Espresso, the highly-anticipated web design and development platform from MacRabbit (creators of CSSEdit), has been released as a public beta (originally predicted for late November). It's not finished (that's why it's called beta, silly), but it's far more complete than what we've seen thus far. The auto-completion capabilities of the editor are well-developed, support for HTML, XML, CSS and Javascript is included, and the live preview is working nicely. The array of available Sugars, as the extension packages are called, is frequently being added to by users, and support for additional languages is already available. A few themes, some ported from TextMate, can also be found on the wiki.

Web developers who have used CSSEdit are familiar with the simple interface which belies many powerful features. You can expect the same from Espresso. Coda users will be interested as well; when Espresso is feature-complete, you can expect a TUAW-style head-to-head comparison of the two. Personally, I'm a die-hard TextMate user, which any of the TUAW crew can attest to. I always have trouble getting into new editors, no matter how rich their feature set may be. I stopped editing CSS in TextMate when CSSEdit came out, though; there's just no comparison. Knowing CSSEdit the way I do, Espresso may be the platform which finally pulls some of my TextMate loyalty away ... at least for web design.

You can grab the time-limited (30 days) beta from MacRabbit's site. If you're a developer, make sure you check out the wiki. For me, the most appealing aspect of Espresso is its extensibility, and a look through the SDK should pique the interest of any code-sligner.

Beta Beat: MacRabbit's Espresso released as public beta originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 30 Dec 2008 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Beta Beat: MacRabbit's Espresso released as public beta originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 30 Dec 2008 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Back in September, we started hearing rumblings that RIM was developing native OS X utilities for Mac BlackBerry users. Finally, RIM has released a preview version (on 12/19) of its BlackBerry Media Sync utility for OS X. It's no Desktop Manager, but at least it is a start.

BlackBerry Media Sync is designed to let you easily sync iTunes playlists (minus any DRM files) with your BlackBerry device. In August, PocketMac added a similar feature to its software, which is available for free from RIM's web site for all BlackBerry owners.

Basically, BlackBerry Media Sync will let you use your BlackBerry as an iPod shuffle (again, with the caveat that any iTunes DRM songs will not transfer to your BlackBerry). You can sync specific playlists or just have the free space automatically filled by your music collection.

There are some things you need to be aware of:

• If you have another BlackBerry syncing utility, like PocketMac or The Missing Sync installed, it will stop working after installing BlackBerry Media Sync. You will need to uninstall BlackBerry Media Sync and probably reinstall your other software to regain functionality.
• It is slow. At least in my tests, syncing using the BlackBerry Media Sync app was slower than just dragging an album/playlist over to the BlackBerry's Music folder in Finder.
• When you sync, it seems to re-transfer playlists all over again, even if they haven't changed.

Still, we finally have a native RIM utility for OS X. Hopefully a full-fledged Desktop Manager is in the future.

Thanks Justen!

Beta Beat: BlackBerry Media Sync for OS X originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 22 Dec 2008 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Beta Beat: BlackBerry Media Sync for OS X originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 22 Dec 2008 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It's certainly no secret that I'm a sucker for file and data organization programs, and have collected more than I use. Long ago, I received a copy of DEVONnote as part of a bundle, and have since upgraded to DEVONthink Pro. The program has long been intriguing to me -- auto-classification of files and advanced search relationships are great -- but various aspects of the app have kept me from really diving into it; a lack of pleasing aesthetics not being least on the list. You can call me superficial, but ... no, you'd be right. However, the public betas of DEVONthink 2.0 and DEVONnote 2.0 just came out, looking great and adding a bevy of useful new features.

DEVON Technologies states that the 2.0 versions represent an almost complete rewrite of the database core. With improved search (including advanced Boolean and proximity operators), a universal inbox accessible from multiple databases (DEVONthink versions can have simultaneous databases open) and a complete revamp of the user interface (including Cover Flow and much-improved overall aesthetics), this beta is a huge step forward. For me, the most important change is the file storage method. The applications now use a bundle format and store files "as is" on the drive, accessible by external applications and recoverable if anything happens to the database. Add the support for file templates and a wide range of new filetypes (Word, OpenOffice, iWork, Skim ... ), and DEVONthink just became a whole lot more useful to me.

Check out the release notes for DEVONnote and DEVONthink 2.0 for more details on the changes. The betas are available on their respective pages (DEVONnote | DEVONthink). Upgrade pricing is available for existing customers (customers who purchased DEVONnote or DEVONthink, or cross-graded after July 1st, 2008 are eligible for a free upgrade). DEVONthink comes in three flavors: Personal ($49.95US), Professional ($79.95US) and Professional Office ($149.95). DEVONnote, which is more or less a lightweight (but very useful) version of DEVONthink, is available for $24.95US.

Beta Beat: DEVONnote/DEVONthink 2.0 originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 22 Dec 2008 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Beta Beat: DEVONnote/DEVONthink 2.0 originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 22 Dec 2008 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A few months ago, a teaser appeared for a new Mac OS X font management app, Fontcase, developed by Pieter Omvlee and with an UI design by Laurent Baumann. Fontcase is designed to replace Apple's Font Book utility, which is not only a mediocre font management app, but has a less than nuanced interface.

For the last several months, Fontcase has been in private beta. Today, subscribers to the Fontcase newsletter were invited to download the latest beta. The app is very close to completetion, with a release date scheduled for sometime mid-January 2009, after Macworld. I used a few version of Fontcase while it was in private beta, and as a typography nut, have really been looking forward to this release.

First off, the interface is just beautiful. This won't be surprising to anyone who has seen Laurent's work in the past, but it is worth mentioning because of just how elegant and Mac-like the application feels. I think I've used almost every font manager available for OS X and Fontcase is certainly the most attractive.

When you open Fontcase, you are given the option to import your System and user fonts (basically everything that is already in Font Book). If you use Linotype's FontExplorer X , you can also import sets and meta-data directly from that application. You can share font collection via Bonjour to other computers on your network.

Continue reading Beta Beat: Fontcase

Beta Beat: Fontcase originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sun, 21 Dec 2008 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Beta Beat: Fontcase originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sun, 21 Dec 2008 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you're a male who grew up in the 60's or 70's, you probably remember slot cars! You had a plastic race track with electric "rails" running through it, and your car had a little pin on the bottom that rode in a slot on the track for control -- hence the name 'slot car.' I have fond memories of setting up my slot car set underneath the Christmas tree, and racing against my Dad.

Someone at Freeverse apparently has the same memories, since they'll soon be announcing a new racing game called SlotZ Racer. I was able to test a pre-release version of the game, and it's a ton of fun. You can race on pre-defined tracks ranging from a simple oval to a curvy Grand Prix course, and there's a track editor for creating your own race courses. There are settings for the number of lanes, the car scale (1:32 or HO), and whether or not cars can change lanes.

To accelerate your car, you just hold down on the lower left corner of the iPhone screen. Like real slot cars, if you go too fast your car will flip off the track. You can slow the car down by taking your finger or thumb off of the screen.

No price has been set, but expect to see SlotZ Racer officially launched at Macworld Expo. Check out the gallery for pics.

Gallery: SlotZ Racer

TUAW Preview: SlotZ Racer for iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 18 Dec 2008 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

TUAW Preview: SlotZ Racer for iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 18 Dec 2008 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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• Swipe Left/Right to move backward/forward through browsing history
• Swipe Up/Down to move to top/bottom of web page
• Pinch in/out to make the text larger or smaller
• Twist left/right to move between open tabs

Beta Beat: Firefox 3 betas add support for multitouch originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 11 Dec 2008 11:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Beta Beat: Firefox 3 betas add support for multitouch originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 11 Dec 2008 11:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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File launchers -- programs that make it easy to launch applications or utilities from a few clicks on the keyboard -- are increasingly common Mac utilities. Although I don't personally use a separate launch utility (I use OS X's Spotlight), others here at TUAW have expressed their devotion to Quicksilver in the past. TUAW readers and bloggers have also expressed their love for Objective Development's LaunchBar. The company is furthering development of that application, and has recently announced the release of the beta version of LaunchBar 5.

This version of LaunchBar boasts a number of improvements, including a new application icon designed by Bonsai Studio, which is known for designing themes for RealMac Software's RapidWeaver.

Some of the featured improvements to LaunchBar 5 include:

o. Clipboard: A clipboard history has been added, as well as adding items onto the clipboard without overwriting what is already on there.
o. Quick Look and iCal support
o. An improved calculator based on the Unix 'bc' tool, with the ability to be assigned to a keyboard shortcut.
o. LaunchBar is now scriptable via AppleScript.
o. Firefox 3 support, German localization, automatic software, and more.

LaunchBar 5 is not available for purchase yet, but you can download and enjoy and the beta until January 15, 2009. Single seat licenses will be available for € 24 (around $30), € 39 (around $50) and upgrades from previous versions will be available starting at € 9 (around $11). A license key for those who want to try out LaunchBar 4 during this beta period is also available. You need to be running OS X 10.4 or higher to use LaunchBar 5.

[via Macworld]

LaunchBar 5 beta available now originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sun, 07 Dec 2008 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

LaunchBar 5 beta available now originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sun, 07 Dec 2008 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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I like the idea of iTunes controllers, but a lot of the apps I try are too CPU intensive or just plain feature-bloated, so I just live with some AppleScripts set to hotkeys. I discovered Bowtie a little while ago, though, and it's a perfect fit for my needs. It's tiny, unobtrusive and its look (and even functionality) is extremely customizable. It provides system-wide hotkeys for skip forward, skip back and play/pause. Depending on the theme you have loaded, the interface can provide cover art and song info, star rating controls and clickable buttons for basic playback control.

If have some web design knowledge, Bowtie can be themed with a little CSS and Javascript. There is a starter pack available at MacThemes (several themes from the pack are pictured above); the download is in the first post of a running thread from which tips and tricks for customization can be gleaned.

Bowtie has been out as a beta for a while, and I'm uncertain what its current development status is. I really haven't run into any show-stopping bugs, though, which is impressive for such an early beta. Of course, it's a fairly simple machine with a focus on doing a few things well and looking great in the process. What's not to love?

Bowtie: iTunes controller with style originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sun, 07 Dec 2008 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Bowtie: iTunes controller with style originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sun, 07 Dec 2008 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Happy Thanksgiving! I'm super thankful that I have been able to spend the last 13 months blogging for TUAW and interacting with all of you. On a more superficial note, I am also thankful for my Macs and all the cool stuff Apple products enable me to do.

The newest member of my Apple family is the Apple TV. Yesterday, I had the opportunity to talk to Avner and Andrew from boxee, the company behind the social media player of the same name. Boxee released an update earlier this week, but the next big version is set for December 4, 2008. Avner and Andrew were nice enough to answer my questions, share some details about the future of boxee and best of all, provide a link so that TUAW readers can join in the fun! If you want to try boxee on your Mac or Apple TV, enter your e-mail address at http://boxee.tv/tuaw and you should get an invite within 24 hours.

In the comments, on Twitter and via e-mail, many of you have asked questions about boxee, its limitations and its future. I took these questions and comments to Avner and Andrew, and here's what I got back.

On .MKV support for Apple TV

Boxee supports the .MKV container and if you are using a Mac mini, MacBook, iMac or Mac Pro, boxee can play back 1080p .mkv files without a problem. Apple TV is limited by its processor and GPU, and it maxes out playing back 420p and 720p .MKV content. I don't usually deal with .MKV, but a quick Google search turned up a lot of information about programs that can be used to convert files. Apparently, the PS3 has this same limitation.

Hulu performance

A number of users have complained about the quality of boxee's Hulu playback. I also noticed a decrease in quality after the latest update. The update on December 4 is going to address this. The big problem, for Apple TV owners, is once again the limitations of the hardware. Seeing as Apple TV's can stream HD content from iTunes (when downloading anyway), I think this is something that can be greatly improved, but it might take some time. Boxee is still in alpha and the goal is to enter beta sometime next year, so while I think the fact that Hulu is supported at all is fantastic, the Apple TV experience might take some time to fully evolve. If you are using a Mac for boxee playback, your performance will be much better.

Continue reading TUAW talks to boxee and brings you invites

TUAW talks to boxee and brings you invites originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 27 Nov 2008 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

TUAW talks to boxee and brings you invites originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 27 Nov 2008 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Way back in June of 2007, rumors of a beta version of uTorrent for the Mac first started making waves. For the uninitiated, uTorrent is a super-lightweight BitTorrent client which is widely considered the best in the business. Sadly, it has remained a Windows-only option. A few months ago, an alpha version was leaked (appropriately, on a BitTorrent tracker), but it was alpha, buggy and had a minimal UI (even by uTorrent standards).

Today, uTorrent has officially released its first Mac beta for Intel Macs running OS X 10.5 Leopard. It doesn't have all the features of its Windows counterpart (it's missing the RSS downloader, for instance) but it has a nice interface and the signature uTorrent low-memory footprint.

The only real question will be, is this too little too late? When uTorrent for the Mac was first announced 18 months ago, the BitTorrent client landscape was very different. Transmission was still new and buggy and Vuze (nee Azureus) suffered from significant problems with Tiger and Java. Today, Transmission is a full featured client and Vuze, although still a memory hog, is signicantly faster and more stable in Leopard.

This doesn't mean that it isn't great to finally have uTorrent for OS X -- it just means that the client will need to do more than just exist to get many users to switch over.

uTorrent for Mac is free. It is beta software and it will have bugs, but it is available now.

Thanks to everyone who sent this in!

uTorrent for Mac beta officially released originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 26 Nov 2008 22:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

uTorrent for Mac beta officially released originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 26 Nov 2008 22:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Beta Beat: IBM Lotus Symphony 1.2 now available for Mac originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 07 Nov 2008 12:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Beta Beat: IBM Lotus Symphony 1.2 now available for Mac originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 07 Nov 2008 12:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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• Support of WMA, M4A, and AC3 file formats
• Import of audio from video files
• On-demand loading of uncompressed files, eliminating the wait before files can be edited
• Linked audio and label tracks, so labels move with their corresponding audio when cutting, pasting, or changing speed or tempo
• A hierarchical plug-in grouping for built-in plugins

• Sound activated recording
• MIDI file import, edit, and export

Audacity 1.3.6 Beta for Mac released originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 30 Oct 2008 12:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Audacity 1.3.6 Beta for Mac released originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 30 Oct 2008 12:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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LogMeIn Ignition promises remote screen sharing from iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 29 Oct 2008 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

LogMeIn Ignition promises remote screen sharing from iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 29 Oct 2008 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The MP3 is an astonishing invention; who would have thought, in the days of LPs and 8-track tapes, that someday you could keep a houseful of albums on a gadget the size of a Zippo? Unfortunately, with power and convenience comes managerial effort and housekeeping chaos -- duped files, missing cover art, and overall aggravation. Keeping your music clean and neat can seem like a full-time job.

I've long relied on Chaotic's vintage and versatile MP3 Rage (now Media Rage 3, $30) utility for organizing my music, and it does fine (although it can't resolve the one big issue I still have -- a smattering of very old MP2 files that need to be converted to MP3 or AAC before syncing to an iPod, and there's no good way to search for them... rrgh) but I'd love to have a plugin for iTunes that could handle some of the same chores.

It turns out, there already is such a plugin, but (silly Mac user!) I didn't know about it because it's only available in the Windows version of iTunes. TuneUp will happily sit in the iTunes sidebar and kick into gear on request, cleaning your song filenames, adding album art, pointing out concert dates and YouTube videos for your favorite artists, and more. The tool comes in a free version (limited to 50 art downloads and 500 file cleanups) or a paid Gold version ($12 US annual subscription or $20 lifetime license) with unlimited art and cleaning power.

If only there was a Mac version... ah, there's the fun part. The Mac beta for TuneUp will be starting shortly, and we can help you move to the front of the line. Send an email to with your full name as the only thing on the first line of the email -- the first 100 respondents will be automatically added to the beta list.

Happy cleaning!

Beta beat: TuneUp plugin gets your iTunes straightened out originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 24 Oct 2008 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Beta beat: TuneUp plugin gets your iTunes straightened out originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 24 Oct 2008 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Poladroid beta is seriously awesome originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 24 Oct 2008 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Poladroid beta is seriously awesome originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 24 Oct 2008 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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In a QuickTime screencast, Adobe's Russell Brown demonstrates content-aware scaling, a feature of Photoshop CS4, due to be released this month.

A lower-resolution YouTube demo from Lynda.com is available here, if you don't want to download a huge QuickTime movie. The content is different, but you'll get the idea.

Adobe licensed an algorithm that senses "dead" areas in photos, and resizes the image to avoid squashing or stretching every object.

In the video, Brown demonstrates resizing an image of four golfers, interactively removing space between and around the golfers, but leaving the golfers' proportions correct. He also demonstrates resizing a Volkswagen bus, making it a more "economical" size, but automatically keeping the wheels round.

For those looking for a compelling reason to upgrade to Photoshop CS4, this might be it. If not, what is? Let us know by leaving a comment.

[Via Swissmiss and Michael Sippey.]

Adobe demos Photoshop CS4's content-aware scaling originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 09 Oct 2008 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Adobe demos Photoshop CS4's content-aware scaling originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 09 Oct 2008 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Beta Beat: fruux keeps you in sync originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 08 Oct 2008 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Beta Beat: fruux keeps you in sync originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 08 Oct 2008 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you've been salivating for a shot of Espresso, the upcoming integrated web development environment for Mac OS X, you'll have to wait just a little bit longer.

An email sent this morning by the developer, MacRabbit's Jan Van Boghout, confirmed the status of those accepted into the beta program, but he also indicated that the top priority was to give plug-in developers working with the Sugar framework "a solid SDK to start with." Van Boghout expects that the company will release a beta in late November.

Espresso, which stares Coda straight in the eye and says, "Yeah, I'm lookin' at you," is from the same people who make CSSEdit, and was announced in mid-September.

Espresso testers selected, beta coming late November originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 07 Oct 2008 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Espresso testers selected, beta coming late November originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 07 Oct 2008 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Gallery: FirstLookBriefcase

First Look: Briefcase for iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 29 Sep 2008 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

First Look: Briefcase for iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 29 Sep 2008 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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KavaMovies keeps tabs on your flicks habit originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 13 Aug 2008 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

KavaMovies keeps tabs on your flicks habit originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 13 Aug 2008 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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