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Chitter 0.9
We here at TUAW have been bitten by the Twitter bug. If you aren't savvy to Twitter it is sort of a Web 2.0 twist on away messages, though for your life as opposed to your chat status. Chitter 0.9 is a plugin for iChat that does two things: If you change your Status message on iChat it is posted to your Twitter account. If you post a different message on Twitter, that becomes your away message on iChat This is not a 1.0 product, so there are some bugs. Whenever I would change my away message it would get posted to Twitter twice, but the future looks bright for this little iChat plugin. Twitter on!
ecamm releases iGlasses 1.4
iGlasses, the software-based iSight video enhancer, has been upgraded to version 1.4. iGlasses is basically a bundle of video filters that allow you to process the iSight signal to enhance brightness or add special effects (like "night vision"). There are several new features of note introduced in version 1.4. First is the iGlasses Manager. It allows you to switch iGlasses on and off on a per-application basis, so you can use the filters in, say, iChat, but not in iMovie. Second, you can now use iGlasses in many more applications. Version 1.4 includes support for Comic Life, Delicious Library, Camfrog, jmeeting, WebcamTweaker, CamSpinner, Funny Photographer, CamGrabber, and more. Finally, 1.4 introduces enhanced AppleScript scriptability. I'm sure you can use the scriptability for some sort of twisted April Fool's prank, but I'm unsure as to what else it might be helpful for. You can buy a copy of iGlasses for $8 at the ecamm website, which isn't a huge amount of money, but be aware that a lot of this same functionality looks like it will be built into Leopard's iChat when it bows later this year.
iChat's Update 1.0 promises secretive functionality, speculation abounds
If you're getting the Macworld jitters, easily identified by the recurring dreams of Steve Jobs showing up for the keynote with nothing but a loaf of bread tucked under his arm: "I give you... the iLoaf! Oh, and one more thing, here's some butter." then you might be glad to hear the latest bit of rampant speculation, just to take your mind off things. Apple just busted out the iChat Update 1.0, which "renews the .Mac certificate required by iChat for encrypting text, audio, and video conferences." But that's all Apple is saying for now, instead keeping mum with a vague "This document will be updated as more information becomes available." It seems a pretty odd time for Apple to be updating iChat encryption and other vague features, given the fact that Leopard is right around the corner, so we're going to chalk this one up to Applephone interoperability, specifically of the video conferencing ilk. Mac OS X 10.4.9 is apparently just around the corner as well, and we're getting good vibes from all these software updates -- hardware releases seem just as good an excuse as any. Then again, an iLoaf wouldn't be half bad. Mmm. iToast.[Thanks, Scott]
Software Update: iChat Update 1.0 for Tiger
Apple just rolled out iChat Update 1.0 for Tiger on both Intel and PPC platforms.Apple says: "This update renews the .Mac certificate required by iChat for encrypting text, audio and video conferences. For detailed information on this update, please visit this website: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=304899."Obvious enough, but I like to be thorough so I visited that website, as Apple suggested, to see if there was more to learn. Nope, nothing there yet. That page says "This update renews the .Mac certificate required by iChat for encrypting text, audio, and video conferences. This document will be updated as more information becomes available." Hmmm... Ok then. I can take a hint.UPDATE: I was remiss in not warning you all that a restart is required after this update. Why? I have no idea. I generally just force-quit Software Update and continue on with my business until it's convenient for me to restart...Thanks, nevrozel and everyone else who sent this in!
Push IM feature in iPhone/iChat Mobile?
TUAW reader Andrew Leitch spotted a possible item of interest in the Apple online Leopard iChat preview. One of the contacts, 'Karin Svensson', whose status is set to online, without voice or video capabilities, has an "airport-esque array of concentric arcs" next to her name. Andrew asks whether this hints at a possible Push IM feature, perhaps supported in iChat Mobile on an iPhone. We're throwing the question out to you readers. What do you think?Update: The consensus is clearly that this is all a big nothing. Thanks for the feedback!
Chax updated to version 1.4.6, source code now available
We're fans of Chax 'round these parts. It's one of those free iChat enhancement apps that makes iChat infinitely more usable. I am so accustomed to it that I can't remember life before iChat tabs anymore...As promised last month, Chax 1.4.6 brings us some bug fixes, a handful of new features and freely available source code.Here's the scoop from the Read Me: (New) Tear-off tabs allow for quick separation of chats through drag-and-drop (New) Options to show the AIM/Jabber/Bonjour contact lists when clicking the iChat dock icon (New) Activity log data can now be exported as an HTML table (Feature improvement) Tab overflow menu now animates when a new message has been received that is not visible (New) Polish localization, thanks to Piotr Chyli??ski (Feature improvement) Activity log now periodically saves to disk every hour (Bug) Log search results now sort properly (Bug) Using nicknames while sorting by availability and first name now works properly (Bug) Tabs now close in the correct order after being rearranged (Bug) Fixed visual problems when disabling close buttons on tabs (Bug) Improved iChat quit speed (Preference change) Confirm quit option moved from the General preferences tab to the Chats tab (Removed) "Move to Window" and "Move to Tab" options removed in favor of tear-off tabs You can download the free update from the Chax website and the source code from Kent Sutherland's Chax blog. Kent says he'll continue to release updated source along with new releases. The source is licensed under the MIT license, which he says gives some flexibility to anyone interested in using parts of Chax in other projects. He'll also work to merge in any good patches that he receives. Thanks for your contribution to my Mac Life, Kent :)Thanks, Brandon!
New Chax beta with tear-off tabs, will be open sourced soon
Chax, the handy iChat plugin that offers tabbed chats and much more, has a new beta available that offers tear-off tabs for those times when you don't want to put all your eggs chats in one basket. Announced on the author's blog, this new version also allows exporting activity log data as HTML. Of course, various bug fixes are also included in what is technically 1.4.6 beta 2.The author is also going to release the complete Chax source code once 1.4.6 goes official, offering iChat hackers and other Cocoa-hopefuls a little more help in their quest for creating the next killer __________.You can download your copy of the beta from this latest blog entry.
Too many Mac rumors
Managing all the information in all these damned Apple rumors that everyone is so insistent upon proliferating is no small task, but we know that there exists a vast amount of people hungry for any WWDC 2006 launch information they can get (and an equal amount lying in wait to say we're merely Apple fanboys). While we know how much you'd love for us to report on these as we go, we'll give you the short list, and invite you to leave rumors for us to add in comments. Bon appetit! A chap named Brian sent us another iPhone picture, this time it's called the iCall. The story goes: it was supposedly found by an insider on the floor in a storage room at the Moscone. Hey stranger things have happened (then again, remember the iHome?). MacRumors says we'll have Xeon Xserves, the Mac Pro, and new 1:1000 contrast ratio Studio Displays with iSight and Apple Remote support, Core 2 Duo mobile MacBook Pros, and loads of new stuff for Leopard. Scoble says Apple is "readying a dizzying amount of new products," but not much else. FirstAdopter thinks the Mac Pros will run Xeons, run from $1,800 - $3,200 in base configs, and have pretty much all the usual options. Ars Technica seems to think roughly the same, and pontificated on it for a few thousand words. Going back a little, Macworld reported that Blu-ray drive support may (or may not) make its way into Steve's presentation. Apple joins Kronos, therefore must be developing iPhone. Sure, take it to the bank. iPhone software found in iPod updater. Hurrah! Oh, wait, it still doesn't mean anything (yet). Someone posted an oh-so-bad iChat Mobile video on YouTube. In case you missed it, that was the iPhone rumor du jour last night. Thanks, Steve. Apple Insider is insisting MacBook Pros are going to go Merom (Core 2 Duo). Yeah, and why not? Just about every other laptop manufacturer already has, and they'd be downright foolish not to launch the MeromBooks at WWDC.
iChat Mobile: could this be the iPhone?
Alright boys and girls, WWDC is less than a week away, rumors are flying and now: so are the images. This 'iChat Mobile' device could exist only in Photoshop for all we and Engadget know, but the possibilities sound pretty delicious. If you let your imagination run wild for just a little bit, however, even that slogan can sound like something Apple would produce.Could this somehow tie into iChat itself, fulfilling so many of those VoIP + Leopard rumors that have been flying around? Might this also offer a true iTMS experience, packing iPod-nano sized memory, sans a song cap? Time will only tell if WWDC reveals anything about one of Apple's worst kept secrets as of late.Alright: let the speculation continue!
Audio Hijack Pro 2.7
Rogue Amoeba released Audio Hijack Pro 2.7 today making it a podcaster's dream. This already indispensable application has just gotten better with the addition of the 'MegaMix.' This feature (enabled by default if you are recording an iChat conversation) records incoming and outgoing audio from an application thereby making it very easy to record everyone in on an iChat conference call with one app (this also works in Skype and Gizmo).Read all about the changes here, and take a visual tour at Rogue Amoeba's blog.Audio Hijack Pro costs $32.
A modest iChat proposal
Ted Wallingford, writing at our sister site Download Squad, has a list of things he would like to see in the next release of iChat (coming to a Mac near you with the release of Leopard). Ted focuses on VoIP features. He would like to see: Voice and video compatibility with Google Talk and AIM Free voicemail Hold music And a few other things. Head on over to the DS and read it for yourself, and leave your iChat improvements in the comments.
Adium 1.0b1 Released
After months of work, the excellent multiple network instant messenging program, Adium, has reached version 1.0b1, and this release is a great one. It sports major improvements to interactions with AIM, ICQ, and .Mac IM networks, iTunes integration, the default look and feel and privacy options. It now requires Mac OS X 10.3.9 and is a universal binary.Please note that this is still in beta, though I was using it last night without any significant problems presenting themselves.[Thanks to those who sent us this tip.]
New patent covers wireless iPod video conferencing
These iPod-related patents get more outlandish by the minute, and this one might not even be from Apple, but we thought we'd run it by you all the same. The patent seems to refer to what could at least be an iPod accessory. It isn't filed by Apple, but since it continuously refers the the iPod specifically, it seems the device is somehow closely related. Clearly evident is an ability to do iChat AV-style video conferencing over a wired or wireless connection. References to "wherein the handheld video device is an improved iPod" give us hope that this device will work with some sort of next-generation wireless iPod, possibly even a phone version. The patent also covers the use of the iPod as a video server or to receive video streams from the Internets (World Cup, anyone?) which we're sure quite a few fans of the little device could find useful. There's also the chance that these pictures that include a phone are merely the dreams a patent squatter, or that the bare-bones approach of plugging in an external camera and headset will be as far as anybody goes with these video capabilities. But we can always dream, right?[Via Macsimum News]
iChat mod available
There's a pretty nice iChat mod available over at the MacTheme Forums. User ryantrip has whipped up this UI mod that cleans up the buddy list, the invitation windows, the main chat window and more. The whole thing is very neat and tidy. I'm not one for modding OSX, but this looks pretty good. Nice work, Ryan!You'll find a download link in the forum post, and the author has asked users to inform him of any bugs that may still be lurking. Just remember: Back up everything first (but you knew that, right?)!Thanks for the tip, Ricky!
ChatFX - video effects within iChat
ChatFX can bring some fun to your iChat video conferences by adding quirky video effects; basically it's like Apple's Photo Booth for iChat. Using the power of Quartz Composer (built into Mac OS X 10.4), ChatFX can apply eight different effects to your video conference in real time, including a green-screen effect for that perfect "sure, I'm still at school/the office" cover story. Using the green screen, you can even place a movie in the background - the sky's the limit with that feature.ChatFX offers a demo download and sells for $20.
iChat Extender - tweak iTunes status message, chat bubbles
iChat Extender is a little app that lets you tweak various settings of iChat that unfortunately don't have a pref pane of their own. Features such as the format of the 'iTunes now playing' status message and the style of chat bubbles can easily be adjusted with this handy and free app.For more fun with little apps, check out the developer's other utilities such as illis, an iTunes controller and Growl notifier, as well as Star, a menubar utility for rating your iTunes tracks and notifying you when a track is un-rated.All of these utilities are free and Universal Binaries.
Chax 1.4.1 released
One thing I love about Chax, the vital iChat plug-in, is that its developer has been reliably rolling out a good handful of new features and fixes, even with a .0.x update like this one. New features in 1.4.1 include: Growl notifications for when a user comes online, goes offline, goes idle, goes away, and becomes available Options to have the tab window come to the front when receiving a new message Option to disable the close buttons on tabs Option to have the contact lists automatically resize to fit the number of visible contacts Contact list row height will now adjust itself according to the size of a custom font as long as user icons are hidden (the two line view will not resize) Default iChat floating window notifications now work with tabs Clicking on a Growl message notification will bring iChat to the front and select the originating message window You can check out the full list of new features and bug fixes in Chax's release notes, and grab your own copy from Kent Sutherland's site.
Chax 1.4 - iChat now has tabs
No, that headline is not a typo: at long last, after hoards of OS X users have cried out to Apple in vain for a feature to be added to iChat that other clients have had for what seems like a millennia (I'm Irish. I exaggerate. Sue me) - iChat now has tabs, thanks to the latest Chax update to v1.4. You have the option of placing tabs at the top or bottom of a chat window (or not using them at all, of course), and you can also chose colors for the text in the tab based on whether there is a new message, the user is typing or they've gone offline. I know I speak for many, many iChat users when I say: thank you, Kent Sutherland.Another handy new feature in the update is a set of (optional) Chax menu badges to designate which iChat menu features belong to Chax. Of course, there are various bug fixes and tweaks, but what are you waiting for? Go grab the latest Chax update for tabbed iChatting goodness, and while you're at it: leave a donation for Kent's hard work.
Apple releases .Mac-exclusive iChat icon sets
Sure, they aren't the exclusive Dashboard widgets we've heard so much about, but Apple has released 11 sets of iChat icons for .Mac members. Included are the familiar chat bubbles (pictured at right), Japanese stamps, sticky notes, status indicators and illustrations. According to Apple, they're only going to be made available until June 1st. The complete collection of 218 icons can be downloaded as a single 640kb image. So grab them if you can, and spiff up your copy of iChat.
Chax updated, adds Growl support
Remember Chax, the free, feature-packed iChat plugin we found a couple weeks ago? It's received a couple of minor updates and tweaks since then, and one I thought worth mentioning was Growl support. Previously, the only way I knew of getting iChat to play with Growl was GrowliChat, a separate app that was more or less a one-trick pony.Other new features in Chax's tiny bump to version 1.3.2 include: Automatically set status to away when the screen saver is activated Show animated user icons in the contact list Hide iChat and new message windows when iChat is inactive French localization Check out the version history of changes for the full skinny on what's new, updated and fixed. Chax is a free plugin, but donations are always welcome at the developer's site.
