News Archive for 05/03/28

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New data visualization environment for Mac OS X

03/28, 7:55pm

IRIS Explorer R5.2

The Numerical Algorithms Group today released IRIS Explorer R5.2, a version of its advanced visualization application development environment for Mac OS X. It offers Mac users the ability to analyze scientific data using a visual programming interface; users can build applications from software building blocks, or modules to convert numerical data into different types of pictures using a 'point and click' development. IRS Explorer R5.2 includes hundreds of modules as well as the ability to develop custom modules. The 3D visualizations can be manipulated in realtime and are ideal for displaying scientific data from chemistry, physics and other disciplines, as well as engineering data from finite-element modeling and CFD. It is available for $2000 (single-node locked) or $3000 (floating).

Apps: Smultron, Soulblighter, DialExtension, ...

03/28, 4:45pm

Smultron, Soulblighter

Smultron 1.1 (free) is an open-source text editor written in Cocoa for Mac OS X with many features. This release implements the ODB Editor Suite, adds auto-completion, offers a "Save All" menu option, fixes bugs, and more. [Download - 1.4MB]
Myth II: Soulblighter 1.5.1 is an update to the classic real-time tactical game. The update, version 1.5.1, builds on the gameplay of the classic title by adding new features and fixing long standing bugs. Along with the update, comes a new demo that takes advantage of all the improvements Myth II has received as well as two solo levels and multiplayer capability. [Download - demo, update]
DialExtension ($15) is an application for small to medium businesses for dialing extensions with Asterisk. It is designed around Asterisk installations where a directory of extensions is stored on a server and each desktop user can quickly scan the list of extensions and dial other users. DialExtension requires a working Asterisk (or equivalent PBX). [Download - 200KB]
macstl 0.2.2 ($100) is a portable SIMD (single instruction multiple data) toolkit featuring fast transcendental and integer division functions, complex number arithmetic and cross-platform programming, all in an easy-to-use syntax. This release fixes an error when linking more than one object file, adds a mulhi function for vec and valarray, and improves valarray expression template and iterator design. [Download - 193KB]
Cyberduck (free) is an open source SFTP (SSH Secure File Transfer) and FTP browser licenced under the GPL. Version 2.4 offers new features such as synchronization, support for additional external editors and Growl notifications. [Download - 3.9MB]
SuperCard 4.5 ($180) allows users to create basic applications including games, teaching aids, utilities, personal productivity tools, automation tools, kiosks, and multimedia rich projects. Version 4.5 offers significantly increased performance, a new extensible help system, and over 80 new features and additions. [Download - options]

SuperCard 4.5 ships with new help system, more

03/28, 3:50pm

SuperCard 4.5 ships

Solutions Etcetera is now shipping SuperCard 4.5, a major upgrade to its authoring environment. Originally expected to ship last year, version 4.5 offers significantly increased performance, a new extensible help system, and over 80 new features and additions. It includes several trick new features, performance increases, a rich integrated extensible help system, new callbacks for XCMD developers, non-destructive graphic effects/filters, full-text search, enhanced keyboard/mouse support, and more. Users can easily create virtually any type of application including games, teaching aids, utilities, personal productivity tools, automation tools, kiosks, and multimedia rich projects. The Standard edition is $180, while the Developer edition ($250) includes SuperEdit, TransMaker, the Internals Toolbox, and protected scripts.

OmniPilot releases Lasso Development Studio 8

03/28, 3:45pm

Lasso Development Studio 8

OmniPilot today released Lasso Development Studio 8 (LDS8), its Web application development environment operating within Dreamweaver MX 2004 or GoLive CS; it allows developers to use wizards and a graphical editing environment to build data-driven Web sites with point-and-click ease. LDS8 includes full support for the Lasso Professional Server 8 deployment environment, LassoScript and new parentheses syntax; it also offers a Lasso Shell palette that allows Lasso code to be checked for proper syntax and executed within Lasso Studio and includes Lasso Professional Developer 8 for testing solutions locally, a utility to update older code to the new preferred syntax, a FileMaker CDML Converter, and more. It is a free upgrade for its Alliance members; upgrades are also offered at $50 discount off of the full price ($200).

FroogleUp lets users post listings, upload images

03/28, 3:05pm

FroogleUp for OS X

turingart has released FroogleUp, the first Mac OS X Froogle listing and upload manager. FroogleUp includes an SQL-based database system, a product listing editor and image preview features. Besides standard products properties, the application supports the complete set of addional properties for music, videos and books. FroogleUp is compatible to Froogle U.S., Froogle U.K. and Froogle Germany, supports all available Froogle languages and currencies. Once the user has completed all product listings, FroogleUp submits the listings of all enabled products to Froogle using FTP.

Briefly: Jobs' role in music, Apple Store experience

03/28, 1:35pm

Jobs\' role in music

In brief: A Business 2.0 article looks at Apple CEO Steve Jobs' growing role in the music industry -- "Apple has utterly changed the way people listen to music, and Jobs has become the hero of the very people he was lambasting".... Jon Carroll of San Francisco Chronicle shares his experience with the Apple Store: "It was not a retail experience in the modern sense. It was the anti-CompUSA. It felt like heaven".... DataMover will transfer virtually any item of data from DentalMac, MediMac, or ChiroMac to HealthWare's new iDental and iMedical practice management systems.... An article looks at how Skype can be used to conduct interviews that can be saved to hard drive, edited and then placed on the Web.

BBEdit 8.1 brings Subversion support, more

03/28, 1:10pm

BBEdit 8.1 released

Bare Bones Software today released BBEdit 8.1, the latest version of the company's HTML and text editor. Version 8.1 now includes support for Subversion, an open-source version control system, used by Apache, Samba, Zope and Debian, as well as many corporations. The new Subversion support provides an interface to the software configuration management system from directly within BBEdit. BBEdit 8.1 also includes enhancements to the innovative Text Factory technology, bringing a new Text Factory submenu and corresponding palette that displays installed factories for quickly applying a factory to the current document. The BBEdit 8.1 update is available free of charge to all registered BBEdit 8 customers. The full version of BBEdit 8 is available for $200.

FileMaker bundles free apps with FileMaker Pro 7

03/28, 11:30am

Free FM Applications Suite

Apple's FileMaker subsidiary today announced the limited-time availability of a free FileMaker Applications Suite for purchasers of FileMaker Pro 7. The suite, which includes four pre-designed, ready-to-use applications is comprised of FileMaker Meetings, FileMaker Tasks, FileMaker Work Requests and FileMaker Donations, has a value of $385 and "helps user be productive with FileMaker Pro 7 immediately." The free Applications Suite offer, only available, as an electronic version, is valid in the U.S. and Canada for customers who purchase and register new, upgrade and education versions of FileMaker Pro 7 between March 28, 2005 and June 22, 2005.

Second Apple retail center coming to Malaysia

03/28, 11:20am

Apple retail in Malaysia

Secured Digital Applications today announced the opening of a second Apple retail center by its subsidiary Gallant IT Holdings, one of the leading Apple retailers in Malaysia. The store, AppleCentre@Hartamas, will expand on the "digital lifestyle" concept developed by Gallant and offers a one-stop showroom of retail products integrated by the Gallant staff for consumer use and will also have a training facility. Gallant, which plans to open a third store during 2005, projects sales of approximately $1.5 million for AppleCentre@Hartamas for 2005. The new center will be located in the Hartamas Shopping Centre in Sri Hartamas, a suburb of Kuala Lumpur.

Adobe inadvertently posts details of Photoshop CS2

03/28, 11:10am

Photoshop CS2 details

Adobe accidently published an April 4th news release detailing its next-generation Photoshop CS2 digital image editing package on the Internet this week, revealing plans to introduce the software next month along with Creative Suite 2.0. The new version -- due to begin shipping this May -- will bring "a new level of power, precision and control to the digital photography experience." The software will feature advanced tools for digital photographers and video professionals such as a new Spot Healing Brush for correcting blemishes, and Smart Objects that will allow users to scale and transform images and vector illustrations without losing image quality. Photoshop CS2 will also pack new creativity tools such as Vanishing Point and Image Warping. According to Adobe, Photoshop CS2 will begin shipping in May for $600.

Briefly: Tiger back for pre-order, Mac virus contest

03/28, 10:30am

Tiger back for pre-order

In brief:: Amazon is again offering Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger for $95 pre-order.... CompUSA is offering 10% off any Mac [PDF link] for customers who sign up for 18-month no interest financing through the CompUSA credit card.... Accessory maker DVForge on Saturday announced and then cancelled a contest to offer $25,000 to anyone who could create a virus that would successfully penetrate Mac OS X's security.... MacSpeech announced today it will hold presentations on speech recognition featuring its popular iListen software at three Apple retail stores in Massachusetts March 29-31.

YooDoo for kids encourages creativity

03/28, 9:40am

YooDoo kids app

Midori today announced YooDoo, a new children’s software that combines three inventive activities that encourage kids to "explore their creative sides." In “YooGlow,” the child is equipped with colorful bulbs that can be placed on an on-screen board. With this board as his canvas, the artist within can arrange bulbs to create pictures, patterns, words and anything a child can imagine. The second activity, “Mr. Monster,” helps perfect the computer skill, “Drag ‘N Drop” while stimulating the child’s imagination as they drag and drop eyes, noses, mouths and facial hair on a monster of their choice. “My Garden” is the third installation of YooDoo and teaches kids about the life cycle and shows the complete full circle of a flower’s life. The downloadable software is $20.

Digigami MegaPEG.X Pro DVD Render Farm Bundle

03/28, 9:20am

Render Farm Bundle

Digigami recently announced that it is now shipping a MegaPEG.X Pro DVD Render Farm Bundle, which combines multiple versions of the MegaPEG.X Pro DVD encoder. The bundle includes multiple licenses of the two flavors of Digigami MegaPEG.X and versions for three processors. The encoders include: MegaPEG.X Pro (G4/G5) QuickTime Export plug-in, MegaPEG.X Pro G5 Batch, Pro G4 Batch, and G3 Batch. The MegaPEG.X Pro DVD Render Farm Bundle allows users to combine Mac computers from multiple generations into a single rendering farm. Digigami also updated its QuickTime plug-in to support rendering to MPEG-2 directly from the Final Cut Pro timeline.

Apple Australia to hold WWDC "previews"

03/28, 9:05am

AU WWDC previews

Apple Australia's Developer Relations staff will be visiting various locations throughout Australia and New Zealand providing "a sneak peek of all the excitement that's in store for attendees of WWDC 2005." Topics include "The Mac Market," Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger technologies, open-source development on Mac OS X, Xcode 2.0, and more. Apple Australia hopes to "show the powerful impact WWDC can have on your product development," by holding the previews. "WWDC is Apple's most important annual event for developers of all types."

MetaSynth 4 offers new interface, new functions

03/28, 8:50am

MetaSynth 4 for Mac OS X

Eric Wenger's electronic music and sound design laboratory for the Macintosh has been re-written for Mac OS X: MetaSynth 4 has a new sleek uncluttered user-interface and introduces powerful new realtime functions, 16-track integrated mixing room, full-fidelity stereo realtime previews, capture-to-disk, multi-oscillator and FM synthesizers, new granular synthesizer, stereo Image Filter, spectral granular synthesis and much much more. MetaSynth now supports sample rates up to 96 kHz. MetaSynth 4 is a 16-bit application, while the new MetaSynth 4 Pro creates 24-bit audio. MetaSynth 4 ($500) and MetaSynth 4 Pro ($600) are available now as electronic downloads, with the boxed versions due later this year.