Games: Fantasy puzzle and salon challenge...

Zamby is a new fantasy puzzle adventure from Kristanix. The goal of this non-violent game is to use logic, stealth, guile, and imagination to guide Zamby through a wondrous world of light crystals, monsters, and obstacles. The developer says "The game's simple interface allows children and adults to begin playing the game immediately. Guiding Zamby through the game's 150 increasingly difficult levels, however, requires moving objects, building bridges, trapping monsters, and using logic to solve each level of the journey. Throughout the exciting encounter, Zamby discovers new things about his mystical terrain, and the challenges in his path." Zamby runs on Mac OS X 10.3 and up and costs $20 for a single user license.

Cross-References 1.0 for InDesign/InCopy

DTP Tools has announced the release of its Cross-References 1.0 plug-in for InDesign and InCopy. Cross-References is a modular XML-driven referencing system inspired by a similar feature in Adobe FrameMaker. The tool adds cross-referencing capabilities to InDesign that the developer claims "make it a very competitive layout application in the field of technical and scientific documents." Each reference and its components can have a specific character style or style override, and can be set to appear only in selected languages. The reference source can be chosen from style filtered lists and also from apre-made Source Marker. References can be hyper-linked, and there are options for customization of formats via dialog or XML. The Mac OS X version of Cross-References for both InDesign and InCopy versions CS2 and CS3 is priced at $130.

Batteries for older PowerBooks, iBooks

FreshBattery has introduced its Legacy Power line of new batteries for more than 1,500 older laptop models including a bevy of PowerBooks and iBooks. The company says these units will meet or exceed original battery capacity. For instance, there is a PowerBook G4 (15" Titanium) Series Legacy Power Battery priced at $95, a PowerBook G4 (17") Series Battery priced at $115, and a PowerBook G4 (15" Aluminum) "ÜberPower High Capacity Battery" priced at $100. There are also batteries for older machines, including the PowerBook G3 "WallStreet" and more. Also listed are batteries for the iBook 14", 12" Dual USB and original iBook.

Mac Pro firmware, iMac software updates

Apple today released two updates affecting its Mac Pro and iMac desktop systems. The company's iMac Software Update 1.0 provides important bug fixes and is recommended for all 20-inch and 24-inch iMacs with 2.0GHz, 2.4GHz, and 2.8GHz processors. The Mac Pro SMC Firmware Update 1.1 adjusts fan behavior in Mac Pro systems, and requires users to boot from a Macintosh formatted disk or partition. Mac Pro owners looking to update their firmware can simply reboot to automatically launch the updater application, which offers a status bar indicating the progress of the update. Apple also warns users that some USB and FireWire devices may prevent firmware updates from installing correctly. The updates follow a series of patches released yesterday after Apple unveiled its new iMacs, which improve compatibility between several Apple programs.

Boot Camp 1.4 beta: new graphics drivers

Apple has posted Boot Camp 1.4 beta, the latest edition of the company's software for booting Intel-based Macs into Windows XP Home Edition with Service Pack 2, Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 2, WIndows Vista Home Basic, Windows Vista Home Premium, Windows Vista Business, or Windows Vista Ultimate. The new release adds support for keyboard backlighting (MacBook Pro only), Apple Remote pairing, updated graphics drivers, an improved Boot Camp driver installer, improved international keyboard support, localization fixes and an updated edition of Windows Help for Boot Camp. The software is free in the current public beta period, and requires Mac OS X 10.4.6, the latest firmware updates, 10GB free hard disk space, and Intel-based Mac and a blank recordable CD or DVD.

Refurbished iMacs priced at $849

Apple yesterday unveiled its new iMacs during a special event at the company's campus in Cupertino, driving down the value of its other slightly older iMac models available online. Apple's refurbished 17-inch 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo iMac is priced at $849, and comes with 1GB of memory alongside a 160GB hard drive. Apple's reconditioned 20-inch 2.16GHz Intel Core 2 Duo iMac is priced at $1,099 with 1GB of memory and a 250GB hard drive; while the company's 24-inch 2.16GHz Intel Core 2 Duo iMac is available for $1,449 with 1GB of memory and a 250GB hard drive. All refurbished Apple equipment comes with a 1-year warranty as well as free shipping, and as usual Apple is offering an extended AppleCare Protection Plan for an additional $169 that lengthens the iMac's warranty to three years.

Coraid debuts AoE solutions at LinuxWorld...

During this week's LinuxWorld conference in San Francisco, Coraid debuted several new AoE (ATA over Ethernet) solutions. The first two are additions to the EtherDrive Storage product line. These new 16 or 24 SATA disk (models SR1661 and SR2461 respectively) RAID appliances are now equipped with 10 Gigabit Ethernet interfaces and achieve more than 500 MByte/sec sustained throughput. The appliances come in a 3U rack mount chassis with slots for 16 hot swap SATA disks up to 1TB each. They also include a 10 Gigabit CX4 copper Ethernet interface plus dual GigE ports. Disks can be assembled into one or more volumes using RAID 0, 1, 5 or 10. The SR1661 is available now and is priced at $9,000. The SR2461 will start shipping in late September and is priced at $11,000.

16GB Zen V Plus now in United States

Unveiled just last week for the Singapore market, the 16GB version of the Zen V Plus is now being sold in the United States. The product is remarkable in that it has more memory than any similarly-priced flash player on the market, and in fact, it has twice as much storage as Apple's iPod nano. It also supports AVI video, in addition to MP3, WAV, WMA and Audible audio formats. The American Plus is being sold for $250; like the Singapore version, only a black-and-white color scheme is available.

Where are the EA Mac gaming titles?...

In June, Electronic Arts co-founder and chief creative officer Bing Gordon took the stage with Apple CEO Steve Jobs during the Worldwide Developers conference (WWDC), announcing that the game maker was moving staff members over to the Mac platform to once again release gaming titles for Mac OS X. Gordon promised that the first titles to ship for Macs would include Command & Conquer 3, Battlefield 2142, Need for Speed Carbon, and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, and that those titles would ship in July. It's now more than a week into August, and none of the promised titles have arrived, nor has Electronic Arts made any announcements on the subject. Several calls and emails to EA's press department by MacNN staff have gone unanswered.

SmartBackup 2.1 adds superuser mode

Freeridecoding has released a significant update to the backup program SmartBackup, bringing it to version 2.1. The tool can backup data to hard drives, network sharepoints, webDAV, usb sticks, iPods and other locations. It supports the use of Spotlight's "saved searches" as backup items or to define exclusion, allowing for dynamic sets of data. The new release can be launched with superuser privileges, has improved cleanup and archiving, improved handling of metadata, improved backup to network shares an updated interface, German localization and several bug fixes. The software is priced at 15 EUR (about $20).

Squish beta GUI test tool released for Mac

Froglogic today released a beta version of Squish for Mac, an automated GUI (Graphical User Interface) testing tool for Mac OS X Carbon and Cocoa applications. Squish is a cross-platform tool that allows developers to automatically test GUI applications based on a variety of related technologies like Java Swing, AWT, SWT, Eclipse RCP, Trolltech's Qt, AJAX, Web, HTML, and more. The update features automated GUI testing of native Mac OS X applications. Squish for Mac non-intrusively hooks into Carbon and Cocoa applications on the toolkit level, allowing robust GUI object recognition and identification for all controls ranging from simple buttons to complex widgets. Squish for Mac beta 1 is available via Froglogic's website (pricing and system requirements were unavailable).

Scopo Gigio 3, Layer Splitter 3 released

Meta/DMA has released Scopo Gigio 3, the latest revision of its full-featured waveform monitor and vectorscope plug-in for Adobe After Effects CS3 and Adobe Photoshop CS3. The update adds YUV color space displays, single-channel displays, RGB level readouts, variable-sized screens for After Effects CS3, and more. The software is priced at $100, with discounted upgrades available to current license holders. Meta/DMA also unveiled Layer Splitter 3 for Mac, the latest version of its application designed to separate Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator layers into individual files. Layer Splitter 3 includes support for 16- and 32-bit Photoshop files, Unicode file names, full PDF support for Illustrator files up to CS3, and more. Layer Splitter 3 is available for $80 with discounted upgrade pricing for current license holders.

Briefly: iMac unboxing; iMac RAM upgrades...

In brief: Photos have surfaced in the MacNN forums of a brand new iMac as it was unboxed, Other World Computing (OWC) has announced memory upgrades for Apple's new iMac systems, and MacThemes has opened up voting for its "Theme For A Week" contest. One user has posted photos of the unboxing process as a new iMac found its way onto a desk. The photos detail the new system itself as well as the revamped keyboard, and even show Apple's microfiber screen cleaning cloth that ships with the updated iMac. The forum poster offers first impressions as well, describing the iMac as "a damn sexy machine." [images added]

Toon Boom Digital Pro debuts

Toon Boom Animation Inc. has announced the release of Toon Boom Digital Pro, an upgraded version of its animation package that offers advanced content creation, animation and compositing capabilities. The program includes a vector engine, palette management, lip-sync, true 3D space, morphing and inverse kinematics. Also built-in are kick-start programs and extensive training material. There is an Asset Library to store animated cycles, sounds, effects, characters, backgrounds, props, templates for reuse. The True 3D Space feature can be used to place elements at different depths and automatically preserve their perspective using the real-time multi-plane camera. More than 50 special effects are included, and a the real-time vector engine delivers full resolution independence. The tool is priced at $3000.

MS releases Vista Performance, Compatibility packs...

Previously rumored, Microsoft has now officially released its Performance and Reliability and Compatibility and Reliability updates to Windows Vista. While not yet on Windows Update, the patches are nevertheless official, and address issues which have deterred many users from upgrading from earlier versions of Windows. The first of the two packs deals primarily with moving large files, which in some cases has taken inordinate amounts of time. It is also said to fix poor memory management, plus screensaver problems and losing TCP/IP when coming back from hibernation.

Skyscape offers medical guidance via iPhone

Skyscape today released its decision support suite for Apple's iPhone. The software allows physicians and other medical professionals to gain instant access to a broad collection of drug, clinical, lab, and evidence-based medical information as well as medical alerts streamed directly on an iPhone. "The iPhone offers unique benefits to medical practitioners including the integration of phone and Internet capabilities in a single device. This makes it an ideal platform for Skyscape's STAT philosophy, delivering the most up-to-date information when and where it is needed by healthcare practitioners." The decision support suite includes Skyscape's 5-minute Clinical Consult, Harrison's Manual of Medicine, The Washington Manual of Medicine Therapeutics, Oxford Handbook of Clinical Medicine, and more.

LightWave 3D hits 9.3, goes Universal...

NewTek has announced two major changes to LightWave 3D, its 3D rendering and animation program. The first is the release of v9.3, a free update aimed at improving the rendering engine: lines can now be assigned motion blur, and two sub-surface scattering shaders have been added that should improve both quality and speed. Performance tweaks have also been made elsewhere throughout the program. The software development kit, meanwhile, has been enhanced for easier creation of custom effects and plug-ins.

Portfolio Server 8.5 integrates CS3

Extensis has released Portfolio Server 8.5, the latest version of its creative content organization software. The major update is the inclusion of Project Sync for Adobe Creative Suite 3, which allows archiving, searching and web delivery without having to leave CS3. A user can for instance add XMP info to a Photoshop file, and all other Portfolio clients on the same network will be able to read the data. Other changes to v8.5 include faster catalog loading through Catalog Types, and a Windows Vista-compatible client. The server requires Mac OS X 10.4.4 and a network interface rated at 10Mbps or faster. It costs $6,050 with a one-year service agreement, but can be upgraded for prices starting at $3,550 with the same service terms.

Analyst: new iMacs cater to 'switchers,' students...

Apple's new iMacs will likely sell well amongst potential 'switchers' as well as college students hoping to acquire new computers before heading back to the classroom, according to American Technology Research senior analyst Shaw Wu. Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveiled the sleek new systems yesterday during a special event at the company's campus in Cupertino, CA. "We find the new iMacs impressive with their thinner and sleeker aluminum and glass enclosure (similar to iPhone), new Intel Santa Rosa platform with faster Core 2 Duo processors, advanced ATI Radeon HD graphics, and lower price points," Wu wrote in a research note obtained by MacNN. The analyst notes Apple's timing, choosing to release the consumer-oriented iMacs during the peak of the college back-to-school buying season, and believes the company's 20-inch widescreen iMac -- priced at $1,199 -- will sell particularly well among 'switchers' from other platforms. Shaw Wu is reiterating his "Buy" rating on Apple shares with a 6-12 month price target of $185.

iPhone used to make iLife '08 sales pitch...

iPhone owners attempting to sync with their computer after yesterday's string of Apple announcements may receive an unexpected surprise. Using desktop integration, the sync will bring up a pop-up (right, below) promoting iLife '08, and specifically iPhoto, which has features such as events, selective camera imports and one-click sharing via .Mac. The tactic is an unusually aggressive one for Apple, which has typically refrained from inserting ads into essential tasks. Users can select a checkbox to prevent the pop-up from re-appearing.

Apple debuts Voices Jam Pack for GarageBand

Continuing its barrage of releases, Apple has debuted Jam Pack: Voices, an expansion for GarageBand. The software includes over 1,500 new vocal-themed loops, divided principally between soloists (synth, Eastern, etc.), choral ensembles (chamber, Gregorian, etc.) and drum/percussion-style samples, such as beatboxing and body effects. Sample lengths can extend from riffs and ad-libs to background singing, and a number of different genres are represented, from blues through to rock and hip-hop. The pack is now on sale at the Apple Store for $100.

AirPort Extreme Base Station goes gigabit...

While attention has been focused on the newly-launched iMacs and iLife '08, Apple quietly upgraded its AirPort Extreme Base Station overnight. The unit now has gigabit LAN and WAN Ethernet ports, but is otherwise functionally identical, having features such as 802.11n and USB device sharing. It costs $180 and is said to be shipping with 24 hours; it can also be acquired through a Teacher Bundle sold at the Apple Education Store.

MacAlly pumps out TunePro iPod speakers...

MacAlly today hoped to refine home audio with the TunePro flat-panel clock radio for the iPod. Based on NXT flat speakers that consume far less space than usual on a nightstand or tabletop, the TunePro replaces the front grilles often seen on these systems with a mirror-finish screen that blends the look of the speakers into any given room. The design also gives MacAlly freedom to hide the LED display normally so conspicuous on these sets. An intelligent alarm system wakes owners up to either the iPod, the built-in AM/FM tuner, or a buzzer and can do so gradually, slowly raising the volume rather than jumping to full power.

Internal RAID card for Xserve ships

Apple has introduced a RAID card designed specifically for the Xserve. The add-on includes 256MB of RAID cache and supports hardware RAID levels 0, 1, and 5. Apple claims it can deliver up to 198MB per second throughput when using RAID 5. It also does not use a PCI Express expansion slot, and includes a built-in battery that protects the RAID cache for up to 72-hours. Even without the card, you can still use the software RAID utility built in to Mac OS X Server to stripe two or three internal drives into a RAID 0 array to increase performance or create a RAID 1 array for data protection against a drive failure. The Xserve RAID card replaces the built-in SATA/SAS controller board. To order the card with an Xserve, you must choose either all SATA or SAS drives in drive bays 1 through 3. The RAID card is priced at $999 and is available as a built-to-order option from the online Apple Store.