation with the authors that sheds a different light on their "sensationalism" message; however, the Neistat brothers have subsequently updated their page with more (accurate) information.

Apps: Media 100, Cheetah3D, SoftRAID, JunkBroom ...

12/01, 9:15pm

Media 100, Cheetah3D

Media 100 i Version 8.2.1 provides support for the Power Mac G5 (via an expansion chassis) and OS X v 10.3.1 (Panther). It has also been tested and approved for G4 733 Digital Audio, G4 QuickSilver, G4 Mirrored Drive Doors and G4 FireWire and other Power Macs. [Download - 15.5MB]
Cheetah3D 1.0 is a 3D modeler for Mac OS X that offers many tools, from polygon editing over subdivision surfaces to boolean operations. It costs $60, and was written "from ground up" in Cocoa. [Download - 4.3MB]
SoftRAID today released version 3.0.2 of its self-titled software RAID application. Version 3.0.2 has the same feature set as the previous version, but fixes bugs related to G5 Macs. SoftRAID sells for $130. [Download - 3.4MB]
JunkBroom 1.02 updates the statistical junk mail filter for Microsoft Entourage. Version 1.02 adds German localization, changes to the preferences, and other small UI changes. [Download - 663KB]
JunkMatcher 0.53 supplements the junk mail filtering in Apple's Mail.app email client with other "various effective techniques such as IP-based filtering, and flexible regular expressions." It is a set of simple Python scripts glued to Mail.app's rule system, using an AppleScript script. [Download - 16KB]
The $15 shareware TimeLog 1.0 helps track time spent on a project from within application. It also integrates with to analyze iCal Calendars and calculate the time you spend on your projects. It is available in English, German, Swedish and Hungarian. [Download - 1.1MB]
Greppie 1.0 ($15) is offers a GUI for the unix-based search tool for both simple and advanced searches. It offers searches through large text files, multiple files and/or directorie, drag & drop support, regular expression searching, and a single window results display. [Download - 1.0MB]
Solutions Etcetera has released SuperCard 4.1.2, a free update to the powerful authoring environment. Version 4.1.2 insures developers can continue to offer the proper look and feel in their SuperCard projects under Apple's new Mac OS X 10.3. [Download - form]

Mac ranked top revolutionary product by Playboy

12/01, 6:05pm

Playboy praises Mac

In the 50th Anniversary January 2004 issue of adult magazine Playboy, the Apple Macintosh Desktop Computer is ranked #1 among the products that most "changed the world." With a 128 kilobyte hard drive, the original Macintosh "had one 312,500th of the memory that Apple's latest MP3 player now possesses. But for most folks at the time, it had power to spare."

BBC video report looks at Panther update

12/01, 5:40pm

BBC report on Panther

BBC technology correspondent Ian Hardy takes a look at Apple's Mac OS X 10.3 "Panther", in his latest video report, and finds out "what people are saying" about the update. "Apple, fed up with playing second string to Windows, has been taking its operating system from strength to strength. The result is a new front end and some very solid Unix technology under the bonnet."

New benchmarks to gauge supercomputers

12/01, 5:05pm

Supercomputer benchmarking

Just as clusters of inexpensive systems are hitting new milestones in supercomputing -- such as the Virginia Tech Apple G5 cluster -- a group of 20 top researchers has kicked off a program to redefine the benchmarks used to measure high-performance systems. The High Productivity Computing Systems aims to deliver benchmarks that measure multiple hardware and software aspects of a computer's overall capabilities. "The goal is to move toward more systems-level design that has an appreciation for software development and execution time," said one senior researcher.

Apple set to open retail store in Alpharetta, Georgia

12/01, 3:45pm

Apple Store Northpoint

Apple today announced the official opening of its second Georgia retail store (noted in early October) in Alpharetta, GA, after being delayed for about a week. Apple Store North Point will open on December 6 at 10 a.m. It is located in the North Point mall on the lower level near JC Penney between Brookstone and Victoria's Secret. Apple will be offering free Apple T-shirts to the first 1000 people to visit the store and is holding a Grand Opening Sweepstakes to win a Digital Lifestyle Collection (valued at nearly $2300).

Apple recognized for branding, strategic direction

12/01, 3:35pm

Apple iPod, ITMS win kudos

Apple today was recognized for its leadership in the online music industry: "The insightful brand strategy behind the iPod, iTunes and the latest part of this digital music package, the iTunes Music Store, wins Apple kudos for one of the clear brand hits of 2003," according to Prophet, a leading management consulting firm specializing in the integration of brand, business and marketing strategy.

Buena updates Effect Essentials 1.6 for FCP 4.1

12/01, 2:55pm

Effect Essentials 1.6

Buena Software has released Effect Essentials 1.6, an update to its suite of plugins for Adobe After Effects and Final Cut Pro. Version 1.6 of the plugin suite now works Final Cut Pro 4.1; it also updates the custom interface elements in Super RGB Curves, HSV Curves, and HSV Manipulator for live updating of the video while you scrub parameter values and also adds support for Alpha Channels in Radial Glow. The suite includes Camera Flash, Digital Interference, HSV Manipulator, HSV Curves, Edge Manipulator, Radial Glow, Super RGB Curvers, Pixel Manipulator and more. It is available for $200 ($50 off) through the end of the year.

Apps: Biferno, AudioFinder, KidzMail, ftp-config...

12/01, 2:45pm

AudioFinder, KidzMail

AudioFinder 2.8 ($50) offers a simple interface for organizing and playing audio files (AIFF, AIFC, SDII, REX, and WAV formats supported); it also has a BPM feature that will either guess the beats-per-minute in a drum loop or song sample for you, or let users tap out the beats of the rhythm on its BPM Tap Pad to manually determine the tempo. [1.3MB]
KidzMail 1.2 ($10) updates the email client that allows children to draw pictures and send them to people in their address book.. It brings support for Mac OS X 10.3 Panther, displays thumbnails, can delete mail from the server when downloading mail, can speak the written the text during message composition, and has other enhancements. [Classic, OSX]
The freeware PureFTPd Manager 1.1b1 brings Panther compatibility to the Cocoa frontend to PureFTPd, "a free (BSD), secure, production-quality and standard-conformant FTP server based upon Troll-FTPd", for Mac OS X. [1.0MB]
Authoxy 2.1 runs "locally as a proxy server to intercept HTTP and HTTPS requests, forwarding them on to your regular proxy with authentication details you define in a System Preference Pane. Such a process is required to use many web services (MacHelp, QuickTime, iTunes) behind a proxy requiring authentication." [443KB]
The $15 shareware MovieOut 1.2 "takes your movies and streams them to a DV device such as a DV camera (with FireWire/i-link). Convert your existing movies to DV files and stream them onto your camera using MovieOut. Included are editing features and ability to export to many other movie formats!" [1.0MB]
The $20 shareware ftp-config 2.2 is a GUI that helps you install a professional ftp-server on Mac (OSX): "No need for compiling, installing and configuring. Quick and simple with support from 'ftp-config". [1.2MB]
Snergy Creations has released ConverTable Units 2.4 ($15), which adds a large number of additional units (now over 400) in existing and new plug-in categories. Additionally, Panther compatibility is improved. ConverTable Units can "show the math" being used in each conversion. [Classic, OSX]
Tabasoft's Biferno 1.02 is an open-source object-oriented, HTML embedded, scripting language for web development. The high-level built-in classes, with their methods and properties, and a plug-in architecture that makes the language completely extensible. [Classic, OSX]
Creative Manager Pro 5.86 adds a new service to quickly import Adman databases. The business solution for agency and project management offers costing, billing and accounting to offer full Project Management, CRM, Digital Asset Management, and Extranet capabilities./li>

Propellerhead announces ReCycle 2.1 for Mac OS X

12/01, 12:00pm

ReCycle 2.1 for Mac OS X

Propellerhead Software has announced ReCycle 2.1, a new version of its "loop chopping software." Currently in beta testing, the software will ship with with Reason Adapted and Reload for instant cutting, converting and composing. Version 2.1 will also feature multiple undos, Mac OS X support, and full 24-bit resolution, new ReCycle 2.1 makes your sampled loops and grooves more managable then ever. ReCycle 2.1 also allows users to slice up samples into rhythmical sound chunks and create REX2 files. Interested users can apply for to be beta testers, while the release version is expected by the end of the year for $230. It will run on Mac OS X 10.2 or later.

LightWorks 7.4 adds "Real-time" rendering technology

12/01, 10:15am

LightWorks 7.4 details

LightWork Design today announced details of new realtime rendering technology in LightWorks 7.4, which the company says will be released soon. The new technology will enable interactive rendering of high-quality images using portable LightWorks shaders that operate seamlessly in both hardware and software rendering. It has also been designed for integration directly into a 3D application’s existing graphics subsystem, allowing software developers access to high-quality, interactive rendering throughout the modelling process. By providing the power to support LightWorks shaders, on graphics hardware supporting Cg or the OpenGL Shading Language as well as in the advanced software rendering engine, LightWorks 7.4 allows users and applications to seamlessly and consistently switch back-and-forth between hardware and software rendering.

Tri-Backup 4.0 adds new backup functions, filters

12/01, 10:00am

Tri-Backup 4.0

Tri-Edre today released Tri-Backup 4.0, an upgrade to its backup utility for Mac OS X that offers both immediate and scheduled backup functions as well as support for compression, encryption, bootable disk creation, and background operation. Version 4.0 offers a new interface, a queue for jobs, a new 'Archive' function (copy and delete), new filters, the ability to launch pre- and post-job scripts, support for files larger than 2GB, modication of file/folder info, and other options. The full version is $50, with upgrades priced at $30. It runs on Mac OS 9/X; a free 30-day demo is available. [Classic, OSX]

Apple.com leads hardware e-commerce sites websites

12/01, 9:40am

Apple.com leads PC websites

Apple.com led all computer hardware e-commerce sites with 4.5 million visitors for the week ended Nov. 16, topping Dell.com by 53%, according to Nielsen/NetRatings. Dell.com had nearly 3 million visitors, followed by Hewlett-Packard's HPShopping.com with 2.7 million, according to Internet Retailer.

Vvidget graphing system adds 3D graphs

12/01, 9:25am

Vvidget graphing system

VVI today announced version 9.0.10 of its Vvidget graphing system, an "advanced and powerful reporting and data visualization system. The newest release adds three dimensional surface and scatter plots with features such as real-time 3D rotation, surface normal shading and depth queuing, printing, PDF exporting and drag and drop to text editors, mail and other applications. All available in a breathtaking and powerful GUI layout application, a high-transaction report server, data-oriented wizard interfaces, Interface Builder drag and drop palette, and a programming API and framework design." Vvidget Pro is designed with a component architecture and comes with a significant number of pre-assembled form, report, chart and graph types.

Hoodman launches FlashPack CompactFlash card case

12/01, 9:15am

FlashPack CF carry case

Hoodman Corporation has introduced a new CompactFlash card case. Constructed of fine leather, the FlashPack allows you to carry your CompactFlash cards on your belt for easy access. The case features a zip closure and holds up to four CF cards. It is available now for $15 and comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee: "Hoodman stands behind all of his products 100%. If you are not satisfied with any Hoodman product, for any reason, within 30 days of receiving it, simply return it for a replacement hood or a full refund."

Apple Store opening in Tokyo, Panther in China

12/01, 8:55am

Apple Store Tokyo photos

JapanConsuming, a specialist retail and consumer markets research company based in Tokyo, has provided a full report on the opening of Apple Store Tokyo, where 5,500 people waiting in line before the 10 am opening time. Apple has also posted a photo gallery of the new store opening. Meanwhile, Mac OS X 10.3 was officially released to mainland China at Apple China's "iParty" event, which took place on November 29, 2003, according to the Beijing Macintosh User Group who has posted a report and photos of the Panther launch event in China.

AppMac's wKiosk 3.0 browser uses Safari HTML engine

12/01, 8:50am

wKiosk 3.0 browser

appMac today released wKiosk 3.0, an update to the web browser designed for public areas. The secure, full-screen web browser is now powered by Apple's Safari Engine, offers options to customize the interface, supports multiple monitors, adds new security options, and brings better management of downloads, popups, windows, tabs, and log files. The application blocks access to Mac OS X, offers URL filtering, automatically restarts on crash, and can disable 'Force Quit' and other keys. It requires Mac OS X 10.3 Panther. It is a free upgrade to the $150 (standard) or $300 (Pro) application.

NYT Magazine examines the iPod

12/01, 4:55am

NYT Magazine looks at iPod

The New York Times Magazine a 6-page in-depth article on Apple's iPod, The Guts of a New Machine, which describes the history of iPod, its appeal, and its impact on modern culture: "This is an an honest and interesting article on the iPod's past, present, and future. Good interviews with Ives and Jobs," according to one MacNN reader. The article writes about the MP3 player's 'aura': "Before you even get to the surface of the iPod, you encounter what could be called its aura. The commercial version of an aura is a brand, and while Apple may be a niche player in the computer market, the fanatical brand loyalty of its customers is legendary."

Apple launches second iPod-a-Day Giveaway

12/01, 4:45am

Apple\'s iPod-a-Day Giveawa

Apple has launched another iPod-a-Day Giveaway, offering a free 10GB iPod each day to iTunes account holders until Christmas: "From November 28 to December 24, we’ll be giving away a 10GB iPod every day. Download iTunes and create a new iTunes Music Store account, and you’ll be automatically entered into our daily drawing. Once you create an account, your name remains eligible until December 24, so the earlier you sign up, the more chances you have to win."

Apps: KidsBrowser, iPodRip, DX Toolbox, Datetree...

12/01, 4:40am

KidsBrowser, iPodRip

KidsBrowser 1.0 ($20), powered by Apple's Safari HTML engine, allows you to preset authorized webpages, offers a full-screen web browser, can disable access to other applications, customize/lock settings (favorites, home page URL, etc.), and other functions for controlling Internet and system access. [1.2MB]
The $10 shareware iPodRip 2.6 addresses all known bugs and improves Windows iPod compatibility. The iPod companion application allows you to transfer music from your iPod back to your iTunes Library, listen to music directly on your iPod, etc. It runs on Mac OS 10.2 or later. [342KB]
NetScrape 1.1 updates the $15 shareware application from Postive Spin Meida that can find all the images on a given website, download them, and present thumbnail and full-sized views for you to browse. Version 1.1 adds keyboard navigation, custom storage locations, Finder management of files, and Panther compatibility. [687KB]
Black Cat Systems has released DX Toolbox 1.0, a radio propagation/conditions analysis and forecasting tool for amateur radio operators. The $20 shareware gathers a variety of solar abnd geomagnetic information from real-time online sources, and presents them in charts and tables. [Classic, OSX]
Colin Henein's DateTree 1.1 organizes files and photos by copying them into dated folders; it offers the ability to decode the dates embedded into photos by digital cameras to determine when a photo was taken. It adds support for organizing files and photos by month (as well as day-based organization). [336KB]
Goldberg 2.3.1 is a QuickTime-based image viewer/editor that includes support for applying QuickTime and other effects. It adds more resampling algorithms, offers JPEG 2000 support with QuickTime 6 (Mac OS X only) as well as improved ICC/EXIF support for JPEG/TIFF and a new French localization. [Classic, OSX]
The $30 shareware for Mac OS 9/X, MuchoThumbs Pro 3.2, brings Panther compatibility, embed photos (for copyright functions), new tools (zoom, crop, revert, black/white conversion), window management, keyboard shortcuts, etc. [1.8MB]
VoJou Software has released iNotePad 2.0p2, a preview of its $14 shareware notepad utility for Mac OS X 10.2 or later. It offers new AES-128 encryption, window transparency, a completely rewritten Cocoa codebase, and other enhancements. [245KB]
The Jasmine 1.7.4 multitrack audio recorder/editor/mixer offers support for Mac OS X 10.3 Panther and also fixes a bug that appeared under Mac OS 10.2.8. The $30 shareware offers a moving tape display, overdub recording, multilevel undo/redo, scrubbing, pitch/duration adjustment, and other functions. [form]

MacMice offers "The Mouse" in black

12/01, 1:00am

\"The Mouse\" in black

MacMice has announced a black-colored limited edition version of "The Mouse," its USB optical scroll mouse. A limited run of 1000 units will be produced, and the units will begin shipping on December 26th. The devices offers the same 800cpi optical tracking mechanism as the popular clear white version, and includes left, right, and scroll wheel buttons, and a precise, indexed scroll wheel.