News Archive for 05/01/28

Choose an article from the archive listing on this page or refine your selection using the controls in the gray box below.

Forums: G4 upgrades, PB review, shuffle orders...

01/28, 5:50pm

Forums roundup for Jan 28

Topics on the MacNN Forums today include: comparing Power Mac G4 upgrades.... An interesting PowerBook G4 review.... Putting a faster hard drive in the Mac mini.... speculation about the next iMac G5 update.... iPod shuffle order status.

Apps: MBS plug-in, iBiz, IconLab, PhoneValet...

01/28, 4:25pm

MBS plug-in, iBiz...

MBS plug-in 5.0 ($110) comprises a collection of several plug-ins that extend the REALbasic development environment with over 450 classes and 4 controls featuring over 9000 documented functions. Major changes in the new version include: QuickTime time code classes, classes to use the Stuffit engine, Rendezvous support, and Ghostscript classes. [Download - 20.6MB]
iBiz 2.3 ($30) is an intuitive time-billing and invoicing application with Address Book and iCal integration. New features in iBiz 2.3 include a new client status column, client filtering, greatly improved iBank integration, improved contextual menus and several other enhancements. [Download - 3.9MB]
IconLab 1.0 ($25) is a Photoshop plug-in that adds full support for Mac OS X's native icon format to Adobe Photoshop. IconLab allows icons to be constructed with the full power of Photoshop, automatically flattening layers and resizing images to produce professional quality icons. [Download - 3.9MB]
RF Toolbox 3.2.0 ($20) is an antenna design package for amateur (ham) radio operators, and other radio enthusiasts, as well as those in the communications professions. The latest version adds a tool for designing helical (helix) antennas. [Download - 1.4MB]
PhoneValet Message Center 2.1.6 ($200) provides multi-line multi-mailbox voice mail, conversation recording, a searchable call history, talking caller id, caller-activated AppleScripting, a fax controller and voice dialing. The new release allows users to select the audio output device of their choice when screening messages live as they are being received.
3D-Space VFS 1.1 ($30) offers a three dimensional interface to "all your favorite files, folders, and applications in one place, so you can quickly and easily get to each one of them." Version 1.1 brings the following changes: the ability to store actual files and folders, improved triggering of viewpoint changes, better drawer automation, and more. [Download - 272KB]

SYPECom announces Collaba 4 with blogs, more

01/28, 1:20pm

SYPECom\'s Collaba 4

SYPECom has announced a major update to its Collaba product line, a new Web site, a new online store, and the introduction of an unlimited technical support service. Collaba 4 is a significant update to its multimedia communication and collaboration servers. Collaba 4 adds a new Blog feature, major enhancements to forums, a new Collaba Client Engine, support for the del.icio.us social bookmarks manager, a new server-side unzip option to file transfers, much more powerful mail rules (filters), dual-port SMTP-Auth server, a new licensing system, and more. Single user licenses start at $100 for a year.

Briefly: Best Buy to sell Mac mini, AU units arrive

01/28, 1:15pm

Best Buy to sell mini

In brief: As anticipated this morning, Best Buy will begin selling the 1.42GHz Mac mini and 512MB iPod shuffle within 30 days.... SNL IR Solutions announced today that Apple has launched a new investor relations Web site.... "In an age when human help of any kind is hard to come by, the eight or nine Geniuses on duty at any given time here [at the Apple Store] are a welcome anomaly".... PalaeoGraphics, an authorized Mac dealer in Australia has received its first units of the new Mac Mini today along with iPod Shuffle and iLife '05.

iSkin offers Wild Sides eVo2 protector for iPod

01/28, 12:45pm

Wild Sides eVo2 protector

iSkin today announced the iSkin Wild Sides eVo2 protector for the iPod, featuring vibrant colors banded with white stripes that glow in the dark. Made from a durable, form-fitting silicone, it provides protection against damage as well as includes a "funky" version of the company's Wheel Cap, which offers a full-coverage barrier for the touch-sensitive Click Wheel. Also included is a matching colored ultra-clear screen protector and the removable iSkin RevoClip to rotate the iPod. It is available in three color combinations: Rebel (deep blue with white), Diva (hot pink with white) and Verve (bright green with white)--all with glow-in-the-dark stripes. They will support Apple's fourth-generation iPods (20GB/40GB) as well as both iPod photo models and will be available for $35. A version for the mini is expected later.

iPod becomes focus of academicians

01/28, 8:35am

Academicians study iPod

Using his new iPod Stories website, Markus Giesler, a 28-year-old assistant professor of marketing at York University (Toronto), says he is conducting a study of iPod users and their music-listening habits and hopes to create an ethnographic study called "iPod Therefore iAm." Wired News reports that Giesler may be the next "Professor iPod": "Michael Bull, a lecturer at Sussex University, is considered a leading academic expert on the impact of digital entertainment devices, earning him the 'Professor iPod' moniker -- but now he has some competition. Markus Giesler, a 28-year-old assistant professor of marketing at York University in Toronto, is fast becoming a bright light in high-tech consumer research." Giesler argues that the iPod is leading the charge toward 'cyborg consumerism,' in which technology is married to the body and we plug into a vast 'hybrid entertainment matrix.'

Briefly: Pepsi/iTunes bottles, iPod history, ...

01/28, 8:15am

Pepsi/iTunes bottles

In Brief: Apple's Mac mini may be two decades late, but still may offer enough to provide a good alternative to Windows users.... Designed for small businesses, 2ndSite's Mac-compliant web-based billing service now offers new pricing and enhanced reporting to suite of online invoicing, billing, and organizational tools.... Readers continue to note the availability of new Pepsi/iTunes promo bottles, despite the fact that Apple website still says the contest is "coming soon."... Peachpit has released a new Apple-certified guide for Logic Pro 7 and Logic Express 7 ($45).... The History of the iPod chronologically explains the MP3 player's history, covering all asects from codenames, release dates features and pricing.

Net Tool Box 3.0 adds stats, traffic filters, more

01/28, 7:55am

Net Tool Box 3.0 released

Net Tool Box 3.0 is an update to the multi-purpose networking utility for Mac OS X. Dubbed the "swiss-army knife" of networking tools, it features over two dozen tools, including Mapper (geographically locate computers by their IP address), Ping & Ping Scan (check connectivity to remote hosts), DNS Tools, IP Terminals (with support for TCP, SSL and UDP.), Internet Tools (web server responses and use advanced email), Traceroute, Port/Service Scanning, Netstat (live view of all network connections), Whois (look-up domain names), Traffic Watcher (view actual network data), and Rendezvous Tools. Version 3 adds network statistics, an SMTP tool, traffic filter sets, Rendezvous discovery, ARP table display, support for all network interfaces, and more. It is a free upgrade to the $38 utility for Mac OS X 10.2.3 or later.

Merrill: Best Buy may sell Mac Mini at select stores

01/28, 7:45am

Best Buy may sell Mac Mini

Best Buy may begin selling Macs again, which in turn could accelerate the iPod halo affect, according to a report released by Merrill Lynch. The analyst firm said that the consumer electronic retailer could begin to sell Macs--specifically the Mac mini-again by the end of February, based on information relayed by a retail manager and indications on Best Buy's Website that the Mac mini would be available soon at retail stores; however, the firm said that neither Best Buy nor Apple would confirm such a move. The firm said that while Apple and Best Buy had previously decided not move forward following a pilot program in 48 different US stores, the new lower $500 point of the Mac mini would make the program more successful the second time around.