News Archive for 04/04/26

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Waterfall releases iVideo 2.0 for Mac OS X

04/26, 7:30pm

iVideo 2.0 for Mac OS X

Waterfall Software today released iVideo 2.0, a revision to its advanced video organizer for Mac OS X. iVideo 2.0 features a revamped user interface, video exporting, a new "Gallery" view which displays both a thumbnail and information about the video, a rating system, a "Quick Search" feature, and many bug fixes. Version 2.0 also features a new database format for improved stability. It is a free upgrade to the $17 application. iVideo runs on Mac OS X and requires QuickTime 6.

Apple updates AirPort 3.4.1 Software

04/26, 7:25pm

AirPort 3.4.1 Software

Apple today released AirPort 3.4.1, an update to its wireless networking software that update "provides improved AirPort wireless networking software, and is recommended for all users with an AirPort Extreme and AirPort enabled computer or an AirPort Extreme base station," including improved antenna output control, enhanced logging from your base station which is compatible with syslog, and performance improvements for WPA security implementations.

Tech: cloning; anti-Semitic site drops off Google

04/26, 6:30pm

Tech: controversial sites

Evening tech news: A Web site meant to promote upcoming film drama "Godsend" is stirring controversy among people who oppose human cloning and want the site shut down because they think the site is real, the film's makers say; a controversial anti-Semitic site has disappeared from Google, but the search site says it had nothing to do with disappearance, and does not attempt to remove offensive content; A growing number of federal and state legislators are expressing doubts about the integrity of the ATM-like electronic voting machines; David Bowie has invited fans to remix his music -- and he's offering prizes for the most creative "mash-up."

Apple's Marra to deliver Product Overview

04/26, 5:50pm

Apple Product Overview

Apple Senior Engineer Dave Marra will offer his third annual Apple Product Overview on May 4th at 7:30 p.m. in Hogdon IRC Lecture Hall on the SUNY Oneonta campus. The overview is organized by MUG ONE (Oneonta, NY) and will explore recent product announcements from Apple and "have fun with iLife '04 [...] as well as Final Cut Express 2.0 for professional-quality digital video editing.

Advanced Developers Hands On Conference

04/26, 4:55pm

ADHOC speakers

The organizers of ADHOC (the conference formerly known as MacHack) have announced two featured speakers for this year's Macintosh developer's conference (July 21-24). One of our featured speakers is Jordan Hubbard, Apple's manager of the Darwin (UNIX-based) core of Macintosh OS X. The official keynote speaker will be David Pogue, an author of many Mac-related books, guides, and articles. For attendees, discounted registration is available for early action. Full attendees can register for $500 online (before 05/30/04), a savings of $50 off the regular registration rate.

Apps: GRBand Assistant, dincTYPE, Tasks Pro, BitWise

04/26, 4:20pm

GRBand Assistant, dincTYPE

GRBand Assistant 2.0 ($15) is a collection of three utilities designed to enhance the funcionality of Apple's GarageBand. GB DrumLoops can be used to create drum loops in the Apple loops format, GB Import imports standard exs files (as used by Apple's eMagic Logic package) into GarageBand as new Software Instruments, and MidiMaster uses information from a Midi file to play music through a sample based synthesizer. [458KB]
dincTYPE has released five new free fonts: Skyway, Ladybug, Shoelace, Truth, and Jump. A new Mac OS X retro icon collection has also been posted.
Tasks Pro 1.1 is a web-based hierarchical task manager with multi-user functionality, hierarchical organization, e-mail notifications and reminders, Version 1.1 adds time-tracking, file attachment support, user permissions, and mobile/PDA access, RSS feeds and iCalendars, and more. Pricing starts at $125 for 5-users.
DragThing 5.1.1 ($30) updates the popular dock application for Mac OS. The release works round a reported problem with the recent McAfee Virex 7.5 beta and adds new features including enhanced contextual menus and AppleScript support, greatly improves saving and loading of docks and other files, and improves startup performance. [3.2MB]
BitWise Chat 1.0.1 (free) is a cross-platform, interoperable and secure instant messaging service. Features include file sharing, a tabbed interface, automatic encryption, whiteboards, logging, offline messaging, invisibility, and more. New in 1.0.1 are XML logging, log viewer with text, user and date search, improved whiteboards and tree-based shared file viewing. [2.9MB]
Stock Investment Guide 1.5 ($40) is a new stock club analysis software for OS X. Version 1.5 adds online integration with the Online Premium Service database of more than 10,000 companies; new Company Performance Analysis for both quarterly and trailing 12-month periods; and automatic links to a company's SEC filings and earnings estimates; and new automatic alerts for earnings announcements. [1.2MB]
FileWIZ 1.1 (free) is an application for editting the File Type and Creator for Mac OS files. Users can work with two files simultaneously, set the type/creator for the first file based on the second or vice versa, drag & drop files onto the window, and either manually edit the type/creator or select one from a custom listing. [Classic, OSX]

NI offers upgrade offer for Komplete 2 bundle

04/26, 4:10pm

Komplete 2 bundle upgrade

Native Instruments has announced a special limited-time upgrade offer for the NI Komplete 2 bundle, which will be officially launched on June 1st. NI Komplete 2 is an extensive collection of sound generators and effects with eleven critically acclaimed software synthesizers, samplers and effects: Absynth 2, Reaktor 4, B4 Organ, Fm7, Pro-53, Kontakt 1.5, Kompakt, Intakt, Battery, Vokator and Ni-Spektral Delay. Registered owners of any single product can upgrade to NI Komplete 2 for $580, while owners of four or more products can upgrade for $340. The offer is good through May 31st, when NI Komplete will be available for $1150; upgrades will start at $800.

Web Crossing offers new Brainstorm Plug-in

04/26, 1:20pm

Web Crossing Brainstorm

Web Crossing today announced a new Brainstorm Plug-in, which facilitates team problem solving using a three-stage brainstorm process: "Now, teams can solve problems with an efficient online tool to guide them through the fundamental process, including distinct modes for brainstorming, discussing and rating the options. Free for a limited time, Web Crossing installations incorporate the new Brainstorm plug-in through the sysop control panel in just a few clicks." Web Crossing is available as a hosted service, or as licensed software. A free license is available for low-volume sites.

Jobs to offer update on iTunes Music Store

04/26, 1:15pm

Jobs to speak on iTunes

Apple today announced that it hold a special iTunes Anniversary conference call on Wednesday, April 28, 2004. Apple CEO Steve Jobs will offer an update on the iTunes Music Store one year after its launch.

Sonnet launches PodFreq FM transmitter for iPod

04/26, 11:50am

PodFreq FM transmitter

Sonnet Technologies today announced PodFreq, a portable FM transmitter for Apple's iPod (with dock connectors). PodFreq broadcasts iPod music on any available FM frequency (via digital turning in 0.1MHz increments), utilizing the line-out signal. "The attractive and integrated design of the PodFreq encases the iPod in a durable, translucent shell, providing added protection to the iPod, while maintaining convenient access to the iPod controls and the headphone jack." Integrated FireWire and mini USB ports allow the user to synch with iTunes and/or charge the iPod using industry-standard cables without removing it from the PodFreq. It will ship in May for $100.

iPod not helping Apple's eroding marketshare

04/26, 11:40am

iPod helping Mac market?

Apple's strong iPod sales is not helping grow the company's computer business, as the PC market share has dropped from 4 percent last year to 2.8 percent (IDC numbers). Bears Stearns analyst Andrew Neff writes: "Our concerns are that the G5 cycle has disappointed, Apple is still ceding PC share, and at some point iPod mini supply will catch up with demand, which could derail the stock's momentum and temper further earnings per share [growth]," Neff wrote in a note to investors released Monday. Supplies of the original iPod, the one in the white case, have already caught up with demand, he said."

ANSA system developed for patch, asset management

04/26, 11:20am

ANSA support Mac OS X

Autonomic Software today announced launched its Autonomic Network & Security Administration (ANSA) system, offering a transparent "system managing systems" technology to augment patch and asset management. The cross-platform, agent-based system can scale to support thousands of Windows, Linux, UNIX-variant and Mac OS X computers from a single ANSA Inoculation Server. It features an Asset Discovery Engine, an automatically updated Global Update Repository, and Inoculation Server (running on Windows), Inoculation Clients for managed computers (including Mac OS X), and a System Administration Management Console. Pricing starts at $35 per agent.

Aspyr announces Homeworld 2 for Mac OS X

04/26, 11:00am

Homeworld 2 for Mac OS X

Aspyr today announced that it will publish Homeworld 2 for the Mac with Beenox handling the conversion: "Homeworld 2 continues the epic struggle of the Hiigarans and their leader Karan S'jet. Join the valiant journey of the Mothership and its crew into the oldest regions of the galaxy to confront their new foe and discover the truth behind their exile." The title will run on Mac OS X 10.2 and is available for pre-order for $50. Homeworld 2 is expected to ship this summer.

New 80GB MP3 player landing in U.S.

04/26, 10:35am

DMC-Xclef 500 80GB player

Digital Mind Corp. today announced that it will be bringing MultiChannel Labs' DMC-Xclef 500 MP3 player to the U.S. Currently available in Europe, the DMC-Xclef 500 comes in 40GB and 80GB models and includes features such as an FM tuner, FM recording, line recording, up to 20 hours of battery life, and a USB 2.0 interface. The device measures 129x81x22mm (the 40GB iPod measures 104x61x18.5mm) and weighs 255 grams, about 80 grams more than the iPod. The DMC-Xclef 500 also features an upgradeable hard drive interface that accepts any 2.5" laptop drive. The 40GB model will cost $350, while the 80GB model will sell for $450.

Apple executives sell $100M worth of shares

04/26, 10:00am

Apple insider trades

Between April 19 and April 22, six Apple executives sold 2,378,400 shares of the company, valued at about $102 million, according to SEC filings. With shares of Apple flirting at three-year highs, Tim Cook (Executive VP) sold about $33 million, Fred Anderson (CFO) sold about $22 million, Sina Tamaddon (Senior VP) sold about $19 million, Jon Rubinstein (Senior VP) sold about $14.5 million, Phil Schiller (Senior VP) sold about $7 million, and Nancy Heinen (Senior VP) sold $5.6 million worth of stock. Most of the sales came from exercised options.

iTunes Music Store at one

04/26, 9:40am

iTunes Music Store at one

With the iTunes Music Store celebrating its first birthday on Wednesday, CNET takes a look at the online music business and the giant transformation it has undergone since Apple's launch. Of note: some labels have started charging more for both singles and albums, although to date services have only passed on the higher charges to consumers who purchase albums; Walmart.com's 88-cent music store has come the closet to duplicating Apple's success, with the store garnering about half as many customers as iTunes had in March; and Apple's competitors continue to believe that Apple's closed approach to the iPod/iTunes will be what unseats both from their dominant positions, while the music industry itself would like to see more interoperability between all services and devices.

CNET launches Download.com Music

04/26, 9:15am

Download.com Music

CNET, which last year acquired MP3.com, today launched Download.com Music, a free music service that takes a page from the former service. Download.com Music features free tracks from numerous independent bands and allows new artists to contribute their works to the site.

New iTunes DRM-remover emerges

04/26, 7:15am

New iTunes DRM-remover

FairTunes is a new application that strips the digital rights management (DRM) protection from songs purchased at the iTunes Music Store. Unlike PlayFair, a similar utility that Apple has twice had removed from the Web, FairTunes does not require an iPod and is packaged as a simple Cocoa application that converts the song into an uncompressed WAV of AIFF file, which can then be encoded or burned as the user desires. FairTunes is free.

iPod success, development history

04/26, 1:00am

iPod success, development

CNET has published a short editorial on Apple's transition to services and gadgets, from the strict computer sales business of the past. "Gone are the posters and graphics accenting the company's sleek personal computers [at Apple's corporate HQ]. In their place, in the main lobby, is a striking, three-story-high billboard celebrating Steve Jobs's new billion-dollar consumer electronics business--the iPod digital MP3 music player." Meanwhile, a New York Times story on the development of the iPod reports that the device was developed in just six months by a 35-member team. The team was headed by Tony Fadell, an engineer who had worked at RealNetworks on a similar (but failed) project.