In this corner in the faded rainbow trunks, weighing in at 185.4 MB is todays Apple iLife Updates... its opponent in the polka-dot trunks, instability, incompatibility and other minor issues.


Once again apple is going toe-to-toe with the most common of developer opponents, by releasing updates to iDVD, iMovie, GarageBand, iPhoto, and iLife Support.
These are all available through Software Update, and are a dog to download as everyone taxes Apple's servers downloading these. Apple explains the logic behind these updates as follows:

iDVD Update 7.0.1

This update improves overall stability, supports general compatibility issues, and addresses a number of other minor issues.

iMovie Update 7.1

This update addresses several areas including video and audio editing capabilities, and performance associated with opening and switching iMovie Events and Projects. This update also supports general compatibility issues, improves overall stability, and addresses a number of other minor issues.

iPhoto Update

This update addresses issues encountered when moving photos between Events, plus new greeting card themes, including holiday card designs. It also supports general compatibility issues, improves overall stability, and addresses a number of other minor issues.

iLifeSupport 8.1

This update supports system software components shared by all iLife ’08 applications, improves overall stability, addresses a number of other minor issues, and supports general compatibility issues. It is recommended for all users of iLife ’08.

Wait... where's iTunes? My guess is that Apple is too busy getting ready to brick most iphones, or you would see an iTunes update in there for good measure.

Today we decided to check in with one of the more promising MacHTPC applications, The CenterStage Project. From what we can see the project continues to make strides towards their online demo, presented a few months back.



We will agree with them that "Stage View" is wow feature from their demo. Scrolling through all your media and artwork in a large screen format. To tease us a little more, stage view has been developed into an interactive flash animation for us to playwith. The final version will be utilizing Apple's Core animation, but we continue to be impressed with CenterStage's demos.

You may download and demo which is packaged in a nice little disk image.

NBC had their falling out... or did they? Two of NBC's new shows have appeared in iTunes. Chuck and Jouneyman both appear in iTunes for your standard $1.99 price tag. Both of them also have the option to buy a season pass!

Are we to assume that NBC and iTunes's already had this in the works and continued to move forward as planned, or is this a new development. The pricing seems to be the same, so it doesn't seem to be on NBC's terms, unless the percentages changed. NBC seems to still be moving forward with (the unfriendly, DRM crippled) Amazon's Unboxed service as well, with Heros, My Name is Earl, and other NBC shows appearing.

Stay tuned as the Networks vs iTunes drama continues...

Rogue Amoeba has introduce an interesting new application that we took special interest in. Radioshift is a AM/FM/Internet controller for your Mac. Their extensive online guide has over 50,000 radio stations which is fully-searchable. An innovative map feature allows you to search by country or city. With Internet Radio always under constant attack, its great to find a simple application that allows listeners to connect to thousands of stations immediately.

Subscribe to a radio station and Radioshift will record your programs automatically, for later playback, or pass the tracks off to iTunes for safe keeping or transfer to your AppleTV or iPod. Subscribe to your favorite programs just like you would for a pod-cast, except Radioshift knows to turn on and record according to your schedule! Additionally being compatible with RealAudio, Windows Media, QuickTime and MP3 streams you don't need to mess around with 4 separate applications. If you have a Radioshark, AM/FM channels become available through Radioshift as well.



A full-functional demo of Radioshift is available for download from Rogue Amoeba's website (Audio quality is degraded after 20 minutes). Or you can elect to unlock the full version for $32 USD from their online store.

We will be keeping a close eye on Radioshift, for future updates.

A little late then never. El Gator will release EyeTV2.5 tomorrow. This release addresses several bugs, improved HD playback, and a nifty trick where you can access your recordings via your iPodTouch or iPhone over wi-fi. This is run through little webserver, which will allow you to view your recordings or browse the EyeTV Archives. Also included with the update is one-click exports for the new ipod models.

WiFi Access
Setting up the Wi-Fi access is pretty straight forward.

1. Download 2.5 from El Gato's website and copy the application over you old version.
2. Once installed, it will ask your admin password to perform all the necessary installation points, and boot to your EyeTV default preference (mine is full screen / menu).
3. Open the Preferences and select WiFi Access. Simply start the service and you will get a url to point your iphone/ipod touch too. The address should look something like http://192.168.1.107:2170/eyetv/
4. EyeTV will now convert your videos save to a web-format, and automatically perform this in the future.

Considering this really opens the door for a Sling-Box type application built into EyeTV. Who's to say you can make this url open to the public via your ISP. You could then access your movies, tv shows etc from your iPhone while on the road!

The update is free to registered users, and despite saying its not available till the 25th... you can get it here. I guess its the 25th somewhere?

Fox and CBS have both decided to offer their season premiers, free, through iTunes. You may download Prison Break, K-Ville, and The Big Bang Theory.

On the other hand NBC is trying to counter with offering free episodes of the Office and Heros through their direct download service, which is heavy in DRM and not Mac friendly.

We at Entertainmac applaud Equinux's efforts to produce bug-free software. In doing so, The Tube 1.5.2 contains an improved crash reporter. This will allow their developers to identify problems so they can be fixed and improved upon in an efficient manner. The addition of this, is not in reaction to errors being reported but as a proactive solution.

We hope this allows Equinux to realize their goal of bug free software and one day world peace.

The Tube 1.5.2 is ready for download.

Despite all the drama surrounding the NBC Universal's TV Shows, CBS's says that they are content with iTunes and continue to provide their programs in iTunes. CBS brings programs like one of my favorites, CSI. CBS utilized their iTunes content as a marketing strategy. The $2 shows introduce and allow viewers to catch up with seasons.

NBC recently decided to take actions to pull their programs in favor of a flexible pricing option for iTunes pricing. After breaking off their deal with iTunes, NBC elected to sell their shows on Amazon. These unfortunately are not iPod/AppleTV/iPhone compatible. News Corp has also been struggling to get gain more control of the pricing of their programs in iTunes.

The iTunes flexible pricing battle continues.

Apple continues to try and patch the ringtone work arounds with 7.4.2:

iTunes 7.4.2 addresses an issue with creating ringtones using iTunes Plus song purchases and includes bug fixes to improve stability and performance.

Download Details"

Version 7.4.2 weighs in at 38.3MB available at the support site and via Software Update.

Days after Apple released 7.4.0, and less then 24 hours after a ringtone hack was discovered, 7.4.1 appears. The update claims to include support for the new Nanos and other iPods released on Wednesday, but the only 'feature' that we were able to discover is that any custom ring tones using the .m4r hack have been disabled and are no longer synced.

I give it a week before another hacker discovers a way around this. Weighing in at 38.3 MB you can download 7.4.1 from the Apple Website or through your software update.

VUDU Box has been released. The collaboration between former Tivo, WebTV, Slim Devices, OpenTV, Danger and NeXT were able to solidify deals with every major studio and 17 independent movie studios to distribute their movies and content via the VUDU box. The deals resulted in over 5000 movies available for immediate download and viewing. VUDU users will have the ability to rent and buy movies.



VUDU box retails for $399

Visual Hub has updated their amazing software to version 1.27. Formating and converting your video into the proper resolution, has never been easier with Visualhub. This latest version includes several presets for existing and new Apple devices. This update directly coinsides with the release of the new iPod released during the Beat Goes on Media-event Wednesday.

The update is free for registered users, and if your not registered, you can still get it for $23 and change. For you cheap-bastards out there a free demo is also available.

With Apple's Special Event this morning, they have announced the addition of Ring Tones to iTunes. This will prompt a new version of iTunes that will be released later today.

Apple has also introduced new iPod Shuffles, Nano's with Video, iPod Classics, and iPod Touch (iPhone style!)

Stay Tuned for more updates from the Special Event...

The Tube 1.5, has had a successful 4 week as a public beta, and 1.5 has been perfected. Over the past week Equinux took the user feedback and made a few improvements such as scheduled recordings and free EPG (Electronic Program Guide) available to registered users.

In addition to these improvements and fixes, the new retail release include features, such as TV Tips, Extended AppleScript Support, Visual Schedule Feedback, and Custom EPG's, all of which were not available in the public beta.

TubeStick is available at the Equinux Online Store.