Mac News: Software

FileMaker Pro Goes to 11
March 15, 2010

Fans of relational databases will find a lot to smile about in the latest release of FileMaker Pro. The program, long a favorite of Mac users, simultaneously released last week a new version of the data crunching powerhouse for both OS X and Windows. "This is a pretty significant release in the sense that there's a lot going on in it," FileMaker Group Product Manager Rick Kalman told MacNewsWorld.

Can a Clown-Nosed Wand Move the Needle for PS3?
March 12, 2010

Sony put PlayStation 3 fans in a tizzy by whipping out its latest controller, which it calls the "Move." It looks a whole lot like a black version of Nintendo's WiiMote controller, only it's got this big, clown-nose ball on the end of it. That ball actually serves a purpose. The Move's motion is partially registered by a camera PS3 users will set on top of the television.

Will the iPad Bookshelves Be Sparsely Stocked?
March 12, 2010

There are rumors that Apple's iPad launch has already run into some rough patches that are uncharacteristic for the company, but how much substance is actually behind them? One frequently mentioned challenge is having a sufficiently impressive array of available content that's compatible with the device.

Vlingo Faces Off With the Dragon: A Speech-to-Text Smackdown
March 11, 2010

When Apple enabled in-app purchases for iPhone applications, it seemed as though the days of "free" and "paid" versions of any given app were coming to an end. Soon, I thought, everything in the store would start out free as a teaser and then charge for an upgrade. That hasn't exactly panned out universally, but Vlingo's new voice application does charge in the way I thought all apps would charge by now.

EFF Knocks Apple for Dumping on Devs
March 10, 2010

The first rule of Apple's App Club is: You do not talk about App Club. Any developer who writes an app for the App Store is forbidden from making any public statements about the iPhone Developer Program Licensing Agreement. Second rule of App Club is: Said developers also can't sell their apps to other app stores, even if that app is eventually rejected by Apple.

Thunder in Cupertino Makes It Rain on Wall Street
March 10, 2010

Apple has announced the iPad will hit retail shelves April 3, sending the adrenalin surging through competitors' veins. HP and several Chinese manufacturers have announced tablets in what might be perceived as an attempt to capitalize on the not-quite-a-laptop, not-really-a-netbook category.

Valve Opens Pipeline for Mac Gaming
March 09, 2010

Valve one of the largest distributors of online games, has announced that it will make its Steam online gaming service and proprietary gaming engine, Source, available on the Mac. The service, Steamworks for the Mac, comes equipped with Steam Play, a feature that allows play on either a PC or Mac at no additional charge.

Urban Airship's Flight Plan: Push Out Info, Pull In Revenue
March 09, 2010

Given the growing popularity of mobile devices and the great many applications to go with them, you would think that this new niche had plenty of room for newcomers. Many of those newcomers, though, will find it difficult to capture a great deal of consumer attention. Places like the Android Market and the Apple App Store are popular and growing fast, but they're awash in apps that struggle to stand out from the crowd.

Aperture's Makeover Delights Photogs
March 08, 2010

The new features in Apple's makeover of its image editing and archiving program Aperture appear to be a hit among photographers, even though the initial release of the application was so flawed an upgrade had to be released within two weeks of its launch. Aperture 3.0 ($199) has more than two hundred new features.

iPhone Gets Down to Business With Open Source BI App
March 08, 2010

Users of apps from BIRT, the open source Business Intelligence and Reporting Tools project, will be able to access them on the iPhone starting Monday. Actuate, which founded the BIRT project and coleads it with the Eclipse Foundation, is putting its BIRT Mobile Viewer on the App Store.

Production Problems Could Cut Both Ways for iPad Devs
March 02, 2010

An analyst's research note has thrown the expected launch date of the iPad into doubt -- or at least raised questions about how easy it will be for consumers to get their hands on the device. Unspecified production problems may cause Apple to delay or limit the size of its launch, according to Canaccord Adams' Peter Misek.

Mac App Transcribes Speech to Text in a Snap
March 01, 2010

Talking to your Mac and watching your words appear on its screen can be an empowering experience, but what about those times you're away from your "iron?" If you have a gadget that records sound files, you can now turn those bytes into text with a new program from MacSpeech.

Intuit's Quicken for Mac App Sticks to Essentials
February 26, 2010

Intuit has rolled out its first Mac-native application for Quicken. Quicken Essentials for Mac, or QEM, offers several new features welcome to Mac users seeking a financial application -- including an expected increase in the number of financial institutions, banks and credit unions they can access.

Much Goofy Gardening Fun to Be Had in 'Plants vs. Zombies'
February 25, 2010

Anyone whose home has been under attack from zombies knows all too well how incredibly annoying the problem can get -- way worse than termites or even a wasp nest. Luckily, strategic landscaping in the front yard can be an effective defense, at least in the cartoony world "Plants vs. Zombies" inhabits. PopCap's game for PCs and Macs has been scaled down into an iPhone/iPod touch version.

Apple: Stock in the Clouds, One Toe Still in the Gutter
February 24, 2010

Apple stock closed at $197.05 Tuesday, down $3.37 after a five-day rally that saw it hit $203.08 Friday. However, that slide was part of an overall market phenomenon. On Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 100 points and the NASDAQ composite index lost about 29 points as consumer confidence took a tumble.

With Smut Ban, App Store Exposes a Jiggly Set of Rules
February 23, 2010

I'm both irritated and pleased that Apple is waging a war on anything sexy in its iPhone, iPod touch, and soon-to-be-released iPad App Store. The company in Cupertino has been systematically removing thousands of apps that could be construed as sexy, have adult-oriented images, or just simply show chicks in bikinis -- wait, now that's a great idea for an app.