News Archive for 04/10/07

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Apps: EyeHome, MaxNews, XTension, CronniX...

10/07, 5:55pm

EyeHome, MaxNews...

EyeHome 1.5 allows users to access the digital content they have stored on a Mac - photos, music, video, movies - and enjoy it on a TV and home entertainment system. Details of the update were not published. [Download - 20.1MB]
MaxNews 1.0b3 is a flexible Mac OS X Usenet newsreader supporting reading and composing both news articles and e-mail messages. It has been completely "built from the ground up around one of the fastest SQL database engine with full unicode UTF-8 support in mind." [Download - 3.5MB]
XTension 5.2.1 ($150) is a home automation application featuring AppleScript support, scheduling for a number of event types, and speech recognition. The update includes support for X10 Security modules with the W800 RF receiver, improvements to watchdog timers, and wireless phantom suppression. [Download - 7.1MB]
CronniX 3.0b1 is a Aqua frontend to the powerful Unix tool "cron". This version adds new crontab parsing, and drag and drop of tasks and environment variables. [Download - 540KB]
Flip Page ($2.50) is a set of iMovie transitions that imitate a 3D ‘page flipping’ effect, with one clip being ‘turned out’ of the clip, revealing the next clip on the back side. You can control the 3D depth of the transition. [Download - 1.3MB]

Custom-colored iPods, PowerBooks, iMac G5s, iBooks

10/07, 4:25pm

Custom-colored iPods, Macs

ColorWare today launched custom-colored versions of Apple's fourth-generation iPod. The company offers both the 20GB and 40GB versions of the "iPod G4" in 20 different colors for a premium over the standard retail pricing. The 20GB iPod, which usually sells for $300, is available for $365 in any one of the 20 pre-selected color choices or in a custom color for an additional $100. It also sells custom-colored versions of iPod accesories, such as the dock ($20), earbuds ($10), and FM Transmitter ($20) for extra premiums of $20, $10, and $20 (respectively) above the pricing of their white counterparts. A 40GB 'iPod G4' is available for $465 in the same 20 colors.

Dueling 'Fool' commentaries on Apple stock

10/07, 4:05pm

Dueling views on AAPL

The Motley Fool has posted dueling commentaries on Apple: Apple Is Rotten is "ready for a mighty big fall. The Borg-like fidelity of Mac zealots, coupled with misplaced enthusiasm for the firm's nifty gadgets and a giant dose of media hype, has conspired to push the stock far beyond a rational valuation," while In Defense of the iEmpire says "So why in the world would you want to be a part owner of Apple at that kind of premium? Because, dear Fool, the company is a classic Rule Breaker. For the uninitiated, the core tenet of rule-breaking investing is to find companies that take a stick of dynamite to the conventional wisdom on the way to outsized economic gains and, thereby, investment returns."

Retail, web Apple Stores shine in PC World survey

10/07, 3:35pm

Apple Stores \"shine\"

Apple was the "clear winner" among a list of high-profile online and brick-and-mortar stores, according a PC World readersurvey: " The Apple Store rated the overall quality of its buying advice a 6 or 7. (The next-closest brick-and-mortar retailer in this category was Circuit City, with ratings of 6 or 7 from a relatively meager 35 percent of visiting respondents.) Apple Store shoppers rated the retailer particularly high in ease of finding buying advice (nearly 70 percent rated it a 6 or 7), and over 70 percent gave it top marks for providing sufficient information to make a buying decision. Apple's Web store fared nearly as well as its retail outlets: About 69 percent of its shoppers rated its technical information easy to understand, and almost 60 percent said the site provided enough information for them to make a buying decision."

Cyan Soft updates eProof color fidelity system, more

10/07, 2:35pm

eProof 4.0 released

Cyan Soft has unveiled cyan eProof 4.0, "the next generation of remote contract proofing." The latest version allows users to correct the original text of a proof file and thus prevent any misunderstandings about text changes between the creator and clients. "eProof's new color fidelity system provides contract proofing quality on the monitor that is as accurate as a printed contract proof. eProof's Mac client is now using Panther's revolutionary Quartz technology to display crisp graphics... The new functions optimize eProof for color-critical, content and imposition proofing, checking for file integrity, predicting press results..."

CandyBar 2.0 adds application icon customization

10/07, 1:45pm

Iconfactory CandyBar 2.0

The Iconfactory today released CandyBar 2.0, an update to the company's Mac OS X utility for customizing system level icons. It adds the ability to customize the icons of installed applications as well as their associated toolbar and document icons, quick customization of volumes, an expanded selection of System icons, auto-updating, and more. CandyBar's new "Applications" panel allows users to drag in replacements from the Finder or from Pixadex to quickly view/change the application icons as well as the application's icon contents -- including toolbar icons and document icons. It can also safely and quickly revert back to the normal state. CandyBar ($13) also ships with four new iContainers, allowing users to update their applications and system icons to either Corey Marion's popular Smoothicon series or David Lanham's recently released Somatic style. Upgrades are $7.

Briefly: VP debates, 'tabbed' iChat, RadioShack iPod

10/07, 1:20pm

VP debates at iTMS

In Brief: Apple's iTunes Music Store is now offering a free download of the Vice Presidential debate from last Tuesday between Dick Cheney and John Edwards (requires valid iTMS account).... ATI reported an over 250 percent increase in net income on substantially increased revenues of $572.2 million for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2004.... The Mac OS X Tiger version of Apple's iChat will offer tabbed messaging in addition to iTunes integration.... RadioShack is selling the HP-branded version of Apple's iPod.

Waves in Motion ships Analyzer 4.0 for FileMaker 7

10/07, 8:50am

Analyzer 4.0 for FM Pro 7

Waves in Motion has released Analyzer 4.0, a performance-oriented update to its application that enables FileMaker 7.0 developers to document, troubleshoot, and debug their FileMaker 7.0 solutions. "It is extremely helpful in the analysis of FileMaker 7.0 applications created by other parties or converting solutions. It can save hours in scoping work effort. It is important during the development process to find and report on issues." It is available for FileMaker 7 Developer (only) and costs $400. Analyzer 3.6, which runs on FileMaker 5/6, is available in a bundle with v4.0 for $430.

MathLink for AppleScript 1.1 for Mathematica users

10/07, 8:40am

MathLink for AppleScript

uni software plus has updated MathLink for AppleScript 1.1. The Scripting Addition (OSAX) allows Mathematica to be used as a computational engine in AppleScript programs and also allows external functions written in AppleScript to be called from within the Mathematica environment. This allows users to extend Mathematica with functionality provided by AppleScript-enabled applications. Version 1.1 contains bug fixes and adds support for low level MathLink messages for aborting time-consuming calculations. It requires Mac OS X 10.2 and Mathematica (4.2 or later). It is available for free.

Ilexsoft HighDesign 1.4 offers 2D CAD/illustration

10/07, 8:35am

Ilexsoft HighDesign 1.4

Ilexsoft has released HighDesign 1.4, an update to its 2D CAD and illustration program that features advanced vector tools. Version 1.4 provides user interface enhancements as well as other quality improvements, including extensive support for drag and drop, scroll wheel to zoom in and out and many shortcuts to speed up the drawing. Users can now add symbols and pictures using drag & drop from the Library Browser and the desktop, as well as import DXF drawings and insert symbols as scale-independent objects. Other improvements include dozens of new symbols in the default library and a new German language localization. It is available in Professional ($350) and Standard ($150) versions.

Analyst raises estimates on AAPL for Sept. quarter

10/07, 8:30am

AAPL estimates raised

Analysts at Morgan Stanley today reiterated their "equal weight" rating on Apple, while raising their estimates for the company, according to NewRatings.com: "In a research note published this morning, the analysts mention that Apple is scheduled to declare its F4Q04 earnings on October 13. The analysts expect the company to post robust revenues due to a consistent increase in the iPod and accessory demand. Morgan Stanley believes that the hardware demand would continue to improve in the forthcoming months. The EPS estimate for the 4Q04 has been raised from $0.18 to $0.20."

SoftRAID 3.1 adds bootability to RAID solution

10/07, 8:25am

SoftRAID 3.1 ships

SoftRAID has begun shipping SoftRAID 3.1, the first bootable version of its RAID software for the Mac. "Bootable SoftRAID Mirror volumes are what everyone needs, especially Server Administrators," notes Tim Standing, VP of Engineering. "SoftRAID provides reliable, instantaneous backup of critical data with data access as fast as that on a Stripe volume. Now with your system on a SoftRAID Mirror volume, you can have maximum flexibility and protection in your backup scenarios." SoftRAID offers error notification and easy-to-use interface. It is available for $130 with free upgrades to version 3.0.x users.