Bracknell-Forest Mac User Group

2010 Feb 16 - Release of RouteBuddy Atlas 1.3.1

RouteBuddy Ltd have released RouteBuddy Atlas 1.3.1 for Geocachers,
the latest version of their offline and online mapping application for
the iPhone and iPod touch.

Geocachers can now import single or multiple waypoint .gpx and .kml
files into RouteBuddy Atlas over WiFi, direct from their Mac or Windows
desktop for use with both offline and online maps.

The free RouteBuddy Atlas App turns any iPhone into a powerful
hand-held mapping device, letting you access maps without
data-charges and even without a cellular signal.

RouteBuddy Atlas can use the iPhone's built-in GPS and compass to
display your current location and heading, and can export tracks to
both Mac and PC platforms for use in RouteBuddy or Google Earth.

A range of Topographic maps are available for RouteBuddy Atlas
from the RouteBuddy Store, including US 1:24K state maps based on
USGS digital mapping and complete coverage of the UK with titles
based on the Ordnance Survey's 1.25 000 and 1.50 000 scale maps.*

What's new in this release:
* Added Geocaching support
* Fixed KML import
* Fixed overzoom with online maps
* Updated French localisation

RouteBuddy Atlas is available from the iTunes Store at:

<http://www.routebuddy.com/itunes/atlas/>

RouteBuddy Atlas supports installation from both Mac and PC platforms,
and any iPhone or iPod touch running iPhone OS 2.2.1 or later.

More detail about RouteBuddy Atlas is on the RouteBuddy website at:

<http://www.routebuddy.com/atlas/>

About RouteBuddy Ltd
-------------------------------
Founded in 2005, RouteBuddy Ltd have pioneered the development of
native GPS mapping software for Mac OS X, the iPhone and Apple's new iPad.

By bringing high-precision map data to Apple's unique platform,
RouteBuddy aim to take full advantage of Mac OS X technologies such as
Quartz graphics and multi-processing to develop powerful new mapping
solutions for Mac users.

RouteBuddy Ltd are based in the U.K., and can be contacted at:

Email:
Web: <http://routebuddy.com/>

*[When asked about the maps RouteBuddy Support said

"1. All of our Ordnance Survey maps (of which there are nearly 700 titles) for Great Britain and all of our USGS Topographic maps for the USA can be viewed and used in both Atlas for the iPhone/iPod touch and in RouteBuddy for Mac OS X.

2. All our vector based road maps only work with RouteBuddy for Mac OS X.

To give the Atlas user access to road maps we have provided links in Atlas to the OpenStreetMap online products from which you cache downloaded tiles for use offline in Atlas. Hence OpenPisteMap is currently very popular with our skiing customers!!"]

2010 Feb 12 - Apimac releases Memos 2.4 for iPhone and iPod touch

From one of the top award-winning software developers for the Mac comes an iPhone application that offers an exceptional user experience that is both fun and useful: MEMOS 2.4

Milano, Italy - Apimac has announced Memos 2.4, the new version of their popular note taking, and memo organizing tool for iPhone and iPod Touch. Organize notes and memos with a touch. Designed specifically to take advantage of the iPhone's unique capabilities and interface, memos serves as an excellent note taking solution for anyone on the go. Organize notes and memos with a touch. Perfect for business and personal use alike, quickly compose and send notes via email to colleagues, as well as archive them at any time.

The application incorporates professional photography and graphics to create a gallery of images so that users can easily express a range of ideas. Another cool option allows you to change the wallpapers of the iPhone with a shake, which will really amaze your friends.

"It was a pleasure to work with the team that developed this application" said Martin Muntenbruch, Photographer. "It was exciting to see some great ideas grow and become reality. I'm happy that users can touch my picture when they work with the program and organize their ideas."

Feature Highlights:
* Organize ideas by moving and regrouping the notes visually
* Gallery of wallpapers made by professional photographers and graphics
* Use multi-touch to move up to five notes at once
* Choose your favorite default font and size
* Write a note and then easily send it via email
* Shake the iPhone to change wallpapers
* Users may Archive notes

System Requirements:
* iPhone or iPod Touch 3.1 or later

Pricing and Availability:
Memos 2.4 is only $0.99 (USD) and available worldwide exclusively through the App Store in the Productivity category.

Apimac Site
http://www.apimac.com

Memos Page
http://www.apimac.com/memos/

Image
http://www.apimac.com/memos/images/memos-art.jpg

Download from iTunes
itms://itunes.apple.com/us/app/memos/id320560021?mt=8

Apimac is a company founded in 1996 dedicated to Mac OS X and iPhone only software. People at Apimac aim to put into users hands applications which they can use in a way they do things every day. Right after opening their programs, users can immediately focus on their task, not even noticing that they're using an entirely new program. Copyright 1996-2010 Apimac. All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo iPhone and iPod are registered trademarks of Apple Computer in the U.S. and/or other countries.

2010 Feb 8 - ZiggySoft's iWeb Valet 2.3.7

Enhance your iWeb pages and upload to the web!
Make your site full with all modern widgets! Make it more attractive! Easily!

ZiggySoft software company has announced the release 2.3.7 of iWeb Valet, the tool to enhance and upload iWeb pages.

As in Apple's iWeb 09, also iWeb Valet gives you the power to add new interactive widgets to your web pages!

HTML codes and Javascripts are terrific tools to help you build interesting content for your web site. For example, you can add dropdown menus, clocks, scrolling news, internal search engines, calendars, scrolling texts, navigation menus, falling snow and much more. Thousands of free scripts are available to you in the Internet for use on your Web pages. There is no longer need to edit script code by hand: iWeb Valet now includes a selection (and other will come) of those scripts that are compatible to iWeb and a powerful function to easily add them to your iWeb pages.

And More! Version 2 adds also the ability to work on a temporary copy of your site folder, so now iWeb Valet can modify any local site as it do with the local folders published by iWeb: use it with Dreamweaver or Golive local sites as well!

Features
o  Add many powerful widgets to your web pages.
o Personalize iWeb page titles by adding a prefix of you choice.
o Add a favicon to your iWeb HTML pages.
o Add a Hit Counter to your web pages (using Google Analytics, Statcounter or other similar web services)
o Fool spam bots by encoding all email address in your iWeb pages, so that the email couldn't be picked up by these bots.
o Add META tags to provide more information about your webpages and gain a top ranking on crawler-based search engines that support tags.
o Perform multiple 'search and replace' operations on all html files contents at once; you can easily make changes of simple text chunks as well as html tags and iWeb default naming conventions.
o  Encode special characters inside your web pages to solve some display anomaly in non-English texts.
o Change the maximum size of all JPEG images of your site simultaneously and very quickly.
o Apply a fixed compression ratio to all JPEG images of your iWeb site folder, to save space in your web server.
o Add to your iWeb site folder other folders and files not managed by iWeb (favicon, programs, documents, etc.)
o  Preview your modified pages in a browser at any time; you don't have to upload it to a web server first. When you preview a page, all browser-related functions should work, including JavaScript behaviors, absolute links, etc.
o Work on a temporary copy of your site folder: use iWeb Valet with Dreamweaver or Golive local sites as well!

And after those changes, iWeb Valet can quickly upload the contents of your iWeb folder to a web site, with:

o  Size comparison files check: iWeb Valet will only upload files that have changed (or new files). This saves time, because you will avoid, whenever you make a single change in iWeb, to re-upload the entire site.

o Option to remove the files in the destination when correspondent file is not present in the source directory, in order to save space in your web server, which will provide more room for documents as your site expands.

Other powerful iWeb Valet features:

o  Backup/Restore functions (in compressed format) to protect your iWeb sites files from accidental data loss.
Changes in 2.3.7
o New Right Click Disabler widget
    o Improved handling of folder names with accented characters in iDisk
    o Improved speed in FTP directory listings
    o Added progress indicator for FTP file transfer operations
    o Fixed a Can't Create Folder (Access Denied) error on transfers

Links
Product Page
[Downloads]
iWeb Valet 2 Universal Binary
iWeb Valet 2 PowerPC
iWeb Valet 2 Mac Intel
ScreenShot
Logo
Contact Information

Please contact us if you need more information about iWeb Valet.
    * Technical Support Contact: support@ziggysoft.com
    * Press Contact: press@ziggysoft.com
    * FAX Contact: +39 06.233.28.550

I thank you for your kind attention

Paul Consolo

ZiggySoft Team
press@ziggysoft.com

2010 Jan 28 - FileMaker Developer launches new Business product called BusinessM

Computech IT Services are a FileMaker Developer based in Saltash, Cornwall and have developed BusinessMan a complete Business Management System for the Mac

Information about Computech and BusinessMan together with a Runtime trial can be found on the website pages below

About: http://www.businessmancrm.com/

Press Release: http://www.businessmancrm.com/pr/

Runtime Trial: http://www.businessmancrm.com/trial/

2010 Jan 21 - Zevrix Updates BatchOutput for InDesign, Adds PDF Preflight, New F

Zevrix Solutions announces BatchOutput 3.6, an feature 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 as single pages, link auto-update, variable file names and other time-saving features. The new update lets users auto-preflight final PDFs with Acrobat droplets, as well as export InDesign files to TIFF, PNG and other image formats.

Toronto (ON), Canada - January 21, 2010 - Zevrix Solutions announces BatchOutput 3.6, an feature update to its popular professional solution to automate printing and exporting from Adobe InDesign. Developed originally in-house at one of the largest ad agencies in Canada to boost productivity of its prepress department, BatchOutput quickly became the software of choice for sophisticated automated output from InDesign. For example, BatchOutput can be left to output hundreds of InDesign files overnight, and the completed job can be picked up next morning.

The key powerful automation capabilities of BatchOutput include:

-Print and export hundreds of files with a single click.
-Output files as single pages.
-Update links automatically.
-Complex variable file names.

The new update offers the following new features to InDesign users:

-Preflight final PDF automatically with Acrobat Pro preflight droplets. Users can create droplets for various preflight profiles with the options to specify success and error folders and save preflight reports.

-Export InDesign document as TIFF, PNG, GIF and BMP images with the options to specify resolution, color mode and scale factor.

BatchOutput is also available in a server version which offloads printing and exporting to PDF and PostScript to a central system leaving InDesign workstations free from the output process.

Pricing and Availability:
BatchOutput 3.6 can be purchased from the Zevrix Solutions web site, www.zevrix.com, for US$119.95, as well as from authorized resellers. Trial is also available for download. Upgrade to BatchOutput 3.6 is free for licensed users of version 3.x, and US$47.98 for the users of earlier versions.

BatchOutput 3.6 is available for Mac OS X 10.4.2-10.6, a Universal Binary, and works with Adobe InDesign CS-CS4.

About Zevrix Solutions

Located in Toronto, Canada, Zevrix Solutions provides productivity solutions for Adobe Creative Suite software, PDF and graphic file diagnostics and Microsoft Office on Mac OS. Zevrix is dedicated to help professionals increase their profits through automating everyday tasks, producing error-free documents, saving disk space and cutting production costs. For more information, visit www.zevrix.com.

CONTACT INFO:

Leo Revzin
Owner
416-217-0607
leo@zevrix.com

###

Copyright (C) 2010 Zevrix Solutions. All Rights Reserved.

2010 Jan 12 - Protect all your FAMILY computers from THEFT!

Brigadoon Software, Inc. is pleased to offer a new special low cost
Family/Household license of PC PhoneHome and/or MacPhoneHome that will allow you to protect every computer in your home from theft,
regardless of number, including the ones that may be away with
the children at school.

You have 5-8-12 computers? No Problem! Our Family Household license
protects them all! Only $79.95! No yearly monitoring fees. No hidden costs. No additional charges! We provide full location and recovery service.

This is the BEST deal in the industry!

PC PhoneHome/MacPhoneHome is the NUMBER ONE stand-alone computer tracking and recovery software in the world with over 1,000,000 downloads to both the Windows and MacIntosh communities!

A single copy of PC PhoneHome or MacPhoneHome retail for a one time cost of $29.95 USD and allow the user to protect one computer from loss or theft. No yearly monitoring fees. No hidden costs. No additional charges.

The PC PhoneHome/MacPhoneHome Family license may be purchased and downloaded directly though our web site at:
http://www.brigadoonsoftware.com

PC PhoneHome and MacPhoneHome is also available in an Enterprise version for large scale deployment to organizations with many computers.

Whether you're trying to protect twenty computers or twenty thousand, we have the right Enterprise license plan for you. Our blanket license for large multi-office/multi-national corporations covers ALL corporate computers worldwide including all laptops in the field.

If you have any questions or would like additional information, please contact me directly.

Dealer Inquiries Invited - Exclusive territories available

Best Regards,

Tim Albright
VP
Brigadoon Software, Inc.
143 Main Street
Nanuet, New York 10954 USA
Tel: +1-845-624-0909
Fax: +1-845-624-0990
Email: talbright@pcphonehome.com
Web: http://www.brigadoonsoftware.com

2010 Jan 8 - Mamut to launch new Mac accounting products for UK Market

The document below was received from the Channel Manager - Business Division UK, Mamut Software Ltd (http://www.mamut.co.uk) to advertise an April product launch.

Mamut to launch new Mac accounting products for UK market

In the UK today Mamut and Acclivity announced the formation of a partnership to provide an upgrade path for MYOB Mac customers. Launching two new products, Mamut AccountEdge and Mamut AccountEdge Plus, for the Apple Macintosh platform.

The new products will launch in the UK in April 2010 and will be released as part of a multi-year partnership with Acclivity, global developers of the award winning AccountEdge series of accounting software. Mamut AccountEdge builds on the success of MYOB’s Mac products, and will include a new streamlined interface, offering improved navigation and appearance over previous MYOB offerings.

It includes several new innovations such as a Business Insights feature which allows users to easily view information about business critical data such as financial ratios, turnover, profits and operating balances and an integrated Google Map functionality which allows users to pin point a customer’s location and source directions.

“With the arrival of Mamut AccountEdge in the UK, Mac users will be able to take advantage of richer functionality. The release will give MYOB Mac users a valuable chance to catch up with the various developments in the market that have taken place since MYOB withdrew from the UK in 2008,” said Bryan Richter, UK Country Manager for Mamut, when explaining the significance of the new release. “Mamut is very pleased to continue driving forward the evolution of Mac products within the UK market.”

“The UK is fertile ground for Mac small business and we’re thrilled to be developing a fully localised version of AccountEdge for Mamut,” said Scott Davisson, Acclivity Managing Partner. “Acclivity’s long been committed to developing world-class software for small businesses that choose Macs and we’ve found the perfect partner in Mamut.”

Mamut will also be offering existing MYOB customers in the UK the opportunity to upgrade to the Mamut AccountEdge solution at a discounted price.

“This is a really positive development for MYOB Mac customers,” said Jonathon White, a leading independent chartered accountant. “A significant number of our customers currently use the Mac version of MYOB. They will be reassured that this agreement between Mamut and Acclivity will enable them to continue with this market leading product on their preferred platform.”

Mamut AccountEdge will be available directly from Mamut and through associated resellers and channel partners in the UK. The below are just some of the new features which will be included in the product at launch:

• Business Insights: allows users to calculate important financial ratios, providing current information about profits, turnover, and operating balances.

• Google Maps and View Directions: View a map or get turn-by-turn directions to the exact location of a customer, employee, vendor or personal contact

• New Form Customisation Tools: A new format palette makes forms customisation easier and more intuitive. Add text, and easily change the style. Insert images, shapes and fields, and quickly resize and rotate them to create the look users want

• Contact List Searching Improvements: New filters will help to further define user searches. When searching through their contacts, items, etc., users can now define their search term with “Contains” or “Starts with” to further narrow their results

• Card File Action Menu: Easy access to a variety of card-related options allows users to complete multiple tasks without having to leave the card screen. Users can create letters, send emails, find transactions and more as well as quickly creating a sale directly from a Customers contact Card

• Network Edition: With the addition of AccountEdge Plus, multiple users will be able to be in the accounting files at the same time. For example, users can have their bookkeeper pay the bills while the sales team are simultaneously creating invoices

• Enhanced Applescript Dictionary: An enhanced Applescript dictionary allows developers and users familiar with Applescript to build integrations with other applications

2010 Jan 3 - Learn Xcode Tools book and series of talks

The message below received by the Group may be of interest.

We are pleased to announce the publication of Ian Piper's new book: "Learn Xcode Tools for Mac OS X and iPhone Development" supported by a series of talks aimed at new developers for the Mac and iPhone. Please feel free to pass this message on to any members of your Macintosh User Group who may be interested in learning how to write software for the Mac or iPhone using Apple's Xcode Tools.

If you are a Mac user who wants to start writing great software for the Mac or iPhone, or an experienced developer new to the Mac, this book is for you.

This book will be your friendly deskside companion in learning how to use the rich toolset available for free on every Mac - the Xcode Developer Tools.

Step by step tutorials will introduce you to the Xcode developer tools and show how to develop, debug, test and deliver great software for the Mac and iPhone.

You will learn how to get the most out of the Xcode development environment, data modeller, Interface Builder design tools, the Instruments analysis and performance utilities and a host of useful techniques.

In conjunction with the new book Ian Piper is currently planning a series of talks for new developers aimed at popularising the uptake of Apple's Xcode Tools. If you think that this topic might be of interest for a forthcoming meeting of your Mac User Group, please feel free to get in touch with Caroline Ralphs (caroline.ralphs@tellura.co.uk) who is organising the talk programme.

You can learn more about the book, including a table of contents and downloadable code projects, at the website: http://learnxcodebook.com/.

Ian Piper.
--
Dr Ian Piper
Tellura Information Services - the web, document and information people
Registered in England and Wales: 5076715, VAT Number: 874 2060 29
http://www.tellura.co.uk/
Author of "Learn Xcode Tools for Mac OS X and iPhone Development", Apress, December 2009
01926 811574 | 07590 685840"

2009 Dec 3 - Fun and Artistic Computer-Based Learning for Children of All Ages

December 3, 2009 - Brooklyn, USA - Star Coloring has launched Animals Coloring Book, a computer-based educational development program aimed at children of 4-13 years old. The website based activity course is a perfect choice for parents who want to familiarize their kids with computers without exposing them to violent computer games and dangers of the internet.

Animals Coloring Book features 25 three-dimensional pictures that strike an innovative balance for different skill levels. With a clear 3D interface, the artistic puzzles are guaranteed to keep a child occupied for a long time without being too difficult to master.

Computer technologies are now an integral part of modern life. However, parents should make sure that young children are protected from the more harmful side of computers and the Internet, and instead encouraged to play constructive and educational games and programs. Animals Coloring Book offers kids an opportunity to develop their artistic abilities without getting messy with real paint, while the animal pictures are very appealing and comforting to children.

Once Animals Coloring Book has been opened, there is a simple tip for every tool and button (e.g. how to clear the picture, how to return to the previous color, etc). The program features nine basic colors and a palette for blending them, so it's possible to achieve almost any color. The 3D objects and landscapes look much more attractive than those of common coloring programs. In addition, the original music creates a fairytale atmosphere, and sound effects make the process of coloring almost real. The autosave feature ensures that the hard work of coloring will be safely stored after each session.

Some parents are often afraid that kids may click something wrong on a computer. Fortunately such a mistake is impossible when working with Animals Coloring Book, which is always in full-screen mode. This means that the child can be left to play securely in the knowledge that fun learning will be the only result!

Pricing and Availability

Animals Coloring Book is compatible with both Windows and Mac OS X and costs US$19.95 (all updates are free). User group members will receive a discount. Further information on the product, as well as a free trial edition, is available at http://starcoloring.com/coloring-books/animals-coloring-book

About Star Coloring

Star Coloring is a software developer specializing in learning programs for children. Among its major products are Fruits Coloring Book for very small children, Animals Coloring Books for older children and Vehicles Coloring Book for boys and Christmas Coloring Book. For more information on the company and its products please visit www.starcoloring.com

Product page link: http://starcoloring.com/coloring-books/animals-coloring-book
Windows download link: http://download.starcoloring.com/win/animals_coloring_book.exe (14.2 MB)
Mac OS X download link: http://download.starcoloring.com/mac/animals_coloring_book.dmg.zip (19.2 MB)

Contact: Alex Sh
Company: Star Coloring
E-Mail: press@starcoloring.com
Website: www.starcoloring.com

2009 Dec 2 - STOIK PanoramaMaker to Run on Mac

Press contact: Dmitry Harchenko
Title: Business Development Director
Company: STOIK Imaging
E-Mail: dharchenko@stoik.com
Phone: +7 (495) 225 13 27
Skype: dharchenko

STOIK PanoramaMaker to Run on Mac

STOIK Imaging launches free open beta test for the Mac edition of famous PanoramaMaker.

STOIK Imaging has announced the availability of STOIK PanoramaMaker for Mac (Beta): The famous Windows panorama making tool is now available for Mac. Professionals and enthusiasts are invited to join the free open beta test.

Literally all of the existing solutions fail to render the image properly when a moving object gets in the picture: blurred or misshapen images ruin the shot. STOIK PanoramaMaker for Mac has a special algorithm (Object-Preserving Blending), which makes allowance for that issue and stitches the exposures error-free. Among available features are lens and geometrical compensation, manual matching of images. Minimizing uneven brightness, double-edge defect and curves in the picture are the application's commons.

The workflow takes only 3 steps: adding images, selecting the stitching mode, and obtaining the result. The automatic image transformation, alignment and color blending are optimized to correct differences in brightness, color balance, and camera tilt angle. The application automatically assembles horizontal, vertical, 360-degree and tiled panoramas. The new version also adds the automatic creation of tiled panorama from several rows of photos or a panorama from photos taken with different camera focal length. In complex cases, the images can be assembled and stitched manually.

Free open beta test for STOIK PanoramaMaker for Mac is now open.

About STOIK Imaging

STOIK Imaging is one of the top developers of image and video editing software and one of the leading providers of OEM and retail software. Established in 1994 with headquarters in Moscow, Russia, it now has subsidiaries in USA, UK, China, Japan, and Czech Republic. The company's major product line includes photo, video and hobby applications, business solutions (libraries and SDK). Among the company's clients are: Samsung, Ricoh, HTC Corp., Athentech Technologies, and CeWe Color.

###

Company page: http://www.stoik.com/
Product page: http://www.stoik.com/PanoramaMaker_Mac/

Contact information

Contact: Dmitry Harchenko
Title: Business Development Director
Company: STOIK Imaging
E-Mail: dharchenko@stoik.com
Phone: +7 (495) 225 13 27
Skype: dharchenko