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AutoCAD comes back to the Mac
Autodesk, proprietor of popular 2D/3D design software AutoCAD, is about to bring AutoCAD back to the Mac after a nearly two decade estrangement. AutoCAD is to engineering and architecture design what Photoshop is to photo editing, so this is a Pretty Big Deal. Like many software makers (and users), Autodesk bailed on the Mac platform during the early 1990s, at least as far as AutoCAD is concerned. Since then, it's been one of the biggest of the big names in software absent from the OS X platform and one of the few things Windows evangelists could point to and say, "Yeah, well Macs can't run that!" Starting in October, your Mac will run AutoCAD, as long as you're willing to pay around $4000 for it (the same price as the PC version). Not only that, Autodesk is reportedly working on an iOS version of AutoCAD as well. AutoCAD WS will be a free download from the App Store and will run on iPads, iPhones, and iPod touches. Naturally you won't get the same functionality out of the free app that you will out of the $4000 Mac software; while the mobile version will be able to view AutoCAD files generated on PCs or Macs, don't expect to be able to make more than very minor alterations on an iPad. Still, as the New York Times notes, carrying around blueprints on a svelte electronic device like an iPad beats schlepping big rolls of paper around on a job site. Welcome back to the Mac, AutoCAD!
The Lawbringer: Purchase vs. License cage match
Welcome to The Lawbringer, WoW.com's weekly tour of the intersection between law and the World of Warcraft. I am a new law school grad, acting as your crossing guard. Ladies and gentlemen, gnomes of all ages, welcome to THE CAGE! In our first corner, we have the provider of countless yachts to copyright lawyers, with the power of the contract, the big bad himself, the License! And in our second corner, it's the plucky defender of consumers' property rights, the champion of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the curse of the big bads everywhere -- let's give a big welcome to the Purchase! Now let's go to Bob for tonight's rules. The rules of tonight's fight are simple, Jim. These two contenders are fighting over who best describes World of Warcraft players' relationship to Blizzard. There will be three rounds, during which each fighter will present a case to persuade our judges. After three rounds of presentations, our judges will decide who really embodies the relationship between Blizzard and its customers. Why is this so important, Bob? Well, Jim, a license can contain pretty much any rights, but the EULA for a piece of entertainment software with a subscription like World of Warcraft is going to only give the bare minimum of what Blizzard is willing to allow. They can't be too stingy, or they'll go down like Linden Labs to an unconscionability claim, but they're much more worried about protecting their interests than allowing the customers to get all licentious. Licentious, Bob? Read a book, Jim. Anyway, if plucky little Purchase wins, then players get to be subject to the firmly defined laws instead of a mushy, Blizzard-defined license. The law regarding copyrighted copies allows them to make backup copies, get first sale doctrine protection and not be subject to copyright law for breaking the rules defined in the EULA.
iPad apps: defining experiences from the first wave
There are now over 1,348 approved apps for the iPad. That's on top of the 150,000 iPad-compatible iPhone programs already available in the App Store. When Apple's tablet PC launches, just hours from now, it will have a software library greater than that of any handheld in history -- not counting the occasional UMPC. That said, the vast majority of even those 1,348 iPad apps are not original. They were designed for the iPhone, a device with a comparatively pokey processor and a tiny screen, and most have just been tweaked slightly, upped in price and given an "HD" suffix -- as if that somehow justified the increased cost. Besides, we've seen the amazing potential programs have on iPhone, Android, Blackberry, Windows Mobile and webOS when given access to a touchscreen, always-on data connection, GPS, cloud storage and WiFi -- but where are the apps that truly define iPad? What will take advantage of its extra headroom, new UI paradigms and multitouch real estate? Caught between netbook and smartphone, what does the iPad do that the iPhone cannot? After spending hours digging through the web and new iPad section of the App Store, we believe we have a number of reasonably compelling answers. Update: Now includes Wormhole Remote, TweetDeck, SkyGrid, Touchgrind HD, GoToMeeting, SplitBrowser, iDisplay, Geometry Wars and Drawing Pad.
LG's Design the Future competition guarantees deluge of fanciful phone concepts
If you don't like the way phones look these days, why don't you get off your lazy behind and do something about it? LG's inviting you to do exactly that -- and what's more, there are 43 awards of various levels of awesomeness just waiting to be given away ranging from $1,000 (plus an LG phone, presumably not of your own design) all the way up to 20 grand. The Autodesk-sponsored competition claims that it'll be totally agnostic to the kinds of entries submitted -- whether they be sketches, renders, or computer-aided drafts -- instead concentrating on factors like market potential, creativity, polish and appeal, and our favorite, feasibility. Get those creative juices flowing, though, because the contest wraps up on June 8th. [Thanks, Zach]
'Strong possibility' Spore creations will be exportable to Maya
While taking us through an exhaustive hands-on with Spore, Maxis producer Thomas Vu told us that there was a "strong possibility" that the company would allow you to export your creations – creatures, buildings and vehicles – from the game into 3D modeling/animation program Maya. Vu said it wouldn't be a stretch for other 3D-creation apps (e.g. Lightwave, 3D Studio Max) to be made compatible, too. Also likely exportable is the music you create in the game, although Vu was not sure what format. What would be holding the feature back, explained Vu, was if it "didn't fit Spore," i.e. how do we define the title? As a game, an app? He suggested that if community interest was strong enough they'd likely put it in. You hear that, community? Make our dreams as aspiring animators that much closer to fruition. We'll have more from our exhaustive session with Spore later this week.
Self-balancing wheelchair wins Autodesk Inventor Student Design Contest
A group of Polish technical students won this year's Autodesk Inventor Student Design Contest with their design for a tricked-out self-balancing wheelchair. Functionality details are pretty light -- the site just says the chair uses "a gyroscope [to] remain vertical while only using two wheels" -- but there's no shortage of sweet gangsta lean or fly rims in the render. Screw the Autodesk competition -- these kids should've sent this design directly to Bad Boy.[Via MedGadget]
Maya 8.5 3D now Universal
Autodesk announced Maya 8.5 yesterday, and for a .5 release it has a slew of new features that I am sure will delight 3D artists. The one feature that'll make Intel Mac users hearts beat a little faster is that Maya 8.5 is now a Universal Binary. It'll run on either PowerPC or Intel Macs, but I have to think that it will run much faster on Intel Macs (what doesn't, at native speeds?).Thanks to everyone who sent this in!
