Apple debuts 'Get a Mac' TV ads ['Sad Song' added]...

Apple has premiered two more TV ads in its "Get a Mac" series, pitting Apple computers against those with Windows. The first of these, "Pep Rally," features a squad of cheerleaders, and positions Macs as having "record sales," and being the most popular computers on college campuses. The second ad is entitled "Group," and continues the arc of Windows Vista suffering from instability issues, whereas Macs are positioned as reliable and less crash-prone. Update: Apple has posted yet another ad titled "Sad Song," in which PC, dressed as a cowboy, laments the loss of users by singing the Vista Blues: "So many users are leaving me and ain't coming back: Vista's got issues...they're leaving me for Mac."

Microsoft sees 40% smartphone share by 2012...

As Apple prepares its iPhone 2.0 platform, Microsoft is reportedly anticipating control of 40-percent of the smartphone market by 2012, according to a representative within the company. PC World writes that the endeavor will be trying, considering the company currently sits at 13-percent share, with Symbian taking first place at 67-percent, and BlackBerry devices at 10-percent. The upcoming, highly-anticipated Google Android OS is also a large unknown factor against the claim.

Djay 2.1 adds multi-touch trackpad support...

Algoriddim on Tuesday unveiled Djay 2.1, a major update to the company's digital turntable software that adds compatibility with Apple's multi-touch trackpads on the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro. Djay uses different sets of finger gestures to control the interface, allowing users to scratch tracks, apply effects, and crossfade between the two virtual tables. Algoriddim is selling Djay 2.1 from its website for $50, and is available now.

Microsoft posts Office 2004, 2008 updates...

At noon on Tuesday, Microsoft unveiled updates for both Office 2004 and 2008 for Mac, bringing with them many enhancements and optimizations. The Office 2008 update includes fixes for all of the included applications in the suite – Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Entourage – such as enhanced printing or display options. Formatting, responsiveness, and compatibility with Microsoft Exchange Servers is also improved. The update is available directly from Microsoft, or through Microsoft Auto Update.

Office 2008 triples 2004 sales, VBA to continue trend...

Microsoft is selling copies of Office 2008 for Mac to the order of three times the rate of the former 2004 version, a trend which it hopes to continue once Visual Basic functionality is restored in a future version. CNET reports that while Microsoft will not share exact sales numbers, it says that they are the highest in the unit's 19-year history. Microsoft gave partial credit to Apple for the milestone, saying that increased Mac sales are "one of the components that is helping us."

Emmis, Apple sign iTunes affiliate deal...

Emmis Communications has announced a new affiliate deal signed with Apple, under which its Interactive division's Storefront technology will be tied to the iTunes Store, and in turn sold to other companies. Storefront lets radio stations -- mainly those owned by Emmis -- create custom online shops, particularly for the purpose of selling tracks as they are played live on air. The company claims that many alternatives only direct listeners to separate sites, instead of letting them pull music straight into local software.

QuarkXPress 8 to take dead aim at Adobe CS3?...

Quark is preparing a new version of QuarkXPress for this August, and is deliberately looking to one-up Adobe's Creative Suite, according to inside sources for AppleInsider. QuarkXPress 8 is, for instance, expected not only to take advantage of InDesign's continuing instability under Mac OS X Leopard, but to expand support for Illustrator and Photoshop files, and implement standardized Bézier pen tools that may reduce any need for Illustrator in publishing.

Instant Action gaming portal to gain Mac support...

Garage Games' Instant Action portal should soon open to Mac gamers, according to the company. Instant Action is a web-based gaming service, but one which concentrates less on casual puzzlers, and more on the action games PC and console users are familiar with. Titles use a modern 3D engine, and include games like Marble Blast Online and the futuristic sports game Rokkitball.

Sony intros iPod, HD-ready Xplod CD units...

Sony on mid-Tuesday launched a spring update to its Xplod CD head-end units. Both the high-end GT920U and its lower-cost GT620U alternative are designed as much for purely digital media in mind and include both a USB port at the front and a navigation interface dubbed Quick BrowZer. The new interface lets users quickly browse unprotected AAC, MP3, and WMA songs by playlists rather than a raw file view. The two decks also recognize these same formats burned to CDs, Sony adds.

Essentials 2 for iPhoto offers correction, borders...

onOne Software this week announced Essentials 2 software for iPhoto, a collection of four easy-to-use software tools to help correct color, creatively blur a photo for dramatic visual impact, add creative borders and resize digital images for high quality large prints. The software tools, the company says, are based on technology used in the professional level onOne Software Photoshop plug-ins PhotoTune 2.2, FocalPoint 1.0, PhotoFrame 3.1 and Genuine Fractals 5. The Essentials 2 for iPhoto software suite provides users of the popular iPhoto image editing and organizing software with four important plug-in solutions to solve common digital imaging problems.

Extended battery upgrade for MacBook Air (external)...

QuickerTek has introduced an extended battery upgrade for Apple's MacBook Air, which it says offes six to ten hours of additional battery power -- for a total of 12-16 hours of battery life when used in conjunction with the (charged) internal battery. "Since the MacBook Air has a non-removeable battery, the typical user strategy of using multiple batteries is not possible. QuickerTek had already developed battery charging technology for MacBook and MacBook Pro laptops, but those solutions did not charge AND power the computer at the same time. QuickerTek's MacBook Air External Battery powers and charges the internal battery while in use."

ExtremeZ-IP 5.2 gets print server, Time Machine...

Group Logic on Tuesday released ExtremeZ-IP 5.2, which extends support for the latest Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard capabilities, including Time Machine backups. This release also combines the functionality of company's leading ExtremeZ-IP File and Print Servers into a single solution, allowing all customers to leverage the ExtremeZ-IP Zidget that enables easy service discovery and setup without using the legacy AppleTalk protocol. Group Logic says that ExtremeZ-IP is "the only" Windows solution to deliver complete support for the Mac file and print sharing and that it is now also the only solution to enable Windows servers to be used for Time Machine backups.

Apple hunts for touch-panel, flat-panel engineers...

Two new job openings at Apple may point to technological trends at the company. Recruiters are firstly searching for a senior module process engineer, who would be hired full-time in Apple's home city of Cupertino. There they would be responsible for leading engineering efforts on multi-touch displays, from conceptualization to product formation. Candidates are expected to have a PhD in Physics or Mechanical Engineering and three years of experience, or an MS degree with five years of experience.

The Tube 2.7 DVR app adds 'placeshifting' via iChat...

equinux has released The Tube 2.7, a free update to its Mac TV software that adds live-streaming of content via iChat. Users now can share the show they're currently watching with others via iChat, tell friends about their TubeToGo web gallery and subscribe to a podcast of their latest recordings, e.g. on the Apple TV in the living room. The Tube, described as a modern TV solution that brings digital TV to the Mac, timeshifting features (pause, rewind, etc.) as well as information about the show via the electronic program guide (EPG). In addition, the integrated TubeToGo web service, free-of-charge, allows users to publish recordings in a web gallery and watch them via mobileSafari on an iPhone or iPod touch whilst on the go; users can also remotely manage and schedule recordings.

BeamYourScreen adds iPhone conferencing...

BeamYourScreen has announced that its self-titled HTML viewer is now officially compatible with the iPhone. The viewer is meant for web conferences; once a meeting host has begun a session from a PC, iPhone owners can enter their session ID through Safari, and view the host's desktop in real-time. This includes virtually anything the host loads, such as websites, PDF files and Office documents. Up to 20 guests are supported.

Apps: Liquid Ledger, PageSender, Dejal Simon

• Liquid Ledger 2.3 ($60) is a free update to the personal finance software for Mac OS X. The new release introduces the ability to backup documents to .Mac, offers a number of user interface improvements, and it corrects several critical bugs. Existing customers can download the update for free while version 1 customers can upgrade for $30 and new customers can download a free 60-day trial version. [Download - 4.7MB]


• Clipotheque 1.0 is an online multimedia manager that stores and sorts links to almost anything you want - YouTube clips, embedded QuickTime movies, local PDFs, image files, HTML files, etc. "You can resize a window to any size you want - from the tiny windows shown above to full screen.... You can also stress test your browser by opening all your clips, images, HTML pages, whatever in tabs in the same window all at once. It's fast - and it's cool."[Download - 1.63MB]


• PageSender 4.3 ($40) updates the fax software for Mac OS X. The update adds menu items to clear the Recent Faxes and Recent Email lists, as well as other improvements and bug fixes. The software can send faxes and (PDF) emails directly from the print dialog, receive faxes using your fax modem, filter spam faxes by station name, design custom fax cover pages, and send faxes easily via eFax, jConnect, EasyLink, MaxEmail or RapidFax services. It requires Mac OS X 10.4 or later and upgrades are $20. [Download - 7MB]


• Dejal Simon 2.4 ($30) is a new version of the site monitoring tool for Mac OS X. It checks web pages, FTP and DNS servers, local or remote ports or volumes, and other services for changes or failures, and notifies you via e-mail, sound, speech, Twitter, or HTML reports. Version 2.4 offers a new iCal and Google Calendar notifier, new Twitter service and notifier, new flexible Port notifier, plus several other services and notifiers including SNMP Status, Port Available, APC Masterswitch, and more. It also includes an iPhone report template, to see Simon statuses on an iPhone. It requires Mac OS X 10.3.9 or later. [Download - 11MB]


• Together 2.1 ($40) a file organization application for storing, previewing, editing and searching files. Version 2.1 brings .Mac sync, Favorites and Quick Look previews for its Shelf, saving web pages as PDFs and AppleScript support, plus improvements for Smart Groups, tagging, Spotlight integration, importing and a more customizable user interface. Together can edit or preview many different file formats, include text documents, PDF files, images, movies, web archives and bookmarks. It requires Mac OS X 10.5 and is available a 15-day trial; upgrades are $15. [Download - 5MB]

Jobs, Apple execs to present WWDC keynote...

Apple has confirmed that CEO Steve Jobs, along with a "team of Apple executives," will deliver the keynote at this year's WWDC conference. The event is scheduled for 10AM Pacific time on June 9th, and will take place in the West wing of the Moscone Center in downtown San Francisco. Although details of the keynote have not been made official, Apple notes that it will focus on Mac OS X Leopard, and "OS X iPhone," as it is now branding the iPhone's firmware.

HBO launches on iTunes with variable prices...

Beating yesterday's predictions by Portfolio, HBO has already launched its programming (iTunes link) on the US iTunes Store. Six TV shows are presently available, including The Wire, The Sopranos, Rome, Deadwood, Flight of the Conchords and Sex and the City. Listings for the shows further confirm that while most episodes are priced at the standard iTunes rate of $1.99, those for Rome, Deadwood and The Sopranos are $2.99 each, marking the first time Apple has allowed variable pricing for TV shows in the US.

Mac Office 2008 SP1 optimizes suite, VBA coming back...

The Microsoft Mac Business Unit on Tuesday announced the release of Microsoft Office 2008 Service Pack 1, a major update that provides increased stability, security, and performance enhancements, as well as an update for the former 2004 version. The update culminates several months worth of feedback from the Microsoft Error Reporting Protocol tool into optimization and improvements. Microsoft is posting the download on its website, but says it is also available through Microsoft Auto Update.

Adobe DNG gets camera profiles, new metadata tags

Adobe has released an update to the Adobe Digital Negative specification (DNG), its publicly available archival format for the raw files generated by digital cameras. The DNG 1.2.0 Specification (May 2008) provides new and expanded specifications that offer increased flexibility and improved workflow for their raw images, including formalization of the concept of a "camera profile" and allowance for multiple camera profiles to be embedded in a single DNG file. Adobe has also defined additional metadata tags for the DNG format, including a field to indicate the integrity of the raw data within the file, offering a tool to validate the safety of photographers' image data. Adobe's DNG SDK has also been updated to reflect the changes to the specification. In addition, a DNG Codec for Windows Vista -- only available for 32-bit editions -- has also been released on Adobe Labs. Adobe DNG Converter is available as a free download from Adobe's website.