Mac, iPhone, iPod and iPad product news – February 4, 2010

Macintosh and iPhone/iPod/iPad product updates and announcements for February 4, 2010:

• Macintosh
• iPod

Macintosh

• MEI has announced version 6 of the vjoon K4 Cross-Media Publishing Platform. The vjoon K4 Cross-Media Publishing Platform is a flexible, scalable solution that allows publishing professionals to manage their design and editorial workflows and deliver multimedia content to a variety of output channels. MEI has already installed the latest version of the world’s leading editorial management system integrating Adobe InDesign and InCopy at several publishing sites.
• Digital Rebellion LLC has announced the availability of FCS Maintenance Pack 1.2, a significant update to its popular suite of software tools to maintain and optimize Final Cut Studio and Final Cut Express systems. FCS Maintenance Pack contains tools to repair corrupt QuickTime movies, locate corrupt clips within Final Cut Pro projects, diagnose crash logs, manage plugins, repair Final Cut Pro projects, manage autosaves, salvage movie data from corrupt files, and much more.
• BKeeney Software Inc. has announced File Sheriff 2.0.6, an update of their Mac OS X file management tool. File Sheriff allows you to easily generate icon previews, rename your MP3 files based on meta data information, batch search and apply file attributes, edit hidden file options, and more. One of the most powerful features File Sheriff offers is its Batch module. Version 2.0.6 is a maintenance update that fixes a number of minor bugs and adds a number of speed optimizations.
• Installing and running Windows on an Intel-based Mac has become commonplace, but doing so effectively still requires expert knowledge. Fortunately, the new ebook Take Control of Running Windows on a Mac, Fourth Edition brings readers 178 pages of hard-won, completely up-to-date advice, helping readers determine the best installation option for their needs, install Windows easily, and keep Windows secure, properly backed up, and working optimally.

iPhone/iPod/iPad

• Drag Racer: Pro Tuner is a great game for car tuning and racing fans. First, you can create the car of your dreams. You can tune it to your specifications and pimp it anyway you like. You can create custom decals, paint jobs, whatever you like. And it’s not all cosmetic; you can tune the performance as well. Then, using your pimped and tweaked cars, you can race against the game or your friends in head-to-head, side-view track and street racing, complete with Nitrous Oxide boosts. The more you wager, the more credits you can win, and the more upgrades you can make to your car. You can also qualify for new car packs as you get further into the game.
• App Popular, LLC has announced the release of App Popular 1.2, available as a free download exclusively from the iTunes App Store. The new version lets users access a stream of promotional codes from developers offering free access to use their paid iPhone applications. The new version also offers an alternative search engine that complements normal App Store search results. Search can be accessed with one tap from the main menu and results may be refined using a flip screen price filter.
• Independent game developer, JUSTNINE, has finally released HellKid to the App Store. In HellKid you play Devi, a devil fascinated with the idea of humans and their humanity, and you are determined to become one yourself! To prepare you for your quest you must first seek out an old evil sorcerer of the underworld, who doesn’t find humanity particularly encouraging and advises you not to pursue your dream. Devilish as you are, you ignore all common sense, and off you go on your adventure.
• Quapps Interactive has announced iPhotoFit 1.0 for iPhone and iPod touch devices. iPhotoFit is a photograph manipulation application that allows you to mix the facial parts of your favourite celebrities into one. It allows you to move, rotate, flip and blend every facial part to ensure a seamless final photograph. When you have created your perfect man or woman or mix, you can post direct to your facebook gallery for all of your friends to see.
• SEAS has released DozeGuard 1.0, a helpful tool for all audio book lovers using an iPhone. The app allows to play audio books from the users media library while constantly monitoring whether the user is still awake. If the user didn’t move the device for a certain time, the app stops playing the title and records the current position. If the title is then selected the next time, the user may easily locate the last position.
• Savoy Software has introduced Liquid Scale 1.0, a new mobile image processing app for iPhone and iPod touch devices. Liquid Scale offers innovative opportunities for retouching while the operation remains extremely simple. The program makes it possible to scale images in any way without distorting or reducing the motif. It is even possible to move two motifs closer together or remove individual persons out of the image.
• be.ez has announced a new addition to their popular LA robe Allure line of protection sleeves: LA robe iPad Allure. By incorporating many of the same design elements that have made be.ez’s LA robe Allure collection among the most popular sleeves for netbooks and MacBooks, be.ez’s has created the most rugged, yet stylish iPad accessory on the market.
• Sauce Digital have launched a new website: AppDope.com. AppDope was started to run the same Promo Code giveaway competition as 12daysofchristmasapps, but every week. Every Friday, AppDope and its contributing developers will give away lots of Promo Codes to give users some great apps for free. Developers are already adding codes for this Friday’s inaugural giveaway, known as the MEGACOMP. There are already 50 codes waiting to be given away.
• In celebration of MacWorld next week, Strings.com is hosting a Twitter contest to win an iPad. Strings.com is a new consumer focused track and filter site that is launching in late February.
• Konami Digital Entertainment has announced the availability of Rhyme Player on the Apple App Store for the iPhone and iPod touch. Brought to you by the music genre leader, the new interactive title bridges lyrics and beats for music game aficionados, and provides gamers a new way to experience some of today’s most popular songs and artists including: “Just Dance” from Lady Gaga, “First Time” from Lifehouse, “ABC” from the Jackson 5, “Poison” from Bell Biv DeVoe and “Show me” from The Cover Girls.
• Highly anticipated before its CES 2010 launch, Speck’s SeeThru Satin for iPhone greeted the world with much fanfare, hardly out of the box upon winning iLounge’s coveted “Best in Show” award. Now available at SpeckProducts.com and other dealers, this remarkable new one-piece case features a smooth, comfortable soft-touch finish on the exterior of a slim hard shell, giving your iPhone a cool, colorfully frosted look that is soft to the touch and tough against drops.
• SachManya has announced a ground-breaking product called YAPPER (Your APP makER) for publishers of all kinds to build their own native iPhone and Android apps in minutes. YAPPER is an online self-service for bloggers, newspapers, magazines, pod-casters and other publishers to make their own native and feature rich smart-phones apps in a few easy steps without writing a single line of code! For limited time YAPPER will be offered at $99 (practically free since an iPhone developer license alone would cost you $99).
• eBook publisher 25ThingZ today announced they have released 25 ThingZ iPhone Developers Need To Know About The iPad, a new eBook enabling iPhone developers to ensure their apps are ready for the iPad on day one. Version 1.0 contains information based only on public, documented, non-NDA sources. When the NDA surrounding the iPad SDK is lifted, owners of version 1.0 will receive free access to version 2.0 including sample code and specific design guidelines.