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Adobe announces Acrobat XI with tablet-friendly touchability, cloud services
Adobe has just updated its Acrobat lineup, including Pro, Standard and Reader to version 11 -- and thrown in two new programs, FormsCentral and EchoSign, to boot. The latter two are cloud-enabled services which permit "web contracting, forms creation, data collection and analysis" according to Adobe, which didn't yet specify exactly how that works. The company has also added improved tablet capability, and portable versions of Adobe Reader will now let you sign and save forms, as well as annotate and add comments. You'll also be able to modify paragraphs, images and objects by dragging them around; save PDFs as PowerPoint, Word or Excel files; and add extra security measures to documents. The upgrades will ship within 30 days and cost $449 and $299 for the Pro and Standard versions, respectively -- so if you've no time for frivolity on that new slate, check the PR for more info.
Safari 6 for Windows not yet available
Safari 6, as you might have noticed in Software Update this morning, is now out for OS X. But Windows users have noticed something a little strange: There are no download links for a Windows version, and the latest version is still Safari 5.1.7 on Apple's official website. I don't think this means Safari for Windows is entirely dead, but Apple apparently believed it had other things to do with the release of Mountain Lion and those iWork updates -- the Webkit nightly builds, after all, are still coming out for a Windows version. The most likely cause for delay is just that Apple was working hard on the OS X update and let the Windows one fall behind. Whatever the reason, Windows users wanting the new Safari will have a bit longer to wait. [via 9to5Mac]
Parallels Desktop 7 gets the Retina Display treatment
Parallels has announced that its popular virtualization software is ready for the Retina Display MacBook Pro. Parallels Mobile was updated for iOS device Retina Displays earlier this year. The desktop software has now followed suit and is ready to let you see OSes such as Windows 8 and Windows 7 running on your brand new MacBook Pro. And, if you need a copy of Parallels, you can grab it in this excellent bundle of software, featuring over $900 worth of apps for just $50. Someone asked me the other day how to find some excellent Mac apps, and I recommended they grab a bundle and start installing. Even if not all the apps are great, chances are there'll be something good in there well worth the purchase price. [via 9to5Mac]
Microsoft details Windows 8 File History, takes us through a Time Machine
Microsoft is still determined to explore every nook and cranny of Windows 8 on its way to the newly official October launch, and now it's swinging its attention towards File History, its revamped approach to preserving our data. The new component supplements Windows Backup, which Microsoft admits is "not a very popular" app, and is more than a little transparent in bringing OS X's set-it-and-forget-it Time Machine strategy to the Windows crowd. Not that we're complaining: the same basic philosophy of getting an automatic, version-aware backup of all our personal files is convenient on any platform, especially when we can get a temporary internal safeguard while we're on vacation. The differences in platforms have equal rewards and drawbacks, however. File History provides more control over backups than its Apple counterpart, including frequency (finally!) and backup age, but it can't be used to backup whole apps like with a Time Machine drive. As always with these in-depth Windows 8 explorations, there's much more to see at the source, so click on through if you've ever been worried about deleting a file by accident.
Apple updates Apple Store app, adds account and carrier options
Apple has updated its official Apple Store app, now available for free on the App Store. The new update allows for options to manage your account and billing right on the phone. You can also browse through all of the various carriers available for Apple's iPhone. For those of you in the Netherlands, the app is available for you now, too. Apple has pushed up the requirements for the app, so you'll need iOS 4.3.3 or higher to run it. We're all at least up to 5.0 by now, right? You can find the update in Apple's official App Store app. So... you can update Apple's Apple Store app by using Apple's App Store app. Sheesh.
Vimeo 2.0 adds native iPad UI, Vimeo music store integration
Vimeo has updated its video-viewing app to version 2.0, providing new user interfaces for both the iPhone and the iPad. The iPad version is a now native app, and the iPhone version has been tweaked to be easier to use, which is always nice. The app also now lets you shoot and create projects, and browse Vimeo's content channels all without actually having to log in to the service, which is pretty nice. The new version also includes full integration with the new Vimeo Music Store, which is a marketplace for musicians to upload music, which can then be purchased and used in user videos. This allows for Vimeo uploaders to have access to music they can commercially license in their content, and lets musicians make a little bit of money when having their music used. There are also quite a few free tracks available for use as well, so you can set up music to be used with your own videos, completely legally and without paying anything. Pretty groovy. I've used Vimeo to upoad video in the past, and while it's not quite as easy (or ubiquitous) as a bigger site such as YouTube, it's definitely an excellent option, and this new update makes things even better. The Vimeo app is available for free on the App Store now.
Kung Fu Strike is beat-em-up with a kick
As previously promised, here's that gameplay footage of Kung Fu Strike: The Warrior's Rise, which is 7Sixty's Western, XBLA-targeted version of HurricaneX2. Flashy chop-socky on a large scale? Looks groovy to us.
Daily iPad App: Reckless Racing 2
Gaming company Polarbit is the grandfather of iPhone racers. Raging Thunder was among the first racers to hit the iPhone. Reckless Racing was released soon after and now it's back as Reckless Racing 2. This is a full update to the isometric driving title. The gameplay is similar to other top-down titles like Death Rally, though more realistic. Think of a fun game with a hardcore driving elements to set your expectations. Career mode lets you climb the competitive ladder, upgrade parts and advance in the the Performance Index. The driving is more traditional than Reckless Racing. You'll still make powerslides and jumps, but you can also follow the driving lines closely and advance technically. Online and offline multiplayer modes are available, as are ghost runs and leaderboards. Reckless Racing 2 is an excellent update from a developer who loves racing games. It's currently US$4.99 for a universal version, which might be more than you're willing to spend. Fortunately, Polarbit is generous with the sales, so keep an eye out for a price drop.
Android Market web store update adds user review filters, changes lives
It looks like Google has rolled out yet another update to its Android Market web store, bringing a slew of new filtering features for especially investigative users. In particular, the refresh allows consumers to filter user reviews by a handful of parameters, including star ratings, app version and device model. Best of all, you can use any or all of these filters simultaneously, thereby allowing you to isolate, for example, all five-star reviews of a specific app from users of a specific handset. It certainly sounds like a useful addition, and one you can check out for yourself, at the source link below.
Safari 5.1.2 out now, fixes memory leaks, stability
Apple has released version 5.1.2 of Safari, now available in a Software Update near you. The new version, according to the notes, increases stability, fixes a few issues that could cause hangs and memory leaks, and fixes an issue that would allow web page to flash to white. No more more freaky strobes when loading up a new URL, hopefully. The patch also allows web pages to show PDF content right inline with the rest of their web material, which is a nice option for programmers who need to show content that way. In fact, we'll just say we're looking at you, restaurants -- can't you just pay someone to translate that menu into CSS and HTML instead of making us read the PDF directly. Sheesh. Safari 5.1.2 is a 40.2 MB update, and does require a restart. Grab it at your leisure.
Android Gingerbread has growth spurt, grabs 38.2 percent device share
Gingerbread has apparently made a substantial mark on Android users, with new figures showing it holds a 38.2 percent share of all Google OS-powered devices. That's some kind of growth from the one percent sliver it held earlier this year. Froyo still remains dominant at 45.3 percent, but fragmentation continues to shrink, with 95.7 percent of all Google-coated devices now running Android 2.1 or above. These figures, taken from Android Market statistics over the last two weeks, give a pretty good illustration of the gulf between Android smartphone and tablets, as well, with Honeycomb versions accounting for a meager 1.8 percent. But the tablet version will likely get a boost from Ice Cream Sandwich -- which, as we all know, is just around the corner.
OfficeTime for Mac update, new iOS version coming soon
OfficeTime for Mac has updated to version 1.6, adding over 100 new features and improvements. As we've posted before, this app is an excellent way to track time and billing for a freelance worker or a small business, and now it's even better. The biggest new feature is probably the addition of automatic backups, but there's a lot of new stuff, including decimal time entry (typing "1.5" automatically converts to "1 hour 30 minutes"), better support for exporting data out to Excel and Numbers, and plenty of other updates. This new version also includes support for sync to the iPhone and iPad versions, and developers OfficeTime.net say that those versions are due out very soon. OfficeTime for Mac is available as a free trial download, and the full version of the app is available for both Mac and Windows for US$47.
Wizard101 goes anti-disco in the June producer's letter
The community at Wizard101 is still riding high on the recent Wintertusk world expansion, and according to the June producer's letter, KingsIsle wants to keep the good times rolling. Apart from relaying a few testimonials about the recent expansion, the producer's letter is all about the Benjam-- er, Crowns. Leah Ruben spotlights a couple of promotional sales from the company, including a Dragon's Hoard booster pack that has the potential to deliver rare goodies, and a GameStop card that unleashes a genie (among other things) in your Wizard101 world. Ruben says that a recent graphical issue known as "discoing" on older machines is now fixed. "While sometimes it's fun to dance the disco with flashing colors and lights," she jokes, "it's a bit distracting when you're trying to adventure through the new worlds." Finally, Ruben says that the UK version of the game has added a German language version for those who perfer to play in their native tongue. Assuming that you're German and not Swedish. Or Kenyan. Or... well, you get the point. You can read the full producer's letter over at Wizard101.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary now available on iPad for free
You could argue that there's not much need for a separate dictionary app any more. With dictionary services built into nearly every interface and Google and Wikipedia searches just a tap away, it's not hard to find out what a word means or how it's spelled any more. But sometimes you may just want to browse around or look a word up for yourself, and for those times, there's the Merriam-Webster Dictionary app, which is now available on the iPad for free. It's certainly not the only dictionary app available, and the renowned Oxford English Dictionary has its own edition available for the iPad already. But that one costs US$54.99, and the ad-supported Webster dictionary benefits not only from a lack of initial cost, but features like voice search, audio pronunciations, a search history and a browse mode that lets you search and learn new words as you like. It's a solid dictionary app from an old name in the word-indexing game, and even if you only use it occasionally, it's probably worth having around on your iPad.
OmniFocus 1.3 for iPad updates Forecast Mode
Task management app OmniFocus for iPad has been updated to version 1.3, and the new version is gaining some rave reviews for all of its new features over on the official forums. Most notably, the new version updates the app's Forecast Mode, which streamlines all of your calendar events and tasks into an easy-to-read format. The update also allows you to expand notes to fullscreen while editing them, which should give a little more breathing room while doing that. You can also now use the app while screen mirroring from your iPad, and there are a few other bug fixes and updates as well. In other words, it's a pretty major update, and it provides some new ways for you to track and follow up on whatever tasks you're focusing on with OmniFocus. The app itself is US$39.99 on the App Store, though of course, the update to version 1.3 is free for current users.
iPhoto updated to version 9.1.3
Not a week after the last update, iPhoto 9.1.3 is available via Software Update as well as on Apple's support site. The update is pretty thin -- it simply fixes an issue where split events could be merged back together. Still, it's recommended for users of iPhoto 11, so if you use that version, you might as well install it. Enjoy!
Microsoft confirms IE10 won't run on Vista, millions of IE9 users shrug
If you're part of the dwindling group still using Windows Vista, you'll have to wait until your next upgrade to take IE10 for a spin -- Microsoft has confirmed that the latest version of its browser won't run on its last-gen operating system, either in developer preview form or when the final software ships. While it's tempting to interpret that as an attempt on Microsoft's part to put the widely loathed Vista in its past, there's actually a precedent for this -- remember that Microsoft cut off XP support when it unveiled IE9. As a Microsoft rep told Computerworld, the company would rather not have to develop software for a lowest-common denominator. At least, if you do have to stick with the newly minted IE9, you can be sure you'll be in good company.
TUAW's Daily App: World of Goo
Let's be honest here, ... you probably already know all about World of Goo. You know it's an excellent little physics puzzler from 2D Boy, and honestly, you probably already bought it, considering that it sold better on the iPad than any other platform and has even been seen in the Humble Indie Bundle. Even if you haven't purchased it, you have probably heard from friends how inventive it is, and how building wacky towers of goo with little blobs to try and get them out of levels and into pipes is fun, funny and well worth the experience. But there's one thing you may not have heard about World of Goo, and that's that it's now out and available on the iPhone. For US$0.99, you can now play this terrific, highly recommended (currently the best-rated iOS game on Metacritic) title on Apple's handheld smartphone. We probably don't even need to sell you on it -- you know if you want to go get it or not. One word of warning, though: 2D Boy has also kindly updated the iPad version to work universally, so if you've already bought it on the iPad, you don't need to buy it again in order to play it on your iPhone. Hopefully that info will get out there and save some people from buying it on a second device. Or a third, or a fourth, or however many times they've bought this much-loved game before.
Google adding touchscreen-friendly tweaks to Chrome OS, still has tablets on its mind
When a tablet version of Chrome OS was teased back in February of last year, we found it a legitimately exciting proposition. Now that we have Android's Honeycomb iteration designed specifically for slates, however, we're having to wonder just why Google's still chasing that keyboard-less dream with its web-centric OS. CNET has been doing some snooping in and around the latest iterations of Chrome OS, where it's discovered numerous pieces of circumstantial evidence, such as a new onscreen keyboard, suggesting tablets are still very much on the menu. Chrome OS kicked off life on the development device known as Cr-48 and will resume availability this summer courtesy of Acer and Samsung, though we'd kind of assumed it would stick to notebooks now that Android's making a sincere effort on devices bigger than an EVO. Mountain View has responded to CNET's queries with a pretty inconclusive statement, saying only that "We are engaging in early open-source work for the tablet form factor, but we have nothing new to announce at this time." Check out last year's concept video after the break.
Mac OS X 10.6.7 supplemental update for 13" MacBook Air
Apple has released a "supplemental update" to OS X version 10.6.7 specifically for the 13" MacBook Air model released late last year. The update reportedly fixes an issue that made the devices "unresponsive when using iTunes," and it clocks in at a tiny 461 KB. As always, the updates are available via Software Update, so if you've got a newish MacBook Air, load up the app and check to see if you need to install it. Afterwards, you'll be able to use iTunes without issue among other fixes. [via MacUpdate]
