Apple Mac HQ

Looks like I might be a little late on this piece of news, but I only found out about it a few minutes ago.

If you like (or just need) Windows on your Mac, one of the leaders in Windows virtualization on the Mac has released Beta 1 of their product. VMware Fusion 2.0 Beta 1 is now available for download. Beta 1 will set you back absolutely nothing; it’s free!

Among the new features in Fusion 2.0:

• Multi-Display Support
• Experimental 3D Acceleration
• Easier Printing
• USB Improvements

The blog post announcing the Beta 1 release has a cool video of the multi-display feature. If you would like to test the beta, you can download it HERE. Don’t forget to file bugs or issues with the Fusion team if you encounter a problem!

In a somewhat surprising announcement, David Watanabe has announced that Inquisitor, his search extension for Safari, has been acquired by Yahoo. This announcement was made simultaneously with the release of Inquisitor 3.1. Among the changes in Inquisitor 3.1 is the default search engine for new users is now set to Yahoo (it was previously Google).

Details on the acquisition are a little scarce. No word on the acquisition price or other details. What is known is that Watanabe will not join Yahoo, but will remain the lead developer of Inquisitor.

So what’s in this for Yahoo? I suspect the acquisition is just an attempt to buy search queries. The search box in Safari is powered by Google. If you install Inquisitor, the search box now defaults to Yahoo. Yahoo is paying for your searches.

Disclosure: I own a small number of Yahoo shares.

If you updated to Camino 1.6 in the past few days, you’ll notice that 1Password is not compatible with the newest Camino release. Luckily the developers behind 1Password are on top of things. The developers (Agile Web Solutions) issued an update to the great Password Manager the same day Camino 1.6 was released.

Launch the 1Password application (from your applications folder) and you should be notified that 1Password 2.5.13 is available for download. If not, just select the Check for Updates option from the menu-bar. Once you have 1Password updated, just relaunch Camino and you’ll see the familiar 1Password button in your application menu-bar!

It’s great that the developers are so quick to release an update to support a new browser release. If you’re not familiar with 1Password, head on over to the 1Password website. A license for 1Password will set you back $34.95 USD.

If you’ve been reading the blog for more than a few months, no doubt you heard me talk about MacHeist before. The folks behind MacHeist released a boxless “retail bundle” recently. Basically it’s like the other MacHeist software bundles but without the hoopla involved; missions, locked applications, etc.

The bundle includes 12 applications and will set you back $49 USD. The bundle will be on sale for a “limited time”, but no word on exactly how long it will last. Here’s a list of the applications included:

Awaken
Cha-Ching
CoverSutra
DEVONthink Personal
iClip
Overflow
Wallet
WriteRoom
XSlimmer
Enigmo
Bugdom 2
Nanosaur 2

I purchased the last MacHeist bundle but I’m going to skip this one. While there is no denying the value of the bundle, there just doesn’t seem to be that “must have” or killer app to take it over the top. Both the previous MacHeist bundle contained that one applications that pretty much sealed the deal to purchase it. While that killer application will vary from user to user, an application like TextMate or Pixelmator can really bring in the buyers.

The bundle is on sale now and you can buy it HERE.

I was recently on a business trip and one of my coworkers decided to buy an iPod Classic while we were at the Birmingham Apple Store. The next day he was looking to put some content on his iPod. In addition to a few songs on his laptop, he also had some videos he converted to avi files some time ago. He didn’t know how to get those videos on his iPod though. That’s when I thought of iSquint.

iSquint is a simple tool for converting videos to an iPod compatible format. As the screenshot below shows, it’s very easy to start converting video. Just drag a file into the application window, choose your optimization format and quality, and click start. If you selected the “Add to iTunes” checkbox, your video will be added to iTunes when it’s done converting. Sync your iPod and it will be transferred to it. It really is that simple. If you’re looking to put video on your iPod, iSquint is a great tool.

iSquint is available free of charge from Techspansion. iSquint is the little brother of VisualHub, the fantastic video conversion tool that I frequently use to add content to my Apple TV.

It’s been over two months since Office 2008 was released at Macworld. Shipped on January 15th, 2008, Office 2008 became one of the last applications to become a universal binary. In addition to being universal, Office 2008 is a major upgrade to the flagship Microsoft product. While you can buy Office 2008 online, at retail stores, and via education discounts, there was one place you couldn’t buy it; via the Home Use Program. The wait is finally over for those wishing to purchase Office 2008 from the Microsoft Home Use Program. Microsoft added Office 2008 to the availability list today.

The Home Use Program (HUP) allows employees of companies with Volume Licensing agreements to purchase certain Microsoft Products at steep discounts for use in their homes. For instance, my company is part of the HUP and I’m able to purchase Project, Visio, and Office for less than $20 USD ($19.95).

For those waiting to get Office 2008 via the HUP, go forth and purchase!

If you have the need to convert video formats or own an Apple TV then I’ll assume you have heard of VisualHub. For the uninitiated, it’s basically the swiss army knife of video conversion for the Mac. VisualHub features fast conversions from nearly every video format to a plethora of formats in a quick three step process (shot of the UI below). I just finished converting some video for my Apple TV and it worked flawlessly and quickly.

I’ve been pondering buying VisualHub for a week or so and finally went to pull the trigger last night when I noticed that in addition to buying VisualHub for the low cost of $23.32 USD, there was an option to get it for free. So what’s the catch you’re saying? Well basically you buy something else and get VisualHub for free through a service called TrialPay.

Read the rest of this entry »