In this week's poll, we're asking if you plan to buy ebooks for the upcoming iPad. The poll is located on the right hand side of the home page beneath the Macsimum Opinion column.
In last week's poll, we if you planned to buy a Wi-Fi or 3G version of the iPad? Forty-nine percent of you said the Wi-Fi version, 35% said the 3G model, and 16% said you didn't plan to buy an iPad at all.
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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/).
AmeriSmart is offering eMail Mania, a new app that allows iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS users to email any combination of movies, photos, recordings and text simultaneously. Two versions of eMail Mania are available.
The free “lite” version allows users to send emails with embedded pictures and text, best suited for the iPhone 3G. For US$1.99, users can purchase the full version, allowing any combination of video, audio, pictures, text descriptions and colorful stationery templates, best suited for iPhone 3GS. Neither version requires a user to have a private email account, although the full version works with Gmail.
RadVision -- a provider of video network infrastructure and developer tools for unified visual communications over IP, 3G, and...
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Toon Boom Animation has released Flip Boom Classic 4, which offers a direct voice recording option. Flip Boom Classic is animation software for kids age six and up. Completed animations with sound can then be directly uploaded to Facebook and YouTube.
You can buy Flip Boom Classic 4 now for US$39.99 US and get the Tutorial and the ready-to-animate Easter Clipart free, a total value of $89.97 US. Current Flip Boom customers can upgrade to Classic 4 for $12.99.
Flip Boom Classic 4 runs on Mac OS X 10.4/10.5/10.6 and Windows XP/Vista/7. For more info go to toonboom.com/flipboom/ .
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Eye-Fi (http://www.eye.fi) has unveiled new wireless memory cards that deliver the next generation Eye-Fi experience of the Eye-Fi Pro X2. The “X2” family of Eye-Fi cards have faster-than-ever wireless photo and video uploads, improved performance, and "virtually endless" storage capacity with Endless Memory mode, according to Eye-Fi CEO Jef Holove.
The new product line-up is available today starting at US$49.99. The Eye-Fi Connect X2 and Explore X2 join the Pro X2 as Eye-Fi’s new family of products, each with Class 6 performance, and 802.11n radio for faster uploads.
Eye-Fi has also more than doubled its hotspot upload locations. Now, users of the Hotspot Access feature can upload photos and videos directly from their camera at more than 21,000 hotspots in the U.S., including 6,500 Starbucks coffeehouses, and Harborlink hotspots such as BP gas stations.
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Class on Demand, a provider of professional educational products for creative markets, has announced that both "Basic Training for Apple Color" and "Advanced Training for Apple Color" are now available for pre-order.
The enhanced workflow of Color 1.5 for the newest Final Cut Studio release includes seamless round tripping, new high-quality format support, 4K and additional Red One support, direct import and grading of DPX files, and a variety of color surfaces. Led by Emmy-winning editor Steve Hullfish and 30-year color training veteran Bob Sliga, the new Class on Demand training courses guide both novice and experienced users through task-focused lessons that encompass all the newest features of the color grading software application.
"Basic Training for Apple Color" includes five hours of instruction. The project-focused training encompasses color grading elements ranging from "Primary Color Correction" to "The Other Color Rooms" and "Interfacing with Final Cut...
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BeLight Software has released Image Tricks 3.0 (http://www.belightsoft.com/products/imagetricks/proversion.php), an update to its free photo-editing and image-generating software. The update adds 35 Quartz Compositions (40 in the US$19.95 Pro version) and 21 new Core Image filters (29 in the Pro version).
Quartz Composer is used to create various Quartz Compositions. Anyone can use this application to create new compositions for use in Image Tricks. Read more about Quartz Composer here: http://developer.apple.com/graphicsimaging/quartzcomposer/
Customers of Image Tricks Pro Version 2 are offered a free upgrade to Image Tricks Pro Version 3. Simply use your original license code to...
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Noise Industries (http://www.noiseindustries.com/fxfactory), a developer of visual effects tools for the postproduction and broadcast markets, has announced that development partner SUGARfx has released an update to its Video Wall plug-in.
The keyframable parameters of the new Video Wall 2.0 enable users to twist, bend, and animate multiple images and videos for wall effects. The updated release boasts fresh video options, auto-animation features, and additional capabilities, including new 3D control options.
Users can also explore the possibilities of Video Wall 2.0 by sifting through added complexity modes, including "Standard" for simple combinations, and "Advanced" and "Expert" levels for creating more intricate presets and effects. FxFactory powered plug-ins are designed by Noise Industries and their development partners to extend the visual effects...
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The Neat Company (http://www.neatco.com/) has announced NeatWorks for Mac 3.0 just in time for tax season. The free upgrade for Mac OS X is currently available to all existing NeatReceipts and NeatDesk customers.
NeatWorks is also available for PC users; both Mac and PC versions include 2009 tax category information. The NeatWorks software saves receipt images and data in its database, keeping a digital copy. Version 3.0 includes new tax updates to help Mac users stay organized for tax time and all year long. For example, you can:
° Assign a tax category to every scanned receipt;
° Generate reports based on tax categories by highlighting total receipt amounts for each category;
° Integrate with Quick Look to see an instant image preview with a single click;
° Create subfolders to organize data;
° Simplify workflow with keyboard shortcuts and blank page removal.
...
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Workman Publishing Company, responsible for the “What to Expect” series, novels like “Water for Elephants” and the Silver Palate cookbooks, also signed a deal with Apple for ebooks on the iPad, reports "The New York Times" (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/23/business/media/23perseus.html).
The iPad will come with an iBookstore app. will feature books from major and independent publishers. The free iBooks app lets you buy books from the iBookstore. Once you’ve bought a book, it’s displayed on your Bookshelf. Just tap it to start reading.
Publishers have "provisionally welcomed Apple’s entry into the market because Apple is allowing them to set consumer prices, within limits. Publishers have had no control over prices at Amazon, which has generally sold new releases and best sellers for $9.99," says "The Times."
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Troi Automatisering has releasedTroi Dialog Plug-in 5.5.1 for FileMaker Pro 11. Troi Dialog Plug-in is a tool for displaying all sorts of dialogs in FileMaker Pro 11. The text of the dialog and of the buttons can be created dynamically by using a calculation.
Troi Dialog Plug-in 5.5.1 is an update for FileMaker Pro 11. It's a maintenance release and fixes a few critical bugs.
A fully functional demo version of Troi Dialog Plug-in 5.5 is available for downloading at Troi's web site (http://www.troi.com/software/dialogplugin.html). It works with FileMaker Pro 9, 10 and 11. The plug-in can also be used with runtimes from FileMaker Pro Advanced 9, 10 or FileMaker Pro Advanced 11. The plug-in is available for Mac OS X and Windows.
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KeynoteThemesPlus (http://www.keynotethemesplus.com/), a developer of add-ons for Apple's Keynote application, has launched 10 new Keynote themes: Chart, In Red, Money, Night, Old Gear, People, Planet, Secret Eye, Tunnel and US Dollars. In addition, a free World Theme was released for all Keynote users.
All Keynote Themes in Action are high def. There are five sizes available for each theme: 800x600, 1024x768, 1280x720, 1680x1050 and 1920x1080. What's more, every visitor of a free themes page at the KeynoteThemesPlus web site can download a Keynote Theme in Action sample for free.
The package of 10 Keynote Themes in Action is priced at US$30.99. They work with iWork '08 (Keynote 4.0) or later.
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iHome has released the iA5, the company's first app-enhanced hardware that works in conjunction with the iHome+Sleep app to turn nightstands into a personal information hub. A full featured alarm clock speaker solution, the iA5 allows owners to dock, charge, sleep and wake to audio stored on their iPhone and iPod.
With its ability to communicate with the iHome+Sleep app, the iA5 gives users the ability to adjust the alarm clock’s time, alarm and EQ settings via the easy-to-use touch screen interface on the Apple device. In fact, the iHome+Sleep turns the iPhone and iPod Touch into afull-screen clock display with weather widgets, iPod control cluster, and customizable background image, as well as introducing users to the Sleep Card. The Sleep Card holds multiple user profiles that include wakeup times, sleep and wake sounds, messages, and personal reminders.
With iHome+Sleep, Facebook Connect & Twitter integration sends friends preset or impromptu messages...
The PandaWare Company has updated Simple Help Editor, its cross-platform help authoring application, to version 4.1.1. Mac and Windows users can use Simple Help Editor to create software help systems that display in Apple Help Viewer, Windows' HTML Help viewer, a Web browser, or in a proprietary help window (for applications created with Real Software's REALbasic).
The new version is a maintenance release with some bug fixes. Simple Help Editor allows creating platform-specific Help systems for display in Apple Help Viewer, Microsoft Windows' HTML Help viewer, and Web browsers. It is available as a Mac OS X Universal Binary application (for Mac OS X 10.3.9 or higher) and a Windows 2000 or higher application. Both can be downloaded from the PandaWare Company's web site (http://www.pandaware.com/download.html#simplehelp).
Unregistered copies work in...
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B.E. Publishing has released EduTyping, a new keyboarding software for schools. It requires no textbooks or paper; it's strictly online technology that provides students with the flexibility of doing assignments at school or home by simply logging in with a user name and password.
"This software is ideal for middle and high school students and gives teachers complete online management of their students, including access to grades in real time," says Michael Gecawich, president, B.E. Publishing, and also a former keyboarding instructor. "In addition, teachers have the ability to control the length of their keyboarding courses."
This keyboarding software that can be accessed from school or at home, offers features for educators and students that include: automatic grading; timed-writing tests; typing games; teen and tween customized lessons; and a sleek keyboarding tutorial. EduTyping works with Mac, Windows, Linux and all major Internet browsers and it follows the...
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Comm-Unity Networking Systems has released an update to CNS Menu, making the plug-in fully compatible with the recently announced FileMaker Pro 11 and fixing a few other bugs along the way. CNS Menu is available immediately at http://cnsmenu.cnsplug-ins.com/ for both Mac OS X and Windows systems.
CNS Menu allows you to place hierarchical menus anywhere on a FileMaker Pro layout. When a menu item is chosen, the script of your choice is performed. Menus can have any number of sub-menus and can be displayed with a variety of styles and bullet marks. Creating menus with CNS Menu can be as easy as handing the plug-in a return-delimited list of menu items to display. Your menu items can display one value and have a separate value that can be used in your scripts, so the end user can see useful information while the value can be an ID number.
This version is a free upgrade for anyone with a...
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Other World Computing (OWC) has released over 50 Do-It-Yourself (DIY) Storage Upgrade Kits for laptops and Mac minis.
Manufacturer's suggested retail pricing starts at US$67.99 for a model that consists of a 2.5-inch SATA hard drive up to 1TB, an OWC brand FireWire and/or USB 2.0 bus powered 2.5-inch portable external enclosure, and a five piece installation tool kit.
With an OWC DIY Storage Upgrade Kit, Mac and PC notebook users and Mac mini users can upgrade their computer's internal hard drive to a new larger capacity and/or faster speed, transfer their data to the new drive, and then continue using the "old" drive by installing it into the provided OWC enclosure for a "new" pocket-sized external drive at savings of up to 40% versus buying all the included components separately. For more info go to http://www.macsales.com/laptopdiy .
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Macintosh software developer, freshcode, has debuted the Bodega Channel Program (http://www.appbodega.com), a new initiative for Mac developers that allows them to sell and market their wares directly to customers through the Bodega 1.0 desktop application.
The Bodega Channel Program provides a direct purchase path between Mac developers and customers within the Bodega application interface. It lets developers reach customers directly on their desktops via the Bodega application, offers the ability to sell directly to customers through the Bodega interface using the developer’s own webstore, and sports the ability to maintain complete ownership of customer relationships.
Member developers also enjoy sales reporting tools, promotional opportunities, the ability to provide marketing materials and videos to customers within the Bodega interface, and no upfront or ongoing costs. Rather, when a...
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DVDxDV has announced Veescope Live 2.0 (http://www.veescope.com) for the Mac. Veescope Live is a special effects software package that runs on a Mac and performs live chroma keying from a wide variety of video sources.
With the release of version 2.0, it provides integration between the worlds of production and post production. Veescope Live in combination with the Veescope Key Plug-In lets the user send a chroma keyed video straight to Final Cut Pro. All the project settings in Veescope Live along with the logging information can be transferred to Final Cut Pro..
Veescope Live consists of three layers of video which can be stacked on top of each other to create a final shot. These three layers can be resized and positioned independently. A live video feed is placed in the middle layer which can be chroma keyed to make it transparent.
This layer is recorded by Veescope Live as a QuickTime...
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Playrix Entertainment (http://www.playrix.com), a casual games developer and publisher, has released Gardenscapes, its hidden-object title, for the Mac. This Universal Binary game runs on Mac OS X 10.4 and late.
Here's how the game is described: "A smooth blend of hidden object, time management and sim, Gardenscapes™ gives Players a chance to restore a once stunning garden to its former glory while combing rooms for hidden objects and earning money to purchase various outdoor decor items. One of the game’s key features is its lively and fully interactive environment. A Player can click on virtually everything both in the garden and on the hidden object levels, and it will immediately come to life.
"Gardenscapes is a mix of three different game genres: hidden object, time management and sim. Players earn cash as they progress through hidden object levels and spend it to buy garden...
Opera Mini by Opera Software (http://www.opera.com) for the iPhone was officially submitted to the Apple App Store today. Its developers claim it can power through web pages up to six times faster than Safari.
Due to server-side rendering, Opera Mini compresses data by up to 90% before sending it to the phone, resulting in rapid page loading and more Web per MB for the end use, says Jon von Tetzchner, co-founder, Opera Software. Creating a version for iPhone is part of Opera’s mission to bring the web to all platforms and all devices, he adds.
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According to an analysis of 35 million Flickr images undertaken by Cornell students on a university supercomputer, the Fifth Avenue Apple Store is the fifth most photographed landmark in New York City -- and the 28th most photographed landmark in the world, reports "Fortune" (http://brainstormtech.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2010/03/23/nycs-new-landmark-the-apple-store/?section=money_topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fmoney_topstories+%28Top+Stories%29").
The downside? Were the cube to be granted official New York City landmark status, he'd never be able to tear it down, the article notes.
The store sports a 32-foot glass cube and is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Located at 767 Fifth Avenue between 58th and 59th Streets, it offers more than 100 Macs and nearly 200 iPods. It has the largest staff of any Apple Store -- nearly 300 highly trained Mac Specialists, Mac Geniuses and Creatives who offer free tips and...
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More than 30,000 games have been released in the iPhone App Store since its launch in July 2008, according to the Flurry (http://www.flurry.com). With titles that consistently dominate the Top Paid and Top Grossing lists, there's no question that the games category is the most lucrative category in the Apple Apple Store, says the research group.
A new Flurry report looks at how Apple has affected the market share of U.S. video game and portable game revenue since the introduction of games sold through the Apple App Store for the iPhone and iPod touch. Using publicly available market data, provided by NPD (mostly through Gamasutra's Behind the Numbers series), Flurry calculated U.S. console and portable game software sales for 2008 and 2009.
The research group also estimated Nintendo DS and Sony PlayStation Portable game software sales, which make up the significant majority of the portable category, in...
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AdMob (http://www.admob.com) -- which stores and analyzes handset and operator data from every ad request in its network of more than 15,000 mobile Web sites and applications to optimize ad serving -- recently ran a survey of publishers to gauge their development activity on multiple platforms. The survey received 108 responses and included some interesting findings:
° 31% of developers are currently developing for more than one mobile platform and almost half (47%) said they plan on developing on more than one platform in the next six months.
° More than 70% of iPhone developers plan to develop for Android over the next six months and close to half of Android developers (48%) plan to develop for iPhone.
° Many developers are new to mobile with 49% saying they have been developing for mobile less than a year.
° 58% of respondents develop for the mobile web.
AdMob asked which...
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"Gizmodo" (http://gizmodo.com/5499439/buy-iphones-without-contract-now-official-app...) is reporting that, according to Apple's internal documentation, the iPhone is now available without AT&T contract or ID at any Apple Store. The "Gizmodo" contact claims that the iPhone is locked, however, so it will only work with AT&T SIMs.
Customers aren't required to have an AT&T contract. And they can only purchase one iPhone per day.
However, the iPhones are still locked, so you'll have to unlock 'em yourself. Still, Apple used to require an AT&T contract for the devices, even for the ones being purchased without a contract subsidy.
The "contract-less" price is US$499 for the iPhone 3G 8GB, $599 for the iPhone 3GS 16GB, and $699 for the 32GB top model....
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Adobe has released an update to its Photoshop Lightroom 3 beta software, available immediately through Adobe Labs (http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/lightroom3/). It incorporates feedback from the first iteration of the beta while offering users several new features and improved performance throughout the application.
New features in this release include tethered shooting support for select Nikon and Canon cameras, the ability to import and manage video files from DSLR cameras for a streamlined workflow and additional behind-the-scenes architecture enhancements for faster importing and loading of images. The addition of luminance noise reduction to the color noise reduction options already available in the beta helps photographers achieve overall exceptional image quality from high ISO images, according to the folks at Adobe.
The import experience and...
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