Brand: MacNews

Carvware has released a new version of its utility, GamePad Companion 1.2, for supporting input devices, such as gamepads and joysticks, with applications on Mac OS X.

Apple’s Frank Casanova, director of QuickTime product marketing, talks about QuickTime Live!, MPEG-4, QuickTime 6, and emerging trends in digital media in an interview with Creative Mac. Casanova relays the company’s surprise at RealNetworks’ announcement last week of support for the MPEG-4 standard, which is based on the QuickTime file format.

RSA Security and Hifn have announced a new technology patch for the Wireless Equivalent Privacy (WEP) protocol designed to encrypt communications transferred over standard 802.11 (AirPort) wireless networks, according to c|net. The current WEP implementation is flawed in that the encryption keys used to hide transferred data are too similar to each other and are thus relatively easy to crack.

Henry Norr speculates on possible Macworld Expo announcements in his latest column for The San Francisco Chronicle, including a flat-panel iMac and faster Power Mac systems. In addition, Norr discusses Adobe’s possible plans for the show and his distaste for Microsoft Office v.X.

Final Cut Pro 3 has begun shipping from the Apple Store, according to shipping notices sent to a number of MacMinute readers. Meanwhile, another MacMinute reader notes that his PowerBook G4 order placed last week was automatically upgraded to the new, combo drive-equipped PowerBook G4 free of charge.