News Archive for 04/01/28

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3ivx 4.5.1 offers faster, smaller QT-compatible MPEG4

01/28, 10:30pm

3ivx 4.5.1

3ivx 4.5.1 updates the decoder that plays back most MPEG-4 variants (including DivX 3,4 and 5, Apple MPEG-4, Philips MPEG-4 and XviD): "The 3ivx decoder produces noticeably higher quality video than other decoders due to its high quality postprocessing filters, and because of its core design and optimization maintains a record-breaking speed." The company says that 3ivx is up to twice as efficient as Apple MPEG-4, producing the same quality video in half the size and up to five times faster at encoding. Pricing starts at $7.

Apps: BloodRayne, TinyBooks, FastTrack, Xupport...

01/28, 10:05pm

Apps: BloodRayne, TinyBook

Kairos v2.1.2 records the weather conditions for up to 3 locations you specify and graphs the data. It can be programmed with alerts that can send out emails, run scripts when triggered, and can speak the weather and display current conditions in the dock. The $20 shareware runs on Mac OS X 10.2. [1.4MB]
Actual Technologies today released Actual ODBC Driver for SQL Server 1.1, a $30 ODBC driver that lets Mac OS X users access MS SQL Server databases from applications such as Excel. The new version adds support for FileMaker Pro, Sybase databases, and ISO-8859-1 character set translation. [form]
Kanzu's Image Info 3.1 ($25) is an application for viewing and retrieving detailed info about images. It doesn't open images to return the info, including EXIF, IPTC and color profile info, and info about an image's dimensions, color space, channels, layers, clipping paths, comments and much more. [1.2MB]
BloodRayne Panther Beta 1 is the latest version of the popular ($20) action game for Mac OS X. This update fixes crashing bugs under Panther. It is only for Panther users, and is not a final patch- it may have other bugs. [Download - 1.4MB]
TinyBooks v1.1.3 is an update to the family and small business accounting application. This version is a free maintenance update with minor improvements to the $50 program. [Download - 117KB]
AEC Software today announced that the newest version of its project manager, FastTrack Schedule (€460), is now available in a French language version. Fully translated and localized by CESYAM--the official distribution partner of AEC Software in France--FastTrack Schedule 8 delivers an advanced set of precision planning features. [Download - 22MB]
Xupport 2.0 beta 9 adds an Italian localization, some graphical corrections, and bug fixes to the system customization utility. Xupport provides a clean graphical interface to configure many Mac OS X options that are not or hard to configure manually. [Download - 871KB]
Bobby Cronkhite Software today released ZeboPhoto 1.4.1, an update to its image viewer for Mac OS X. This version adds support for PNG, JPEG 2000, MacPaint, QuickTime Image, SGI and TGA file formats and many more enhancements. [Download - 2.9MB]

Blue World announces Lasso Studio 7

01/28, 7:55pm

Lasso Studio 7 announced

Blue World Communications today announced Lasso Studio 7, a major upgrade to its Web development environment for Mac. The update provides enhanced functionality and compatibility with the latest versions of Macromedia Dreamweaver, Adobe GoLive and Blue World Lasso Professional. Also new in version 7 is support for new tags introduced in LDML 7. Lasso Studio 7 is scheduled for release within the next two months at $300 ($200 upgrade).

Tech: MyDoom; cyber-alert; ethics...

01/28, 5:00pm

Tech: MyDoom; cyber-alert.

Evening tech news: A new version of the mass-mailing MyDoom virus has hit the Net, aiming data attacks at Microsoft's Web site and interfering with an infected PC's ability to access downloadable security-software updates; U,S, Homeland Security officials unveiled on Wednesday a new cyber-alert system to help protect the nation from attacks on computer networks; a report published this week finds sweatshop working conditions at the contractors who make the components for Dell, HP, IBM and other brand manufacturers.

WaterField ships InMotion Travel Case for iPods

01/28, 4:25pm

InMotion Travel iPod Case

WaterField Designs today started shipping its iPod InMotion Travel Case, ($50) which is specifically designed to store an iPod, the inMotion portable speakers from Altec Lansing, and related accessories in a single compact, portable pouch. (measuring 10"x 6"x 3"). "The new WaterField Designs iPod inMotion Travel Case is a slender, sectional padded case. One side has padded compartments for all iPod gear, plus added room for the inMotion power adaptor. The other side stores the inMotion speakers. A front pockets holds all cables and extra batteries. Like all the WaterField Designs Gear Pouches, this is made from ballistic nylon with neoprene, closed cell foam padding, and self-locking zippers."

Apple retail stores launch "Pro Day" for businesses

01/28, 2:30pm

\"Pro Day\" for businesses

Apple's retail stores will be hosting "Pro Day" every Wednesday: "We open one hour early and offer special presentations and demonstrations to help business professionals learn about all the latest technologies." Apple will offer a different presentation every Wednesday during February on how to use a Mac to run your business, unwire your business, manage your customers and contacts, and promote your business. Meanwhile, Apple will open its Apple Store Aventura in Aventura, FL on January 31st.

Barcode Producer 2.5 adds tag, inventory, OCR support

01/28, 2:20pm

Barcode Producer 2.5 (Pro)

Intelli Innovations today introduced Barcode Producer 2.5, an upgrade to its barcode generation suite for Mac OS X 10.2. It now includes an inventory report; can create asset tags with custom info; has interface enhancements; and includes more detailed documentation. The $130 standard edition includes a vector EPS bar code generator and two dozens symbologies, while the $230 Pro edition adds the Asset Tag Maker, PDF Stamper, Inventory Printer, PDF417 Plug-In, OCR FontPack, and IntelliScanner Barcode Tester.

Nupha launches cross-platform music store

01/28, 1:15pm

Nupha Music Store

Nupha has launched a new international cross-platform music store, which features a growing library of songs from many independent music labels. It is compatible with Macintosh (running Mac OS X 10.3 and iTunes 4 or greater) and PC computers (running WMP series 9 or greater): "Nupha is the first independent music provider compatible with Apple iTunes. On Macintosh, users must download and install a small package (known as the nupha kit) which allows iTunes to play nupha encrypted media. Media are encoded in AAC 128 Kbps on Mac and WMA 192 Kbps on Windows." Songs are 0.99€ or 8.99€ for a complete album (including VAT).

Folklore.org offers early Apple anecdotes

01/28, 1:05pm

Early Apple anecdotes

Folklore.org offers a collection of "anecdotes about the development of Apple's original Macintosh computer, and the people who created it," including dozens of stories from Andy Hertzfeld on topics, such as Software Design, Management, Personality Clashes, prototypes, Marketing, The Launch, Microsoft, and Apple Spirit.

SQLitePluginPro 1.0 for REALbasic developers

01/28, 12:45pm

SQLitePluginPro 1.0

SQLabs has released SQLitePluginPro 1.0, a REALbasic database plugin that seamlessly replaces REALbasic's built-in database engine with an SQL92-compliant, embeddable, stand-alone database library, offering on-the-fly indexing and ACID transactions. It offers a "dramatic increase in both speed and reliability with only a few changes to source code," according to the developer. SQLitePluginPro utilizes REALbasic's built-in database controls and classes, as well as bindings, to create SQLite database applications. A single-user license is $120.

G5 Mod: PC user puts AMD motherboard in G5 case

01/28, 12:35pm

PC motherboard in G5

OverClockers.com offers a G5 Mod that puts an Athlon motherboard in an Apple Power Mac G5 case: "Don't get me wrong, I'm sure G5 is a great computer, but I wanted a Dell for Christmas. I don’t have any programs for Apple and didn’t feel like waiting for them. I thought about selling it, but my parents would be upset with me. After all, this was a very expensive gift and it meant a lot to them to give to me."

Darwine: project to bring Windows emulation to OS X

01/28, 12:25pm

Porting Wine to Mac OS X

Darwine is a open-source community project at Sourgeforge that aims to "port and develop Wine as well as other supporting tools that will allow Darwin and Mac OS X users to run Windows applications. Wine is an open-source implementation of the Windows API on top of X and Unix: "It does not require Microsoft Windows, as it is a completely alternative implementation consisting of 100% Microsoft-free code, but it can optionally use native system DLLs if they are available. Wine provides both a development toolkit (Winelib) for porting Windows sources to Unix and a program loader, allowing many unmodified Windows binaries to run on x86-based Unixes, including Linux, FreeBSD, and Solaris."

'From KFOG to iPod' in less than 48 Hours

01/28, 10:45am

Digital EP offered at ITMS

Virgin Records today announced that the exclusive digital EP "From KFOG to iPod" by Virgin Recording Group "The Thrills" was released early this morning on Apple's iTunes Music Store, less than 48 hours after the band recorded the tracks at a KFOG-FM Emerging Artist Concert in San Francisco on Sunday, January 25. Five songs from the show, including the single "One Horse Town" are available for purchase, allowing consumers to download the live recording from iTunes to their Macs or Windows-based PCs and iPods. The entire EP can be downloaded for $5 or single tracks are available until February 24th for 99 cents each.

KB: Activity Monitor, iPhoto transitions, iDVD 4

01/28, 9:25am

iPhoto 4, iDVD 4 issues

Apple Knowledge Base roundup: Apple notes that the Activity Monitor may show an application's name twice, and/or with the wrong process identification number ("PID"); A PowerBook G4 may experience issues when the display resolution changes under Mac OS X Panther; iPhoto 4 slideshow transitions cannot be exported to QuickTime; and on burned discs, an iDVD 4 slideshow will repeat the first song of an iTunes playlist instead of playing the whole list.

Events Manager 2.0 offers FileMaker flexibility

01/28, 9:00am

Events Manager 2.0

Waves in Motion has released Events Manager 2.0 for FileMaker Pro, which allows any user on the network to manage their own FileMaker events. It has an easy to use interface that allows users to schedule scripts to run at any time in the future. Version 2.0 also supports a new reminder event type that allows users to "snooze" the event so that it occurs later. Events Manager 2.0 is also fully integrated into Security Manager, features the ability to build automated robots (i.e., for processing orders, sending email, etc.) and offers user administration.

Pepsi offers Super Bowl TV, Website ad details

01/28, 7:50am

Pepsi iTunes TV ad

Pepsi today announced that there would be five new commercials for Pepsi and Sierra Mist during Super Bowl XXXVIII, including one to kick off its new iTunes song giveaway promotion. The spots will mark the 19th straight year that the company has advertised during the Super Bowl. Pepsi's iTunes commercial, dubbed "I Fought The Law", features 16 real-life teenagers who were sued by the recording industry for illegally downloading music from the Internet, shows music fans a new way to freely and legally download music -- the Pepsi iTunes 100 Million Song Giveaway. The commercial is set to Green Day's version of "I Fought the Law."

Panic launches Unison Usenet reader

01/28, 7:35am

Unison Usenet reader

Panic has introduced Unison, Mac OS X Usenet newsreader that offers "all the expected newsreader functionality: easy-to-navigate threaded discussions, the ability to ignore annoying posters, multiple signature management, and easy, Mail-like posting with spell checking and all the trimmings." A 15-day demo is available. The $15 application runs on Mac OS X 10.2 or later. Panic's new Unison Usenet Access offers access to the Usenet for $12/month or in a bundle with registration for $29 (22% discount).

Alsoft releases DiskWarrior 3.01 for Panther, G5s

01/28, 12:30am

DiskWarrior 3.01 update

Alsoft today released DiskWarrior 3.01, a free update to its $80 disk utility. The update allows DiskWarrior to run when started up from Mac OS X 10.2.1 or higher, including Mac OS X 10.3.x. The updated version also offers a speed increase over DiskWarrior 3.0 and also supports volumes larger than 2TB (terabytes). Alsoft has also released the DiskWarrior CD Update 3.0.1. Customers with DiskWarrior 3.0 can use this free update to create and burn a new DiskWarrior CD containing the updated application. Customers who own DiskWarrior 1.x or 2.x can can purchase the DiskWarrior 3.01 upgrade for $40. Update CDs, which boot Mac OS X 10.3.2 and are compatible with G5 machines, are available for v3.0 owners for $20; others can download the update and burn their own boot CD.