ARES Commander Edition is new 2D/3D CAD solution
Graebert GmbH (http://www.graebert.com) has released ARES Commander Edition 1.0, a new solution for 2D and 3D CAD that runs on Mac OS X, Windows and Linux systems. It offers full native cross-platform support on all three operating systems.
Also, mobile support is planned for support for Windows Mobile and, possibly, the iPad and Android. It's available at an introductory price of US$495 through the end of September, a 50% discount from the regular price of $995.
ARES uses a common design interface and is purportedly the first CAD solution to run natively across Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X and Linux. It's been optimized for specific operating system features and capabilities.
Adobe posts Lightroom 3.2, Camera Raw 6.2 release candidates
Adobe has announced the Lightroom 3.2 and Camera Raw 6.2 Release Candidates, available for immediate download on Adobe Labs.
The updates extend raw file support to 12 new camera models, improve on several of the lens correction profiles introduced as part of the Lightroom 3 and Camera Raw 6.1 releases, and add over 50 new lens profiles to help photographers automatically correct for undesirable distortion and aberration effects. In addition, the Lightroom 3.2 Release Candidate now allows Lightroom 3 customers the ability to publish their photos directly to Facebook from within the application, and addresses issues reported by customers on the Lightroom 3.0 release.
Lightroom is a digital photography workflow solution, helping serious amateur and professional photographers import, manage, enhance and showcase all their images from one application. The Photoshop Camera Raw plug-in provides access within Photoshop to the raw image formats produced by many leading digital cameras.
The...
Hills & Mountains Collection of symbols available
Cartography software provider Mapdiva (http://www.mapdiva.com) has announced the availability of 10 groups of hill and mountain symbols for graphic designers and mapmakers to create maps for websites, magazines, books, and brochures.
The Hills & Mountains Collection was created by Mapdiva's design team to allow users to illustrate pictorial-styled landscapes and terrain and choose from a variety of map styles. Symbols can also be customized thanks to Ortelius' Style Inspector and integrated Mac OS X color picker.
Featuring 10 groups of hill and mountain map symbols -- 126 in all -- the Hills & Mountains Collection includes an array of editable vector map symbols modeled after cartographers such as Erwin Raisz and Abraham Ortelius, and calligrapher Heather Child. The Hills & Mountains Collection can be imported into Ortelius' new professional-level Library Manager.
Ortelius is a vector map illustration and editing application that focuses on cartography and graphics for...
SeedCode Complete grows for FileMaker 11
The new FileMaker 11 version of SeedCode Complete (http://www.seedcode.com/cp-app/ste_cat/sccomplete11), a contact and project management template for FileMaker, is now available. It's built on SeedCode's Pro calendar extension for FileMaker, offering color coding, repeating events, and drag-and-drop scheduling.
SeedCode Complete links the company's new drag-and-drop calendar to Contacts, Projects, and Invoices in an unlocked, multi-user solution. It's designed as a starting point for those looking for a head start in building their own database system.
It's fully unlocked for you to modify and extend, adding your own fields, layouts, and scripts, or modifying the ones we've written. SeedCode Complete is US$479 for a site license (there are no per seat charges).
Boris AAF Transfer available
Boris FX (http://www.borisfx.com) has announced the availability of Boris AAF Transfer, a new plug-in designed for seamless transfer of Apple Final Cut Pro sequences to Avid Media Composer.
Editors can use Boris AAF Transfer to transfer an entire live Apple Final Cut Pro program sequence with media, markers, cuts, dissolves, filters, and audio preserved. The transferred sequence can be edited and finished in the Avid Media Composer timeline without returning to Final Cut Pro. Editors can edit Final Cut Pro sequences live in Media Composer -- either on the same system or any other Mac or Windows Media Composer system.
Boris AAF Transfer is available immediately through the Boris FX worldwide reseller channel and direct through the Boris FX web site for a manufacturer's suggested retail price of US$299 and an MSRP of $399 when bundled with the Boris XML Transfer plug-in for Adobe After Effects. Boris AAF Transfer supports Final Cut Pro 6 and higher and Media Composer 4 and higher. A...
WorkLight offers iPhone app connectivity
WorkLight (http://www.worklight.com) has released a new version of its WorkLight Mobile Platform that enables developers and IT professionals to build and integrate new iPhone, iPad and iPod apps with enterprise systems.
This new version offers iOS support for backend enterprise connectivity and provides the ability to connect existing native applications with enterprise infrastructure. WorkLight offers support for downloadable smartphone applications that can be developed using either native or web-based technologies and tools. The WorkLight Mobile Platform's enterprise connectivity layer includes:
° A native library that enables connectivity to backend enterprise and cloud services through the WorkLight Server;
° Flexible integration with authentication mechanisms to enable custom authentication on the client side, such as two factor authentication or keylogger protection;
° Infrastructure for running applications at scale and with fast performance including caching, clustering and...
Dingo Games announces Tasty Planet: Back for Seconds for the Mac
Dingo Games (http://www.dingogames.com) has announced Tasty Planet: Back for Seconds, the Mac OS X compatible sequel to their indie game, Tasty Planet. It will be available soon; pricing hasn't been announced.
Here's how the game is described: "Players will take control of a tiny ball of grey goo with the unique ability to eat anything smaller than itself. The more it eats, the bigger it gets. Players will travel to six different time periods while eating increasingly huge objects.
"Tasty Planet: Back for Seconds expands upon the original Tasty Planet in almost every way. Players can now grow from the size of an amoeba to the size a galaxy -- all seamlessly within a single level. The game adds a true two player cooperative campaign mode in which each player controls their own goo. The number of different objects has also increased dramatically - each time period features its own unique set of objects to eat.
"Comic strips throughout the game tell the story of the two scientists who...
Wondershare Web Gallery released for the Mac
Wondershare (http://www.wondershare.com) has launched the Web Gallery for Mac, a flash image gallery maker. It's designed for web designers, bloggers, social networking enthusiasts and those who need to make flash business banner, web photo album and more.
Wondershare Web Gallery for Mac can purportedly turn your still digital photos to flash image gallery in three steps, and share it on MySpace, Blogger and other web sites instantly. Just select one of your favorite templates with one-click, drag and drop your digital photos to storyboard, then output or upload your flash gallery to blogs, social networking sites and other web sites with simple SWF or HTML code. If you like, you can add more than one song to be the background music of your flash image gallery.
Web Gallery for Mac comes with 40-plus templates and is normally available for US$59.95. However, you can save $10 for a limited time.
European regulators investigating Apple's mobile policies
European regulators have teamed with the Federal Trade Commission in probing Apple's policies for mobile software developers, reports the "New York Post" (http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/eu_ftc_probing_apple_policies_oMCM...).
According to their source, the European Commission recently joined the FTC probe into whether Apple's business practices harm competition. The investigation could last another four to six months, says the "Post."
German government frowns on iPhone, RIM smartphone use
Security issues on smartphones has prompted the German government to ask its ministers and senior civil servants to avoid using Apple’s iPhone and Research in Motion(RIM)’s Blackberry smartphones, according to the "International Business Times" (http://uk.ibtimes.com/articles/42139/20100810/iphone-blackberry-apple-ri...).
The move follows a warning by one of the interior ministries of the German government over drastic increase in cyber attacks, the article adds. Based on the advice tagged as "urgent" from the BSI, Germany’s federal IT security agency, the interior ministry recommended the officials to use Simko devices provided by Deutsche Telekom in place of iPhone and Blackberry.
Digital Rebellion provides maintenance solution for Final Cut...
Digital Rebellion (http://www.digitalrebellion.com) has announced FCS Maintenance Pack Network Admin, a tool to administrate its FCS Maintenance Pack suite over a network, giving system administrators the opportunity to remotely maintain and optimize Final Cut Studio and Final Cut Express systems on their network.
FCS Maintenance Pack contains tools to repair corrupt QuickTime movies, locate corrupt clips within Final Cut Pro projects, diagnose crash logs, manage plugins and so much more. FCS Maintenance Pack Network Admin builds on this by allowing these functions to be performed remotely over a network and offering extra troubleshooting features in addition to those featured in FCS Maintenance Pack. The Difference Finder works out the differences between operating system, plug-in, kernel extension and framework versions to tell you what is unique about a certain group of computers.
This allows an administrator to instantly see if there is a configuration issue or outdated device...
DeviceAnywhere adds iPhone 4 to test center
DeviceAnywhere (http://www.deviceanywhere.com) -- a provider of technological solutions to streamline mobile content creation, certification and customer satisfaction -- has announced the addition of Apple’s iPhone 4 to its portfolio of devices accessible online via DeviceAnywhere Test Center.
This latest addition ups DeviceAnywhere’s portfolio to over 2,000 devices on over 30 carriers across the world. Customers of the DeviceAnywhere Test Center solution now have access to the full array of Apple mobile products, including all four generations of iPhones and the Apple’s iPad, allowing them to benefit from the thriving Apple developer ecosystem.
DeviceAnywhere is an online service used by thousands of organizations and their developers worldwide. It provides access to real mobile handsets that are each connected to live networks. These devices are accessible remotely over the Internet, allowing users to interact in real time to ensure all development, porting, testing, and monitoring...
CaseCruzer PSC200 is new case for Apple laptops
CaseCruzer (http://www.casecruzer.com) has released the US$225 PSC200 case for Apple laptops. It's designed for road warriors with the goal of "guaranteeing safety against clumsy baggage handlers," says Tatiana Briceno, marketing director of CaseCruzer.
It's a hard-shell carrying case with a new door in the lid that is designed to offer more polyethylene foam protection for 15-inch and 17-inch MacBook Pros. The base of the case is also fitted with foam and an 11-compartment black padded divider system that can store lenses, lens caps, batteries and chargers, compact flash memory cards and battery cables for laptops.
What's more, the protective features of the PSC200 shield against the problems photographers face when traveling with DSLR/SLR cameras, laptops and other gear, says Briceno. Its exterior is injection-molded with ultra high-strength polypropylene copolymer resin -- built to withstand the shocks and hard knocks of travel. Molded-in hinges provide additional protection...
Daniusoft launches new DVD Ripper for the Mac
Daniusoft (http://www.daniusoft.com/) has released a new Daniusoft DVD Ripper for Mac, which has been expanded to provide an all-round solution to rip, convert and edit DVDs. The upgrade adopts an interface to improve the ease of use, and supports multi-core processors to maximize the conversion speed.
The new Mac DVD Ripper lets you convert multiple DVDs at a time. It offers support for 5.1 surround sound and support for SWF as the output format. It adds conversion profiles for Apple TV 5.1, Final Cut Pro, Android phone, Xbox 360 and pop mobile phones.
The new version of Mac DVD Ripper also: improves the ease of use with the output formats and presets; provides more video editing options: adds rotation and a side-by-side preview window; and adds support for multi-core processors to maximize the conversion speed. It costs US$39 and is compatible with Mac OS X 10.6 ("Snow Leopard")
The Iconfactory releases Helios Multimedia stock set
Continuing the expansion of the Iconfactory's (http://www.iconfactory.com) stock icon offerings for developers and designers, Helios Multimedia is a set of 52 add-ons that extends the original collection into the audio and visual realm.
With icons covering concepts such as mixing, effects, video and many others, this collection is for anyone needing icons for multimedia software development. Helios Multimedia contains 52 icons in multiple sizes and formats and is available today for US$179.
Also, Stockicons.com provides developers and designers with royalty-free collections of icons for use in software applications, web site designs and interactive presentations. They offer free downloadable samples of each stock collection so developers can test the usability of the collections they're interested in.
AppDelete for Mac OS X updated to version 3.1.3
Reggie Ashworth has updated AppDelete (http://reggie.ashworth.googlepages.com/appdelete), an application deleting app for Mac OS X, to version 3.1.3. The new version fixes an issue where Chinese fonts might not display properly, along with other localization edits and miscellaneous optimizations.
Via drag 'n drop, AppDelete will delete any chosen app with all of its associated items that belong to that application. You'll no longer have to hunt through their system to find and delete these items manually.
You can drag any item that can be uninstalled onto AppDelete: applications, widgets, preference panes, plug-ins, screensavers, etc. You can also activate AppDelete in many ways: dragging items onto main window, onto dock icon, selecting in menu, right-clicking using AppDelete workflow, and throwing items in the trash. When the preview screen appears you can uncheck any items you would like to exclude. You also have several choices: delete the items, log only the items, or archive (...
SecuritySpy for Mac OS X gets audio noise reduction, more
>Ben Bird has updated SecuritySpy (http://www.bensoftware.com/ss/index.html), a multi-camera video surveillance application for Mac OS X, to version 2.0.8. The new version includes audio noise reduction, improved iPhone support and bug fixes, as well as support for many new network cameras.
SecuritySpy's remote viewing feature lets you access your surveillance system over the Internet or over a local network using a web browser. Pricing starts at US$50 for one camera. A 30-day demo is available for download. SecuritySpy is a Universal Binary app, so runs natively on both PowerPC and Intel Macs.
iPhone/iPod/iPad apps for Aug. 9
Here are the latest iPhone/iPod touch/iPod/iPad apps announced. You can find 'em at the Apple App Store (http://www.itunes.com/appstore/).
AT&T has dialed up its AT&T U-verse Mobile App for Apple's idevices. The free app gives U-verse subscribers the ability to download and watch popular TV content on their iPhone so they can take their U-verse TV experience with them, wherever they go. AT&T says it's the first TV provider to offer an integrated mobile app that allows you to both manage your DVR and download and watch select shows.
Gameprom, winner of the Apple Design Award in games for 2010, for Pinball HD for the iPad, has done it again with the release of Pinball HD 4 iPhone. The US$1.99 app combines Gameprom’s iPhone games -- Wild West Pinball, The Deep, and Jungle Style Pinball -- into one app and adds some new features.
Redbits has released SOS LED 1.0, a $0.99 app for iOS devices with flash LED. More than a flashlight, SOS LED can emit SOS pulses of either light,...
Analyst: iPhone product orders increased
Forget "Antennagate." Sterne Agee analyst Vijay Rakesh told clients in a research note Monday that his checks with the supply chain finds that Apple “has recently increased iPhone 4 orders," reports "Barron's" (http://macosg.me/2/oe).
The analyst says that, despite the antenna issue, “the supply chain is scrambling to make more” of the new phone. Rakesh thinks the build rate for the September quarter is above 10 million units.
Trans announces memory upgrade kits for new Mac Pros
Trans International has announced the worldwide availability of up to a 32GB Memory Upgrade Kit [8X4GB] PC-3 10600 DDR3 1333MHz ECC SDRAM for the new Mac Pro.
TransIntl.com memory modules conform to Apple's electrical and mechanical design guide lines and carry a Lifetime replacement Warranty. For details and pricing go to: http://macosg.me/2/oc .
Sennheiser releases three new wireless headphones
Sennheiser (http://www.sennheiserusa.com) has released three new wireless headphones that purportedly deliver high-resolution, movie-theater-quality audio via uncompressed wireless transmission from Kleer. The RS 160, RS 170 and RS 180 are equipped with dynamic transducers.
According to the folks at Sennheisr, not only can you move around while watching television but you can also enjoy cable-free music at a radius of up to 328 feet (RS 160 up to 65 feet, RS 170 up to 262 feet and RS 180 up to 328 feet; optimum line-of-sight). The frequency response reaches from 18 to 21,000 Hertz and boats a sound pressure level of up to 110 decibels.
The RS 160 -- which has a street price of US$199.95 -- is the entry-level model: they're closed headphones on which the volume can be controlled directly on the headphones. The RS 170 ($249.99) is also a closed model and delivers dynamic bass boost and switchable surround sound simulation. The top-of-the-range RS 180 model ($299.95) is targeted at...
360Works Releases FileMaker text processing plug-in
360Works (http://360works.com/scribe), a FileMaker product developer and innovator, has released Scribe, a text processing plug-in that allows users to read and write text from Microsoft Office and PDF files, find what changed in a text field and highlight text matching any criteria.
With Scribe, you can read and write Word, Excel, and PDF documents and forms directly from FileMaker. You can search contents of Word and PDF files from FileMaker. It also supports searching Excel files, HTML, RTF, and JPEG metadata. Scribe lets you process text fields within FileMaker to track changes, highlight keywords and more.
It's available starting at US$295. Scribe is included in the 360Works Portfolio License bundle, so existing 360Works Portfolio License holders can use their license key to register Scribe at no extra charge.
Analyst: Mac, iPad, iPhone sales better than anticipated
The Needham & Company firm has raised its 12-month target price on Apple from US$280 to $375 due to much better than anticipated Mac and iPad sales. Also, the upgrade cycle of iPhone owners seems to be happening faster than the firm had predicted, according to analyst Charlie Wolf.
In a note released on Monday -- and as reported by "TheStreet" (http://macosg.me/2/ob), he said he had originally predicted that iPad sales would reach 20 million in 2019, but have already on target to surpass 12 million sales annually, even before a full international rollout.
Mac sales are on target to reach 14 million units this year, according to Needham, more than 50% higher than initially forecast. Despite the recent antenna problems and white iPhone delay, Wolf says that iPhone users are upgrading to new models in one or two years, faster than Needham's previous prediction of every three years.
Apple licenses Liquidmetal technologies
An SEC filing just hit that shows that Apple Inc. struck a deal with Liquidmetal Technologies (http://www.liquidmetal.com/technology/default.asp), a California-based company that holds patents on new metal and alloy designs, for essentially access to all of its intellectual property, reports "The Baltimore Sun" (http://macosg.me/2/o9).
Perhaps in the near future, we can expect our iPhones, iPads, and iPods to be made of these new "amorphous" metals that Liquidmetal specializes in, the article surmises. But why not in Macs, as well.The metals purportedly offer twice the strength of stainless steel, an elastic limit more than double that of most metallic alloys, yet it can be processed in ways similar to thermoplastic polymers
According to the LiqudMetal Tech web site, its alloys are a" revolutionary class of materials that redefines performance and cost paradigms." The superior properties of Liquidmetal alloys are made possible by revolutionary scientific and technological innovations...
Chronos announces F10 Launch Studio 3 with Application Blaster
Chronos (http://www.chronosnet.com) has released F10 Launch Studio 3, an upgrade to its launch manager for Mac OS X. The upgrade adds the "Application Blaster."
"The new Application Blaster works just like the application switcher built into Mac OS X where you press Command-Tab to switch applications," says Jerry Halls, vice president of Sales at Chronos. "Instead of just switching applications, the Application Blaster lets you select the application you want to launch."
Also in F10 Launch Studio 3:
° The Application Info window shows comprehensive information for the selected application.
° You can now exclude specific paths from automatic application searches.
° There's a new option to specify paths for automatic application searches.
° New auto-detection feature automatically detects if other versions of the software are running.
° There are improved user experiences for entering hot keys and enhanced performance of software so it uses less CPU when in the background .
F10 Launch...
New iPads, Verizon iPhones, new Apple TVs in early 2011?
Apple's next iPad will arrive in 2011 and sport a 9.7-inch screen and Cortex-A9 based CPU, according to DigiTimes Research (http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20100809VL202.html).
The iPad will reportedly have 512MB of RAm and see the light of day in the first quarter of 2011. Apple will also launch a 7-inch iPad using the Cortex-A9 processor and an IPS panel with a resolution of 1024×768, according to Digitimes Research senior analyst Mingchi Kuo.
The research group is also forecasting Verizon iPhones and new Apple TVs. DigiTimes Research says the Verizon CDMA iPhone will arrive early next year and will feature an integrated antenna.
CDMA and GSM are the names of competing cellular phone standards. They're about equal in the U.S. in terms of users, but overseas there's only GSM other than a few places like Japan, India, and Korea. Out of the four national carriers in the U.S., two -- Sprint and Verizon -- use CDMA, the other two--AT&T and T-Mobile -- use GSM.
As for the Apple TV,...
MacBooks are laptop of choice for college students
MacBooks are the laptop of choice for college students, according to new info from Student Monitor (http://www.studentmonitor.com), which provides syndicated and custom market research services focused exclusively on the college student market.
Research from the company shows that 95% of college students interviewed this spring owned at least one computer, with 83% owning a laptop, 24% a desktop, and 15% both. Among laptop owners, 27% MacBooks; among desktop owners 45% owned a Dell or HP, and 14% a Mac. Among those who planned to purchase a new computer, 87% planned to buy a laptop -- and 47% of these planned to buy a Mac.
Student Monitor interviews 1,200 students for 55 minutes each at 100 representative campuses twice a year and sells the results to Fortune 500, as reported by "Fortune" (http://macosg.me/2/o6).
Software developer introduces BusinessMan 2.0 system for the Mac
Business software developer, CompuTech IT Services (http://www.businessmancrm.com), has launched version 2.0 of its BusinessMan Complete Business Management Software, BusinessMan Pro and BusinessMan Enterprise for the Mac platform.
The BusinessMan Complete Business Management System has been developed in-house utilizing the knowledge gained over 16 years of supplying software solutions to business, says Garry Thompson, managing director of Computech. BusinessMan Pro and BusinessMan Enterprise allow companies to manage all aspects of their business from prospect first contact to invoice, he adds.
The BusinessMan software is a comprehensive, modular, CRM system. Both the Pro and Enterprise versions have a prospect and customer management module, quotations and invoicing modules, suppliers and stock modules, a comprehensive integrated email client and also a fully featured and integrated Resource Scheduler. The BusinessMan Enterprise version adds Sales Order Processing, Sales Ledger,...
Objective Development Software releases version 1.5.0 of their...
Objective Development Software (http://www.obdev.com) has released version 1.5.0 of WebYap, its online CMS. The upgrade adds the possibility to provide multiple log-ins. These grant users different rights to edit a web site.
With WebYep's Menu Element users can create hierarchical and dynamical JavaScript-driven menus -- now this functionality is also available via the WebYep RapidWeaver Plugin to create page submenus in the sidebar of WebYep pages.
The PHP-based CMS WebYep offers plug-ins for Dreamweaver, RapidWeaver and Freeway. It can be integrated also into existing web sites either via these plug-ins or via direct source code editing. WebYep is platform independent; it runs on Mac OS X, Windows and Linux.
The upgrade to WebYep 1.5.0 is free for all licensees; a new license costs €29 (approximately US$40) per web site. Objective Development offers a free full featured trial version of WebYep as well as an online demo.
New Mac Pros shipping
Apple has begun taking orders for the new Mac Pro announced last month. It has up to 12 processing cores and purportedly up to 50% greater performance than the previous generation.
The new Mac Pro features the latest quad-core and six-core Intel Xeon processors, all-new ATI graphics and the option for up to four 512GB solid state drives (SSD). At the heart of the new Mac Pro’s performance are next generation quad-core and six-core Intel Xeon processors running at speeds up to 3.33 GHz. These multi-core processors use a single die design so each core can share up to 12MB L3 cache to improve efficiency while increasing processing speed.
These systems feature an integrated memory controller for faster memory bandwidth and reduced memory latency; Turbo Boost to dynamically boost processor speeds up to 3.6GHz; and Hyper-Threading to create up to 24 virtual cores. The Mac Pro now comes with the ATI Radeon HD 5770 graphics processor with 1GB of memory and customers can configure-to-order...
'get' for Final Cut Pro available
AV3 Software (http://www.av3software.com/about_us), a media software developer and electronic download store, and Nexidia, a provider of audio search and speech analytics solutions, has announced the general availability of "get" for Final Cut Pro (FCP).
It's designed to streamline the process of identifying and selecting the right content for any editing project, and improve workflows by saving hours of manual searching, tagging and logging. Priced at US$499, "get" is now available for download. A demo version is available.
Kulabyte demos HD, iPhone streaming from a laptop
Kulabyte Corp. (http://www.kulabytes.com), which specializes in live high-quality HD video streaming, and its distributor Omega Broadcast Group, will be demonstrating live HD video streaming to web and mobile devices on the show floor at the Texas Association of Broadcasters trade show on Aug. 12 in booth #67.
Kulabyte, provides Live HD Internet streaming products and services to major broadcast networks and sports franchises, the United States Army and many corporate, faith-based and non-profit organizations. The demonstration will include simultaneously encoding a live 720p HD stream as well as an iPhone stream from a laptop on the show floor.
iPhone exec leaves Apple
Mark Papermaster, the Apple executive in charge of hardware for the iPhone, has left the company following the "antennagate" brouhaha over the iPhone 4 although that's not officially the reason for his departure, reports the "New York Times" (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/08/technology/08apple.html?_r=1&ref=business).
Apple confirmed Mr. Papermaster’s departure, but would not say whether he was ousted or left of his own accord, the article adds. Reached on his cellphone by the "Times," Papermaster declined to comment. A person with direct knowledge of the situation, who agreed to speak on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss it, said Papermaster had been pushed out over a series of hardware problems, including some related to the iPod touch, the article adds.
Bob Mansfield, senior vice president for Mac hardware engineering, will assume his responsibilities. Papermaster started worked at Apple 2008 as senior vice president of Devices Hardware...
AV3 ‘get’ for Final Cut Pro available
AV3 Software (http://www.av3software.com/about_us), a media software developer and electronic download store, and Nexidia, a provider of audio search and speech analytics solutions, has announced the general availability of "get" for Final Cut Pro (FCP).
It's designed to streamline the process of identifying and selecting the right content for any editing project, and improve workflows by saving hours of manual searching, tagging and logging. Priced at US$499, "get" is now available for download. A demo version is available.
At the opening of the world's largest Apple retail store
By Tim Conroy
The world's biggest Apple retail store opened Saturday in Covent Garden, London. Here are some interesting insights into the store.
At one stage the queue started about level with the St in Bow St opposite the entrance to the Royal Opera House on the attached map screen grab. The snap of the T-shirt is rather puzzling unless you see the facade of the building: see attached arches.
I went for breakfast and when I came back the queue had shortened considerably (but not the separate one for those wanting to buy an iPhone 4. Apple must have shipped a mind-boggling number of the smartphones today.
The Apple Store Covent Garden features rooms dedicated to Macs, iPads, iPhones and iPods for customers to experience hands-on. And I managed to get an iPad camera connection kit, which have been scarce as hell!
AT&T addresses end of iPhone exclusivity in SEC filing
AT&T says in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it doesn't expect to suffer a "material negative impact" from the end of its exclusive arrangements to carry handsets, including its Apple-iPhone deal, reports the "Wall Street Journal" (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405274870330970457541367272787893...).
AT&T has had exclusive US rights to carry the Apple smartphone since 2007. "We do not expect any such terminations to have a material negative impact on our wireless segment income, consolidated operating margin or our cash from operations," AT&T said in the filing with regulators on Friday.
Explaining the lack of impact on its business, AT&T said more than 80% of its contract customers are on family or business plans that are less likely to see turnover, notes the "WSJ." The company also said it now carries a range of smartphones, reducing its dependence on any particular one, and said new devices continue to roll out in the fast-...
Space Dock comes to earth for the iPad
LapWorks has released the US$64.95 iPad Space Dock (http://www.laptopdesk.net/ipad-space-dock.html), a low profile aluminum stand for the Apple tablet. It allows the iPad to position in both portrait and landscape postures.
The Space Dock is cut from a rod of solid aluminum and then brushed for a clean, elegant and stylish finish. The inside channel of the Space Dock is lined with velvet-like material. Its T-shaped support arm features three-position incline settings and it securely screws into the back side of the Space Dock at three pre-drilled positions of incline.
SMEStorage release Mac Cloud Drive beta 4
UK based multi-cloud data access provider SMEStorage (http://www.smestorage.com) has released the fourth beta of a Mac Cloud Drive thath enables up to 10 commercial storage providers to be accessed directly from a virtual drive in Mac OS 10.5 and 10.6.
The drive brings cloud computing directly into the Mac OS with over 10 cloud storage vendors supported, including Amazon S3, Google Docs, Microsoft SkyDrive and RackSpace Cloud Files.
"We have completely re-written huge parts of the drive in this beta to deal with the nuances of Mac Finder," says SME Storage CEO Ian Osborne. "The result is a huge step forward in our goal of having a robust multi-cloud drive for the Mac OSX. The drive now supports the encryption features of our gateway which can overlay any cloud, as well as giving the ability to generate a URL directly from the desktop."
The next beta will continue the hardening of the offering and will incorporate sync-to-desktop above all the clouds we support, he adds. Just remember...
Toon Boom releases Storyboard Pro 2
Toon Boom Animation (http://www.toonboom.com) has released Storyboard 2, an update of the , a new version that the company says infuses more power and flexibility into the idea creation, development and visualization process.
New feature highlights include:
° Content creation tools: an extended set of tools and tool properties; the creation and reuse of brushes with specific settings; creation of custom brushes using a stroke or a series of strokes; setting of separate colors for Brush, Pencil and Paint tools; selection of strokes based on the current color selection; extended rich text support for captions; and the addition of sketch captions on a panel-by-panel basis.
° Input/output capabilities: Final Draft 8 support; customization of the PDF export on a panel-by-panel basis; improved PDF Export with Analyze functionality; extended export to Final Cut Pro through XML; Final Cut Pro conformation (import/export); and the ability to assemble a storyboard project from scanned images...
Chain Reaction comes to the Mac
Jalada has released Chain Reaction, an US$9.99 puzzle game for Mac OS X 10.4 and higher.
Here's how the game is described: "Be prepared to enter the exciting world of Chain Reaction and let yourself be mesmerized by this unique arcade puzzle game. Collect the color bubbles on the field by combining them into chains to enter the next level, and create the longest chain ever to get the highest score. Besides a subtle strategy, various rewards will help you to solve a level in a faster way."
Analyst expects new iPods, MacBook Airs in September
BMO Capital analyst Keith Bachman tells clients in a note that he's expecting new iPods and MacBook Airs next month, reports "Barron's" (http://macosg.me/2/o0). He's anticipating new iPod nanos and iPod touches.
Bachman thinks the former will be smaller than its predecessors and will lack a click wheel. He's expecting a touch with a camera.
When it comes to the MacBook Air, he's expecting two models. Bachman doesn't offer too many details but does foresee a price drop.
PANTONE PLUS Libraries Installer available for download
The PANTONE PLUS Libraries Installer, a utility that allows creatives to access PANTONE PLUS Libraries directly from Adobe Creative Suite design applications, is now available on the Pantone web site.
Users can download the installer free-of-charge at http://www.pantone.com/colors4adobe to integrate all the 566 new PLUS SERIES Colors into Adobe InDesign, Illustrator and Photoshop.
The Installer includes the following PANTONE PLUS Color Libraries:
PANTONE PLUS Solid Coated
PANTONE PLUS Solid Uncoated
PANTONE PLUS COLOR BRIDGE Coated
PANTONE PLUS COLOR BRIDGE Uncoated
PANTONE PLUS PREMIUM METALLICS Coated
PANTONE PLUS PASTELS & NEONS Coated
PANTONE PLUS PASTELS & NEONS Uncoated
PANTONE PLUS CMYK Coated
PANTONE PLUS CMYK Uncoated
The PANTONE PLUS Libraries will be differentiated from existing PANTONE Libraries by a “PANTONE+” designation in the Library name.
China Unicorn can sell iPhone with Wi-Fi
China Unicorn will begin selling iPhones with Wi-Fi on Monday, Aug. 9, in China, reports the "Associated Press" (http://macosg.me/2/nu). The wireless provider began selling the Apple smartphone in October, but early models lacked wireless connections due to Chinese regulations.
China Unicom will sell 8GB iPhones with third-generation service and Wi-Fi throughout China starting Monday. The company also sells 16GB and 32GB iPhones without Wi-Fi.
Beijing barred use of Wi-Fi while the government tried to develop a competing Chinese system, dubbed WAPI but regulations issued this year allow Wi-Fi. Wi-Fi is seen as important to the success of the iPhone in China because many people want to use the devices to surf the web, but don't want to pay higher data rates for using the mobile network. In the past China has required mobile phones with Wi-Fi also to support WAPI, a "homegrown" security protocol.
Apple Japan must offer iPod nano replacement battery
Japan's trade ministry has ordered Apple Japan to state on its web site that users who are concerned about their iPod nano portable music player catching fire can receive a replacement battery, reports "Reuters" (http://macosg.me/2/nt).
The ministry ordered Apple to publish an "easy to understand" statement online explaining how users of the devices -- purportedly responsible for four cases of minor burns in Japan -- can receive replacement batteries and obtain advice, a spokesman for the ministry told "Reuters."
Six incidents involving the 2005 model nano catching fire while being charged have been reported to the Ministry of Economy since 2008. And there were purportedly an additional 21 cases involving incidents where the players overheated and emitted smoke since 2005.
Aimersoft DVD Copy lets you copy and back-up your DVDs
Due to restrictions by Google, this article has been redacted.
Jumsoft releases 10 new themes for Keynote
Jumsoft (http://www.jumsoft.com) has added to its selection of business templates for Keynote, the presentation component of Apple's US$79 iWork bundle. Each theme includes 32 master slides -- a mix of bullet text and photo-oriented layouts.
All photo slides feature media placeholders to crop a placed image into a custom shape. The complimentary Bullets folder includes a set of 15 extra bullet designs, which can be used to further customize any of the themes for a specific case.
Jumsoft's themes require iWork '08. Each theme is US$19.
Info needed on retail management software for the Mac
Our next Migration Kit will look at retail management apps for the Mac. If you use or know of such goodies, drop me a line (dsellers@macsimumnews.com) no later than Wednesday, Aug. 11.
Migration Kits appear on Friday and round-up Mac solutions for specific industries and areas as dentistry, engineering, sales, etc. Also, if you have a particular migration topic you'd like us to cover, drop me a line, as well.
Interarchy for Mac OS X gets 'bug fix' update
Nolobe has updated Total Interarchy, its file transfer product for Mac OS X (10.4.11 and later), to version 10.0.1. It's a maintenance update.
A demo of Interarchy 10.x is available for download. It costs US$49.95 for a single-user license. Version 10.0.1 is a free update for registered users of version 10. Users of earlier versions can upgrade to version 10.x for $29.95.
Mirye Software announces Shade X
Mirye Software (http://www.mirye.net) has announced the the Shade X 2010 Early Access Program for users of Shade 10 or higher. Shade X is an early access program that gives Shade users private access to early releases of the next generation of Shade, the professional 3D modeling, rendering and animation tool set from Mirye Software.
Shade X 2010 is available only to users of Shade 10. Shade X 2010 users will have access to pre-release versions of the next generation of Shade that will be released in English in 2011, as well as a full license of the product. Users of the Shade X Early Access Program will also have access to Shade Unplugged, a special, internal release of Shade, immediately available, which adds several new features that will be incorporated into to the 2011 official release.
What's more, Shade X 2010 users have access to a private forum and mailing list that includes professional artists, Mirye staff and Shade engineers. Current users of Shade 10 Designer or Standard...
AlwaysOnPC releases virtual PC app for idevices
AlwaysOnPC has announced version 1.0 of their Virtual PC app for the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch. It boasts more than 40 pre-installed programs including a mobile office suite and Firefox.
AlwaysOnPC purportedly delivers a combination of productivity tools and capabilities that frees users from their desktops. Using Open Office, users can edit, copy and paste between apps, and save most common file types including Word (.doc and .docx), Excel (.xls, .xlsx), and PowerPoint (.ppt, .pptx) and more.
The lack of Flash has been a controversial issue regarding Apple's idevices and a disappointment for some -- until now, say the folks at AlwaysOnPC. Their product delivers an iPad and iPhone Flash Player with Firefox so users can finally browse the whole web on their device. Although it doesn't yet support audio or full motion video (these improvements are purportedly coming soon) customers still enjoy access to their favorite sites like Facebook games, Google Analytics, and more from their...
