Sonic Solutions' Roxio has updated its stalwart Toast Titanium and Titanium Pro disc burning and media conversion software, adding enhanced iPhone streaming, TIVo support, an audiobook creation tool and archiving support for AVCHD video. The Pro version comes bundled with a plug-in for Blu-ray support, SmartSound Sonicfire Pro, BIAS SoundSoap, LightZone and FotoMagico. Both versions of Toast are available now.The standard version, Toast 10 Titanium, is intended to complement Apple's iLife suite, providing additional ways to create and share digital content. New features include a utility that allows users to capture and convert web-based video, including content from YouTube and other sites that distribute copyrighted material. The company says it encourages users to respect copyright laws, but does not believe the software poses any legal problems.
Toast 10 also includes enhanced support for iPhone and TiVo users. Roxio is releasing a new, native iPhone/iPod Touch application allowing Toast users to stream video directly to their devices using Wi-Fi. Mac2TiVo allows users to send standard and HD video directly to a TiVo DVR.
Amateur videographers with AVCHD format camcorders can use Toast to archive video on disc, instead of taking up space on hard drives or memory cards. Another video tool allows users to extract clips from DVDs and convert the video to any of a variety of formats.
Roxio says it has improved Toast's CD Spin Doctor, allowing users to capture streaming audio. The Automatic Music Capture feature indentifies and tags individual music tracks before sending them to ITunes. Another new Toast feature allows users to convert audiobook CDs into a single file for playback on iPods and other mobile devices, complete with individual chapter bookmarks.
One feature that is not included in the basic version of Toast 10 is a plug-in allowing support for Blu-ray discs. The company says it wanted to keep costs down so it left out the $20 plug-in. However, the HD/BD plug-in is free for those who buy Toast 10 online from Roxio before February 5.
Toast 10 Titanium Pro is aimed at the more advanced user providing a bundle of third-party applications for enhanced photo and audio editing and music creation. SmartSound Sonicfire Pro 5 allows users to create soundtracks for videos and slideshows with a "Mood Mapping" feature that uses an included library of music tracks. The classic audio cleanup app BIAS SoundSoap 2 is included to remove wind noise, scratches and cassette tape hiss from sound recordings. LightZone 3 Basic photo-editing software is also included along with a special version of the slideshow creator FotoMagico Express that includes support for HD video. Toast Titanium Pro costs an additional $50, but the company says the additional apps are worth $300.
Both versions of Toast require Mac OS X 10.5 or higher and work with both PowerPC and Intel-based Macs. Toast 10 Titanium costs $100. Users of Toast 9 can upgrade for $80. Toast 10 Titanium Pro sells for $150.
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