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

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

• Macintosh
• iPod

Macintosh

• app4mac has released Projector 2.0.8, an update to their powerful project management application for Mac OS X. Projector provides all the tools you need for professional project management. It is designed to keep track of tasks and calculate a project’s cost. Projector is an easy-to-learn, cost-effective tool that simplifies project scheduling. Projector is also coming soon on iPad and iPhone.
• Cocoamug Software has released CosmoPod 4.2.1, an update to their bright application for Mac OS X. CosmoPod is a one-click simple extension to Apple Safari browser that helps you saving and converting internet media content to your Mac, iPhone, AppleTV or iPod. It’s just like an extra Download window for your media. CosmoPod supports most popular web video formats, including FLV, DivX, WMV, MMS, RM, and RTSP. This update mainly improves the application capability to easily import DVD.
• Ohanaware has announced HDRtist 1.2, a free update to their HDR Photography software for Mac OS X. HDRtist is a user friendly HDR Photo processor and tone mapper for the Macintosh platform. It’s workflow has been designed to be effortless in operation, and to provide visually pleasing results. An intuitive design makes it simple to choose from our 4 different tone mapping techniques. The latest update to HDRtist fixed some issues and improves upon usability.
• Macvide has announced Macvide FlashVideo Converter 3.7, an update to its Flash to video converter for OS X. Macvide FlashVideo Converter is a powerful and versatile program for converting any flash SWF or FLV video file to one of many popular video formats including iPhone/iPod mp4, Mobile 3gp and MPEG2. Macvide FlashVideo Converter is able to convert FLV and SWF files with ActionScript 3.0 support. Version 3.7 includes miscellaneous bugs fixed and more.
• RapidWeaver theme developer seyDoggy today announces Flavorite, a smart theme with great new capabilities. Flavorite brings the power of the web to RapidWeaver with built-in selectable slideshows, smart corners, and ExtraContent. All of Flavorite’s intelligent features are included at no expense to the variety of other great and flexible features like layout width, header heights, variable width sidebar, and a myriad of font options.

iPhone/iPod/iPad

• In the pantheon of comic book superheroes, it’s almost impossible to overstate the importance of GelaSkins’ newest collaborator. Spanning over 50 years, this “illuminati of illustration” has brought us some of the most beloved and championed characters in modern storytelling history. A billion dollar industry has been built upon its foundations and it’s not shocking why; we love to see the quintessential battle between good and evil. Ladies and Gents, join in giving the hugest GelaSkins welcome to Marvel Comics.
• EMI Music/Astralwerks recording artists Air, the French electronic pop duo, have teamed up with London-based music technology company RjDj to create an innovative App, Love by AIR, for the iPhone, which allows fans to experience Air’s music in a unique, immersive way. Fans can choose from five different “soundscapes,” and then use the App’s features to transform the musical experience in real-time by sampling and processing ambient sounds, the fan’s own voice and more into Air’s own music. Fans can also record their own messages or performances with the application, allowing them to share their own unique productions of Air’s music with their friends, and with the world. As a way to introduce the app to the world, RjDj and Air are launching a contest to invite fans to create and submit their own Love recording. From now until March 22, weekly winners will be selected, and a grand prize winner will also be determined. The grand prize winner will receive an iPod Touch and weekly winners will receive Air’s latest CD Love 2.
• The Three Little Pigs, is the fourth Kidztory animated storybook app from Stepworks. It’s now at large, on the lookout for piggy snacks. Launched just last week, The Three Little Pigs is already delighting parents and children and has already been in the top ten of all paid apps in the US.
• To celebrate their iPhone app download surpassing the benchmark of 8.3 million, Artificial Life is holding a promotion of “Get-Paid-Game-For-Free.”. Some of their top-rated, top-downloaded iPhone game titles will be offered for free for a limited time. The first free game is going to be iSink U (battleship boardgame title), which will be free during March 5-7 only.
• With an already successful launch on the Nintendo Wii, Cocoto and his friends are ready to wreck mayhem and havoc on the Apple iPhone and Apple iPod touch. To progress in Cocoto Magic Circus, you must use your finger as a gun and shoot the moving enemies, explode the green balloons which offer bonuses like additional time, explosions and slow-motion, but also take precautions and avoid the red balloons which shake the screen or accelerate the clock. The game offers the same visually stunning 3D environments, including the familiar animated characters, bosses and backgrounds as introduced in the console version.
• Mephisto is a pachislo simulator for iPhone and iPod Touch. Loaded with a new exciting voice function that provides a pleasant experience, Mephisto also includes world rankings and awards provided by the online gaming platform Agon Online.
• Broken Thumbs Apps has announced that Emily’s Girl Talk, a collection of four unique charming story-telling games, has been featured by Apple as “New and Noteworthy” in the US App Store. Emily’s Girl Talk features the classic M.A.S.H. (Mansion, Apartment, Shack, House) and the hilariously unpredictable Lemon, as well as other fortune-telling games for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad.
• 24x7digital has announced Aw Craps! 1.7, an update to their popular casino game for iPhone and iPod touch. With its realistic table layout, game play, stick calls and dice rolling, Aw Craps! takes you onto the casino floor and into the action, allowing seasoned shooters to hone their skills, as well as allowing beginners to learn enough to hit the casino tables. Version 1.7 allows you to choose from five different colored dice, each with specialized probabilities.
• Unfasten your seatbelts and abandon everything you know about safe driving as Raging Thunder 2—the sequel to the most popular mobile racing game of all time—has arrived on iPhone and Android. From Polarbit, a leading developer of high-end 3D games and middleware for mobile phones, comes the most intense, high-speed reckless driving experience ever. Featuring online, cross-platform multiplayer, Raging Thunder 2 allows players to challenge strangers around the world to heart pumping racing action whether on an iPhone or Android phone.
• Playbrains, an independent game development studio, has announced their upcoming mobile gaming debut with Babo Crash, a fast-paced action puzzler built for iPhone, iPad and Android platforms. Babo Crash starts out simple with familiar gem-swapping match-3 gameplay, rewarding players who create bigger matches—but it ramps up the intensity one level at a time, adding hero characters with special abilities, real-time enemy combat, destructive powerups, chain reactions and evolving objectives.
• Pure Concepts, LLC has announced PocketBracket 2.0 for iPhone, iPod touch, and Android powered devices. PocketBracket allows you to create unlimited brackets, organize pools, and follow the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. In addition, compete among thousands of users on the PocketBracket Network as well as your friends and coworkers. It is the only mobile application to offer all of these features in one. Game On.
• The V Phone—a mobile VoIP and SMS app for the iPhone—now supports VoIP over 3G and on WiFi using the G729 codec. The V Phone is a mobile sip client or softphone for the iPhone for making internet calls over wifi or 3G. The mobile VoIP app also enables users to send text messages or SMS’s not through your wireless carriers but through the internet. What this means for users is simple dirt cheap calls and SMS’s.
• CAZE has announced the JADE Polish Rainbow Swarovski case, a crystallized version of its JADE Polish See-Thru for iPhone 3G and 3GS. JADE Polish is a See-Thru iPhone case featuring an Anti-Interference translucent coating. The crystallized version of Jade Polish adds more than 50 Swarovski crystals of different colors at the bottom of the case to form a beautiful rainbow pattern.
• Tactile Entertainment has unveiled their first title, an open-world pet sim called Pocket Creatures. A Pocket Creature is an interactive creature that inhabits an exotic island in your iPhone or iPod Touch. On this island you’ll find a variety of plants and animals to interact with and explore. As you discover new things to do, you will notice how it affects your creature’s unique abilities and its relationship with its surroundings. Pocket Creatures is about experimentation, exploration and discovery.
• Scosche Industries has announced the availability of its reviveLITE II. The second generation iPod/iPhone charger and nightlight has a smaller footprint than the original model and was redesigned to offer greater stability when plugged into an outlet. Scosche also added a USB Port to the reviveLITE II, so users can charge another USB powered device while powering up their iPod or iPhone. Like the original reviveLITE, the new version provides travelers with a switchable LED nightlight to avoid stubbing a toe in an unfamiliar hotel room.
• PressOK Entertainment has announced that it is teaming up with Lima Sky, the independent development studio and publisher behind the massively popular Doodle Jump, to bring the game’s Doodler character to an upcoming free update for Finger Physics. The (in)famous Doodler will make his appearance within an entire free level pack for Finger Physics, with nine brand-new levels sure to challenge even the most veteran of index and middle fingers.
• Concrete Software, Inc., has announced the release of Nintaii 2 for the iPhone and iPod Touch to be sold in the iTunes App Store. Nintaii 2, the follow-up to the popular game Nintaii, is a strategic puzzle game that includes 100 brand new levels with new features and obstacles for enjoyable and challenging game play.
• Booq has unveiled their latest accessory specifically for the iPad. Boa skin XS combines innovative design with vibrant colors to create stylish protection for Apple’s newest creation. 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.
• New Potato Technologies, an innovator and developer of iPod and iPhone accessories, has introduced FLPRTM, a revolutionary new accessory and app that transforms iPhone and iPod touch into a universal remote control. FLPR lets users control multiple electronic devices, including televisions, cable and satellite boxes, stereo systems, lights, ceiling fans and just about anything else that uses an infrared remote control. Available this month from Best Buy stores nationwide, and online at http://www.newpotatotech.com, the revolutionary FLPR replaces a sea of remotes cluttering up the home.
• Davka Corporation has announced iBless Torah 1.0, a tutorial program for the iPhone and iPod touch that teaches the Torah and Haftarah blessings recited in the synagogue. iBless Torah displays the text in the original Hebrew and English transliteration on screen, and chants the text, highlighting each word as it is pronounced. Users can pause after each section, tap and listen again, or go forward to the next section.
• Humble Daisy has announced the latest release of its popular mobile recording tool, SonicPics 1.2 and its free counterpart SonicPics Lite 1.2. SonicPics is a tool for creating and narrating custom photo slide shows on the iPhone or iPod touch. It makes it easy to use images from the iPhone’s photo library or built in camera. The update includes a new image picker that makes it even easier to add images from the iPhone’s photo library.
• PhatWare Corporation has released WritePad 3.1 for iPhone and iPod touch. WritePad is a text editor that incorporates advanced handwriting recognition software for text entry. It allows users to enter text for cursive, print, or mixed handwriting styles. Version 3.1 includes a new option to hide toolbar in landscape screen orientation, display scroll buttons in handwriting mode, improved recognition of some special characters, as well as a new spell checker options and more.