NZMac.com News

Google to launch OS

Philip Roy — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 18:27:00 +0000

One company with a major dominance on the net has described to send a shot across the bow of another with an OS dominance...and no, we're not talking about Apple anywhere there folks. Google have announced that they hope to launch the Google Chrome OS later this year. An open source, lightweight OS, it will be initially targeted for netbooks. Technically, the OS is described as "Google Chrome running within a new windowing system on top of a Linux kernel."

MobileMe service updated

Philip Roy — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:24:00 +0000

Apple have updated the web applications of the MobileMe service. Mail now let's you see your unread message count in your Inbox and folders, and forwarding or replying to HTML (rich text) messages now maintains the messages' original formatting. More information can be found here.

iPhoto update 8.0.4

Philip Roy — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 10:37:00 +0000

Apple have released an update (approx 103 Mb) for iPhoto '09 that appears to address issues caused by the last update. On their support page (http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2797) they indicate the fix is to stop iPhoto from crashing after the last update caused issues. The update can be downloaded here or from the software updates for those with the appropriate version of iPhoto installed.

Podcast 29 - iPhone 3GS

Philip Roy — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 22:39:00 +0000

Andrew, David, Darryn, Darryn, Darryn, Darryn, Darryn (we had to call him a lot as he kept being disconnected) and Philip discuss the latest news about the iPhone 3.0 OS update for the iPhone and iPod Touch, the iPhone 3GS, the announced date for the iPhone 3GS to go on sale in New Zealand, as well as Vodafone's announcement of handset prices. We also take time to offer you some iPhone and iPod Touch picks.

Click here to subscribe to the podcast via iTunes
Click here for the podcast feed via feedburner
Listen directly, here....

{mp3remote}http://nzmac.jellycast.com/pod/nzmac-podcast/029_NZMac_com.mp3{/mp3remote}

Podcast 29 - Show notes

Any Apple hardware and software discussed is not listed. Instead, you can support NZMac.com at no extra cost by clicking this link to purchase from the Apple Store NZ. Thanks in advance!

apdv1/Andrew

F1 Timing

MLB.com At Bat

DavidNZ/David

1Password Blog posts (here and here)

Space Ace

Loweded Wookie/Darryn

Road Trip

Real Racing

Ports of Call

Philip Roy

Sky Hook Wireless - WiFi submission

Find My iPhone story - http://happywaffle.livejournal.com/5890.html

TechCrunch - "There May Be 50,000 Apps For The iPhone, But Only A Select Few Become Popular"

MacRumors - "Summary of Early iPhone 3GS Reviews"

Polarbearfarm's blog

Electronista.com (review of the iPhone 3GS)

Free iProng Magazine (subscribe via iTunes here)

Blimp - The Flying Adventures (NZiPhone.com review)

iPhone 3GS - July 10

Philip Roy — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 20:26:00 +0000

Vodafone have tonight quietly announced that the iPhone 3GS will be on sale from Friday, July 10. Few details are available from the Vodafone site, but the site does state that the "Handset only" price will be $1,179.00 for the 16GB model and $1,379.00 for the 32GB model. Plan pricing and handset subsidies will be available closer to launch date. See (http://www.vodafone.co.nz/iphone/) to sign up to be notified.

Confirmed - Jobs had liver transplant

Philip Roy — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 15:08:00 +0000

Methodist University Hospital in Tennessee have confirmed that Steve Jobs received a liver transplant. In a press release issued by the Hospital (PDF available here), they state "He received a liver transplant because he was the patient with the highest MELD score (Model for End-Stage Liver Disease) of his blood type and, therefore, the sickest patient on the waiting list at the time a donor organ became available. Mr. Jobs is now recovering well and has an excellent prognosis." Commentators have pointed out that Tennessee has a very short waiting lists for transplants.

Apple sells over one million iPhone 3GS models

Philip Roy — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 07:44:00 +0000

Apple today announced that it has sold over one million iPhone 3GS models through Sunday, 21 June, the third day after its initial launch*. In addition, six million customers have downloaded the new iPhone 3.0 software in the first five days since its release.
"Customers are voting and the iPhone is winning," said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. "With over 50,000 applications available from Apple’s revolutionary App Store, iPhone momentum is stronger than ever."

The new iPhone 3GS is the fastest, most powerful iPhone yet, packed with incredible new features including improved speed and performance - up to twice as fast as iPhone 3G - with longer battery life, a high-quality 3 megapixel autofocus camera, easy to use video recording and hands free voice control. iPhone 3GS includes the new iPhone OS 3.0, the world’s most advanced mobile operating system with over 100 new features such as Cut, Copy and Paste, MMS**, Spotlight Search, landscape keyboard and more. iPhone 3GS customers get access to more than 50,000 applications from Apple’s revolutionary App Store, the largest application store in the world where customers have already downloaded over one billion apps.

* The iPhone 3GS will be made available in New Zealand some time in July 2009.

**MMS messaging is available only on iPhone 3G or iPhone 3GS; fees may apply. MMS may not be available on all carriers.

ChronoSync 4

Philip Roy — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 13:47:00 +0000

It's a hard road finding the perfect backup routine...particularly when you're as fussy as I am. But over recent weeks, as I've tried various options, I've found myself wanting...still. Thanks to the makers of ChronoSync, who provided me with a copy of Version 4 of their product, I may be getting closer to the ideal solution...maybe.

{xtypo_rounded_right2}Installation & Documentation

Ease of use

Value for money

Price approx
$ 40 USD

Software/Hardware Requirements
50 MB disk install space
Admin User and password
Mac OS 10.3+ (they call it "cross-catform!"..ouch!)

Available from
Econ Technologies{/xtypo_rounded_right2}Those of you who use the forum will know there was a lengthy discussion about my backup needs. This culminated in the purchase and review of the Voyager Q from NewerTech....a purchase I am still very happy with. My two main objectives were:

A backup routine that was simple as could be
The ability to create offsite backups, by swapping backup disks once a month to an offsite location

The solution at first was the Voyager Q and TimeMachine. TM is stunning, not only in its visual appeal when you travel back in time, but in its simplicity. But I started to get a bit fussier:

I didn't want an hourly backup taken of my Mac. Once a week will do.
I didn't want to have the Voyager Q on all the time
I wanted to be able to schedule a weekly and monthly backup

With that in mind, I started to look around a bit more. SuperDuper appealed at first, but it appears to have an "all or nothing" approach to backing up. That's putting it crudely, but what I mean is it is exceptionally difficult with SuperDuper to exclude things from the backup. I have no interest in backing up a few folders such as the Applications folder (I'd rather do a clean install on a new machine or with a rogue app) and (as another example) a folder called "Mac OS X Installs", which contains most recent OS X installers that I need on hand or to support friends/clients but certainly don't want to backup so many files...particularly as it changes so often when new update disk images are released.

Getting started

So, I started to look at Chronosync and the makers of it (Econ Technologies) kindly provided me with a license to try it. Installation is exceptionally straight forward and once installed and launched, it is easy to determine what to backup and to where.

Once installed, you need to set your options and save a file. This file is effectively your backup settings or routine, but you can have more than one of these files (one for each backup routine you establish basically). I only mention this as it is a little different to other programs, that tend to store this information within the body of the application rather than as a document you need to save.

I've split my external 1TB drive (sitting in the Voyager Q) into 3 partitions..."Weekly" backup, "Monthly" backup and "Laptop", for my work laptop that I bring home on weekends (I also excluded all these partitions from Spotlight archiving). The laptop has been using Backup from my old .Mac account until now. I'll probably just back the laptop up once a month here at home. Keeping with my fussiness, I also want to try and make sure I can easily:

Exclude folders and files from the backup
Make the backups bootable

Setting up my backup was (for the most part) very straight forward. I easily selected the internal Macintosh HD and which partition of my external drive (more on that later) that I wanted to backup to. Excluding certain folders was also very straight forward. Just go into the "Analyze" sidebar option, look at the list of files and folders and right-click and select "exclude"...although I think this area could be a bit more Mac-like. As it stands, it's like the Apple Backup exclusion section but with a lot more complex info. It would . Personally, I love the simplicity of the TimeMachine exclusion process.

It didn't take long to realise I was almost ready to go...however I had some nagging questions that weren't readily solved just by looking around the application (I always review products minus the help manual if I can). These were:

How do I make the backup bootable?
What options am I setting up for changed files. On my backup, I don't want files removed from my source HD deleted from the backup..I want them kept. Changed files should of course be updated, but if an older version could be kept, great.
There are two options on the main screen that I am confused about...
- Synchronise deletions (which I think relates to my last question)
- Archive replaced files (ditto)
The app is telling me the program is ready to synchronise, but is giving me two warnings....
- "Some files might not synchronise because you do not have full access to the left target" (the left one is my Macintosh HD)
- "The right target volume is ignoring file ownership which may lead to unexpected owner/group membership of files"
How versatile is scheduling and what will happen with regards scheduling, if the external drive is not switched on?

So....time to answer those questions.

How do I make the backup bootable?
I'm really impressed that I just had to go to the Help menu, type in "Bootable" to be able to find a page in the Help System about bootable backups. But even more impressive was the level of detail provided...

On reading, I discovered I'd missed a setting that was right in front of me...just deciding what kind of transfer I wanted from the left (source) drive to the right (target) drive. Changing this was no problem and solved some other issues.

The app is telling me the program is ready to synchronise, but is giving me two warnings...."Some files might not synchronise because you do not have full access to the left target and "The right target volume is ignoring file ownership which may lead to unexpected owner/group membership of files"
Well that appears to be a permissions error...but it was solved by ChronoSync 4 itself when it prompted me that it had concerns with the new target drive....and offered to try and fix it, which it did.

This was great, but I should also mention that the previous warning had a context sensitive "Help" button there that probably would have given me more details on what the original solution was. I'm really impressed by the level of detail that has been put into the Help system and making sure that it is relevant and on-hand when you need it.

What options am I setting up for changed files. On my backup, I don't want files removed from my source HD deleted from the backup..I want them kept. Changed files should of course be updated, but if an older version could be kept, great. There are two options on the main screen that I am confused about.. Synchronise deletions (which I think relates to my last question)? Archive replaced files (ditto)?
Well the first option is greyed out now that I decided to create a bootable backup. The second option appears to be one that I want to make use of and found this in the Help system...

{xtypo_quote}Check the "Archive replaced files" checkbox to activate archiving. This is so that old files will be saved instead of deleted. They can be viewed and retrieved from the "Archive" panel. This will take up more hard drive space, but it is better to be safe than to lose that important file. You can change the "Archive" settings in the "Options" panel, under "Archive Handling"{/xtypo_quote}

Following the instructions, it's also great to see that you can control how many archived versions of files you keep, or even how long you keep them for.

How versatile is scheduling and what will happen with regards scheduling, if the external drive is not switched on?
Scheduling appears to work well in the tests that I ran, although other than ChronoSync suddenly being open in the background and hearing disk activity, I had no way of knowing that a scheduled backup was taking place. You might like that, but personally I found it a bit unnerving....I could have easily gone and disconnected the external hard drive or shut down the machine, without realising something was happening.

What I don't understand, given that ChronoSync installs a menubar icon, is why that icon isn't used to visually indicate in some way that a backup is occurring? In the same way that applications such as Time Machine (the menubar icon spins backwards as the backup begins) or the backup utility Deja Vu (which will display a working percentage readout as it backs up) do.

To test, I did my first back (a hefty 99 minutes to do) and then made my first scheduled backup for some 15 minutes later. I then closed ChronoSync and waited. I was conscious of something happening on my machine at the appropriate time, but it wasn't until I started using the keyboard combination of command-tab, could I confirm that ChronoSync had sprung to life. Some 11 minutes later, it appeared to be all over. The reason I knew that, is that a sound played in the background of my Mac.

I'm slightly concerned that if it wasn't for the fact I was sitting there testing the application and watching the process, I may have simply thought "What the heck was that noise?". I know it seems odd to be arguing for awareness of a backup occurring (you might argue it shouldn't interrupt you at all), but I don't think it should be so unobtrusive that the possibility is there that you'll have no idea..or perhaps we should be given the choice. Perhaps something such as Growl notifications ("Scheduled backup completed") popping up might be a better idea than just a simple noise?

One of my problems is (as stated previously) that I don't want to have to have the Voyager Q sitting there and on, simply to cope with a weekly or monthly backup, but Chronosync won't warn me when it is about to do a backup. I confirmed this by scheduling another backup, but having the external drive switched off.

Chronosync attempted to work, but the failure of a backup was a brief event. I heard a sound (that I had selected in the preferences) indicating failure and that was it....again, no representation on-screen that an issue had arisen. If I had of been out of the room, I would never have known...and I would never know until I launched ChronoSync again.

Scheduling dilemma

This leaves me with a bit of a dilemma. The scheduling system is great and features a lot of options, but it is too 'behind the scenes' for me. I wish that one of the options when setting up a backup could be a "prompt for target" option or even (a better option based on some other issues I'll talk about soon) a "prompt to commence backup" option....meaning I do manually have to be a part of an automated process....which obviously I'm suggesting could be semi-automated then, for people like me.

Imagine how that would work...ChronoSync would launch at a scheduled backup time, tell you it is time for a backup, prompt you for a target (or to begin)....that would give me time to turn on my Voyager Q and (if needed) select the partition I wanted...and it would be off an running.

As it is, like Time Machine, ChronoSync is relying on me to have my external hard drive turned on. I can understand that in many instances (particularly when backing up to a network drive) you'd want it to be as unobtrusive as possible...but why can't there be a simple menu bar clue...and why can't others of us have an option to select a drive?

Now in ChronoSync's defence, this also happens with SuperDuper. I know, because I asked the makers what would happen if the external drive was off, I got told the backup would simply fail. It's one of the reasons I started looking at ChronoSync.

I guess I look back fondly on Apple's Backup app too much? No, really! I loved how it would start up and tell you it was getting ready..and allow me the time to hunt out the rewritable DVDs I wanted to use...brilliant!

If I'm never going to get the time or an option to get my external hard drive on and ready.....well....I think I'm not going to use ChronoSync's scheduler at all. Instead, I'll just set up iCal to pop up with a message once a week and once a month, telling me it's time to do a back up.

But it looks like there's another reason that I need to take that approach anyway...

Eeek...this is bad!

Over the course of testing ChronoSync, I realised that my partitions on my external HD were the wrong sizes. For example, I had devoted a third of the space (332 Gb) to the laptop backup, when it only required 19 Gb to backup the laptop user directory. So I repartitioned the external HD and started the backup all over again. Strangely though, it started backing up things I had excluded previously.

What I have noticed is that ChronoSync doesn't appear to remember your exclusions when you make changes related to the target disk. Not the source disk which have the files you want excluded are on, but the target disk that you are copying on to. In other words, the things you have indicated shouldn't be copied, are reset to be copied if you change where you want to back up to.

I consider this a serious flaw, and this is going to be a huge issue for me, as I'm going to be swapping the entire external HD once a month...there's no way I want to keep having to reset my exclusions in those cases.

Here's an example. I've set up my laptop synch to point to a partition on the external HD and have excluded the music folder.

BUT....and here's where the issue arises. If I now decide I want to change which partition I backup to, I do that easily.....but find that when I return to look at my folder list from my source HD, the folders I had previously excluded are now included and are going to be backed up. This is poor. I can't understand why the information relating to the source drive (which hasn't changed at all) is being changed because I've selected a new location to send the backup to?

In the image here, you can see what happens. In the top part, my "Music" folder is excluded and will not be backed up. But simply by changing where I backup to, it is then reset and included...

I decided to contact the makers of ChronoSync to see if it was a bug. The response was as follows....

{xtypo_quote}When you switch Targets it erases all the exclusions because a new target is being used.{/xtypo_quote}

Now keep in mind that I know that once a month I will definitely be swapping targets, as I bring a replacement HD back home from my offsite location. They continued by saying...

{xtypo_quote}If you are swapping drives you need to create a separate sync document for each drive. You can click on the Options button and uncheck "strict volume identification". Even if this works it is not recommended. The reason is a sync document remembers the states of the targets based on the last sync. When you add another volume it would not match the volume that should be used and could cause some issues. So the best solution is a separate Sync Document for each drive.{/xtypo_quote}

I don't really have an issue with this, but it has meant the end (for me) of using their scheduling system. I'm going to have to create 6 files...Laptop backup even month, laptop backup odd month, Weekly backup even month, Weekly backup odd month, Monthly backup even month, Monthly backup odd month...to cope with the change of HD each month, but I won't be using the scheduling system.

Again, I can understand why I might need to do this so that the document dealing with my backup doesn't get confused with one month to the other....but I still can't understand the issue with regards exclusions.

Put it this way. Imagine if you have a long-standing backup that works brilliantly, but features a number of excluded files and folders. Let's imagine you are on a large network and are then asked to change to backing up to a new location on the network by your IT staff. It should be as easy as simply selecting a new target and you're off and running...but with ChronoSync, all the files that you had previously decided should not be part of that backup, will suddenly become "included" and will require re-excluding to get you back to where you were. Even if only the destination of your backup has changed, ChronoSync has wiped some of your preferences related to your source files.

I consider this to be a real flaw. Perhaps what could happen is that there be an option to "retain exclusions when changing targets".....and personally (and for the selfish reasons I've described throughout this review) I'd love to see an option for the target disk having an option "Prompt for target". This means that I could in fact have a schedule running...when it kicks in, it asks me what I want to backup to. I then fire up the Voyager Q and select the partition to use and we're off an running.

I know that some people don't want to have to worry about being involved in the backup process, but there should be an option for those of us that do!

Side note - changing my settings regarding bootable drives
One of the things I decided over the course of this review, was to only make the monthly backup a bootable partition on the external HD. I decided this as the weekly backups will be the ones that happen the most often, and I want these to happen quickly and not be bothered about booting. It's great to have a bootable copy on the HD, but this doesn't have to be checked weekly...and so I changed my weekly option to a simple left-to-right (as the app calls it) backup.

Conclusion

ChronoSync is a very impressive backup system that will suit the needs of many Mac users. It is far more advanced than the .Mac backup application, and far more user-friendly than applications such as SuperDuper.

A tremendous benefit of the application is the robust help system, that appears to extend to their online help also. However, at this stage, it isn't necessarily an application that will suit everyone's needs without needing to put some considerable effort into setting up your backups. I'm more than happy to do this to get set up, but it's disappointing that the decision to wipe excluded file settings will then impact upon the set up work that I have done. Whilst trying to be as unobtrusive as possible, I believe it is succeeding too well, and perhaps needs to provide some more responses to users as to what is taking place (such as indications via the menubar icon).

Note - I was also supplied with a copy of ChronoAgent 1, but did not test this application as it is not relevant to my needs.

Pros

Simple-to-use interface for the most part, with complex activities hidden away for those that need them
Detailed help pages. These were one of the best I experienced because they knew what you were seeing (i.e., the errors or warnings matched with the documentation) and said fairly straightforwardly how to solve things. Don't be put off by lots of text when it actually helps!
A variety of options for most Mac users ('cept fussy ones like me)

Cons

Too unobtrusive - disk activity and the odd beep is not enough for me. It should make use of the menu bar (or Growl) to alert or warn
Would be nice if scheduling was a bit more flexible (i.e., like "last sunday of the month")
Excluded files and folders being reset is a big issue I believe (for those who exclude files in their backups)
A "prompt for target" (as long as my excluded list wasn't reset in the process) or "prompt to commence backup" option would be great

Bento Template Exchange - real-world uses and downloadable templates

FileMaker Inc. — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 20:23:00 +0000

FileMaker, Inc. today unveiled the Bento Template Exchange, where Mac users can post and browse many real-world uses of Bento, the personal database from FileMaker that's as easy to use as a Mac. People interested in Bento can even download templates and use them with a trial or full version of Bento 2.

A Bento template is a pre-designed database form, but without any data. A visitor who downloads, for example, the "My Wine Cellar" template, has a beautiful ready-to-use wine tracking form -- complete with fields for winery, vintage, price and more -- and can enter data for their own wine collection - or copy and paste existing information from spreadsheets such as Excel or Numbers. Plus, templates can be customized to meet each individual's unique needs.

"Bento excels at helping you organize virtually anything. And thanks to Bento's capability to export and share templates, the template exchange showcases a wide range of creative and productive real-world uses," said Steve McManus, Regional Manager, FileMaker, Inc - Asia Pacific. "Whether your passion is collecting coins, selling products, organizing volunteers or planning events, these sharable templates show how you can do it better with Bento."

Visitors to the Bento Template Exchange can browse through the most popular templates, the newest templates, or look through 15 categories including Business, Music and Movies, Finance, and Cooking, Food and Wine. Templates are also searchable by typing a phrase like "soccer team roster."

The Bento Template Exchange includes clear instructions on how to download and import templates, and how to submit Bento templates for sharing. Bento customers are encouraged to share their templates on the Bento Template Exchange to help potential customers imagine their own uses for Bento.

Importing and exporting Bento templates requires Bento 2.

Visitors will find that downloaded templates are usable with the new Bento for iPhone and iPod touch, if they synch with Bento on the Mac.

Customer contact:
0800 444 929
www.filemaker.com/nz

Media contact:
Kya de Rome
+61 2 9212 3848
kya@kinetics.com.au

Safari 4 downloads top 11 million in three days

Philip Roy — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 10:11:00 +0000

Apple today announced that more than 11 million copies of Safari 4 have been downloaded in the first three days of its release, including more than six million downloads of Safari for Windows. Safari 4 is the world's fastest, most innovative browser and is built on the world's most advanced browser technologies including the new Nitro JavaScript engine that executes JavaScript nearly eight times faster than IE 8 and more than four times faster than Firefox 3. Safari quickly loads HTML web pages more than three times faster than IE 8 and three times faster than Firefox 3.*

"Safari 4 is an incredible success on Mac and Windows with more than 11 million downloads in the first three days," said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. "Safari users love the incredible speed and innovative features like Top Sites, Full History Search and Cover Flow."

Starting with the development of the open source WebKit browser engine, Apple has been leading the industry in defining and implementing innovative web standards. Safari 4 includes HTML 5 support for offline technologies and support for advanced CSS Effects, enabling an entirely new class of web applications that feature rich media, graphics and fonts. Safari 4 is the first browser to pass the Web Standards Project's Acid3 test, which examines how well a browser adheres to CSS, JavaScript, XML and SVG standards that are specifically designed for dynamic web applications.

Safari 4 includes Top Sites, for an incredible visual preview of frequently visited and favorite pages; Full History Search, to search through titles, web addresses and the complete text of recently viewed pages; and Cover Flow, to easily flip through web history or bookmarks. Other innovative features include Smart Address Fields for automatically completing web addresses from an easy to read list of suggestions; Search Fields, to fine tune searches with recommendations from Google Suggest or a list of recent searches; and Full Page Zoom, for a closer look at any website without degrading the quality of the site's layout and text.

In Mac OS X Snow Leopard, available later this year, Safari runs as a 64-bit application, boosting the performance of the Nitro JavaScript engine by up to 50 percent.** Snow Leopard makes Safari more resistant to crashes by running plug-ins in a separate process, so even if a plug-in crashes, Safari continues to run and the user simply has to reload the affected page. Safari running on Snow Leopard also delivers HTTP streaming, making it easy to deliver high-quality audio and video in industry standard formats from any web server without the need for browser plug-ins.

Pricing & Availability
Safari 4 is available for both Mac OS X and Windows as a free download at www.apple.com/safari. Safari 4 for Mac OS X requires Mac OS X Leopard v10.5.7 or Mac OS X Tiger v10.4.11 and Security Update 2009-002, a minimum 256MB of memory and is designed to run on any Intel-based Mac or a Mac with a PowerPC G5, G4 or G3 processor and built-in FireWire. Safari 4 for Windows requires Windows XP SP2 or Windows Vista, a minimum 256MB of memory and a system with at least a 500 MHz Intel Pentium processor. Full system requirements and more information on Safari 4 can be found at www.apple.com/safari.

*Performance will vary based on system configuration, network connection and other factors. All testing conducted on an iMac 2.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo system running Windows Vista, with 2GB of RAM. JavaScript benchmark based on the SunSpider JavaScript Performance test. HTML benchmark based on VeriTest's iBench Version 5.0 using default settings.

**Performance will vary based on system configuration, network connection and other factors. Testing conducted by Apple in May 2009 comparing prerelease Mac OS X Snow Leopard v10.6 with shipping Mac OS X Leopard v10.5.7. Testing was conducted on a shipping MacBook 2.0 GHz system and a shipping iMac 2.66 GHz system, both configured with 2GB of RAM. JavaScript benchmarks based on the SunSpider Performance test comparing Safari running in both 32-bit and 64-bit modes.

Call for reviewer - iAntiVirus

Philip Roy — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 21:06:00 +0000

Interested in reviewing a great new anti-virus program for the Mac? iAntiVirus is specifically designed to detect and remove Mac-specific threats and does not contain any unnecessary information about Windows-based threats – this ensures that the product is lightweight and its memory footprint and system resource usage is kept to an absolute minimum. iAntiVirus is actually free, but we'll be supplying the nominated user with a license key to gain access to customer support services.

PC Tools (the makers of iAntiVirus) recognise that the Mac community is still reasonably skeptical about the need for security products, so as part of their strategy to encourage users to protect their computers and adopt the iAntiVirus software, they are offering the full version of iAntiVirus free to home users. For full technical support and business use, iAntiVirus costs AU$49.95.

While Mac OS attacks have not yet proliferated widely, PC Tools' Malware Research team has identified a range of malware specifically targeting the Mac OSX which make use of social engineering and deliver payloads that are just as significant as those in the Windows environment (you can view the current threats in the iAntiVirus database at http://www.iantivirus.com/threats).

If you are interested in writing the review...

Address an email to philip.roy@nzmac.com
In the email, please put your name, your postal address (which must be in New Zealand) and a very brief reason why you feel you should get to review iAntiVirus

You have until 9pm on Thursday June 18, 2009 to email me.

Once a reviewer is selected and announced, I will send you some information and a contact to receive your license. You'll then be expected to complete a review of 600-900 words within two weeks. You'll then forward your comments to NZMac.com along with any screen shots you can provide. The information and images will then be used to create a review of the product under your name.

If you have any questions please don't hesitate to contact me. Do not express interest in writing the review in the forum, but to me via email.

A New Zealand postal address must be supplied in the application process
The review is to be 600 to 900 words in length and should include 2 - 4 images as attachments. These can be submitted as email, or attached to an email as a Word, Pages, text or Appleworks document. Images should not be reduced in size or quality, but should be cropped to remove unwanted parts and attached separately.
The review is expected within two weeks of receiving the software
The review must include a rating out of 5 for each of the following:
- Installation & Documentation
- Ease of use
- Value for money
Submissions must be entirely your own work and must not breach copyright or intellectual property rights in any way.
If you are not a registered user of the site, you will be required to register so that the review can be assigned to your user name
By your submission you confirm that you have no association or financial involvement in the product being reviewed.
By your submission you grant NZMac.com the right to make publicly available the submitted content as they see fit and (with permission from NZMac.com) for third parties to display your review on their site
By your submission you grant NZMac.com exclusive publishing of the review for a minimum of one month
NZMac.com reserves the right to edit articles and reviews. In most cases, this will be done in consultation with the original author.
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2009 FileMaker DevCon “Early-Bird” pricing ends soon

FileMaker Inc. — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 15:33:00 +0000

Attendees registering for the annual FileMaker Developer Conference will save US$200 with "early-bird" pricing but only until June 26, 2009, FileMaker announced today. After June 26, the full conference fee of US$1,495 will apply.

This year's conference, to take place August 13-16 at the Hilton San Francisco, will feature more than 60 sessions and workshops, led by recognized FileMaker experts. The sessions will focus on FileMaker database development best practices and new techniques, including panels on Web services and PHP development. Conference sessions will also include a "deep dive" workshop into Script Triggers, an exciting new feature in FileMaker Pro 10 that gives developers new options for automating tasks and boosting productivity.

Special conference events will include a multi-vendor exhibition, a jam session on the 52nd floor of the Hilton San Francisco that will blend the musical talents of FileMaker developers with stunning views of the "City by the Bay," and a cruise through the San Francisco Bay complete with dinner and drinks, casino-type games, smooth jazz and live dance music.

Paid conference attendees will receive FileMaker Pro 10 Advanced (not for resale) for free (a NZ$799 value) along with a computer bag, lightweight jacket, and a CD with presentations, technical papers and example files.

"The FileMaker Developer Conference is an excellent way to advance your FileMaker career and product knowledge and, just as importantly, it offers countless valuable networking opportunities," said Jon Sigler, vice president, product management and developer relations, FileMaker, Inc.

Customer contact:
0800 444 929
www.filemaker.com/nz

Apple updates MacBook Pro family

Philip Roy — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 07:39:00 +0000

Apple today updated the aluminium unibody MacBook Pro line to include 13-inch, 15-inch and 17-inch models featuring Apple's innovative built-in battery for up to 40 percent longer battery life. Each MacBook Pro includes an LED-backlit display with greater color intensity, the innovative glass Multi-Touch trackpad, an illuminated keyboard, an SD card or ExpressCard slot, a FireWire 800 port and state of the art NVIDIA graphics. Starting at a recommended retail price (RRP) of just NZ$2399 inc GST, the MacBook Pro line is more affordable than ever, with some models up to NZ$200 less than the previous generation. The industry's greenest notebook lineup, every Mac notebook achieves EPEAT* Gold status and meets Energy Star 5.0 requirements, setting a new standard for environmentally friendly notebook design.

"Across the line, all of our new MacBook Pro models now include Apple's innovative built-in battery for up to seven hours of battery life, while staying just as thin and light as before," said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. "Starting at just NZ$2399 inc GST, the aluminium unibody MacBook Pro is more affordable than ever and sets a new standard for environmentally friendly notebook design."

The new 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Pro models include Apple's innovative built-in notebook battery for up to seven hours of wireless productivity on a single charge without adding thickness, weight or cost. Using Adaptive Charging and advanced chemistry first introduced with the 17-inch MacBook Pro earlier this year, the built-in battery delivers up to 1,000 recharges before it reaches 80 percent of its original capacity—nearly three times the lifespan of conventional batteries.** The longer battery lifespan equals fewer depleted batteries and less waste.

The new 13-inch MacBook Pro is a significant upgrade at a lower price than the original aluminium MacBook it replaces. With the same sleek and durable design popular with consumers, students and professionals, all 13-inch MacBook Pro models now include a seven hour built-in battery, an SD card slot, a FireWire 800 port, an illuminated keyboard and an improved LED-backlit display with 60 percent greater colour gamut. Featuring the powerful NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics processor, the 13-inch MacBook Pro is available in two models: one with a 2.26 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 2GB of RAM and a 160GB hard drive priced at NZ$2399 inc GST and another with a 2.53 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 4GB of RAM and a 250GB hard drive priced at NZ$2999 inc GST.

The perfect balance of performance and portability, the 15-inch MacBook Pro now features a seven hour built-in battery, an SD card slot, an improved LED-backlit display with 60 percent greater color gamut and 4GB of RAM across the line at an entry price NZ$200 less than before. The new 15-inch MacBook Pro is available in three models: a 2.53 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo system with a 250GB hard drive and NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics for a new entry price of NZ$3499 inc GST; a 2.66 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo system with a 320GB hard drive and NVIDIA GeForce 9400M and 9600M GT graphics for NZ$3999 inc GST; and a 2.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo system with a 500GB hard drive and NVIDIA GeForce 9400M and 9600M GT graphics for NZ$4699 inc GST.

The 17-inch MacBook Pro, which includes an eight hour built-in battery, an ExpressCard slot, a brilliant LED-backlit display, 4GB of RAM and NVIDIA GeForce 9400M and 9600M GT graphics, has been updated to include a faster 2.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor and a larger 500GB hard drive for NZ$4998 inc GST, which is A$100 less than before.

All MacBook Pro systems feature Apple's revolutionary aluminium unibody design and for the first time can be upgraded with up to 8GB of RAM and up to a 500GB hard drive or up to a 256GB solid state drive. The 15-inch and 17-inch MacBook Pro models can also be upgraded to a 3.06 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor. All MacBook Pro systems include a next generation, industry-standard Mini DisplayPort to connect with the 24-inch Apple LED Cinema Display.

Apple today also updated the incredibly thin and light MacBook Air, making it more powerful and more affordable. Measuring just 0.41 to 1.90 cm thin and weighing just 1.36 kilograms, the MacBook Air is available in two models starting with the new entry price of NZ$3299 inc GST for a 1.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo system with a 120GB hard drive and NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics and a 2.13 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo system with a 128GB solid state drive and NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics for NZ$4599 inc GST.

Every Mac notebook achieves EPEAT Gold status and meets Energy Star 5.0 requirements, setting a new standard for environmentally friendly notebook design. Each unibody enclosure is made of highly recyclable aluminium and comes standard with energy efficient LED-backlit displays that are mercury-free and made with arsenic-free glass. All MacBook Pro and MacBook Air models contain no brominated flame retardants and use internal cables and components that are PVC-free.

Every MacBook Pro comes with Apple's innovative iLife '09 featuring iPhoto for managing photos, iMovie for making movies and GarageBand for creating and learning to play music. Every Mac also runs Leopard, the world's most advanced operating system, featuring Time Machine, an effortless way to automatically back up everything on a Mac; Spaces, an intuitive feature used to create groups of applications and instantly switch between them; Mail with easy setup and elegant, personalised stationery; and iChat, the most advanced video chat.

Pricing & Availability
The new 13-inch MacBook Pro, 15-inch MacBook Pro, 17-inch MacBook Pro and MacBook Air are now available through the {{applestore}} and Apple Authorised Resellers. Mac OS X Snow Leopard will be shipping in September 2009 and any new Mac system purchased without Snow Leopard from Apple or an Apple Authorised Reseller between 8 June 2009 and the end of the program on 26 December 2009, is eligible for the Mac OS X Snow Leopard Up-To-Date upgrade package available for a product plus shipping and handling fee of NZ$19 inc GST. Users must request their Up-To-Date upgrade within 90 days of purchase or by 26 December 2009 or whichever comes first. For more information please visit www.apple.com/nz/macosx/uptodate.

The 2.26 GHz, 13-inch MacBook Pro, for a recommended retail price of NZ$2399 inc GST, includes:

13.3-inch widescreen LED-backlit 1280 x 800 glossy display;
2.26 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 3MB shared L2 cache;
1066 MHz front-side bus;
2GB 1066 MHz DDR3 SDRAM, expandable to 8GB;
NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics;
160GB serial ATA hard drive running at 5400 rpm, with Sudden Motion Sensor;
a slot-load 8X SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW) optical drive;
Mini DisplayPort for video output (adapters sold separately);
built-in AirPort Extreme 802.11n wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR;
Gigabit Ethernet port;
built-in iSight video camera;
two USB 2.0 ports;
one FireWire 800 port (FireWire 400 compatible);
SD card slot;
one audio line in/out port, supporting both optical digital and analog;
glass Multi-Touch trackpad and illuminated keyboard;
built-in, 58WHr lithium polymer battery; and
60 Watt MagSafe Power Adapter.

The 2.53 GHz, 13-inch MacBook Pro, for a recommended retail price of NZ$2999 inc GST, includes:

13.3-inch widescreen LED-backlit 1280 x 800 glossy display;
2.53 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 3MB shared L2 cache;
1066 MHz front-side bus;
4GB 1066 MHz DDR3 SDRAM, expandable to 8GB;
NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics;
250GB serial ATA hard drive running at 5400 rpm, with Sudden Motion Sensor;
a slot-load 8X SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW) optical drive;
Mini DisplayPort for video output (adapters sold separately);
built-in AirPort Extreme 802.11n wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR;
Gigabit Ethernet port;
built-in iSight video camera;
two USB 2.0 ports;
one FireWire 800 port (FireWire 400 compatible);
SD card slot;
one audio line in/out port, supporting both optical digital and analog;
glass Multi-Touch trackpad and illuminated keyboard;
built-in, 58WHr lithium polymer battery; and
60 Watt MagSafe Power Adapter.

Build-to-order options for the MacBook include the ability to upgrade to 8GB 1066 MHz DDR3 SDRAM, a 250GB 5400 rpm, 320GB 5400 rpm or 500GB 5400 rpm hard drive, a 128GB or 256GB solid state drive, Mini DisplayPort to DVI Adapter, Mini DisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI Adapter (for 30-inch DVI display), Mini DisplayPort to VGA Adapter, Apple USB Modem, Apple Remote, Apple MagSafe Airline Adapter and the AppleCare Protection Plan.

The 2.53 GHz, 15-inch MacBook Pro, for a recommended retail price of NZ$3499 inc GST, includes:

15.4-inch widescreen LED-backlit 1440 x 900 glossy display;
2.53 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 3MB shared L2 cache;
1066 MHz front-side bus;
4GB 1066 MHz DDR3 SDRAM, expandable to 8GB;
NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics;
250GB serial ATA hard drive running at 5400 rpm, with Sudden Motion Sensor;
a slot-load 8X SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW) optical drive;
Mini DisplayPort for video output (adapters sold separately);
built-in AirPort Extreme 802.11n wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR;
Gigabit Ethernet port;
built-in iSight video camera;
two USB 2.0 ports;
one FireWire 800 port;
SD card slot;
one audio line in and one audio line out port, each supporting both optical digital and analog;
glass Multi-Touch trackpad and illuminated keyboard;
built-in, 73WHr lithium polymer battery; and
60 Watt MagSafe Power Adapter.

The 2.66 GHz, 15-inch MacBook Pro, for a recommended retail price of NZ$3999 inc GST, includes:

•15.4-inch widescreen LED-backlit 1440 x 900 glossy display;
2.66 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 3MB shared L2 cache;
1066 MHz front-side bus;
4GB 1066 MHz DDR3 SDRAM, expandable to 8GB;
NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics;
NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT discrete graphics with 256MB GDDR3 video memory;
320GB serial ATA hard drive running at 5400 rpm, with Sudden Motion Sensor;
a slot-load 8X SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW) optical drive;
Mini DisplayPort for video output (adapters sold separately);
built-in AirPort Extreme 802.11n wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR;
Gigabit Ethernet port;
built-in iSight video camera;
two USB 2.0 ports;
one FireWire 800 port;
SD card slot;
one audio line in and one audio line out port, each supporting both optical digital and analog;
glass Multi-Touch trackpad and illuminated keyboard;
built-in, 73WHr lithium polymer battery; and
85 Watt MagSafe Power Adapter.

The 2.8 GHz, 15-inch MacBook Pro, for a recommended retail price of NZ$4699 inc GST, includes:

15.4-inch widescreen LED-backlit 1440 x 900 glossy display;
2.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 6MB shared L2 cache;
1066 MHz front-side bus;
4GB 1066 MHz DDR3 SDRAM, expandable to 8GB;
NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics;
NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT discrete graphics with 512MB GDDR3 video memory;
500GB serial ATA hard drive running at 5400 rpm, with Sudden Motion Sensor;
a slot-load 8X SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW) optical drive;
Mini DisplayPort for video output (adapters sold separately);
built-in AirPort Extreme 802.11n wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR;
Gigabit Ethernet port;
built-in iSight video camera;
two USB 2.0 ports;
one FireWire 800 port;
SD card slot;
one audio line in and one audio line out port, each supporting both optical digital and analog;
glass Multi-Touch trackpad and illuminated keyboard;
built-in, 73WHr lithium polymer battery; and
85 Watt MagSafe Power Adapter.

Build-to-order options for the 15-inch MacBook Pro include a 3.06 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, the ability to upgrade to 4GB 1066 MHz DDR3 SDRAM, a 320GB 5400 rpm, 320GB 7200 rpm, 500GB 5400 rpm or 500GB 7200 rpm hard drive, a 128GB or 256GB solid state drive, Mini DisplayPort to DVI Adapter, Mini DisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI Adapter (for 30-inch DVI display), Mini DisplayPort to VGA Adapter, Apple USB Modem, Apple Remote, Apple MagSafe Airline Adapter and the AppleCare Protection Plan.

The 2.8 GHz, 17-inch MacBook Pro, for a recommended retail price of NZ$4999 inc GST, includes:

17-inch widescreen LED-backlit 1920 x 1200, glossy display;
2.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 6MB shared L2 cache;
1066 MHz front-side bus;
4GB 1066 MHz DDR3 SDRAM, expandable to 8GB;
NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics;
NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT discrete graphics with 512MB GDDR3 video memory;
500GB serial ATA hard drive running at 5400 rpm, with Sudden Motion Sensor;
a slot-load 8X SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW) optical drive;
Mini DisplayPort for video output (adapters sold separately);
built-in AirPort Extreme 802.11n wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR;
Gigabit Ethernet port;
built-in iSight video camera;
three USB 2.0 ports;
one FireWire 800 port (FireWire 400 compatible);
ExpressCard/34 expansion card slot;
one audio line in and one audio line out port, each supporting both optical digital and analog;
glass Multi-Touch trackpad and illuminated keyboard;
built-in, 95WHr lithium polymer battery; and
85 Watt MagSafe Power Adapter.

Build-to-order options for the 17-inch MacBook Pro include a 3.06 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 8GB 1066 MHz DDR 3 memory, 500GB 7200 rpm hard drive, a 128GB or 256GB solid state drive, anti-glare display for $50 (US), Mini DisplayPort to DVI Adapter, Mini DisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI Adapter (for 30-inch DVI display), Mini DisplayPort to VGA Adapter, Apple Remote, Apple MagSafe Airline Adapter and the AppleCare Protection Plan.

*EPEAT is an independent organisation that helps customers compare the environmental performance of notebooks and desktops. Products meeting all of the 23 required criteria and at least 75 percent of the optional criteria are recognized as EPEAT Gold products. The EPEAT program was conceived by the US EPA and is based on IEEE 1680 standard for Environmental Assessment of Personal Computer Products. For more information visit www.epeat.net.

**A properly maintained MacBook Pro battery is designed to retain 80 percent or more of its original capacity during a lifespan of up to 1,000 recharge cycles. Battery life and charge cycles vary by use and settings. For more information visit www.apple.com/macbookpro/battery.

Apple unveils Mac OS X Snow Leopard

Philip Roy — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 07:35:00 +0000

Apple today unveiled Mac OS X Snow Leopard, an even more powerful and refined version of the world's most advanced operating system and the foundation for future Mac innovation. Snow Leopard builds on a decade of OS X innovation and success with hundreds of refinements, new core technologies, out of the box support for Microsoft Exchange and new accessibility features. Snow Leopard will ship as an upgrade for Mac OS X Leopard users in September 2009.

"We've built on the success of Leopard and created an even better experience for our users from installation to shutdown," said Bertrand Serlet, Apple's senior vice president of Software Engineering. "Apple engineers have made hundreds of improvements so with Snow Leopard your system is going to feel faster, more responsive and even more reliable than before."

To create Snow Leopard, Apple engineers focused on perfecting the world's most advanced operating system, refining 90 percent of the more than 1,000 projects in Mac OS X. Users will notice a more responsive Finder; Mail that loads messages 85 percent faster and conducts searches up to 90 percent faster;* Time Machine with up to 50 percent faster initial backup;* a Dock with Exposé integration; a 64-bit version of Safari 4 that boosts the performance of the Nitro JavaScript engine by up to 50 percent** and is resistant to crashes caused by plug-ins. Snow Leopard also includes an all new QuickTime X, with a redesigned player that allows users to easily view, record, trim and share video to YouTube, MobileMe or iTunes. Snow Leopard is half the size of the previous version and frees up to 6GB of drive space once installed.

For the first time, system applications including Finder, Mail, iCal, iChat and Safari are 64-bit and Snow Leopard's support for 64-bit processors makes use of large amounts of RAM, increases performance and improves security while remaining compatible with 32-bit applications. Grand Central Dispatch (GCD) provides a revolutionary new way for software to take advantage of multicore processors. GCD is integrated throughout Snow Leopard, from new system-wide APIs to high-level frameworks and programming language extensions, improving responsiveness across the system. OpenCL, a C-based open standard, allows developers to tap the incredible power of the graphics processing unit for tasks that go beyond graphics.

Snow Leopard builds support for Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 right into Mac OS X Mail, Address Book and iCal so you can use these applications to send and receive email, create and respond to meeting invitations and search and manage your contacts with global address lists. Exchange information works seamlessly within Snow Leopard so users can take advantage of OS X only features such as fast Spotlight searches and Quick Look previews. Snow Leopard is the only desktop operating system with out of the box support for Exchange 2007 and businesses of any size will find it easier to integrate Macs into their organisation.

Every Mac includes innovative features and technologies for users with special needs and Snow Leopard adds groundbreaking new features that make the Mac experience even more accessible to those with a vision impairment. Apple's Multi-Touch trackpad is now integrated with the VoiceOver screen reader so users can hear and navigate different parts of a window or the desktop by moving a single finger around the trackpad as if it were the screen. Snow Leopard also introduces built-in support for wireless bluetooth braille displays and the connection of multiple braille displays simultaneously to one Mac.

Pricing & Availability
Mac OS X version 10.6 Snow Leopard will be available as an upgrade to Mac OS X version 10.5 Leopard in September 2009 through the {{applestore}} and Apple Authorised Resellers. For Tiger users with an Intel-based Mac, the Mac Box Set includes Mac OS X Snow Leopard, iLife '09 and iWork '09. Details will be available at launch.

The Mac OS X Snow Leopard Up-To-Date upgrade package is available to all customers who purchased a qualifying new Mac system from Apple or an Apple Authorised Reseller between 8 June, 2009 and the end of the program on 26 December 2009, for a product plus shipping and handling fee of NZ$19. Users must request their Up-To-Date upgrade within 90 days of purchase or by 26 December 2009, whichever comes first. For more information please visit www.apple.com/nz/macosx/uptodate. Snow Leopard requires a minimum of 1GB of RAM and is designed to run on any Mac computer with an Intel processor. Full system requirements can be found at www.apple.com/nz/macosx/techspecs.

*Testing conducted by Apple in May 2009 comparing prerelease Mac OS X Snow Leopard v10.6 with shipping Mac OS X Leopard v10.5.7 using shipping MacBook 2.0 GHz systems with 2GB of RAM and NVIDIA GeForce 9400M (256MB) and shipping generation iMac 2.66 GHz systems with 2GB of RAM and NVIDIA GeForce 9400M (256MB).

**Testing conducted by Apple in May 2009 comparing 64-bit Safari 4 to 32-bit Safari 4 on prerelease Mac OS X Snow Leopard v10.6. Performance will vary based on system configuration, network connection and other factors. All testing conducted on an iMac 2.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo system running Mac OS X Snow Leopard, with 2GB of RAM. JavaScript benchmark based on the SunSpider JavaScript Performance test.

Apple introduces Mac OS X Server Snow Leopard

Philip Roy — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 07:32:00 +0000

Apple today unveiled a Developer Preview of Mac OS X Server Snow Leopard, the next major release of the world’s easiest to use server operating system. Snow Leopard Server is a full 64-bit UNIX server operating system based on open standards that is up to twice as fast as its predecessor.* Snow Leopard Server includes innovative new features such as Podcast Producer 2, for automating the creation and publishing of podcasts and Mobile Access Server with secure access to firewall-protected network services for iPhone and Mac. Snow Leopard Server will ship in September 2009.

"Snow Leopard Server is our best and fastest server operating system ever and unlimited client licenses make it an incredible value for any size business," said Bertrand Serlet, Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering. "With easy to use new features like Podcast Producer 2 and Mobile Access Server, anyone can set up and manage its powerful services with just a few clicks."

Snow Leopard Server is a full 64-bit operating system designed to take advantage of multi-core processors and address massive amounts of memory, while remaining fully compatible with 32-bit applications. Up to twice as fast as its predecessor, Snow Leopard Server easily handles the most demanding server operations including web and application hosting, file sharing and mail.

Podcast Producer 2 includes the new Podcast Composer application, which automates the entire production process, making it easy to create podcasts with a customised, consistent look and feel. With just a few clicks, Podcast Composer creates a workflow to add titles, transitions and effects, save to a desired format and share to wikis, blogs, iTunes, iTunes U, Final Cut Server or the new Podcast Library.

The new Mobile Access Server is a convenient, easy way for iPhone and Mac users to access secured network services, including corporate websites, online business applications, email, calendars and contacts. Without requiring additional software, Mobile Access Server provides strong encryption and authentication between the user’s iPhone or Mac and a private network.

Additional new features in Snow Leopard Server include:

Wiki Server 2, which improves its online collaboration with the ability to view wiki content on iPhone and preview attachments with Quick Look on any modern browser;
the new Address Book Server, based on the CardDAV open standard, which provides a central location for users to store and access personal contacts across multiple Macs and synchronised iPhones;
iCal Server 2, based on the CalDAV open standard, which includes web-based calendar access and the ability to view meeting invitations and details on iPhone using iPhone OS 3.0;
a new Mail Server engine that supports push email so users receive immediate access to new messages;
QuickTime X HTTP Live Streaming, which allows dynamic adjustment of movie playback quality to suit the available network speed;
NetRestore, a new feature in System Image Utility, that allows easy custom image restore over a network; and
iPhone Configuration Utility, which simplifies the setup of multiple iPhones with configuration information, security policies, mail settings and certificates needed to connect to and communicate with enterprise systems.

Pricing & Availability
Mac OS X Server version 10.6 Snow Leopard will be available in September 2009 through the {{applestore}} and Apple Authorised Resellers and will include unlimited licenses for Mac, Windows and Linux clients. The Mac OS X Snow Leopard Server Up-To-Date upgrade package is available to all customers who purchased a qualifying new Xserve system from Apple or an Apple Authorised Reseller between 8 June 2009 and the end of the program on 26 December 2009, for a product plus shipping and handling fee of NZ$19 inc GST. Users must request their Up-To-Date upgrade within 90 days of purchase or by 26 December 2009 or whichever comes first. For more information please visit www.apple.com/nz/macosx/uptodate. Snow Leopard Server can run on any Mac computer with an Intel processor, a minimum 2GB of RAM and at least 10GB of available disk space.

*Performance claim based on testing conducted by Apple in May 2009 using a 2.93 GHz 8-core Xserve with 48GB RAM, a 4-port 4Gbps Fibre Channel adapter, a SmallTree 6-port gigabit ethernet adapter, a Promise VTrak E-class RAID array with dual controllers and 16 300GB 15K RPM SAS drives, running a shipping version of Leopard Server v10.5.7 and a prerelease version of Snow Leopard Server. Testing with Leopard Server v10.5.7 reported 19313 SPECsfs2008_cifs ops per second with an overall response time of 1.89 ms and 9189 SPECsfs2008_nfs.v3 ops per second with an overall response time of 2.18 ms. Testing with Snow Leopard Server reported 44347 SPECsfs2008_cifs ops per second with an overall response time of 1.89 ms and 18784 SPECsfs2008_nfs.v3 ops per second with an overall response time of 2.67 ms. Leopard Server v10.5.7 (SPECjbb2005 bops = 205,224, SPECjbb2005 bops/JVM = 51,306) and a prerelease version of Snow Leopard Server (SPECjbb2005 bops = 269,977, SPECjbb2005 bops/JVM = 67,494). SPEC and the benchmark names SPECjbb2005 and SPECsfs2008 are trademarks of the Standard Performance Evaluation Corporation (SPEC); see www.spec.org for more information. For the latest SPECjbb2005 benchmark results, visit www.spec.org/osg/jbb2005. Competitive benchmark results stated here reflect internal Apple testing and were submitted to SPEC in May 2009. Performance tests are conducted using specific computer systems and reflect the approximate performance of Xserve and Mac OS X Server.

Apple releases Safari 4

Philip Roy — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 07:27:00 +0000

Apple today released Safari 4, the world's fastest and most innovative web browser. Available for Mac and Windows PCs and introduced as a beta in February of this year, Safari 4 features the Nitro engine which runs JavaScript up to 4.5 times faster than Safari 3.* Safari 4 makes browsing more intuitive and enjoyable with innovative features, such as Top Sites, Full History Search and Cover Flow and support for modern web standards like HTML 5 and advanced CSS Effects

"The successful beta release helped us fine tune Safari 4 into an even better, faster version that customers are going to love," said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. "Safari is enjoyed by 70 million users worldwide and with its blazing fast speed, innovative features and support for modern web standards, it's the best browser on any platform."

Safari 4 is built on the world's most advanced browser technologies including the new Nitro JavaScript engine that executes JavaScript nearly eight times faster than IE 8 and more than four times faster than Firefox 3. Safari quickly loads HTML web pages more than three times faster than IE 8 and three times faster than Firefox 3.*

Safari 4 includes Top Sites, for an incredible visual preview of frequently visited and favourite pages; Full History Search, to search through titles, web addresses and the complete text of recently viewed pages; and Cover Flow, to easily flip through web history or bookmarks. Other innovative features include Smart Address Fields for automatically completing web addresses from an easy to read list of suggestions; Search Fields, to fine tune searches with recommendations from Google Suggest or a list of recent searches; and Full Page Zoom, for a closer look at any website without degrading the quality of the site's layout and text.

Pricing & Availability
Safari 4 is available for both Mac OS X and Windows as a free download at www.apple.com/nz/safari. Safari 4 for Mac OS X requires Mac OS X Leopard v10.5.7 or Mac OS X Tiger v10.4.11 and Security Update 2009-002, a minimum 256MB of memory and is designed to run on any Intel-based Mac or a Mac with a PowerPC G5, G4 or G3 processor and built-in FireWire. Safari 4 for Windows requires Windows XP SP2 or Windows Vista, a minimum 256MB of memory and a system with at least a 500 MHz Intel Pentium processor. Full system requirements and more information on Safari 4 can be found at www.apple.com/nz/safari.

Podcast 28 - 2 guys, 2 podcasts

Philip Roy — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 23:35:00 +0000

So good they recorded it twice!! OK, a technical glitch made Darryn (aka Loweded Wookie) and Andrew (apdv1) have a discussion about Apple, HD TV, Eye TV and more in this episode...twice! But we're thankful to them for taking the time to have another session. The discussion includes useful software to use on your Macs, great sites and some great software picks. Those thinking of getting into using their Mac for a media centre or making use of great products like Apple TV, should check it out.

Click here to subscribe to the podcast via iTunes
Click here for the podcast feed via feedburner
Listen directly, here....

{mp3remote}http://nzmac.jellycast.com/pod/nzmac-podcast/028_NZMac_com.mp3{/mp3remote}

Podcast 28 - Show notes

Any Apple hardware and software discussed is not listed. Instead, you can support NZMac.com at no extra cost by clicking this link to purchase from the Apple Store NZ. Thanks in advance!

Loweded Wookie/Darryn

Bento for iPhone

The Sims 3

http://thesims3.ea.co.nz/

Download online - http://www.gametreeonline.com/ea/sims-3

The Sims 3 for iPhone

Andrew/apdv1

EyeTV and Turbo .264 - elgato.com

Electronic program guide for eyetv - http://epg.pvr.geek.nz/epg

Handbrake - http://handbrake.fr/

Mac The Ripper - difficult to find, but start here

VLC - www.videolan.org/vlc/

Meta X - kerstetter.net/page53/page54/page54.html

Major League Baseball - mlb.tv

Airfoil - rougeamoeba.com

Wunder radio - www.wunderradio.com

Related pick from Phil that he thought might be of interest - Fairmount

5 new updates from Apple

Philip Roy — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 10:09:00 +0000

It's update season at Apple...perhaps a sign that these apps are being made ready for big announcements at the WWDC? The updates to day are for iLife Support 9.0.3, iMovie 8.0.3, Digital Camera RAW Compatibility Update 2.6, iDVD 7.0.4 and iPhoto 8.0.3

Details of the updates

About iLife Support 9.0.3 - Life Support provides system software resources that are shared by iLife and other applications. This update addresses general compatibility issues, improves overall stability for the Media Browser, and fixes a number of other minor issues. The issues addressed include:

Resolved memory leaks for improved performance of the Media Browser
Corrected issues to display custom folders when added to the Media Browser
Maintained correct Image dates when importing from iPhoto to Aperture

About iMovie 8.0.3 - This update addresses general compatibility issues, improved overall stability and fixes a number of other minor issues. The issues addressed include:

Support for 720p AVCHD Lite cameras and camcorders
Deleting a beat marker no longer modifies the project duration
Video Effects palette now uses the correct thumbnail for still images

About Digital Camera RAW Compatibility Update 2.6 - This update extends RAW image compatibility for Aperture 2, iPhoto 08, and iPhoto 09 for the following cameras:

Canon EOS 500D
Canon Rebel T1i
Canon EOS Kiss Digital X3
Nikon D5000
Olympus E-30

About iDVD 7.0.4 - This update addresses general compatibility issues and fixes an issue where iDVD is unable to add title/comment to an image in the image details list.

About iPhoto 8.0.3 Update - This update addresses general compatibility, improves overall stability and fixes a number of issues in the following areas of the application:

Publishing to MobileMe, Facebook, and Flickr
Slideshow playback
Location (GPS) info embedded in emailed photos and exported JPEGs

FileMaker 10 Certification Testing now available

FileMaker Inc. — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 16:56:00 +0000

FileMaker, Inc. today announced the immediate availability of certification testing for the award-winning FileMaker 10 product line. With FileMaker 10 Certification, developers can boost their industry-wide business and career potential by becoming recognized as a FileMaker 10 Certified Developer, who has the essential knowledge necessary to develop and deploy business or organizational solutions using the FileMaker 10 family of products.

"Developers certified in FileMaker 10 can differentiate themselves from competitors to increase their business opportunities," said Jon Sigler, vice president, Product management and Developer Relations, FileMaker.

In addition to receiving a FileMaker 10 Certified Developer certificate, those who pass the test may use the FileMaker Certified Developer logo on business cards, websites and marketing collateral. Members of the FileMaker Business Alliance who receive certification are listed as certified developers on the FileMaker consultant listing web pages.

FileMaker Pro 10 certification
Although there are no prerequisites for the FileMaker 10 certification exam, FileMaker recommends that test candidates explore the FileMaker Training Series, the most comprehensive self-paced training for FileMaker 10. The FileMaker Training Series manual and CD are available for NZ$159 Ex GST. The series includes a 700+ page manual and a CD with demo files, exercises and videos to help guide users through the content. Modules in the series cover a wide range of topics from introductory concepts such as working with fields and layouts to more advanced topics such as Script Triggers and Web publishing. The FileMaker Training Series can also be taken as a leader-led course offered by a FileMaker Authorized Trainer.

For organizations looking for a consultant to help build a customized FileMaker solution, FileMaker certification is the validation of an experienced professional who has technical knowledge of the complete FileMaker product line.

In addition to the FileMaker Training Series, FileMaker offers a variety of educational resources, including its upcoming FileMaker Developer Conference, 13 - 16 August 2009, at the Hilton San Francisco. The conference offers a number of sessions designed to help prepare candidates for certification testing. FileMaker Technical Network (TechNet), available at NZ$149 Ex GST annually, offers access to technical briefs and resources available only to TechNet members.

Customer contact:
0800 444 929
www.filemaker.com/nz

Media contact:
Kya de Rome
+61 2 9212 3848
kya@kinetics.com.au

Updates galore, iTunes preps for iPhone 3.0

Philip Roy — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 09:15:00 +0000

Apple have released a number of updates for Mac and Windows versions of their software. Notably, the information related to the iTunes update states that it "now supports iPhone or iPod touch with the iPhone 3.0 Software Update", which is expected to be released very soon. The updates are QuickTime 7.6.2 for Mac/Windows, GarageBand 5.0.2, iTunes 8.2 for Mac/Windows and MobileMe Control Panel for Windows.