Macintosh/iPhone software update roundup – April 28, 2009

Macintosh and iPhone/iPod updates and announcements for April 28, 2009:

Macintosh

• Toon Boom Animation, Inc. has announced the release of Service Pack 1 (SP1) for both Storyboard 1.5 and Storyboard Pro 1.5. In addition to several product enhancements and performance improvements, this Service Pack includes numerous new features. Current Toon Boom Storyboard 1.5 and Storyboard Pro 1.5 customers can download SP1 for free from toonboom.com, from their My Products page.
• Elixir has announced Heat Wave, their latest new theme for RapidWeaver. Heat Wave is simple, yet flexible. Its clean look is great for designing a portfolio, blog, small business site and much more. This theme makes it easy to create a simply brilliant looking site in a short period of time. Heat Wave also makes use of the RapidWeaver color picker. With it you can change the colors for all of the following areas of your site design.
• IGG Software has announced the release of iBank 3.4.2, the latest version of its flagship application for personal and small business finance management. This version comes just four weeks after the release of iBank 3.4.1, making iBank an even better choice for Mac users seeking a full-featured alternative to Quicken. The update is free to existing iBank 3 users and available for immediate download.
• Other World Computing, a leading Mac and PC technology company, announced today the new OWC USB 2.0 Display Adapter, the easiest way to add an additional display to Macs and PCs via any standard USB 2.0 port. Functioning like a bus powered “external video card,” the OWC USB 2.0 Display Adapter adds an additional monitor to desktop and laptop computers that offer only one built-in display/video-out port. In addition, the adapter also eliminates the cost and hassle of installing a video card into a computer.
• Mac Games Arcade has announced it is offering eight of Pangea Software’s hit Mac titles for 99 cents each. Mac Games Arcade is a digital download application that allows you to download, purchase, and maintain your Macintosh games, all in an easy to use Mac-like interface. You download the application and run it on your Mac. This amazing sale runs today and ends May 1st, 2009.
• The most advanced Online Backup Service to hit the market raises the bar for data security. BackUPMAX Secure Online Backup for Windows and Mac possess an impressive and unusual feature set developed with the mobile laptop user in mind.
• Reinvented Software today released Feeder 2.0, their versatile RSS editor for creating news feeds, podcasts and appcasts. Feeder makes working with RSS as straightforward as writing email and packed with thoughtful features such as templates, previews, HTML editing and auto-completion. Version 2.0 adds weblog integration, announcements, editing and preview improvements, live validation, Amazon S3 uploading, iTunes U support, an improved user interface and many more new features and improvements.
• LaCie announced today a creative new way to access the data from SD and microSD cards. The Data/Share effortlessly converts SD card and microSD information into the more accessible USB format, and distinguishes itself as more than just a colorful accessory. Customers can insert their SD and microSD cards into the corresponding LaCie Data/Share slot and instantly create a USB-ready storage key, or just a quick and easy way to access their SD and microSD card information on their computers.

iPhone/iPod

• The NBA playoffs are here and the finals just around the corner. What to do between the games? In an effort to ease your basketball withdrawals, Freeverse has released Flick NBA Basketball, available now in the iTunes App Store. Choose your favorite player from all 30 of the NBA’s teams and play five amazing mini games like the court classics H.O.R.S.E., 3 Pt-Shootout, and Longshot. Bringing arcade style ball games into the mix are the exciting Hot Shot and Ball Spin, making Flick NBA Basketball a dynamic antidote to the downtime sicknesses or symptoms that ail you.
• Playora has released the iPhone/iTouch version of their online game, Dreams. Originally launched under the DifferenceGames.com banner as a flash and download game and generating over 12 million plays, Dreams is Playora’s second iPhone/iTouch release.
• FutureTap has announced that Where To?, the leading GPS points of interest app for the iPhone and iPod touch, today has been updated to version 1.7. Changes include numerous category and brands improvements as well as localizations for French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Greek and a special British English version.
• Truphone today launched Truphone 3.0, a major new upgrade to its mobile VoIP application for the Apple iPhone that dramatically builds upon the success of previous versions of the iPhone’s first ever VoIP application, enhancing users’ instant messaging and account management experience, faster than ever before, and delivering a new standard for call quality.
• In celebration of their second iPhone App, MyAppCompany is making Hot Radar available for free for just 24 hours. An Ice Breaker app, Hot Radar’s purpose is to get the attention of someone you want to talk to, but might be too shy to approach, by making a fast pinging noise as you get closer to your “target.” To get the free app, simply go to MyAppCompany.com, watch the demo video, and click the iTunes link.
• Softalk has announced Spreadsheet 2.0, a major update to their popular spreadsheet creation tool for iPhone and iPod Touch. Spreadsheet offers all the features you need to create a professional looking spreadsheet. It provides a scrollable zoomable view, along with cell formatting features and a host of standard spreadsheet functions. Version 2.0 now provides support for XLS format and multiple worksheets.
• Nextwell has released Memorymania—”the only iPhone app for kids between the ages of 3 and 103.” It is a classic memory match game containing 20 different sets of cards from which to choose, with 15 pictures in each set. That’s 300 pictures, so it’ll be a long time before you run out.