Program of the Week: VueScan 8.0.11

VueScan 8.0.11

About VueScan
A program that works with most scanners to produce high-quality scans that have excellent color fidelity. It takes advantage of the advanced hardware capabilities of most scanners on the market today, and helps you do batch scanning while at the same time producing color-balanced and cropped images.

This is the best program of it's kind. Can revive a older scanner under os X.
Support fo a long (and ever evolving) list of Sacnners. Fanatical support.
People behind the product have been at it for years now.
Solid, Solid, Solid!

Higly recommanded
We give it a 4.5 * out of 5
Making it our program of the week

Full review expected in a up comming issue of the Digital Dispatch

Motorola and Apple Bring iTunes Music Player

Motorola and Apple Bring iTunes Music Player to Motorola’s Next-Generation Mobile Phones.
More details to come.

ALLUME SYSTEMS AND CURIOUS LABS PARTNER TO DISTRIBUTE POSER WINDOWS AND MAC IN NORTH AMERICAN RESELLER CHANNELS

Allume to Offer Poser 5 and Poser Artist to US and Canadian Distributors,
For Increased Availability and More Dynamic offerings to Consumers

Allume Systems, previously Aladdin Systems, an IMSI company (OTC BB: IMSI), today announced an agreement with Curious Labs to offer Poser 5(tm) and Poser Artist(tm) software through its US and Canadian distribution channels to further expand Curious Labs resale channels.

Poser 5 and Poser Artist, published by Curious Labs, is the ultimate 3D-character design and animation tool for artists and animators. Allume Systems develops and publishes popular software products like: StuffIt(r), Internet Cleanup(tm), SpamCatcher(tm) and Spring Cleaning(r).

"Poser fits nicely with Allume and IMSI's growth into the graphics market," said Mark Leitch, VP of Sales at Allume Systems. "Allume has well-established partnerships with the North American distributors, and this partnership increases availability of Poser titles and future Curious Labs products to graphics professionals and hobbyists from their favorite reseller."

"Allume Systems has more than 15 years of establishment through its distribution partnerships," said Katherine Howard, VP of Curious Labs. "Adding this partnership to its domestic channel for the Poser line and future products is a perfect fit."

Pricing, Availability, and Requirements
The ASP for Poser is $199.99 and Poser Artist is $99.99. Resellers can now order both products from distributors- Ingram Micro, Navarre and Visco in the US, and EMJ and Hip Interactive in Canada. Poser is available for both Windows and Mac users.

MacMice Announces GarageKey USB-MIDI Keyboard

The GarageKey USB-MIDI keyboard is the only keyboard on the market designed exclusively for use by Apple computer users desiring to have a small, elegantly styled keyboard for experimenting with Apple's popular GarageBand software. The GarageKey has 37 full-size, professional quality, velocity sensitive keys. It has octave up and down buttons discretely placed on the rear panel. And, it is plug and play compliant with OS X USB-MIDI. It's clear acrylic over bright white styling, and its bright white keys, are made to precisely match Apple's desktop styling.

Availability will begin in October, with an MSRP of $129.99. Information and a request for notification form are now available on the MacMice web site. ( http://www.macmice.com/garagekey.html )

MacMice Announces New Name: DVForge, Inc.

Today, DVForge, Inc. announces its new name and the appointment of two new Directors.

DVForge, Inc. is the new name of MacMice, Inc. Going forward, MacMice will remain as one of several product lines and brand names under the ownership and management of DVForge, Inc. According to DVForge, Inc. Marketing Manager, Chuck Leonard, "We have realized that our range of new products and new product line brand names will quickly reach well past the scope that could be offered credibly under only the MacMice name. This company name change to DVForge, Inc. will much better serve as the umbrella name under which all of the company's future digital ventures can be marketed."

Additionally, DVForge, Inc. has named two new Directors to its board. Karim Salemohamed is founder and President of Atlantia, Inc. one of Canada's premier technology products distributors. Sam Levin is President of Sam Levin Consulting, and is a 20-year veteran marketing and management consultant in the Apple products channel. "As DVForge, Inc. expands both its product offerings and distribution channels over the next year," said Drew Sowell, Director, "we believe that we will have much stronger strategic management and direction with these two very experienced men serving on our board."

All MacMice, Inc. vendors, suppliers, and business partners are asked to update their records to indicate the new company name, starting today. Anyone with questions about the company name change is asked to contact the company's Manager, Business and Finance, Earline Shackleford at earline@dvforge.com.

Hardware of the Week: Keyspan updates USB server software

Keyspan announced today that it has released a software upgrade for its USB Server that connects USB devices to a Mac or PC via a wired or wireless Ethernet-based LAN. The 1.1 software update offers broader device compatibility as well as a more convenient user interface that
Provides automatic connection and disconnection to printers from Windows clients
Adds a System Tray Icon for easy access to USB devices on Windows clients
Adds support for compound devices (USB devices with embedded hubs)
Adds UI improvements (device and server ordering).

We love this hardware; it's plug and play smart, does what it said and does it with speed and style.
Availability is good and this solution will put a end at the nightmare of sharing USB devices over a small LAN.

Well worth the price, highly recommanded.
We give it a 4 and 1/2 * out of five
Making it our Hardware product of the week.

Full review can be found in our up comming End of Summer issue of The Digital Dispatch

Online petition started in hopes of bringing PalmDesktop back to the Mac

A Palm Infocenter report details how a group of disgruntled Palm users has started a petition to bring Mac compatibility and Palm Desktop back after February's announcement by PalmSource that they would no longer offer a native synchronization and a desktop client for the Mac OS for the next generation Palm OS Cobalt operating system.

LoadPod invades Canada

LoadPod, the service that loads your CD collection into your iPod so that you don't have to, is now bringing local service in the following Canadian cities:

- Toronto (Ontario)

- Montreal (Quebec)

- Edmonton and Calgary (Alberta)

The LoadPod network now includes thirty-five States and three Provinces, including major metropolitan areas such as New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Seattle, Boston, Atlanta, Miami, Phoenix, Nashville.

Steve Jobs doing well after cancer surgery

Apple Computer Inc. Chief Executive Steve Jobs has had successful surgery for a rare form of pancreatic cancer, the company's co-founder told employees in a company-wide e-mail on Sunday that was made available to Reuters.

O'Reilly intros Pogue's 'GarageBand: The Missing Manual'

Technical book publisher O'Reilly has released the latest entry in David Pogue's "Missing Manual" series: "GarageBand: The Missing Manual," which covers version 1.1 of Apple's songwriting application. The 304-page, US$19.95 book discusses both ways GarageBand creates music -- digital or MIDI recordings -- and digs deep into the software to reveal hacks, shortcuts and tricks. A former Broadway conductor and composer, Pogue even offers tips on writing and orchestrating songs, as well as how to make your own Apple Loops for use with the software

Apple posts iPhoto 4.0.3 update

On Monday Apple released iPhoto 4.0.2, an update to its digital photo cataloging, sorting and outputting software. Later the company pulled the update from general circulation without explanation, although some users reported problems with iPhoto after the update. Now Apple has released iPhoto 4.0.3. The 5.9MB update is available for download from Apple's Web site and can also be installed using Apple's Software Update system preferences pane.

Apple offers Xcode 1.5 to developers

Apple has released a new version of Xcode, its integrated development environment (IDE) for Mac OS X. Xcode v1.5 enables developers to create applications designed to run on Mac OS X, and includes project editing, search and navigation, file editing, project building and debugging capabilities

Studiometry adds timesheet tracking

Oranged.net Software has released an update to Studiometry, its organizational software for studios and freelancers who want to track clients and projects, associated to-do list items, time their work, generate invoices and payment data, and more. The new release, 2.0.4, adds timesheet tracking, enabling users to enter all their timed work at once. The feature includes auto-fill capabilities and the ability to print, view and export timesheets as well. Also new is category totaling for invoices, new sorting options and other changes. A free upgrade for registered 2.0 users. Great product.