News, Reviews and more from Australia's Macintosh Authority
News, Reviews and more from Australia's Macintosh Authority
Until recently, Boxee, the social-media-centric media-center application based on the open-source XBMC, was available only to the invited and bore the “alpha” label. Boxee is now open to all and has matured to the point where its developers consider the Mac, Windows, and Linux versions worthy of the “beta” name (a beta version hasn’t yet been developed for the Apple TV). With that consideration comes a reworked interface, consolidation of local and Web-based content within that interface, more content, expanded social networking options, and big plans for the future. I’ve had an opportunity to play with the new Boxee for a week and these are my impressions.
Christopher Breen | Jan 27, 2010
At an event in New York City on Monday, Boxee showed off the upcoming beta version of its media centre application for OS X, Windows, Linux, and Apple TV. The Boxee software, based on the open-source XBMC, lets you watch and listen to both local content on your hard drive, and streaming content from Hulu, network Websites, Netflix (subscription required), and more.
Christopher Breen | Dec 9, 2009
Today, GlideTV releases its $US149 ($A179) GlideTV Navigator, a wireless remote control designed with AV in mind. The fist-sized remote features a clickable touchpad as well as buttons for controlling your Mac’s media applications from the comfort of the couch.
Christopher Breen | Oct 14, 2009
Apple’s smallest screen-bearing iPod, the iPod nano, has evolved in impressive fashion. A highly capable and affordable performer in its previous two iterations, the fifth-generation (5G) iPod nano adds the kind of useful and entertaining features that will compel someone on your holiday list to sidle up and wheedle, “You know what I’d really like this year?”
Christopher Breen | Sep 15, 2009
True to its promise, Apple has released its mid-level music creation application, Logic Express 9. The application, like previous versions of Logic Express, holds the middle ground between iLife’s GarageBand and Apple’s professional music creation and performance suite, Logic Studio.
Christopher Breen | Aug 24, 2009
Sonos, makers of the Sonos Multi-Room Music System, made an interesting decision several months ago. The company chose to create the free Sonos Controller iPhone application. This application not only duplicated the functionality of Sonos’ $699 CR100 hardware controller, but was actually easier to use than the CR100 thanks to the iPhone app’s touchscreen interface and built-in virtual keyboard. (The CR100 uses a scroll-wheel/button arrangement, which makes entering text a little clumsy.)
Christopher Breen | Aug 10, 2009
If one were to seek a poster-child for pocket camcorders, you’d need look no further than Pure Digital’s Flip cameras. These candy bar-style camcorders epitomise point-and-shoot video with their simple operation, easy connectivity, and emphasis on sharing video across the Web.
Christopher Breen | Jul 27, 2009
Today’s Macs are miracles of speed and efficiency, but there are particular tasks that can take seemingly forever. One of those tasks is encoding and converting video. A couple of years ago, Elgato offered a tool to help strip some time from this process in the form of its Turbo.264, a USB dongle that took over much of the burden of encoding QuickTime video.
Christopher Breen | Jul 15, 2009
Cooliris, the visually-enthralling free browser plug-in that allows you to navigate through online photos and video via a 3-D image wall, has been updated to version 1.1.1. New to this version is support for displaying Cooliris within tabbed windows, sharable URLs, and greater support for Flickr information and MySpace content.
Christopher Breen | Jul 2, 2009
You may recall that when Apple announced iLife ’09 last summer, it made a biggish deal about GarageBand ’09’s Learn to Play feature that provided basic and artist lessons for users interested in learning to play the guitar or piano. When first released, GarageBand offered 10 artist lessons. Half a year later there are now just 15 artist lessons.
Christopher Breen | Jul 1, 2009
Unless you have an active interest in producing podcasts or creating a musical score, it’s likely you’ve opened GarageBand once and then never bothered with it again. Of all the programs that make up the iLife suite, none is more overlooked than this application. And, given its original focus, that’s not too surprising. Making music requires a skill not common in the general population of computer users.
Christopher Breen | Feb 10, 2009
App Store developers will now be able to reach customers in 13 new countries, according to an announcement on the iPhone Developer Program news page.
