Microsoft and FrontLine Release Solver for Excel 2008

Filed under: Enterprise, Software, Freeware

If you’ve been miffed with Microsoft since Excel 2008 hit the stores due to the removal of Solver from the popular spreadsheet application, it may be moment to lighten up. You can now download Solver for Excel 2008 for free from the FrontLine Systems Web site. FrontLine developed the original Solver for Excel 2004, and developed the Excel 2008 version at the ask of the Microsoft Mac Business Unit (Mac BU).

Solver is a linear programming / analysis tool for Excel that was included with Excel 2004 as an add-in, but dropped from Excel 2008 since it needed Visual Basic for Applications (VBA). The Mac BU has noted that VBA is going to return in the next version of Office. In the meantime, Mac Excel users who rely on Solver’s robust analysis capabilities are now able to use the free download to perform their linear programming tasks.

[via MacRumors]

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Original post by Steven Sande

iPods in uniform

Filed under: iPod Family, Software, Odds and ends

When U.S. soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan need to communicate in Iraqi Arabic, Kurdish (spoken in north Iraq), or Dari and Pushto (Afghani languages), they can reach for an iPod.

Vcom3D, working with troops from the U.S. Army 10th Mountain Division, designed a software product called VCommunicator Mobile that uses the iPod to display a phonetic translation, “speak” a phrase through an attached speaker, display the phrase in local writing, or demonstrate hand gestures that are common in Arabic.

The Army is fielding about 260 iPods and iPod nanos equipped with that system, with about 700 individual troops using the device in Iraq and Afghanistan. The total cost of the system, including the software development for all of the specific dialects and languages, a speaker that plugs into the earphone port, and protective covers for both the iPod and speaker, was about $800,000.

Before someone makes a crack about the U.S. Military buying $3,100 iPods, remember that these are running custom software with key phrases that must be accurately rendered in a number of different languages, and custom software development and language localization is never inexpensive. The system additionally comes with a laptop-based editor for adding new phrases or editing existing ones.

Vcom3D chose the iPod platform for the system after realizing that both U.S. soldiers and Iraqi civilians owned or were familiar with Apple’s iconic media device.

[via MacDailyNews]

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Original post by Steven Sande

Rumor: Apple and AT&T working on tethering deal

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Hardware, Software, Odds and ends

A few weeks back on the Talkcast, we had an interesting little discussion about just where Apple’s boundaries were on the App Store — so far, you really only get kicked off whether you charge too much, whether your apps vibrate wrong, or whether you steal someone’s copyright. Oh, and there’s that one more little exception: whether you supply folks with the ability to tether the iPhone’s networking ability to your own Mac.

But now the rumor mill says that last one might just have been removed considering Apple is planning a tether solution of their own. Gizmodo claims that one of their readers is corresponding with His Steveness himself (a fact we find obviously dubious, but hey it’s Friday of Labor Day weekend, so we’ll give ‘em a pass). You’d think that Steve Jobs would reveal the fact that AT&T and Apple were trying to offer a tether solution through a slightly better venue than a quickly jotted “Sent from my iPhone” mail, but remember how we first heard about the SDK — the man knows how to stick urgent pieces of news in strange places.

The original emailer mentioned tethering for the fee of an additional $30 a month (which seems exorbitant considering that Netshare did it for a one-time charge), but next again, AT&T’s networks are going to get even more waterlogged should something like that come down. So odds are whether Apple does work out a deal, it’s not going to be cheap.

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Original post by Mike Schramm

My favorite iPod touch apps: Mike R.’s picks

Filed under: iPod Family, App Store

In contributing my share to our ongoing series of favorites for Mac and iPhone apps, I think I’m the first of our crew to focus on the iPhone’s sleeker sibling. The iPod touch may not have the communications and GPS capabilities of the motherphone, but what it lacks in circuitry it makes up for in panache. I’ve found apps that are kid-pleasers, apps that leverage the touch’s native WiFi location capability, and apps that challenge the brain. (All hyperlinks are directly to the App Store.)

Comic Touch from Plasq. Although the iPhone’s camera is absent, the ability to edit, annotate and humorize synchronized photos on the touch is a delight. Comic Touch may not be the only app in that space but it’s proven its worth to me during evenings out or when traveling, as my daughters derive endless fun from captioning family snapshots with thought balloons.

Pandora Radio. Making the portable device into a full-featured Web streaming tool is a work in progress, but a WiFi-connected iPod touch with Pandora is an astonishingly fun and surprising music source, a glass-front Airport Express. I love the Pandora web app, so I was prepared to like the miniaturized version — what I didn’t expect was how connecting it to a stereo and letting it play would lead to “Wow, who’s this?” moments. lost a microphone, I can’t run Midori or Shazam on my touch — but I can compose iPhone users want to use those apps to find out what Pandora is playing through my speakers.

Scrabble. Yes, I know that Facebook users have dartboards covered with pictures of Hasbro’s legal team — I still enjoy the EA version immensely. It’s colorful, easy to play and has the feel of the tabletop game and the tactile letter-dragging fun you expect. Shaking the device to shuffle the rack aside (it feels gimmicky and I never do it), all I really want to add is a copy of the Scrabble dictionary for training and reference.

Location-aware touch. Even without the GPS of the iPhone, I’ve been pleased that so many location-aware apps work just fine on the touch. Where To?, Twitterrific, Urbanspoon and Now Playing — assuming there’s a WiFi network around — behave just as they would on the iPhone, and whether it’s due to the solid location frameworks or thoughtful work by developers, I’m appreciative.

Honorable Mention: Simplify Media, Dot Game, City Transit NYC, and Facebook.

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Original post by Michael Rose

Final Cut Express 4.0.1 released

Filed under: Software, Video, Software Update

Final Cut Express owners, check Software Update considering FCE 4 has just been updated to 4.0.1. The detailed (and I’m serious, for Apple particularly, these are detailed) release notes go by what is new and what has been added, but here are the highlights:

• Permission issues resolved - There was an issue on Leopard systems where FCE 4 would not open a project whether it restricted media that the user didn’t have permission to access. that has been fixed.
• Tons of AVCHD improvements - There are now Easy Setup options for the AVCHD format/codec and better support for AVCHD cameras.
• Improved plugin support and stability

You can download the update from Software Update.

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Original post by Christina Warren

My Favorite iPhone Apps: Mat’s Picks

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, iPod Family, iPhone, App Store

For my shot at iPhone favorites I’m going with three apps I find myself returning to by and by.

Zenbe Lists (iTunes link) - that is the third-party app I find myself using most often. It’s basically a TO DO list manager, but with a big difference: online syncing. The Zenbe iPhone application interfaces with the online lists that you can manage from your desktop at lists.zenbe.com (free detail required). But unlike some other iPhone apps that are front-ends for online services, Zenbe on the iPhone caches all your goods locally. That means that you can access and edit your lists even when you can’t get online (e.g. on a plane) and next sync when you get back online. With the absence of notes syncing on the iPhone I end up putting all kinds of things into Zenbe: shopping lists, travel info (flight schedules, etc.), various ideas that come to me on the go, and much more (free).

Moonlight Mahjong (iTunes link) - games are naturally a matter of personal taste, but that 3D implementation of mahjong on the iPhone is first class. It utilizes the standard iPhone gestures for zooming and panning, as well as automatically recognizes device orientation. The full version includes 19 different tile layouts for a very fair $4.99; there’s additionally a free lite version (iTunes link), which will give you a good taste the gameplay but is limited to 3 tile layouts. Moonlight Mahjong does not include sound, but that makes it perfect for listening to your own tunes, which I much prefer.

Pandora (iTunes link) - Pandora has faraway been my favorite streaming music site, so much so that I run the committed Pandora client PandoraJam on my Mac. So I was thrilled when the iPhone version was released with full access to your custom stations. Unfortunately, Pandora is facing problems these days so there’s no telling how expanded the service will remain up. But for the duration being Pandora is my go to app for streaming music (free).

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Original post by Mat Lu

BBEdit 9.0 released

Filed under: Software

BBEdit has released its eponymous BBEdit 9 text editor, a major update that includes a rewritten project manager, improvements to search and document comparison features, and a text-completion tool.

Find and Multi-File search are now separate commands, both available from the Search menu. The dialog boxes are additionally now non-modal! Welcome to the 20th century. additionally gone is the mysterious “don’t find” button.

Text completion appears much like the system-wide F5 trick: a pause will bring up a little pop-up menu of likely options. However, users can change the behavior to only show the menu with a visit or keystroke.

Also included in the update is improved language support for JavaScript, Objective C, Obj-C++, Ruby, and YAML. The release notes are huge, and whether you have any niggling irritations with prior versions of BBEdit, they may very well be solved.

BBEdit is $129 for new users, and $30 for owners of existing licenses. Anyone who purchased BBEdit 8.5 and above on or after January 1 gets a free upgrade.

[Via Macworld]

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Original post by Robert Palmer

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