quicktime
Latest
Perian 1.1.2 released, fixes updating
Last night, Perian was updated to version 1.1.2. If you need to extend the capabilities of QuickTime, the free Perian plugin allows QuickTime to play back all kinds of popular video formats (.AVI, .MKV, .FLV and more). It's a handy utility for anyone who watches a lot of video on their Mac. Here's a list of the bug fixes/improvements in 1.1.2: Fixed update checker never running - this version requires a manual install Enabled frame-dropping on AppleTV Fixed some frames being lost in AVCHD/.mp4 with newer versions of QuickTime Fixed another ffmpeg crash on G3s You can download the update to Perian from the project's website. You can also see the version history list on their support website.Thanks for the tip, Chris!
Video of 'aluminum MacBook' surfaces
An often-blurry QuickTime spy video of what appears to be an aluminum MacBook enclosure is available now on apple.pro. (If the video link isn't working, try watching it on YouTube; there are stills available here.) The video is a series of close-up shots, none showing the thickness of the enclosure, nor the keyboard. The only features visible in the video are the new location for the power button, and a larger trackpad. Its authenticity could not be independently verified. Yesterday, apple.pro had photos of what appears to be the same enclosure. Is it the new MacBook? We'll see on October 14. [Via Electronista.] Thanks, Josh, for the YouTube link!
Adobe demos Photoshop CS4's content-aware scaling
In a QuickTime screencast, Adobe's Russell Brown demonstrates content-aware scaling, a feature of Photoshop CS4, due to be released this month. A lower-resolution YouTube demo from Lynda.com is available here, if you don't want to download a huge QuickTime movie. The content is different, but you'll get the idea. Adobe licensed an algorithm that senses "dead" areas in photos, and resizes the image to avoid squashing or stretching every object. In the video, Brown demonstrates resizing an image of four golfers, interactively removing space between and around the golfers, but leaving the golfers' proportions correct. He also demonstrates resizing a Volkswagen bus, making it a more "economical" size, but automatically keeping the wheels round. For those looking for a compelling reason to upgrade to Photoshop CS4, this might be it. If not, what is? Let us know by leaving a comment. [Via Swissmiss and Michael Sippey.]
Perian 1.1.1 just released
Perian, the ultimate QuickTime plug-in, was just updated to version 1.1.1. Some of the changes in this version include: H.264 in AVI fixed Some anamorphic AVI files are now supported Performance problems due to PIC fixed with Xcode 3.1 Incorrect frame skipping on H.264 intra frames fixed Better character set detection The update checker is now much more polite Several parsing and rendering bugs with subtitles fixed Player freezing while loading subtitles with embedded fonts fixed Audio fixed for some older MKV files with AAC/FLAC Strange values in MKV chapters or video sizes are handled better Initial support for SAMI subtitles added Worked around a QuickTime bug (#5770288) causing frames to be lost during export New codecs: DosBox ZMBV, VP6+Alpha, Nellymoser ASAO FFmpeg: Crashing on PPC G3 fixed Fraps decoding artifacts fixed You can view the full change log on the support website. Perian is a free System Preference pane that can be downloaded from the Perian project website. Thanks, Chris!
Save your screen with movies and SaveHollywood
Got a folderful of movies of your kids? It'd be delightful to have them playing on your Mac as a full-motion family album. Or, suppose you're setting up a kiosk Mac where people are going to walk up, use it for a while, then wander away -- it would be nice if you could revert to an 'attract loop' of a QuickTime movie when the machine went idle for a few minutes.Enter the handy (and free/open source) SaveHollywood screen saver module from developer Stéphane Sudre (also the force behind the indispensable Iceberg packaging utility). Select an individual movie to play back, or a folderful of clips -- you can choose to show the movies in fullscreen mode or at the original size of the source material, and you can adjust the sound to a custom level (or mute) if desired.SaveHollywood is a 144K download and a Universal Binary. It's compatible with Mac OS X Tiger 10.4 and later.Thanks Laurie
Zero-day exploit for QuickTime in the wild
A hacker who found a vulnerability in QuickTime said he posted the attack code online after Apple ignored him for a month. The code exploits a flaw in QuickTime that causes a crash when a unusually-long parameter is passed along with a movie file. While it's not demonstrated, the hacker claims that "code execution may be possible." With Leopard, address space randomization makes it more difficult to execute code in memory spaces left after a crash. Earlier operating systems (like Tiger and Panther) may still be vulnerable. Apple hasn't released any guidelines to avoid the problem, as it does in high-risk cases. Intego, in a press release, considered the risk "low" and will be updating its VirusBarrier X5 software if someone creates malicious software based on the attack technique. Even though the risk may be low, an abundance of caution is always advised. Be careful when opening (or clicking links to) QuickTime files from sources unknown to you. In the past, phishing/malware attacks have been delivered as fake QuickTime or Windows Media codecs, so remember that any executable file you download from an unfamiliar source may be suspect. [Via InformationWeek and IDG.]
Quicktime 7.5.5 is available
As expected, an iTunes update is followed (or preceded, depending on how you download things) by a QuickTime update. Today, Apple has released QuickTime 7.5.5, citing "...changes that increase reliability, improve application compatibility and enhance security." How typically Apple. Soon these release notes will simply say, "Stuff." Update: If you haven't installed QT 7.5.5 prior to installing iTunes 8, you'll get a warning from iTunes that movies won't play, etc. -- so you might want to do both at the same time.The download is about 65MB. You'll find info on recent Apple updates here.Thanks to everyone who sent this in!
Apple ProRes QuickTime Decoder 1.0 for Mac and Windows
Earlier tonight we saw the release of the ProRes Decoder tool for QuickTime. According to Apple, this tool will allow QuickTime to play Apple ProRes 422 files, using the codec that provides "visually lossless, uncompressed HD video at SD data rates" for Final Cut users. This is the first version of the codec that includes playback on Windows machines."It is an excellent choice for mastering and can easily be transcoded to distribution formats like H.264. With new support for playback on both Mac and Windows computers, Apple ProRes can also be used for review and approval of Final Cut Studio sequences," says Apple.The Mac update/plug-in can be downloaded for free from Apple's support downloads website, and if you are using QuickTime on Windows, there's a separate download.
TapeDeck updated to 1.1, adds YouTube export
More audio news on the Mac today: the undeniably cute, surprisingly functional TapeDeck recording app (yes, it looks exactly like a cassette deck, and works pretty much the same way) has been updated to version 1.1. The headline features in this version are improved export capability (to most QuickTime-supported audio formats, including MP3 and AIFF), the option to record high-quality at 320kbps, and built-in YouTube exporting, complete with a charming tape-playing video.TapeDeck's simplicity, and the very easy (possibly too easy) YouTube export, are bound to have plenty of Mac users releasing their quick & dirty audio recordings to the world in short order. TapeDeck (Universal Binary) is $25 and a demo is available at the tapedeckapp.com site.Video of the YouTube export in action after the jump.
AlleyInsider: QuickTime on a chip?
Silicon Alley Insider is offering "pure speculation" based on a tip that Apple's Fall future product transition is a video upgrade to Apple products that includes a QuickTime encoder/decoder on a chip. As cool as this would be, I don't personally think it's a significant-enough development to warn investors about. Unless, of course, it's part and parcel of more substantial changes to Apple's product lines. Having video playback functions handled by a separate microprocessor capable of dealing with the variety of media formats that QuickTime handles could yield performance increases for lower-end Macs (with less-powerful video cards) and battery life savings for handheld devices. Also, depending on what codecs are included on-board, it could mean an end to countless hours converting video specifically for your iPhone, iPod touch, or Apple TV. Additionally, MacRumors' Arnold Kim notes that it could be of some use for encoding Blu-Ray video. All I want is DivX AVI playback on my iPod touch. Pretty please?
Intel says 'no' to Vista upgrade
Intel has decided that for its own employees, Windows Vista just won't cut the mustard. According to the New York Times, "Intel information technology staff just found no compelling case for adopting Vista." Ouch. Intel's IT staff arrived at their decision after a lengthy cost-benefit analysis. Intel has 80,000 employees worldwide, and could be seen as a bellwether for large companies still on the fence about upgrading to Vista. Since Microsoft has been a tight partner with Intel for years, it remains to be seen what kind of pressure Intel will get from top Microsoft management. In related news, Microsoft released a Windows Vista SP1 "reliability update" that fixes problems with launching large applications, and crashes involving QuickTime.
Apple working on an "iSight HD"?
According to a recent MacRumors posting, Apple might be working on a "next generation" high definition iSight camera. This comes after a reference in the localization strings file for QuickTime shows "iSight HD" as one of the import devices. You can see the localization strings for "iSight HD" by opening the following file in either QuickLook (space bar) or by opening it in TextEdit: /System/Library/QuickTime/QuickTimeUSBVDCDigitizer.component/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/Localizable.strings Once you have the file opened, you can clearly see where Apple has placed the following bit of code: /* Next Generation USB iSight */"iSight HD" = "iSight HD";We should note that while this code has been found, it doesn't necessarily mean that Apple will release a new iSight product, but this does give us hope. [via World of Apple]
Quicktime 7.5 is available
QuickTime 7.5 was released earlier today via Software Update. According to Apple, this update "...improves application compatibility and addresses security issues."Often, Quicktime updates coincide with iTunes updates. Since we know that the 3G iPhone will require iTunes 7.7, we suspect that's what the "application compatibility" refers to. Apple recommends this release for all QuickTime 7 users. Note that a restart is required.Thanks, MarkAbre!
Apple posts seminar for Integrating Active Directory
Recently, Apple posted a new online seminar (linked from enterprise Apple Store pages) entitled "Best Practices for Integrating Mac OS X into Active Directory." This seminar will show registered participants how to deploy machines running OS X into existing Active Directory setups.Apple lists several things that are shown in the online seminar, some of which include: Integrating an Active Directory environment into Mac OS X Using the Active Directory plug-in in Mac OS X Configuring home directories (includes how to do this with mobile users) You can watch this free online seminar by going to Apple's seminar website and registering. You will then be able to stream the video using QuickTime Player, or download an iPod-compatible file.
Muxo adds soft subtitle support for iPhone
Over on the Handbrake forums a contributor has released an interesting tool called Muxo that allows adding soft subtitles to MP4 that are supported on the iPhone. Soft subtitles are those that can be turned on and off, rather than being actually encoded into the video with tools we've mentioned before like Submerge and RoadMovie. Entropic designed Muxo as an accessory to Handbrake, allowing you to add SRT subtitles to a fresh DVD rip. Once you load them on your iPhone you'll get a menu button that lets you turn the subtitles on and off.Muxio is a free download here (download link).Thanks Matam!
QuickTime 7.4.5 update
In addition to the iTunes update, Apple also released an update to QuickTime tonight. Version 7.4.5 promises "fixes that enhance reliability, improve compatibility with third-party applications, and address security issues." You can download this update by opening Software Update (Apple menu > Software Update).Please note that after installing the iTunes update, you will be asked to install the QuickTime update for best video playback in iTunes.Thanks to everyone who sen this in!
QuickTime 7.4.1 update fixes issues
Today, Apple updated QuickTime to version 7.4.1. Apple says that this update fixes security issues and "improves compatibility with third-party applications." They recommend this update to all QuickTime users. Ars Technica is reporting that this update also fixes some AfterEffects rendering issues that cropped up in the last QuickTime update. This update is available for: Mac OS X Leopard (10.5) Mac OS X Tiger (10.4) Mac OS X Panther (10.3) Windows You can get the update by opening Software Update (Apple menu > Software Update) or by clicking one of the links above to download the software installer package from Apple's support downloads website.
After Effects 7 users: QuickTime 7.4 update a nono
After Effects 7 users, take note: there have been some interesting and unfortunate developments with the recent release of the QuickTime 7.4 update. Apparently, it disables After Effects 7 and will not permit users to complete rendering videos. There have been some arguments about what is causing this error, with some claiming it is related to DRM issues (let's hope not), while others claim it is nothing more than a preferences bug. Nevertheless, you can not revert back to a previous version of QuickTime once you have updated. In short: After Effects 7 users, beware! Avoid the QT7.4 update at all costs, unless you want to deal with a major headache.
QuickTime Security update
Today, Apple released an update to QuickTime 7.4. Software Update gives us the following information about the update:QuickTime 7.4 addresses security issues and delivers: - Numerous bug fixes- Support for iTunesYou can get this free update from the Apple downloads website or by opening Software Update.In addition to the update for Leopard, Apple also seeded updates for: Mac OS X Tiger Mac OS X Panther Microsoft Windows
Another zero-day exploit for QuickTime
US-CERT and Information Week are reporting a new vulnerability in QuickTime's handling of RTSP streams, which has been demonstrated to crash QuickTime Player on Windows and may also affect the Mac version. See the writeup by researcher Luigi Auriemma, who first announced the flaw.Unlike the RTSP bug patched in QuickTime 7.3.1 last month, this vector works by overflowing an HTTP error buffer sent when the RTSP port 554 is closed on the malicious server, and the QuickTime client tries to switch to port 80. Sneaky.Since we're almost certain to see iTunes 7.6 and possibly QuickTime 7.3.2 at Macworld anyway, expect another rev of QuickTime to close this hole after those versions ship -- since Apple wasn't notified in advance of this hole, it's unlikely to be caught in the pending updates, as commenter Nicholas points out (unless Apple found the vector independently).
