News Archive for 04/05/10

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Mark/Space updates Missing Sync utility

05/10, 10:05pm

Missing Sync updated

Mark/Space has updated Missing Sync for Palm -- its software to synchronize a Palm device to Mac OS X -- to version 2.0.2. The update adds full support for PalmOne's new Zire 31 and Zire 72 handhelds. Existing customers who own one of these new PalmOne devices should download this update. Mark/Space has also updated Missing Sync for Tapwave, with a new Game Installer for Tapwave Zodiac devices.

Crm4Mac bridges AddressBook, iCal and Mail

05/10, 7:20pm

Crm4Mac for AB, iCal, Mail

Crm4Mac is a professional contact manager for Mac OS X. It uses the standard Apple software for email, calendars and contacts. It serves as a connection between AddressBook, iCal and Mail to link your events, mail and documents to your private and business contacts. "From each contact you can access all relevant info immediately. A single mouse click gives you insight of all correspondence on paper, email and meetings."

Delkin USB Bridge connects USB devices without a PC

05/10, 7:15pm

Delkin USB Bridge

Delkin Devices today announced a new device that connects two USB peripherals together without a computer. "The USB Bridge fits easily in the palm of one's hand, and enables users to copy files by attaching a digital camera directly to a variety of peripherals such as an iPod (and other MP3 players), USB Flash 'Thumb Drives', external hard drives, CD-R burners and memory card readers." A one-touch button copies files from the source to the destination instantly, while another provides data copy verification; LED lights offer visual confirmation of each process. It runs on two AA batteries (included) and will available in the first week of June for $70.

Apple Backup 2.02 offers performance improvements

05/10, 7:05pm

Apple posts Backup 2.02

Apple today released Backup 2.0.2 for members of its .Mac suite of Web services. It is available via Automatic Software Update to .Mac members who have already installed a previous version of Backup. Versio 2.0.2 adds performance and stability improvements to scheduled backups and is recommended for all Backup 2.0 users.

"Core Bootcamp" returns to Big Nerd Ranch

05/10, 6:30pm

BNR \"Core Bootcamp\"

Big Nerd Ranch has announced the return of Core Bootcamp with instructor Mark Dalrymple, from July 19-23, 2004.   The Core Mac OS X and Unix Programming Bootcamp delves deeply into the underpinnings of Mac OS X.  For anyone who is familiar the first nine chapters of "Cocoa Programming for Mac OS X," by Aaron Hillegass,  Core Bootcamp is the logical next step toward "advanced Cocoa programming mastery," Big Nerd Ranch says. A five-day class, guide, luxury room, three meals a day,a t-shirt, and transportation to and from the airport is $3500.

Tech: Infinium console, HP game PC; Sasser motive...

05/10, 3:15pm

Tech: Infinium console...

Afternoon Tech news: Infinium Labs, the long-secretive video-game company, today took the wraps off of its Phantom gaming console and service, setting a Nov. 18 launch for the system designed to play conventional PC games on televisions; the German teen who confessed to writing a crippling computer worm that caused chaos around the world may have been trying to help his mother's small "PC Help" business, state prosecutors said on Monday; seeking to take advantage of the fast-growing video game market, Hewlett-Packard said it would begin to offer built-to-order custom personal computers for game enthusiasts.

Apple supports "We Are the Future" fundraising event

05/10, 12:55pm

\"We Are the Future\"

Apple along with eBay and Yahoo! announced that they will join forces to support Quincy Jones' "We Are the Future" concert, scheduled for May 16, 2004 in Rome, Italy. The collaboration will "allow each company to play a distinct role in bringing the all-star concert to a worldwide audience, and in so doing, raise money to support children in war-torn countries." The performance line-up includes Eve, Norah Jones, Alicia Keys, Patti Austin, Herbie Hancock, and others as well as celebrity presenters, such as Oprah Winfrey, Angelina Jolie, Naomi Campbell, Chris Tucker, etc. Apple says it will release the "We Are the Future" single in May and be the exclusive online distributor with a portion of the proceeds going to the benefit of the program's child centers.

Apps: RadioRecorder, CADintosh, MasterJuggler...

05/10, 12:45pm

RadioRecorder, CADintosh

RadioRecorder 1.0 (free) allows users to save streaming audio from Internet radio stations. It supports multiple concurrent connections, scheduling, iTunes integration, automatic file deletion, the ability to extract song info from some channels, etc. The source-code is also available. [224KB]
easy beat 2.1 ($90) adds support for exporting songs to Apple's GarageBand. The MIDI authoring application offers 16 tracks in multiple views and more than 100 instruments as well as the ability to print the score and tabulature, add effects and variations, and a built-in software synthesizer. [4.2NB]
CADintosh 5.1 ($32) updates Lemke Software's 2D-CAD program for technical and architectural drawings; it adds multilanguage support added to the Mac OS X version, new functions to convert a list of lines/circles to an x-line, a new help menu, improved DXF export, and other changes. [16MB]
Menu Calendar 1.8 (free) is an update to the free pocket calendar (with iCal integration) available from the Mac OS X the menu bar. Version 1.8 now shows birthdays, better iCal integration, new icon options, and other bug fixes. It runs on Mac OS X 10.2.3 or later. [186KB]
ThermographX 1.2.4 ($7) is the latest version of the system utility that monitors the internal temperature of newer Macs utilizing the internal thermal sensors. It provides real-time measurements as well as historical graphs for plotting short- and long-term temperature trends. It adds support for the latest PowerBooks/iBooks, and other changes. [564KB]
HTML Character Converter 1.2 ($5) is Mac OS X 10.2 "Service" (available from any application) that allows you to encode special characters into HTML, supporting accented characters, characters in foreign alphabets, special punctuation marks, and more. Version 1.2 lets you customize the keyboard shortcuts. [336KB]
MasterJuggler 3.03 ($90) is a free update that brings Panther compatibility as well as a new search field, type-ahead selection, improved startup time, better organization of the Unicode pop-up menu, and other enhancements. The font utility can activate specific fonts located any where on your drive, preview fonts, organize/shorten font menus, etc. [form]

Sonnet, Curious Labs, e-on Software offer promos

05/10, 12:35pm

Sonnet mail-in rebate

Sonnet Technologies today announced it is offering a rebate promotion on various Sonnet peripherals and upgrades when purchased with one or more new Macs between May 10 and June 30, 2004. The "Make Your Old Mac Smile" promo offers a mail-in rebate on Sonnet products bought with any new Mac system (on the same invoice). The rebates range from $5 to $25 are available on each of the purchased products, with a maximum redemption of $205.

Curious Labs and e-on software have re-introduced the $400 Power Bundle, featuring the flagship products of both companies. The Power Bundle includes Curious Labs' Poser 5, e-on software's Vue d'Esprit 4 and Mover 5 bridging animation software with support for Poser 5's cloth engine and dynamic hair as well as animation network rendering, new special effects, etc.

Aspyr ships Call of Duty for Mac OS X

05/10, 11:55am

Call of Duty for Mac OS X

Aspyr Media is now shipping Call of Duty, its cinematic first-person action game developed by the company's internal development team, Aspyr Studios: "Call of Duty thrusts players to the front lines of combat, delivering the cinematic intensity and chaos of battle, transporting gamers into a gripping, movie-like World War II combat experience. Gamers take the roles of ordinary soldiers, fighting together as a squad through multiple Allied perspectives, as American, British and Russian troops." It offers 24 single player missions as well as team-based multiplayer gameplay. It is available for $50 and runs on Mac OS X 10.2.8 or later.

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation will ship this summer

05/10, 11:50am

CSI: Crime Scene Investiga

Aspyr announced it will publish CSI: Crime Scene Investigation for the Mac. Development is being done by Christian Jensen of EPCConnect and the title is due for completion late this summer: "Enter the gritty world of CSI and search for the truth with Grissom, Catherine, and the entire Crime Scene Investigation team. Armed with high-powered forensic equipment and razor-sharp wits, delve deep into the mysteries of five baffling crime scenes to reveal the truth." It will run on Mac OS 9/X and is now available for pre-order for $30.

Sony unveils 20GB iPod riival with high-res color LCD

05/10, 10:35am

Sony 20GB iPod rival?

Digit Magazine reports on Sony's 20GB iPod rival based on AIWA technology and currently only expected to be sold in Japan starting in June: "The Vaio Pocket VGF-AP1 has a 20GB hard disk drive and a 2.2-inch colour LCD screen with 320-x-256 pixel resolution. In addition to acting as the main user interface, the screen displays track information when songs are being played and displays, if available, album art. On the right-hand side of the display is a touch-sensitive panel dubbed "G-sense" that is used to control the player. Users can navigate a series of on-screen menus by running their fingers over the panel in the appropriate direction."

Intaglio 2 adds graphic styles, image effects, more

05/10, 10:30am

Intaglio 2 drawing app

Purgatory Design has released Intaglio 2, an update to the company's drawing & illustration application. Version 2 offers new Graphic "styles" for elements, PDF conversion, image effects (shadows, glows, and 3D lighting), improved performance with large drawings, stroke/fill effects for text, better AppleScript capability, more control over graphic location and size, and improved control of font substitution from a menu. The $90 application runs Mac OS 10.2 (with some features only available under Mac OS X 10.3). It is available in English, French, and Italian.

IBM Lotus Workplace app based on open-source software

05/10, 10:05am

IBM Lotus Workplace app

IBM's forthcoming Lotus Workplace Desktop software will offer corporations a server-based application environment that allows "thin clients" on company desktops to run free software from the open-source project OpenOffice.org, including a word processor, spreadsheet and presentation software. The Workplace software will first be available for Windows and Linux, while a version for the Mac will be released later this year. according The New York Times.

KnightShift enters beta testing, due in June

05/10, 9:45am

KnightShift enters beta

Virtual Programming has announcd that its forthcoming KnightShift game title has now entered beta testing, offering compatibility with the latest code from version 1.2 of the Windows-version as well as 12 new weapons, 10 new enemies, support for password protected channels, new RPG maps, and more. "KnightShift offers the best of conventional RPG and RTS games in a mystic world, full of fantasy and imagination. The player takes control over heroes, real (funny) or magic characters and leads them to victory and honor." It will ship in June for £30.

Apps: skEdit, vTunes, gTuner, MacBoot, Cinematize

05/10, 9:40am

skEdit, vTunes, gTuner...

skEdit 3.4 ($20) is a web development application for Mac OS 10.1 or later that offers support for HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP, ASP, Perl, Python, and ColdFusion. Version 3.4 includes bug fixes, German/Spanish localizations, improved Snippets, new User Scripts (for user-customizable tag-based language code-completion), safer file-handling and improved documentation. [form]
vTunes 3.0 is a small, OpenGL-accelerated iTunes visualizer plugin. Version 3.0 offes a major speed boost. [515KB]
gTuner 1.0 ($7) is a guitar tuning utility that has two modes for tuning the guitar: automatic tuning and manual tuning. It also has different views which indicates the correct tuning: a regular window, a fullscreen 3D view and an indicator in the Dock icon. [524KB]
MacBoot 1.0.5 (donationware) is an application for changing the gray apple shown during system startup to any image or icon and also offers options to change the background. The program can use boot images created by others. It brings support for Mac OS X 10 "Panther". [169KB]
DeskCover 1.2 (donationware) inserts a customizable translucent sheet between your icons and the desktop picture that "automatically resizes itself upon launch to fit all desktop icons within the sheet.." It now supports auto-launch at startup, offers right-aligned label support, custom transparent gradients and more. [72KB]
Cinematize 1.03 ($50) brings support for MPEG audio elementary stream files and improved file extension names for MPEG audio/video files, as well as bug fixes. The application allows users to extract clips off of any unencrypted DVD and save them in a format compatible with standard video/audio editing software such as QuickTime, iMovie, and Final Cut. [580KB]
RPGMapMaker 3.5 ($37) is a tool for drawing maps with polygonal grids, such as a grid map made of hexes (for world, region or village maps), or with squares (for dungeon maps) or with lozenges (for pseudo-3D castle and dungeon maps). [5.9MB]
EV Nova 1.08 ($30) updates the third game in Ambrosia's Escape Velocity series of space adventure games that "thrusts you into a sprawling universe dominated by a myriad of warring factions." It contains a number of bug fixes to both the engine and the scenario. [77MB]
TextFormation (free) is a FileMaker plug-in that dynamically transforms text within FileMaker solutions into easy-to-read presentable formats, allowing developers to quickly and conveniently customize formats on-thefly." [317KB]

Canon S60 features wide-angle lens

05/10, 8:55am

Canon S60 digital camera

Canon today announced the PowerShot S60, a 5-megapixel camera that features a 28-100mm UA wide-angle 3.6x zoom lens. The new S60 also features a slimmer body, an improved lithium-ion battery, faster startup time, as well as a 9-point AiAF autofocus system. The camera is scheduled to ship in June for $500. An optional underwater housing, WP-DC40, will be available for $240.

iTunes Music Store plans for South Africa, Europe

05/10, 8:40am

iTMS South Africa plans

An ITWeb article touches upon Apple's plans to launch the iTunes Music Store in South Africa, summarizing that "while plans for a South African version are not yet clear, some homework has been done on the issue." More interestingly, Rodney Ichikowitz of The Core Group, Apple's South African distributor, says that Apple plans to launch the iTunes Music Store in Western Europe "during the next two to three months." Previously, Apple has only said that the store would arrive in Europe some time this year. If Ichikowitz' statement is accurate, it would be the first time a more specific time frame has been referenced.

WP: Sony fumbles online music

05/10, 7:50am

Sony fumbles online music

Sunday's Washington Post features a review of Sony's Connect online music store with a comparison against iTunes. Calling the service "an embarrassment to the company that gave the world the Walkman," the review blasts Sony for introducing another proprietary, locked-in format to the market, the clumsy interface of its Sonic Stage software, and the sparse extras the service provides to users. "Apple's combination of song and store isn't ideal -- as I've complained before, Apple needs to make song files downloaded from its store playable on more than just iPods. But just compare it with Sony's Connect: One of these stores has a future, and one of them does not. And the difference comes down to nothing more complex than each company's willingness to learn from experience and listen to customers."

EZQuest debuts tiny USB flash drive

05/10, 7:20am

EZQuest\'s USB flash drive

EZQuest has introduced the EZ-Disk USB 2.0 flash drive, which it bills as the world's smallest, measuring 1.88 x 0.75 x 0.13 inches and weighing less than four grams. The EZ-Disk is capable of transferring data at up to 950KB/sec and is Mac and Windows compatible. Three capacities are available: 128MB ($50), 256MB ($80), and 512MB ($150).

Tech: Sasser creator caught; Sony handheld gaming; ..

05/10, 1:35am

Tech: Sasser creator found

Tech news: An 18-year-old suspected of creating the Sasser computer worm, believed to be one of the Internet's costliest outbreaks, has been arrested in Germany; Sony plans to unveil its first new major game hardware in four years next week with a handheld gaming machine that aims to break Nintendo's stranglehold on the mobile game market; court rulings have pulled the most popular software for copying DVD movies off the market, but a new program, already on sale at CompUSA and Wal-Mart, is trying to get around these rulings and still let users duplicate copy-protected discs.