iPod Drawing Winner!
Jeff McDaniel is the fourth Maccentral newsletter subscriber to win an iPod in our monthly product drawing. The next winner will be chosen on February 6.
Apple News
Apple posts iTunes-Pepsi giveaway page
Apple now has a Web page up for the iTunes-Pepsi giveaway of 100 million songs contest, complete with an invitation to enter your email address for a reminder when it starts. The page links to the Contest’s official rules, which state that the giveaway ends on March 31, and the final rule notes that Pepsi is the sole sponsor of the promotion.
Keynote discount, free themes for .Mac members
NPR: Celebrating 20 years of the Mac
Apple updates iCal with stability, performance boosts
Apple highlights Shadowbane: The Rise of Chaos
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Hardware News
TiVo Desktop updated with iPhoto 4 support
TiVo Desktop for Mac 1.6, recently released on the TiVo Web site, adds support for iPhoto 4, the latest version of iPhoto bundled with Apple’s iLife 04 package. Now, networked TiVo Series 2 DVR owners who buy the TiVo Home Media Option can share music and photos from the Macs on their home network with their TiVo devices, making the TiVo a bridge between the Mac and the home entertainment center.
Griffin PowerPod gets dock-to-FireWire cable
IntelliScanner OCR pen scans text and barcodes
NitroDigital combo PCI adapter card debuts
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Software News
RSS feeds come to iTunes Music Store
Apple’s new RSS Feed Generator produces custom feeds you can subscribe to using RSS-enabled software. Genre choices include New Releases, Just Added, iTunes Top Songs, iTunes Top Albums and Featured Albums & Exclusives. You can also adjust feed size from 5 to 100 tracks, and choose whether to show explicit content.
Halo update regains PC multiplayer, improves graphics
Allegro serves iTunes to Universal Plug & Play devices
MakeMusic! releases Finale 2004
FileMaker to showcase educational solutions at FETC
Safari global usage nearly doubled
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Around the Web
Apple revolutionizes soundware
Apple’s release of GarageBand and the new Apple Loops technology kills off a year’s worth of work for music software developer “bitshift,” but rather than curse, he exclaims, “Apple Loops are big news. Hats off to my colleagues at Apple. Brilliant.” His insightful posts in an OS X Audio thread provide very interesting reading for musicians and developers alike.
Microsoft predicts Mac renaissance
Five things the next iPod software version needs to have
The future of Internet security
New Pixar short Boundin’ featured on QuickTime site
MacJam’s first GarageBand song competition
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