Brand: MacNews

Charles Haddad’s latest Byte of the Apple column in Business Week discusses the current rumors that Apple may be considering purchasing Palm, a move that Haddad is against. Haddad also speculates that Apple is working on its own HotSync software for handhelds that would follow cues from iTunes or iMovie.

Summary.Net has posted a new beta of their industrial strength Web log analysis application for Mac OS Classic and Mac OS X. Summary 2.0b6 contains a number of fixes and improvements. This beta version will expire on October 9, 2001.

The Mac Show, an Internet-based live radio show focusing on all things Mac, has announced their guest lineup for tonight’s broadcast (9:00-11:00 pm ET). Tonight’s guests include Jon McCarron of Mac.Tucows.com with the Shareware Picks of the Month; Chuck Joiner, the show’s User Group Correspondent; Lon Baker, Chief Technology Officer of MacTank.com; and Patrice Matteson, “The Mac Mom,” will kick off her regularsegment this evening.

Fourth World today released WebMerge 1.7, an application that generates static Web pages from database files. The software builds pages based on a user-created template, and can also create an index page with links to each of the generated pages. The new version offers greater flexibility for the layout of index pages, enhancements to AppleScript support and other minor improvements. WebMerge is compatible with any database that exports in Merge or tab-delimited format, and costs $69. A free trial version is available.

Buena Software has released version 2.0 of Effects Packs 1, 2 and 3, three sets of QuickTime video effects plug-ins that allow users to apply a wide variety of filters and transitions to video clips. Version 2.0 adds native support for OS X applications. The Effects Packs are US$30 each, with discounts available for users who purchase more than one.