Appletell | Apple, Mac, iPhone, iPod | News, Rumors, Reviews, How-Tos

Macintosh and iPhone/iPod updates and announcements for December 1, 2009:

Macintosh

• RapidWeaver theme developer seyDoggy is celebrating the anniversary of their 4th year in operation with a special limited-time discount and the launch of GiD3OUS, their latest theme for RapidWeaver 4.3. This release is the culmination of months of design, planning, and exhaustive testing and the end result is a product the seyDoggy team considers to be their finest work to date.
• Raleigh based Pariahware, Inc. has announced Doc Merge 2.1, a Word automation tool. With Doc Merge, the user simply drags their Word documents into the Doc Merge window, chooses to add page breaks or not, and click the Merge Docs button. When finished, Doc Merge will even open the new document for you. Documents may be dragged to their proper order before merging, or the user can click on one of the two auto-sort options from the toolbar.
• St. Clair Software has announced the release of Default Folder X 4.3.4, enhancing the file dialogs in all Mac OS X applications. It provides fast navigation to your files, convenient previews, integrated Spotlight tagging, and more. Version 4.3.4 addresses issues with Mac OS 10.6 Snow Leopard, Cinema4D and PTHPasteboard, as well as providing a more refined and smarter user interface.
• The MHA has released Airlock, the first version of their smart Mac security solution. Airlock automatically locks and unlocks a Mac’s screen as the user comes and goes. Using advanced Bluetooth proximity detection and a user’s iPhone or iPod Touch, Airlock is able to approximate the distance between the user and his or her Mac. Once the user leaves the preset range, Airlock locks the Mac’s screen. Upon the user’s return, Airlock automatically unlocks the screen.
• Jumsoft has finished Keynote Quartet FX ‘10, a complete restyle of its ultimate bundle for Apple’s Keynote. The updated Keynote Quartet FX includes new versions of Keynote Themes FX, Keynote Backgrounds FX, Keynote Objects FX, and Keynote Animations FX, as well as a generous bonus package of still themes, images, and photos for iWork. The package includes 300 designs, 150 objects, 100 animations, 35 motion backgrounds, and 15 motion themes.
• QuickerTek is now offering solar power for the entire Apple MacBook line of popular laptops and unibody Macs and just released white MacBook. They now power the entire MacBook line, including the 13.3, 15 and 17 inch unibody Pros and the white MacBook. There are two Apple Juicz models available—27 watt and 55 watt—to match your performance needs. MacBook users are no longer tethered to the AC wall outlet.

iPhone/iPod

• Carl is still coming...and apparently he (she (it)) talks.
• SEGA of America, Inc. and SEGA Europe Ltd have announced that the Super Monkey Ball 2 App [iTunes App Store link] is now available on the App Store. Built from the ground up, this sequel for iPhone and iPod touch takes full advantage of the breakthrough technology in the devices—including the innovative Multi-Touch user interface and accelerometer—to offer fans an irresistible on-the-go gaming experience. Developed by Other Ocean, Super Monkey Ball 2 allows players to more easily pick-up-and-play stunning 3D stages in both single and multiplayer thanks to the refined control system. Adding to the fun, the Super Monkey Ball 2 App also makes all 115 stages of the game available to be played in multiplayer mode using the local Wi-Fi with up to four players.
• Artificial Life and ie:music present award-winning British singer-songwriter Robbie Williams in his first ever app for the iPhone and iPod touch. Robbie Williams Racing features a 3D racing environment through the Mojave Desert, matching the setting from Robbie’s recently released “Bodies” video. The game also contains the option to compete in a buggy race with a course modeled after Robbie’s own private track.
• Waveon has announced Question Yards, an app that allows you to measure the distance between two points with your iPhone or iPod touch. It does so with an image, so GPS measurement isn’t necessary.
• PetSnap is especially designed for capturing lovely pet photos. It offers five main features for this purpose: sounds (to get your pet’s attention), frames, zoom, review and image sizes.
• Hunter Research and Technology has announced Theodolite 1.0, a multi-function augmented reality app for iPhone devices. Theodolite serves as a compass, GPS, map, zoom camera, and two-axis inclinometer. It overlays real-time information about position, altitude, bearing, and horizontal/vertical inclination on the iPhone’s live camera image, turning the iPhone into a sophisticated location-aware viewfinder. Great for hiking, boating, sightseeing, photography, and sports.
• LuvShaker has announced 24 Hours of Love Challenge 1.0, a game of romance and passion for lovers for iPhone and iPod Touch. 24 Hours of Love is based on a simple challenge to revive and renew an intimate relationship. It is a sexy game for adults and a fun way to add sizzle and zing to an intimate relationship. With 24 Hours of Love, LuvShaker introduces unique and engaging iPhone/iPod entertainment for romance, marriage, relationships and sexual intimacy.
• Indie game developer Assyria Game Studio has announced Picnic Panic for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Set in picturesque picnic settings, this fast, frantic defence game needs a set of delicious picnic food to be protected from an onslaught of hungry insects. Using the touch screen, points in Picnic Panic are scored for each bug you can splat, while splatting bugs of the same type in a row will provide an ever-increasing bonus until a different bug gets hit. Earn the highest scores by chaining together bugs of the same variety, while defending as much of the picnic as possible—it’s game over when all the precious food is devoured.
• Austin based KApps has announced Secret Swap 1.01, their free secret swapping app for iPhone and iPod touch. Secret Swap provides a entertaining, hilarious, and sometimes downright frightening look into people’s deepest, darkest secrets. There are currently over 2,000 secrets in the database that have been posted by other Secret Swap users. These secrets range from hilarious childhood mishaps to sometimes over-the-top, disgusting, and downright disturbing admissions.
• Bitforge Ltd. has released a free “lite” version of their hit iPhone game Orbital. Orbital is the definitive 1-thumb experience on the iPhone with one simple goal: score points by destroying orbs. A simple puzzle game designed for all ages, Orbital features beautiful graphics and addictive gameplay that can be enjoyed in short bursts wherever you are. The lite version allows you to try out the game’s single player mode up to a limit of 15 points.
• Pictional has released TrueHDR 1.0.1, an iPhone photography app for creating high dynamic range images. TrueHDR combines two photos taken at different exposures and presents a higher dynamic range than a single photo can capture. Users can take two photos on an iPhone 3GS with the in-app autofocus camera, or select saved images, and merge them into an HDR image. The output image has vivid colors and details in both bright and dark areas.
• Inspiretis has announced ListMonger 1.5, an update to their list making app for iPhone and iPod touch. ListMonger’s new backup and restore features utilize a standard web browser and a Wi-Fi connection to facilitate communication between an iPhone or iPod touch, and a computer. This easy-to-use solution allows ListMonger’s application database to be freely moved, copied, and restored between a computer and iPhone OS devices.
• Stone Design has released new versions of its top-selling iPhone Twitter client Twittelator Pro and re-released Twittelator Free. Featuring twitter lists, geotagging of tweets, and official autoretweeting. In-app purchase lets you unlock all the Pro features in the free version, but you get to try the real deal with hundreds of features. Twittelator Pro runs on all models of the iPhone and iPod Touch.
• George Burgess has released GeoRev 1.0, a Geography GCSE revision application for the iPhone and iPod Touch. GeoRev, is designed to help students revise for their Geography GCSE exam and consists of 600 multiple-choice questions. These questions are separated into 15 topic areas with both foundation and higher tier options. The topic areas aim to incorporate the majority of material required by major exam boards.
• Ave!Comics has announced their collaboration with UK publisher SelfMadeHero to launch the first ever “Soundtrack Edition” version of an iPhone app. Johnny Cash: I See a Darkness by Reinhard Kleist is the first and only graphic novel biography of one of the most famous musicians of all time—the Man in Black.
• Mophie has announced the immediate availability of the Juice Pack Air in soft-touch red, just in time for the holidays. The rechargeable1200 mAH external battery, integrated into an ultra-thin case, is now available for $79.95 exclusively at the Apple Store and mophie.com.
• LAJ Design has announced CostToMeet 1.0.2, a meeting timer app for the iPhone and iPod touch. Every meeting costs money and the length of the meeting multiplies the cost for the meeting. Effective meetings need to stay on track, be justified, and be timely. You can configure the number of participants and the cost of each person. Meetings will continue running if you switch programs. You can also pause the meeting. Keep your meetings on track with CostToMeet.
• Sad Cat Software has announced the release of their latest action iPhone game: Project Phoenix. Based on the second generation of Obelisk, their advanced 2D game engine, they’ve tried to make Project Phoenix one of the most fun games around. The optimization, polish, and fine-tuning they’ve done let them feature very large terrains, amazing graphics, and an incredible number of objects on the screen at the same time, making the gameplay particularly intense.