DEVONtechnologies has released HotService 1.0 — a utility to make the keyboard shortcuts of all installed services available right after launching Cocoa applications — and updated WordService and ServicePack to version 2.5. (Cocoa is Apple’s object-oriented development environment.) All are free.
In Mac OS X 10.2.6, the system requires you to pull down the Services submenu at least once to use the shortcuts. HotService is designed as a workaround for this.
WordService provides 34 functions to convert, format, or speak currently selected text, to insert data, or to show statistics of the selection within all Cocoa applications. Version 2.5 features new commands for inserting date and time in both short and long verbose form. What’s more, the keyboard shortcuts for shifting text blocks left or right have been modified, while new shortcuts for inserting date and/or time have been added.
The ServicePack includes such components as AntiWord, Blue Service, and CalService.AntiWordService is a free filter service that lets many Cocoa application — such as TextEdit or DEVONthink Personal Edition — to read plain text to open Microsoft Word documents. Blue Service lets you send selected plain or RTF (rich text documents) files directly from a Services-aware Cocoa or Carbon application. You can use it to, for example, copy notes or short messages to handheld devices or mobile phones.
CalcService calculates the result of a selected formula within Cocoa applications and appends the result to the formula — or replaces the formula with the result. You can display the result in a panel without modifying the text. The ServicePack requires Mac OS X 10.1.5 or higher and is a free download. (BlueService also requires a BlueTooth adapter and a BlueTooth-enabled PDA or mobile phone.)