News Archive for 04/08/13

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Apple submits patent for "chameleonic" enclosure

08/13, 11:55pm

Apple chameleon patent

Apple submitted a patent application in February to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for a computer enclosure that changes color depending on user settings or the system's current state or system actions. As noted first by TMO, the "Active enclosure for computing device" features embedded LEDs that can be used to change the color of the computer housing. Dubbed a "chameleonic electronic device," the patent notes that the casing and multicolor LEDs could be uniquely positioned or the intensities changed to vary coloration, create an outward design (spots/stripes), make a portion of the housing "glow" or simply light the outline of the casing itself.

Forums: HDDs, G5 problems, PB bags, OS X 10.3.5

08/13, 4:00pm

Mac OS X 10.3.5 issues

Topics of discussion on the MacNN forums today include: user recommendations for the best hard drive manufacturers; Power Mac G5 problems causing frozen screens and fan revving; suggestions for carrying bags for PowerBook owners; one member's trade-in experience with CompUSA; speculation about pricing of the much-anticipated G5-based iMac; Mac OS X 10.3.5 bugs (see Mac OS X Forum for similar topics).

Apple releases Safari 1.03 update for Jaguar users

08/13, 2:40pm

Apple releases Safari 1.03

Apple today released Safari 1.03 for Mac OS X 10.2 Jaguar uses. The company says the update improves the Safari rendering engine to expand third-party application support and delivers the latest security enhancements.

Apps: IntelliPoint/Type, Backdrop Folders, MiMovies

08/13, 2:00pm

MS IntelliPoint/Type 5.1

IntelliPoint 5.1 is the latest version of the software that enables users to customize the features of a Microsoft mouse; IntelliType 5.1 is the latest version of the companion keyboard software. [Download - IP, IT]

Backdrop Folders 1.2 ($19) is an add-on for the Finder that was designed to take advantage of Mac OS X 10.3 "Exposé" feature. With Backdrop Folders, you can open "views" of your folders at the desktop level and interact with them. Version 1.2 adds auto-positioning. [Download - 233KB]
File Wrench 1.0. Beta provides access in Mac OS X to the file attributes and more that were easily accessible from ResEdit in Classic. The batch-based format allows users to change various settings on 1 to 300 folder items. [Download - 1.1MB]
QPict 6.1.1 ($35) offers an attractive and inexpensive way to view, organize, search and batch process media files. This is primarily a minor bug fix release and also includes new features such as Canon EOS-1D Mark II RAW support. [Download - 5.2MB]
Color Inspector 1.0 is a $35 color browsing application. Its purpose is to help users find colors they need for projects quickly and easily. The application is built using Filemaker Pro and is enhanced using a few FileMaker® Pro plug-ins from Comm-Unity Networking Systems. [Download - form]
MiMovies is a new movie management application for Mac OS X. It manages a user's movie database by populating it through searching the Web for movie data. It contains built-in web browsing capability for sites the user associates with stored movies, and has a built-in media player. [Download - form 1.1MB]

Briefly: dinc; troubleshooting; PhotoshopWorld news

08/13, 11:35am

PhotoshopWorld sold out

In Brief: dinc has released Kong and Fay Wray: two new fonts "dedicated to Fay Wray in her memory with love and thanks;" Apple describes how to fix your Bluetooth connection if it fails while syncing data to a Sony Ericsson P800 mobile phone; Apple details a problem whereby a Power Mac G5 1.8 GHz single processor (SP) computer's fans can continue to run in sleep mode after updating to Mac OS X 10.3.5; Organizers of the PhotoshopWorld Conference and Expo said today that the event has completely sold out, and Apple has joined the exhibitor roster.

Apple design trademark depicts "handheld computer"

08/13, 10:55am

Apple handheld?

Apple has filed for a European design trademark which may provide a glimpse of the company's long-awaited tablet computer, reports The Register. The filing, made in May this year but only published this week, covers a "handheld computer" and contains sketches of what look like an iBook screen minus the body of the computer. The filing lists Apple CEO Steve Jobs and the company's industrial design chief, Jonathan Ive. Hints that Apple might be working on such a product emerged in 2003 when a source close to Taiwanese contract manufacturer Quanta claimed that the company had been hired by Apple to build what was dubbed a "wireless display."

Avid acquires Midiman/M-Audio for $80 million

08/13, 10:45am

Avid acquires M-Audio

Avid Technology today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Midiman, also known as M-Audio. At closing, Avid will pay approximately $80 million in cash, issue approximately 2 million shares of Avid common stock, and assume all outstanding M-Audio stock options. Under the terms of the agreement, M-Audio will become a business unit of Avid’s Digidesign audio division and market its line of computer audio peripherals, PCI sound cards, keyboard controllers control surfaces, microphones, and so on alongside Digidesign’s award-winning digital audio workstations.

Reflecmedia ships Mattenee for FCP, Shake

08/13, 9:10am

Mattenee for FCP, Shake

Reflecmedia has released Mattenee, a new line of software plug-ins designed for use with its studio and portable Chromatte solutions. Developed by The Pixel Farm--producers of the innovative PFTrack, PFMatch, and associated plug-ins--Mattenee 1.0 is designed for NLE and compositing applications including Apple's Final Cut Pro and Shake, Adobe's Premiere Pro and After Effects and also Digital Fusion from eyeon. "The release of Mattenee 1.0, as a plug-in for established digital video applications, maximises the benefits of Chromatte to provide an unrivaled keying solution." It is available now for $400.

MacWireless ships High Power 11g Access Point

08/13, 3:35am

High Power 11g AP

MacWireless is now shipping its High Power 11g Access Point. The 802.11g wireless access point offers 200 mW of output power, which the company says is six times the normal output of most access points, such as Apple's AirPort Base Stations. It supports a data transfer rate of 11Mpbs at the highest power output (200mW) and 54Mpbs transfers at 50mW. It supports 64- and 128-bit encryption, Web-based administration, built-in Power-over-Ethernet (POE), MAC address filtering, Hidden SSID, DHCP, and Apple's WDS protocol for sharing/extending a network (configuration); the router includes a single Ethernet port, but does not support PPPoE, which is used to as authentication for many broadband services, including DSL. It is available now for $200.