Macworld articles from March 2007

Macworld archives from March 2007

Apple isn't waiting.(Steve Jobs's keynote address at MacWorld Exposition 2007)
March 1, 2007... Steve Jobs's keynote address at this year's Macworld Expo was unlike previous keynotes in so many ways, from his revelation that Apple was removing Computer from its name to the complete absence of new Mac announcements. And the one product he...

The Intel deluge (continued).(Apple would convert its entire line of computers to Intel chips)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... When Steve Jobs said that Apple would convert its entire line of computers to Intel chips by the end of 2006, he wasn't kidding. The past year has seen a flood of new Intel-based systems. These unremitting waves of new machines have overwhelmed...

Future shock.(Letter to the editor)
March 1, 2007... ZA GENTLE # The Mac Pro is indeed a fast, exhilarating machine ("Inside the Mac Pro," November 2006)--to me, by far the best Mac ever. But for those of us who use third-party plug-ins for Apple's Logic Pro or Pro Tools or for other...

Take them with you.(Letter to the editor)
March 1, 2007... IAN WELLS # I have a suggestion for a follow-up to your article about portable applications ("Your Apps in Your Pocket," Mobile Mac, November 2006): I run two Macs at work and two at home (a desktop and a portable at each location). I try...

By the books.(Letter to the editor)
March 1, 2007... ROBERT SUMMERS # I enjoyed your article "Beyond Apple's Photo Books" (Digital Photo, December 2006). But please note that you cannot upload a Pages-created PDF file to Lulu; it will be automatically rejected. This has been a problem for a...

I spot the serif.(Letter to the editor)
March 1, 2007... LEE GRAVES # About the letter from Michael Myers (Feedback, December 2006): I, too, miss the WYSIWYG fonts we had in OS 9. I haven't the time to open Tiger's font window to see what each font will look like. Please, Apple, just list type...

Getting in Gear.(Letter to the editor)
March 1, 2007... JOHN DOYLE # In "Macworld's Gear Guide" (December 2006), you mentioned the JBL Go + Play and provided a link to the JBL Web site. But when I went to that site, I couldn't find that product. Is there somewhere else I should try? The Go...

Which library?(Letter to the editor)
March 1, 2007... ALESSANDRO PEDICELLI # Regarding your tip "Use Screen-Saver Images as Desktop Pictures" (Mac OS X Hints, December 2006): I thought this tip sounded really cool and tried it myself, but I encountered a problem. The first step is to find the...

Corrections.(Correction notice)
March 1, 2007... We ran the wrong picture next to our description of Timbuk2's Artist's Canvas Bag in "Macworld's Gear Guide" (December 2006). That picture was of Timbuk2's Single Speed Laptop Courier. In "Troubleshooting MacBooks" (Mobile Mac, January...

Inside Apple TV: what we know and what's new since last year's announcement.(Macworld Expo 2007)
March 1, 2007... Apple's Macworld Expo announcement of its new set-top box, the Apple TV, wasn't really unexpected; after all, the company had already previewed it in September 2006, when it carried the code name of iTV But almost four months after we got our...

Apple TV and iPhone are among winners: Best of Show.(Macworld Conference & Expo)
March 1, 2007... Every January, the editors at Macworld scour the show floor at Macworld Conference & Expo and pick the coolest products for Best of Show honors. The products must be recent releases or make their debut at Expo. This year, we chose 11 products...

Microsoft reveals details of Universal office suite: Office 2008 for Mac.
March 1, 2007... Apple's transition to Intel processors has been a relatively smooth one. Still, certain key applications have yet to make the jump to Intel-native code. But Microsoft's Office suite will no longer be among them when Microsoft Office 2008 for...

Internet beat.(Zend Studio 5.5, application development software)(Karelia Software's Sandvox 1.1, application development software)(Fetch Softworks file transfer software, Fetch 5.2)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... Fetch 5.2, from Fetch Softworks (www.fetchsoftworks.com): File-transfer program introduces WebView, a new way for viewing files in a Web browser and copying Web addresses ($25; upgrades, free for Fetch 5 users and $15 for Fetch 4 users). ...

Imaging beat.(Ovolab's Geophoto, image processing software)(XtraLean Software's ImageWell 3.0, image processing software)(Stunt Software's Snapshot 2.0, image processing software)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... Geophoto, from Ovolab (www.ovolab.com): Photo-browsing application displays pictures by location instead of by date. It places images on a three-dimensional globe, showing where in the world pictures were taken, and it lets you share with...

Intel releases Core 2 Quad processors.(Consumer Electronics Show 2007 )(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... During the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Intel added three quad-core processors to its lineup. The high-end Core 2 Quad runs at 2.4GHz and is designed to alleviate the processing bottlenecks encountered with high-definition video...

Apple drops computer from its name.(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... Near the end of his Macworld Expo keynote address, Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced that the company is changing its name from Apple Computer to simply Apple. The name change reflects the company's newfound emphasis on consumer electronics, and...

iTunes Store adds Paramount movies.(Apple Computer Inc. iTunes Music Store, Paramount Pictures Corp.)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... Before spending the bulk of his keynote talking about Apple TV and the iPhone, Steve Jobs announced that Paramount Studios would be joining Disney in offering feature-length movies for sale on the iTunes Store. The addition of more video...

Longtime Macworld contributor passes away: farewell, Bruce Fraser.(Obituary)
March 1, 2007... In December 2006, longtime friend and colleague Bruce Fraser passed away. He succumbed, after a short bout with lung cancer, a few weeks shy of his 53rd birthday. To many of us, he was a warm, gregarious man and a loyal friend. To anyone who...

Avernum 4 goes Universal.(Spiderweb Software released role-playing game, Avernum 4.1.1)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... Spiderweb Software has announced the release of Avernum 4 1.1, an updated version of its fantasy role-playing adventure game for the Mac. The new version runs natively on Intel and PowerPC-based Macs. It's a free update for registered users....

Feral releases Imperial Glory.(Feral Interactive)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... At long last, Feral Interactive is releasing more Mac games, including Imperial Glory--which was developed by Pyro Studios, makers of the Commandos series. Imperial Glory is a strategy game set during the Napoleonic era, in which you try to...

World of Warcraft adds multithreaded OpenGL.(Blizzard Entertainment has released updated version of multiplayer strategy games, "World of Warcraft 2.0.1")(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... Blizzard Entertainment has released an update to World of Warcraft. Among other things, the 2.0.1 update now supports multithreaded OpenGL on Intel-based Macs running OS X 10.4.8 or later. Much of what OpenGL does is dependent on the Mac's CPU,...

Creative beat.(Managing Editor's desktop publishing software, "AdForce 5.0")(Zykloid Software's desktop publishing software, "Posterino 1.0")(Punch Software's CAD software, "ViaCAD")(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... AdForce 5, from Managing Editor (www.maned.com): Ad-layout software adds Universal binary support to run natively on PowerPC- and Intel-based Macs, as well as an integrated search function that supports Tiger's Spotlight (contact Managing...

Productivity beat.(macbeat)
March 1, 2007... 3D Weather Globe & Atlas 2.0 Professional Edition, from Software MacKiev (www.mackiev.com): Upgraded version of global atlas software features higher resolution, real-time weather visualizations, and the ability to tilt the horizon (with one...

CS3 shows performance boosts on Intel Macs: Photoshop beta tests are in.(Adobe Photoshop CS3, image processing software)(Product/service evaluation)
March 1, 2007... As soon as we got our hands on the beta version of the Intel-native Adobe Photoshop CS3, Macworld Lab ran three basic tests on a few Intel and some PowerPC Macs: launching Photoshop CS3 with a 50MB file; running our standard suite of 14...

Apple faces lawsuit over iTunes and iPod link: too much integration.(macbeat)
March 1, 2007... Apple has a huge hit on its hand with the combination of the iPod and the iTunes Store, but at least one customer thinks the integration has gone too far. She filed a lawsuit against Apple precisely over the tying of its iTunes Store to the...

Storage beat.(LaCie's new Blu-ray Drive)(Other World Computing's launched Mercury Elite-AL Pro hard disk drives)(Maxtor launched OneTouch III Mini Edition hard disk drives)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... LaCie d2 Blu-ray Drive, from LaCie (www.lacie.com): External Blu-ray drive comes with Roxio's Toast and records, rewrites, and reads 25GB and 50GB BD-R and BD-RE discs, as well as DVD-DL and CD-RW discs ($1,149). Mercury Elite-AL Pro...

Multimedia beat.(Belkin's four-channel audio mixer )(Canon's DVD camcorder)(Harman Kardon's automotive music system, "Drive + Play 2")(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... TuneStudio, from Belkin (www.belkin.com): Four-channel audio mixer designed for fifth-generation iPods lets users plug in up to four different instruments or audio sources to record audio onto an iPod for instant playback ($180). DC220,...

Which all-in-one is right for you? Multifunctions print, scan, fax, and copy in living color.(multifunction printers)(Product/service evaluation)
March 1, 2007... We're all busy tackling several projects at once, so naturally we expect our machines to multitask as well as we do. That's why multifunction printers (MFPs), sometimes called all-in-ones or multifunctions, are growing in popularity. An...

17-inch MacBook Pro trades up: Core 2 Duo model offers improved speed, RAM, and storage.(laptop computers)(Product/service evaluation)
March 1, 2007... When the time comes to update its 17-inch laptops, Apple always faces a challenge: How does it improve a machine that has just about everything? In the case of the latest 17-inch Mac-Book Pro, the company stuck to the basics. Apple added...

More reviews.(Acrobat 8.0 Professional, portable document software)(Live 6.0, music software)(Norton Confidential, network security software)(Rocketbowl Plus, sport games)(Safe Eyes 2006, internet filtering software)(Product/service evaluation)
March 1, 2007... For complete reviews of the products listed here, visit www.macworld.com/reviews. VERY GOOD 1/2 Acrobat 8 Professional ($449; upgrade, $159), from Adobe (www.adobe.com): Acrobat 8 Professional is a Universal version of Adobe's flagship...

OS X server: serving it up.(Apple Xserve server)(Product/service evaluation)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... VERY GOOD Xserve ($2,999), from Apple Computer (www.apple.com): Now powered by Intel processors and bursting with contemporary technologies, the Apple Xserve straddles the disparate requirements of a data-center-friendly server while still...

Playlist plays of the year: 2006; Each year we pick the coolest headphones, speakers, iPod cases, and other audio-related products. Here are some of our favorites for 2006. You can find the entire list at macworld.com/2407.(iPod Gear)(Product/service evaluation)
March 1, 2007... Most Innovative iPod Headphones With the ety8, Etymotic has created an unlikely pairing of in-ear-canal headphones (canalphones) and Bluetooth. The only cable for these canalphones is the one connecting the left and right sides behind your...

iPods.(mp3 players)(Product/service evaluation)(Table)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... Product Capacity Rating Price Display iPod 30GB VERY GOOD 1/2 $249 2.5-inch color iPod 80GB VERY GOOD 1/2 $349 2.5-inch color iPod nano 2GB VERY GOOD 1/2 $149 1.5-inch color...

Video converter: VisualHub 1.17.(video compression software)(Product/service evaluation)
March 1, 2007... Computer-based video is everywhere these days. You can get it from your video or digital camera; you can use iMovie and other multimedia applications to create your own movies; and the Internet is overflowing with a veritable cornucopia of...

Batch photo-editing plug-in: iPhoto Batch Enhancer 2.0.3i.(image processing software)(Product/service evaluation)
March 1, 2007... iPhoto's various photo effects--such as Enhance, Sepia, Fade Color, and Edge Blur, along with its handy Adjust palette--make it easy to tweak your photos to your liking. Unfortunately, if you have a bunch of images that need the same...

Mac mini power-supply mount: Power Grip Bracket.(Macessity Power Grip Bracket)(Product/service evaluation)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... Although the Mac mini is a tiny computer, its power brick is surprisingly big--many users bemoan the fact that its bulky power supply takes up so much space next to the mini or on the floor beneath it. If you also feel this way, you'll want to...

Oki Data C6100dn.(color laser printers)(Konica Magicolor 2430 DL)(Product/service evaluation)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... VERY GOOD 1/2 C6100dn ($1,102), from Oki Data (www.okidata.com): [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The Oki C6100dn produces great-looking prints, and it includes built-in duplexing. It has easy network connectivity and quick printing speeds...

Epson Stylus Photo R340.(Canon Pixma iP6600D)(ink jet photo printer)(Product/service evaluation)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... VERY GOOD 1/2 Stylus Photo R340 ($200), from Epson (www.epson.com): [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The Epson Stylus Photo R340 prints the best color photos in its class, and it reproduces shadow detail extremely well. Its black-and-white...

Macs.(personal computers)(portable computers)(Product/service evaluation)(Table)
March 1, 2007... DESKTOP Product Processor Display Rating More Information iMac Intel Core 2 17 inches VERY GOOD macworld.com/1727 Duo/1.83GHz Intel Core 2 17 inches VERY GOOD 1/2...

Desktop drives.(G-technology G-drive Q 500 GB)(LaCie d2 Extreme)(hard disk drives)(Product/service evaluation)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... OUTSTANDING G-Drive Q 500GB ($559), from G-Technology (www.g-technology.com): [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The G-Drive Q SATA hard drive has nearly every type of connection you could want. The Q stands for quad--referring to the four...

Portable drive.(Roc-secure Rocbit 2B)(Product/service evaluation)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... OUTSTANDING Rocbit 2B ($230), from Roc-secure (www.rocsecure.com): [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The Rocbit 2B, which has 40-bit encryption, is priced a bit higher than similar portable drives that lack encryption, but it's well worth the...

Panasonic PV-GS500.(Mini DV camcorders)(Product/service evaluation)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... VERY GOOD PV-GS500 ($1,000), from Panasonic (www.panasonic.com): [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The PV-GS500 is a fine piece of equipment: it offers great control, excellent video quality, and broad operational flexibility. Although the...

Canon CanoScan 9950F.(flatbed scanners)(Product/service evaluation)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... VERY GOOD 1/2 CanoScan 9950F ($399), from Canon (www.canon.com): [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The CanoScan 9950F offers improved scan quality and more-intuitive software controls. This model tops its predecessor, the 9900F, in almost every...

21-inch display.(NEC MultiSync 2190UXi, liquid crystal display monitors)(Product/service evaluation)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... VERY GOOD 1/2 MultiSync 2190UXi ($1,500), from NEC (www.necdisplay.com): [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] This display doesn't come cheap, but graphics pros will love the NEC MultiSync 2190UXi's vivid and accurate colors and wide viewing angle....

20-inch display.(NEC MultiSync 2070NX, liquid crystal display monitors)(Product/service evaluation)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... VERY GOOD 1/2 MultiSync LCD2070NX ($799), from NEC (www.necdisplay.com): [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The MultiSync LCD2070NX is great for people who want a moderately priced 20-inch monitor that can display bright, accurate colors. It...

17-inch display.(Dell UltraSharp 1707FP, liquid crystal displays monitors)(Product/service evaluation)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... VERY GOOD UltraSharp 1707FP ($279), from Dell (www.dell.com): [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Budget-conscious display shoppers won't be disappointed by this highly flexible 17-inch monitor that has a built-in USB hub. Its display of text is...

8-megapixel digital SLR.(Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT)(Product/service evaluation)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... VERY GOOD 1/2 EOS Digital Rebel XT ($899; with lens, $999), from Canon (www.canon.com): [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Canon defined this market with the original Digital Rebel, and the company keeps its lead with the EOS Digital Rebel XT. The...

Advanced digital camera.(Fujifilm FinePix E900)(Product/service evaluation)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... VERY GOOD FinePix E900 ($410), from Fujifilm (www.fujifilm.com): [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Digital camera resolution keeps increasing, and the Fujifilm FinePix E900 follows this trend as the first point-and-shoot camera we've seen with a...

LaCie d2 DVD[+ or -]RW with LightScribe.(DVD recordable drives)(Product/service evaluation)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... VERY GOOD 1/2 d2 DVD[+ or -]RW with LightScribe ($189) from LaCie (www.lacie.com): [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Whether you're looking to add DVD-burning capability to your system, looking for an easier way to copy optical discs, or just...

Portable photo printer.(Lexmark P350)(Product/service evaluation)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... GOOD P350 ($130), from Lexmark (www.lexmark.com): [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The inexpensive P350 is Lexmark's first portable photo printer that works with a Mac and that uses water- and smudge-resistant pigment inks. Unfortunately, when...

Portable photo printer.(Canon Pixma mini260)(Product/service evaluation)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... VERY GOOD Pixma mini260 ($200), from Canon (www.canon.com): [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] This compact printer produces high-quality 4-by-6-inch snapshots quickly and quietly. It also includes a few perks, such as a color-balance mode, that...

10.1-megapixel digital SLR.(Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi)(Product/service evaluation)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... VERY GOOD EOS Digital Rebel XTI (body only, $799; with EF-S 18mm-55mm lens kit, $899), from Canon (www.canon.com): [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] An upgrade of Canon's EOS Digital Rebel XT, the XTI offers a 10.1-megapixel sensor, a 2.5-inch...

6.1-megapixel digital SLR.(Pentax K100D)(Product/service evaluation)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... VERY GOOD K100D (with 18mm-55mm lens, $699), from Pentax Imaging Company (www.pentax.com): [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] For people who want a digital SLR camera and all the flexibility that it provides, the K100D is a great entry-level...

Hello, iPhone: what you need to know about Apple's groundbreaking new gadget.(Steve Jobs)(Interview)
March 1, 2007... Steve Jobs prefaced his introduction of the iPhone by saying, "This is a day I've been looking forward to for two and a half years." And it's safe to say that Mac users have been pining after such a product for at least as long. Apple...

Clear away the clutter: simple strategies that help you get organized and stay that way.(macintosh computers)(Editorial)
March 1, 2007... The more you use your Mac, the more stuff you accumulate. E-mail messages, downloaded files, personal photos, work documents, to-do items--they all have to go somewhere. Unless you have a good system for managing this stuff, you can quickly...

Pry Windows files open.
March 1, 2007... Sure, Apple's latest computers can run Microsoft's ubiquitous operating system natively, but a wide gulf remains between Windows and Mac OS X. Just take a gander at your inbox crammed full of Windows-created file attachments--attachments that...

Doing the iTunes shuffle.(Party Shuffle feature)
March 1, 2007... People sometimes refer to iTunes as a digital jukebox, but you may not know that it can function almost like a real jukebox (minus the coins). With its Party Shuffle feature, iTunes offers a way to either cue up music in the order you want or...

Stop seeing red.(DIGITAL PHOTO)(Column)
March 1, 2007... The days of airbrushing, dye transfers, spotting, and etching are long gone, but the need to clean up or enhance photographs has never been greater. Portraits in particular can require a certain amount of retouching to flatter the subject....

Get your Web site noticed.(create Web sites with online web developing tools)
March 1, 2007... Whether you're an expert on Pez dispensers or a budding entrepreneur, programs such as Apple's iWeb and Adobe's Dreamweaver, as well as online tools like Blogger and WordPress, make it easy to create Web sites that communicate your passion. Of...

Reclaim hard-drive space.(MOBILE MAC)(Editorial)
March 1, 2007... Hard drives have a way of filling up--especially laptop drives. Although desktop Macs come with up to 750GB of hard-drive space, some Mac laptops still ship with hard drives as small as 60GB and the biggest laptop drive money can buy holds only...

Resize partitions on-the-fly.(resize disk partitions)
March 1, 2007... Command-line enthusiasts know that if you can do something in the regular Mac interface, you can usually do it faster using Terminal. But as of Mac OS X 10.4.6, Terminal also lets you perform a feat that previously required add-on software....

Mac OS X Hints: the insiders' tips you won't get from Apple.(HELP DESK)
March 1, 2007... Compare Shots in iPhoto Tucked away in Apple's iPhoto '06 (part of the $79 iLife '06 suite) is a handy photo-comparison tool you might not know about. You can use this tool to compare similar shots side by side, so you can see which one...

Mac 911: solutions to your most vexing Mac problems.(Apple Power Mac G5)(Column)
March 1, 2007... Sync Address Book without .Mac I use a Power Mac G5 at home and an iBook on the road. Both run OS X 10.4.7. Because I enter data in both machines, depending on where I am, I'd like to be able to synchronize my copies of Address Book. What...

ADC developer showcase.
March 1, 2007... As seen in the Apple Developer Connection Pavilion Macworld Conference & Expo 2007 2 degrees frost AoE Storage For Mac New storage for Mac--ATA-over-Ethernet (AoE) Mac EtherDrive[R] storage Solution Bundles for fast,...

USBCell.(Our Favorite New Stuff)
March 1, 2007... Walk into any drugstore or market, and you'll still find a lot of alkaline batteries destined for the landfill. Standard rechargeable batteries for your remote controls and portable speakers have been widely available for years, but all of them...

Film School in a box.(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... For their movie, The Confession, filmmakers David Kebo and Rudi Liden used 11 simultaneously running security cameras to film the action. The resulting 90-minute DVD lets the viewer switch among the different angles to remix the movie...

RiffTrax.(launching online movie services)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K) is one of the funniest TV shows of all time. Its premise was simple: three funny people (OK, one funny person and two funny robot puppets) joined you in watching a terrible movie, and then cracked jokes that...

Outlets to Go.(Our Favorite New Stuff)
March 1, 2007... You're on the road, and outlets for plugging in your laptop and iPod charger are scarce. But Monster Cable's compact Outlets to Go power strip can expand your options by converting a single outlet to four outlets ($20; available in white) or...

LaCie Hub.(Our Favorite New Stuff)
March 1, 2007... The best products elegantly combine form and function--but I'm a sucker for those that gleefully flaunt their design. Looking something like a giant light bulb that has escaped from a Matrix movie set, the $80 LaCie Hub has dramatically...