News Archive for 04/02/13

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Forums: IBM 970FX; Unreal 2004; VT & MacMall; ...

02/13, 7:00pm

Forums: Unreal 2004; ...

Topics on the MacNN discussion forums today include: speculation about future PowerMac G5 offerings featuring the IBM 970FX processor; "cost of ownership" associated with the PC platform compared to the Mac platform; the Power Mac G5 computers being sold off by Virginia Tech and MacMall for an unusually high price; troubleshooting a PowerBook G4 that locks up inexplicably running Mac OS X 10.3; first impressions of Unreal Tournament 2004 demo for Mac OS X; expected shipping dates for the iPod Mini.

Tech: Intel portable prototype; fake anti-spam site

02/13, 4:40pm

Tech: fake anti-spam site

Afternoon tech news: Intel plans to unveil next week a prototype consumer portable computer that blurs the line between desktops and notebooks by shedding the traditional clamshell laptop design; a programming error has been identified as the cause of alarm failures that might have contributed to the scope of last summer's Northeast blackout, industry officials said; consumers should not submit their e-mail addresses to a Web site that promises to reduce unwanted "spam" because the site is fraudulent, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission said today.

Marketcircle releases DayLite 1.5.5

02/13, 4:05pm

DayLite 1.5.5 released

Marketcircle has released version 1.5.5 of DayLite its contact and sales manager. This new release includes a new streamlined contact creation process, new XML Web Lead import keys, smarter quick filter fields and significant performance improvements. DayLite v1.5.5 is free upgrade for registered users. DayLite sells for $150 per user.

Apps: BitVice, iTunesWriter, SizzlingKeys4iTunes..

02/13, 12:55pm

BitVice, iTunes helpers

Innobits has updated BitVice 1.5, its $300 MPEG2 software encoder application available for both G3- and G4-based Macs. Version 1.5 adds speed improvements (up to 400% faster in the first pass), improved chroma resolution/registration in interlaced mode, and a smart and motion adaptive de-interlacing feature. [Classic, form]
iTunesWriter is a simple program that allows you to burn more than a single iTunes playlist on a digital media: "In this way you can keep well organized your growing MP3 collection by mean of using different sessions on a CD." It is freeware and runs on Mac OS X. [474KB]
SizzlingKeys4iTunes 1.0 lets you control all aspects of iTunes with hot keys you define. The hot keys are fully customizable via an intuitive Preference Pane plug-in. The freeware runs Mac OS X 10.2 or later. [180KB]
Nattress 1.2 is the latest update to Film Effects, the $100 24p film effect solution for Apple's Final Cut Pro. The free update offers improved intelligent de-interlacing for PAL users, and higher quality 24p for NTSC users. Version 1.2 also offers a film lab dissolve transition that emulates 5 different types of film dissolve and is fully configurable.
Splendid City 2.7 helps organize team sport or game events, managing sport schedules of any size and complexity. It adds support for cross-divisional scheduling, support for Swiss Round Tournaments, adds a project schedule merge panel, and includes a schedule game calculator. Pricing starts at $36. [3.0MB]
iTunesSaver is a basic screensaver to display the artwork (if available) and track information of the current iTunes track. It supports a range of features, such as fixed positioning, scalable artwork, and automatic starting of iTunes. Version 2.2 restores text movement, offers adjustable artwork size, and an option to start iTunes when the screen saver is invoked. [91KB]

CEI adds Mac OS X support to software suite

02/13, 10:20am

CEI Mac OS X support

CEI has released its Ensight software suite for Mac OS X, with optimization for Power Mac G4 and G5 sytems. Included in the suite are EnSight, EnSight Gold, and EnLiten, which run under X11. The company's EnVideo is already native for Mac OS X. CEI's products cover key aspects of model pre- and post-processing, visualization and communication.

PowerPC 970FX hits 2.5GHz next week

02/13, 9:50am

2.5GHz PowerPC 970FX

A 2.5GHz version of IBM's new PowerPC 970FX, featured in the Xserve G5 and presumably in future Power Mac G5 systems, will be announced next week at the International Solid State Circuits Conference, according to c|net. The chip is manufactured utilizing IBM's new 90nm processing, reducing the chip's need for power, among other advantages. "It's logical that Apple would select the flexibility of this chip for a next-generation notebook computer," Richard Doherty, research director at Envisioneering, told Reuters, hinting at the possibility of a PowerBook G5.

PalmSource remains committed to Mac

02/13, 9:40am

PalmSource Mac solutions

Mac customers remain important to PalmSource, despite the company's discontinuation of built-in Mac support in the next version of the Palm OS. "Palm OS provides an open and flexible architecture and allows its licensees to decide whether to ship a Mac compatibility solution with their Palm Powered device. One such solution is provided by Mark/Space," PalmSource said in a statement given to Macworld UK. "We are continuing our efforts with Apple to provide compatibility between Palm OS and Macintosh."

XIII to ship in April, reaches beta

02/13, 9:05am

Mac XIII to ship in April

Feral Interactive today announced that the Mac version of XIII, a comic book-based first person shooter, has reached beta status and is expected to ship in April. In honor of this milestone, the company has posted a short teaser of the game on its site. XIII was released on the major gaming platforms last November.

Recover damaged CDs with CDRestore

02/13, 8:35am

CDRestore 2.0 released

SubRosaSoft has released CDRestore 2.0, a utility that recovers data from damaged or scratched CD and burns a new disc. Version 2.0 includes Audio CD support, CD burning capability, and a new and streamlined interface. Users can also remove songs, or change play order on audio CDs. CDRestore 2.0 sells for $25; it is a free upgrade to v1.x owners and runs on Mac OS X 10.2 or later.

Boston firm needs Base Stations for new WiFi project

02/13, 8:30am

Donate old Base Stations

Tech Superpowers, the company behind Boston's largest free wireless network, is soliciting Mac users to donate their unused or broken AirPort base stations for use in a new, and currently secretive, WiFi endeavor. "Donate your airport base station and we'll promise to use for the good of the free WiFi community. Once your Base Station is used for the good of the world around, we'll send you a picture of what it doing in its new life."

Norway gets its first Xserve G5 cluster

02/13, 7:35am

Norwegian XServe cluster

The University of Bergen in Norway will be home to the first Xserve G5 cluster in that country, according to a note (in Norwegian) posted on OfficeLine EDBergen, the Apple reseller that will be providing the four Xserve G5 systems. The cluster will be capable of performing 16 gigaflops per second and will be utilized by the Institute for Anatomy and Cell Biology to calculate protein sequences.

New 6-megapixel camera from Casio

02/13, 7:30am

Casio 6MP digital camera

Casio's new Exlim Pro EX-P600 digital camera is a 6-megapixel camera that features a 4x optical zoom and 4x digital zoom with quick startup and release time lags and a high-speed continuous shutter. The camera can be used in conjunction with the three commercially available Canon conversion lenses, offers a large, high-definition 2.0-inch TFT LCD monitor, and includes a wireless remote control for slow shutter and self-timer photos. The EX-P600 will sell for $650 when it ships in April.

Concord announces more affordable cameras

02/13, 7:15am

Inexpensive Concord cams

Along with an affordable 5-megapixel camera announced Thursday, Concord Camera has introduced the Eye-Q 2040 and Eye-Q 3040, 2- and 3-megapixel cameras that feature 4x digital zoom and carry $110 and $130 price tags, respectively. Also introduced were four VGA and one-megapixel cameras that double as webcams. The Eye-Q Splash, Eye-Q 640, Eye-Q 1000, and Eye-Q 1200 range in price from $40-$70.