Mesa Dynamics has released a technology preview of Stainless, which the company says is the first multi-process web browser for OS X, inspired by Google Chrome. Each tab in Stainless runs in a separate process. Like Chrome, Stainless also has tabs that can be dragged between windows, a unified address and search bar, and a private browsing mode. Stainless is freeware and requires Mac OS X 10.5 ("Leopard"). Version 0.1 is available immediately for download at http://www.stainlessapp.com/

Griffin Technolog has announced the Simplifi (http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/simplifi), an US$69.99 desktop solution that allows users to reclaim their desktops by consolidating an iPod and iPhone dock, media card reader and USB hub into a single device. "At Griffin, we know that users are syncing and charging more than just iPod and iPhone on their desktops," says Paul Griffin, founder of Griffin Technology. "With all the cables and connectors used today, the desktop can easily be overrun with clutter. Simplifi gives the iPod and iPhone enthusiast a stylish and easy way to consolidate all of their peripherals with a single, convenient device." Simplifi charges iPhone and all dock-rechargeable iPod models that charge via USB. Additionally, Simplifi boasts a USB mini cable for syncing the iPod or iPhone with a computer. Its USB ports can handle keyboards, printers, cameras, flash drives, scanners, external hard drives or anything USB 2.0-compatible. Simplifi also includes...

Chronos LC has released F10 Launch Studio 2.0, a new Mac OS X tool for launching applications. According to Robert McCullough, vice president of development at Chronos, it has a zero setup automatically finds all applications. Launch Studio 2.0 sports a Smart Search that "intelligently and adaptively" finds applications. A document sidebar shows related application documents. Multiple docks can be customized with favorite applications. Launch Studio 2.0 has editable shortcuts for custom application launching, an animated interface and a redesigned interface. It sports an unobtrusive Launch Pad that only appears when needed, hot corners and hot key options for quick launching, and an exclusion list so users can ignore unwanted applications. F10 Launch Studio 2.0 is immediately available for an introductory price of US$19.99 (regularly $29.99) through Oct. 8. Registered F10 Launch Studio 1.x users can upgrade to version 2.0 for only $14.99. Detailed product information, screen shots and...

XChange International (http://www.xchangeuk.com) has released ProScale and Xcatalog XTensions for QuarkXPress 8. Xcatalog is a free update for Xcatalog 6/7 users. Users can upgrade to ProScale for QuarkXPress 8 for US$94 and will receive versions compatible with QuarkXPress 7 and QuarkXPress 8. ProScale offers users the ability to resize items, groups or entire documents with a single click. Users can intelligently scale page elements disproportionately without distorting text and graphics and the XTension includes advanced text and column fitting tools along with a "fit-to" function. A visual drag scaling tool works with the Quark measurements palette, as well. Users have control over every aspect of what gets scaled including guides, gutters, shadows, etc. ProScale also scales native elements such as tables, web items and anchored groups. Xcatalog provides an "open system," database-neutral linking scheme between databases and QuarkXPress documents, automating the publication of...

Open Door Networks and Project A say they've enhanced their line of "Envi" iPhone and iPod touch applications by shipping three new apps, plus a major upgrade to the iEnvision web-image browser, on which the line is based. The new Art Envi Deluxe (US$2.99) is an "endless art museum in your pocket." It begins where Art Envi leaves off, with new features and access to additional artists and works. The app features "shows" by almost 100 new artists, with artists now organized both alphabetically and by period. Users can save any show image for future use; there are more works for many artists, and works include captions where available. The app has also been sped up in a number of areas. Of particular note to Japanese users is a new group of Asian artists. London Envi and Paris Envi, $1.99 each, utilize content from the "Michael Brein's Travel Guides to Sightseeing by Public Transportation" series to establish the start of a set of travel companion apps. The apps combine everything...

Digital Anarchy, which makes creative software for the Photoshop market, has announced full compatibility with Adobe Photoshop CS4. All four of the company's current Photoshop products have been fully tested and updated to support Photoshop CS4. These products are Knoll Light Factory 3.0, Primatte Chromakey 3.0, Backdrop Designer and Texture Anarchy. In addition, all new and future products will support Photoshop CS4 upon their release, says Jim Tierney, president of Digital Anarchy. Knoll Light Factory 3.0 enhances the natural lighting in photos, adds in missing lighting effects, and creates special lens flare effects. Primatte Chromakey 3.0 masks out blue and greenscreen images while retaining detail in difficult semi-transparent areas. Backdrop Designer creates backdrops for portraiture, product shots and graphic design. Texture Anarchy generates seamless, tiling, procedural-based textures and borders for 3D and 2D images. ToonIt! Photo transforms still images and photographs into...

Workamajig (http://www.Workamajig.com), the software program for ad agencies and others in the creative and design industries, has announced new features of its project management software, with a new drag and drop Flash Calendar and support for Apple's upcoming Mac OS X 10.6 ("Snow Leopard"). Adding to the Drap and Drop Flash Gannt Chart, Workamajig's new Flash interface, due out at the end of 2008, will allow users of the Workamajig software to manage their calendar directly through the graphical Calendar view, and will feature a revamped and renewed Calendar, offering drag and drop capabilities. The release will be building on the foundation upgrade that Workamajig made to its ad agency management software earlier this year, addressing interface improvements. The Flash Calendar introduces two types of meetings into Workamajig: Personal and Public. Personal meetings are visible only to the attendees of the meeting; Public meetings are accessible to anyone with rights to view that...

Lynda.com, a provider of software training videos, has launched CS4U (http://www.lynda.com/cs4u/?cid=cs408_pr924et), which offers over 100 hours of instructional videos on Creative Suite 4 training, comprised of 34 different product training tutorials, with dozens of additional courses planned for the coming months. Lynda Weinman, co-founder of lynda.com, says that CS4U is organized into three series: ° The "New Features" series focuses on what has changed since Creative Suite 3 was released. ° The "Getting Started" series is designed to get Creative Suite 4 users up and running quickly. ° The "Essential Training" series supplies the ground-up fundamentals needed to master each application in Creative Suite 4.

Prosoft Engineering has updated Drive Genius (http://prosofteng.com/newdesign/products/drive_genius.php) to version 2.1, which adds a DriveSlim feature. This feature allows you to scan your hard drives for files that you may want to delete, "which will free up valuable hard drive space," says Greg Brewer, CEO of Prosoft Engineering. Drive Genius 2 is a disk utility with features that allow you to maintain your hard drives. It offers disk defrag, directory repair, repartition on-the-fly and more. Drive Genius 2 costs US$99 for a personal use license. Updates to version 2.1 are free for registered users of version 2.0.

Wonder Warp Software has released an update to its ShoveBox productivity software (http://www.wonderwarp.com/shovebox/). ShoveBox offers Mac users a way to capture and process scraps of information. Running in the menubar, it's designed to be unobtrusive and omnipresent. It allows the user to configure rules for automatically organizing incoming information. Initially released about a year ago, it has won praises for its intuitive user interface. Version 1.5 adds several new features and enhancements, among them the ability to annotate any entry, be it text, image, web archive, or PDF. It also adds the ability for users to assign global hotkeys to frequently-used information for quick access. The new version sports a redesigned graphical user interface and enhanced searching and web archiving capabilities. The upgrade is free for existing customers. A new single-user license costs $24.95 USD. It requires Mac OS X 10.4 or greater and can be downloaded at wonderwarp.com/shovebox/....

Stone of Destiny (http://www.sod-iphone.com) is a new hidden object game for the iPhone and iPod touch. In the detective themed game, your uncle mysteriously disappears, and you are to solve this riddle with the help of a map, a book and a list of objects. Here's how the game is described: "You travel to the most remote corners of the world to find artifacts that will give you a clue, and write down magical runes. There are 27 levels of adventures, during which you wander the depths of forest, sneak into the tomb, explore the bottom of the sea and ancient pyramids, and many, many more. Puzzling minigames involve drawing runes and moving sarcophagus's. Step by step you become closer to the moment when you reveal the truth about your uncle and solve the riddle of the stone of destiny. Sometimes it gets really hard to move any farther, then you may use the hint. The number of hints is not limited, but some time should pass before the next one is available." Stone of Destiny costs US$9.99...

iPresentee, the developer of add-ons for Apple's iWork and iLife applications, offers free Keynote Alphabet to be used with Apple's Keynote presentation software. Keynote Alphabet includes 62 gold shining animations: 26 capital letters, 26 small letters and figures from 0 to 9. Keynote Alphabet can be used as a decoration or to emphasize main points in Keynote presentation. To add the magic motion to your presentations just download the package, drag and drop letters to the slide, arrange the letters in the right order to complete word or phrase, set repeat options in Keynote's QuickTime Inspector and enjoy your presentation. It's easy, it's fast, it's endless action and of course it's free. The background of all animations is transparent and can be used on any colored background. Each object can be changed in size, rotated, increased or decreased in opacity or overlapped with one another to create extra effects. Keynote Alphabet is being offered free of charge and requires any...

illumineX has released iBlogger (http://illumineX.com/iphone/iblogger/), which brings real mobile blogging to the iPhone and iPod touch. It works with nearly any blog, including WordPress, TypePad, MovableType and others. iBlogger is compatible with: Blojsom, Drupal, ExpressionEngine, MovableType, TypePad and WordPress. Bloggers can take a picture, add their thoughts, and add tags, categories, and a Google Maps link to their current mobile blogging location. iBlogger is based on ecto, the blogging application for the Mac, which illumineX acquired this spring. iBlogger is available from the Apple App Store for US$9.99.

Eye-Fi (http://www.eye.fi), makers of the a wireless memory card for digital cameras, has announced enhancements to its family of Eye-Fi cards that will purportedly make the upload of digital photos from camera to computer twice as fast. The faster wireless speeds will also be made available to existing Eye-Fi users at no extra cost. In addition, users will be able to upgrade their Eye-Fi cards to add the individual services they want, including web sharing, geotagging and hotspot access, says Jef Holove, CEO of Eye-Fi. Beginning Oct. 5, new and existing Eye-Fi card owners can add features that aren't already included on their cards and renew annual services. By using the updated Eye-Fi Manager Web application, users can add the following services to their cards: ° Web sharing -- Users who have an Eye-Fi Home card can add Eye-Fi's web sharing service to send photos directly from their camera to one of more than 20 online photo sharing, printing, social networking or blogging sites...

Adobe has announced Adobe Device CentralCS4 software, the next generation testing and preview environment for mobile content. An integrated component across the Adobe Creative Suite 4 product line. It's designed to simplify the workflow for creative professionals and developers producing rich content and Flash Player compatible videos for mobile phones and consumer electronics devices. With more than 450 dynamically updated device profiles, Device Central CS4 enables users to easily test content designed in Adobe Photoshop CS4, Adobe Flash CS4 Professional, Adobe Illustrator CS4, Adobe After Effects CS4, Adobe Premiere Pro CS4, and Adobe Dreamweaver CS4 software. "With the next generation of tools in Creative Suite 4 and Device Central CS4, Adobe empowers creative professionals to bring great new content to a broad set of mobile platforms," says Gary Kovacs, vice president and general manager of Mobile and Devices at Adobe. "Device Central CS4 dramatically simplifies the testing...

In addition to the Creatives Suite updates, Adobe has announced Adobe Photoshop CS4 and Photoshop CS4 Extended(/b). The upgrade sports advanced motion graphics functions, expanded 3D visualization capabilities and precise image analysis. Photoshop CS4 and Photoshop CS4 Extended will be available as stand-alone applications or key components of the Adobe Creative Suite 4 family. "Photoshop is about delivering cutting-edge innovation that really pushes the boundaries of digital image editing," says Kevin Connor, vice president of product management for professional digital imaging at Adobe. "This version is no exception with some stunning new imaging technology that complements our work to bring more control, simplicity and speed to everyday tasks. By streamlining the most popular workflows for the professional, technical or home user, Photoshop CS4 brings new levels of accessibility to the gold standard in digital imaging software." Content-Aware Scaling adds a technology that enables...

On Oct. 20-23 at SPORTELMonaco, CloseVU (http://www.closevu.com), a company founded to produce interactive and mobilized sports video content, will showcase CloseVU "Instant Replay widgets," which lets sports fans log their post-game comments and participate in chats, quizzes and video replays. CloseVU Instant Replay Widget offers a new way to access highlights. As the game is happening live, fans can click on a graphical timeline that displays the main events (goals, yellow cards, penalties, etc) as they occur. There are quizzes, polls, chats in sidebar frames. Highlight clips are generated with one click by a producer using the CloseVU Live production tool Clips are itranscoded and sent to multiple platforms (iPhone, web, mobile) for viewer access. Replays and interaction continue even after the game. CloseVU Instant Replay Widget is based on Adobe Flash and can be integrated onto your web site with a custom skin.

Lighthead Software today released version 1.2 of Papaya, the application which lets you transfer files between computers using the HTTP protocol, through a simple drag-and-drop interface. In Papaya 1.2, files can be transferred both ways using the much requested upload feature, which allows others upload a file to a Papaya Server using a regular web browser. Other new features include color labels, similar to those found in the Finder; simplified access to recently added items through the dock menu; a revamped user interface with an inspector sidebar, which provides better overview of the properties of an item. "Uploading has been the most requested feature, and now it's here. With the new inspector, we've laid a foundation for future features. Papaya 1.2 is really exciting." says Tomas Franzen, lead developer. Papaya costs ¤20. Version 1.2 is free for existing customers. Mac OS X 10.5 is required. An evaluation version of Papaya is available for download at http://lightheadsw.com/...

Powertraveller (http://www.powertraveller.com/) has released two new "beasts": the powergorilla, a portable charger for laptops and its "mate," the solargorilla, a solar panel capable of powering a laptop. They're available separately (for , respectively), but designed to be using together if needed. S fully charged powergorilla will give laptop users between 2-6 hours of extra power and over 20 hours on various other devices including mobiles, iPods and hand-held game consoles, according to Jerry Ranger, CEO and Head of R&D at Powertraveller. The powergorilla is capable of powering and charging laptops ranging from 16V, 19V or 24V -- just select which voltage is required and the LCD screen will indicate which setting has been chosen. Included with the powergorilla are 15 interchangeable tips for the most popular laptop brands, as well as tips for the leading makes of mobile phones and other hand-held digital gadgets. The powergorilla offers the option to "daisy-chain" -- while...

Aleratec (http://www.aleterac.com) has launched its new Aleratec RoboJet AutoPrinter 100, a robotic BD/DVD/CD disc printer that prints custom inkjet labels directly on each disc in color. It 's fully automatic and can print up to 100 BDs/DVDs/CDs virtually unattended. The RoboJet AutoPrinter 100 uses standard HP ink cartridges and features HPs PhotoREt color-layering technology. It sports a transparent protective door that allows viewing of it in operation. The Aleratec RoboJet AutoPrinter users USB 2.0 connectivity. A key feature of the Aleratec RoboJet AutoPrinter 100 is the disc handling robotics are a part of the printer. There are no external moving robotic arms or disc handling apparatus. Blank discs are loaded in the top the printer and finished discs eject automatically from the printer tray. The RoboJet has a footprint no larger than a manual inkjet disc printer and it has a 100 disc capacity. The Aleratec RoboJet AutoPrinter 100 inkjet disc printing system has an estimated...

Helium Foot Software (http://www.heliumfoot.com/) announces the immediate release of MercuryMover v2.0 for Mac OS X 10.5. With MercuryMover, anyone can move and resize the windows on a Mac from the keyboard, precisely positioning the windows anywhere on the screen. In addition to the moving and resizing available since its first release, version 2.0 introduces one-key shortcuts, window information, and an updated interface. Shortcuts, the flagship feature of this version, provides a mechanism to assign a single key to a favorite window size and/or position. While using MercuryMover, typing that key will instantly change the window to the specified size and location. Shortcuts can be created by cloning the size and position of an existing window or by typing the width, height and left/top coordinates into the shortcut editor in MercuryMover's preference pane. MercuryMover now includes a heads-up display which shows the current window's width, height and distance from the top left...

Black Cat Systems (http://www.blackcatsystems.com) announces that RF Toolbox version 3.6.0 has been released The latest version adds an RF Link Budget Calculator, for determining the necessary transmitter power, antenna gains, and other parameters for various radio links, including WiFi. RF Toolbox is an antenna design package for amateur (ham) radio operators, and other radio enthusiasts, as well as those in the communications professions. It's available for Mac OS X and Windows. RF Toolbox costs US$19.99; a demo is available for download.

Wolfire Games, which created Lugaru, has officially announced a new game: Overgrowth. It will be available for Mac, PC and Linux systems. The game will pick up where Lugaru left off: in a world of anthropomorphic rabbits and wolves who use paws, claws and medieval weaponry to engage each other in battle. With a brand new engine, featuring next generation animation, physics, and amazing rendering technology, Wolfire Games promises to stay true to its tradition of combining high-end graphics with innovative fighting mechanics. Wolfire has launched a new web site (http://www.wolfire.com/overgrowth) that contains some preliminary concept art from the new game. It will be updated in the coming weeks with new information, screenshots, movies, and more. Pricing and a release date haven't been announced yet.

Many people will be purchasing a new Macintosh as the holiday season approaches, and although the decision to buy a Mac may be easy, finding informed answers to questions like "What Mac will best meet my needs?", "Should I buy now or wait a month?", "How do I move my files from my old Mac to my new one?", and "What should I do with my old Mac?" can be tough. Mac guru Adam Engst has answered these questions countless times, and he has distilled the answers into the 98-page "Take Control of Buying a Mac." Worksheets in the book help readers match their needs and budget to the right Mac model, and a chart of Apple's model launches over the last 5 years helps predict when new Macs will appear. Engst explains when readers can purchase to get the most bang for their buck, compares different venues for where to shop, gives advice and step-by-step instructions for transferring files from an old Mac to the shiny new one, and offers thoughts about how to get the most out of the Mac that's being...