News Archive for 04/12/01

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Clarion to unveil iPod-integrated car solutions

12/01, 11:40pm

New iPod car solutions

Clarion Corporation today announced that it will unveil a fully integrated iPod solution for its new VRX755VD in-dash DVD player/monitor combination at the 2005 Consumer Electronics Show (CES). Clarion also said it will also be showcasing a new CD receiver solution for Apple's popular music player at the show. Scheduled for a February 2005 consumer launch, the VRX755VD's touch-screen, seven-inch monitor will offer integration with the iPod, including playlist, slong, and artist information display on its onscreen control pad. Clarion will also ship in mid-2005 an iPod interface solution compatible with Clarion's CeNET-equipped source units (includes CD receivers and in-dash DVD players with monitors).

Apple launches iTunes Music Store for Canada

12/01, 11:30pm

iTMS for Canada debuts

Apple today launched its much-anticipated iTunes Music Store for Canada. After a promise to open the store in November, the company Wednesday evening quietly opened its online popular music store for Canadian users.

DEVONtech releases DEVONthink 1.9, DEVONnote 1.6

12/01, 7:35pm

DEVONthink 1.9 update

DEVONtechnologies has updated its freeform database and information manager DEVONthink Personal Edition to version 1.9 ($40) and released DEVONnote 1.6. Version 1.9 comes with a completely overhauled user interface and more than 200 new functions, commands, file formats and other improvements. The most notably new features are: automatic linking of words to other documents with the same name (automatic Wiki-style links), user-definable labels, an improved "Go" menu for easier navigation, an "Action" button for people with a one-button mouse, a completely rewritten search function and a command for synchronizing the database with files on disk. DEVONnote 1.6 is a minor update to that adds a new command for merging two or more documents into one large rich text document, and more.

Forums: CompUSA complaint... cost of OS X...

12/01, 4:55pm

Forums roundup for Dec 1

Topics on the MacNN Forums today include: One member's troubling experience with CompUSA involving damage to a PowerBook during repairs.... Various members' reasons for initially coming to the Mac platform.... The possibility of Apple developing a handheld computer.... discussion of an article on "the true cost of Mac OS X".... speculation about the future of AppleWorks.

Apple delays Canadian iTunes music store

12/01, 1:30pm

iTunes Canada delayed

Apple has postponed the launch of its iTunes music download service in Canada, according to a company statement. "We said that we would launch the iTunes Music Store in Canada by the end of November, but we're going to miss this deadline by a bit," the company said. "You'll hear from us very soon." Company representatives reportedly declined to comment on a specific timeframe for the store, noting only that an announcement could be expected 'soon.' While announcing the European Union iTunes music store in October, Apple chief executive Steve Jobs said a Canadian version of the iTunes music store would open for business in November.

CodeBlender announces Deep Trouble sequel

12/01, 12:45pm

Deep Trouble sequel

CodeBlender Software today announced the development of its new game, titled Deep Trouble 2, the sequel to Deep Trouble. "This time the underwater aliens are fiercer than ever. Your combat and strategic skills will be put to the test as you fight to uncover the mysteries of the underwater colony-world." The game's detailed graphics will utilize OpenGL's vertex and fragment shaders, while sound effects will be handled through OpenAL. Bump mapping, dynamic shadows and other advanced techniques will add to the graphics experience. Deep Trouble 2 is expected to reach beta status soon. More information about its release date and system requirements will be made available on a future date.

Apps: vTunes, NewsFire, Raven Shield...

12/01, 11:45am

vTunes, NewsFire...

vTunes 4.0 is a major overhaul to the simple, OpenGL accelerated iTunes visualizer. The new version has been completely rewritten from scratch and adds 3 brand new visualizers: Plasma, Skyscraper, and Ripple. vTunes is freeware, although donations are encouraged. [27.6KB]
NewsFire 0.3 is a stylish and elegant RSS news reader for Mac OS X that is under active development. Version 0.3 is the latest step in the NewsFire beta program, delivering numerous features such as smart feeds, the ability to save searches, and item flagging. NewsFire 0.3 also adds date display, source code viewing, and several user interaction enhancements. [631KB]
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3: Raven Shield 1.0.2 update patch brings the Mac version of Raven Shield up to the PC version 1.5.6. The update allows Raven Shield users to play against people who have installed the Athena Sword expansion (only on the original Raven Shield maps). The patch is a free download. [13.1MB]
24U Appearance OSAX 3.0 ($36) extends the AppleScript functions of communication with a user by those you have missed when writing your scripts under the Mac OS X system. The new version adds unicode support for most commands, more customizable dialogs, improvements to icon display, and more. Version 3.0 also delivers superior dialog text fields, now with support for credit card, SSN, SIN and regular expression validations. [Mac OS X - 1.8MB] [Classic - 256KB]
eOrdering 2.5.4 ($65) allows small businesses, photographers, and artists to put their products online and take orders online. The new version adds 2Checkout.com as a processing method, in addition to a second PayPal method that uses the LAJ Cart instead of the PayPal cart. eOrdering 2.5.4 adds frames to images and delivers various minor bug fixes. [Mac OS X - 3.2MB] [Classic - 3.2MB]
Dossier 1.2.1 ($25) is a personal and workgroup information manager in the style of a journal or diary. It includes Rendezvous networking, live search, smart folders, password protection, and integration with Blogger and LiveJournal. The new version is a maintenance release providing increased performance and bug fixes. [1.2MB]

Briefly: MythOnMacOsx, Macs. vs PCs, PMUG, WiFI iPod

12/01, 9:10am

MythOnMacOsx, Macs. vs PCs

In Brief: A MythOnMacOsx tutorial, explains how to compile a Mac OS X front-end to the open-source MythTV project Personal Video Recorder (PVR) application for time-shift-recording or stop-action live viewing of television/digital cable signals.... A Miami Herald Tribune columnist says that schools should choose Windows PCs because of the eroding Mac marketshare and cross-platform incompatibility.... The Princeton Macintosh Users Group (PMUG) will be holding its annual holiday party on Tuesday, December 14th on the Princeton University Campus.... MacTreasures is soliciting old Macs as part of its donation program to schools and non-profit organizations.... Metro FreeFi is a database of over 3000 free WiFi locations arcross the US that can be customized and downloaded to your iPod for quick on-the-go reference.

SpamX: new spam reporting tool for Macintosh

12/01, 9:00am

SpamX: spam reporting tool

Hendrickson Software Components today announced SpamX for Linux and Macintosh. The company's software for spam reporting automatically traces the source of spam and then reports spam offenders to their ISPs. The company claims that "SpamX users typically see their spam levels drop to near zero within four weeks." SpamX is available in both client and server editions. It supports supports virtually all email clients that can retrieve full SMTP headers. Users can simply drag & drop or save your spam email to a user-defined folder and then SpamX will parse the messages and automatically report the spam using the SMTP header information from each message. The client edition is priced at $20, while the server edition is priced at $400.

ShinyDV offers motion graphics packs for iMovie

12/01, 8:50am

ShinyDV iMovie effects

ShinyDV has announced new motion graphics packs for iMovie. iMovie users can now leverage high-quality, affordable motion graphics for use their own movie productions. ShinyDV currently offers three CDs with motion graphics: smooth ( blurry, flow-y, and glow-y clips), shapes (shapes and retro clips), and scrapbook (holiday and other clips). They are available for $20 each or as a bundle of 3 for $50. The royalty-free clips are available in DV format for use in iMovie or Final Cut Pro, rendered in NTSC DV format, "broadcast safe", and available in QuickTime (Macintosh) and AVI (Windows) formats. ShinyDV also offers tutorials for incorporating the clips into iMovie productions and steps for using iMovie to make custom motion graphics.

New Keynote themes: 'Something Old', 'The Plan'

12/01, 8:45am

Two new Keynote themes

Keynote HQ today released Something Old, an "elegant" Keynote theme with a rich leather appearance. The high resolution theme includes custom photo cutout masters, custom matching chart fills, and free clip art to enhance presentations with an "embossed" leather look and antique objects. Something Old ($15) includes 19 master slides in both 800x600 and 1024x768 sizes. Keynote HQ is also continuing to offer the free 800x600 theme So Blue for users that register at the company's web site. Keynote Theme Park also released "The Plan" ($15), which includes 42 die cut photo masters--some with a unique multi-layered effects. It includes "PowerFill" shape to cover up gaps seamlessly, color and grayscale charts, planning-type Focus Elements (e.g., yellow and blue sticky notes, paper clipped pages and 8 plates of hand drawn red hi-light marks), and other object such as red hi-light pencil, magnifying glass, tacks etc.

MacSpeech offers Transcription Professional Solution

12/01, 8:00am

New MacSpeech solution

MacSpeech has released its new Transcription Professional Solution, featuring the Olympus DS-4000 Digital Voice Recorder. The recorder provides a four function side slide switch, more than 11 hours of recording time, automatic backup of recordings, and multiple user profiles to support environments where recorders are exchanged amongst professionals. "This new solution has been in testing over the past month and has really exceeded my expectations," said MacSpeech CEO and Founder Andrew Taylor. "It can support up to 179 hours of recording time on an optional 512MB memory card, and also supports accessories such as foot switches, which is often requested by our users." The iListen Transcription Solution Professional 4000 sells for $550, including the DS-4000 recorder, iListen software, and a high-quality VXI-Pro headset.

PaperHub offers integrated FireWire, USB hubs

12/01, 7:35am

PaperHub for FW, USB

Pressure Drop today launched the PaperHub, its stylish USB & FireWire combo hub. Fusing state-of-the-art technology within an elegant, artistic paper tray, "Pressure Drop created this visionary solution to organize, simplify, and enhance a user's desk space. Consumers can finally dispose of their unappealing plastic hubs and choose an artistic, well-built hub that begs to be displayed." The anodized aluminum device offers four (4) FireWire 400 ports, four (4) USB 2.0/1.1 ports and two US-letter-sized paper trays; it uses a single power supply and features polyurethane for protecting desktop surfaces. PaperHub will begin shipping December 10th for $150.

Apps: Script Timer, RollCall Directory, EarthBrowser

12/01, 7:20am

Script Timer, EarthBrowser

Script Timer 2.2 ($12) is a system utility that will run AppleScript, perl, or shell scripts, as well as applications, at specific times or at regular time intervals. It offers a drag & drop interface for creating and manipulating scheduling data files and ships with several sample scripts. It adds once-a-year events and scriptability for manipulating its own settings via AppleScript. [1.0MB]
RollCall Directory 1.2 ($15) brings new Multiple Addresses, a new four-column format, as well as special new holiday artwork. RollCall Directory allows easy printing of any address book or pictorial directory, allowing users to select multiple columns (1-4), fields to print, font, size, style, color, and other layout options. It supports Address Book fields for Mac OS 10.2/10.3 as well as all 59 International address formats. [1.7MB]
EarthBrowser 2.5 ($24) is an innovative earth simulation that combines an easy to navigate 3D globe with real-time weather conditions and 7-day forecasts. Version 2.5 features increased earth resolution by 400%, new Antarctic iceberg tracking, live data from over 250 ocean buoys in North America and Europe, daily fire hot spots of North America, and more. [4.0MB]
Denes 1.0 ($50) is an EIMS filter for taking actions on email based on DNS lookups using custom rules and criteria. Using a dynamtically reloaded list, Denes allows email to be accepted or denied based on DNS-based black-lists and white-lists using a single filter; it also offers a simple test mode to log DNS lookups without actually denying or accepting email. [426KB]
FUNDimensions 5.2 ($2000) updates database application, designed for smaller non-profits and schools, that manages the entire fundraising process. It offers a new Member Status search to help organizations manage their memberships, helping locate current, new or lapsed members as well as find current or lapsed donors with a specified number of memberships. [form]
DiscBlaze 4.3 ($30) is a free update to the CD/DVD burning software for Mac OS X. It adds the ability to burn CDs in simulation mode, run without a burner connected, switch between Aqua and Metal interface and more. The disc burning utility offers support for multiple sessions to the same CD, burning audio CDs, creating disc images, and other options for burning data CDs/DVDs. [2.1MB]

Apple Korea launches iPod photo, U2 iPod

12/01, 6:55am

New iPods in Korea

Apple Korea plans to acquire third largest market share in the Korean MP3 player market within a year, the company said, at its launch of the iPod photo and iPod U2 Special Edition in Korea. The Korea Times reports that Apple launched the new products at a press meeting at the Plaza Hotel Tuesday evening and said that it would use aggressive marketing to gain marketshare from flash-based players: "Although Apple’s iPod controls 52 percent of the global market and 65 percent of the U.S. market, 97 percent of the Korean market is dominated by the flash-memory-type MP3 players, which Apple does not produce. We plan to increase our market share in Korea by 20-fold through aggressive marketing campaigns," said Sohn Hyung-man, CEO of Apple Computer Korea.

Apple changes tune, offers Band Aid single on iTunes

12/01, 6:50am

iTMS offers Band Aid song

Apple is now offering the Band Aid single from the iTunes Music Store after it reached agreement with the charity, according to the BBC: "Apple had been unwilling to raise the cost of the single in line with other download services, said Band Aid. But the single is now on sale for 79p - the usual cost of a song from iTunes - with Apple donating a further 70p to the charity for each song downloaded. A copy of the original 1984 song is also available for download at 79p - with all proceeds going to the charity. More than 72,000 copies of the new Band Aid single were sold on its first day of release on Monday, according to sales figures."