News Archive for 04/06/16

Choose an article from the archive listing on this page or refine your selection using the controls in the gray box below.

Apps: Workspace Manager, MagicFrames, MegaSeg, ...

06/16, 5:35pm

MagicFrames, MegaSeg...

Workspace Manager CS ($60) will automatically load and save palette workspaces in InDesign, depending on what the user is working on. New features for Workspace Manager CS include: new workspace contexts for Tables, XML, and the Story Editor, a new “swap” mode for those who don’t want automatic workspace switching, and improved menus for managing workspaces. [Download - form]
MagicFrames 2.0 ($50) is a new plug-in that allows users to interactively design border and edge effects in Photoshop, see frame creations in real-time, and combine shadows, textures, bevels and more. It comes with over 2000 professionally designed frames. [Download - Buy]
MegaSeg 2.7.3 ($200) adds the ability to reads ID3 volume tags for imported MP3 files, improves the search speed of large libraries, fixes a Unicode text encoding bug, and fixes a bug that caused the wrong song info to display. MegaSeg is a radio automation and mobile DJ application. [Download - 3.2MB]
Vvidget DAQ 9.4.7 is the latest version of the $150 automation and measurement system. "With this version of Vvidget DAQ, VVI brings simple to use voltage measurement and display to Mac OS X. Sensors and instruments that have voltage terminals can be hooked to the data acquisition hardware and displayed in a real-time strip chart recorder fashion."

AAPL up more than 6 percent, closes at 3-yr high

06/16, 5:10pm

AAPL at 3-year high

AAPL today closed at a $32.74, after trading above $33 for some of the day. The stock closed up $2.05 or 6.68 percent on a volume of more than 16 million, one day after closing at a previous high of $30.69--on the same day it launched its iTunes online music service in the U.K., France and Germany and an upward revised earnings outlook from Gateway pushed industry stocks higher.

Aspyr ships Space Colony for the Mac

06/16, 2:20pm

Space Colony for the Mac

Aspyr today announced that it is shipping Trihedron's Space Colony for the Mac: "Building on the idea behind the wildly popular Sims’ series, Space Colony adds a new dimension to people simulation and building strategy games. Not only must you create a successful space colony by harvesting space resources and fending off manic aliens, but you also must baby-sit your team of outer space misfits. Players lead dysfunctional crews through a series of unique missions to build a functioning space colony." Each of the 20 characters has a unique personality that demands different needs and attention. The $30 title runs on Mac OS X 10.2.8 or faster and requires a 733MHz Power Mac G4/G5.

Aladdin releases demo of Internet Cleanup 2.0

06/16, 12:05pm

Internet Cleanup 2.0 demo

Aladdin today released a trial version of Internet Cleanup 2.0, which erases unneeded Internet files that take up hard disk space and risk online privacy. Version 2.0 blocks suspicious data transmissions, cookies, referring URLs, ad banners, and pop-up windows as well as cleans up e-mail attachments and instant messaging log files to protect confidential information. In addition, Internet Cleanup 2.0 offers secure file deletion and also manages browser cookies, allowing users to protect their preference and password-saving cookies while deleting the rest. It is available for Mac OS X 10.2 or later for $20. Upgrades are $10.

FileMaker to showcase K-12 software solutions at NECC

06/16, 9:50am

FileMaker at NECC

FileMaker will showcase a variety of K-12 education software solutions designed for both teachers and administrators at the National Educational Computing Conference (NECC), the annual educational technology exhibit held June 20-23 in New Orleans. In addition, visitors to the FileMaker booth (#2000) wil be offered a free trial copy of FileMaker Pro 7, which FileMaker says features 10 education Starter Solutions designed for instant productivity. The conference will also feature five leading FileMaker Pro experts as speakers beginning Saturday June 19.

Briefly: Anderson/Bono, Alias merger, Disney/Pixar...

06/16, 9:40am

Anderson/Bono, Alias

In Brief: Apple's ex-CFO and Board member Fred Anderson U2 lead singer Bono are among the new Board members for Elevation Partners, a new venture capital firm that will invest in media and entertainment projects; Disney has held out an olive branch to Pixar, saying that it would like to continue distributing films for Pixar; Accel-KKR, the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan and Alias management today announced the completion of the acquisition of Alias from SGI for $57.5 million; The New York Post reports that Steve Jobs may be preparing to form a new film company along with Miramax co-founders Bob and Harvey Weinstein.

Group Logic offers AppleTalk protocol for Windows XP

06/16, 9:15am

AppleTalk for WinXP

Group Logic today announced the release of an OEM-only version of its ExtremeZ-IP product line for Windows XP Professional that includes the AppleTalk network protocol. "This solution fills the gap left by Microsoft's discontinuation of Windows 2000 Professional OS and its subsequent removal of AppleTalk from the replacement Windows XP Professional OS. Prior to the release of Group Logic's product solution, ISVs had been forced to migrate to the more expensive and hardware intensive Windows 2003 Server to obtain this key networking protocol."

Apps: AE Pro demo, ecOrganizer, iCash, ABFR, ...

06/16, 9:00am

AE Pro demo, ecOrganizer

Adobe has posted a demo of Adobe After Effects 6.5 Professional, its motion graphics and visual effects application. Adobe says the "tryout" includes all the core features found in the full retail version with the exception of MPEG-2 encoding, Adobe fonts, and bundled third-party software applications. [196MB]
Investigation Catalyst 1.1 is new investigation support application designed to "help achieve continuous performance improvement. It was developed to support a new paradigm for the management and conduct of process or systems development, hazard analyses, investigation and analysis of al kinds of incidents, accidents or occurrences, investigation report quality assurance, and change management tasks."
Snakey Math 2.0 ($10) is an educational game for Mac OS X combining arithmetic practice with classic arcade action for one to four players--either computer or other humans. Options include various number ranges, negatives, and mixed reviews. Version 2.0 adds new power-ups and electric switches, background photos and music, smoother transitions between problems, etc. [5.8MB]
A Better Finder Rename 6.4 ($20) updates the contextual menu plugin that allows users to quickly rename multiple files. The new version can use the date and time at which a digital camera picture was taken using EXIF metadata information in lieue of the file creation date. [2.4MB]
The Creative Xtreme 2004 Bundle ($200) includes the full retail versions of DreamSuite Series One (18 visual special effects), DreamSuite Gel Series (translucent graphics), Corel KnockOut 2 (Photoshop-compatible plugin for masking), Corel KPT Collection (24 creative Photoshop plugins) and Corel Bryce 5 (render 3D worlds and landscapes).
ecOrganizer 2.0v1 ($100) adds new tool tips, skin types, and different localizations (English, French, Italian, German, Dutch and Portuguese). ecOrganizer is a FileMaker Pro workgroup diary-, contact- and project management system with optional modules for quoting, invoicing as well as time- and cost management. [form]
iCash 2.0 ($25) shareware personal finance and money manager that offers unlimited categories, multiple account creation, a SQL backend engine, password protection, export/import routines, search functions, and drag & drop support. It adds new charts, transaction splits, better printing, a preferences panel, statistics, profit/loss reporting, and more. [Classic, OSX]

Apple ranked No. 74 on BusinessWeek's Info Tech 100

06/16, 9:00am

Apple on BTW Info Tech 100

Apple is ranked No. 74 on BusinessWeek's Info Tech 100 Scoreboard with revenue of nearly $7.2 billion, revenue growth of more than $23 million, return on equity of 3.8 per cent, total shareholder return of 79 per cent, and profit of $169 million. LG Electronics was No. 1, while Dell was No. 6, Motorola was No. 9, Acer was No. 22, CDW (Apple reseller) was No. 42, eBay was No. 44, and Microsoft was No. 49.

Apple, others express concern over Sony-BMG merger

06/16, 8:50am

Apple on Sony-BMG merger

Apple, appearing at the request of the Commission, expressed concern about competition from the Sony site in the final day of a closed hearing before European regulators on the proposed merger between Sony and Germany's Bertelsmann AG, according to Reuters: "Representatives of Impala, a group of independent record producers, told the hearing they would be hurt by the reduction of the number of major record companies from five to four. Independent producers will have even more difficulty getting their records to market, given that the major players already abuse market power, they alleged."

BasaOne 1.1 updates Web application development tool

06/16, 7:45am

BasaOne 1.1

Basasoft has released BasaOne 1.1, an update to its new Web Application Development Environment for Mac OS X that is based on HTML, CSS, JavaScript, MySQL and PHP. Version 1.1 adds alignment guides, translucent drag, class file creation, a window palette, enhanced JavaScirpt and more, BasaOne can easily write Web Applications with database access without requiring knowledge of different programming languages, server platforms, databases, etc. It creates Browser independent applications that look the same and work on all supported browsers. Promotional pricing is 120€. A 14-day demo is available.

EuroiTunes experiences payment problems at launch

06/16, 7:35am

EuroiTunes glitches

Apple's launch of iTunes in Europe yesterday (see photo gallery) experienced problems processing "Switch" debit cards, according to The Inquirer: "when some British punters tried to buy the service online with their quaint UK switch cards, the service struck a snag. Although the Imode site said it took Switch, some found it didn’t like them at all."

Details on Apple reseller lawsuit emerge

06/16, 3:50am

Apple reseller lawsuit

TellOnApple.org has posted a copy of its 4th amended complaint filed by MacAdam and Tom Santos on June 4th, 2004 in Santa Clara Superior Court and co-founder Thomas Armes told MacNN that he expects "to be in court on June 22nd for a case management conference and hope the judge will be setting a date for trial soon." TellOnApple.org was created by a group of former Apple Authorized Resellers as a "means to document and share any unethical or illegal business practices of Apple," saying that its "ultimate goal is to change Apple for the better." The complaint asks for more than $70,000 in unpaid monies owed by Apple as well as $7.5 million in damages for allegations of breach of contract, fraud, negligent misrepresentation, false advertising, violations of the Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act, trade libel, defamation, and more.