Year: 2001

Apple has released new software for its FireWire-based MP3 player, iPod Software 1.0.3 Updater. The new version improves MP3 sound quality, provides support for iPod names up to 255 characters and adds support for additional languages, including Brazilian/Portuguese, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian and Swedish. The iPod must be connected to a Mac running Mac OS 9.2.1 or Mac OS X 10.1 or later.

MacSpeedZone has posted the results of a number of benchmark tests between a 600 MHz G3 iBook and a 550 MHz PowerBook G4 in an effort to show the real-world performance differences between buying a consumer and professional notebook computer. The PowerBook G4 was the winner in nearly every test, particularly with processor-intensive tasks, such as digital video, showing enormous speed increases on the G4 processor.

In an AppleCare Knowledge Base article updated yesterday, Apple admitted that it has no plans for furthering Mac OS X optimizations and support for older ATI graphics chipsets, including the Rage II+, IIc, Pro, Pro Turbo, LT Pro and Mobility, as noted by MacCentral. The article recommends lowering the color bit depth to thousands of colors in order to improve performance on systems with those graphics chips.

Smith Micro Software has released FAXstf X 1.0, a Mac OS X version of its popular fax software. The cocoa application offers support for Apple’s internal modems, saves faxes in PDF format, allows users to send faxes from any document-based application, features integrated support for Mac OS X’s Address Book and Print Center, and more. FAXstf X 1.0 requires Mac OS X 10.1.1 or later and is available for US$59.95.

Juri Munkki has released Cameraid 1.2, a new version of his digital camera utility that allows users to quickly download, preview, and manipulate images. Version 1.2 offers performance enhancements, support for QuickTime movies, new and improved batch renaming, and several user interface enhancements. Cameraid 1.2 is US$15 shareware.