We have finally moved!

Yes the moved of our editorial office is done. The new place is great and almost entirely set-up.
We are looking forward to resume publication of the Digital Dispatch the first week of may with a great Spring Special double issue aimed at the
Home and mobile workers.

Stone Studio - More Features, Free Upgrades!

Stone Studio - More Features, Free Upgrades!
PStill® 3.3.3 & Create® 11.4.1 Ship


Stone Design, the oldest and original Mac OS X software house, today announced immediate availability of new versions of Stone Studio which take full advantage of new features in Panther. Stone Studio includes Create® - the three in one illustration, page layout and web authoring application - and PStill™ - the complete distillery which converts PS to PDF, combines files, shrinks PDF and much more. These are available for download individually or as part of the Stone Studio™, the flagship suite of applications designed from the ground up in Cocoa to take advantage of Mac OS X. There is no upgrade charge for current users of any Stone Studio application or StampInStone following the Stone philosophy of “Free Upgrades For Life!” Try the applications out for 30 days free.

According to CEO Andrew Stone, “If you think there is no difference between legacy MacOS 9 ported apps (Carbon applications) and native Cocoa apps like the Stone Studio and Apple’s Panther apps like KeyNote, Mail, TextEdit - think different! Just see how fast you can build a website by dragging and dropping from Safari into Create®! This is not your Daddy’s Mac! It’s our fourth year of shipping free upgrades for our customers, and our 16th year working with the original Mac OS X technology - aka NeXTStep”

This release features Create® 11.4.1, Stone Design’s drawing, page layout, and web page authoring application. This version allows you to instantly create PDF of any graphics which not only contain the industry standard Portable Document Format for use in any other Mac OS X program, but also embeds the native Create® format invisibly in the PDF. This means you can simply drop the PDF back into Create to obtain the fully editable original graphics.

Adobe Premiere Pro Redefines the Economics of High Definition Video Production at NAB

Adobe Advances Its Desktop Video Platform by Demonstrating Powerful HD Post-Production Tools With Industry Innovators


Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today announced it will demonstrate Adobe(R) Premiere(R) Pro with high definition (HD) video solutions during the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) event in Las Vegas from April 19-22. BOXX Technologies, Matrox, Canopus, Cineform, Bluefish, Black Magic, and 1 Beyond are among the companies showing new HD solutions based on Adobe Premiere Pro, at the Adobe booth (# SL4730) and throughout the show floor. The wide range of HD solutions available with Adobe Premiere Pro -- from HDV to uncompressed 1080i -- enables users to select a solution to fit their needs. Adobe Premiere Pro-based HD systems can be configured for as little as US$5000, significantly changing the economics of delivering HD content.

REAL issues call for entries for REALbasic Showcase

REAL Software today announced that it is accepting software entries for the Made with REALbasic Showcase.

Memory on the Rise

The price of your typical RAM chip is about to hit the roof. According to ZDNet, "The price of memory chips is rising at its fastest rate in more than four years due to an unexpected global shortage." So far, the price rise has been over 70%. ZDNet is assuming that this price increase could be due to difficulty with the new production technology, and the fact that many companies are beginning to make other memory types (flash cards, etc.).

Apple's second quarter unit sales; Great!

Apple on Wednesday offered results for the second quarter of its fiscal year 2004. The company posted a US$46 million profit on more than $1.9 billion in total revenue, moving 749,000 computers in the process.

Maya maker Alias to break away from SGI

Alias, makers of the Maya 3D rendering and animation software, is breaking away from long-time owner Silicon Graphics Inc. (SGI). Alias is being acquired by private equity firm Accel-KKR with participation from Alias' own management

Apple Final Cut Express 2.0.3 Available up date

Apple Final Cut Express 2.0.3 is Apple's reduced-set video editing tool. This update fixes an issue with some cameras caused by conflicts between timecode breaks and dropped frames, resulting in incomplete capture. It also improves QuickTime movie export when there is blank video in a sequence.

Rumours:Apple PowerBook and iBook Updates - Next Week?

Appleinsider reports that according to reliable sources, both iBooks and PowerBooks will see upgrades next week.

All in all, eight new laptop configurations are expected with two new 12" PowerBooks, two 15" PowerBooks, and a single updated 17" PowerBook (G4). Also expected are two 14" iBook and one 12" iBook revisions.

While Apple is having a media event on Sunday, April 18th, the Portable updates aren't expected until Monday, April 19th, according to Appleinsider.

Apple Moves iPod mini Worldwide Availability to July

According to Apple own press release.

Norton Utilities, SystemWorks development halted

Symantec has halted development of future Mac versions of Norton Utilities and Norton SystemWorks
The move was reportedly a strategic decision independent of the products' success on the platform. Symantec has said it will continue to develop new Mac versions of Norton AntiVirus, Norton Internet Security, and Norton Personal Firewall. According to AppleInsider, which broke the story Monday, Symantec has also stopped development of Windows versions of Norton Utilities and Norton SystemWorks.

New product offers CD, DVD scratch protection

New product offers CD, DVD scratch protection

ProLine, a producer of accessories and media packaging for the computer and home entertainment environments, has rolled out Disc Guard 2, an invisible disc coating that the company claims makes the data side of all disc formats more scratch resistant.

Public beta of Web Confidential 3.7 available

Alco Blom has announced the release Web Confidential 3.7b4, the first public beta release of his password manager that features 448-bit encryption, HTTP and Web Form automation, Palm synchronization, and more

iPod mini delays cause Apple to offer free upgrades

According to MacSlash, Apple is offering customers waiting on an iPod mini the opportunity to upgrade to a 15GB iPod at no extra charge...Time to order!

SubRosaSoft ships MP3Restore

From our friends "down Under" at SubRosaSoft today announced the availability of MP3Restore 1.0, an easy-to-use utility designed to recover music files that have been deleted intentionally or accidentally from a portable MP3 player or hard disk.

Intego Exaggerated the Trojan

An article over at Wired states that Intego has blown this whole Trojan problem out of proportion. According to experts, The Trojan (mentioned here and here) "...isn't a working piece of malicious code and can't easily be spread to other computers. Instead, it is a demonstration of a possible threat." In response, Intego has apparently changed their story from that of attacking an imminent threat to preparing for a future threat.

"It is a benign proof of concept that was posted to a newsgroup. It isn't in the wild, and can't be spread in the wild. It's a non-issue."

Intego discovers first Mac OS X Trojan Horse: MP3Concept

Intego, the Macintosh security specialist, has just released updated virus definitions for Intego VirusBarrier to protect Mac users against the first Trojan horse that affects Mac OS X. This Trojan horse, MP3Concept (MP3Virus.Gen), exploits a weakness in Mac OS X where applications can appear to be other types of files.

Apple reponds to Trojan Horse threat

Apple has responded to the Trojan Horse security advisory issued by Intego on Thursday. "We are aware of the potential issue identified by Intego and are working proactively to investigate it," Apple said in a statement. "While no operating system can be completely secure from all threats, Apple has an excellent track record of identifying and rapidly correcting potential vulnerabilities."

Intego has also posted a Q&A page, which includes some misinformation.

O'Reilly Open Source Convention registration opens

O'Reilly & Associates on Monday noted the opening of registration for the O'Reilly Open Source Convention (OSCON), returning to Portland, Ore. from July 26 - 30, 2004. The event highlights both strategic and technical issues related to the use of open source software. Apple Developer Connection (ADC) is listed as a Platinum Sponsor of the event.

Aurora introduces PipeSDI video editing card

At NAB 2004, IgniterX video capture card maker Aurora Video Systems released the PipeSDI video capture and editing card. The card is designed to support Final Cut Pro RT Extreme architecture, and features 10-bit SDI input and output with up to eight channels of embedded audio.

Aspyr ships Command & Conquer Generals

Aspyr Media Inc. announced Monday that its Mac conversion of Electronic Arts' hit game Command & Conquer Generals is now shipping. Great game not to be missed.

OpenOSX offers free 'TrojanDefuser' app

In the wake of last week's announcements regarding the appearance of a Trojan Horse-style application that could potentially be used to infect a Mac OS X-based system, OpenOSX has released TrojanDefuser, a free application that provides drag-and-drop disinfection of potentially vulnerable files. You can download it from the OpenOSX Web site now.

QuickerTek adds new AirPort boost: Super Cantenna

QuickerTek announced the release of the company's new Super Cantenna, which was created through a partnership with Wireless Garden. It's a 12dbi 2.4GHz directional antenna that improves your wireless network's range when connected to a Mac or an AirPort or AirPort Extreme base station.

Keyspan USB Server adds USB devices to a network

Keyspan is now shipping its USB Server, a device that allows you to add USB printers, scanners, and HID devices to a network, making them accessible by any Mac connected to it.Great Stuff!

Apple updates the eMac with faster speed, lower price

Apple updated its consumer-level all-in-one eMac computer. The new eMac sports a faster processor a 1.25GHz PowerPC G4, faster memory, 333MHz DDR RAM, faster ATI Radeon graphics ; the Radeon 9200 graphics chip, and USB 2.0 connectivity.

Virtual Grand Prix 2 ships

Virtual Programming Ltd. on Tuesday announced that it is shipping Virtual Grand Prix 2, an open-wheel auto racing game for the Mac. Virtual Grand Prix 2 features real-time lighting, shadow, translucency and reflection effects; "pit-radio" digitized speech; adjustable specs like wing angle, gearbox, tires, suspension, differential, ballast and more; an arcade mode for beginners; support for force-feedback game controllers; network-based multiplayer support and more. The game includes 20 cars, 15 tracks, a track editing tool and a manual that includes a "Techniques" section written by Italian race car driver E. Colombo.

Pod Shield protects iPod from scratches

Trendy Geek introduced the Pod Shield, designed to protect your iPod from scratches, dirt and fingernails. The Pod Shield is made from a thin, transparent material that clings using static (instead of adhesive) to the front and back of your iPod. One size fits all iPods, old or new, although Trendy Geek notes that it's optimized for third-generation models. Each Pod Shield can be removed and re-applied.

Apple investigates iPod mini audio problems

Apple Computer Inc. said on Tuesday that they are investigating reports from users of static and sound distortion in the company's diminutive iPod mini.

Nvidia launches GeForce 6 series graphics chip

Graphics chip maker Nvidia Corp. launched the GeForce 6800 series, its newest flagship graphics chip aimed at high-performance desktop computers. The new chips promise better performance and newer capabilities for gamers and others looking for the smoothest, most realistic 3D graphics.