Here is a little movie of ProRemote in action connected to a ProTools LE rig.

Posted by Mirko at 06:41 PM | Permalink

It's like explaining the difference between a Buick and a BMW. Both get you from here to there, only the ride is generally smoother and more fun. Put another way, Windows users tolerate their computers to get stuff done. The Mac crowd enjoys its machines, whether managing music in iTunes or pictures in iPhoto.

Posted by Mirko at 12:00 AM | Permalink

Shopping for Mac users and Apple fans can sometimes be a challenge -- especially if you want to get something other than the obvious choices, or if you're not as big an Apple fan as the person you're shopping for. With that in mind, here are 10 great gift ideas for the Mac user on your list.

Posted by Mirko at 12:12 AM | Permalink

Stomp is a video re-compressor that makes the job of finishing off videos easy. It lets you compress a video and make it much smaller on disk, resize the video (known as cropping) and scale the video (either up or down). You can also add effects to the video - for example, decreasing its brightness.

Posted by Mirko at 09:39 AM | Permalink

iPhone fans are finding there's a price to pay for refined design and an innovative user interface. Attempts to force open the iPhone to third-party development - not to mention carriers other than AT&T - have resulted in a tough battle for the hack-minded. But a slew of free, open-source and hacker-friendly alternatives are coming to the market or already available, including a few big boys. Here are nine of the best that let you do things the iPhone won't.

Posted by Mirko at 10:12 AM | Permalink

This Flickr set contains a few pictures of an iPod Touch unboxing and below is a video showing off the fresh new iPod in action.

Posted by Mirko at 12:43 AM | Permalink

Apple today released Logic Studio, a comprehensive suite of professional tools that gives musicians everything they need to create, produce and perform in the studio and on the stage for just $499. Logic Studio features Logic Pro 8, a major upgrade that combines an intuitive new interface with Logic’s renowned sound quality and rock-solid timing, and introduces MainStage, an innovative new live performance application that turns the Mac into a streamlined live rig.

Continue reading "Apple unveils Logic Studio" »

Posted by Mirko at 06:43 PM | Permalink

Apple announced that it will not be selling NBC television shows for the upcoming television season on its online iTunes Store. The move follows NBC’s decision to not renew its agreement with iTunes after Apple declined to pay more than double the wholesale price for each NBC TV episode, which would have resulted in the retail price to consumers increasing to $4.99 per episode from the current $1.99. ABC, CBS, FOX and The CW, along with more than 50 cable networks, are signed up to sell TV shows from their upcoming season on iTunes at $1.99 per episode.

Continue reading "iTunes store to stop selling NBC TV shows" »

Posted by Mirko at 02:49 AM | Permalink

Will Apple ever equip its Macs with TV tuners? Thankfully, that's not the end of watching TV on a Mac. Other companies are willing to fill the gap Apple has left, and if you want to watch analogue or digital broadcasts, satellite or cable transmissions on your Mac, you can. The doyen of Mac TV products is Germany's Elgato, which has come to dominate both the software and hardware sides of the equation.

Posted by Mirko at 03:15 AM | Permalink

Additune is the first major Mac-only music recommendation app. What sets it apart is that it recommends songs that we think will fit your ever-evolving taste in music. Additune is free to use, free of ads, and will keep all your data secure. The software has just released a beta and the authors would love your feedback so be sure to let them know what you think if you give it a spin. I'm downloading right now :)

Posted by Mirko at 03:09 AM | Permalink

Magnet is an application for augmenting movies with a number of special effects, effects that will follow moving objects in the movie.

Magnet works by allowing the user to place "probes" on moving objects in a QuickTime movie, probes that the software will track over time. A number of special effects, also known as compositions, can then be hooked to these. Magnet uses advanced motion tracking technology and uses the latest Core Image and Quartz Composer advances to perform rendering of these effects in real time. The resulting movie can be exported as a QuickTime movie that can be used anywhere (DVD, Apple TV, iPod, iPhone).

Posted by Mirko at 12:03 AM | Permalink

Apple today announced that iPhone users will be able to enjoy YouTube’s originally-created content on their iPhones when they begin shipping on June 29. A new Apple-designed application on iPhone will wirelessly stream YouTube’s content to iPhone over Wi-Fi or EDGE networks and play it on iPhone’s stunning 3.5 inch display.

Continue reading "YouTube comes to the iPhone" »

Posted by Mirko at 09:36 PM | Permalink

Posted by Mirko at 08:03 PM | Permalink

Apple has delayed the release of its TV set-top box. Initially the company said the $299 device would ship in February, but now expects it to go in mid-March.

Posted by Mirko at 02:35 PM | Permalink

iPhone combines three products — a revolutionary mobile phone, a widescreen iPod with touch controls, and a breakthrough Internet communications device with desktop-class email, web browsing, maps, and searching — into one small and lightweight handheld device.

iPhone also introduces an entirely new user interface based on a large multi-touch display and pioneering new software, letting you control everything with just your fingers. So it ushers in an era of software power and sophistication never before seen in a mobile device, completely redefining what you can do on a mobile phone.

Continue reading "Apple iPhone released, runs OS X" »

Posted by Mirko at 08:25 PM | Permalink

Your computer is the center of your digital life. Your TV is the center of your entertainment life. But what if you want to watch movies, TV shows, movie trailers, podcasts, and photos from your computer on your TV? At $299, Apple TV brings iTunes to the big screen.

Continue reading "Apple TV comes to you living room" »

Posted by Mirko at 08:23 PM | Permalink

If you take a lot of photos, having them organized on your workstation may be a challenge. Fortunately, there are bloggers out there with the same problem and one of them wrote a good article on the subject so do check it out. He also provides some sound advice on backup, I like the man! :)

Posted by Mirko at 12:35 AM | Permalink

TubeSock grabs YouTube videos from the web and copies them to your video iPod, Mac, or PlayStation Portable. TubeSock knows how to convert the video using the codecs and bitrates best for each device. It can even add the video to iTunes for you.

Posted by Mirko at 11:24 AM | Permalink

Sony is moving to make its music management software compatible with Apple's audio file format. The system will allow iPod users to swap some of their music to a Sony Walkman but only songs they ripped from CDs. Read more at Silicon.com.

Posted by Berislav at 02:10 PM | Permalink

Matthew Russell shows you how to add better bookmarks to your audio books, add slideshows to your music files, create enhanced podcasts, and share your favorite mods with others - even if they're on protected audio.

Posted by Mirko at 12:52 PM | Permalink

Apple has introduced a 'multi-pass' for its iTunes video store that lets consumers automatically receive new episodes of a television series as they are published. The multi-pass costs $9.99 for 16 episodes, which amounts to four weeks of programming. This represents a 69 per cent discount over the regular fee of $1.99 per episode.

Posted by Mirko at 12:32 PM | Permalink

US movie fans are being offered the chance to download Oscar-nominated short films from iTunes. Film buffs have traditionally had little chance to view short films that are up for Hollywood's biggest awards. But now all five nominees for the live action short film award have been put on iTunes for $1.99 each.

Posted by Mirko at 12:04 AM | Permalink

Mark Shead writes: "There are several situations where you might want to dump a DVD to your hard drive to watch later. For instance, I get significantly better battery life when watching a video from my hard drive than I get when watching it from a DVD. If I’m stuck in a plane for several hours, having my movie on the hard drive can be the difference between finishing the show, or running out of power halfway through. I use a PowerBook and in OS X 10.3 and earlier you could just use the built in Disk Utility to copy a DVD to your disk, but it stopped working in 10.4. However with a few free tools you can accomplish the same thing and more."

Posted by Mirko at 03:05 AM | Permalink

With her AirPort Express, Maria Langer has figured out a way to get some phenomenal sound from some of that ancient Mac equipment collecting dust in her living room (along with the more modern stuff, of course).

Posted by Mirko at 01:29 AM | Permalink

So iTunes has a unique position. It is much, much more than a music player. It is Apple's representative to the non-Mac world, a focal point for Apple's growing media empire, and a pioneering combination of desktop application and online service. With all that in mind, let's ask ourselves: how can we mess around with iTunes? Read on.

Posted by Berislav at 02:32 PM | Permalink

A couple of weeks ago we received a review copy of Comic Life. Until that moment I wasn't introduced to this piece of software, but I always liked comics, so I took this software from our review queue. As you can probably figure out yourself, Comic Life gives you the possibility of easy creating your own comics or comic style photo images. I must say I am quite impressed with it, but read on for all the details.

Continue reading "Review: Comic Life 1.2 - a deep look into making comics" »

Posted by Berislav at 10:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (9)

Software company GenieCommands today introduced a Macintosh software program designed to give consumers more control and fun over their digital entertainment experiences in their lounge room.

GenieCommands is a unique programmable software application that allows you to control all your applications and media via simple menus, in a theatre or lounge room environment.

Continue reading "Programmable Media Center software GenieCommands has been released" »

Posted by Mirko at 12:25 AM | Permalink

Airfoil is a cool piece of software that enables you to send any audio you want to Apple's AirPort Express device. It works in conjunction with your AirPort Express and any audio player. You can use it to send audio from Realplayer, Windows Media Player, QuickTime Player, or even your web browser.

Continue reading "Rogue Amoeba releases Airfoil 2.0" »

Posted by Berislav at 01:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Emily Hambidge writes: "Since iTunes has become so popular, I thought it might be nice to have a basic tutorial on how to use it. There is a plethora of functions available with the application, and Apple is constantly improving it. To help you get the most out of your iTunes experience, I have outlined the most popular and important functions."

Posted by Mirko at 09:23 AM | Permalink

If you buy the hype, the new iMac G5 is more than just a computer. Thanks to the addition of the Apple Remote and Front Row, it’s a stand-alone multimedia center that can play music and commercial DVDs in lush 5.1 surround sound (as long as you’ve got the right speakers, cable, and adapter), and project your iPhoto albums as slick slide shows. But is there substance beneath that hype? Find out in this article.

Posted by Mirko at 12:00 AM | Permalink

Don't have a shiny new iMac G5? But you want to make a Mac the center of your home entertainment system? Don't despair. Instead of shelling out thousands for a system, use this guide to connect an existing Mac to your home stereo and television. Emory Christensen shows you why it's not as hard as you think.

Posted by Mirko at 12:06 AM | Permalink

The DLO HomeDock includes everything necessary to attach your iPod to your Home Stereo and TV to enjoy its music and pictures at home. It includes a 14-function remote control to play your tunes from across the room. It also includes a standard AC plug to power and charge your iPod while docked. It even allows you to connect your iPod without removing it from your favorite iPod case. For a review head over to TUAW.

Posted by Mirko at 12:30 PM | Permalink

MacFixIt reports that Apple has released a 1.0.1 version of their all-in-one production tool Aperture. Some of the improvements in this release include white balance adjustment accuracy and performance, image export quality, book and print ordering reliability, auto-stacking performance and custom paper size handling.

Posted by Berislav at 02:03 PM | Permalink

Dennis Sellers writes: "iDive is easy to use, a great time saver and looks so gorgeous you’d think it was an integrated part of Apple’s iLife suite. The latest version (1.5) adds a Mosiac feature that makes the app—which is also great for Final Cut users—even better, especially if you’re a pro user or 5G (video) iPod owner."

Posted by Mirko at 07:35 AM | Permalink

This release fixes all remaining issues that were reported during the testing period; as a result Synergy is now a fully-fledged Universal Binary that will run identically (and natively) on both the Intel and PowerPC platforms.

Posted by Mirko at 12:01 AM | Permalink

Ever wondered: "What's that song?" and you just missed the announcement? Now there's help that can be waiting right on your Mac.

Let Tunatic hear the song and you will get the artist's name and the song's title within seconds. Tunatic is the very first song search engine based on sound for your computer. All you need is a microphone and Internet access. The best part? It's free.

Posted by Mirko at 11:40 AM | Permalink

If you have a video iPod and want to watch ABC's "Lost" on it, you don't necessarily have to pay Apple Computer for the opportunity to download the show from the iTunes store. That's because Hauppauge Computer Works has released Wing, a software application that, in conjunction with its WinTV-PVR hardware--a plug-in card that brings personal video recorder technology to PCs--allows users to record television shows directly to their video iPods or Sony PlayStation Portables.

Posted by Mirko at 01:29 AM | Permalink

According to Nielsen SoundScan, average weekly download sales as of Nov. 27 fell 0.44% vs. the third quarter. Says independent media analyst Richard Greenfield: "We're not seeing the kind of dramatic growth we should given the surge in sales of iPods and other MP3 players." Which brings us to a grand irony: Apple, which launched the digital music revolution, may now be holding it back.

Posted by Mirko at 12:10 AM | Permalink

DivX 6 for Mac includes the new DivX Converter for Mac, a one-step video creation application that represents the first official stand-alone DivX encoding program for the Mac platform.

DivX Converter is a lightweight, drag-and-drop application that enables users to create high-quality DivX videos from a variety of sources in one easy step.

Continue reading "DivX 6 for Mac lets users create and play highly compressed, high-quality video" »

Posted by Mirko at 12:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)

The ESPN cable sports network is mulling a deal to distribute some television programs on Apple's iTunes music and video service. Although ESPN has not held talks with Apple yet, the cable sports network plans to offer its diet of original shows and game clips to any pipe, any device.

Posted by Mirko at 09:07 PM | Permalink

This new release features many improvements including a new VLC cone, new Mac OS X wizard and extend controls dialogs, tree playlist skins2 support, HTTP interface CGI handling, UPnP and Bonjour service discovery, shoutcast stream forwarding, new languages, and more.

Posted by Mirko at 01:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Due to Apple's uncluttered design philosophy, many of iTunes's features are buried deep within menu items or aren't even documented. The tips and tricks in this article are all relevant to iTunes 6 for the Mac and will help you maximize your musical enjoyment, no matter your experience level.

Posted by Mirko at 12:15 AM | Permalink

There's no question that iTunes and the iPod have revolutionized the way we listen to music. If you aren't familiar with iTunes, or if you think there's some feature you're missing (and there probably is), this chapter will give you the run-down on iTunes and how it will change the way you listen to music.

Posted by Mirko at 03:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Xitel's HiFi-Link for iPod lets you combine the versatility of your iPod with the power of your home stereo. Its unique dock configuration greatly extends your iPod’s connectivity, allowing it to seamlessly integrate with anything from a top-of-the-line surround sound system through to a simple boombox or powered speakers.

It includes a composite video output enabling photo and movie viewing on any TV, a remote that works up to 50 feet and adjustable Trubass processing by SRS Labs.

Posted by Mirko at 02:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

TiVo is expanding its video recording service so users will be able to transfer recorded television shows onto iPods or the PlayStation Portable - the latest move aimed at putting TV in people's hands for viewing anywhere. TiVo officials said shows recorded via TiVoToGo will have digital watermarks. The extra encoding will follow the copied program wherever it goes, giving TiVo the ability to trace the origin of a transferred program that might get posted freely onto the Internet.

Posted by Mirko at 06:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yes, you can spend extra dollars for Apple's sleek white video cable for TV connectivity, or you can hack your own together for cheap. This article shows you how.

Posted by Mirko at 01:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LensTweaker is a great tool to go with your digital camera. With just a few simple steps you can calibrate your camera lens and automatically remove the lens distortion from your pictures. Features include: camera calibration, automatic distortion removal, manual distortion removal, easy image brightness, contrast, saturation, tint and exposure correction, metadata visualization.

Posted by Mirko at 01:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

EMI Group boss Alain Levy said that he believed Jobs would introduce multiple price points for iTunes music within the next year. Apple officials were unavailable for comment. If Levy is correct, the new pricing scheme would mark a turnaround for Jobs, who has argued that a buck a song was an easy to understand proposition for consumers and a victory for the music business.

Posted by Mirko at 02:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

MemoryMiner, a desktop application for Mac OS X (version 10.3 and higher), enables users to link together pictures, audio, video and other mementos to create meaningful and coherent digital stories spanning across generations, location and time. This new application is now available for a free beta-trial download. Early adopters will be instrumental in the further development of this new multi-media platform.

Posted by Mirko at 01:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The "Evening at Adler" video and audio are available here. This was that little deal where some of the brightest indies in the Mac scene descended upon Chicago for a casual conversation on October 21st, 2005. Some of the discussed topics were: making a living writing for the Mac, software patents, competing with Apple, digital rights management (DRM), software activation, bugs, Ajax, unit testing, building communities, the x86 transition, and much much more.

Posted by Mirko at 05:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

TuneBox is a speaker system for iPod shuffle that also charges your iPod while playing music. Though it's designed to visually complement the iPod shuffle, TuneBox delivers great sound from any Mp3 player or other audio device that uses the standard 3.5mm stereo jack. If you want more details I suggest you check out this review at macteens: "This speaker set is ridiculously small and light - let’s say, more so than a wallet. In its lightweight design, the TuneBox can be situated most anywhere you want to hear your music."

Posted by Mirko at 12:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

With a wealth of new features and enhancements, Pro Tools 7 delivers significantly expanded recording and editing capabilities for audio and MIDI, greater mixing power and flexibility, enhanced efficiency, and improved ease of use.

Continue reading "Digidesign releases Pro Tools 7" »

Posted by Mirko at 06:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The Griffin AirClick for iPod and iPod mini lets you hook up your iPod to your sound system and wander through the house while in full control of your tunes. Pause your iPod to answer the door and then crank it up without even going in the room.

Continue reading "Griffin AirClick USB reviewed" »

Posted by Mirko at 02:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)