Briefly: MacNN review; Thanksgiving special

In brief: MacNN has reviewed Sophie's Cards v4 ($40), a FileMaker-based database of greeting card photos and text.... The G5 Drive Bracket Team today announced its Thanksgiving weekend special, offering its G5 Drive Bracket for $40.... Marware fifth-generation iPod products are now available through Dr. Bott resellers worldwide.... Adobe is hosting a breakfast event in Stockholm, Sweden, on November 24, focused on the company's Creative Suite and Cinema 4D.... The Sinbad Development Team today released Sinbad 1.1, its freeware web searching application featuring 23 modules for finding various types of information.... The fight for the itunes.co.uk domain is finally over as Ben Cohen has officially abandoned all further attempts to get the domain it once owned back from Apple..... Otter today began shipping the OtterBox for iPod nano, its waterproof case for the popular MP3 player. [updated]

EdgeBlur debuts three new notebook stands

EdgeBlur today announced three new models of surfACE laptop computer stands, designed to suspend the notebook at a comfortable working height. When used in an armchair, the surfACE completely supports the weight of the mobile computer on the armrests to relieve weight, pressure, and heat from the users legs. When used upside-down the surfACE performs the same functionality on sofas and beds, while two side boards offer surfaces for a mouse and other peripherals. SurfACE is a system of interchangeable parts that can be added and detached to create a custom configuration, and any brand of notebook computer with a width of 16 1/2-inches or less is compatible with pre-assembled models. The SurfACE 1.2 ($100), surfACE 1.3 ($120), surfACE 1.4 ($130), and surfACE 1.5 ($150, shown at right) are available with a lifetime guarantee for the original owner. SurfACE 1.5 features a new hardware connecter that fixes to a standard camera tripod to create a height-adjustable workstation.

Apps: EarthDesk, SuperDuper, FTP Suite

• EarthDesk 3.1 ($20) is a free update to the dynamic desktop map application that makes use of a new display settings interface, updates the daylight saving time database, and fixes a rare bug that would cause EarthDesk to stop responding. [Download - 5.69MB]


• SuperDuper! 2.0 ($30) updates the disk copying utility for Mac OS X, adding the ability to easily schedule backups and providing additional imaging options. Version 2.0 allows more control over shutdown, offers better AppleScript support, and more. [Download - 2.3MB]


• FTP Suite 4.2 ($80) is a free upgrade to the software library allowing REALbasic applications to implement the FTP protocol. Version 4.2 adds two "Smart Commands": DirectCommand to send a command directly to an FTP server, and SITECommand to send a standard FTP SITE command to an FTP server. [Download - 811KB]


• Filegazer 1.1 ($20) allows fast navigation through a file system in order to cope with the increasing capacity of modern hard drives. New features include a shortcut menu for selecting the source for a browser menu, improved memory management, and a bugfix. [Download - 1.3MB]


• ScreenAction Studio 1.0 ($30) captures on-screen action while importing video clips, images, and sounds. Features include the ability to change cameras live during capture, record with date and time, widescreen/full-screen movie settings, and more. [Download - 6.5MB]


• EyeHome 1.7 (unknown) accesses digital content stored on Macintosh systems--photos, music, video, and movies--to be viewed on a TV and home entertainment system. Version 1.7 offers iTunes 6 and iPhoto 5 compatibility, as well as a bug fix affecting Mac OS X 10.4.3. [Download - 15.7MB]

Briefly: FastIcon; 5G iPod cases; TiVoToGo

In brief: The FastIcon has released a new icon set for desktop use, "iSimple," containing 12 freeware icons.... Marware today introduced its new line of cases for fifth-generation iPods (Sport Grip Backwinder shown at right, $20), designed to preserve the slim profile of the device while providing maximum protection.... A FAQ on TiVo's forthcoming support for the iPod notes that TivoToGo service is not yet available for the Mac, and iPod support is even further out.... Peachpit has released new books in the Apple Pro Training Series: DVD Studio Pro 4 ($50), Shake 4 ($55), and Optimizing Your Final Cut Pro System ($55).... Sid Meier's Civilization III system requirements have been set to Mac OS X 10.3.9 running on a PowerPC G4/G5 at 500Mhz or faster.

SkipJam iMedia Center adds iPod support...

SkipJam announced today support for the iPod, providing docking directly to the SkipJam iMedia Center. Using Firewire or USB 2.0, users can connect their iPods directly to any iMedia Center or to any iMedia enabled PC and immediately play music, photos and video throughout their home. The SkipJam iMedia support for the iPod also allows SkipJam users to record audio or video content directly onto the iPod Storage, creating a plug'n'go recording solution which records shows directly onto the iPod drives for portability.

Torque Game Engine 1.4 improves Mac support

GarageGames today released an update to its 3D gaming engine for developers: Torque Game Engine 1.4 offers more than 200 feature enhancements, including improved work flow, more tutorials, localization support and editor updates. Version 1.4 also features integrated Unicode font rendering, enhanced map2dif interiors, and better support for Mac OS X and Theora video codec. The company says that verison 1.4 represents the last free update. Full commercial usage on PC, Mac, and Linux platforms is $500, while its unique indie license is only $100 for developers making less than $250,000 annually. Both licenses are royalty-free, offer unlimited publishing, private forum access, and membership in the Torque Developer Network wiki.

XRackPro2 houses Apple's Xserve, RAID systems

GizMac today announced that its XRackPro2 is featured on revised Apple Workgroup Cluster website. The XRackPro2 is a rack-mount enclosure cabinet designed to reduce noise and add mobility to Apple's Xserve line of servers and RAID systems. Noise from rack mount equipment located inside the XRackPro2 will be reduced up to 75 precent, according to the company, while the heavy duty caster wheels provide a method for easily moving the rolling rack enclosure cabinet when needed. "XRackPro2 was originally designed for the Xserve server and Xserve RAID," says Tim Cave, founder of GizMac. "We are pleased that our noise reduction rack mount enclosure cabinet became part of the Apple Xserve Workgroup Cluster." XRackPro2 rackmount enclosures are used in scientific and medical work groups, video and audio post production, film and broadcast applications, graphics, and other environments that require noise reduction and/or flexibility of equipment location.

OmniPilot offers free 'Quick Poll' for Lasso

OmniPilot Software is offering a pre-built Quick Poll solution for Lasso, allowing users to easily add polling functionality to their websites. Lasso users can add a poll to their Web site including a question, two or more answers, and buttons to cast a vote or see the results. Lasso's Quick Poll solution can increase interaction with visitors to the site without the need for extra coding or software. "Quick Polls provide a fun way to gather insight on specific products sold on your Web site or may provide general feedback on your company's services." The source code for the Quick Poll solution is completely open and can be easily customized. The solution is built using CSS and XHTML, requires Lasso Professional 8, and utilizes the built in SQLite database for data storage. In recent weeks, the company has also released pre-built message board, collaboration, and blogging solutions.

Korea investigates Apple-Samsung flash deal

Samsung is being investigated by the South Korean government for allegedly selling NAND flash memory chips to Apple at half their market value. The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) said on Wednesday that the Samsung is suspected of "dumping" 2GB and 4GB flash memory chips to Apple, which are used in Apple's popular iPod nano, a practice that is hurting other South Korean memory manufacturers, according to The Korean Times: "FTC Chairman Kang Chul-kyu indicated last month that his agency might take action against an alleged unfair deal between Samsung and Apple, if local MP3 players request the probe, making it clear that the investigation would be very thorough." Samsung, however, claims it has maintained margins of 30 percent, which would make the dumping claims untenable, since such profits could not be generated by selling memory at half of its fair market value.

MaxConnect adds drive bays to new Power Macs

MaxUpgrades today released MaxConnect, an internal hard disk drive mounting solution that allows seven additional hard disk drives to be installed in a G5 Power Mac (PCI Express). The MaxConnect consists of two mounting assemblies: one that enables four hard disk drives to be installed in the optical drive bay and one that enables installation of three additional hard disk drives in the CPU bay of the new Power Macs. "With the MaxConnect internal hard disk drive mounting solution, a G5 Power Mac (PCI Express) can house a total of nine disk drives internally," and offers data transfer rates up to 500MB/sec using RAID software. The CPU assembly is available for $100 along with either power ($20) or SATA data ($10) cables, while the Optical Bay assembly is $220 (includes power and SATA data cables). An optional SATA PCI card is also available.