News, Reviews and more from Australia's Macintosh Authority

New: Apple releases Aperture 3.0.1

With Aperture 3’s release a scant two weeks ago you might not have expected the imminent release of Aperture 3.0.1 on Wednesday—unless of course you had actually been using Aperture 3. The much anticipated update should hopefully fix the memory-devouring issues that many users have been seeing as well as bringing a chocolate-box assortment of other tweaks and enhancements.

Dan Moren | Feb 25, 2010

New: Mac Pro Audio Update cuts performance lag

A software update usually doesn’t grab much attention—particularly if it’s released in the midst of Macworld Expo. And yet, last week’s release of Mac Pro Audio Update 1.0 brings welcome relief to many Mac Pro users. Our tests found that the update improves the performance of the desktops Apple released last March when they’re running the latest version of Snow Leopard.

James Galbraith | Feb 22, 2010

Review: Now X calendar and contact application

It's been well over a year-and-a-half since I reviewed Now Up-to-Date & Contact 5.3 and mentioned that Now Software planned to release Now X (formerly NightHawk), a completely new, redesigned calendar and contact application. Now X finally made its debut late in August 2009 and holds some promise for the future, but at present it behaves more like a late beta than an application ready for general release and is unlikely to offer enough to entice you away from your current favourite calendaring and contact management apps.

Jeffery Battersby | Feb 17, 2010

Expo Notes: MacSpeech Dictate demo talks the talk

Few exhibitors at Macworld Expo put their products’ reputation on the line as much as MacSpeech did in its booth last week.

David Dahlquist | Feb 16, 2010

Expo Notes: Mac music tools on display at Macworld Music Studio

Macworld Expo organisers dedicated a large corner of the show floor to the Macworld Music Studio stage, which featured regularly scheduled presentations at last week’s trade show. Those presentations tackled everything everything from getting great guitar tones on your Mac to programming drums and learning to DJ with special software.

David Dahlquist | Feb 16, 2010

Review: Auditorium for iPhone

If you enjoy a good brainteaser and have spent an evening or two at the symphony, Auditorium is the high culture iPhone game you’ve been looking for.

Meghann Myers | Feb 16, 2010

Expo: Flatscreen Arms helps you float your iMac

Those who ventured back into the far northeast corner of the Moscone Center (right next to the Macworld Cafe) would have found Flatscreen Arms and its Aluminum Flatscreen Arms for Mac on display at Macworld Expo this week.

Jonathan Seff | Feb 16, 2010

Review: ArtRage Studio Pro 3

A stroke of paint can be much more than a simple swatch of color: it can have a wet gloss, a rippled surface, and seep into the canvas below it. Ambient Design brings these subtleties to ArtRage 3.0.5, a painting app that mimics the nuances of natural media such as ink, charcoal, and paint. Two versions of the application are available: ArtRage Studio Pro ($US80/$A96), reviewed here) and ArtRage Studio ($US40/$A48), a pared-down variant that lacks a number of advanced brush and tool controls.

Chris McVeigh | Feb 15, 2010

Expo Notes: iPad cases, touch gloves hot items on expo floor

Roaming the floor of Macworld Expo, it was hard not to notice the amount of attention focused on the as-of-yet unreleased iPad. Targus’s prominent display featured a variety of protective iPad cases, and a number of other stands featured their own iPad cases and screen protectors as well.

David Dahlquist | Feb 15, 2010

New: Tune Up brings order to your iTunes music

Do have any unidentified tracks in your iTunes collection? How about mislabeled albums? Tune Up can help. Tune Up is a why-didn’t-I-think-of-it-first iTunes add-on that cleans up your iTunes library by identifying missing information in your iTunes library.

Chris Holt | Feb 15, 2010

New: Note-A-Lator teaches music reading

Arts programs like music often suffer when budgets cuts are made to education. So it helps to have affordable teaching tools, either for the classroom or for teaching at home, like Electric Peel Software's new Note-A-Lator and Note-A-Lator Pro. Both programs help students learn how to read music.

Roman Loyola | Feb 15, 2010

Expo: MacPractice preps for iPad

MacPractice can’t wait for the iPad. The company makes software for medical practices (MacPractice MD for doctors, MacPractice DDS for dentists, MacPractice DC for chiropractors, and MacPractice 20/20 for eye doctors). All of those programs help practitioners in their clinics (seeing patients) as well as their back offices (managing the practice).

Dan Miller | Feb 15, 2010