Type of Article: MacMinute Web Site

Lemke Software has released GraphicConverter 4.1 for Mac OS and Mac OS X, a new version of the enormously popular image manipulation software. The update adds JPEG2000 import support, improved TIFF import, unsharp mask, and countless other fixes and improvements.

Apple’s iPod, which was recently shown to a group of journalists in Milan, Italy, features a hidden Easter egg that allows users to play Breakout as they listen to their music, according to MacityNet. The classic arcade game is accessed by pressing and holding the center button on the device at the About screen. iPod will be available on November 10 for $399.

Spiderweb Software, in a new partnership with Chromite Software, has released Galactic Core, a $15 space strategy/war game featuring six campaigns with planet colonization, research options, resource exploitation, and deadly weapons such as warships and holographic vessels. The game requires only a 150MHz processor with 24 MB RAM and OS 8 or later. A demo is also available.

Along with Apple’s new Snap It Up promotion that offers a US$150 rebate or free digital camera with the purchase of a 600/700MHz update (see today’s 09:00 news item), Apple today kicked off a new promotion for Pro customers.

FirewireDirect today began shipping the Epic-DS FireWire RAID, a FireWire storage cluster with over a terabyte (1000GB) of storage. The system features Oxford 911 chips and boasts read speeds of up to 47MB/sec and write speeds of up to 38MB/sec. The Epic-DS is available now for US$5,389.