Picture Arena 1.3 with support for Tiger, Spotlight, Core Image and
Quartz Composer is now available
APRIL 28, 2005 - HERZOGENAURACH, GERMANY
IOSPIRIT GmbH today released an update to its integrated digital picture
management software Picture Arena for Mac OS X offering sophisticated
picture browsing, image-processing and presentation capabilities to version
1.3.
What's new in version 1.3
The main focus of the update to version 1.3 is the addition of support for
the latest Mac OS X Tiger(TM) technologies like Spotlight(TM), Core Image
and Quartz Composer and a further acceleration for working with big photo
collections.
A compact overview over what has changed since version 1.2 of Picture Arena:
* New: transparent support for Spotlight(TM)'s saved searches /
Finder's searchable folders.
* New: support for Core Image is now integrated in Picture Arena's
effect subsystem. Initially, Core Image effects for zoomblur,
sharpening, noise removal and edgework are available - more to
follow.
* New: support for loading and indexing Tiger's Quartz Composer
files.
* Enhancement: the vertical scrollbar in browse mode does now scroll
exactly one page or row, depending on where you click.
* Enhancement: some small adaptions for better compatibility with
Tiger.
* Enhancement: overall improvement of the effect subsystem's
performance.
* Enhancement: further improved speed when loading many images, a
global cache is soon to follow.
* Enhancement: mp4 files are now better recognized.
* Fix: vertical and horizontal scrollbars do now conform to OS X
standards.
* Fix: scrollbars are now updated correctly after a digicam import.
* Fix: in some situations, when using effects with selectable areas,
the window could start moving.
* Fix: fixed a bug that could lead to a crash under rare timing
conditions.
* Fix: added a work around for five OS X functions that are
documented as thread-safe but aren't (could previously lead to a
semaphore lockup condition of the PA GUI).
Availability
Picture Arena 1.3 is immediately available for Mac OS X 10.3 ("Panther")
and higher at an introductory price of 19,90 EUR (approximately 25,90 US
dollar) until the end of April. The price will presumably be raised to
29,90 EUR later. All updates until the release of version 2.0 are free for
purchasers of version 1.x. A trial version can be downloaded at
http://www.picturearena.com/. The only functional limitations are a
demo-watermark in every saved file and the limitation of the trial period
to 14 days. Picture Arena is fully localized in English and German.
About Picture Arena
Picture Arena is the new center of your imaging world. Browse your
directories, rework your photos on the fly, manage them in albums, reuse
your existing iPhoto(TM) albums, make a speech-driven presentation, work
independent of any network and put your digital treasures to use in many
new ways. Full of innovations and super fast, Picture Arena lets you create
stunning web galleries with eCards and interactive databases without any
expert knowledge and just a few clicks, burns up to 9200 pictures on a
single CD for convenient viewing on a DVD player, prints contact sheets,
letter paper, greeting cards and much more. Taking full advantage of the
advanced processor power of the Mac, you can combine more than 20 amazing
effects and operations to dive your photos into vibrant colors, correct
skew horizons, add fun effects or create a picture mosaic with your photos
being rebuilt by thousands of others. Effects are generally non-destructive
and are performed without modifying your original files. Powerful batch
operations for renaming (with undo!), reworking, exporting, file format
conversion, a compact, thoughtfully designed interface and a great number
of smart tools round up this unique and incredibly useful software package
that no graphician should live without.
About the IOSPIRIT GmbH
The IOSPIRIT GmbH has been founded in 2004 by Felix Schwarz with the aim of
developing high-quality software for the Mac - low-priced, so everybody can
enjoy it.
A special focus during development lies on the latest technologies in Mac
OS X, their innovative use, own innovations and industry novelties - far
away from outworn paths.
At the same time the IOSPIRIT GmbH is its own distributor. The platform
used therefore is an internal development - tailored to the needs of the
market - and therefore allows efficient and fast processing of incoming
orders and queries.
The IOSPIRIT GmbH is based in Herzogenaurach, Germany.
