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Hog Bay Softwareis WriteRoom was already a good option if you wanted a full-screen distraction-free writing environment, but some people found its feature set just a little too limiting. Now that version 2.0 is out, however, many of those excuses to stay away are gone. In its default mode, WriteRoom works in a full screen…

Iill come right out and say it: Iim a bag junkie. I love backpacks, daypacks, courier bags, you name it – I want it. I also have very high standards and expectations for the bags I use, so the fact that I enjoyed testing RadTechis Evolution laptop pack says quite a bit about the product.…

Mr. Wu also said that Apple will announce improved Windows capability, including the possibility of a full-blown virtual machine, for the next Mac OS X release, Leopard. He did not predict a release date for the OS. Apple said it would be ready by the Spring of 2007, but some (including The Mac Observer) believe…

When we last met on the subject of reading Appleis tea leaves, I was prognosticating about the brave new world of 2004. Back then, I was calling for iPod minis, where I was a little off on the name and really wrong about the price (although a lot of my reasoning eventually saw its way…

Not every Mac ships with a built-in iSight camera, but that doesnit mean you have to go without. Ecammis iMage webcam adds video capabilities to most Macs without any special mounting hardware or drivers. The iMage requires Mac OS X 10.4.3 or higher and a USB 2.0 port, includes a swivel base that works as…

The beta of Sofa Control 2.0 requires Mac OS X 10.4.8 or higher, and is available for download a the CASE Apps Web site. Sofa Control 1.0 is priced at US$9.99, and includes a free upgrade to version 2.

MailTank has been upgraded to version 2 according to MacTank Software on Thursday. Version 2 of the e-mail archiving and remote access tool has these improvements: New visual interface that is easier to use Better performance when assigning, transferring and escalating messages Click and write email addressing with automatic From address entry Localized in five…

Mr. Munster broke out his certainty ranking system to rate the likelihood of products and features. A 10 is highly likely, and a 1 indicates extremely unlikely. Apple Cell Phone Appleis cell phone entering production in the next 2 to 6 months gets a 9. A candy-bar form factor version of the phone within the…

Moving files around your Mac, to other network locations, or to Internet-based locations isnit all that big of a deal for most people. So on first glance, Ambrosia Softwareis Dragster seemed kind of like a pointless application. But Iill admit now that I was wrong: Dragster automated the tedious file transfers I perform every day…

He added “One of our key concerns on Apple in 2006 was that we believed published consensus estimates were too aggressive (particularly revenue) and no where near Appleis guidance, but more importantly, didnit make any logical (financial or business) sense.” Mr. Wu feels that Appleis estimates have finally reset, which will give the company room…

The IBM series of high performance CPUs is moving to the next level with the Power6 and speeds in excess of 5 GHz. This was published in the program guide for the International Solid State Circuits Conference and reported at C|Net on Friday. Modern CPUs have suffered from increased heat output as the clock speed…

A tease, or friendly greeting?.

Keeping your hard drive healthy is a critical part in making sure you Mac stays trouble-free. Drive Genius from Prosoft Engineering takes care of several aspects of this job in a single easy to use application. Drive Genius offers a pretty extensive features set: It supports PowerPC and Intel-based Macs, it fixes a slew of…

Micromat announnced TechTool Protogo, an application that turns an iPod, a Flash drive, or similar device into a bootable device that can diagnose and repair a Mac. The announcement came on Tuesday. One of the features touted by this product is the ability to turn an older, less often used iPod into a more useful…

The Aero interface had little or no impact on Windows Vistais performance according to measurements made on the most common business software activities in tests conducted by a North Carolina company. Principled Technologies was hired by Microsoft to do the study according to a story published at Information Week on Friday. A Microsoft programmer with…

Apple delayed filing the form 10-Q for the quarter ending on July 1, 2006 and form 10-K for the fiscal year ending on September 30, 2006 while an independent investigation was conducted to look into improperly backdated stock option grants. The company committed to filing the required documents by December 29. The $84 million non-cash…

Mr. Jobs later surrendered the options in question without exercising them, and did not receive any financial benefits from them. The Financial Times article cites unnamed sources that are “familiar with the matter.” These sources also claim that the SEC is looking into the faked document as possible evidence should the agency decide to file…

Apple went public in June with information it uncovered during an independent internal investigation about irregularities in stock options grants issued between 1997 and 2001. Several instances were discovered, but right now many eyes are focused on the one grant issued to Mr. Jobs. The biggest concern for many is that Mr. Jobs will be…

Even without Appleis soon to be released iTV home entertainment product, your Mac can serve as the center of your home theater system. And with Griffinis FireWave, you can add true Surround Sound so you can experience movies in all of their audio glory. The FireWave is a Dolby Digital and Dolby Pro Logic II…

IBM announced an upgrade to Lotus Notes, version 7.0.2, that added several new features, supports Intel and PowerPC Macs, and enhances the user interface. IBM made the announcement on Thursday. New features include: An enhanced user interface and key email productivity features, enabling Mac users to group emails through a conversation thread, to view emails…