News Archive for 05/05/11

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Maxum releases Rumpus FTP 4.1 server

05/11, 10:35pm

Rumpus FTP 4.1 server

Maxum Development has released Rumpus FTP 4.1, an update to its internet file transfer server for Macintosh. It includes dozens of updates and several major new capabilities, including Web File Manager Extensions (WFM), activity graphs on recent server activity, user tracking/reporting, enhanced upload notices, and additional features. The WFM has been revised in both appearance and functionality, adding new customization options (available without modifying any HTML), cookie-based user authentication, directory list sorting, download links, and more. Rumpus 4.1 Standard Edition is priced at $250 or is available as an $80 upgrade from any previous Rumpus version. A Professional Edition for larger organizations and ISPs is priced at $400 ($130 upgrade).

Briefly: More VA retail?, Citibank, Galactic Patrol

05/11, 9:55pm

Galactic Patrol for OS X

In Brief: Apple is advertising a retail position (on Monster) for a Mac Genius in Pentagon City, VA, hinting that it is planning on a new retail store in Virginia.... Citibank says that Safari 2.0 (bundled with Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger) is not compatible with its online banking system, but does not have an estimated time for resolution of the problem.... Citibank is offering a free iPod shuffle for those who open a new account with them.... The VendorNation.com has re-released Galactic Patrol for Mac OS X, a "3D homage to the classic arcade hits of the early 80's," as a free download.... QuantumSoft's pro Fit 6.0.3 brings Spotlight support to the tool for the analysis and presentation of numerical data and mathematical functions.

WebObjects 5.2.4 offers Tiger compatibility

05/11, 9:45pm

WebObjects 5.2.4

Apple has posted WebObjects 5.2.4, an update to its web development and deployment environment. Version 5.2.4 brings compatibility with Xcode 2.0 Developer tools on Mac OS X 10.4, between WebObjects 5.2 and Java 1.4.2 for Mac OS X 10.4, between WebObjects 5.2 and Mac OS X 10.4, OpenBase SQL for Mac OS X 10.4. and ixes for the Java Client Save/Delete/Update problems with WO 5.2.3. This update also introduces the WebObjects Server Admin plug-in for Mac OS X Server 10.4 which will migrate the WebObjects StartupItems mechanism for auto starting WebObjects services to launchd-based services.

KeyChainPod: rigid Shuffle protective case

05/11, 6:15pm

KeyChainPod for Shuffle

The KeyChainPod is a protective aluminum case for the iPod shuffle that doubles as a keychain. All the Shuffle's buttons are easily accessed when mounted in the case. To plug the shuffle into a USB port, users simply pull the two halves apart. No tools are required because the halves are held together with magnets. The KeyChainPod greatly increases the iPod shuffle's durability, enabling users to bring their Shuffle skateboarding, rollerblading, mountain biking, snowboarding, skiing, and so on. The manufacturer says KeyChainPod remained intact during a test that involved driving over the KeyChainPod five times with a car. The $35 case is available in red, blue, gold and polished aluminum. Each case weighs 27 grams, equal to the weight of five nickles.

Apple's DVD Player 4.6 adds HD-DVD support

05/11, 5:05pm

Apple\'s DVD Player 4.6

Apple today released DVD Player 4.6, which delivers added support for DVD Studio Pro 4 authored HD DVDs and is recommended for all users of DVD Player, according to the company. The update includes additional support for playing DSP 4 authored HD DVD folders from DVD discs and hard drives, additional support of discs with both SD and DSP 4 authored HD content, improved Global Player settings, and improved usage for last play and disc info dialogs.

Apple updates Intermediate Codec, Pro App Support

05/11, 5:00pm

Apple sw updates

Apple this afternoon released updates to Intermediate Codec and Application Support. Intermediate Codec 1.0.1 for QuickTime 7.0 users delivers improved compatibility and reliability for Final Cut Express HD and iLife ’05 users. Apple also posted a Tiger-only Pro Application Support 3.0 (also available for Panther), which improves general user interface reliability for Apple’s professional applications, including DVD Studio Pro, Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro, Logic Express, Motion, and Sountrack. The updates are available via Mac OS X Software Update (for some users) or can be downloaded from Apple's Support website.

Briefly: $100 Student discount, Linux on Mac mini...

05/11, 3:50pm

Student discount

In brief: In addition to the regular discounts, Apple is offering students $100 back by mail when they buy and take possession of a qualifying Mac between May 2nd and June 25th.... "There's no doubt that using the iPod Photo with a Camera Connector offers greater versatility for storing and viewing photos than the Kodak EasyShare Picture Viewer," Walt Mossberg says in a Wall Street Journal column.... The free open-source to-do list manager, Check Off, has been updated for Mac OS X Tiger compatibility.... An IBM article discusses installing Linux on the Mac mini as an "ideal low-cost, high-performance PowerPC development platform for numerous applications"

Faber offers SignalScope Pro, Tiger updates

05/11, 2:25pm

SignalScope Pro

Faber Acoustical today announced the release of SignalScope Pro, a dual-display, dual-channel real-time analyzer based on SignalScope RTA. The $100 Pro version adds a new octave and 1/3-octave spectrum analyzer, A and C frequency weighting, and the ability to view any two analyzer displays simultaneously. Faber Acoustical Services also announced the release of SignalScope 1.8 and SignalSuite 1.3. SignalScope is the basic shareware version of the 2-channel real-time signal analyzer and SignalSuite offers real-time synthesis of audio signals. Both programs feature brand new icons and Tiger support and are free updates for current registered users. SignalScope registration is $60, while SignalSuite is $30.

Apple dominance not threatened by new services

05/11, 1:50pm

iPod/iTunes dominance

The recent pull-back in shares of AAPL represents a "buying opportunity" for investors, according to a report published by investment firm Piper Jaffray. Echoing similar sentiments by J.P. Morgan, Piper does not anticipate the marketshare of the iPod will be meaningfully impacted by the emergence of Yahoo! and other music subscription services. In addition, if subscription services become more successful, Senior Research Analyst Gene Munster believes that by year end Apple will introduce its own version of a subscription-based music service. "We have seen over the last 2 years that the success of online music services is driven by compatible devices," explains Munster. "In other words, the risk to Apple is a killer new MP3 player, not a new online music service." The Yahoo! music service will be available for use on the same devices as Napster-To-Go and Rhapsody To Go, but not the iPod.

SanDisk ships flash-based Sansa e100 music players

05/11, 1:40pm

SanDisk Sansa e100

SanDisk has begun shipping its SanDisk Sansa e100 series of small, portable digital music players that use embedded flash memory to store digital music; the players include an SD card slot for additional storage capacity as well. The Sansa e100 line features SRS WOW technology for 3D audio enhancement, support for MP3/WMA formats, a built-in digital radio with 20-presets, a multi-line backlit LCD, and software from RealNetworks' Rhapsody (online digital music service) and AudioFeast (commercial-free digital radio), and Audible. The SanDisk Sansa music players include improved stereo headphones, carrying case with armband, USB 2.0 cable, and AAA Battery. It is available in 512MB ($140) and 1GB ($190) models.

'Connect and Protect' debuts for iPod shuffle

05/11, 1:25pm

New Speck case for Shuffle

Speck Products today announced its newest case for the iPod shuffle. The new case allows users to wear Apple's smallest iPod in four different ways. "Connect and Protect has your Shuffle covered and connected: around your neck, on your bag, keys, pants, tie, dress, scarf... wherever you want it! The rubberized Skin keeps your Shuffle protected- the 4 caps keep it connected." Connect and Protect features a clear main skin with separate lanyard cap, key chain cap, caribiner cap, and pen cap. It is available now for $30 from Speck and will be available soon at most major retailers.

ML: Mac sales 'hot', retail activity extremely high

05/11, 1:25pm

Mac sales \'hot\'

Mac sales were strong during the month of April, while overall PC shipment demand declined. Merrill Lynch said April PC demand slowed ahead of sluggish summer months, but noted that Macintosh computers were "hot," according to Forbes. The firm noted that notebooks remained a strong seller (along with declining desktop sales) during the month due to lower average selling prices and that activity levels "remained extremely high" at Apple's retail stores. In the Wintel sector, HP lost shelf space during the month and its declining share of desktop sales, was partially offset by increased notebook sales, according to the research firm. The firm noted that AMD processors continue to lose share in desktops with about 12% of all desktops displayed carrying the AMD logo, down from an average 23% since last July.

KB: iTunes videos, QT 7 Pro bug, Pro apps install...

05/11, 12:35pm

KB: iTunes videos

Apple Knowledge Base roundup: Apple offers a tutorial on watching QuickTime and MPEG-4 music videos (files that end in ".mov" or ".mp4") in iTunes 4.8.... Another support document explains that some features of Apple's "pro applications" do not work if drag installed or if copied following an 'Archive and Install.'... Apple notes that the Soundtrack Pro installer does not install the QuickTime MPEG-2 Playback Component, which is required for MPEG-2 file playback and the Compressor Preview function.... A support document details a temporary workaround for a problem with QuickTime 7 Pro whereby "Pro" features become disabled.

Color IQ launches IQ Match color-matching solution

05/11, 11:55am

Color IQ launches IQ Match

Color IQ has released the IQ Match application and color-matching engine, which can quickly and accurately match colors between devices such as digital cameras, scanners, monitors and printers. IQ Match allows the user to view, proof, export, and print images for any ICC-based profile; it also integrates with ColorSync-enabled applications. The company says that IQ Match is "the only" application to incorporate learning material directly into the user interface to provide education about key color concepts while using the product. It is available for $130, before a $50 limited time discount available until the release of Tiger-compatible version in the third quarter of 2005. Until then, users will receive the discount pricing and a free upgrade.

Elgato EyeTV 1.8 supports Tiger, adds new features

05/11, 11:45am

Elgato EyeTV 1.8

Elgato has released EyeTV 1.8, an update to its software for its line of digital tv tuner/recorder devices. Version 1.8 brings fully compatibility with Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger, H.264 support export under Tiger, new export presets for iTunes and PlayStation Portable, improved iDVD export, a new overlay window that displays info on the current channel, more keyboard shortcuts, faster scan rates for searching forward/backward, improved AppleScript support, support for DivX capture with the Plextor ConvertX, better support for dual-monitor setups, improved support for full screen playback, new firmware for the EyeTV 200 to reduce startup time, and support for the EyeTV Wonder USB 2.0 PAL hardware.

CS Odessa releases HealthCare Management Suite

05/11, 11:30am

HealthCare Mngment Suite

CS Odessa today introduced its HealthCare Management Suite, a collection of software that includes medical diagramming and drawing tool ConceptDraw MEDICAL and professional project management software ConceptDraw PROJECT. "Together these compatible tools let specialists of health care and educational institutions professionally plan and present their work." ConceptDraw PROJECT allows managing tasks and resources in health care projects, planning and tracking work of medical staff while ConceptDraw MEDICAL offers Anatomy, Physiology, Biochemistry, Microbiology, Immunology, Medical Science and other libraries to help visually present these projects. It is available for $250 (a $150 bundle savings).

ProPresenter 2.6 adds DV playback via FireWire

05/11, 11:25am

ProPresenter 2.6 released

Renewed Vision today released ProPresenter 2.6, a Mac-only 2-screen lyric, music, and video presentation software package for churches, ministries, and live productions. Version 2.6 adds DV Playback through FireWire, which offers easy NTSC playback of DV Streams or DV-compressed QuickTime movies: "Load up your movies, view thumbnail previews, and click to play out the FireWire port to a DV." The release also features enhanced synchronized soundtrack cues for "do it yourself" karaoke-like playback of words to synchronized sound files. ProPresenter is a presentation system that utilizes two screens, empowering users to quickly and easily present slides on one screen, while controlling the presentation with another screen. It is available now for $400.

NewTek releases LightWave 3D 8.3

05/11, 11:20am

LightWave 3D 8.3

NewTek today released LightWave 3D 8.3 and a new "breakthrough" limited-time LightWave [8] upgrade price of $250. The free update offers full multiprocessor support, enhanced vector blur routines and improved integration with other production tools via updated PSD support. Also included are a new gradient option for HyperVoxels (LightWave's volumetric rendering system), improved text tools for Modeler, and new features and functions in the Scene Editor and Dope Track. It also includes imporved EPS import for Illustrator CS/8, new text layering, and improved documentation. The full version is $1,600, while upgrades are specially priced at $250 for registered owners of LightWave [7.5] or earlier (through the end of June 2005). It runs on Mac OS X 10.3.3 or later.

Pooch 1.6 clustering software leverages Tiger

05/11, 11:15am

Pooch 1.6 for clustering

Dauger Research has released version 1.6 of Pooch (Parallel OperatiOn and Control Heuristic application) and Pooch Pro clustering software today. Leveraging new technologies introduced with "Tiger", the Pooch family introduces new enhancements, including "playlist"-like node lists and network tools, enriching the user experience of supercomputer-compatible cluster computing. A new web interface to Pooch increases the ways users can utilize clustering, making it even easier for users on other platforms to utilize a Mac cluster. The new user-defined node lists allow the user to switch between subnets of the Internet as well as define arbitrary groups of computing nodes.

Briefly: BBEdit 8.2.1, iPod ad in The Simpsons, HDDVD

05/11, 10:35am

iPod ad Simpsons

In brief: Bare Bones Software today announced the release an of BBEdit 8.2.1, a maintenance update to its HTML and text editor, ... An Apple iPod silhouette ad parody appears in the background of a scene from a recent episode of The Simpsons, ... Alias is now offering its MotionBuilder Pro software with the features and services of Platinum Membership, including early access to software updates, upgrades, live and online support, and licensing flexibility, ... Mark Talluto of Canela Software will host the second free online Runtime Revolution conference covering the Transcript programming language, ... Toshiba has developed a prototype HD-DVD disc that increases the format's storage capacity to 45GB, bringing it much closer to that of rival Blu-ray, ... AOL is set to launch a free e-mail service integrated with AOL Instant Messenger (Mac beta support is not yet available).

Apps: Shrook, iTaskX, F-Script, DSW, Tiger updates

05/11, 9:00am

Shrook, iTaskX, F-Script

Shrook 2.2 ($25) updates the innovative RSS and Atom news reader. The update adds fully integrated podcast support: "When you connect your iPod, not only does iTunes copy the audio, but Shrook downloads the text content of all your feeds to read on your iPod's screen, complete with links to access the audio." It also adds support for Spotlight and support for secure servers. [Download - 910KB]
iTaskX 2.1 (€65), an update to the project-management solution, takes full advantage of Apple's new Spotlight technology and offers 20 additional Spotlight search options. It also adds 'Rollup display' for summary tasks which can display all child tasks in the summary row, when the summary is collapsed. [Download - 3.9MB]
F-Script 1.3 (free) is an open-source scripting language specifically designed for Cocoa, Apple's native Mac OS X object system. In addition to support for new Mac OS X Tiger technologies, it now includes Core Data Explorer 1.0, the first interactive environment for the new Core Data layer of Mac OS X 10.4 that can explore whole managed objects graphs with a powerful graphical object browser. [Download - 11MB]
Do Something When 1.1 is a system preference pane that allows the user to watch for drives mounting and un-mounting, allowing them to launch or quit applications, whenthese events happen. You can launch iTunes when your music hard drive gets mounted, you can quit iTunes when you eject the drive. [Download - 347KB]
Data-On-Demand ListBox 1.1 ($50) is an update to the "virtual" ListBox replacement for REALbasic. This new version mimics the functions of the standard ListBox even better, including drag-selection of multiple rows without using the shift key. It also includes updated examples (including one for SQLitePlugin) and corrects some bugs. [Download - 1.9MB]
Other Tiger-compatibility updates include: Preferential Treatment v1.1.4 (freeware for checking preference files for corruption); Drop Drawers 1.6.6 ($20 UI enhancement that provides floating drawers); Panorama BackPacker Widget 1.0 (displays 360-degree panoramas from all over the world); and MacMusic Widget 1.0 (for daily headlines, recent articles and also link to the latest audio software).

J.P. Morgan: Yahoo Music not a threat to iTunes

05/11, 8:45am

Yahoo not an iTunes threat

J.P. Morgan analyst Bill Shope believes Yahoo's launch of a new subscription music service should put "some pressure on Apple Computer's stock, but feels feels Apple's barriers to entry into the market remain formidable, and Yahoo's new service 'does little to break the tight grip that Apple has on the nascent digital music market with its iPod-iTunes link.'" Shope reiterated his 'overweight' rating on the stock, said the current valuation presents an "attractive buying opportunity," and thinks Apple look to further distance itself from its competition by adding functionality to its iTunes music store, such as video downloads, according to Marketwatch.

Apple UK: surge in desktop, slowing notebooks sales

05/11, 8:00am

Macs in UK jump 27 percent

Apple has seen its overall Mac shipments in the UK jump 27 percent year-over-year--marginally expanding Apple's marketshare in the country to 2.2 percent, according to IDC. Macworld UK reports that the Mac mini is driving Apple's marketshare, but that Apple's notebook sales are slowing because of stiffer competition from Windows alternatives: "In recent years, Apple's success in the European market has been driven by a higher than industry average acceleration in notebook sales. Apple's success in this area is slowing down... Figures released by IDC in August 2004 showed that year-on-year Apple's UK notebook shipments grew 41.3 per cent. Gibbs said: 'Notebook sales have only grown by 9.6 per cent year-on-year, much slower than the notebook market as a whole."

Toast 6.1 supports Tiger, disables iTunes integration

05/11, 7:40am

Toast 6.1 supports Tiger

Roxio has released an update to Toast Titanium 6, its $100 disc authoring software for the Mac. Toast 6 Titanium v6.1 brings Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger comapatibility, including fixing problems authoring custom hybrid format discs, correctly recording to DVD-R DL media, DVD encoding under Tiger, better Final Cut Pro compatibility, the bundled Deja Vu application for backup, and more. The company also disabled iTunes integration in the latest release: "Following discussions with Apple, this version will no longer allow customers to create audio CDs, audio DVDs, or export audio to their hard drive using purchased iTunes music store content." Roxio's Toast 6 Lite v6.1 is also available with some of the same changes.

TechRestore launches Mac power supply repair service

05/11, 7:10am

Mac power supply repair

TechRestore has begun offering a new overnight power supply repair service for Macintosh G3, G4 and G5 systems, which are the most common failures in desktop systems, according to the company. The complete, door-to-door service ships a pre-paid box via overnight courier to the customer's location, allowing the customer to ship the power supply return ship their power supply back to Techrestore. Once received, the power supply is fully tested; repaired units are then sent back to the customer via overnight courier. The flat-rate service is priced at $130, which includes all overnight shipping charges, parts and service labor to perform the repair.