May 7 - 8:00pm EDT   Calgoo on Wednesday announced its cross-platform calendar sharing programs are now compatible with Apple's iCal application. The announcement affects Calgoo Hub, Calgoo Connect, and Calgoo Calendar, and will allow users to synchronize their iCal calendars with users of Google, Outlook, Sunbird, as well as a host of other cross-platform mail clients. Calgoo Connect and Calendar Pro annual subscriptions start at $30, with several licensing options available. [full story]

May 1 - 6:15pm EDT   ProjectForum 6.1 ($80) a wiki-based software application that supports collaboration within and between professional workgroups. Version 6.1 introduces a new "mail to wiki" feature, and improves support for outgoing email notifications. This version also includes many smaller enhancements and bug fixes. CourseForum 6.1, a version of the ProjectForum application targeted for online learning applications, was also released. [Download - 2.4MB] MacBreakZ 4.8 ($30) Personal Ergonomic Assistant designed tpromote healthy and productive computer use by reminding the user ttake a break. Based on your actual keyboard and mouse use and the time you have spent in front of the screen, MacBreakZ ... [full story]

April 18 - 11:05pm EDT   BusySync on Friday released an update to its iCal sync utility. BusySync 2.0, a free upgrade for all existing customers, brings new Google Calendar syncing features and fixes many bugs. Users have the ability to sync iCal with Google Calendar, including the ability to map iCal Message alarms to Google pop-up, SMS or Email alarms as well as the option to filter out Alarms and To-Dos from subscribed calendars on your LAN. The developer says the update brings LAN/WAN synching improvements, VPN compatibility, IPv6 and Back to My Mac compatibility. In addition, version 2.0 features improved performance, fewer conflict resolver disputes, auto-repair of damaged iCal databases. ... [full story]

April 2 - 7:35pm EDT   ImageWell 3.5 ($20) image editor for everyday simple editing and quickly sending images, screenshots, and other files tother users over the Internet. The tool includes upload support for Flickr, SmugMug and ImageShack, and is free. This latest release is Version 3.5, Build 327 and includes a new sharpness filter, two new shapes, the ability to double-click History items and open them in a browser, and fixes for bugs associated with Leopard. This is a free update to registered users. [Download - 964KB] PostgreSQL 8.3.1 Open Source project that leverages the Open Source PostgreSQL server and works to integrate the popular database engine into the Mac platform in as native a fashion ... [full story]

April 1 - 5:55pm EDT   Studiometry 5.1, a new release of the organizational tool for Mac OS X, has been released. The new version adds over 50 updates, enhancements, features, and bug fixes. New in Studiometry 5.1 is the ability to sync to and from iCal. Previous versions of Studiometry could post calendars to iCal, but would not receive any changes made in iCal or other programs that modified iCal items. Now, editing an item in Studiometry or iCal will immediately sync the data to the other application, and Studiometry can even receive updates to tasks and events made on a PDA or mobile phone synced with iCal. Several other features have also been added to Studiometry 5.1. The developer says ... [full story]

March 27 - 1:00am EDT   Chronos LC today unveiled SOHO Organizer 7 and SOHO Notes 7, updates to some of the company's business productivity applications, introducing a number of new features. SOHO Organizer 7, Chronos' alternative to iCal and Address Book, now can display recurring tasks, and allows tasks to show up directly in Day, Week, and Month views. Chronos is selling SOHO Organizer 7 starting at $50, with several different licensing options available. [full story]

March 11 - 10:30am EDT   PocketMac has launched two new versions of its GoBetween sync software, for Microsoft's Entourage 2004 and 2008. GoBetween is used to improve on the support of Apple's iSync software, which does not always properly support all software and devices. The newest versions of GoBetween ensure that contact, calendar and task information is properly transferred from Entourage to iCal and Address Book, and from there to iSync and whatever devices may be connected. [full story]

February 27 - 6:25pm EST   Spanning Sync 1.2 – an app designed to sync Google Calendars with iCal – was unveiled today, offering several performance enhancements, bug fixes, and feature introductions. The developer says that the new version synchronizes up to five times faster than before, due to extensive optimizations of both client- and server-side engines. Spanning Sync is currently selling for new users at $25 for a one-year license, while an optional one-time purchase fee of $65 is also available. [full story]

January 22 - 5:15pm EST   You Software today unveiled You Control 1.6, an update to its menu creation utility, adding compatibility for Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, as well as a number of enhancements based around Leopard technologies. You Control can now interface with Leopard's new iCal format, allowing users to view their appointments and other iCal data. Performance with all of the components has been improved for both Leopard and Tiger users, allowing for quick access to weather, address, and system information. New users can purchase You Control for $30 from You Software; existing users can upgrade for no additional charge. [full story]

January 14 - 12:45am EST   BusyMac today announced BusySync 2.0, a free upgrade to the calendar sharing utility for iCal. In addition to its existing ability to sync iCal calendars over a LAN or the internet, BusySync 2.0 now enables users to synchronize iCal with Google Calendar, providing Web-based access to calendars from anywhere. BusySync is a Mac OS X System Preference Pane that adds peer-to-peer calendar sharing and synchronization capabilities to iCal. Designed for families and small workgroups, BusySync allows users to easily and cost-effectively share iCal calendars on a local area network and over the internet without the need for a dedicated server. Shared calendars can be viewed ... [full story]

January 8 - 9:45am EST   FileMaker on Tuesday announced the immediate availability of Bento, its easy-to-use personal database application. Designed exclusively for Mac OS X Leopard, Bento leverages a single-window interface and FileMaker database technology to help users organize contacts, calendars, projects, events, and more. Users can easily create databases to manage information with dynamic 'smart' collections as well as expand around Apple's own Address Book and iCal storage engines. Bento is priced at $50, or $100 for a family pack of five licenses. The personal database requires Mac OS X 10.5 or later. [full story]

December 31 - 8:05pm EST   Apple's .Mac is a service based on a paid yearly subscription of $100. It offers users many different functions, such as calendar and mail syncing, backup, email, online storage, among others. Many users only require one portion of the service, however, and can not justify the yearly cost for things that they feel they have no use for. BusyMac looks to address one of those needs with BusySync, an application that is designed to synchronize iCal calendars across a local area network. This makes it an idea candidate for office situations, since the one-time cost of the application (minus any major version upgrades in the future) is more manageable than maintaining several ... [full story]

December 31 - 11:20am EST   Nova media has released a new update for its iSync plug-ins, bringing their version to v5.1. The software adds support for approximately 130 phones to iSync, letting users copy over their iCal and Address Book information to a phone in advance of formal support from Apple. Brands covered by the plug-ins include Motorola, Samsung and Sony Ericsson. New to v5.1 is support for several more phones from Nokia, including the E51, 7900 and 3500 Classic, as well as the N82 and 8GB N95, neither of which are as yet formally available in the US. [full story]