Macs Only! Apple Macintosh News, Commentary, Reviews & Troubleshooting

July 2007 News Archive

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Copyright 2007 by Bill Fox All rights reserved.
Last Updated: July 31, 2007

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[7/31] SCOOP!--Maine expands Apple 'Book Program to High School Teachers and Administrators using MacBooks

Macs Only! once again brings you breaking news of a huge Apple contract with the State of Maine.

According to Macs Only!'s sources, the Maine Department of Education (MDE) has just announced internally an expansion of the Maine Learning Technology Initiative (MLTI), the program that brought 30,000+ Apple iBooks and AirPort wireless internet networks to all seventh and eighth graders in the state, including their teachers, and to many others in higher and lower grades. This new expansion will include all teachers and administrators in high schools (grades 9-12) and career and technical education centers throughout the State. They will receive professional development, equipment, and support beginning with the coming 2007-2008 school year. MacBook

And the equipment? Apple MacBooks, of course!

According to MDE,

"[T]his initiative is a critical next step in supporting Maine educators in preparing all secondary students for college, career, and citizenship in the 21st Century. While there are many subject-specific skills that are essential in making a successful transition from high school to college, there are three cross-disciplinary skills that are particularly important in this transition: autonomous reading/thinking/analysis, broad information literacy, and comfort in the use of electronic social networks. These skills reflect the rapidly changing structure of colleges and careers today, and will be emphasized in the materials and support provided by the MLTI."

The MLTI project has had many successes at the middle school level with Apple iBooks and AirPort wireless internet networking. Students participating in the MLTI project have excitedly told MDE about their increased motivation and engagement in academic work because of the infusion of Apple's technology in their school.

Therefore this new initiative is "ultimately about recognizing and embracing the need for high school reform, enabling teachers in grades 9-12 to use [Apple's] technology as an effective tool for ongoing professional development and helping them prepare their students to enter and successfully compete in the high-tech global marketplace."

Maine's high schools signed up for the expanded program and ordered equipment last Friday. MDE posted these future key dates:

Late September, 2007 - MLTI device delivery at each school
Late September to early October - Regional leadership training, Technical Lead training
October and ongoing - Educator training

The following hardware details were extracted from MLTI documents.

Hardware

The Apple MacBook is the laptop that will be distributed to all teachers. Powered by a 2.0 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo chip and loaded with 1 GB of system memory the laptop will run Apple’s award winning operating system, Mac OS 10.4 Tiger.

The MacBook has a variety of ports for connecting to peripheral devices, and will come with an 80GB hard drive, large enough to store all of your school work. It will have enough space to create and edit an iMovie, complete with music from your iTunes library, and photos from your iPhoto collection.

The built-in wireless networking capabilities have been upgraded to Airport Extreme, 801.11b/g/n. Airport Extreme wireless networking will allow teachers to connect to any standard wireless network.

The optical drive is a slot-loading CDRW-DVD Combo drive. This means you can burn CDs, and watch DVD movies. The MacBook also includes a built in iSight camera for instant video conferencing with up to 3 other teachers and audio conferences with up to 9 other teachers.

Support

Apple's MLTI support plan will continue in same fashion as today's Middle School 1:1 program. Each school will be provided with 2% or at least one MacBook as a spare device in case a laptop needs to be sent out for repair. Online tools include the MLTI Asset Manager, DepotWorks, and GSX to help track, manage, and keep the laptops in good repair. Batteries that lose their ability to hold a reasonable charge will be replaced at no cost.

The MLTI Local Depot will provide both warranty and nonwarranty repairs. All costs related to non-warranty repairs will be the responsibility of the local school.

Each school will be issued an administrative copy of Apple Remote Desktop to allow technicians to push software updates or make configuration changes. Apple Remote Desktop can also be used to remotely manage computers or gather reports about system configurations and software loads. Remote management tasks can be saved and reused or scheduled so they are performed at off-peak times, or whenever MacBooks are available on the network.

For every 30 MacBooks at your school, you will be provided with a firewire hard drive that includes a custom solution to reimage and restore the device's software to the standard pre-loaded software image. Schools may also install additional software to the device provided it has license to do so.

Buffer Pool

The Buffer Pool will provide schools with replacement devices for accidentally damaged or stolen laptops. Each school will be assigned a specific number of devices from the pool, based on size (1% of deployment in year 1). The Buffer Pool will be housed at the MLTI Local Depot, so as replacements are needed, schools will be able to ship the broken device to the depot in exchange for a working device.

The software provided by the MLTI is also pretty impressive:

Mac OS 10.4 Tiger Apple's latest operating system. Each year as available, the MLTI solution will be upgraded to utilize the latest version of the Mac OS.
AppleWorks productivity suite that includes word processor, spreadsheet, database, drawing, painting, and presentation tools.
CyberDuck is an open source, fully featured FTP/SFTP client. Users may use it to upload web pages to web servers and perform other file transfer needs. Offered to MLTI by the David Kocher, the creator of CyberDuck.
Firefox the popular open source web browser.
Google Earth puts a planet's worth of imagery and other geographic information right on your desktop. Offered to MLTI by Google Inc.
GNU Image Manipulation Program an open source image editing program. Similar to Adobe Photoshop.
iLife including iMovie HD, iPhoto, iTunes and GarageBand
iWork including Keynote and Pages
Journler a daily journal software package.
NeoOffice an open source productivity suite. Create, open, edit, and save Microsoft office formatted files (.doc, .xls, .ppt).
NetLogo is a programmable modeling environment for simulating natural and social phenomena. It is particularly well suited for modeling complex systems developing over time. Offered to MLTI by Uri Wilensky, the creator of NetLogo, Director of the Center for Connected Learning and Computer-Based Modeling.
NoteShare a multimedia digital notebook to create, organize, share and publish.
Other Apple or Apple provided software including Safari, Mail, iChat, iCal, Address Book, iSync, QuickTime, Grapher, etc.
PASCO DataStudio provides data analysis, graphing calculator.
PASCO MyWorld GIS is a Geographic Information System for Inquiry-Based Learning. Query, plot and analyze geographic data such as climate, geology, biodiversity, population and more.
SketchUp Pro is 3D design software. Offered to MLTI by Google Inc.

Macs Only! was the very first Mac Web site to break the news of Apple's original contract with Maine's Learning Technology Initiative several years ago. We will continue to bring you breaking news about this terrific educational program in the most Mac-centric State in the Union. [Dana Baggett & Bill Fox]

[7/31] Toon Boom to release Studio 4 in September offers Early Order Specials

Toon Boom Animation Inc.'s upcoming release of Toon Boom Studio 4 to customers will be in September, Macs Only! has learned. Toon Boom Animations says that, as all-in-one animation software, Studio 4 offers a smooth experience creating rich, eye-catching animations for video, Web sites, television, film, games, mobile devices, and more. Based on Toon Boom's powerful Emmy award-winning technology, Studio 4 brings greater capabilities to create a wider range of animation styles easily, all within a more user friendly interface.

What's new in Studio 4?

Redesigned user interface for a seamless workflow and a smoother
experience
Unparalleled flexibility to easily customize your most convenient
workspaces
Extended animation styles to import, vectorize and animate
photographs
Increased selection of brushes to create more impressive line styles
i.e. calligraphic painting
Enhanced design quality with blurs and glows applied on drawings
with the new Feather Edges feature
Improved motion capabilities to set more realistic moves with the
new peg’s Orient to path feature
Advanced Web publishing options to play back animation on the
Internet more efficiently

Studio 4 also includes: support of Adobe Illustrator layers, the Vectorize Preview window, improved drawing tools and Alpha Onion Skinning.

You can buy Toon Boom Studio 4 now at the pre-launch special of $299.99 (Promo code: TBS081607), valid until August 16, 2007. As of July 27, 2007, all new clients will receive a Toon Boom Studio 3.5 key. They will see their version 4 purchase listed on the "my products" page once the transaction is completed. Their Studio 4 license key will be automatically registered and emailed to them upon customer release in September 2007 for them to download the software. Upgrades from versions 3 and 3.5 are offered at the launch special of $79.99 US until August 16, 2007 (Promo code: TBSUP081607). All orders requiring shipping will be processed upon customer release. [Bill Fox]

[7/31] Software Special of the Day: KryptoSpace 2.0 (Universal) for 38% Off--$9.99 Today Only

KryptoSpace lets you choose a number of folders to encrypt. These folders will be encrypted, but still visible at their original emplacement. For example, if you have confidential documents, you can just encrypt your Documents folder.

KryptoSpace will create a secure disk (using the same technology as Apple FileVault), and it will securely delete the original content.

If you choose to store your password in the system KeyChain and to automatically mount encrypted directories at login, you can work as usual.

You can be sure that if your computer is stolen, nobody will be able to access your data, even if they have physical access to your hard disk. In the same way, the system administrator has no access to your data.

You don't need to be administrator to use KryptoSpace.

Normally $16.00, KryptoSpace 2.0 (Universal) is offered for $9.99 today only--that's 38% off as Today's MacUpdate Software Promo. [Bill Fox]

[7/31] Apple released Pro Application Support 4.0.1

Apple released Pro Application Support 4.0.1 and it is available for download via Software Update or as a stand-alone file from this Apple Web page. According to Apple,

This update improves general user interface reliability for Apple's professional applications and is recommended for all users of Final Cut Studio, Final Cut Pro, Motion, Soundtrack Pro, DVD Studio Pro, Aperture, Final Cut Express HD, Soundtrack, Logic Pro and Logic Express.

Unfortunately, we don't have any of Apple's pro apps to test the update for you. [Bill Fox]

[7/30] zCover released iPhone Car Kit for the iSAglove Silicone Case

zCover incorporated a unique slide-edge cut into the iSAglove Silicone Protection Case at the top edge of the screen to ensure the iPhone is protected without blocking the iPhone's proximity (built in motion) sensor. zCover's innovative port flip-cover has been applied to the iPhone perfectly, protecting the Apple dock port from sand, dust, dirt and liquids, while still allowing full accessibility for charging, or even docking, your iPhone while still in the iSAglove case. The unique belt clip system allows you to turn your iPhone horizontally and vertically with ease.

In addition,

The sleep/wake button has been enhanced so it is still protected but remains easy to press.
Volume button protection prevents you from accidentally turning down your favorite song.
A die-cut for the ring/silent switch allows you to change modes without difficulty.

Now, zCover has released the iSAglove Car Kit which includes:

iSAglove Silicone Protection Case
Removable Belt Clip
Window clip

The Car Kit adds a whole new element to the experience of owning an iPhone. Besides the protection of the iSAglove and the mobility of the 360 degree rotating Belt Clip, the additional window clip allows you to attach your iPhone GPS-style in your car, as an entertainment center on the window or other flat surface or as a vertical stand at your desk. It doesn't matter which way you turn it, the iSAglove Car kit is ideal for those on the road. It's SRP is $44.99.

zCover also has three other iSAglove configurations--standard, outdoor and extended dock for $29.95-$49.95. [Bill Fox]

[7/30] Parliant released PhoneValet Anywhere for iPhone, an Add-on to PhoneValet Message Center 5

PhoneValet Anywhere for iPhone was released by Parliant. It delivers home and office voice mails to the iPhone's Safari browser, making your iPhone a single-source telephony device for both wireless and landline messages.

PhoneValet Anywhere for iPhone automatically converts PhoneValet voice mail files into a format that can be played on the iPhone for a seamless listening experience. The audio file format is optimized to sound good but the files are small enough to download quickly even when the iPhone is on an EDGE network.

PhoneValet Anywhere for iPhone is a $59.95 add-on to Parliant's $169.95 PhoneValet Message Center 5. PhoneValet Anywhere for iPhone is a free upgrade for existing PhoneValet Anywhere 5.x customers. [Bill Fox]

[7/30] Software Special of the Day: Papyrus 12.56 (Universal) for 30% Off--$69.00 Today Only

Papyrus provides a powerful word-processor for desktop publishing, with PDF-export, integrated spreadsheets, and a relational database using an intuitive user interface for instant searches. You can even use Papyrus from a USB memory stick. This means that you can take your Papyrus (and your data) with you - remove the memory stick, and leave the system 'untouched'.

Normally $99.00, Papyrus 12.56 (Universal) is offered for $69.00 today only--that's 30% off as Today's MacUpdate Software Promo. [Bill Fox]

[7/30] Backjack Mac Online Backup Service offering 4GB Trial and No Activation Fee for a Subscription

Backjack has been providing an online backup service for 10 years. It now is offering a 15-day free trial demo with 4GB od storage space. They are also running a summer special of no activation fee if you subscribe after trying the free demo--use the promotion code "FreeAct4GB." [Bill Fox]

[7/30] Apple's Pro Tip of the Week--Fix Poor Audio on iChat AV

If you are experiencing poor quality audio during an iChat audio session, the audio can sometimes be fixed by muting then unmuting the Chat. This action forces iChat to re-establish the audio which usually fixes the problem. More....

Apple's Pro Tips of the Week are abstracted from Scott Kelby's Mac OS X Tiger Killer Tips. [Dana Baggett]

[7/30] MacGizmo updated to version 1.0.8, adding Feature

MacGizmo is an application that allows you to see the content and other useful information of any selected items in the Finder and of other participating software programs. It is very easy to use: select an item and see the content.

MacGizmo currently fully supports most of the common kinds of items that populate a disk, like: images, sounds, music, video, text, pdfs, web files, fonts, folders, applications and many more.

MacGizmo does not just provide a preview, it also allows you to navigate as a web browser, have full access to pdf and text files, read help and the recent items opened by an application simply by selecting it, hear music, see videos and, where applicable, print and search content.

What's new:

Added a button in the main window that allows the application to be put to sleep.
Fixed a bug that caused crashes when certain types of files were selected.
Fixed other bugs.

MacGizmo is available from this Hyperbolic Software Web page. [Bill Fox]

[7/27] [Updated] Hands-On Report--Micromat released TechTool Po 4.5.3 Update

MicroMat advised subscribers to its TechTool Annual Update Service (formerly known as the TechTool Pro Quarterly Service) of the completion of TechTool Pro 4.5.3 to be distributed on DVD to be mailed to them shortly. A password encoded download is immediately available.

Release Notes indicate changes include:

Updated Volume Structures and Optimization routines.
Updated Volume Journaling feature for Intel-based Macs.
Integration of the TechTool Pro 4 Security Patch.
Added compatibility for new Macintosh models up through June, 2007.
Other minor changes and feature enhancements.

Version 4.5.3 requires Mac OS X 10.4 or greater.

We downloaded the updater and ran the updated application through its Intermediate Suite of tests and Maintenance and Optimization. Optimization of an external FireWire hard drive did not proceed in timely fashion for this report so we stopped the process, discovering in doing so that there is apparently a new, soft landing routine which invokes a warning "Stopping! Please stand by! Do not interrupt!" in the process. The disk was not damaged after doing so.

MicroMat did not indicate when the updater will be posted on its web site. [Update: it's now posted on this Micromat Web page.--ed.] [Dana Baggett]

[7/27] Hands-On Report--Cool Mac Software: Mactracker 4.3 is Out

Mactracker provides the details on every Apple product. It is available for download via "Check for Updates" under the application menu or as a stand-alone file via MacUpdate.com.

Version 4.3 has the following changes:

Adds MacBook Pro (15-inch 2.4/2.2GHz) and MacBook Pro (17-inch 2.4GHz)
Adds MacBook (13-inch Mid 2007)
Adds iPhone
Updates Apple TV entry with 160 GB hard drive option
Adds performance scores for recent models from Primate Labs Geekbench 2
Adds entry to indicate support for memory interleaving
Updates startup chime recording for recent models
Other minor changes and additions

We downloaded copies from within the application using "Check for Updates." All went well and version 4.3 works fine. [Dana Baggett & Bill Fox]

[7/27] Peachpit published Apple Pro Training Series: Final Cut Pro 6: Beyond the Basics

Peachpit released Apple Pro Training Series: Final Cut Pro 6: Beyond the Basics (ISBN 0-321-50912-9, $49.49)—essential reading for any editor who is ready to take Final Cut Pro to the next level.

In this Apple-authorized guide, director and filmmaker Michael Wohl teaches the advanced skills that editing professionals need to know most. Using professional broadcast, documentary, and dramatic footage, Wohl delivers a comprehensive course in video editing and finishing, with hands-on projects to complete along the way. Readers will learn to trim more effectively, make polished transitions, work with nested sequences, edit multi-camera projects, create fantastic effects, color-correct your video, and composite like a pro. The book includes time-saving techniques for audio editing in Soundtrack Pro, managing multi-format media, and improving your editing workflow. [Bill Fox]

[7/27] Software Special of the Day: Flash Decompiler Trillix 3.0.11.3370 (Universal) for 50% Off--$39.95 Today Only

Flash Decompiler Trillix, formerly known as SWF to FLA Converter, converts Adobe Flash SWF files back into FLA format which can easily be edited in native Flash environment. Every group of objects such as morphs, shapes, texts, fonts, motions, sounds, ActionScripts, etc. could be placed in separate FLA library groups, which makes using and working with the resulting FLA file much easier.

Moreover, since Trillix version, in addition to SWF to FLA conversion, Flash Decompiler can extract all objects (images, sounds, video, shapes, text, morphs, ActionScripts, etc) used in SWF files into various file formats just in several clicks. Additionally, you may customize FLA file workspace by enabling/disabling grids, rulers; specifying grid accuracy and so on. Every morph or shape can be placed on different layers to make sure that masks layers are working properly. Flash Decompiler Trillix is the only Mac OS tool to export the whole SWF movie in FLA format that supports Flash MX and ActionScript 2.0.

Normally $79.95, Flash Decompiler Trillix 3.0.11.3370 (Universal) is offered for $39.95 today only--that's 50% off as Today's MacUpdate Software Promo. [Bill Fox]

[7/27] Trans International posts SALE on 4GB FB DIMMS for the Mac Pro

In a promo entitled "Take it to the limit one more time," TransIntl is offering 4GB RAM kits for the MacPro from 8GB all the way to 32GB at slashed prices:

- 8GB Kit [2X4GB] DDR2 ECC fully Buffered Dimm--$1258.00

-16GB Kit [4X4GB] DDR2 ECC fully Buffered Dimm--$2498.00

-32GB Kit [2X4GB] DDR2 ECC fully Buffered Dimm--$4948.00

Check them out and load up on RAM on this TransIntl Web page.

[7/27] WAPi General Meeting Tomorrow to focus on Building Personal Web Sites

This month's Washington Apple Pi General Meeting, Saturday, Jul 28th, 9:30 a.m., is going to be great! We will showing everyone the ins-and-outs of Web design and how to publish on the Web. To prove how easy it is to set up and publish your own Web pages, we will have a great demonstration to show you the way.

Did you know, as a Pi member, you have several megabytes of Web space at your disposal? This is another great benefit of belonging to the Pi.

We will start promptly at 9:30 with a great Q&A session and end with some great Pi Dollar Raffle prizes. Washington Apple Pi is the Greater Metro Washington DC AMUG. [Bill Fox]

[7/26] Apple reported most profitable Q3 and highest Mac sales ever, Earnings beat Analysts' Estimate by 28 percent

Apple had an outstanding third quarter of their 2007 fiscal year (Q3 2007) posting a $818 million net profit, its highest third quarter profit ever. Earnings per share (EPS) came in at 92 cents on revenue of $5.41 billion, blowing away the Thomson Financial analysts' consensus estimate of 72 cents by nearly 28 percent (see chart at right). Gross margin was up to a very remarkable 36.9 percent and cash on hand and short term investments now total $13.8 billion, up from $12.6 billion last quarter.

Compared with last year's third quarter (Q3 2006), Q3 2007 is up 73 per cent in net profit, up 24 per cent in revenue, up 70 percent in earnings per share and up 22 per cent in gross margin.

This terrific financial performance was driven largely by increased sales of Macs by 33 percent and increased sales of iPods by 21 percent over Q3 2006. The growth rate in Macs sales continued to exceed the industry average resulting in an increase in market share. The sales of Macs reached 1,764,000, the highest of any quarter on record by over 150,000 units.

Sales of Apple notebooks, the MacBook and MacBook Pro, were 1,130,000 or some 64 percent of total Mac sales. The notebook sales were up 42 percent from Q3 2006.

Desktop (iMac, Mac mini, Mac Pro and Xserve) sales at 634,000 were up a healthy 20 percent from Q3 2006. Apple executives also reported a positive "uptick" Intel-based Mac Pro sales due to the release of Adobe's Intel-native Creative Studio CS3 and updated Apple pro applications.

iPod sales reached 9,815,000, up 21 percent from Q3 2006.

Apple TV sales are lumped in the "Other music" category which showed a 33 percent increase over Q3 2006.

iPhone sales for the 30 hours in Q3 2007 were 270,000.

Sales revenue was up over Q3 2006 in two geographical areas (Americas and Europe) by 21 and 29 percent but stable in Japan.

The Apple retail stores are still doing well. Sales revenue increased 33 percent over Q3 2006. New-to-Mac sales continue to be over 50 percent of their sales according to Apple executives. They also mentioned that they planned to open 12 more stores by the end of the year for a total of 197.

A few other interesting tidbits from Apple's late afternoon analysts' conference call (replay it here) with Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer and COO Tim Cook answering questions, focused mainly on the iPhone.

Apple reported sales of 270,000 iPhones, nearly twice the number of AT&T activations (149,000) just as we projected yesterday morning. However, the financial impact on Q3 (i.e. 30 hours worth) was very small, only $5M due mainly to accessory sales. Early iPhone sales leaned towards the 8GB model rather than the less expensive 4GB model.

Apple is on track to meet their goal to sell 1 million iPhones by end of Q4 2007 and 10 million by end of 2008. In contrast, it took seven quarters to sell 1 million iPods. Apple executives stated that there is "absolutely no evidence" so far (i.e. 30 hours of the third quarter) that the iPhone is cannibalizing iPod sales.

The education market channel had strongest quarter ever in Q3 2007 with gross margins around 37%.

Finally, Apple is expanding it relationship with Best Buy. This effort may finally put some Apple products in stores in the most Mac-centric state in the U.S.--Maine.

The fourth quarter is typically good for the back to school market segment and that segment is coming off a record Q3.

"Looking ahead to the fourth fiscal quarter of 2007, we expect revenue of about $5.7 billion and earnings per diluted share of about $.65," Peter Oppenheimer, Apple's CFO.

According to Oppenheimer, the forecast of a reduced earnings per share is due to expected higher component prices, the cost of educational promotions and a "product transition."

The latter comment may portend that some new or significantly upgraded hardware is due to surface along with Mac OS X 10.5 "Leopard" in the fourth quarter.

Here is Apple's press release. [Bill Fox]

[7/26] Software Special of the Day: ScreenSteps 1.1r4 (Universal) for 50% Off--$19.95 Today Only

ScreenSteps makes creating visual training almost effortless - Everyone loves visual documentation. It is so much easier to see a picture of what you need to do as opposed to reading lengthy instructions.

With ScreenSteps you can:

Capture each step of the process you are trying to teach. The images are automatically sequenced in the order you took them. Crop images and add highlights to focus on the pertinent areas of the screen
Go back and add text describing each step. You shouldn't have to write too much since the pictures will show each step of the process.
Export your lesson to PDF or HTML. You can even create your own HTML and XML templates.

That's it. You can literally create visual, detailed lessons in 5 to 10 minutes.

Normally $39.95, ScreenSteps 1.1r4 (Universal) is offered for $19.95 today only--that's 50% off as Today's MacUpdate Software Promo. [Bill Fox]

[7/26] Tonight on The Tech Night Owl LIVE--Apple Q3 financials, Windows on a Mac, hosting your Web site and Mac terms

Tonight, host Gene Steinberg will take a quick look at the latest quarterly financials from Apple and Microsoft with Joe Wilcox, editor of Microsoft Watch, who will be, once again, talking to us on his iPhone. We'll also explore the best solutions for running Windows and Linux on your Mac with John Rizzo of MacWindows.com.

In other show segments, you'll discover how to find a host for your personal and business Web site, and what to do when your site becomes successful, with HostICan’s Denis Motova. In addition, author Sharon Zardetto, co-author of the new eBook, "Take Control: The Mac OS X Lexicon," will be on hand to entertain you with a mad romp covering Mac- and Internet-related terms.

Also, author Sharon Zardetto, co-author of the new eBook, "Take Control: The Mac OS X Lexicon,” will be on hand to entertain you with a mad romp covering Mac- and Internet-related terms.

You can tune into the Web audio broadcast tonight from 6:00 to 8:00 PM Pacific, 9:00 to 11:00 PM Eastern. [Bill Fox]

[7/25] Apple to release Q3 Financial Report Today amid Grumbling over iPhone Sales Start

Today, Apple will release its financial report for its third fiscal quarter that ended June 30. A conference call with investors to discuss the quarter's performance will be streamed live via QuickTime audio from this Apple Web page.

In it's Q2 report, Apple provided conservative estimates for its Q3 performance.

"Looking ahead to the third fiscal quarter of 2007, we expect revenue of about $5.1 billion and earnings per diluted share of about $.66," said Peter Oppenheimer, Apple's CFO.

As we stated on Monday, Apple will almost certainly beat their own estimate, probably by a healthy margin. Apple will probably also beat the analysts' consensus earnings per share estimate of $.72. But it will not be due to the terrific sales of the iPhone which only began during the last two days of Q3.

Earlier this week AT&T released the fact that it had activated 146,000 iPhones from late Friday, June 29, through Saturday, June 30. This news was not taken well by investors who had, for some reason, expected hundreds of thousands of iPhones to be sold so Apple's stock price declined over 10 points. However, Apple actually sold more iPhones than 146,000 because many people had trouble activating their phones over the weekend, mostly those switching carriers and retaining their old phone numbers, and many others bought phones for others or for speculation which also would have gone unactivated through Saturday night. Apple could have easily sold twice the number counted as activated by AT&T.

Hopefully, Apple will shed some light on this in the Q3 financials conference call later today at 2pm PT. Stay tuned for the results. [Bill Fox]

[7/25] Apple released AppleCare for the iPhone--$69

Apple released AppleCare for the iPhone late yesterday. The contract, which costs $69 from Apple, extends the standard AppleCare limited hardware warranty from one to two years. Two years of telephone technical support come standard with the iPhone.

The key features of iPhone AppleCare are:

Extends hardware coverage to two years from the date of iPhone purchase
Covers iPhone & iPhone Bluetooth hands-free headset and included accessories
Guarantees genuine Apple replacement parts
Permits transfer of the plan between owners

AppleCare can usually be purchased at a discount from third party vendors like Small Dog Electronics so check them out before buying. [Bill Fox & Dana Baggett]

[7/25] Software Special of the Day: Synk Pro 6.1.1 (Universal) for 45% Off--$24.95 Today Only

Synk is a professional's synchronization toolkit. N-way synchronization's, advanced rule capabilities for arbitrary actions and archiving, flexible scheduling options, and more.

All versions of Synk 6 feature the revolutionary new ZeroScan technology, which makes updating backups up to 100 times faster than competing products and previous versions of Synk.

Normally $129.95, Synk Pro 6.1.1 (Universal) is offered for $24.95 today only--that's 45% off as Today's MacUpdate Software Promo. [Bill Fox]

[7/25] Macs Only! Tip--Extend the iPhone's Battery Life Significantly

In our iPhone use the past three we have noticed that the battery lasts much longer than we had expected. In fact, we commented in our long airline flight article that we think Apple has significantly underestimated the iPhone's battery life. We normally go 3 days without needing to charge our iPhone and, even then, the battery life is still registering as only half gone. But we wondered about the reports of people getting only a day's use.

Then, the day before yesterday we accidentally left the iPhone's Wi-Fi and telephone capability on even though there is no cell phone service available that we can connect to and no Wi-Fi available. We noticed by the end of the day, that our iPhone's battery was almost completely depleted.

We charged up our iPhone, turned Wi-Fi off and turned Airplane Mode on. We normally keep Wi-Fi off unless we are specifically using it for email or Web surfing and we do not use Bluetooth. Our iPhone's battery not only lasted all day but it's hard to tell that it has lost any life at all in two days use. We did use the iPhone to check times in various places and to play music for an hour or so each day.

Our advice, then, is to definitely turn Wi-Fi off unless using it. The same with Bluetooth. When you are in an area with no cell phone service, turn on Airplane Mode. These two devices constantly looking for a signal in places where there are none apparently burn up a lot of battery life doing so. [Bill Fox]

[7/24] Hands-On Report--The iPhone on a Long Airline Flight

We just completed a trans-Pacific flight with our iPhone. With three flight segments, several times we went through the process of turning our iPhone off, turning it on with Airplane Mode "on" and using the built-in iPod. Everything worked like clockwork.

We were able to use our Bose QuietComfort3 headphones with our iPhone by using an $10.95 Belkin Headphone Adapter for iPhone. The Belkin model arrived just before our flight and it works fine. There are now lots of other iPhone headphone adapters out with a variety of functionality. iLounge has looked at five: Griffin's Headphone Adapter for iPhone ($10), Belkin's Headphone Adapter for iPhone ($11), Shure's Music Phone Adapter MPA-3c ($40), Monster Cable's iSplitter 200 Headphone Jack Splitter ($20, iLounge rating: B+), and Griffin's SmartShare Headphone Splitter ($15, iLounge rating: A-). Belkin also has stereo and mini-stereo cables for using an iPhone with speakers or stereo systems.

We made a few calls and checked email accounts when in terminals in the U.S. (two) and used the iPod mode during all three segments of a 23+ hour journey. The iPhones Usage setting read nearly 13 hours of use and nearly 24 hours of standby from starting with a full charge at the beginning of the trip. The battery icon was less than 25% discharged (i.e.>75% full) when we put it on a charger at the end of the trip. Based on our three week experience, including usage at sea and during air travel, we think Apple has under-estimated the iPhone's battery life in its ads.

The only disappointment is that AT&T international roaming does not work at our destination, South Korea. And, since the iPhone is locked to AT&T, we can not simply buy a local mobile telco SIM and pop it into our iPhone. However, once again the iPhone is working with the Wi-Fi network to access the internet so we can do everything except make calls. Making internet calls via Wi-Fi with the iPhone may even be possible because SoonR, as yet untested by us, allows one to use Skype and one's Mac as a VoIP bridge.

Check out our iPhone At Sea article. [Bill Fox]

[7/24] Over 200 Web 2.0 Apps & Widgets for iPhone--Numbers growing in Leaps and Bounds

The iPhone has been out for just over three weeks and there are already hundreds of Web-based applications for it. As of publication time, there are 214 listed on iPhone Widget List alone. This is up from a little over 100 that we noted two weeks ago. The status of the listed apps can be working, beta, alpha or proof of concept and there are user ratings as well.

There are many working iPhone app aggregator web sites to choose from such as uPhoneHome, Mojits, Leaflets and MockDock. They have a neat iPhone-like interface with icons when viewed from an iPhone or Safari 3.0.x but some require registration to get to the launcher.

Calculators are popular Web 2.0 apps for the iPhone. There's even a working scientific calculator and a simple tip calculator.

There are other Web sites that list iPhone applications, such as the iPhone Application List and iPhone Appr. iPhone Appr has a rollover button to switch to a simple iPhone interface, basically a hierarchical menu system. [Bill Fox]

[7/24] Software Special of the Day: HVC Color Composer Pro for Photoshop 1.3.2 (Universal) for 46% Off--$69.95 Today Only

HVC Color Composer Pro, an award winning plug-in for Adobe Photoshop, is a creative design tool using Master Colors breakthrough color quantification technology. For the first time ever, color professionals in every field now can have complete control over every color in their work. The HVC Color Composer Professional instantly measures the numerical distances of all colors. This allows the software to create mathmatically harmonious, visually coherent "smart palettes" that work with various target colors chosen by the artist. The software does the math and provides the user with an infinite number of palettes that work with colors chosen by the artist as the work progresses. The HVC Color Composer Professional gives professional artists, designers, pre-press managers and printers complete control of the contrast and proportion of their color compositions, and allows the user to create dozens of powerful, stunning color compositions with lightening speed.

Normally $129.95, HVC Color Composer Pro for Photoshop 1.3.2 (Universal) is offered for $69.95 today only--that's 46% off as Today's MacUpdate Software Promo. [Bill Fox]

[7/23] Apple to release Q3 Financial Report on Wednesday--Likely to beat Analysts' Estimated Earnings of $.72 per Share

On Wednesday, Apple will release its financial report for its third fiscal quarter that ended June 30. A conference call with investors to discuss the quarter's performance will be streamed live via QuickTime audio from this Apple Web page.

In it's Q2 report, Apple provided conservative estimates for its Q3 performance.

"Looking ahead to the third fiscal quarter of 2007, we expect revenue of about $5.1 billion and earnings per diluted share of about $.66," said Peter Oppenheimer, Apple's CFO.

Apple will almost certainly beat their own estimate, probably by a healthy margin. Apple will probably also beat the analysts' consensus earnings per share estimate of $.72. But it will not be due to the terrific sales of the iPhone which only began during the last two days of Q3. [Bill Fox]

[7/23] Brief Hands-On Report--Mozilla SeaMonkey 1.1.3 is Out

SeaMonkey is Mozilla's integrated internet suite that includes a Web browser, email client, newsgroup client, IRC chat client and HTML editor. Version 1.1.3 is available for download via as a stand-alone file from this Mozilla Web page. It has a number of security and stability fixes.

Version 1.1.3 brings SeaMonkey up to the same security state as v2.0.0.5 of Firefox and Thunderbird released last week. The change details are listed on this SeaMonkey Web page.

We downloaded and installed SeaMonkey 1.1.3. Since SeaMonkey is the Web browser and email client of choice for one staff member, it got used extensively over the weekend. No issues were encountered. [Dana Baggett & Bill Fox]

[7/23] Software Special of the Day: SwitchResX 3.7.9 (Universal) for 46% Off--$9.99 Today Only

SwitchRes is a little utility built around a menu extra that will allow you to switch the resolution of all your monitors. SwitchRes already incorporates features from the Monitor Resolution, Monitor BitDepth, and Video Mirroring Control Strip Modules bundled with your system.

Normally $18.37, SwitchResX 3.7.9 (Universal) is offered for $9.99 today only--that's 46% off as Today's MacUpdate Software Promo. [Bill Fox]

[7/21] Brief Hands-On Report--Mozilla Thunderbird 2.0.0.5 is Out

Following on the heels of Firefox 2.0.0.5, Mozilla released Thunderbird 2.0.0.5, its stand-alone email client. 2.0.0.5 is a security update available within the application's "Check for Updates" or as a stand-alone file from this Mozilla Web page. Here are the details:

MFSA 2007-23 Remote code execution by launching Firefox from Internet Explorer
MFSA 2007-18 Crashes with evidence of memory corruption

We use Thunderbird alongside Apple Mail because Mail has difficulty with the custom security certificate for one of our email accounts. We installed v2.0.0.5 via "Check for Updates" under the Help menu and have noticed no problems with our email account, an IMAP account with an LDAP address directory. [Bill Fox]

[7/21] Apple Revised the Offerings from Three Hot Deals Retailers

Apple Store for Education - Back to school special. College students buy a Mac and get a free iPod nano!

Apple Store Special Deals - has just added the following Apple Certified Refurbished products: for a limited time get Apple Certified Refurbished 2GB iPod nano for only $99!; Apple Certified Refurbished 24-inch iMac 2.16MHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 1GB memory and 250GB hard drive for only $1,699!; and much more.

Mac Game Store - has Hot Deals exclusive deals (5% discount at check out) on hot games for your Mac including: The Sims 2 Seasons from Aspyr for only $34.95!; Rainforest Adventure from GameHouse for only $19.95! Digital download; Global Conflicts: Palestine from Serious Games Interactive for only $20! Digital download; Ratatouille, based on the Disney/Pixar film, from THQ for only $19.95!; Professor Fizzwizzle from Grubby Games for only $19.95! Digital download; Escape from Paradasi from Goggi Games for only $19.95! Digital download; Chocolatier from PlayFirst for only $19.95! Digital download; Little Shop of Treasures from GameHouse for only $19.95! Digital download; and much more.

[Bill Fox]

[7/20] Brief Hands-On Reports: Software Updates this Week--Firefox 2.0.0.5, Skype 2.6.0.151 and Parallels Desktop for Mac 3.0 Build 4560

1. Firefox 2.0.0.5, Mozilla's cross-platform Web browser, is a security update available within the application's "Check for Updates" or as a stand-alone file from this Mozilla Web page. Here are the details:

MFSA 2007-25 XPCNativeWrapper pollution
MFSA 2007-24 Unauthorized access to wyciwyg:// documents
MFSA 2007-23 Remote code execution by launching Firefox from Internet Explorer
MFSA 2007-22 File type confusion due to %00 in name
MFSA 2007-21 Privilege escalation using an event handler attached to an element not in the document
MFSA 2007-20 Frame spoofing while window is loading
MFSA 2007-19 XSS using addEventListener and setTimeout
MFSA 2007-18 Crashes with evidence of memory corruption

We installed it via "Check for Updates" under the Help menu and noticed no problems during extensive Web browsing, including checking our bank accounts and various e-commerce Web sites.

2. Skype 2.6.0.151, the terrific internet telephony software, is available within the application's "Check for Update" selection or as a stand-alone file from this Skype Web page. The changes are:

improvement: audio quality

improvement: bandwidth management optimizations

Skype saves us literally hundreds of dollars per month on international long distance calls. So we downloaded and installed Skype 2.6.0.151 via Check for Update with no problems. We briefly tried the new version and did not encounter any issues.

3. Parallels for Desktop 3.0 Build 4560 is available within the application's "Check for Updates" or as a stand-alone file from this Parallels Web page.

We downloaded it via "Check for Updates" under the Help menu. First, we uninstalled Build 4128 and then installed Build 4560. To launch our Windows XP and Vista virtual machines, we had to restart our MacBook Pro and then we installed the updated Parallels Tools in each. Throughout extensive use we noted no problems.

[Bill Fox & Dana Baggett]

[7/20] Software Special of the Day: ScreenRecycler 1.02 (Universal) for 50% Off--$14.99 Today Only

ScreenRecycler uses your other computer as a second monitor.

Many Mac users have a second computer sitting right next to their main computer on their desk including a nice display. ScreenRecycler now enables you to use this spare computer as second display for your Mac. You can even use an idle machine for that purpose.

It's like a dual monitor setup without the need to buy an additional monitor. Just start ScreenRecycler on your Mac then connect to ScreenRecycler via VNC from your second machine.

Normally $29.99, ScreenRecycler 1.02 (Universal) is offered for $14.99 today only--that's 50% off as Today's MacUpdate Software Promo. [Bill Fox]

[7/19] Software Special Deal of the Day: 11 App Bundle (Universal) for up to 89% Off--$49.99 Ends Today

Get eleven applications for only $49.99. Get GraphicConverter, Fetch, iWOW, GarageSale, Cocktail, ProfCast, Amadeus Pro, PhotoPresenter, Little Snitch, Intaglio and TechTool Pro! Your registrations will be available instantly after purchase (no waiting). All applications, including Little Snitch, Intaglio and TechTool Pro, are part of the bundle now because they have become unlocked. Over 13,000 bundles already sold!

Normally up to $441.82, the 11 App Bundle (Universal) is offered for $49.99 today only--that's 89% off as Today's MacUpdate Software Promo. [Bill Fox]

[7/19] Trans International's miniXpress825S Portable External Drive now Available Worldwide

The miniXpress825S, portable, rugged yet stylish cases are made with aluminum assuring durability and heat dissipation. Equipped with an anti-shock mechanism, spin down function and triple interface (SATA/F800/USB), the miniXpress825S is an ideal and versatile solution for portable external storage.

miniXpress825S is customized to give 2.5" SATA HDD users blazing SATA transfer speed and multiple interface connectivity options. The combo miniXpress825S offers a full spectrum of connectivity options with one eSATA, one USB 2.0, and two FireWire 800 ports with repeater functionality. miniXpress825S further enhances flexibility with the bundled 6-pin to 9-pin FireWire cable for connecting the miniXpress825S to the F400 port of any notebook or desktop computer.

The miniXpress825S' latest SATA to FireWire hot-pluggable and bus-powered technology allows the FireWire drive to be plugged or unplugged without turning off or restarting the computer. The drive mounts automatically when plugged in to the FireWire Port of the computer. [Bill Fox]

[7/17] Hands-On Report--The iPhone at Sea, How well does it work on a cruise?

Our Editor-in-Chief is taking some well-earned time off and enjoying a short 5-day cruise to Cabo San Lucas (Cabo) with his family. For those who do not know the west coast of Mexico, Cabo is situated at the very tip of Baja California about 700 miles south of San Diego. Once a sleepy village supporting a tuna cannery and a Bing Crosby hotel with outstanding marlin fishing, fantastic skin diving and hammerhead shark reproduction, Cabo is now a super hot spot for tourists with wild nightlife, time-share condos, golf courses and resorts. But this story is about the iPhone and how well it worked aboard the Carnival ship Elation and in Cabo.

The Elation advertises that it has wireless network for accessing the internet throughout most of the ship and an internet cafe amidships. Unfortunately, we have a forward cabin that is just out of reach of the wireless network but the Elation also has several salons within reach, like the Mark Twain Library, that for some reason remain mostly vacant and are a great place to read or write without the usual constant noisy hustle and bustle of a cruise.

Also unfortunately, internet access is quite expensive--the best deal being $24/per hour. This is fine for those who just want to keep in touch with loved ones by email but quite expensive for real work. Well, after all, everyone is supposed to be on vacation and not doing any real work, right? Mrs. Editor-in-Chief fiercely believes this but the better half is getting some pre-paid spa treatment, an admitted diversion, while this report was written and posted.

Aboard the Elation docked in San Diego, AT&T's signal was available all over the ship. San Diego seems to have a really good EDGE network because we have no problem with email and Web surfing using EDGE just about anywhere we've tried it around the county, including on the Elation. Of course, WiFi is much faster but EDGE is completely usable as we have written in other reports on our iPhone experience.

Once the Elation got outside San Diego's harbor a fair distance, the ship's cell phone network called "cellular AT SEA" took over. We placed a few calls to test the service and it worked just fine with AT&T's International Roaming enabled. We are just not sure what the charges will be nor where they will turn up but probably not on our "Sail & Sign" bill when we check out at the end of the cruise.

As we cruised down the coast of Baja we occasionally got a signal from "Mx Telco" but mostly it stayed with "cellular AT SEA." We never tried to phone with "Mx Telco" while at sea.

We signed up for the Elation's internet service to file Monday's article and discovered that we had no problem logging into our WiFi account with our iPhone as well. Opening the iPhone's Safari brought up the login page and with the iPhone in landscape position, we easily typed in our username and password. Now, we could check email anytime we wanted to on our iPhone and out of habit we did.

We discovered one unfortunate problem. We can receive email by WiFi but we are unable to send email via WiFi from our iPhone aboard the Elation. When we originally sync'd our email accounts with our computer back home at the end of June, it automatically configured our iPhone with the outgoing smtp server of our office ISP provider, Cox Communications. We have encountered this problem frequently in hotels when we travel with our MacBook Pro (and PowerBooks before it) and instead we simply use the relaying service of our Web host. But, we can not figure out how to reconfigure the the outgoing smtp server settings on our iPhone. Perhaps, it has to be done via iTunes on our computer back home but we'll keep looking.

The outgoing smtp server issue seems to affect only WiFi because we have not had this problem using EDGE.

When we anchored in Cabo's bay, we got a strong "Mx Telco" signal. Once ashore, we also got AT&T's EDGE network along with the "Mx Telco" connection. We successfully made a call via "Mx Telco" and picked up email and Web pages via EDGE. Apparently, there's EDGE and then there is EDGE. The EDGE service in Cabo was much slower than in San Diego but it worked. At a free internet hot spot in Cabo, the iPhone worked well except for the outgoing smtp server problem.

In summary, the iPhone is working well at sea, both with the ship's cellular service and the ship's WiFi, excepting the outgoing smtp server issue. It also worked well ashore in Cabo. We read a note from someone who successfully used their iPhone in Cancun so those traveling to Mexico may find adequate if not cheap service. [Bill Fox]

[7/16] Is Halo v2.0.2/2.0.1 (Universal) Faster than v2.0 on Nvidia Graphics?

The short answer is yes.

We heard from Ken Cobb of Destineer, the main developer of Halo (Universal), who was surprised that our speed tests revealed that version 2.0.2 (and v2.0.1) of Halo's Universal Binary ran more slowly than v2.0 on our 24" iMac Core 2 Duo with Nvidia GeForce 7600GT graphics. Our performance tests showed an increase of 25 percent for the ATI Radeon X1600 graphics in our MacBook Pro C2D.

He looked into why we got different results between the Nvidia and ATI graphics and discovered the reason. Our standard Halo test configuration includes enabling 2X Full Scene Anti-Aliasing (2X FSAA). In the initial release of Halo 2.0 (Universal), FSAA was not working on the Nvidia graphics in our 24" iMac Core 2 Duo but it is in versions 2.0.1 and v2.0.2 giving the appearance of a speed reduction. In fact, if we had tested without 2X FSAA enabled we would have seen a speed improvement between v2.0 and version 2.0.1/2.0.2 similar to that experienced with the ATI graphics.

Ken included in his note to us the following performance data on the 24" iMac with FSAA not enabled:

1280x960, Vertex + Pixel shaders, Medium lens flare, detail objects, all other settings at "high":

2.0 ==> 65.5 fps
2.0.2 ==> 79.6 fps

1280x960, Advanced shaders, High lens flare, detail objects, all other settings at "high":

2.0 ==> 58.7 fps
2.0.2 ==> 76.6 fps

800x600, Vertex + Pixel shaders, Medium lens flare, detail objects, all other settings at "high":

2.0 ==> 113.6 fps
2.0.2 ==> 127.2 fps

1900x1200, Vertex + Pixel shaders, Medium lens flare, detail objects, all other settings at "high":

2.0 ==> 39.4 fps
2.0.2 ==> 48.7 fps

1900x1200, Vertex + Pixel shaders, Extreme lens flare, detail objects, all other settings at "high":

2.0 ==> 36.4 fps
2.0.2 ==> 47.1 fps

The performance improvement ranges from 12 to 30 percent.

We re-ran our v2.0.2 benchmarks using our speed test settings but with FSAA turned off and got these results:

Halo 2.0.x Speed Benchmarks with and without FSAA
Computer	Halo 2.0.2 No FSAA	Halo 2.0.2 2X FSAA	Halo 2.0 No FSAA	2.0.2 vs 2.0 % Improvement

iMac C2D	110	70	94	17
MacBook Pro C2D-LED	99	86	--	--

There are several interesting results. First, the improvement of version 2.0.2 over 2.0 of Halo (Universal) with FSAA off is a middling 17 percent but it is an improvement. Second, 2X FSAA has a major effect on the frame rate of Halo 2.0.x running on the iMac's Nvidia GeForce 7600GT graphics. With 2X FSAA turned on in version 2.0.2, the iMac's frame rate drops by 36 percent (110 vs 70) and is less than the MacBook Pro's by 19 percent (70 vs 86). However, with FSAA off the iMac beats the MacBook Pro by 11 percent (110 vs 99). [Bill Fox]

[7/13] Brief Hands-On Report--Apple released Firmware Restoration CD 1.3 for Intel-based Macs

Apple released Firmware Restoration CD 1.3 for Intel-based Macs. The Firmware Restoration CD is used to restore the firmware on an Intel-based Mac if a firmware update gets interrupted or fails for some reason.

It is available for download from this Apple Web page.

We downloaded the disk image and burned it to a CD to have in case of an emergency. We did not restore our firmware. [Bill Fox]

[7/13] [Updated]Brief Hands-On Report--Apple released MacBook Pro EFI Firmware Update 1.3 for 15" 2.2/2.4GHz MacBook Pros

Apple released MacBook Pro EFI Firmware Update 1.3 for 15" 2.2/2.4GHz MacBook Pros. At publication time it was only available via Software Update. [Update: Here's the stand-alone file.]According to Apple,

This EFI Firmware update fixes a display issue on 2.2/2.4GHz 15-inch MacBook Pro models.

Note that this update requires MacBook Pro Software Update 1.0 and the newest 15" 2.2/2.4GHz MacBook Pros with LED backlit screens.

We downloaded and successfully installed the firmware update via Software Update. A shut down and power key press is needed to install it. After installation, the Mac restarted.

Unfortunately, Apple does not say what display issue was fixed and we notice no difference after installation. It does not fix the poor OpenGL performance noted in our review. [Bill Fox]

[7/13] Brief Hands-On Report--Adobe released Security Patch for Photoshop CS3 and CS2

Adobe released a security patch for Photoshop CS3 and CS2. For some reason it does not show in Adobe Updater so we downloaded the patch from this Adobe Web page.

According to Adobe,

Critical vulnerabilities have been identified in Photoshop CS2 and CS3 that could allow an attacker who successfully exploits these potential vulnerabilities to take control of the affected system. A malicious BMP, DIB, RLE, or PNG must be opened in Photoshop by the user for an attacker to exploit these potential vulnerabilities. Users are recommended to update their installations with the patches provided below, and Adobe encourages all customers to be cautious before opening any unknown file, regardless of which application they may be using.

We downloaded patcher_application.dmg and ran the AdobePatcher. It updated our copy of Adobe Photoshop Extended CS3. No issues have been noted. [Bill Fox]

[7/13] ] Software Special Deal of the Week: 7-10 App Bundle (Universal) for up to 88% Off--$49 This Week Only

Get ten applications for only $49. Get GraphicConverter, Fetch, iWOW, GarageSale, Cocktail, ProfCast, Amadeus Pro, Little Snitch, Intaglio and TechTool Pro! Your registrations will be available instantly after purchase (no waiting) but Little Snitch, Intaglio and TechTool Pro become part of the bundle only after they are unlocked.

Unlock the locks: As a community of buyers, the goal is to collectively reach 9,999 bundle sales in 9 days. With each purchase, the blue status bar moves closer, unlocking products into the bundle as you go. Finally, when 9,999 sales are reached, the top tier TechTool Pro app is unlocked.

Normally up to $433.82, the 7-10 App Bundle (Universal) is offered for $49 this week only--that's 88% off as This Week's MacUpdate Software Promo. [Bill Fox]

[7/13] TidBITS published Take Control of Running Windows on Mac

People who want to run Windows XP or Vista on a Mac have plenty of options, including Apple's Boot Camp, Parallels Desktop 3.0, newcomer VMware Fusion, and the free VirtualBox. But which to pick? The completely up-to-date Take Control of Running Windows on a Mac provides expert advice and step-by-step instructions from author Joe Kissell on choosing the best technique and software for getting Windows running on a Mac. The ebook also includes real-world advice about installing Windows, dealing with tricky peripherals, sharing files between Windows and Mac OS X, backing up a Windows installation, avoiding Windows malware, and more.

Take Control editor in chief Tonya Engst said, "This ebook has been a huge effort, given the dramatic changes in the topic over the last few weeks, but Joe has done a great job of incorporating new information up to the very last minute. No other book-length title has the latest details about virtualization on the Mac, and I'm thrilled that we've been able to make it available to readers so quickly."

Take Control of Running Windows on Mac" (TidBITS Publishing, PDF format, 148 pages, July 11, 2007) is available for $10 and it includes coupons worth $10 off Parallels Desktop 3 and $5 off any order at Small Dog Electronics. [Bill Fox]

[7/12] Brief Hands-On Report--Apple released iTunes 7.3.1

Apple released iTunes 7.3.1 and it is available for download via Software Update or from this Apple Web page. According to Apple,

iTunes 7.3.1 addresses a minor problem with iTunes 7.3 accessing the iTunes Library.

We downloaded and successfully installed iTunes 7.3.1 on a number of Macs: Mac mini Core Duo, iMac Core Duo, iMac Core 2 Duo, MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo-LED, Power Mac G4 Cube and PowerBook G4. Launching iTunes resulted in our iTunes Library being updated as might be expected. No issues were discovered in using iTunes to play songs, movies, podcasts and movie trailer videos. [Bill Fox and Dana Baggett]

[7/12] Brief Hands-On Report--Apple released QuickTime 7.2

Apple released QuickTime 7.2 and it is available for download via Software Update or from this Apple Web page. According to Apple,

QuickTime 7.2 addresses critical security issues and delivers:
- Support for full screen viewing in QuickTime Player
- Updates to the H.264 codec
- Numerous bug fixes

Here are the security details:

CVE-2007-2295--Viewing a maliciously crafted H.264 movie may lead to an
unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution--A memory corruption issue exists in QuickTime's handling of H.264 movies. By enticing a user to access a maliciously crafted H.264 movie, an attacker can trigger the issue which may lead to an unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution. This update addresses the issue by performing additional validation of QuickTime H.264 movies. Credit to Tom Ferris of
Security-Protocols.com, and Matt Slot of Ambrosia Software, Inc. for reporting this issue.

CVE-2007-2392--Viewing a maliciously crafted movie file may lead to an
unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution--A memory corruption issue exists in QuickTime's handling of movie files. By enticing a user to access a maliciously crafted movie file, an attacker can trigger the issue which may lead to an unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution. This update addresses the issue by performing additional validation of movie files. Credit to Jonathan 'Wolf' Rentzsch of Red Shed Software for reporting this issue.

CVE-2007-2296--Viewing a maliciously crafted .m4v file may lead to an
unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution--An integer overflow vulnerability exists in QuickTime's handling of .m4v files. By enticing a user to access a maliciously crafted .m4v file, an attacker can trigger the issue which may lead to an unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution. This update addresses the issue by performing additional validation of .m4v files. Credit to Tom Ferris of Security Protocols.com for reporting this issue.

CVE-2007-2394--Viewing a maliciously crafted SMIL file may lead to an
unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution--An integer overflow vulnerability exists in QuickTime's handling of SMIL files. By enticing a user to access a maliciously crafted SMIL file, an attacker can trigger the issue which may lead to an unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution. This update addresses the issue by performing additional validation of SMIL files. Credit to David Vaartjes of ITsec Security Services, working with the iDefense VCP, for reporting this issue.

CVE-2007-2397--Visiting a malicious website may lead to arbitrary code
execution--A design issue exists in QuickTime for Java, which may allow security checks to be disabled. By enticing a user to visit a web page containing a maliciously crafted Java applet, an attacker can trigger the issue which may lead to arbitrary code execution. This update addresses the issue by performing a more accurate permissions check. Credit to Adam Gowdiak for reporting this issue.

CVE-2007-2393--Visiting a malicious website may lead to arbitrary code
execution--A design issue exists in QuickTime for Java. This may allow Java applets to bypass security checks in order to read and write process memory. By enticing a user to visit a web page containing a maliciously crafted Java applet, an attacker can trigger the issue which may lead to arbitrary code execution. This update addresses the issue by performing additional validation of Java applets. Credit to Adam Gowdiak for reporting this issue.

CVE-2007-2396--Visiting a malicious website may lead to arbitrary code
execution--A design issue exists in QuickTime for Java. JDirect exposes interfaces that may allow loading arbitrary libraries and freeing arbitrary memory. By enticing a user to visit a web page containing a maliciously crafted Java applet, an attacker can trigger the issue which may lead to arbitrary code execution. This update addresses the issue by removing support for JDirect from QuickTime for Java. Credit to Adam Gowdiak for reporting this issue.

CVE-2007-2402--Visiting a malicious website may lead to the disclosure of
sensitive information--A design issue exists in QuickTime for Java, which may allow a malicious website to capture a client's screen content. By enticing a user to visit a web page containing a maliciously crafted Java applet, an attacker can trigger the issue which may lead to the disclosure of sensitive information. This update addresses the issue by performing a more accurate access control check.

We downloaded and successfully installed QuickTime 7.2 on a number of Macs: Mac mini Core Duo, iMac Core Duo, iMac Core 2 Duo, MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo-LED, Power Mac G4 Cube and PowerBook G4. We used QuickTime 7.2 to play movie files and movie trailers from the QuickTime Web site and encountered no problems. [Bill Fox & Dana Baggett]

[7/12] ] Software Special Deal of the Week: 7-10 App Bundle (Universal) for up to 88% Off--$49 This Week Only

Normally up to $433.82, the 7-10 App Bundle (Universal) is offered for $49 this week only--that's 88% off as This Week's MacUpdate Software Promo. [Bill Fox]

[7/12] Brief Hands-On Report--Microsoft released Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac 11.3.6 Update

Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac 11.3.6 Update was released and it is available via Microsoft AutoUpdate or as a stand-alone file from this Microsoft Web page. The update is for Office 2004 Standard Edition, Office 2004 Student and Teacher Edition, Office 2004 Professional Edition, Word 2004, Excel 2004, PowerPoint 2004, Entourage 2004.

According to Microsoft,

This update fixes a vulnerability that an attacker can use to overwrite the contents of your computer's memory with malicious code. This update also addresses an issue with using public folders in Entourage, and it contains the latest postal code information for Japanese addresses.

We downloaded and successfully installed Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac 11.3.6 Update on a number of Macs: iMac Core 2 Duo, MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo-LED, Power Mac G4 Cube and PowerBook G4. In brief use of the applications, we encountered no issues. [Bill Fox]

[7/12] Brief Hands-On Report--Microsoft released Microsoft Office Open XML File Format Converter for Mac 0.1.1 (Beta)

Microsoft Office Open XML File Format Converter for Mac 0.1.1 (Beta) is available for download via Microsoft AutoUpdate if you have the previous version installed. With the Office Open XML Converter, you can convert Office Open XML files to a format that is compatible with Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac and Microsoft Office v. X for Mac. You can choose to convert and open one file, or convert a large number of files.

According to Microsoft,

Important This update fixes an issue with beta expiration functionality. The issue causes the converter application to become unusable well ahead of its intended expiration date. This update is highly recommended for all users of the Microsoft Office Open XML File Format Converter for Mac 0.1 (Beta).

This version of the Office Open XML Converter can convert the following Office Open XML file formats:

Word Document (*.docx)
Word Macro-Enabled Document (*.docm)
These files are converted to Rich Text Format (RTF), which can be opened in Microsoft Word 2004 and Microsoft Word X.

The converter is still a Beta release so it might be unable to convert all the data in Office Open XML files. After you convert a file, you should review the file carefully to make sure that it contains all of the information that you expect.

The following issues are known to exist in this Beta release:

Macros and Visual Basic content are not included in the converted file.
Charts and SmartArt graphics are converted to pictures.
The following issues might occur in this Beta release:

Graphics and other objects in the document might appear with a different size.
Color fills and shading in tables might not be preserved.
Conversion might not succeed if the document contains a bibliography or citations.
Conversion might not succeed if the document contains WordArt.
Document layout and formatting might not be preserved.
Some Unicode characters might not be preserved.
Conversion might not succeed if the document contains very large pictures.
Conversion might not succeed if you use an SMB network volume as the preferred destination for converted files.
Picture bullets might not be preserved.
Fonts might be substituted.
This Beta release expires on August 15, 2007.

You must use Mac OS X 10.4.8 (Tiger) or a later version of Mac OS X, Office 2004 11.3.4 or later, or Office v. X 10.1.9 or later to open converted documents.

We downloaded and successfully installed Microsoft Office Open XML File Format Converter for Mac 0.1.1 (Beta) on our MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo--LED. It converted our few sample .docx files just fine. [Bill Fox]

[7/12] Tonight on The Tech Night Owl LIVE--iPhone, VMWare and MicroNet

Tonight, host Gene Steinberg continues coverage of the amazingly successful iPhone. Macworld's Jason Snell, who has plenty of hands-on experience, covers the good, bad and ugly elements of the iPhone.

You'll also hear from VMWare’s Pat Lee, product manager for their forthcoming Mac virtual machine software, Fusion. In addition, Joe Trupiano, director of marketing for storage device maker MicroNet, returns to talk about the new iTunes server feature on their network drives.

You can tune into the Web broadcast tonight from 6:00 to 8:00 PM Pacific, 9:00 to 11:00 PM Eastern. [Bill Fox]

[7/11] Brief Hands-On Report--Adobe released Flash Player 9.0.47.0 (Universal)

Adobe released a new version of its Flash Player v9.0.47.0 that works natively with all Mac Web browsers on PowerPC-based and Intel-based Macs. It is available for download from this Adobe Web page in Intel-based and PowerPC-based editions.

You can check to see what version you have installed from this Adobe Web page--just choose "Web Player Test" in the right sidebar under "Additional Flash Player Resources." Ignore the top box which shows the Shockwave Player which is still does not run natively on Intel-based Macs.

We downloaded and successfully installed v9.0.47.0 on a number of Macs: Mac mini Core Duo, iMac Core Duo, iMac Core 2 Duo and MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo-LED, Power Mac G4 Cube and PowerBook G4. No issues were encountered in brief use of each. [Bill Fox & Dana Baggett]

[7/11] Rumor of iPhone nano Quashed in Subsequent JPMorgan Analysts' Report

An early JPMorgan analyst report speculated that Apple hoped to release a low cost $300 iPhone "nano" based on the iPod nano by the end of this year. It was carried widely all over the Web yesterday. But subsequent JPMorgan analysts poo-poo'ed the idea in a separate report yesterday, according to CNet, cautioning that such a possibility was unlikely.

Almost everyone, including us, believes that the next iPhone iteration will be one that works on a speedier 3G network and contains additional features, possibly GPS (hope, hope). A lower cost, stripper iPhone may be in the cards but likely only when the present feature-rich and more lucrative form begins to run out of gas in the market and that probably won't be for quite some time. [Dana Baggett and Bill Fox]

[7/11] iPhoneDrive 1.0 (Universal) is Out--Use an iPhone for Portable Storage

Here's an not too unexpected trick for the iPhone, iPhoneDrive 1.0 lets you use your iPhone for storage just like a USB thumbdrive.

PhoneDrive's Mac OS X interface makes it simple to transfer files between your Mac and your iPhone. Just drag and drop files between the iPhoneDrive window and your desktop, or use the iPhoneDrive toolbar.

Features:

Simple interface.
Store any type of data.
Use your iPhone for backup.
Bring your data between home and office.

iPhoneDrive 1.0 is only $9.95 and a demo is available to try before you buy. [Bill Fox]

[7/11] ] Software Special Deal of the Week: 7-10 App Bundle (Universal) for up to 88% Off--$49 This Week Only

Normally up to $433.82, the 7-10 App Bundle (Universal) is offered for $49 this week only--that's 88% off as This Week's MacUpdate Software Promo. [Bill Fox]

[7/11] FileMaker Pro 9.0 (Universal) is Out

FileMaker, a separate Apple-owned company, released a new version of FileMaker Pro, FileMaker Advanced, FileMaker Server and FileMaker Server Advanced database software. Version 9 runs natively on Intel-based Macs and has many new features including: FileMaker Quick Start Screen, Conditional Formatting, Send Database Link Through Email, Append to PDF, Connect to External SQL Data Sources, Script Grouping and Editing Tools, Auto-Resize Layout Objects and, of course, Works with Windows Vista.

FileMaker Pro 9 is $299 ($179 upgrade), Pro 9 Advanced is $499 ($299 upgrade), Server 9 is $999 ($599 upgrade) and Server 9 Advanced is $2,499 ($1,499 upgrade). [Bill Fox]

[7/10] Lots of Web 2.0 Apps and Widgets for the iPhone Coming, Available in Beta

One of the best places to keep up on the Web 2.0 applications being developed for the iPhone is the iPhone Widget List. There are 12 pages of listings of applications (i.e. over 100) in various stages of development. One of the coolest is the MockDock that has buttons like the iPhone interface that launch other Web 2.0 iPhone applications to make their use simple.

The iPhoneDevCamp (see Friday's article) consisting of over 300 iPhone Web 2.0 application developers, designers and testers that was hosted over the weekend in San Francisco by Adobe produced some 50 iPhone applications according to CNet. More... [Bill Fox & Dana Baggett]

[7/10] Corel released Corel Painter X v10.1 (Universal) for Mac

Corel Corporation released Corel Painter X v10.1, a free update to its industry-standard Natural-Media painting and illustration software, Corel Painter X. The Corel Painter X v10.1 update can be downloaded from Corel's Web site.

"We're always looking for new ways to make our customers' experience with our software better than ever. With this new update, artists will find that Corel Painter X takes performance to the next level, offering an even more enjoyable and productive creative environment," said Nick Davies, General Manager Graphics for Corel.

For a list of Corel Painter X training materials visit the resources section of Corel's Web site. [Bill Fox]

[7/10] Software Special Deal of the Week: 7-10 App Bundle (Universal) for up to 88% Off--$49 This Week Only

Normally up to $433.82, the 7-10 App Bundle (Universal) is offered for $49 this week only--that's 88% off as This Week's MacUpdate Software Promo. [Bill Fox]

[7/10] Canadian iPhone Signup on BestBuy.ca

Here is a BestBuy.ca Web page that announces the iPhone is coming to Canada. No date is stated but one may sign up to get information from Best Buy as it develops. [Dana Baggett]

[7/10] LapWorks released Laptop Desk Futura

LapWorks today announced a fashion-forward addition to its Laptop Desk family--the Laptop Desk Futura. Like its Laptop Desk 2.0 and UltraLite siblings, the Futura's dual-purpose design provides an ergonomically-sound workspace across the lap, and folds into a wedge-shaped stand for desk use. An oval-shaped burst differentiates the chic Futura design, and it will be LapWorks' first laptop cooler to come optionally in fashion colors in the coming months. The initial units, in modernistic 'gun-metal' gray, retail for $29.95 dire