News Archive for 04/08/04

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Intuit ships Quicken 2005 for the Mac

08/04, 11:05pm

Quicken 2005 for the Mac

Intuit has begun shipping Quicken 2005 for the Mac, an update to its personal finance software. The new version can create new accounts more easily and quickly; streamlines connectivity to banks, credit card, and brokerage accounts; improves the track home inventory by offering visual records using iPhoto images; includes an updated Tax Planner to minimize and estimate your taxes; and has dozens of charts and graphs for instant answers to long-term financial questions. The software is available for $70 and runs on Mac OS X 10.2.8 or later. Through August 26, the company is also bundling 'The Educated Investor Guide To Personal Finance 2005' as well as offering free shipping and $10 off for limited time.

IDC: Linux overtakes Mac OS as the No. 2 desktop OS

08/04, 5:50pm

Linux overtakes Mac OS

HP began shipping its first notebook computer to come with the Linux operating system preinstalled, saying that "This is the year that Linux overtakes the Mac on the desktop, and maybe my laptop will help accelerate that;" however, Industry research firm IDC says that Linux has already overtaken the Mac OS to become the No. 2 desktop operating system in 2003. "Though Linux has proved popular as a server operating system, it has had less success on the desktop. In late 2000, IBM began offering Linux preinstalled on its A20 and T20 notebooks, but it eventually withdrew the Linux offerings. By 2007, IDC estimates that Linux will have 6% of the desktop market in terms of units, Kusnetzky said."

Briefly: Difusi, "iCompose, iWin", Dosch ...

08/04, 4:15pm

iCompose, iWin

In Brief: Difusi announced today the “Double-Up Summer Savings” deal, which allows consumers to get two Bluetooth Adapters at the same price as a single unit; Netgear and leading hard drive manufacturer Western Digital today announced the companies will jointly promote a complete, affordable wireless LAN solution with network-attached storage for home networks; iCompositions.com announced Monday the launch of its "iCompose, iWin" Apple GarageBand Competition, which features more than $3200 in GarageBand-related prizes; Dosch Design is releasing the 3D Studio Max and Maya versions of Dosch 3D: Logo Animations.

FireFox, Mozilla browsers updated with security fixes

08/04, 3:20pm

FireFox, Mozilla updated

Mozilla.org has posted security updates to its open-source browsers: Mozilla 1.7.2, the latest version of the open-source Web, e-mail and chat suite, addresses many security issues and fixes a number of bugs, while FireFox 0.93 updates the technology preview of its next generation browser. [Download - Mozilla, FF]

EXmedic releases 2004 edition of medical office app

08/04, 3:15pm

EXmedic 2004

EXmedic Software has announces the 2004 release of its EXmedic medical office software for Mac OS X. New features include: appointment scheduling density color coding, electronic claims response reports filtering, new Quickreport design module, automatic Job continuation, separate print jobs for each workstation, charge narrative filtering, electronic claim uploads via dial-up FTP, pharmacies, prescriptions and access to often-run jobs via a new global applications menu, and more.

iList Studio 2.0 quickly builds SQL-based databases

08/04, 3:05pm

iList Studio 2.0 ships

Lakewood Studios today released iList Studio 2.0, its low-cost database software for the Macintosh. Now powered by MySQL, iList Studio is designed as a database companion for Mac-based businesses, home users, and others, allowing users to quickly build multimedia catalogs, scheduling databases, collaborative research tools, and multi-user relational databases--all without programming. iList Studio ships with several customizable database templates and can create a full-fledged MySQL database in "just a few seconds." It also features integrated graphing, user-designed record editors, ten find modes, and batch editing. It is available for $130 with a $60 discount offered through August 27th.

Wired: Apple fans pull for Steve Jobs

08/04, 2:35pm

Mac fans pull for Jobs

Wired has published an article on Apple fans' reactions to CEO Steve Jobs' recent sugery for a rare type of cancer. "News of Steve Jobs' cancer operation has Mac news sites seeing record traffic, forums are bulging with unprecedented numbers of postings, and Apple is being swamped with messages of sympathy." The news, first published on Sunday after Apple released an e-mail Jobs sent to all Apple's employees, led to record traffic levels on many Mac-related news sites.

Mad Catz announces iPod accessory starter kits

08/04, 2:20pm

Mad Catz iPod accessories

Mad Catz Interactive today announced accessory starter kits for the iPod and iPod Mini. The accessory kits will include a FireWire/USB cable for music transfer and charging, an automotive power adapter, and a carrying case. The iPod starter kit, which will support the recently announced "4G" (fourth-generation) iPods as well as the 3rd generation devices, will feature a sleek black design, while the kits for the iPod Mini will be available in silver, gold, blue, green, and pink to match the colors of the currently shipping Minis. The accessory kits are scheduled to ship in North America and Europe this fall and are expected to retail between $30 and $50.

Apps: Keyword Assistant, Export2QT, USB Server ...

08/04, 1:30pm

Export2QT, Smultron...

Keyword Assistant 1.7 is a plug-in for iPhoto to make keyword management easier. The update introduces a drop down menu for completions, smarter completions favoring recently used keywords, and French and German localizations. [Download - 298KB]
Export2QT 2.1 ($15) helps users export MPEG1, MPEG2, VRO, ReplayTV, TiVo, VOB, and HitachiVRO files to any QuickTime codec. Version 2.1 offers a simplified and improved conversion process, and a link to Export2QT section of MPEG2 Works forum under the "Help" menu. [Download - 395KB]
Keyspan USB Server 1.1 ($130) is a software upgrade for the Keyspan USB Server, which is used to connect USB devices to a Mac or PC via a wired or wireless Ethernet-based LAN. The 1.1 software update offers broader device compatibility as well as a more convenient user interface. [Download - 792KB]
Smultron 1.0 is an open-source text editor written for Mac OS X with "many of the features that you might need." The update adds Swedish, French and German localizations, the option to automatically open all documents that were open the last time Smultron was closed, syntax definitions, and more. [Download - 792KB]
PhotoFirst ($125) is a fully integrated application that simplifies organizing, annotating, RAW converting, comparing, enhancing, and creating professional quality, client-ready output from digital photographs. It simplifies and reduces the time spent on digital post-production and is designed to work with hundreds of digital photos at a time. [Download - form]
Audio Toolbox is an audio function generator for the Mac. Using no additional hardware, you can produce sine, square, triangle, and sawtooth waveforms of any frequency up to 22 kHz, as well as generate noise. It costs $20. [Download - form]

IBM on Linux for G5 processor

08/04, 12:00pm

IBM on G5 Linux

IBM has published an article on the promise of Linux on the G5 processor. "For many Linux users, the best reason to buy an Apple Power Macintosh G5 machine will be, quite simply, the well engineered, high-performance, and reasonably priced machines available from Apple. Many enterprises, hosting companies, schools, and research facilities have a mixture of x86 and PowerPC systems that they provide to users. When you want to assure a uniform system/user interface across these machines, Linux is the best choice for an operating system. PowerPC 970-based machines are comparable in performance to AMD's Athlon64 and Opteron and to the Intel Pentium 4EE and Xeon."

Apple sees growth in K-12 laptop sales

08/04, 11:15am

K-12 laptop sales

The Broward County Public School District, the nation's fifth-largest with 270,000 students, has ordered 4,500 Apple laptops for the upcoming school year. The district's computers are 70% Apple and 30% Dell, but chief information officer Vijay Sonty wants to move towards an all-Apple system. In 2003, Apple's laptop market share in the K-12 segment grew by 3.2% over the previous year, to 26.9% of laptops sold in this category.

Apple settles 'Freeny' patent licensing with E-Data

08/04, 11:10am

iTunes patent dispute

E-Data Corporation today announced that a world-wide agreement for past and future royalties has been reached with Apple for a license under E-Data's European patent EP 0 195 098 B-1, also known as "the Freeny patent," and its counterpart patent in Canada. The Freeny patent covers the downloading and recording of information, such as music, from a computer onto a tangible object, such as CDs, DVDs and MP3 players. The company says the iTunes platform enables Apple customers to download individual music tracks for a fee via the iTunes Music Store, charging that the software infringed on its 20-year old patent. However, as part of the agreement, financial terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

Toshiba debuts 60GB 1.8-inch mini-drives

08/04, 10:40am

60GB drives for iPod?

Toshiba today announced a new family of 1.8-inch hard disk drives (HDDs)--the same size drives used in Apple's iPod. The company debuted new 30GB "MK3006GAL" and 60GB "MK6006GAH" models, which it says also feature improved shock tolerance, power consumption and vibration control for better performance in mobile consumer electronics devices. The new drives are expected in the fourth quarter. Pricing was not available. Earlier this year, Toshiba said that it would debut the 60GB mini-drive and that it had already signed-up Apple as a customer; however, Apple last month said it had no plans for a 60GB iPod when it unveiled the "4G" iPods.

M-Audio unveils Revolution 5.1 PCI sound card

08/04, 10:30am

Revolution 5.1 card

M-Audio has introduced the Revolution 5.1 high-definition surround sound card for PCI-based computers. Built upon the same architecture as the Revolution 7.1, Revolution 5.1 offers "a multitude of features for today's power user." M-Audio designed the Revolution 5.1 with gamers in mind. Today's gaming technologies, such as EAX, OpenAL, A3D, DirectSound and Sensaura, are built right in allowing 3D audio positioning and realistic environmental simulation. Revolution 5.1 also features low CPU usage, an important factor for fast visual response in gaming. Revolution 5.1 also brings DVD movies to life with up to 5.1 surround sound.

Apps: Script Timer, YokMap, Spanner, MMColor

08/04, 8:00am

Script Timer, YokMap

Script Timer 2.1 ($12) is a scheduling product that will run your AppleScript, perl, shell script or applications on specific dates, reoccuring schedules or at regular time intervals. Users can also use the application to invoke actions when the computer enters or leaves an idle state. It adds dynamic scheduling, which can use an AppleScript script to schedule on-the-fly any other script or application. [unknown]
YokMap 1.0 ($10) is a tool to create and edit imagemaps for use in web pages. It offers CERN and NCSA import and export, resizing multiple areas simultaneously, zooming the working area, automatically loading images from a server when needed, and the ability to create or write to existing files. [1.8MB]
Spanner 0.7 (free) is a preference pane that allows you to add any application on your drives to a watch list, and perform actions when those applications are launched or quit. Users can perform easy actions such as hot corner control or muting the computer, but can also add completely individual actions via the provided key emulation interface - or by adding an AppleScript. [156KB]
MMColor 1.0 ($35) is a FileMaker Pro 7 interface plug-in which allows you to create and enhance color elements. It can dynamically create color images fit to place in container fields, creates sliders to edit component values (red, green, blue, hue, saturation, and value), create colors dynamically using FileMaker's calculation engine, convert hex color values to decimals, and more.
Overflow 1.2 ($10) is a space-saving Dock enhancement that allows quick access to applications or documents without cluttering up the valuable space in the Dock. Users can customize the settings through simple drag and drop interface. Version 1.2 fixes several bugs, including some compatibility issues with Mac OS X 10.2. [80KB]
LANsurveyor 8.1, a free update, helps network administrators and IT managers diagram their networks, monitor key network components, remotely manage key systems, create network and desktop asset reports, and solve network problems. Version 8.1 adds support for the latest versions of Dantz' Retrospect Client, brings improved switch/hub port mapping discovery, includes fine-tuned auto-discovery, and more.

Briefly: iPhoto update, UK notebooks, PPC history

08/04, 7:40am

iPhoto 4.02 update gone

In Brief: Apple has apparently pulled its iPhoto 4.02 update (released yesterday) without any explanation... UK shipment growth of Apple notebooks continue to exceed the industry average, growing more than 40% in both consumer and business markets....Apple's control-freak tendencies could crush iPod, according to USA Today columnist Kevin Mahney, who says the feud between Apple and RealNetworks over music downloads is exposing Jobs' tragic flaw...Ars Technica has posted Part I of "PowerPC on Apple: An Architectural History".

NetXposure ships Image Portal X 3.0

08/04, 7:30am

Image Portal X 3.0 ships

NetXposure today began shipping Image Portal X 3.0, a web-based digital asset management solution built for the Mac OS X platform. Image Portal X provides a centralized repository to store, organize, repurpose and distribute large libraries of digital files. It features advanced search functions, image repurposing (i.e., changing size, color, file format), user-type access restrictions, and localization in six languages. Version 3.0 also includes versioning for tracking changes to files as well as support for Web services, WebDAV, LDAP, check in/out of files, auto-tasking, batch tasking, preset process controls, and optional modules for statistics/reporting and an InCaddy plugin for Adobe InDesign (CS). It will ship on August 15th, with pricing starting at $15,000 or $1000 per month.

Miglia announces MovieGate AlchemyTV DVR plug-in

08/04, 7:15am

MovieGate AlchemyTV plugin

Miglia today announced the availability of its second AlchemyTV DVR plug-in for its AlchemyTV DVR PCI card. The third-party MovieGate plug-in enables users to burn VCD, S-VCD and DVDs directly from within the DVR application and also enables the creation of chapters on DVDs. MovieGate for AlchemyTV DVR is based on MovieGate, a free DVD mastering utility developed by macetvideo.com. AlchemyTV DVR lets you watch TV in full screen mode on your PowerMac, featuring scheduled recording functionality as well as TV/Antenna input, composite, S-Video inputs and stereo audio connector. It is available for $160 and runs on Mac OS X 10.2.4 or later.

Apple's .Mac service adds support for email aliases

08/04, 7:05am

.Mac adds email aliases

Apple has added support for multiple aliases to its .Mac email, part of its suite of paid Internet tools. "You can use email aliases instead of your .Mac email address to keep your .Mac account private (such as when purchasing online) or to easily recognize and organize incoming emails from various sources. Simply deactivate or delete an email alias to keep unwanted email from arriving in your Inbox."