Macintosh/iPhone software update roundup – January 15, 2010

Macintosh and iPhone/iPod updates and announcements for January 15, 2010:

Macintosh

• Following the recent earthquake in Haiti, Maintain has decided to temporarily offer all customers a 30% discount on all licenses of Cocktail. During this period the revenues will be donated to charities who actively help the people affected by this disaster. The sale will be on from Saturday until Sunday so make sure you take this opportunity to help out and get something great in return. Cocktail is an award winning general purpose utility for Mac OS X.
• Yazsoft has released ShareTool 1.3.7 a major new update to its award winning utility for Mac OS X 10.5.8 or later. ShareTool lets you connect to all of the Bonjour services on your home or office network from anywhere in the world securely over a 100% SSH encrypted connection. This includes iTunes Music Sharing, Screen Sharing, File Sharing, printing, and much more. Version 1.3.7 includes many under the hood performance tweaks and optimizations.
• Booq has designed the sleek and compact Taipan lift. With the ability to open 180 degrees, Taipan lift’s design is checkpoint friendly and in most cases allows the laptop to remain in the bag while passing through security. Equipped with a large front pocket designed to hold a boarding pass, wallet, water bottle, and other quick access items, this innovative bag makes it easy to navigate through security points, check-in desk, and all other stops along your way to the gate. 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.
• Hyperbolic Software has announced Tidy Up! 2.1.4, the latest version of the award-winning duplicate finder and disk tidying utility. Tidy Up! has become a must-have utility to reclaim disk space being taken up by duplicate files and packages. Tidy Up! locates duplicate items using a wide range of criteria including owner application, time created or modified, name, label, extension and content. Version 2.1.4 introduces nearly 50 new features to this already comprehensive tool.
• Macgamestore.com has announced the release of Shaman Odyssey – Tropic Adventure on its web site. Created by Cateia Games, Shaman Odyssey – Tropic Adventure is a strategy/simulation game. As your village’s shaman, it will be your job to make your villagers happy and productive while exploring various tropical islands. Collect ingredients and prepare various magical potions. Protect villagers from ghosts, pirates, sharks and more.
• In response to the recent humanitarian disaster in Haiti, UNIEA will donate 10% of all its online sales this weekend to the Red Cross relief efforts in Haiti. UNIEA encourages people to give whatever they can to proven humanitarian relief services, such as the Red Cross, CRS, and other well-established organizations, in an effort to ease the suffering of the people of Haiti and help them to rebuild and restore their country.

iPhone/iPod

• Biscuit Games, developer of iPhyzzle, has just released their newest game, Colosseum, on the App Store. Colosseum takes you back in time to a period of history where only the strongest survive! In this colorful medieval adventure game, it is your task to hack-and-slash your way through an unlimited number of stages, in a quest to survive the endless number of enemies having no other agenda than your destruction.
• Software developer GhostBird Software has announced the release of The Raging Dead on the iTunes App Store. The Raging Dead is a zombie simulation set in an urban environment where the goal is to save the human population and their city. Using a small arsenal, defend the city from hoards of raging zombies that threaten to infect the entire population.
• Flirtomatic, one of the most popular social mobile services used by young adults, makes flirting easier and more fun than ever with the release of Flirtomatic for the iPhone. Available for free at the Apple iTunes Store, the award-winning service is now available to all iPhone and iPod Touch users to meet, flirt, and have fun online.
• Snipe Inc. Dev Team has released Listenial, a music player that allows you to create a playlist easily and play music quickly on iPhone and iPod touch. Its quick flicking operation reduces lost queueing time to listen to music and play a playlist without hassle.
• Chess Elite is an iPhone game that allows players to play chess against other human opponents and rank the players based on their win-loss record. 99Games, creators of Chess Elite, is now organizing a Chess Elite contest and awarding a sleek MacBook Pro as the grand prize to the best chess player!
• Anusen has released Math Magic 2.7 for iPhone and iPod Touch users. Math Magic presents simple math problems that small children can answer by tapping the screen. Developers tested the program before its release and kids approved of the application unanimously, citing the fun factor. They loved solving the problems, hearing the real voice encouragements and receiving rewards, while their parents liked the fact that their children were learning so quickly and easily.
• T-Minus 5 has released Transport Me Up 1.2 for iPhone and iPod Touch users. The app is a simple to use, yet cutting edge technological tool for users to track and be advised of their commuting schedules. Transport Me Up utilizes GPS meta-data and a user’s recurrent transportation patterns to assess daily commuting needs. Thanks to user input and filtering, the app only shows the desired types of transportation, along with departure times and locations.
• The binary family GmbH has released iKitty 1.2 for iPhone and iPod Touch users. iKitty gives users a pet that they can carry around in their pockets. The first app that allows users to be either nice or mean to a kitten, iKitty was inspired by the infamous cat juggling scene in the movie, “The Jerk”, starring Steve Martin. Developers loaded the app with extra features to ensure a realistic and satisfying experience, regardless of whether a user is naughty or nice to the cute little feline.
• MyNature Inc. has released MyNature Animal Tracks 1.0 for iPhone and iPod Touch users. This is the first app on the market that can identify animal tracks using smart phone technology. Users can learn about the animal whose tracks they’ve found, see images, listen to the sounds they make and even find out what animals may be in the area where they are. Using categorized track illustrations, users can match what they’ve found against the listings in MyNature Animal Tracks.
• Shufflegazine—an Apple lifestyle magazine for the Middle East—has announced the immediate availability of an application for iPhone and iPod touch that gives readers full access to the magazine on their favorite mobile device. Readers can download individual issues of the magazine, including back issues, or subscribe to automatically receive future issues when they’re published. The magazine will be available for iPhone on the same day the print issue comes out each month.
• Independent developer Esa Helttula has released Long Division 1.0, a new educational math app for iPhone and iPod touch. Long Division allows the user to solve long division problems step by step and animates all the steps. The app can be used to teach and study the long division method. The method breaks down a division problem into a series of easier steps. The app is easy to use and it has an intuitive interface with customizable colors and other settings.
• rapidrabbit has announced a new version of the AppButler that integrates social features into this unique tool. The AppButler automatically observes the AppStore and keeps track of every app. A special algorithm calculates a score for every app which represents the number of ranks the app has gained in the biggest AppStore markets within 24 hours. Users can now update their twitter timeline and facebook stream to let their friends know about new apps they have found.
• TapFactory Apps has announced they are now offering their official Three Wolf Moon iPhone app free for a limited time. The app, titled Three Wolf Moon HowlTone Generator, is co-released with The Mountain’s new glow-in-the-dark version of the company’s top-selling Three Wolf Moon t-shirt. The new glow-in-the-dark shirt will only be available through the app and will be offered at 25% off retail price until February 29th, 2010.
• Quapps Interactive has announced Yakshemash 1.0 for iPhone and iPod touch devices. Yakshemash is a hilarious soundboard of over 80 voice clips from The Main Man From Kazhakstan. Any of our 82 studio recorded voice clips can also be set as your ringtone making yakshemash even more value for money. Each clip has been recorded and re-recorded until we were completely happy.
• Weiner Family Studios has announced they are donating all proceeds from its well-received iPhone application, A Family Matters, to a Haiti relief fund this week. A Family Matters is an iPhone and iPod touch application that allows families to enjoy deeper more meaningful conversations. What Family Matters gives you is a set of questions and activities designed to help you communicate more effectively with your children.
• Cloud Factory, Inc just announced that their Simplenote app for the iPhone and iPod touch is now free to download on iTunes. Simplenote is an elegant notes app that can sync effortlessly with your computer.
• Independent developer, GameFront, has released Magic Ludo into the App Store. Magic Ludo is an adoption of the classic and popular board game, and is free to download featuring extra content such as additional boards and levels available through micro transactions at regular updates.
• Griffin Technology Inc. has announced the latest case designs from Griffin + Threadless. The Co-Op Initiative partnership marks its expansion to iPod touch, as well as into the UK, with three new designs.
• Announcing a new app from BlackMuse Software: Audio Class Notes – Record and Tag Lectures. Audio Class Notes allows you to record your lectures, and tag and describe important points so you can listen to them again quickly at a later time. Take your classroom with you with Audio Class Notes! No other application currently in the store makes recording and tagging sound files quite so easy.
• Slap Happy Apps has announced iStooges 1.0, a fun new app for iPhone and iPod touch. More than just your typical sound board app, with iStooges you can recreate those classic slap fights made famous by The Three Stooges. iStooges includes 72 hilarious motion-activated sound effects and voice clips from your three favorite knuckleheads. Select your Stooge, and use your device’s built-in accelerometer to slap, punch, poke, and plink away.