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iWork 06 "v2" updates
Updates for Keynote 3 and Pages 2 (iWork 06 versions) are available from Software Update. Oddly, they aren't point versions - they're "v2" of the updates Apple released just last week, and they're pretty large. Also, they both have the same description as last week's updates.Keynote: "This update to Keynote 3.0 addresses issues with three-dimensional charts and textures. It also addresses a number of other minor issues. This update should be installed on all computers that share your Keynote 3.0 files, so that textures display properly."Pages: "Pages 2.0.1 addresses issues with charts and image adjust. It also addresses a number of other minor issues."They're both available from Software Update. I'd offer links to Apple's downloads pages, but as of this writing they don't appear to be posted on Apple's site.Thanks to everyone who sent this in.
Update hopes dashed
Major Nelson says there's no dashboard update included in the Xbox Live maintenance scheduled for 2am PT, despite the misleading phrases tossed around by customer service reps and recorded messages. And I was already buying into rumors about background downloading and a new blade devoted to E3. Is Microsoft really going to make us wait until Summer for the Spring update?
OmniWeb 5.5 public beta
Earlier this month, the Omni Group offered a sneak peek of their upcoming 5.5 release of OmniWeb, their feature-rich web browser that pre-dated Netscape by a year. If the preview piqued your interest, you might be interested in their public beta. While this new release doesn't pack in a boatload of up-front whiz-bang features, they have implemented some great back-end stuff like using a more recent version of WebKit than Safari, a Site Inspector (also known as a DOM Inspector) and allowing site-specific CSS rules that update in real time.John Hicks of hickdesign has a few more details of what's new and upcoming in the final 5.5 release, and if you want to get in on the public beta, you'll have to register in the Omni Group's forums in order to see the forum thread with details on how to download your own copy.
Software Update: GarageBand 3.0.2
TUAW reader Mark H noticed that a software update is available for GarageBand. Version 3.0.2 weighs in at 32.2 MB (though both Mark H and I are on Intel Macs so your mileage may vary) and: "addresses issues with video handling, podcast exporting, and importing QuickTime markers. It also addresses a number of other minor issues."Enjoy.
Oblivion Orrery Pack on XBLM
The Oblivion Orrery Pack, which includes (according to Gamespot) "a new quest with original dialogue, journals, and rewards, access to the eponymous dwarven machine in the Imperial City's Arcane University, and new character powers based on the phases of the moon" is now available on XBLM for 150 MS points. I was about to complain that the announcement above was annoyingly premature, when the phase of the download moon suddenly turned in our favor. You can thank the Dwarven Gods because this add-on looks like a much better value than the over-priced horse armor that pissed off half of Tamriel. Is this pack worth the points?[Thanks Nick]
PGR3 auto-update has issues
The recent PGR3 auto-update features a bunch of great improvements to the game, but reader Pixelantes points out a couple of problems:1. The rotating car class hoppers has been implemented so that the car classes rotate according to the players' local time. This means that around midnight people in different timezones see different car classes in the online races and they can't race each other. This combined with the rotating schedule itself is causing severe wait times in pre-race lobbies. People are reporting wait times in excess of 45 minutes.2. Bizarre Creations didn't include a new garage with the auto-update, so while the total number of cars available in the game is 94 (?), there're only 84 garage spots available. This means you can no longer own all the cars in the game. The lack of garage space sounds like a minor annoyance, but the timezone thing could be bad, especially heading into next week's global tournament. Can we get an auto-update for our auto-update?
PGR3 Speed Pack & auto-update hit gas
The previously discussed PGR3 "Speed Pack" update is now available for speedy download on Xbox Live Marketplace at 32.67MB for 400 MS Points. If you don't want to purchase the speed pack for all 400 points, each car is available individually for 60 points with the exception of the Aston Martin V8 Vantage which is available as a free download. The Speed Pack includes the Aston Martin V8 Vantage, Audi RS 4, Chevrolet Corvette Z06, Dodge Viper SRT-10 Coupe, Ferrari 612 Scaglietti, Lamborghini Gallardo SE, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII FQ-400, Nissan NISMO R34GT-R Z-Tune, Pontiac GTO, Radical SR8, RUF RT12, and the Saleen S7 Twin Turbo.Even better, there's also an sweet auto-update with some major (Nelson) additions:Tournaments – Be one of 64 players to qualify with the best lap time using a car and route that’s predetermined. If successful, move on into the Elimination rounds to compete with 7 other drivers. The top 4 in each race move on until the final race where only the first place driver earns the victory. Tournament Channel (Gotham TV)– Watch other players race in tournament Elimination rounds. “Quit to Lobby” (Abandon option in PlayTime race) Host can now take all participants back to the lobby in a play time session, rather than booting them all back to the Play Time menu. “Lock to Host Car” and “Lock to Host Car Class” (PlayTime | Xbox Live | Create Race | Race Mode | City | Route) are two new toggles that the lobby creator can turn on or off to limit what type of cars his/her competition can use in a play time race over Xbox Live. Previously Played Routes List (PlayTime | Route Creator | Previous Live Routes) – Play other gamers routes that they created in the Route Creator over Xbox Live and store up to 10 in your “Previously Played Routes List”. You have the option to save or discard them and use them in your own sessions. All Cars Position Toggle (More | Options | HUD | Position toggle) – In races modes with multiple cars where target is not displayed, this shows the current place every car in the race is in throughout the event. Hide HUD Toggle (More | Options | HUD | HUD toggle) – This gives the player the option to turn off ALL in race HUD displays in all camera views. Voice Communicator Identifier – In a multiplayer race the name of the gamertag will now flash in the upper left hand corner when speaking into a voice communicator, making it possible to identify the speaker. Online Career rotating car class hoppers – All 8 hoppers in the Online Career (Breakneck Racing, Nurburgring F1 Challenge, Speedway Skirmish, Knockout World Tour, Nordschleife Drivers Club, Urban Rally, Gotham Duelling, and Dusk Til Dawn Racing) now change the required entry car class daily. Wheel Support – Control set for steering wheels and dynamic updates have been added for the Hori, Mad Catz, and Joytech Nitro wheels (all via the More | Options | Controller | Wheel A configuration). Online Qualifier Achievement – 50 gamerscore is now awarded for qualifying, then attempting the first elimination round of a tournament. PLUS: The HUD no longer remains invisible after looking back, hitting the Guide button, and then re-entering the game and it’s now possible to view if you have already purchased a car while shopping in the showroom via the “Cars Owned” tally under the Car Stats section. Now how about support for a wheel with true force feedback? Finally, an important reminder for PGR pros and Gotham TV viewers: The PGR3 Global Tournament punches the pedal on Monday, April 17.[Thanks to Sinz for pretty much writing this post]
Burnout: Revenge mystery auto-update
Remember that mystery meat the cafeteria lady used to dish out in highschool? If you booted your copy Burnout: Revenge this evening you got an automatic update via XBL. Sounds good. The problem is, for a minute there nobody was sure what this update did, including the Director of Xbox Live Programming (aka Major Nelson). Major says he doesn't have the full details, but you can now burn out in those cars you downloaded from the Xbox kiosk. Xboxic readers report it will also re-set the Top 20 videos every month, making it easier to get that achievement.[Thanks Gary]
What's in that DOA4 update
1UP has details on what exactly is included in the XBL update for Dead or Alive 4 we mentioned earlier this month:A pair of updates to the game are ironing out the Live kinks, adjusting damage levels to keep things more balanced, smoothing out frame rates, and even adding some new attacks. The first of the updates will even offer the option of resetting your online ranking to C. How many people are happy with the new player balancing? According to our resident DOA4 expert, Chris, the framerate smoothing they mention isn't accurate. The framerate dipped so both players would be on the same scale. The lag was the real problem, reducing the need for the game to slow itself down. [Previously: Dead or Alive 4 updated, leaderboard reset][Thanks Brandon]
Multiple game patches released
Xbox Live's Major Nelson reports that the following titles will update when you start a game while connected to XBL: King Kong Xbox 360 Arcade: Smash TV Toryumon Xbox 360 Arcade: Hardwood Hearts Madden NFL 06 No word on what the updates contain. The Major said he was working on obtaining that info from the publishers.
Get Out Your Snow Shovels! Jeff Kaplan Talks About Patch 1.10
1UP.com has an exclusive interview with Jeff Kaplan where they talk about the 3 main changes in the new upcoming patch.The biggest change is the Priest talent reworking and reset, similar to the Paladin reset in the last patch. Also, a few of the exciting new armor sets are previewed. Hopefully Warriors will get an alternative to the current armor sets, if not in sheer power, at least in looks. Also, here's a quick preview on the quests involved in getting those sets.The final big change is the addition of weather effects. Now, I'm not sure why these are being added at all. Thankfully for those of you on lower-end computers you will be able to turn them off. Latency is sometimes crippling on my mid-level box, especially in cities, and I can't help but be concerned about how this addition will affect that. Personally, I have never seen weather effects as something necessary, but apparently there is a vocal group of players who feel that it would enhance their experience.Are you in favor of weather effects? What are your thoughts on the other upcoming changes?
GarageBand 3: First Impressions
After some initial impressions of iPhoto 6, I figured GarageBand should be next on my list, as it too seems to have received some of the most significant updates in the iLife 06 suite. As with the iPhoto impressions, it's the same drill here: I opened GarageBand, poked around in the Podcast Studio and thought I'd post some impressions as a prelude to a real TUAW review: Once again, it feels like Apple was able to add in a bunch of new features while at the same time making the app feel generally zippier and more responsive. Bake those code ninjas some cookies When scrolling back and forth in a track, GarageBand also has a popup/overlay, like iPhoto's, that displays a real-time scrolling track time. Awesome You can add a parental advisory to your podcast right within GarageBand The New Project window has both new "Podcast Studio" and "New Movie Score" options. I imagine the movie score works in tandem with iMovies I absolutely love the media browser. I don't remember if the previous version had anything like this, but it's present in the same form in all the other iLife apps, and it's incredibly handy GarageBand asks you to change the podcast track to a video track if you simply drag a movie onto it. Effortless swapping between the two. It also splits a video's audio into a separate track for you to do with as you please GarageBand has an "Export" preference pane with pre-set podcast export settings like mono, spoken, musical and higher That "ducking" feature Jobs demoed is about one of the coolest and handiest additions I can think of, especially to a podcasting app So that's it for now. Stay tuned for more lengthy reviews from TUAW as soon as we can put them together.
iPhoto 6: First Impressions
So I just finished installing my copy of iLife 06, and since I'm the most interested in the new iPhoto and iWeb apps, I thought I'd post a few initial thoughts at least on the new iPhoto, which is technically now at version 6. I've been playing with and poking at it for roughly 20 minutes, so this will obviously be just a raw rundown of what I've noticed is new and different so far: Starting, using and quitting the app is noticeably faster. I'm running it on a PowerBook G4 1.67 GHz with 1.5 GB RAM, but I've still noticed a general increase in speed and responsiveness. Finally, finally, finally - the iPhoto Library folder (in ~/Pictures/) organizes your images the way an application like this should. Basically, under a new "Originals" folder are folders dated by year, and in those are folders named by album, with images arranged accordingly. Thanks Apple! iPhoto 6 now joins Mail and iTunes with unified toolbar goodness. Full-screen viewing/editing is responsive and absolutely gorgeous, though I have one minor complaint: there's no way to get out the current album of images you're viewing unless you duck out of full-screen. Not a big deal, but a minor nuisance. There's a new Advanced preference pane with the option: "Copy files to iPhoto Library folder when adding to library." If this functions like the similar option in iTunes, I assume this means iPhoto doesn't necessarily need to move, copy and/or duplicate images you have sitting somewhere else on your Mac. The toolbar at the bottom of iPhoto's interface is now customizable, allowing you to toggle which buttons you actually have available down there. I haven't played with any of the photocasting or iWeb features yet, but we hope to have some demos, links and video examples ready for a vidcast by this weekend or early next week, so stay tuned!
