Mail Forward 3.0 forwards Gmail, Hotmail email

System Support Products today released Mail Forward 3.0 for Mac OS X, its e-mail forwarding application for AOL, Gmail, Hotmail, MSN, and Yahoo web mail accounts as well as standard POP mail accounts. The company says the updated software now allows users to forward Hotmail/MSN email for all free accounts (previously only supported paid accounts), now supports forwarding for Gmail accounts, improves support for AOL with new IMAP for better, reliability and performance, offers support for secure POP/SMTP connections via SSL, and a new account option that allows forwarding to be disabled for an account without having to delete it. Mail Forward for Mac OS X is currently available for $20 with upgrades priced at $10. A free 30-day trial is available as well.

Sibelius launches Sibelius 4 music notation software...

Sibelius today launched Sibelius 4, a major upgrade to its flagship notation software. The upgrade software offers dozens of improvements, no longer supports Mac OS 9, and offers many optimizations for Mac OS X, including drag-and-drop installation, full support for multi-user environments, MLTE and ATSUI for text editing and rendering, Quartz and OpenGL for anti-aliased screen display, and updated printing for faster and sharper output. The company also says that Sibelius 4 is the first notation program to enable you to write music to video, produce teaching materials in seconds, and instantly revise instrumental parts. It features over 1700 worksheets and curriculum resources, a new Dynamic Part feature to produce separate instrumental parts, new Auto Layout functions for easy printing, and more.

Briefly: iSkin, ADHOC, Campus MovieFest, IBM plant

In brief: iSkin today released its popular Wild Sides eVo2 iPod protectors.... This year REAL Software is giving each ADHOC attendee a free copy of REALbasic Professional Edition and engineers will be on hand to introduce attendees to using it.... Over 15,000 students this Spring created movies using the latest Apple technologies that were provided during Campus MovieFest.... IBM's East Fishkill, NY plant is "hands-off when it comes to manufacturing its most powerful processors, including chips used by Apple Computer."

Apple to announce earnings July 13

Apple will reveal its third quarter financial results on Wednesday, July 13th. As usual, Apple will hold an earnings conference call following its financial announcement. The conference call and the announcement will come after the markets close. Apple will provide an audio broadcast of its conference call in QuickTime format. Recently, First Albany this month raised its earnings and sales forecasts for Apple, saying that higher sales from Mac OS X Tiger and increased assumptions for iPod are expected to offset lower sales of the Mac mini. Goldman Sachs in May reiterated an "in-line" rating on Apple, saying the company's business remains healthy.

Extensis updates Portfolio 7 for Tiger, Adobe CS2...

Extensis today released a free update to Portfolio 7, its Digital Asset Management (DAM) solution for creative professionals. Portfolio 7.0.6 provides compatibility updates for Adobe's Creative Suite 2 and Apple's Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger). Additionally, Extensis has added support for 14 new camera formats on both Mac and Windows versions of Portfolio. The Portfolio Raw Filter 2 update now offers Nikon (D2x, D2hs) Coolpix (8400/8700/8800), Olympus (E300/C8080), Canon (EOS 1Ds, 350D), Canon Powershot (G6, S70, Pro 1), Konica (Maxxum 7D), and Pentax (*ist DS) cameras. Registered owners of Portfolio 7 are eligible to receive the free upgrades immediately via the web.

Keynote HQ releases BoardRoom 2 with modern colors

Keynote HQ today released BoardRoom 2 for Keynote 2, a new theme that for business presentations that blends design, layout, and color while maintaining a professional look. BoardRoom 2 features the same design as the original BoardRoom, with a modern color palette: it includes 45 Master Slides in 800x600 and 1024x768 resolutions, 10 highlight bars, a focus box, 3D chart overlays, a preformatted table, unique photo Master Slides, and a sample presentation. The theme also includes 90 color coordinated navigation buttons plus 4 styles of 3D overlays, giving users 360 different buttons for navigation and presentation lists. BoardRoom 2, available for $20, separately, is available as part of BoardRoom Combo Pack, which includes both BoardRoom and BoardRoom 2 for $35.

Star Wars Battlefront to ship July 18

Star Wars Battlefront, a single- and multi-player action game, has been declared gold master for the Mac. Battlefront ($50) allows players to relive all of the epic battles from the classic and prequel Star Wars film trilogies. It is scheduled to begin shipping Monday, July 18th. Licensed from LucasArts, Star Wars Battlefront was developed for the Mac by Beenox Studios. "Players can participate in all of the memorable Star Wars battles like never before. Players can select one of the 20 different soldier types from each of the four factions: Rebel Alliance, Imperial Army, Clone Army and Droid Army. Soldier types include standard infantry, scouts, heavy weapons and pilots." Single player modes include "Instant Action," "Galactic Conquest" and the story-based “Historical Campaigns” mode.

Briefly: Bluewater, SpiderWorks, TUNECLIP, NPR....

Apple Europe is set to open its store in the Bluewater shopping centre in Kent this Saturday.... The growth of Apple's iPod and similar digital listening devices is sure to be a major topic at Allen & Co's media conference this week.... SpiderWorks today announced the exclusive release of the "Mac OS X Technology Guide to Dashboard" ($15) by JavaScript and Dynamic HTML expert Danny Goodman.... Tunewear today announced TUNECLIP, a headphone cable winder for the iPod and other portable audio players.... The Public Radio portion of the Podcast section at the iTunes Music Store now has links to NPR's All Things Considered, Morning Edition, Talk of the Nation, and News.

Smith Micro to acquire Allume Systems

Smith Micro Software today announced it has acquired Allume Systems, a wholly owned subsidiary of International Microcomputer Software and maker of the StuffIt line of compression software solutions. The $13.75 million deal includes a cash payment of $11 million and $1.75 million in Smith Micro shares. Allume recently announced the development of a new JPEG compression technology that reduces the size of JPEG images up to 30% in size without any additional reduction of image quality as well as said that it is planning to expand the technology to provide similar compression for MPEG and MP3 files. Smith Micro said that this innovative technology plays directly its "strategy of broadening its wireless product offerings and provides for the first time to carriers and handset manufacturers enhanced compression technology that could reside directly in the handset."

Apple launches music store countdown...

Apple today kicked off its countdown to half a billion songs sold on the iTunes Music Store with an online song counter so music fans around the world can "participate in the race to purchase and download the 500 millionth song." As part of the countdown, Apple is giving away an iPod mini and an iTunes gift card for 50 songs to the iTunes customer who purchases the winning song at each 100,000 interval. The person who downloads the 500 millionth song will win the grand prize—10 iPods of their choice to share with family and friends, an iTunes gift card for 10,000 songs and an all-expenses paid trip for four to see Coldplay on their world tour.

Analyst raises Apple estimates on Tiger, iPod sales

First Albany has raised its earnings and sales forecasts for Apple, saying that higher sales from Mac OS X Tiger and increased assumptions for iPod are expected to offset lower sales of the Mac mini. Marketwatch reports that analyst Joel Wagonfeld raised his fiscal third-quarter earnings estimate to 34 cents a share from 29 cents and also increased his revenue forecast to $3.4 billion (up from $3.3 billion). Wagonfeld said that he estimates that Apple sold about 2.8 million Tiger copies during its fiscal third quarter; he also increased his iPod sales forecast to 5 million units from 4.25 million, but cut his Mac mini forecast to 250,000 units sold from 400,000. First Albany reiterated its "buy" rating with a 12-month price target of $44, according to the report.

MacPractice 1.5 delivers new modules, functions

MacPractice today began shipping MacPractice 1.5, an update to its software packages for physicians, chiropractors, and dentists. Version 1.5 adds scheduling, e-claims, images, and integrated word processing, perio charting, and other enhancements. MacPractice Scheduling interfaces with iCal, providing doctors and dentists the ability to have their schedule of appointments on an iPod, phone, Palm, or PowerBook, .Mac or the internet. MacPractice's EClaims partners provide online eligibility verification, claim tracking, electronic referrals (medical), insurance estimation (dental), and claims transmission via Internet or modem. The company says it will continue to innovate, adding voice activiation, integration with RSV Mac and other digital radiography solutions, support for SpringCharts EMR, and more in the coming months. Introductory pricing, available through August, starts at $2000 (MD) or $1500 (DDS/DC).

Amnesty Widget Browser circumvents Tiger's Dashboard

Mesa Dynamics today released Amnesty Widget Browser 1.0, a Mac OS X utility that runs Dashboard widgets directly on the desktop and also Mac OS X Panther users to run third-party widgets. Widgets loaded in Amnesty Widget Browser run completely outside of Apple's Dashboard environment, maintain their own preferences and feature expanded capabilities such as adjustable window level (desktop, standard or floating) and opacity. Widgets can also be arranged into multiple virtual workspaces that can be called to the screen at any time. The company says that Amnesty Widget Browser's performance in Panther nearly replicates its user experience under Tiger. It runs on Mac OS X 10.3.9 or Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger and is available as a 30-day trial; a full license is $20.