Mac news and reviews, including MacBooks, iMacs, and more

Brushing up with Brush Pilot

James Dempsey — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 10:34:00 -0700

Jay Hilgert’s Brush Pilot is a simple application that lets you preview, install, and delete brushes anywhere on your hard drive. James Dempsey takes a closer look.

Review: Xserve (2009)

Andrew T. Laurence — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 09:56:00 -0700

Apple's 2009 Xserve is that rare upgrade that delivers on all fronts: this server is undeniably faster than the previous generation, uses less power, and exudes less heat.That combination doesn’t happen very often.

Apple may be exempt from China's Web filter mandate

Owen Fletcher — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 05:11:00 -0700

Apple's computers and other that do not use Windows appear to be exempt from China's mandate to package new computers with Web filtering software.

Review: Lego Batman: The Videogame

Chris Holt — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 04:30:00 -0700

Kids will still be drawn to Lego Batman's many character cameos, mixing of Lego and Batman worlds, and silly humor.

Review: Final Draft AV 2.5

Tim Haddock — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 03:00:00 -0700

For years, documentary-style film and video makers have struggled to use jury-rigged tables within word processing programs to create the unique two-column scripts needed for planning documentaries, commercials, and corporate videos. Final Draft AV 2.5.2 aims to put a smile on those creative faces by taking over such time-consuming formatting duties so that filmmakers can focus their time where it matters—on content.

Mac News Briefs: BenVista releases PhotoZoom Pro 3 photo enlarger

Jonathan Seff — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:30:00 -0700

BenVista's PhotoZoom Pro 3 improves its interpolation algorithm for bigger enlargements and adds multi-processor support. Also, LaCie began selling its 12big Rack systems, and Art Text was updated.

Bluelounge CableDrop

Dan Frakes — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 11:52:00 -0700

Tired of losing your unconnected cables behind your desk, or trying to keep track of which cable goes where? Bluelounge's CableDrops may be the solution.

Mozilla slates first Firefox 3.5 patch

Gregg Keizer — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 10:48:00 -0700

Mozilla will patch the just-released Firefox 3.5 later this month to stamp out several bugs that went unfixed in the final version of the browser.

Can an SD card startup disk be used on any Mac?

Roman Loyola — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 10:32:00 -0700

Can an SD card startup disk be used on any Mac? Roman Loyola does a little bit of testing, and finds the answer may be yes.

Apple's Ive reveals design secrets

Simon Jary — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 10:01:00 -0700

Apple designer Jonathan Ive revealed some of his secrets this week at an appearance in London.

Create Events-based iPhoto albums featuring specific people

Rob Griffiths — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 09:34:00 -0700

Learn how to create an album in iPhoto to show all photos from all events that contain at least one photo of a selected person.

Review: Final Draft 8

Tim Haddock — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 03:00:00 -0700

Final Draft 8 is simpler than ever for beginning users; subtle feature fixes, bountiful script templates, and top-notch support for the production rewrite process ensure that an aspiring A-list writer won’t quickly outgrow the software.

Mac News Briefs: Omni Group releases OmniGraphSketcher

Macworld Staff — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 16:37:00 -0700

The Omni Group on Wednesday released OmniGraphSketcher, a new graph creation tool. There were also updates to iPod Access, Cocktail, and Mystical Tint Tone and Color.

Cataloging Mail by date

Christopher Breen — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 13:51:00 -0700

If you miss Entourage's Saved Searches when you move to Apple's Mail, put Mail's smart mailboxes to good use.

Google revamps Gmail labels feature for organizing messages

Juan Carlos Perez — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 10:56:00 -0700

Google will roll out a set of changes to the labels functionality in Gmail to make it easier for people to organize their e-mail messages.

First Look: Firefox 3.5

Rob Griffiths — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 10:45:00 -0700

What's new and improved in Firefox 3.5? Here's a look at some of the more interesting new features and enhancements in Mozilla's latest release.

Ambrosia releases Soundboard

Peter Cohen — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 10:15:00 -0700

Soundboard is a new audio utility from Ambrosia Software similar to a "cart machine" -- it's a sound loop app for live performances.

All about laptops

Christopher Breen — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 09:58:00 -0700

Macworld editorial director Jason Snell and senior editor Dan Frakes join Christopher Breen to talk laptops—Apple-branded MacBooks as well as anything-but-Apple HackBooks.

Macally intros wireless accessories and eco laptop stands

Dan Frakes — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 08:58:00 -0700

Macally has announced a line of new Mac accessories that include Bluetooth and RF wireless input devices as well as "eco-conscious" bamboo notebook stands.

Apple releases minor MobileMe Web service updates

David Chartier — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 08:27:00 -0700

Apple has tweaked and enhanced a number of the features in its MobileMe Web services, bringing, among other things, new capabilities for iPhone 3GS users.

Cooliris even cooler

Christopher Breen — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 15:04:00 -0700

Cooliris, the visually-compelling browser plug-in, now supports tabbed windows and sharable URLs.

Mac News Briefs: wineCellar 2.0 adds cloud support for mobile access

Macworld Staff — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 14:42:00 -0700

The new version of Cadent Computing's wineCellar software adds Cadent Cloud for mobile access. Other programs updated include Typinator, Clipstart, and Dictate.

iPhoto 8.0.4 fixes crashing bug, corrects location names

Jonathan Seff — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 13:30:00 -0700

A minor update to iPhoto '09 fixes a rare crashing bug, and corrects references to a few points of interest and location names that were labeled incorrectly.

Repair incorrect icon associations

Rob Griffiths — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 10:54:00 -0700

Are the icons for certain file types incorrect on your machine -- zip files appearing as disk image files, for instance? If so, this hint will help you quickly fix the problem.

Firefox 3.5 officially hits the streets

Dan Moren — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 09:52:00 -0700

The latest update to Mozilla's free Web browser, Firefox 3.5, was released on Tuesday, bringing much-improved performance and new features.

Maine expands MacBook program to high schools

Peter Cohen — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 07:22:00 -0700

The state of Maine is expanding its successful laptop program from middle schoolers to high schoolers.

GemFest 2009: All-time favorite affordable software

Roman Loyola — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 05:01:00 -0700

As a grand finale to GemFest 2009, here’s a list of some of our all-time favorite Mac Gems.

Kace to boost Mac features in systems management appliances

Philip Michaels — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 16:36:00 -0700

The company plans to introduce changes to its family of Kbox appliances this summer that will let IT administrators manage Windows and Mac OS X machines from a single interface on a single appliance.

Apple releases MacBook Air firmware update

Jason Snell — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 15:20:00 -0700

On Monday Apple released an SMC firmware update for MacBook Air models.

Mac News Briefs: Mimio Studio 6 now available to Mac users

Macworld Staff — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 14:55:00 -0700

Mimio Studio 6, now available on the Mac, adds multimedia support and makes additional improvements. Other programs updated Monday include Today and Letter Opener.

Hands on with Plex, an alternative to Apple’s Front Row

Aayush Arya — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 14:13:00 -0700

Plex is a media center for Mac OS X that’s capable of cataloguing and playing back every major video format out there, and it works admirably with the Apple Remote to boot.

Apple CEO Jobs officially returns to work

Agam Shah — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 13:11:00 -0700

After close to a six-month absence, Apple CEO Steve Jobs is officially back to work.

Mozilla sets Firefox 3.5 final release for Tuesday

Gregg Keizer — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 12:09:00 -0700

Mozilla plans to ship Firefox 3.5 on Tuesday, bringing the long-awaited upgrade in under its own deadline wire.

Mac 911 Lightning Round

Christopher Breen — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 10:39:00 -0700

Quick answers to short questions.

Apple executive Borchers departs company

Dan Moren — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 09:33:00 -0700

Apple senior director of worldwide iPhone product marketing Bob Borchers has left the company to take a job with a venture capital firm.

‘Quicky Jr. II’ USB antenna triples laptop range

Peter Cohen — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 08:10:00 -0700

The Quicky Jr. II is a new USB device that purportedly triples the wireless networking range of a Mac laptop.

Another day, another HackBook

Dan Frakes — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 06:35:00 -0700

Dan Frakes is the latest Macworld editor to try out a netbook running OS X. While his experience has been good, it's also made him even more convinced that Apple will never go the netbook route.

Plex media center software competes with Front Row

Aayush Arya — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 05:01:00 -0700

If you have an even moderately large media library and like the idea of having everything neatly catalogued and readily available at the press of a button, or if you simply like watching high-definition movies, then you should try Plex.

Review: EVE Online: Apocrypha

Peter Cohen — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 04:29:00 -0700

if you’re willing to invest the time and effort to get the most out of this incredibly deep and intricate game, you’ll be hard pressed to find a more rewarding experience.

Review: ShoveBox 1.7

Jeffery Battersby — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 03:00:00 -0700

ShoveBox 1.7 provides a simple, intuitive way to organize a variety of information without becoming burdensome.

SousChef: iTunes-like recipe organizer

Jackie Dove — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 05:01:00 -0700

SousChef is a recipe organizer with an iTunes-RSS feed sensibility that can help you get your meal off to a good start.

Cooliris helps showcase photos and videos

Kris Fong — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 05:01:00 -0700

Cooliris is a super-handy browser plug-in that lets you scope out images and video content in a unique way, displaying everything in a full-screen, horizontally expanded, interactive 3-D “wall” view.

News: Toon Boom Studio 5 released

Jackie Dove — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 12:53:00 -0700

Toon Boom Animation has rebranded its animation application as an educational tool for multi-technique animation. It's also added a stop-motion animation feature to version 5.

Study: Apple leads in phone-based tech support

Peter Cohen — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 12:25:00 -0700

Vocalabs reports that Apple leads HP and Dell in telephone-based tech support

Change color of BBEdit and TextWrangler 'invisibles' characters

Rob Griffiths — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 10:35:00 -0700

Learn how to change the color of the special characters that BBEdit and TextWrangler use to display invisible characters, such as tabs and line breaks.

Create an SD card startup disk for the new MacBook Pros

Roman Loyola — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 10:08:00 -0700

In this video, senior editor Roman Loyola will show you how to create an SD card startup disk for the 13- and 15-inch MacBook Pros.

The Macalope Weekly: Hold the liver

The Macalope — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 09:58:00 -0700

Forget 2012, the iPhone is going to single-handedly destroy the world. Well, if netbooks don't get to it first. And Apple reiterates its stance on naughty, naughty iPhone app content.

Buffett says Jobs's transplant is 'material fact'

Dan Moren — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 08:16:00 -0700

In an interview, billionaire Warren Buffett said that he believed Steve Jobs's recent medical condition should have been disclosed to investors.

VideoDrive makes video file conversions easy

Jeff Carlson — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 05:01:00 -0700

VideoDrive aims to make video conversions easy.

Review: Caboodle 1.3

Nathan Alderman — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 03:00:00 -0700

Caboodle 1.3 is less expensive than many rivals, but offers fewer features and less polish along with its lower price tag.