Brand: MacNews

When it comes to details of the as-of-yet unannounced nVIDIA GeForce4 MX video card found in the new line of Power Mac G4 systems, details are sparse in advance of an official product rollout on February 4. MacMinute has learned that the new GPU is three to five times faster than the GeForce2 MX model it replaces and features superior DVD decoding to the GeForce3. With 64MB of double-data rate (DDR) memory and a 350MHz random access memory digital-to-analog converter (RAMDAC), the GeForce4 MX delivers over 1 billion textured pixels per second.

Keeping in line with the updated Power Mac G4 models introduced today, Apple will begin shipping three new Power Mac G4 Server configurations in February: 933MHz/256MB/80GB for US$2,799, dual-1GHz/512MB/80GB for $3,299, and dual-1GHz/1GB/72GB (Ultra 160 SCSI) for $4,549. All configurations come with Mac OS X Server 10.1 Unlimited-Client License pre-installed, an ATI Radeon 7500 video card, and a CD-RW drive.

Unsanity has released FruitMenu 1.5, a new version of its Mac OS X “haxie” for customizing the Apple menu. Version 1.5 adds the ability to assign hot keys to items in the Apple menu, a new contextual menu module, and more. FruitMenu is US$7 shareware.

Felt Tip Software has released Sound Studio 2.0, a new version of its audio editing and recording application for Mac OS 8/9 and Mac OS X. Version 2.0 adds dozens of new features, improvements, and bug fixes, including new effects, a new graphic equalizer with 3, 10- and 30-band controls and a “mix” command that lets users mix audio on clipboard with audio in file. Sound Studio 2.0 sells for US$49.99.

Disney Interactive today announced Plaid Banana, a new label under which it will publish original interactive titles for kids for Mac and PC created by Hulabee Entertainment. The first two titles, Moop & Dreadly in The Treasure on Bing Bong Island and Ollo and the Sunny Valley Fair, will be released in March.