News Archive for 04/09/27

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EDIROL unveils R-1 WAVE/MP3 recorder/player

09/27, 11:10pm

EDIROL unveils R-1

EDIROL today announced the R-1, a portable 24-bit WAVE and MP3 Recorder/Player suitable for a wide range of sound and music applications. The R-1 is a mobile, high-quality recording device offering direct storage to Compact Flash (CF) memory, 24-bit effect processing, and operation from 2 AA batteries. It measures 4"x5.5" and weighs in at 10 oz (including batteries and CF). The R-1 will list for $550 and be available in later November.

Analyst firm cautions on AAPL returns

09/27, 8:45pm

Investor cautions on AAPL

Some analysts are cautioning that while Apple may be "well-positioned to benefit from its strong product lineup and new product introductions," the growth may not necessarily benefit investors. Citing Apple's "lofty valuation"--trading at a multiple of 41 based on 2005 earnings estimates of 90 cents a share--and its current near 52-week high trading, Credit Suisse First Boston says that th outlook for Apple shares have become more uncertain as they soared this year. The firm maintains a 12-month price target of $35 a share on Apple's stock.

Toshiba offers 60GB digital music player, 10GB "mini"

09/27, 7:50pm

60GB Toshiba music player

Toshiba today announced that it has increased the song capacity of its Gigabeat line of hard drive-based digital audio players. Its HDD Audio Player Gigabeat line, offered in different colors, will feature a 60GB hard drive and will be available in December in Japan, along with 10GB and 20GB versions, according to CNET News.com. The products include a high-resolution 2.2-inch color display and a navigation system based on a plus-sign-shaped sensor on the front of the device. The Gigabeat supports WMA and MP3 files and sports a USB 2.0 connection. Toshiba said it would also release in November its Gigabeat G10, the more compact version of the player with a 10GB drive. Both players have 128MB of flash memory and lithium-ion batteries. The 20GB Gigabeat is expected in the US in October for $350.

Formac launches refurb store, offers weekly special

09/27, 7:25pm

Formac refurb store

Formac Electronic today launched an online store for refurbished products. Formac's refurbished store features new specials every week, starting today with the Gallery 2010 LCD for $900, a 30% discount from its original MSRP. "In contrast to the common definition of the term 'refurbished' these Gallery 2010 displays come with brand-new TFTs, and only the display enclosures might exhibit minor cosmetic imperfections. Quantities of this special deal are very limited." The monitor features native resolution 1,600 x 1,200 resolution, a 600:1 contrast ratio, 250 nits brightnes, and 15 ms pixel response.

Gak Pak 1.0 offers custom plugins for After Effects

09/27, 7:20pm

Gak Pak 1.0: AE plugins

Profound Effects has released Gak Pak 1.0, a unique and customizable plug-in suite for motion graphics. Created by renowned artist Kenneth Woodruff, Gak Pak offers nine plug-ins producing a variety of animated backgrounds, textures and patterns. "Use Gak Pak where you might use a background or graphic from a collection of canned clips or stills. Unlike canned backgrounds, Gak Pak graphics can be customized, tuned, and tweaked to get exactly the look you're looking for. And, several Gak Pak effects can incorporate your own footage." It includes Barrage, Fireflies, Gakcharmer, Glider, SpiderWeb, Structure, Waves, and more. Gak Pak for After Effects, Premiere, and combustion is available for $150. It requires Mac OS X 10.2 with MacPython 2.3.1 or Mac OS X 10.3.

Apple offers exclusive U2 song at iTunes Music Store

09/27, 7:05pm

Exclusive U2 track at iTMS

Apple is touting its new exclusive song from U2's upcoming song album, which is due in November. "Opening with one of The Edge's fastest, most aggressive guitar riffs ever, 'Vertigo' is the title of U2's new single — and it's available today, exclusively on iTunes. 'Vertigo' offers a tantalizing hint of the band's first studio album in four years, How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb, which is due to drop November 23. Be among the first to download this powerful song."

Briefly: Danbury Fair Mall, AppleScript Sessions...

09/27, 5:30pm

Danbury store update

In Brief: Olympus has announced its 1GB xD-Picture Card, which is expected to be available in the first quarter of 2005.... a MacNN reader writes: "While shopping at the Danbury Fair Mall in Danbury Connecticut this past weekend, I saw the Apple logo and prominent Apple.com URL on the barrier in front of a new store being built. From the size of the barrier, it looks like this Apple store is going to be a pretty big one, too."... Organizers of the November 8-12 AppleScript Pro Sessions in Newport Rhode Island have announced two special guests as the early bird registration deadline approaches: Matt Neuburg and Duane Mitchell.... ADC members and Apple employees are entitled to a 30 percent discount at the upcoming O'Reilly Mac OS X Conference, Oct. 25-28, at the Santa Clara Westin.... Digital Storytelling techniques of various sorts will be covered at the October 4th VMUG meeting.

Apps: Wirecast, Mailsmith, VirtualKeyboard, DrumThing

09/27, 3:40pm

Wirecast, Mailsmith...

Wirecast 1.1 ($450) is the latest version of the QuickTime webcasting solution. Version 1.1 adds the ability to access the standard capture device configuration windows to adjust brightness or contrast, support for sending the output preview to an external monitor, and a French localization. [Downoad - 7.3MB]
Mailsmith 2.1.4 ($100) is an update to the extra-strength email client for Mac OS X. Mailsmith 2.1.4 is a maintenance release to fix reported issues and add minor interface refinements. [Downoad - 15.1MB]
VirtualKeyboard X 2.3 ($12) is an on-screen keyboard that offers point-and-click typing using pointing devices such as a head mouse, mouse, or trackball. Version 2.3 adds a "Label" feature: "you can type text you use frequently (like a return address, letter head, signature) into all applications by selecting it from the Label menu." [Downoad - 1.0MB]
DrumThing ($18) is a compact and simple application designed be a software version of a drum machine for creating drum patterns, loops and grooves. There are 12 sliders for drums selection each with all the available 48 QT drums. [Downoad - 175KB]
PHPStar 3 is a complete and free PHP distribution package for Mac OS X and 4D WebSTAR V. "It includes all special functions to make a better world wide web, in a single and easy to use installer." [Downoad - 35MB]
Event Reminder 2.3 is a Mac OS X application that can to help you remember important events such as birthdays and anniversaries by presenting the information in an easy to view table. Version 2.3 allows dates to be displayed as numbers, corrects a problem with Event Reminder, and adds more holidays/dates. [Downoad - 896KB]

EarthLink launches TotalAccess 2005 for Macintosh

09/27, 11:30am

EarthLink TotalAccess 2005

EarthLink today launched TotalAccess 2005 for Macintosh, a free suite of tools for Mac users that includes a "phisher site" blocking application, ScamBlocker, and real-time RSS feeds. It also offers an enhanced and innovative synchronization tool that enables multiple EarthLink profiles to combine the address books of friends and family into a single address book and a new, modularized EarthLink Task Panel that includes icons that enables subscribers to choose which modules, such as their Protection, Email or Web icons, to display or hide. Total Access 2005 includes EarthLink Accelerator enhancements designed to improve performance for Safari users and is available for both EarthLink narrow and broadband subscribers.

Mac marketshare will grow 'ahead of expectations'

09/27, 11:05am

Mac market share growth?

Analyst Piper Jaffray says that Apple's marketshare will grow ahead of expectations over the next two years, according to Forbes.com: "Piper Jaffray said sees greater-than-expected adoption of iPods and Hewlett-Packard iPods translating to acceleration in sales of Macintosh computers. Also, iTunes 'will emerge as psychological catalyst for shares of Apple in 2005,'the research firm said. Strong iPod and iMac demand will lead to a strong fiscal first quarter ending in December, Piper Jaffray said. Apple could also get a boost from stronger laptop sales." The firm currently rates Apple at "outperform" with a $40 price target. The recently released report also said that that for the fiscal fourth quarter ending in September, 40% of resellers it surveyed said PowerBook sales are "tracking above plan," while 30% said iBooks are selling better than expected.

AcidMusicLoops offers loops for GarageBand

09/27, 11:00am

Loops for GarageBand

AcidMusicLoops has announced that is re-mastering its entire CD catalog to include full AIFF file compatibility for Apple's GarageBand and Soundtrack. The first three compatible titles include the recently released Analog Heaven Vol. 2, Symphonica and eXtreme Guitar. "Within the next two months, all of AcidMusicLoops' 20 Loop CD titles will contain not just AIFF files but genuine Apple Loops. In case you are wondering what the difference between a regular AIFF file and an Apple Loop is, here's the short version: Apple Loops are AIFF files with additional meta information that tell Apple Music Creation programs like GarageBand and Soundtrack detailed info about the loop itself. Key Signature, Speed, even the genre and style of the loop."

Briefly: KC opening photos, "Mood Swings", OS X hints

09/27, 10:55am

Apple Store KC opening

In Brief: Several MacNN readers have posted photos of the grand opening of the Apple Store Country Club Plaza.... Pennsylvania-based musician Steve Sobek has released the first studio-quality CD of original songs, "Mood Swings" ($15), recorded entirely using Apple's GarageBand software.... Rob Griffiths has updated his best-selling collection of hints, tips and hacks: Mac OS X Power Hound adds more than a hundred new hints, and updates every hint for Panther compatibility.... Digital-Tutors has released its "Introduction to 3D: MEL Basics" training kit as part of its training resources for Maya users.

Boinx unveils FotoMagico for creating slideshows

09/27, 10:55am

Boinx FotoMagico

Boinx today announced FotoMagico, its application that allows the creation of professional slideshows using images from your iPhoto collection and music from your iTunes music library. For slideshows that are performed live, FotoMagico provides the images in the highest possible resolution and offers presenters a high level of control and flexibility. Slideshows can also be exported to QuickTime movies and be distributed on DVDs created with iDVD or Toast. Previously known as 'Untitled App," the company began development on the application earlier this year and held a naming contest for application. The application is expected to be released in a few days for $80. Until then, Untitled App Preview 5 is available online.

Pangea offers Mac OS X game programming guide

09/27, 10:40am

Mac OS X game book

Pangea Software today announced its upcoming game programming book titled "Pangea Software's Ultimate Game Programming Guide for Mac OS X." Due at the end of October, the book covers various Mac OS technologies such as the HID Manager, OpenGL, OpenAL, Core Graphics, Rendezvous, QuickTime, and more. It will also offer details on writing a plug-in for Maya, performing stereo 3D rendering, networking, AltiVec optimizations, and copy-protection as well as information on marketing and sales strategies. The bundled companion CD contains Xcode sample projects including a fully functional Maya file exporter, networking code, Vertex Array Range acceleration, threading, etc. The $50 book is geared towards intermediate and advanced programmers. It can be pre-ordered for $40 and is available for $30 to education customers.

Olympus debuts consumer DSLR, other digital cameras

09/27, 10:25am

New Olympus cameras

Olympus today launched several new digital cameras, including its entry-level 4.0-megapixel D-590 Zoom, its ultra slim AZ-2 Zoom, and its EVOLT E-300 Digital SLR cameras. Billed as the "the first 100 percent 'digital-from-the-ground-up' consumer SLR system," the EVOLT E-3000 supports interchangeable digital specific lenses, a newly designed compact body featuring the Dust Reduction system pioneered on the professional E-1 SLR body, and more. The camera weighs 10 ounces and offers 8 megapixels of resolution, a 64MB buffer, USB connectivity, a high-contract LCD monitor, three different light metering systems, and a 3.2x zoom. It will be available in December. (Pricing not determined.)

Plextor launches 9-in-1 DVD+/-R/RW drive

09/27, 9:45am

Plextor DVD+/-R/RW drive

Plextor today announced the new PX-716 series DVD+/-R/RW drive. Featuring high-speed 16X DVD+R and 16X DVD-R recording, the PX-716 achieves fast 16X CAV performance on recommended 8X DVD+R media, and burns a 4.7GB DVD in less than six minutes. Available in both internal (ATAPI) and external (USB/FireWire) versions, the new 9-in-1 drive also supports dual-layer DVD media, enabling users to burn up to four hours of high-quality MPEG-2 video on a single 8.5GB DVD disc in approximately 28 minutes. The PX-716 features Intelligent Recording, a combination of technologies designed to achieve high-quality recordings. It is expected to be available in mid-October.

Griffin iBeam Flashlight, Laser Pointer for iPod

09/27, 9:30am

Griffin iBeam for iPod

Griffin Technology today announced the Griffin iBeam Flashlight and Laser Pointer for iPods. The iBeam package consists of two separate devices. The first is a snap-on flashlight, while the second is a class III laser pointer for iPod-friendly presentations. Both units come with a snap-on protective cap that can be attached to any keychain for convenient portability and accessibility. The iBeam lights are intended for intermittent use when they connect to the top of the iPod in place of the iPod's headphones. The new Griffin iBeam package is $20 and will begin shipping by the end of October.

MaxUpgrades offers iMove for Cinema Displays, iMac G5

09/27, 9:25am

iMove desktop stand

MaxUpgrades today launched the iMove, a computer display positioning table that enables the user to change the position of any Apple Cinema Display for optimum viewing angle and position. It is available for all three sizes of Apple's Cinema Displays, including the 30-inch ($190), 23-inch, and 20-inch ($150) models. iMove's unique design enables Apple's new flat panel (Aluminum) displays to glide on any desktop surface as well as adjust the angle for optimum image viewing relative to his/her posture, and rotate the display a full 360-degrees. The Apple Display stand foot fits in the groove of the iMove, which is supported on spherical rollers that allows effortless movement of the flat-panel display. A version for the new iMac G5 (both sizes) will be available in October for $150.

Lexar launches new media card readers

09/27, 9:15am

New Lexar media readers

Lexar Media today at Photokina (Hall 1.2, B-058) introduced two new Professional CompactFlash Readers designed for nearly instantaneous data transfer as well enhanced version of its multicard readers. Built with material similar to a digital camera, with a unique industrial design of hardened plastic and rubber over mold, the new Professional CompactFlash Readers readers (pictured at right) can be easily stacked and daisy-chained together for concurrent download of images. In addition, the new card readers support Lexar's ActiveMemory System for improved photography workflow. Delivering image read and write speeds in excess of 10MB per second, the new CompactFlash Readers are available with USB 2.0 or FireWire interfaces.

Adobe debuts DNG format, updates Camera Raw PS plugin

09/27, 8:40am

Adobe DNG, Camera Raw

Adobe today announced an update to the Camera Raw Plug-in v2.3, extending raw file support in Photoshop CS to more than 65 digital camera models and enabling Photoshop CS to handle files in the new .DNG format, also announced today. The Digital Negative Specification (DNG) is based on the TIFF EP format and offers a single format that can store information from a diverse range of cameras. Adobe's Camera Raw Plugin augments the raw file functionality already available in Photoshop CS, adding new support for the latest digital cameras from leading manufacturers, such as Canon, Epson, Fujifilm, and Nikon.

Apps: myPhoto, iBar, GSC, RadioLover, Ankow, ...

09/27, 6:30am

myPhoto, iBar, GSC, ....

myPhoto 1.3.1b (free) automatically shares all of your photo albums, captions, etc from iPhoto onto your personal web site with a search engine and much more. This release contains several bug fixes, adding greater compatibility with the latest version of iPhoto as well as additional translations (Chinese and Japanese). It requires Mac OS X and iPhoto 2. [2.0MB]
iBar 1.0 (free) is a utility that sits underneath your menubar and gives you up-to-date information on the current track in iTunes. Users have control of basic play/pause cabilities as well as scrubbing, shuffle, equalizer, and song rating. It also can set global hotkeys for keyboard control and quickly search the song library. It requires Mac OS X 10.2 and iTunes 4.1. [1.7MB]
Game Server Configulator 1.5 (free) for Aspyr's Star Wars: Jedi Knight - Jedi Academy is a handy interface for Aspyr's dedicated Jedi Academy game server application. In addition to easy setup and configuration, GSC allows banning and auto-kicking of players as well as a new auto-start function to reboot a server without human intervention, new dock display of connected players, and the ability to broadcast automated server messages. [1.1MB]
RadioLover 1.3 ($15) updates Bitcartel's MP3 radio song recorder with improved iTunes integration, options for re-connection, improved multi-threading in the application and many bug fixes. It allows users to record MP3 streams as invidual MP3 songs, record multiple radio streams simultaneously, import radio streams from the Web and iTunes Radio Tuner, split/organize recordings by song/time/size, and more. [800KB]
Ankow 1.0 ($20) is a file sharing application that claims to use a "new kind of peer-to-peer technology" that works in conjunction with a central scalable Linux cluster to provide secure access to personal file/folders. It enables users to access password-protected areas of your personal computer via any standard browser with fine-grain controls over file and user access. [268KB]

Apple Australia lands Xserve G5, Xserve RAID deal

09/27, 5:55am

Apple Australia gov\'t deal

Apple Australia has landed a deal within federal government for its storage and server systems by selling 14 RAID storage systems and five Xserve G5 servers to the Australian Sports Commission (ASC), according to The Age: "The ASC says the value of the systems was 'under $1 million' but was not prepared to disclose the other shortlisted vendors. The deal is on Apple's home-turf of multimedia, with the boxes being used for a digital video repository to consolidate access to sports video material. However, it comes on top of other federal government deals with the Defence Science and Technology Organisation, Australian Federal Police and a number of wins in state government and education, including one at Swinburne University."