Expert Reviews on Macs, iPhones and iPods

AudialHub 1.07

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 09:52:00 -0700

Looking for an easy way to convert audio files? The folks who brought us the excellent VisualHub have applied their considerable conversion talents to the field of audio with AudialHub.

Review: JVC Everio GZ-HD5 HD camcorder

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 09:14:00 -0700

JVC’s Everio GZ-HD5 is a digital camcorder that uses three charge-coupled devices (CCDs) to record high-definition video to its built-in 60GB hard drive. The quality of the video captured on the GZ-HD5 was decent (though we’ve seen better), and the quirky methods necessary to transfer the video to your Mac are far from elegant.

Review: KidsGoGoGo 12.6

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 07:50:00 -0700

KidsGoGoGo is a parental control and Internet filtering program that can block Web access as well as allow you to set time restrictions on Web browsers and applications. It has a few features that complement Mac OS X 10.5’s Parental Controls. But its outdated interface, odd feature execution, and a general feeling of inattentiveness from the developer detract from its usefulness.

Review: BeatMaker for iPhone

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 02:38:00 -0700

This application from Intua is no stripped-down mobile app. The music maker boasts a number of remarkable features that make it quite unlike any other iPhone app, though it remains a work in progress.

Review: Unit conversion apps for the iPhone

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 11:59:00 -0700

The App Store offers plenty of unit-conversion programs for your iPhone or iPod touch. Which one should you pick? The decision comes down to the app’s interface—whether it’s simple to use and navigate or too cumbersome.

Chess Classics for iPhone

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 06:35:00 -0700

Gameloft doesn’t just give you chess but also backgammon in this game for the iPhone and iPod touch. The game makes up for interface problems and unimpressive graphics by offering you many different options.

Review: ContentBarrier X4

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 05:35:00 -0700

With ContentBarrier X4, you can set up user restrictions for Internet access, block Web sites, limit instant messaging, and maintain activity logs to get an idea of what people are doing.

Stay-at-home mobile accessories

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 13:02:00 -0700

Most laptop gear is designed to enhance your mobile life, but what about all those hours you spend using your portable at home? Today’s Mobile Mac takes a look at a couple laptop accessories for your humble abode.

Review: Epocrates Rx for iPhone

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 12:20:00 -0700

After letting Windows Mobile and Palm OS users access therapeutic data on their handheld devices, Epocrates brings its extensive drug database to iPhone users.

Review: Secret keeper apps for the iPhone

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 03:43:00 -0700

Several programs for the iPhone and iPod touch are designed to help you keep your confidential data confidential. Rob Griffiths focuses on three contenders—LockBox, eWallet, and SplashID.

Review: Todo 1.1.1 for iPhone and iPod touch

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 00:45:00 -0700

Todo occupies an appealing middle ground between simple to-do-list trackers and complex project-management apps.

Review: MotionX Poker for iPhone

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 10:23:00 -0700

This hybrid of poker and Yahtzee makes use of the accelerometer in your iPhone or iPod touch to create a game that’s beguilingly addicting.

Wrapping up the Summer of Mac Gems ’08

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 15:29:00 -0700

The Summer of Mac Gems series started back in June and ended 43 programs later. Our regular, twice-a-week Mac Gems column will resume next week. Until then, we have three promising prospects you can try.

Review: Labyrinth for iPhone

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 15:02:00 -0700

Using some simple but effective graphics and the iPhone’s accelerometer, this mobile version of the classic trap game is fabulous fun.

Simple Comic 1.6.1

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 03:50:00 -0700

A simple program for reading comic books saved in PDF, CBR, and CBZ formats.

Review: Google Mobile App for iPhone

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 00:33:00 -0700

Searching is Google’s bread and butter, which is readily apparent when you use this search tool for the iPhone.

Review: TubeStick Hybrid USB TV tuner

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 04:39:00 -0700

If you want to watch TV on your Mac, the TubeStick Hybrid, Equinux’s USB TV Tuner, may just be the ticket. It’s easy to use, delivers a surprising volume of high-quality standard- and high-definition channels, and is reasonably priced. However, those great features are somewhat diminished by a variety of distracting performance issues.

Black Ink 1.1.2

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 03:50:00 -0700

Black Ink has some quirks-it doesn't remember custom interface sizes between puzzles or relaunches, and there's no way to enter an unlock code for New York Times puzzles.

MacBook Air shells and sleeves

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 14:44:00 -0700

Dan Frakes takes a look at thin protection for the MacBook Air, in the form of form-fitting sleeves and hard-shell covers.

Review: OfficeJet J4680 All-in-One

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 08:08:00 -0700

For $130, you might not be surprised to find print, scan, and copy capabilities in HP’s OfficeJet J4680 multifunction ink-jet printer. But the J460 also has a built-in fax machine, wireless connectivity, and a 20-sheet auto document feeder.

Review: MLB.com At Bat for iPhone

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 05:45:00 -0700

MLB.com At Bat allows baseball fans to get live scores, including a line score and current game status information, and watch video highlights just a few minutes after the events occur, while the game’s going on. And if you’re a baseball fan, it’s worth every penny.

Review: Photoshop Lightroom 2.0

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 04:18:00 -0700

With Photoshop Lightroom 2.0, Adobe has smartly upgraded an already-strong product. But what’s most impressive about the update is how smoothly it works with you to organize and edit your photos; by focusing on improving the little things, Adobe has made an already good program even more usable.

TypeCast 1.0b

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 03:50:00 -0700

Get your videos and audios in podcast form without actually having a podcast. It's all in a free utility from Red Sweater Software.

Review Roundup: The iCal challenge

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 12:20:00 -0700

While the calendar-oriented person can’t be in two places at once, the task-oriented person could well be working on three (or 13) projects simultaneously. For the task-oriented person, 80 percent of success is managing competing demands on time, and you may need more power and flexibility than iCal’s to-do list provides.

Review: Zenbe Lists 1.2 for iPhone and iPod touch

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 10:58:00 -0700

Zenbe Lists provides an easy-to-use solution for tracking multiple lists of items, but its killer features are online sharing and editing.

Review: SlimBlade Media Mouse

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 04:58:00 -0700

Kensington's SlimBlade Media Mouse is great if you're looking for media control and sleek design in addition to basic mouse functions. The lightweight, slim body is great for travelers.

TubeTV 1.0

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 03:50:00 -0700

Just enter the URL of the YouTube video into TubeTV and click on the "Download movie" button, and TubeTV saves the video to your Mac.

Review: Facebook 1.1 for iPhone

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 14:15:00 -0700

Facebook boasts 90 million active users—the company's iPhone app lets you stay in touch with your little subset.

Review: PersonalBrain Pro 4.5

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 04:57:00 -0700

While there are plenty of outliners, Getting Things Done, and project management programs for the Mac, PersonalBrain 4.5 gives you a powerful, innovative non-linear knowledge-management tool.

PodWorks 2.9.3

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 03:50:00 -0700

PodWorks’ job is to copy your iTunes library from your iPod to your Mac.

Review: Meal Splitter v2 for iPhone

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 10:31:00 -0700

Looking for a simple app for figuring out how to split your restaurant bill? Meal Splitter’s appearance won’t win any awards, but it works well.

Review: CrossOver Mac Professional 7

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 04:47:00 -0700

Codeweavers CrossOver Mac Professional 7.0.2 uses just the Windows application programming interface (API) to run Windows apps on your Mac, without the Windows OS. It's an ingenious idea for a program that can save time and costs less than buying a separate copy of Windows. But CrossOver supports only a handful of commercial applications.

Review: Firefox 3.0

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 04:30:00 -0700

Powerful and polished, Firefox 3 improves on its predecessor in nearly every respect. However, users may not get all of the dramatic speed boosts promised.

Join Together 5.2

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 03:50:00 -0700

This AppleScript Studio application can take tracks you’ve imported from a playlist in your iTunes library and, as the name suggests, join them into a single AAC-encoded file.

Review: Teleport for iPhone

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 13:02:00 -0700

Teleport is an expensive but full-featured application to view and control other Macs and Windows machines on your network.

Review: NetTrekker educational search engine

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 04:33:00 -0700

If your child spends many hours on the Internet researching his or her homework, a yearly subscription to NetTrekker will prove to be an affordable, efficient, and trustworthy aid.

Transmission 1.22

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 03:50:00 -0700

BitTorrent has become the peer-to-peer protocol of choice for transferring large files quickly. There are plenty of clients for OS X, but Transmission Project’s Transmission 1.22 has a lot of things going for it.

Review: iPhone Twitter apps

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 15:02:00 -0700

There are several promising iPhone clients for the Twitter messaging service. Jason Snell takes a look at three of them.

iPhone and iPod case roundup: nanos and iPhones, oh my

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 13:00:00 -0700

We know that what you really hunger for are iPod and iPhone cases, so join us for this week's roundup as we look at three models.

Review: Mocha VNC and Mocha VNC Lite for iPhone

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 09:57:00 -0700

Control the screen of networked Macs, Windows, and Linux machines on your iPhone or iPod touch.

Review: QuarkXPress 8

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 09:00:00 -0700

QuarkXPress 8 marks a major change to the user interface of the venerable page-layout and design program for the Mac. At the same time, version 8 offers very little in the way of new features, thus making the interface change its hallmark.

TransformMovie 1.1

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 03:50:00 -0700

Ever record a video on your point-and-shoot camera while holding the camera in portrait mode? Your recorded videos are still in landscape mode, so your videos are tilted sideways. To rotate your videos to the proper position, consider TransformMovie 1.1.

Levelator 1.4

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 03:50:00 -0700

If you produce podcasts, use the Levelator instead of spending your day endlessly adjusting volume curves.

Review: Tetris for iPhone

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 12:27:00 -0700

Tetris is one of the most esteemed casual games in history. Unfortunately, this version for the iPhone and iPod touch is too buggy to enjoy.

Review: Flip Mino portable camcorder

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 05:00:00 -0700

Although the video quality produced by the Flip Mino is anything but pristine, this affordable and useful camera—with its go-anywhere, shirt-pocket convenience and simple operation—could turn out to be one of your favorite gadgets.

SoundSource 2.0

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 03:50:00 -0700

This simple utility adds a menu-bar item that lists all available Input, Output, and System audio options.

Review: Golf scoring applications for iPhone

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 12:48:00 -0700

There are quite a few golf scoring apps available in the App Store. Which are worth your hard-earned cash?

Review: USB microphones

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 09:47:00 -0700

Looking for a simple way to connect a microphone to your computer? Christopher Breen reviews four plug-and-play USB mics for podcasters and musicians.

SonicMood 4.8

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 03:50:00 -0700

SonicMood is an ambient-sound generator that plays a combination of moody synthesized instruments and digitized nature sounds.

Review: TripLog/1040 for iPhone

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 14:32:00 -0700

Stevens Creek Software's TripLog/1040 can help you keep track of your tax-deductible mileage. If, that is, you can master its clunky, unintuitive interface.