News Archive for 04/01/02

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Emulation sites merge to form Emuscene Network

01/02, 7:15pm

Emuscene Network debuts

Mac.emuscene.com and macemu.com have joined to become the Emuscene Network. The new site, which opened today, will post news from a variety of sources to any one of its topic-specific sites. "Emulation.Emuscene is just the beginning [...] future sites will spring up on the network as resources become available."

Tofu improves readability of screen text

01/02, 3:25pm

Tofu improves readability

Amar Sagoo today announced the release of Tofu, an a application for improving readability of text on the screen by reflowing it into columns: "Tofu addresses the common problem that people don't like reading text on computer screens. It avoids two problems that degrade readability of text. One is that windows are typically very wide, which makes moving from the end of one line to the beginning of the next difficult for the eye. The other is that the custom of vertically scrolling through text has the effect of getting lost amongst the large number of moving lines."

Apps: MimMac, EEAX, poisoned, Flash AV Players...

01/02, 1:05pm

MimMac, EEAX, poisoned

• ZappTek's iPod It 2.3 ($15) adds full support for Panther Mail (including transferring messages from multiple mailboxes), enhances the management of files on your iPod, and fixes a number of bugs. iPod It supports transferring information from Entourage, Stickies, Mail, Address Book and iCal and can download weather forecasts and news headlines directly to your iPod. [411KB]

SCUBA-Training.net has released SCUBA Simulator v1.0.1, a free program that simulates some of the effects of diving with SCUBA. The developer says that some of the effects are exaggerated for instructional purposes, includes wetsuit compression, weight of air in cylinder, weight belt, air comsumption (based on depth and swimming direction), and excessive negative buoyancy. [4.0MB]
cosmicsoft has updated its starTime 1.6.3 reminder utility that can create events that launch applications, run shell scripts, and more. The new version fixes a bug that caused some repeating events to change times if they were delayed. [3.1MB]
Ascendant Softworks has released MimMac 1.0.6 ($10), which fixes an incorrect value problem in preferences, disallows cloning of volumes to themselves, and adds some log management options. MimMac is an easy-to-use backup utility that can be used for data migration, system merging, simple and incremental backups, and bootable system clones. [262KB]
Entourage Email Archive X (EEA X) 1.8 is an utility for archiving emails and attachments you have received or sent using Microsoft Entourage X in Mac OS X. Users can now archive emails as native .eml files. The preferences have also been update, adding a new feature for saving text files with the Creator of the text editor "SubEthaEdit" and offering compatibility with Mac OS X 10.3.2 and Office X 10.1.5. [778KB]
Andrew's (Vector) plugins Vol 12 - shape FX 1 is a plugin set for Illustrator 10 and CS. It contains a shape creator plugin (creates paths based on 8 pts or less) and a warp/envelope plugin as well as bonus symbols / brushes / pattern swatches. A demo of the $12 plugin set is available online. [78KB]
poisoned 0.5 improves iTunes import and update support for giftd, openft, and gnutella networks. The "donationware" application offers a front-end to several peer-to-peer sharing networks. [2.5MB]
Flash AV Players 2.8 is a plug and play Flash streaming solution for broadcasting MP3, SWF (Audio and Video), JPEG, and MIDI files by loading custom or dynamic playlists in XML format. Version 2.8 can parse your media subfolder tree to XML, fixes a few memory leaks on some browsers, and optimizes CPU load on each browser. Registration is €30 per site. [470KB]
iCalibrate 1.3 provides an easy way to customize Apple's iCal. Version 1.3 can now change any color, anywhere in any of your calendars, including month view event text, to do items, week view event backgrounds, and more. [581KB]

Barcode Producer 2.1 improves EPS, JPEG export

01/02, 12:40pm

Barcode Producer 2.1

Intelli Innovations has posted Barcode Producer 2.1, an update to its barcode generation software for Mac OS X. Version 2.1 adds tagged saving of EPS files (the default name is now the barcode's value for convenience purposes), support for JPEG 2000 as an export format, improved ISMN (music barcode support), and performance enhancements to the picture exporter and Symbology Guide--primarily seen while using Mac OS X 10.3. The $130 application features support for 12 different symbologies, customizable output options, built-in printing options, and vectorized EPS export for use in graphics applications. [Classic, OSX]

Parliant updates PhoneValet 1.1 telephony solution

01/02, 11:25am

PhoneValet 1.1

Parliant Corporation today announced the availability of PhoneValet 1.1b, a new release of its multi-line-capable computer telephony solution for Mac OS X. PhoneValet is a Personal Telephone Assistant built for Mac OS X that will screen calls, lookup and dial phone numbers and maintain your phonebook. The free update includes backup and restore functionality and improves import performance, particularly for users of Microsoft Entourage v.X. Version 1.1 also supports direct dialing directly from Apple's Address Book and integrates with iChat. PhoneValet includes all required hardware and software for $130.

Miglia AlchemyTV DVR now G5-compatible

01/02, 11:10am

Miglia AlchemyTV DVR

Miglia Technology today launched a G5 compatible version of its TV Tuning and Digital Video Recorder (DVR) product: the AlchemyTV DVR uses a new high performance Philips Silicon Tuner and offers full QuickTime support. It includes TV/Antenna input, composite, S-VHS inputs and stereo audio connector; it can tune in to any TV station or record from your VCR. The PCI card includes an infrared remote, features iCal integration, offers full screen viewing and capture, and supports both Motion-JPEG and MPEG-4. It requires Mac OS X 10.2.4 or later and is available for €100.

Lawsuits threatened over iPod, iBook quality

01/02, 2:10am

Apple quality problems?

Several readers note that Reuters (republished by CNN and The Boston Globe) has published an "inaccurate" article on the recent iPod and iBook quality problems: "First, it knocks Apple's market share down to 2%. It goes on full of slanted hooey, and wraps up with stating that Apple's $99 iPod battery replacement was offered only after the ipodsdirtysecret.com web site came out, which is flagrantly untrue. The article makes no mention of the other battery replacement options that have always been available, or of the fact that ipodsdirtysecret.com now features a statement that Apple's warranty and replacement services are fair."

rootsolutions announces Virtual WineCellar 4.5

01/02, 2:10am

Virtual WineCellar 4.5

Virtual WineCellar 4.5 is an easy-to-use cellaring software for wine collectors. It ofers standard data entry fields as well as several advanced functions, such user-defined fields, a suppliers database with order-to-inventory processing, integration with Vinote barcoded neck tags, support for digitized bottle labels, and much more. Virtual WineCellar is available for Mac OS X and Classic. A demo of the $20 FileMaker-based application is available. [Classic, OSX]

Apple Store coming to Bethesda, MD

01/02, 2:05am

Apple Store in Bethesda

MacNN reader Seth Lessans notes an upcoming Apple Store in Bethesda, Maryland (not yet listed in its retail area): "I would just like to report that Apple's Job's site is looking for people for a new store in Montgomery Mall Bethesda, Maryland. The location is approximately 30 minutes away from Tysons Corner in McClain, Virginia."

Keynote Theme Park releases SuperSet 1 on CD

01/02, 2:00am

Keynote themes on CD

Keynote Theme Park has released SuperSet 1 on CD, a collection of its first twelve themes for Keynote. The $100 CD also includes a 40-slide "tips" presentation that includes instructions on how to align photos and objects between two slides for its dynamic Cube and Push transitions. Keynote Theme Park's unique themes feature low contrast, detailed backgrounds, bleed photo cutouts for dynamic transitions, tiled backgrounds for seamless Push transitions, complimentary backgrounds, custom chart fills and bullets, extra design elements for each themes.

Marware debuts the Milano Leather Brief carry case

01/02, 12:05am

Milano Leather Brief

Marware next week will announce the newest addition to its C.E.O. professional case line: the Milano Leather Brief. The Milano is a leather laptop case designed for "executive PowerBook users who want a slim, stylish case for business use. Crafted of top-quality cowhide leather, the C.E.O. Milano Brief series of cases come in a 12”, 15” and 17” models. The 12” and 14” iBooks can also fit nicely in the respectively sized cases."

OmniWeb 5.0 to ship in March, beta available in Feb.

01/02, 12:05am

OmniWeb 5.0 announced

The Omni Group has officially announced OmniWeb 5.0, a major new version of its web browser for Mac OS X. The company will be showcasing the software at Macworld Expo and announced that. a public beta version will be available for download on February 2, 2004 with the final version shipping in March. The browser will features a tab drawer, saved browsing sessions, updated bookmarks, page marking, improved shortcuts, site-specific preferences, and more. OmniWeb 5.0 will sell for $30 with upgrades from previous versions priced at $10.