Review: Leopard's Time Machine

Time Machine is arguably the most promoted feature of Leopard, designed to make backup functional and accessible to the average user, as most users are put off by the setup and maintenance required of professional backup solutions. For the basic user, Time Machine is approachable and doesn't require much advanced comprehension to set up, so it succeeds in this regard. The real question is whether it will stand up to a conventional backup solution, and if it will suffice for the needs of more experienced users who have more exacting needs. Read on for the second segment of our multi-part Leopard review.

Adium video chat coming soon (screenshots)...

The team behind Adium, the multi-protocol instant messaging client, has been working hard on enabling compatibility with AIM video chat, and is currently testing branches of an upcoming release, version 2.0, that will support video conferencing via subversion. Other work in this update includes things such as the user interface, local video preview, and bridge code between Adium and Libpurple. The developers said in a blog posting "You'll notice, of course, that we've denoted this as Adium 2.0 - and for good reason. These changes will anchor a large amount of new technology being implemented. The entire team is looking forward to this monumental push forward for Adium, Pidgin, and all projects that use Libpurple. Of course, we always welcome help, and encourage everyone that can lend a hand to do so. You can find all the information you'll need on our wiki, and you can contact either of us directly to get a better idea of where we're at as well as where your help is needed most."

Refurbished iPod nanos priced from $79

Apple's online store is offering a variety of iPod nanos in 2GB, 4GB, and 8GB capacities at discounted rates. The company's 2GB iPod nanos are available in silver for $79, storing up to 500 songs and offering up to 24 hours of music playback on one battery charge. Reconditioned 4GB iPod nanos are priced at $99, hold up to 1,000 songs, and are available in silver as well as blue and pink. Apple's 8GB iPod nanos, avialable in black for $149, holds up to 2,000 songs while offering the same battery life ad the company's 2GB and 4GB models. Apple's latest iPod shuffles are also available with 1GB of storage capacity in silver, pink, blue, green, and orange for $49 each.

Marware adds iPhone/iPod touch to Sportsuits...

Computing accessory manufacturer Marware today announced two new additions to its Sportsuit Convertible line, offering cases for the iPhone and iPod touch. Priced at $35, the Sportsuit features soft foam padding as a base material, with clear vinyl covering the screen, and a removable neoprene armband. The cases use Marware's patented Multidapt clip system, so it can be used with any of the company's accessories that use the Multidapt connector, such as adaptors for semi-permenant installation on a car or bike.

Apple retail exec earns $113 million from options...

The senior vice president of retail operations at Apple exercised 700,000 options at $23.72 each on Friday, October 26th -- the same day the Cupertino-based company shipped Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard -- and sold those shares on the same day for between $185-$185.21 each. Apple's retail chief Ron Johnson earned roughly $113 million before taxes on the stock sales, of which more than 606,000 shares were sold at $185 each with the remaining shares selling for between $185.01 and $185.21. Johnson acquired the shares under Apple's 1997 Employee Stock Option Plan, according to AppleInsider.

Apps: iStopMotion, iSale, BBEdit

• iStopMotion 2.1 ($50-$500) Stop motion animation tool. Features in Leopard will enable users to capture frames from multiple video sources simultaneously, connect HD cameras using Firewire, manipulate frames as they are captured, for example to adjust the color and create more interesting movies with Quartz Compositions as background and foreground for the animation. [Download - 17.6MB]


• iSale 4.3.1 ($290) eBay auctioning solution for the Mac. Includes tools for creating, tracking and managing your auctions. The new release includes Leopard compatibility enhancements. It also provides better process handling for greater stability, display fixes and better interface consistency. [Download - form]


• BBEdit 8.7.1 ($125) professional strength text editor. This update is a maintenance release that fixes reported issues and adds several minor features and other refinements to this award-winning HTML and text editor. The BBEdit 8.7.1 update is available free of charge to all registered BBEdit 8.5 (and higher) customers from the Bare Bones Software web site. [Download - 15.2MB]


• LiveQuartz 1.7 (donationware) aimed at all people that need a powerful basic image editor to easy manipulate layers, transparency and non destructive filters. This update adds a new tool for MacOS 10.5 (Leopard) named "Background Eraser" that works by just clicking and dragging to remove backgrounds. [Download - 3.1MB]


• Events 4.5v1 ($130) script-triggering plug-in for FileMaker Pro. Schedule any script to be triggered or any email to be sent at any time, on record view, on record creation, on record deletion, on field entry, on field exit and anywhere FileMaker's calculation engine is at play. Back by popular demand is a new-and-improved Events Manager. The new Events Manager makes it even easier to add, delete and view events. Plus, this Events 4.5v1 tool is completely unlocked, so you can customize it and integrate it into your own solutions. [Download - form]

XtremeMac unveils SportWrap Pink armband...

XtremeMac today introduced SportWrap Pink to support the efforts of the National Breast Cancer Foundation alongside new versions of its SportWrap armband for Apple's iPod touch, iPod classic, third-generation iPod nano, and iPhone. The SportWrap's new design features a neoprene body and an adjustable strap trimmed with a soft elastic material that allows the armband to mold to the shape of most arm sizes. The face of the iPod or iPhone is covered by a clear flexible plastic that provides full access to all controls, while the back is guarded from moisture via neoprene. The new SportWrap designs are available for pre-order at $30 each.

More details emerge for Google phone...

Yet more details are emerging on Google's still-rumored phone project, a new report claims. Anonymous sources appear to confirm concepts such as the creation of a Google-developed operating system based on Linux, and talks with companies such LG and HTC for producing Google-based handsets. Also suggested though is that Samsung and Motorola are interested in the project, and that an announcement is coming as soon as November 13th or 18th, to be made by T-Mobile USA and Bharti Airtel. The latter is one of the biggest cellular companies in India.

Apple will allow Mac OS X to run inside VM...

Apple has apparently changed its tune on the ability to run Mac OS X Server inside a Virtual Machine (such as VMWare's Fusion or Parallels Desktop). Though the company's license wording previously disallowed running multiple copies of Mac OS X Server on a single Mac, the new software license agreement included with Leopard reads "This License allows you to install and use one copy of the Mac OS X Server software (the "Mac OS X Server Software") on a single Apple-labeled computer. You may also install and use other copies of Mac OS X Server Software on the same Apple-labeled computer, provided that you acquire an individual and valid license from Apple for each of these other copies of Mac OS X Server Software." According to TidBits, the license change could herald new offerings from Parallels and VMWare that allow Mac OS X to run inside a virtual environment on top of itself.

Verizon in talks for Google-based phones?...

Sprint and Verizon are also in talks with Google to use the latter's upcoming mobile platform, according to purported sources speaking to Reuters. The discussions are said to include bringing Google's mobile apps to Sprint phones as well as incorporating Google technology and ad-sponsored services into Verizon's cellphones. Verizon chief operating officer Denny Strigl declined comment other than to say that his company routinely discussed deals with other companies, which included Google.

Trojan horse targets Mac OS X...

A new trojan horse designed specifically for Mac OS X systems has been discovered on several pornography websites that can hijack Web traffic, according to security firm Intego. Affected systems are used to hijack some Web requests that lead users to other phishing sites, or simply display ads for other pornographic websites to generate ad revenue. Phishing attacks may lead users to believe they are surfing to eBay, Paypal, or various banks when in fact they are accessing specially-crafted mockups designed to retrieve usernames and passwords for those sites. The trojan, titled OSX.RSPlug.A, is rated as a critical risk by Intego, and is known to affect Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger as well as Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard. Intego is testing prior versions of Mac OS X, but believes them to be vulnerable as well.

ConceptDraw Mindmap 5.2 supports Quick Look...

CS Odessa today released ConceptDraw Mindmap 5.2, a revision of its mind mapping business productivity software that is compatible with Apple's new Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard operating system. ConceptDraw Mindmap 5.2 also adds Quick Look support, integration with iCal, and a renewed user interface that supports Leopard's rich visual appearance. The application is designed as a simple tool that supports mind mapping and brainstorming techniques, as well as numerous other personal productivity methodologies. Support for Quick Look -- Apple's new technology in Leopard that offers advanced previewing capabilities -- enables users to preview maps in the Finder without opening them in the actual application. ConceptDraw Mindmap 5.2 is priced at $200 for the pro edition or $120 for the personal version, with free upgrades available to all registered users of ConceptDraw Mindmap 5.x.

Missing Sync updates for Leopard, BlackBerry...

Mark/Space has announced information on a pair of updates for its Missing Sync programs, which allow Mac users to synchronize data such as contacts and calendar information with phones not normally supported by iSync. Currently available is the minor v1.0.2 update to The Missing Sync for BlackBerry, which adds support for unspecified new phones, while also alleviating connection problems reported by some users. Some preliminary fixes for Mac OS X Leopard have been implemented as well, namely the prevention of accidental Time Machine backup of Missing Sync's internal files.

Nokia opens first music store, intros headset...

Nokia today announced the imminent launch of its first Nokia Music Store, which is now set to launch on November 1st in the UK. First revealed in August, the service will let users download from a catalog of "millions" of songs, either directly to phones such as the N81 or N95 8GB or else to a PC, which can sideload the tracks to a larger number of supporting handsets. Prices will match stores like iTunes in the country with songs costing 80p each and albums from £8, Nokia claims. Whether on a phone or a PC, users will be able to earmark songs to buy later or get personal recommendations.

WeBot service adds Mac, Linux support...

WeBot today announced that its recently-launched service for bringing multimedia content to any computer or compatible device -- like Apple's iPhone -- is now compatible with Mac and Linux systems. WeBot enables users to play music located on a home computer at work using a Web browser, and provides instant access to media across all machines and servers as soon as it's downloaded. Users can share pictures stored on several computers regardless of their locations, and WeBot negates the need to manually upload or synchronize files. The service is currently available as for testing purposes, requiring users to create an account and sign in prior to usage.

Akvis Sketch adds canvas, texture effects...

Akvis has released Akvis Sketch 6.0, an update to its application for converting photos into pencil sketches or watercolor drawings. The latest revision of the software enables users to add a canvas or any other textured surface to a picture, and works as a standalone application or a plug-in for various photo editing applications. The canvas feature adds a textured surface to a picture to imitate a drawing on a canvas, corrugated paper, brick wall, or other surfaces. Akvis Sketch 6.0 also brings compatibility with Photoshop Elements 6.0 as well as Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard. Akvis Sketch is priced at $75 for home users, and requires Mac OS X 10.4 or later. Upgrades are available for free to existing users.

Wozniak on Mac OS, iPhone, future tech...

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak differs in several respects with the company's current direction, according to a new interview. He notes that while he is still getting Mac OS X Leopard, despite knowing little about it, he does not like the direction the Mac OS has taken. "Early on with the first Apples," says Wozniak, "we had these dreams that the computer would let you know what you wanted to do. The idea was that little icons or words would suggest what you wanted to do, but now I have to find my way around to odd little icons that aren't positioned in the prominent places. When conducting a common task, I have to go searching around in folders or the bottom of the screen.

Samsung preps three speaker-laden LCDs...

Samsung today unveiled three SyncMaster computer displays designed for home users and workers alike who want built-in sound to save space. The 22-inch 2220WM, 19-inch 920WM, and the standard-ratio 920BM all include chin-mounted stereo speakers that can substitute for a basic desktop speaker set. All three also bring into play Samsung's more recent MagicBright2 dynamic image quality adjustment and a typical 5ms pixel response time that curbs ghosting artifacts during video playback.

Experts: Leopard no more secure than Tiger...

In spite of Apple's efforts, Mac OS X Leopard is not fundamentally better for security than Tiger, several security experts suggest. Thomas Ptacek of Matasano Security writes that Leopard's new security features, though an improvement, still leave unnecessary gaps open. Library Randomization is meant to solve problems such as buffer overflow attacks, by preventing hackers from knowing where to place a code in memory; the equivalent of this in Windows Vista is Address Space Load Randomization. Ptacek complains, however, that Apple has not randomized as many OS components as it should have, and specifically the Dynamic Link Library.

WD ships thin 320GB notebook drive...

Western Digital on Wednesday began selling the Scorpio 320GB, the company's largest-ever portable hard drive. At 9.5mm (0.37 inches) tall, the drive is slim enough to fit into thinner notebooks but spins at 5,400RPM, outperforming previous drives that had to throttle back to 4,200RPM to reach their storage levels. The disk also includes shock protection to guard storage in the event of a drop and is purportedly one of the quietest drives at its size and speed levels thanks to intelligent data seeking patterns.

Review: Leopard Desktop and Finder [U]

(Updated link) We start our full review of Mac OS X Leopard by examining the first aspects that any new user will see on first boot: the controversial, new-look desktop and the revamped Finder. Whether Apple's first major change to the front-end of the OS in six years will appeal may depend on your own personal tastes; the Finder, however, is a strong improvement and may be enough for some users to make the upgrade all by itself. Click ahead for the first part of our review.