Macintosh/iPhone software update roundup – December 3, 2009

Macintosh and iPhone/iPod updates and announcements for December 3, 2009:

Macintosh

• iPod and iPhone owners want to be able to access all their media from their devices, but sometimes media isn’t in the right format to load. As a catch-all solution for Apple users, Wondershare’s iPod Toolkit for Mac is a suite of tools to get your media converted and loaded onto your device with only a few clicks. The powerful program suite can rip DVDs and convert various video and audio formats for playback on iPods and other Apple devices and can also transfer iPod music and movies between the device and Mac/iTunes easily. Wondershare iPod Toolkit for Mac features Video to iPod Converter for Mac, DVD to iPod Converter for Mac and TransPod for Mac, all in one neat package.
• Blue Crowbar Software has released LightBrush 1.0, a plug-in that provides simple image editing for iPhoto, Apple’s popular photo management application. With LightBrush, photos can be improved with tools such as Dodge and Burn, which are often used by professional photographers to add a finishing touch to their photos. LightBrush features many useful brush styles, and controls are available for adjusting the brush size, brush softness and brush strength.
• Toolsfactory software has announced the release of rubiTrack 2.1, a GPS enabled activity tracking software for the Mac. rubiTrack lets you display, analyze and organize your outdoor and indoor workouts for sports like running, biking, hiking, skiing and all other activities where you log GPS data or monitor heart rate. rubiTrack reads tracks from GPS enabled devices like the Garmin Forerunner, Garmin Edge, Nike iPod, Suunto and Polar devices and the iPhone 3GS and 3G.
• Recosoft Corporation has announced PDF2Office Professional v5.0 for Mac OS X. PDF2Office Professional automatically converts PDF documents to the Microsoft Excel, Word, PowerPoint, RTF and other formats, recreating the intended construction and layout of the document: forming paragraphs, applying styles, regrouping independent graphic elements, extracting images, creating tables, and processing headers/footers, endnotes/footnotes and columns/sections.
• Booq, a leading brand of premium laptop carrying cases for creative professionals, has released the Taipan shadow. Taipan shadow blends a slick messenger bag style with a professional appearance. Available at booqbags.com and retailers throughout the country, booq combines sophisticated design and functionality to deliver high-quality bags and cases for the next generation of ambitious professionals.
• Zevrix Solutions has announced BatchOutput 3.5.6, a maintenance update to its popular professional solution to automate printing and exporting from Adobe InDesign. Developed originally for one of the largest Canadian ad agencies, BatchOutput offers output of multiple files, single page output, link auto-update, variable file names and other time-saving features. The new update addresses an issue related to timely dismissal of program alerts.

iPhone/iPod

• Wondering whether your back yard or office park can accommodate a wind turbine? Now there’s an app for that. Mariah Power, manufacturer of the Windspire wind turbine for consumers and businesses, today announced the availability of the free Windspire Me iPhone app. Intended to get people excited about wind as an alternative energy source, Windspire Me lets users measure wind speed in their home yards or outdoor office spaces simply by pointing their iPhones skyward.
• Global home furnishings company IKEA is set to make the IKEA Catalogue 2010 available to customers via Apple iPhone. The iPhone application will be initially launched to the UK market with the UK version of the catalogue available to download from 3 December 2009 for immediate use. This will allow users to simply flip through the pages of the UK catalogue on an iPhone and discover products for every area of the home, from kitchens and bedrooms to living rooms.
• Prop Group, LLC has released the physics-based iPhone game: Payload. In the game, you use tilt and tap to drive the game’s character, “Buck,” in his truck across various landscapes, catching falling items to earn his Payload (your score). Drive through quarries, forests, cities, and the Arctic Tundra. Catch as many items as you can, but beware of items too big to catch. A two ton boulder could crush the truck. Catch items to increase the payload. Catch more than a few items in a row to multiply your score and get medals.
• VernX is an original action puzzle game. The goal of the game is to guide 50 particles from start to finish while avoiding obstacles. Built from the ground up with a custom game engine that allows for a unique experience. Interact with up to two hundred and twenty moving objects on screen at any given time.
• Apress, Inc. has announced their latest book: iPhone User Interface Design Projects. Developers need more than a great idea and flawless code; eye-catching and functional user interface design is essential. Apress’s latest book iPhone User Interface Design Projects, presents practical advice on user interface design from ten innovative developers who have pondered how best to make use of the iPhone’s minimal screen real estate.
• Indie game developer Assyria Game Studio has announced Picnic Panic for the iPhone and iPod Touch is now available on the App Store. Set in picturesque picnic settings, this fast, frantic defence game needs a set of delicious picnic food to be protected from an onslaught of hungry insects. Using the touch screen, points in Picnic Panic are scored for each bug you can splat, while splatting bugs of the same type in a row will provide an ever-increasing bonus until a different bug gets hit. Earn the highest scores by chaining together bugs of the same variety, while defending as much of the picnic as possible—it’s game over when all the precious food is devoured.
• Jagex Games Studio has announced the launch of its first game for the iPhone and iPod Touch: BounceDown. They have made the game completely free to say “Thank you” to the Jagex community, so, if you have an iPhone or iPod touch head over to iTunes to download it right away. FaceBook users can also show off their highscores to their friends via its FaceBook App.
• TapFactory Apps has announced TweetVid 1.0, a new app for the iPhone 3GS that is the easiest and most elegant way to record and upload your videos to Twitter. With a sleek and easy to use interface, TweetVid uses the free TwitVid uploading service to upload videos to your Twitter account. Record a video from within the app or select one from your Camera Roll. TweetVid posts to TwitVid’s site, then publishes the link as a post to your Twitter Account.
• be | daronco has announced Glimpse 2.0, an update to their location aware image capturing solution for iPhone devices. Designed specifically to leverage the iPhone’s unique capabilities, Glimpse combines time lapse video with GPS location data to give users a completely new way to take and view photos. As the video plays back in the top half of the screen, the user’s location will be traced on a Google map in the bottom half of the screen. Version 2.0 introduces the new Glimpse Cloud service.
• The memory game evolution has started. After 500 years, the cards are finally moving thanks to Devart’s Floating Memory for iPhone and iPod touch. This simple addition creates a fantastic new experience.
• Readdle has announced Scanner Pro 1.2, the latest version of their popular iPhone application which transforms the device into portable scanner. Version 1.2 introduces integration with Print n Share from EuroSmartz, the all round iPhone printing application. This integration will enable owners of the both applications to seamlessly scan and then print documents. Another anticipated addition is the ability to upload scanned documents to Dropbox cloud storage.
• OEM Inc. has announced that eight Jammit bundles featuring some of the best rock of the last four decades are now available on the App Store. Aspiring drum, bass, and guitar players can learn from 24 master recordings of their favorite artists, including classics like James Gang’s “Funk 49” and recent hits like Fall Out Boy’s “Thnks Fr Th Mmrs.” Jammit bundles are available now on the App Store for $6.99 (each bundle includes three master recordings).
• rapidrabbit has announced yukendo 1.0, their latest puzzle game for iPhone and iPod touch. yukendo is an addictive Sudoku variant. With intuitive touch controls, clear graphics and a global highscore list, yukendo takes number crunching to another level. Beginners and Sudoku masters alike can choose from a wide variety of level sizes and difficulties. The wide variety of level sizes and difficulty levels allow a short game on the bus or a full afternoon filled with number crunching.
• Super Happy Fun Fun, along with partner TiltnTwist LLC, has announced the release of an upgraded edition of Snowboarding TnT for the iPhone and iPod touch. Snowboarding TnT is a fast-moving, downhill challenge that lets players tilt and twist their iPhones to control the downhill action, avoid obstacles and perform whacked-out tricks. Gamers can race against the clock as they maneuver through slalom gates and jumps to earn points and unlock new tracks. Players can also perform over 30 airborne tricks and maneuvers to boost their scores.
• DSstyles today announced its official Crystallized ID from Swarovski. DSstyles official website contains more than 30 different designs being displayed on iPhone cases. All these designs can be applied on any cell phones or gadgets. Can’t find your style? Don’t worry, you can use their live chat function and talk to their designers and they will work with you.