Griffin debuts Streamline armband for iPod

Griffin Technology today announced yet another iPod in its Case Collection: Streamline for iPod is described as "the ultimate sport armband for iPod and earns its name from its low profile and clean lines that "look great wherever and however you wear it. Elegantly minimal design keeps your iPod handy and protected, without adding bulk. Streamline manages its sleek look without sacrificing functionality." It includes a clear, full-face screen protector that safeguards the face of the iPod from scratches and smudges without restricting visual access and includes a reflective trim that makes the armband more visible to traffic while out in low-lighting environments. The washable, two-way adjustable band fits any arm with a "breathable, comfortable" fit for both the iPod or iPod nano. Streamline for full-size iPod and iPod nano joins the previously-announced Streamline for iPhone. The company said a choice of colors is planned for a follow-up release, while it is immediately available basic black for $30.

Apps: Horizon, Project X, Osk

• Horizon 1.2 ($30) personal finance organizer that shows due dates for bills and other monetary events. Click on a date, and enter an amount for a clear simple view of where your money comes from and where it is going. Change any value and all related values update automatically. You can hide and show different categories to focus on different aspects of your finances. The new release has a pop-out summary view that automatically totals each category as you go. [Download - 9.4MB]


• Project X 1.1.2 ($200) project management utility. Includes story-boarding capabilities on the Network view, the iChat awareness, and robust scheduling and costing features of the application. Lets users create and edit projects graphically, allows one-click project updates via its unique Web App, and has the ability to embed media files such as video, MP3, still images and more directly into tasks. In the new release an Import button has been implemented in the Specs section of the Inspector. You can now import TXT, RTF and DOC files. Also the Export menu now specifies CSV for New and Existing Reports. [Download - 166MB]


• Osk 4.7 ($30) person oriented family research software. Allows you to keep track on family, friends, celebrities or any people you want to, fact or fiction. Allows you to track things like multiple marriages, adoptions, all kinds of relationships. Used to find common ancestors, print and save family trees and import Gedcom data. You can also create a family web site and print reports, store multimedia information, sounds, pictures and movies.  [Download (demo) - 6MB]


• Cursorcerer 1.0 (free) allows you to hide the cursor at any time by use of a global hotkey. It can also autohide an idle cursor and bring it back as soon as you move the mouse.  It was designed specifically for banishing the cursor when using the OS X control-scrollwheel zoom trick, but works well in any full screen situation where the cursor becomes an eyesore. [Download - 270KB]
 

• Floola (free) freeware application to manage your iPod or your Motorola mobile phone (any model supporting iTunes). It's a standalone application that can be run directly from your iPod and needs no installation on a Desktop. Supports all the most common used iPod features including podcasts, smart playlists artwork and lyrics. The new release fixes several bugs. [Download - 10.7MB]

FunBooth face tracking video app released

Sourcebits today released FunBooth, a new Mac application designed to create unusual digital photos using real-time face detection in live video. FunBooth uses advanced face-tracking algorithms to perform real-time tracking of a human face using a Web cam or Apple iSight camera, providing humorous as well as realistic props that users can add to the faces of people as they are recorded. Users can export photos in several ways, including directly to the Flickr online photo storage site. FunBooth is priced at $10 for a limited time, according to Sourcebits, and built-in controls allow users to modify camera output in real-time with support for adjusting props to more accurately track one's face (system requirements were unavailable).

iWork, iLife Apple patent filings surface...

A series of Apple patent applications surfaced today relating to its iLife and iWork suite of applications. Patent applications include "Movie Authoring," "Text flow in and around irregular containers," "Predictive styling," "Automatic sub-template selection based on content," "User interface for Web page creation/editing," and "Publishing and subscribing to digital image feeds." Apple's Movie Authoring patent details the movie authoring process as including selecting a theme, determining theme elements based on the theme selection, and adding the theme elements to a movie. Text flow in and Around Irregular Containers describes the process of placing text within oddly-shaped locations, while Predictive Styling tells of templates that include predefined layout and/or styling used in content authoring.

Freeverse debuts Tiki Magic Mini: 3D golf

Freeverse and Mondo Robot have released Tiki Magic Mini Golf for the Mac; a fully 3D, Tiki Golfing game. You can play by yourself, or against up to five friends. The game features "Sweet Shot" replays, a custom soundtrack, emotive totem masks, and a several powerups. The developer says "Sink putts and collect special gem bonuses on three challenging courses; the tropical paradise of Lono's Lagoon, the mysterious Lost Temple, and the volcano heart of Fire Mountain!" Tiki Magic Mini Golf is priced at $30. System requirements include OS X 10.3.9 or later and a 32MB graphics card, (Intel GMA 950 chipsets in MacBooks are also supported). A fully playable demo is available.

'Realistic' Canadian plan still costly for iPhone?...

The problem of Rogers' excessive data prices in Canada still creates dire prospects for the iPhone even when a more practical plan is chosen, says the country's National Post newspaper. While the journalist claims to have received "howls of protest" from wireless industry backers who claim that a $295 plan would feature more than any one cellphone user would need, with most use topping out at 25MB in a given month, he notes that many of Rogers' plans are still prohibitively expensive to be useful.

Office 2004 for Mac 11.3.6: Exchange fixes

Microsoft has released Office 2004 11.3.6, an update to the popular productivity suite. This release fixes a vulnerability through which an attacker can overwrite the contents of your computer's memory with malicious code. It also addresses an issue with using public folders in Entourage, and it contains the latest postal code information for Japanese addresses. Specifically, a Microsoft Exchange public folder data loss issue is fixed. The problem causes data loss when public folder users who have a permission level of "Editor" or greater use Entourage to empty the cache for all public folders on the server running Exchange Server.The new release requires Mac OS X 10.2.8 (Jaguar) or later. Office 2004 11.3.6 is available as a 15.2MB download.

Briefly: iPhone smoothie; Apple lawyers...

In brief: The manufacturer of a particular blender who has gained significant recognition online for blending various products such as light bulbs and marbles on WillItBlend.com has successfully blended an iPhone into dust, Apple lawyers are cracking down on one publication for publishing an article about Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard prior to the operating system's actual release, and Apple is planning to open a new office in Moscow. A software developer has released an application for Apple's iPhone titled "MuniTime" that offers up to the minute public transit arrival times for two cities so far, Font Bros have released two new foundries, and Yellow Camp Software has released iCal Actions for Automator 2.1. "Will It Blend" has placed an iPhone into a Blendtec blender on the "Smoothie" setting, turning the cellular handset into little more than a pile of dust. Interestingly, the iPhone remains on and lit for a significant amount of time while battling the blades of the blender before eventually flashing off. The blended iPhone is also available for bidding on eBay, which as of this posting has risen to no less than $570.

Samsung unveils new all-black iPod dock

The American division of Samsung has thrown open the curtains on the MM-X5 Player Docking Station, which despite its generic name, is a stereo targeted directly at owners of the Apple iPod. All generations of iPod are said to be supported, including the likes of the nano and shuffle. Unlike some other iPod stereos however, the X5 is meant to blend in with other audiophile equipment, and so is clad entirely in black. It also serves other purposes; in addition to having an FM tuner, a USB port allows non-Apple media players to connect, and a CD drive supports both standard and MP3 discs. The stereo's two satellites produce 10W of sound each. Samsung expects the X5 to ship for $200 in October of this year. [Image via Gizmodo]

Analyst: New iMacs, ultra-portable MacBooks

Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster is reporting that there is an 80% likelihood of redesigned iMacs this Summer, an ultra-portable MacBook Pro model will soon debut, and iPods with OS X are on tap. Munster also commented on iPhone availability. The analyst's report says that by the 5th of July, only 1% of Apple's 165 US retail stores had iPhones available. Stores have been receiving regular shipments of iPhones, and as of July 10 availability levels have stabilized around 50%. Munster also notes that based on Apple's product roadmap and the fact that the iMac has not been updated in 309 days (vs. a product average of 168 days), redesigned iMacs will likely debut this summer. Meanwhile, Munster sees the possible debut of an ultra-portable MacBook Pro as a means for making inroads in Asia, where its Mac sales have lagged global averages. Finally, Munster is the latest analyst to state that Apple will put OS X on iPods at some point this year or early next year. The analyst maintains an outperform rating on shares of AAPL. Munster predicted new iMacs and MacBooks before, saying they would debut at this year's WWWDC, where no new Mac models were introduced.

Federal court denies internet radio petition

Internet radio stations and Webcasters yesterday were declined a petition grant by a federal appeals court to delay the imposition of new royalties that are scheduled to take effect this Sunday. The fees, which will increase payment rates to the music industry by $0.08 cents per song per listener with retroactive payment required through 2006, will force Webcasters to "make very difficult decisions about what music, if any, they are able to offer," according to Digital Media Association (DiMA) executive director Jonathan Potter. "The result will certainly be fewer outlets for independent music, less diversity on the Internet airwaves, and far fewer listening choices for consumers," said Potter, who speaks for DiMA members like Yahoo!, Live365, and RealNetworks. Each internet radio station will also be ordered to pay a minimum $500 royalty payment per "channel" offered, according to News.com, which could cost the three largest internet radio operators more than $1 billion during the first year after the ruling takes effect.

Mad Catz intros hybrid AirDrive earphones...

Aiming for the best of two worlds, Mad Catz today launched the AirDrives, its new spin on earbuds. Instead of turning to in-canal earbuds or cupped headphones, the company said it had researched a new design that has the best qualities of both camps: the small speakers with an over-the-ear clip take up little space and make them easy to carry, but a new technique -- titled InAir by the accessory maker -- lets the buds sit over the ear canal rather than inside. This produces a more natural sound but also prevents the buds from blocking out too much ambient noise. The latter is especially critical for joggers who might ignore an oncoming car, according to designer Ken Wright.

Magnet 1.5 goes beta, adds effects

eX-cinder today released Magnet 1.5 Beta for a one-month test program. The new release includes numerous effects such as Beating Heart, Stylize, and Color Effects alongside tighter integration with Apple's Quartz Composer technology. Magnet works by allowing users to place "probes" on moving objects in a QuickTime movie that the software tracks over time. Users can then hook numerous special effects known as compositions to probes to create visual effects. Magnet uses advanced motion tracking technology as well as the latest Core Image and Quartz Composer advances to render effects in real-time, and resulting movies are exportable as QuickTime movies that are usable on devices such as the Apple TV, iPod, and iPhone. Magnet 1.5b is available for free as part of a one-month beta evaluation program, after which licenses will cost $30. Magnet 1.5 is a free upgrade for existing 1.x owners, and the software requires Mac OS X 10.4 or later.

Apple acquires CUPS, hires project creator

Apple has officially purchased CUPS, a modularized computer printing system for Unix-like operating systems that allows computers to act as print servers. Apple has acquired ownership of the C Unix Printing System open-source project source code, and has hired project creator Michael R Sweet. "In February of 2007, Apple Inc. acquired ownership the CUPS source code and hired me (Michael R Sweet), the creator of CUPS," Sweet wrote on the CUPS project site. "CUPS will still be released under the existing GPL2/LGPL2 licensing terms, and I will continue to develop and support CUPS at Apple." Apple has gained all rights to the CUPS trademarks including Common UNIX Printing System, CUPS, and the CUPS logo.

Analyst predicts 13.5m iPhone sales by 2009

RBC Capital is raising its estimates to reflect a predicted 13.5 million iPhone sales by the end of 2008. Checks suggest Apple may be planning to produce 8 million iPhones by the end of this year alone, which would put the company well ahead of its own announced hopes of selling 10 million phones within an 18-month period. Apple's plans for 2007 may include higher memory (16GB) iPhones, as well as refreshes to existing models at lower prices to stimulate demand, according to SeekingAlpha. Plans also could include inventory for iPhone launches in Canada, Europe, and Asia with a 3G/HSDPA-capable handset shipping by the spring of 2008 alongside a higher resolution display. Checks also point to a potential refresh in Apple's iPod line in the fourth quarter of this year which may well include an updated iPod nano, a new iPod model altogether, and a new video iPod. Some or all of the updated iPods could include iPhone-like features as well, according to the firm, with new devices adding more memory as well as integrated Wi-Fi capability moving forward.

Analyst: iPhone threatens Microsoft hegemony...

The popularity of the Apple iPhone may force Microsoft to abandon its emphasis on proprietary formats and systems in the mobile world, says an analyst with Blackfriars Marketing. Aric Winton observes that because of its control of desktops through Windows, Microsoft has been able to keep mobile users "locked in" to its technology, examples of which include Exchange e-mail servers and the Windows Media format. Some mobile devices will only play Windows Media files. By contrast, while developers cannot make local iPhone software, the product's music and e-mail standards are more universal.

PasswordVault 6.0 syncs passwords online...

Lava Software has begun shipping PasswordVault 6.0, a simple and practical enterprise-level password manager for Mac OS X as well as Windows and Linux. The latest release includes online password synchronization, global floating window transparency, Windows Vista compatibility, reduced CPU utilization, and various other optimizations. Online synchronization is designed to ease the process of keeping passwords on multiple computers up-to-date while providing effective password data backup in the event of a hard drive failure. Online synchronization is performed manually or via an automatic daily schedule, and utilizes two layers of 448-bit Blowfish encryption and one layer of 128-bit AES encryption to keep password transfers private. The upgrade is available for free to all users, while a free Lite edition includes a 30 day trial of auto-distribution with support for up to 15 services. New standard edition licenses are priced at $15.

SuitePhone brings NetSuite to iPhone

NetSuite today unveiled SuitePhone, a service that allows NetSuite customers to run business operations using Apple's iPhone. The new SuitePhone capability provides native support for Apple's Safari Web browser which brings NetSuite's AJAX-based user interface technologies such as drop-down menus, drag-and-drop portlets, and in-line editing to the iPhone. The ERP, CRM, and e-commerce functionality of NetSuite is also available to Apple users, according to NetSuite, offering an on-demand integrated business management application designed for the Apple platform. The new SuitePhone capability and native Safari browser support are available at no additional charge in NetSuite's new NetSuite 2007.0 release, which is currently shipping to existing customers. The service will be available to new customers in August this year.

Critics: Malware threat low, but real...

A number of commentators are suggesting that the overall threat of viruses and other malware to the Mac remains low. Business IT site Silicon.com notes that while roughly 100 vulnerabilities have been revealed in Mac OS X this year, this is still dwarfed by those in Windows, mainly because of Apple's automatic updating software and the general lack of attention paid by malware coders. Says Patrik Runald, senior security specialist at F-Secure, "There are no viruses really for OS X - there have been a few - but, from that point of view, the likelihood of you getting hit on an Apple is insignificant compared to PCs."

Samsung adds S85 mid-zoom compact camera...

Following its additions of new L-series cameras to its line, Samsung has also added a single camera to its S-series for those who favor image quality. The S85 uses the same 8.2-megapixel sensor of the L830 but includes an SHD lens with 5X optical zoom for closer shots without sacrificing detail. Like the higher-end cameras of this week's launches, the camera will include Samsung's unique software shake correction and face detection.

Apple patenting Zune-like sharing, wireless buying...

Apple may be ready to not only bring wireless file sharing to the iPhone and iPod but could affect Microsoft's Zune as well, according to the details of a newly publicized patent. The filing would allow fully mobile devices such as cellphones and MP3 players to automatically discover each other on a local network, similar to the way the Zune can recognize nearby devices on its Wi-Fi connection; also as with the Microsoft jukebox, owners would be able to "push" media and other files to other devices. But the patent's implementation would also let a device make such requests, Apple says, allowing one handheld to pick files for download in a way the Zune currently forbids. A wireless sync method could automate these requests simply by coming near the right device.

WebGhost offers anonymous Mac Web surfing

Macware today released its WebGhost anonymous Web surfing utility for Mac, designed to protect users by redirecting every Web connection through a secure proxy server that masks online identities while securing transmitted information and cleaning internet tracks stored on a Mac system. WebGhost integrates key security components to keep online activity private, including using core Safari security tools to erase online activity and block advertisements. The software also updates public proxy settings daily to strengthen protection against prying eyes. WebGhost is available for $30 and requires Mac OS X 10.4 or later.

Europa Universalis 2, more go Universal

Virtual Programming (VP) today released Universal Binary updates for Europa Universalis 2, Hearts of Iron 2, Hearts of Iron 2: Doomsday, and Hearts of Iron 2 Doomsday Armageddon. The new patches ensures all titles run natively on Intel-based Macs with stability fixes, a fix for the effect of development of technologies on the overall summary of armies effectiveness, and third party mod fixes as well as auto detection of future updates. The company also released updates for Reel Deal Casino High Roller, Reel Deal Slots Mystic Forest, and the online application Online Casino with bug fixes as well as preparation for the forthcoming release of Reel Deal Card Games.

Adobe posts Flash, Photoshop security patches...

Adobe has posted updates for two of its most used applications, addressing recently revealed security vulnerabilities. The most significant may be in Adobe's ubiquitous Flash Player, which could allow a remote user to hijack a computer by exploiting an input validation error. To expose themselves to this risk, users must run a malicious SWF file, which can be delivered via e-mail, the Web, and other means, according to the company's security bulletin. Mac OS vulnerabilities should be fixed in the 9.0.47.0 patch, which can downloaded manually or through the auto-updater.

Pentax launches entry, stylized 8MP Optios...

Pentax today upgraded two of its most mainstream cameras to bring them up to par with the latest, 8-megapixel camera sensors. The Optio E40 brings this resolution to even the most inexperienced photographers and is targeted at the entry level: the proprietary Green Mode takes over all control of image quality for those who simply want to press the shutter. Face detection and an ISO-boosted blur reduction mode also take the guesswork out of producing portrait and nighttime shots for newcomers. This 3X zoom camera also runs on AA batteries to save cost and ships in September for $150.

Logitech mouse works on desk and in air...

Logitech has introduced a new rechargeable cordless mouse that operates on a flat surface or the air, working similarly to a television remote control when not desk-bound. The new device, dubbed MX Air, is meant to capitalize on the increased use of PCs as digital media hubs, offering the ability to navigate music, videos and photos without the user physically sitting in front of the system. It uses a technology called "Freespace" for motion-control and gesture command functionality, allowing wrist flicks and subtle hand movements to produce action on-screen. Freespace allows the user to hold the mouse in any orientation and point in any direction to control the cursor. The mouse also has built-in algorithms that distinguish between intentional and unintentional hand movements.

iPhone cited in House telecommunications committee...

On Wednesday, key members of the US House of Representatives publicly lamented high cancellation fees for cellphone service, and the inability to use mobiles on different networks than the one with which they were originally paired. Central to the discussion was the iPhone, though its termination fee ($175) is not unusual for cellphone contracts. MarketWatch reports that Rep. Edward Markey, chairman of a key House committee on telecommunications, noted that customers who don't like AT&T's network can't move to another provider. "You're stuck with your iPhone and you can't take it anywhere," the Massachusetts Democrat said. At issue is whether or not the wireless industry can be more tightly regulated at state level -- a structure carriers say is unreasonably costly. Currently, states can oversee the terms and conditions of wireless plans but are blocked from regulating prices.