MacSoft makes Halo demo available
July 25 - 18:01 EDT   MacSoft has released a downloadable demo of Halo, its epic adventure game, reports MacCentral. "The demo version gives players a taste of both single and multiplayer gameplay, with some limited vehicle combat," notes the report. "The single player campaign level included is called 'The Silent Cartographer,' while the multiplayer map is called 'Blood Gulch and supports up to 16 human opponents. The demo version is Mac to Mac only and you can’t save your progress." The Halo demo requires Mac OS X 10.2.8 or later and weighs in at 122MB.  [ Email this story ]

GarageBand 2.0.2 update released
July 25 - 17:51 EDT   Apple has released GarageBand 2.0.2, an update to the company's popular music creation software via its Software Update utility and on the Web. Apple says the update "addresses issues with time signature handling, Apple Loops authoring, locking tracks, and improves compatibility with Mac OS X Tiger." [Thanks to MacMinute reader Frank Piccolo for this news tip.]  [ Email this story ]

'Mastering Clips and Media for Final Cut Pro' ships
July 25 - 17:51 EDT   Intelligent Assistance today announced that it has started shipping Mastering Clips and Media in Final Cut Pro, a coaching and tutorial tool intended to reduce the number of hours users spend managing media in Apple's Final Cut Pro. "Managing Clips and Media bridges the gap from the theory of the Final Cut Pro manual into the practicalities of real world media management. Users gain high levels of mastery over every clip and media task in Final Cut Pro: from logging and capturing to wrangling the Media Manager, reconnecting clips through to creating digital archives on tape." Mastering Clips and Media in Final Cut Pro sells for US$59.95.  [ Email this story ]

Apple offers 'Recording Deal' promotion
July 25 - 16:21 EDT   Apple has launched a new "Recording Deal" promotion on its Web site whereby users who purchase Logic Pro 7 with a PowerBook, Power Mac, or Xserve between July 25, 2005, and October 25, 2005 will receive a US$500 rebate. "...get the jam-packed music toolkit the pros use to compose, arrange, produce, and record. Because every musician deserves a big break," notes Apple's site. Terms and conditions apply. [Thanks to MacMinute reader Trevor Robertson for this news tip.]  [ Email this story ]

iSpeak It 2.1 released
July 25 - 16:13 EDT   ZappTek has released iSpeak It 2.1, an update to its software that allows users to take any document or Web page and convert it into an MP3 or AAC track in iTunes using a Mac's built-in text-to-speech capabilities. This release adds the downloading of directions, many improvements to Web feed and RSS processing, and fixes a number of reported issues. iSpeak It sells for US$14.95.  [ Email this story ]

Faber Acoustical releases SignalSuite 2
July 25 - 16:08 EDT   Faber Acoustical Services and Technologies today announced the release of SignalSuite 2, the latest version of the company's dual-channel real-time signal analyzer. This major upgrade adds a completely rewritten user interface, AppleScript support, new test signals such as MLS, support for saving test signals directly to a sound file, and numerous other improvements. SignalSuite 2 requires Mac OS X 10.3 or later and is priced at US$39 ($15 upgrade).  [ Email this story ]

Telestream expands Flip4Mac MXF Ingest for Final Cut Pro
July 25 - 14:32 EDT   Telestream today announced Flip4Mac MXF support for Apple's Final Cut Pro HD video editing application. "The Flip4Mac MXF Import Component currently ingests media files from Sony XDCAM production systems into Final Cut Pro 5 for native IMX editing. With Flip4Mac MXF 1.0.2, Final Cut Pro HD users editing DV content will now benefit from the same file-based workflow," the company notes. Flip4Mac is priced at US$495.00.  [ Email this story ]

Bare Bones introduces new Academic Program Pricing
July 25 - 14:03 EDT   Bare Bones Software today announced new Academic Program Pricing for their award-winning BBEdit HTML and text editor and Mailsmith industrial-strength email client products. The Bare Bones Software Academic Program applies to students, faculty and staff of any accredited educational institution. BBEdit 8 is available to students and academic professionals for US$49 (suggested retail price is $199). Mailsmith 2 is available to students and academic professionals for $49 (suggested retail price is $99). In addition, the purchase price includes a free single-user license for SpamSieve (a $25 value).  [ Email this story ]

MakeMusic releases major upgrade to Finale music software
July 25 - 12:28 EDT   MakeMusic today announced the release of Finale 2006, a major update to the company's music notation software. This version features: "dramatically" improved music playback, new tools for teaching and learning music composition, and new professional controls. "Finale 2006 represents a revolution in the way students will learn composition and arranging," stated John Paulson, MakeMusic President. "Its intuitive new controls, notation-based interface, and Garritan sounds provide an ideal platform for the creation, evaluation, and perfection of songs, arrangements, and compositions."  [ Email this story ]

July 23rd Inside Mac Radio show posted
July 25 - 12:09 EDT   The July 23rd broadcast of the Inside Mac Radio Show is now available as an MP3 download. The show featured kevin Ames from Ames Photographic Illustration; Dr. John Choi with Team Banzai the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge Mac powered entry; Peter Kirn from Create Digital Music; Robin Rowe with MovieEditor Conference; Philip Hodgetts with his DV Expo East Report; a weekly news round up with Ken Ray; and Sam Levin with his Cool Mac Picks and his coverage of the Always On Summit Innovations in Technology show. Inside Mac can be heard live on Saturdays from 1:00 - 3:00 p.m. PT. You can listen to the broadcast on AM 1220 KNTS in the San Francisco Bay area or on the Web. An MP3 download for the show is made available each Monday, in the event you miss the live version.  [ Email this story ]

FunPause announces new Atlantis game
July 25 - 12:06 EDT   FunPause Games today announced the release of Atlantis, an arcade/puzzle game in which players must match colored balls along 81 different paths -- helped by many different bonuses -- in order to progress through the game and open a gateway to a secret chamber, the Heart of Atlantis. In addition, the company says that Atlantis introduces a strategic side to the puzzle genre by letting the players collect credits and buy bonuses that can be activated at will. Atlantis is priced at US$19.95.  [ Email this story ]

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Unsanity releases ShapeShifter 2.1.2
July 25 - 11:35 EDT   Unsanity today announced the release of ShapeShifter 2.1.2, the latest update to its Mac OS X customization software. This update fixes several bugs, including: NSStatusItem-style status bar menu items are now clickable everywhere, not just where they're opaque, fixed display glitches in status bar menu items, installing Snapz Pro to run automatically at login no longer results in unthemed menu extras, and resolved an issue that could cause window dragging of Cocoa windows to lag. ShapeShifter is priced at US$20 and requires Mac OS X 10.3 or later.  [ Email this story ]

OpenMFG ERP Suite certified for 'Tiger'
July 25 - 10:39 EDT   OpenMFG, a provider of open standards-based enterprise solutions for small manufacturers and distributors, today announced that its OpenMFG Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Suite has been certified for Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger. "We've seen an enormous amount of interest from customers and partners in running OpenMFG on Tiger," said Ned Lilly, OpenMFG's president and CEO. "It's clearly the best Mac operating system yet, and a powerful and stable environment for mission-critical applications like OpenMFG."  [ Email this story ]

Rogue Amoeba releases Nicecast 1.8
July 25 - 10:22 EDT   Rogue Amoeba Software today released Nicecast 1.8, an update to its software that allows users to easily broadcast audio on Mac OS X. Version 1.8 offers Stream Password-protection, listener kicking, UPnP and NAT-PMP support, Application Mixer Effects plugin, updated Effects Window, and more. Nicecast requires Mac OS X 10.3 or later and is priced at US$40.  [ Email this story ]

Internet Client Pro 3.0, Web Publisher Pro 3.0 released
July 25 - 09:59 EDT   Canto today announced the releases of Internet Client Pro 3.0 (ICP3) and Web Publisher Pro 3.0 (WPP3), "extending the capabilities of the new Cumulus 6.6 Server Solutions for Web-based media management and collaboration." Both new products also include many new functions for efficient system administration, and require a Cumulus 6.6 installation. ICP3 is a standard component of the Cumulus Business Server Solutions and WPP3 is included in the Publishing Server Solutions.  [ Email this story ]

Canto releases Cumulus 6.6 Product Suite
July 25 - 09:33 EDT   Canto today announced the release of Cumulus 6.6, the latest release of its digital asset management solution for enterprises, workgroups and single users incorporating a number of security enhancements essential for protecting and safeguarding brands and assets. In addition, the existing workgroup-level Cumulus Server Solutions have been enhanced and new enterprise-level Cumulus Server Solutions are being introduced. Cumulus 6.6 is available in three separate versions for enterprises and workgroups. The Cumulus Enterprise products consist of: the Publishing Server Solution (starting at US$5,995), the Business Server Solution (starting at $9,995), and the Archive Server Solution (starting at $3,495). The Cumulus Enterprise products consist of: the Enterprise Publishing Server Solution (starting at $29,995), the Enterprise Business Server Solution (starting at $34,995), and the Enterprise Archive Server Solution (starting at $27,995).  [ Email this story ]

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BeLight Software releases Swift Publisher
July 25 - 09:22 EDT   BeLight Software today announced the release of Swift Publisher, a page layout time-saver for designing and printing high impact documents, including flyers, newsletters, brochures, and more. It has about 60 ready-made professional templates, 23,000 images, 100 unique masks and additional tools for customizing and editing documents. Swift Publisher is priced at US$39.95 and requires Mac OS X 10.3 or later.  [ Email this story ]

WiebeTech announces G505 Video Contest
July 25 - 09:16 EDT   WiebeTech today announced the G505 Video Contest to recognize video editing work done on the Macintosh G5. Participants may enter a video clip (up to 5 minutes long) of their video project edited on a G5, and a panel of judges selected by WiebeTech will decide the winner based on creativity and editing. The entry deadline is November 15, 2005. The winner will receive a G5JamPak, worth over US$2,000. This bundles the G5Jam+ and TrayDock eSATA. The winner will be announced at Macworld Expo in San Francisco in January.  [ Email this story ]

Studiometry 3 adds project planning and more
July 25 - 09:12 EDT   Oranged.net Software today announced the release of Studiometry 3, a major update to the company's organizational tool for studios and freelancers. New features in version 3 include a new GANTT like planning feature which allows users to easily create tasks, set dependencies, and specify milestones. In addition, this release offers a Weekly Calendar view with event planning, Project Templates, Project Summaries, enhanced Export options, editable To Do and Project Spec suites, major speed improvements, many new settings, and over 100 changes, updates and enhancements. Studiometry 3 is priced at US$99.95 ($29.95 upgrade). A free 15-day trial version is also available.  [ Email this story ]

New Family ThemePAK collection for iDVD 5 released
July 25 - 07:01 EDT   DVDthemePAK.com today released a new Family ThemePAK collection of ten menu themes for Apple's iDVD 5.0 software. This new ThemePAK includes Mitzva, Awards, Home Improvement, Paradise, and Playroom Themes. Each theme includes completely custom button designs and composite graphic backgrounds. This new ThemePAK contains 8 animated themes and 2 still background themes. iDVD ThemePAK 10 Family is priced at US$39.  [ Email this story ]

AssistiveWare announces Proloquo, a new speech solution for Mac OS X
July 25 - 06:28 EDT   AssistiveWare today announced the release of Proloquo 1.0 for Mac OS X. Proloquo is a multi-purpose and multilingual speech solution for Mac OS X that provides: a full-fledged communication system (AAC) for people who cannot speak; improves accessibility of Mac OS X for people with visual impairments; provides speech feedback in any application while typing for children and people with learning disabilities; can serve as a talking word processor; provides text to speech for people who prefer listening to reading; can be used as a tool to learn the pronunciation of foreign languages; provides an advanced, multilingual speech engine for our KeyStrokes on-screen keyboard and our SwitchXS switch access solution. Proloquo is priced at US$299.  [ Email this story ]

New antennas for aluminum PowerBooks announced
July 25 - 06:22 EDT   QuickerTek today announced two new 7dbi wireless antennas for 15" and 17" aluminum PowerBooks. These new antennas offer 7dbi of RF power and are an omni-directional design. "When using multiple wireless networks often, omni-directional antennas are the best performance solution," the company says. The suggested retail price has been set at US$110 and is backed by a one-year parts and labor warranty.  [ Email this story ]

Yahoo! acquires Konfabulator
July 25 - 06:07 EDT   Yahoo! announced today that it has acquired Konfabulator, the popular software developer of widgets -- small desktop applications for monitoring weather, stocks, and more. The deal was finalized late last week for an undisclosed amount. "To help popularize the widgets, Yahoo plans to give away the Konfabulator software that empowers the applications. Konfabulator had been charging $20 for the software. Anyone who bought version 2.0 of the software since mid-May will be given refunds, said Konfabulator CEO Arlo Rose." Yahoo! is "counting on the widgets to make users more curious about certain topics, services or events, ultimately driving more traffic to its Web site so it can serve up more moneymaking ads and expand its current base of 10.1 million subscribers who pay for premium services, said Toni Schneider, vice president of Yahoo!'s developer network.  [ Email this story ]

Alarm Clock Pro 7.1.7 released by Koingo Software
July 23 - 07:31 EDT   Koingo Software today announced the release of Alarm Clock Pro 7.1.7, the latest version of the company's multimedia time management system with recurring and static alarms, a timer, a calendar, an uptime display, a to-do list manager, and more. This release offers a number of new features, bug fixes, and other enhancements. Alarm Clock Pro is priced at US$15.95.  [ Email this story ]