News Archive for 04/03/19

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Tech: Samsung high-res phone; Time Warner/MS...

03/19, 3:40pm

Tech: Time Warner/MS...

Evening tech news: Samsung is planning the European launch of a camera phone capable of taking pictures with a resolution of 2 million pixels; Time Warner says that it talks to Microsoft about some things but that a published report about a possible sale of America Online "is just not true;" Britain's National Archives posted more than 1 million wills, spanning five centuries, on the Internet; and PC Magazine says while the technology is still superior, cost-driven market forces will kill TiVo as OEMs develop cheaper alternatives.

Apps: Mozilla, Clean Text, DittoAV, Data Keeper...

03/19, 3:30pm

Apps: Mozilla, DittoAV...

Mozilla 1.7 Beta is the latest version of the free open-source Web browser for Mac OS X. Countless improvements are offered, including a new option to prevent sites using Javascript to block the browser's context menu; a new set of icons for files that are associated with Mozilla; a "show passwords" mode in Password Manager; confirmation dialog for Set as wallpaper"; and more. [Download - 14.1MB]
Apimac Clean Text 3.2 is the latest release of the $14 application for removing, converting, encoding and replacing attributes from text. New in this version is support for opening a text file and saving the cleaned output to a new file; the text filters are faster; and the text field can be emptied with just one command. [Download - OS X, Classic]
DittoAV ($10) is a full-featured text editing utility with an integrated media playback system. DittoAV was developed "in order to speed audio transcription and video logging." It links Quicktime media, has automatic cueing, offer control over playback speed, and spell checking. [Download - 546KB]
Data Keeper 1.0.1 is an secure data storage application for Mac OS X. The latest release fixes an issue that prevented Data Keeper from starting on some user's machines. The release also adds an additional template and basic online help. [Download - 225KB]
QuickMix 1.2 is a video-editing application that specializes in multi-track movies. With version 1.2 basic functionality is now free, while advanced features can be accessed by registering. Also included is expanded export options; the ability to export or save as a movie a single track in a document; and bug fixes and interface tweaks. [Download - 238KB]
Photo to Movie 3.0 ($50) can turn your digital photos into QuickTime movies by gently blending and multiple images to create motion. It adds a new titling feature (with control over font, size, style, etc.), new transition effects, and resizing of the slide show to fit a specific audio track. [Download - 2.3MB]
ThemePark ($20) allows users to modify the way Mac OS X looks with various third-party "themes," as well as to change the appearance of individual applications. Version 1.3 now supports application skins and tight Adobe Photoshop integration. [Download - 2.4MB]
Disk Inventory X 0.8 is a disk usage utility for Mac OS X that shows the sizes of files and folders in a special graphical way called "treemaps." The latest release adds a "move to trash" command; allows folders to be opened by dragging them on the application icon; and offers French and German localizations. [Download - 331KB]

Microsoft to buy America Online?

03/19, 3:10pm

MS to buy AOL?

Microsoft is among the potential buyers for Time Warner's America Online division: "Time Warner executives have held discussions in recent months with Microsoft about a potential sale of AOL, The New York Post has learned. In addition, Time Warner lawyers have begun analyzing any potential antitrust issues from such a deal, and to date their conclusion is that there would be few roadblocks to a Microsoft acquisition of AOL, according to sources familiar with the matter."

Grateful Dead music, shows coming to iTunes

03/19, 12:25pm

Grateful Dead on iTMS

The Grateful Dead is finalizing a deal with Apple to make every live note they've ever recorded available for download, according to Rocky Mountain News: "'The band has recorded all of its live shows since the late '60s, at first 'just so we could listen back, see what it sounded like and make any changes.'...And compared to most music at iTunes, the Dead's jams are a bargain, he says with a laugh. 'At 99 cents a tune, it's a pretty decent price, because most of our tunes are pretty long.'"

Linux Journal: PowerBooks are the 'gold standard'

03/19, 12:20pm

PowerBooks for Linux users

Linux Journal says that PowerBooks are the gold standard among laptops and quotes Borland's CTO as saying "OS X is my favorite Linux distribution". The article says that "PowerBooks now are common as cameras in geek circles. For the past two years at O'Reilly's two big conferences, eTech and OSCon, PowerBooks have comprised about half the laptop population. At ApacheCon last Fall, they were in the majority. Witness this picture, taken at the hackathon that opened the show. There's no doubt that OS X PowerBooks are filling a gap left open by the lack of Linux laptops from major vendors. Most techies I know who use PowerBooks on the road have Linux servers at home."

iPhoto printing services come to Europe

03/19, 10:15am

iPhoto printing in Europe

MacNN readers report that iPhoto photo and album printing are now available to most European countries, although the service apparently requires iPhoto 4, part of iLife '04, and is not supported by iPhoto 2. At Macworld San Francisco, Apple CEO Steve Jobs promised European customers that this feature would be available by March and appologized for the delay in implementing it. Previously, only iPhoto users in the U.S., Canada, and Japan could use the printing features.

Bugdom 2, Otto Mattic gain 3D glasses support

03/19, 9:55am

Bugdom 2, Otto Mattic 3D

Pangea Software today released Otto Mattic 2.0 and announced that Bugdom 2 2.0 will be available in a week or two. Both 2.0 releases add support for 3D anaglyph glasses, based on the code from Nanosaur II. The 3D red-cyan 3D glasses ship with copies of Nanosaur 2 or can be purchased separately for $5.00 from the manufacturer. Additionally, Pangea Software announced that it has started shipping the CD version of Nanosaur II, which sells for $35. The game can also be downloaded for $25.

Apps: PodWorks, PhotoReviewer, PhotoShow

03/19, 9:00am

Apps: PodWorks, more

• PodWorks 2.8 ($8) is the latest version of the application for transferring songs from an iPod to a Mac. Version 2.8 adds star rating and composer columns, improved type-ahead search performance, several bug fixes, and more.


• VirtualKeyboard X 2.2 ($12) is an on-screen keyboard that offers point-and-click typing using pointing devices. The software is designed primarily for disabled person but it can be used also to teach children to write, to prepare kiosk environments, and more. Version 2.2 adds the ability to make the keyboard transparent, make it disappear when not in use, and other features.


• PhotoReviewer 1.2 ($10) is a photo and image management utility designed for people who work with a lot of photos. The software allows users to quickly scan through a folder of photos and decide whether to keep or remove a particular photo. Version 1.2 adds support for fast display of raw images from digital cameras, a revamped preferences window, and more.


• PhotoShow 1.6.0 ($15) adds a new export feature to the digital photo album software. The export feature allows slide shows to be deployed as linked HTML files for Web publishing.

Mover 5 brings Poser models into Vue d'Esprit 4

03/19, 7:30am

E-on Software\'s Mover 5

E-on Software has started shipping Mover 5, a new version of its software for importing Curious Labs Poser content into the company's Vue d'Esprit 4 and Vue 4 Professional 3D software. Mover 5 allows for the inclusion of fully animated digital characters, enhanced, new motion effects, and network rendering; it also includes over $200 worth of Poser models from Daz Productions, Dedicated Digital, and Trilium36. Mover 5 is available now for $100 and requires Poser 4 or 5. Owners of Mover 4 can receive a free upgrade to version 5.

New Logitech mouse made for travelling

03/19, 7:20am

Logitech Notebook mouse

Logitech today announced the Notebook Optical Mouse Plus, a compact mouse designed for travellers that features a retractable USB cable. The mouse also features two buttons and a scroll wheel and will go on sale in April for $30.