June 29 - 6:30pm EDT   IK Multimedia and Muse Research have joined forces to create what they claim is one of the most powerful music sound modules ever made. The Total WorkStation Rack uses Muse Research’s Receptor hardware plug-in player with IK’s SampleTank 2.5, Sonik Synth 2, Miroslav Philharmonik, SampleMoog and Sampleton virtual instruments. The product also ships with more than 10,000 sample-based sounds from every instrument category. [full story]

June 17 - 3:35pm EDT   Nova Media has released Phone Plugins, a utility that allows one-click dialing and text messaging from any application in Leopard. Users of OS X Tiger were able dial cellphones connected over Bluetooth, but Apple removed that feature in OS X 10.5. Nova claims the utility not only restores that lost functionality, but improves on it as well. The Berlin-based developer says the Phone Plugins include a Bluetooth wizard to connect cell phones in one step. Users can call or send a text message to any number within Address Book or other applications using the “services” menu. [full story]

April 10 - 9:10am EDT   AKVIS has released the v6.0 update to Noise Buster, its photo enhancement tool. The app is able to remove noise in both the color and luminance layers of photos, separately or together. The Mac version of the upgrade has a variety of changes, among these support for Photoshop Elements 6; also new though is the "Microdetail" parameter, which attempts to return minute details to a photo without additionally reintroducing noise. [full story]

April 7 - 2:55pm EDT   In brief: We have a review of the Tannoy i30 iPod speaker system, Apple refreshes the "Macintosh" trademark, a 36-hour iPhone programming marathon takes place and iSync phone plugins gets new device support ... We have posted a review of the Tannoy i30 iPod speaker system. This heavy-duty speaker system has an oval shape that is flat from the front view, but extends the oval in the back, complete with an inset hidden handle. The clean front design has not a button to be seen; so all the controls are on the small remote. The front is graced with two non-removable gray grills that cover 4-inch iCT, Inductive Coupling Technology , speakers and an iPod dock, under which ... [full story]

March 25 - 8:25pm EDT   Apple today unveiled PluginManager 1.7.3, an update to the plugin management service for Final Cut Pro, Motion, Aperture, Logic Studio, as well as several SDK kits. The update addresses certain problems within Final Cut Studio relating to backwards compatibility. PluginManager.framework, FxPlug.framework, ProFX.framework, and FxPlugWrapper.plugin have all been replaced with current versions to address the issue. The update is also available through Software Update, under the Apple Menu. [full story]

March 12 - 1:40pm EDT   Digital Heaven has announced the release of DH_Subtitle 2.0, an upgrade to the popular subtitle generator plug-in for Final Cut Express and Final Cut Pro. The tool allows users to create professional style subtitles with boxes behind the text. The new version adds text tracking and leading controls plus a new outline style option. It automatically creates the box according to the text entered and also ensures the last line of text is always in the same vertical position, no matter how many lines of text a subtitle may contain. With version 2.0 there is a new outline style which puts a line around the text to increase legibility. Also new in this version are controls ... [full story]

February 19 - 6:15pm EST   Live Interior 1.5 ($80) lets users design house, office, apartment, and other interiors with realistic 3D walk-throughs. Live Interior 3D 1.5 update adds lamp creating functionality. Now you can compose and edit various lamps using Light Source Editor, insert and adjust different types of light sources in any objects including imported ones. [Download - 49.4MB] MBS REALbasic plug-ins 8.1 ($270) a collection of several plug-in parts which extend the REALbasic development environment with over 900 classes and 2 controls featuring over 17000 documented functions. This release adds: new ThreadMBS class for crossplatform preemptive threads in REALbasic; MutexMBS class to work with the ... [full story]

February 13 - 3:50pm EST   Troi Automatisering today unveiled Troi Dialog Plug-in 5 for FileMaker Pro 9, a plug-in designed to extend FileMaker's dialogue boxes in a number of different ways. The latest version adds compatibility with Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, and an improved InputDialog function, which provides access to upwards of 15 input items. PresentImage has also been revamped, allowing users to view full screen slideshows of pictures or movies. Troi Dialog Plug-in 5 is currently available for $60, with free upgrades available for those who purchased v4.x on or after February 1st, 2007. [full story]

February 4 - 4:15am EST   Developer Brandon Holland recently unveiled a downloadable beta version of his Apple TV Skype plugin that uses a standard USB VoIP handset to make calls through the Apple TV. The plugin is a front-end, and requires the Skype framework to be installed prior to use. Holland offers a fairly in-depth video tour of the as-of-then working features, giving users a technical demonstration of the software's capabilities. [full story]

January 31 - 10:15pm EST   Red Giant Software today unveiled Magic Bullet Frames, its latest plugin for Final Cut Pro, Motion, and Premiere Pro. The plugin is designed to allow users to shoot video on low-cost film, and then scale the footage to 24p, giving it a professional finish. Magic Bullet Frames uses motion-adaptive and field-blended modes to process frames, and can apply custom letterboxes to footage to give it a cinematic feel. Red Giant Software is currently selling Magic Bullet Frames for $200. [full story]

December 5 - 9:00pm EST   Digital photography, some film veterans will argue, has no feeling, due to the lack of imperfections in digital imagery. Others prefer the artistic qualities that film grain provides, and the varied tonal ranges that exist or have existed through different film types. Unfortunately, film is slowly losing ground to the digital lifestyle, and many film types are being discontinued, never to be seen again. Alien Skin's Exposure 2 gives new digital photographers a chance to play with well-loved vintage film effects – some that are even discontinued completely – and provides film photographers with the chance to keep using their tricks of the trade on in to the digital age. [full story]

December 3 - 5:05pm EST   AKVIS today unveiled Noise Buster 5.0, introducing a new algorithm designed to reduce digital noise in photographs. Noise Buster is optimized for Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, and features a new histogram for displaying noise level and noise components. A standalone version of the plugin is also included, allowing users to fix images outside of Photoshop. Users can either set Noise Buster to work automatically, or they can customize the settings and get a specific effect. AKVIS is selling the new version of Noise Buster for $50, and requires Mac OS 10.3.9 or higher. [full story]

November 29 - 3:35pm EST   Two plug-in updates have surfaced for Adobe software to help users update prices in InDesign documents and 'spray' pictures on top of any RGB photos or layers in Adobe Photoshop or Adobe Elements. Meadows Publishing Solutions has released AutoPrice for Adobe InDesign CS3, an easy-to-use plug-in module designed to streamline the updating of prices and similar information in InDesign documents. Meanwhile Human Software has released PhotoSpray 1.8 as a Universal Binary that works with Mac OS X Leopard (pricing for both AutoPrice and PhotoSpray was unavailable). [full story]

November 26 - 11:05pm EST   Alien Skin Software recently unveiled a new version to its image-restoration Photoshop plugin, Image Doctor 2. The plugin is designed to fix erroneous photographs, by removing blemishes, dust and scratch damage, compression damage, or an unwanted party guests from photographs. By sampling from the surrounding area, Image Doctor can intelligently repair problematic areas on digital photos without requiring hours of input by the user. In addition to fixing blemishes and removing elements, Image Doctor is able to mend JPEG compression damage – blocky pixelations in an image that are caused from repeated saving in the format. Image Doctor 2 is currently shipping, available ... [full story]