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  First MacMinute Showtime Awards
announced
 January 9, 2004 - 00:05
EST MacMinute is proud to
announce the first-ever Showtime
Awards. Below you'll find the twelve products we found to be the
most all-around "cool" and intriguing demonstrated to us -- or hand
tested by us -- during this week's Macworld Conference & Expo in
San Francisco. To qualify for consideration, products had to either
begin shipping during the show or else be demonstrated for the first
time. Among the winners were Discreet's Combustion 3, Elgato's
EyeHome, Macsense's HomePod, Apple's iPod mini, and the LaCie Bigger
Disk.
AccountEdge 2004 Network Edition by MYOB
Due in early spring, this version of AccountEdge on steroids
helps knock down some of the arguments against the Mac as a platform
for businesses of all sizes. It's optimized for multiple users to
simultaneously work over a Mac network and sports features for
payroll, professional time billing, robust contact management, and
an integrated suite of online business services, including credit
card processing.
BounceBack Professional by CMS Products
The
backup and restoration application, once bundled with CMS' ABSplus
hardware devices, is now a US$99 standalone product. It makes the
backup and restoration product easier than ever before. It barely
edges out the upcoming Data Backup 2.0 by Prosoft, the $49 backup utility
which has a whole new look and feel.
Combustion 3 by Discreet
The latest
version of the visual effects and 3D compositing desktop software
has been revved for the Power Mac G5 and Mac OS X 10.3 Panther.
Among the many new features in the $995 software are integrated
editing, which removes the need for to spend time mastering
non-linear editing software (NLE) for simple editing tasks. You can
assemble video with transitions directly in combustion software
without having to use an NLE.
EyeHome by Elgato
If you were
salivating over the thought of the "iBox" (a rumored Apple media
server that never materialized), the EyeHome may be your cup of tea.
This $249 device lets you access and manage the digital content
stored on your Mac (digital photos, video or music) on your TV or
home entertainment systems via a remote-control television
interface.
FontAgent Pro 2.0 by Insider Software
There are lots of new features in this $89.95 pro manager.
However, none is more exciting than "Fontez-Vous," the ability to
share fonts in a workgroup without requiring a separate font server
using Apple's Rendezvous technology.
HomePod by Macsense
The long
awaited $249 digital stereo component lets you take advantage of
your existing wireless network to stream music files stored on your
Mac to HomePods located anywhere in the house or office using the
device's 802.11b, or Wi-Fi, network interface. It plays MP3 and
Internet radio, and is upgradeable to support AAC, WAV, and WMA
files.
iLife '04 by Apple
Apple may call it
a consumer application, but GarageBand, the latest component of the
iLife suite, has prosumer audio features. Add in the
well-thought-out enhancements to iMovie, iDVD, iPhoto and iTunes,
all for $49 (and free with new Macs), and is a must-have software
suite.
iPod mini by Apple
Whether you think
its $249 price tag is too high or not, one thing is for sure -- the
new iPod mini is simply stunning. The "fashionably compact" gadget
offers 4GB of storage (about 1,000 songs), packs all the best
features from the standard iPod and comes in a rainbow of colors.
Although, we wouldn't be caught dead with any of them besides the
sleek silver model.
IntelliScanner Collector by Intelli Innovations
This $199 hardware-combo is a perfect complement to the "digital
lifestyle" Apple promotes. It's provides a personal barcode reader
that's designed to assist you in cataloging books, CDs and DVDs. And
look for support for even more types of databases in the months
ahead.
LaCie Bigger Disk by LaCie
One terabyte of
storage space for just over $1,100; what's not to like. The disk
drive offers FireWire 800, FireWire 400 and USB connectivity. With
this much storage space in a 5.25-inch form factor, you can store,
say, up to 250,000 MP3s or over three days of digital video.
Ovolab Phlink by Ovolab
Combined with the Ovolab Telephone Adapter, Phlink can answer
telephone calls and identify the caller using Caller ID and Apple's
Address Book. After answering a call, Ovolab Phlink records a
message and stores it on your Mac for later retrieval. And while the
call is in progress, it will silently listen to any keys the caller
presses on the telephone keypad and perform actions based on the
digits that are typed. The cost? $159.95.
SyncDek 5.0 by WorldSync Inc.
This
bi-directional asynchronous data replication technology for
FileMaker databases is a boon for small operations and enterprise
clients. What's more, it's another solid component in making the Mac
a serious contender in the enterprise market.
One final note. Two other products almost made the cut: Office
2004 by Microsoft's Macintosh Business Unit and Toast with Jam 6 by
Roxio. Some of the other products only edged them out because these
two are still in the alpha stage of testing. But you can certainly
expect them to be taking their share of awards and acclaim in the
months ahead. [ Email this story ]
Today on
MacMinute...
MacMinute
Executive Briefing: Jan. 17
GarageBand
'breaks new ground' in easy music creation
Watertight,
floatable iPod case now available
Native
Intstruments intros Traktor FinalScratch 1.5
Pogue looks at
iLife '04
Tryout versions
of Boris FX products offered
Script Software
updates products
AudioMIDI,
Outpost Hot Deals updated
TiVo Desktop gets
iPhoto 4 support; still no AAC support
Denmark MacFest
to kick off March 12
iPod Access
version 3.0 released
Desktop
pictures/icons weekly recap
Propellerhead
releases ReCycle 2.1
ATI's goal:
'stalwart graphics solutions' for the Mac
Griffin ships
Dock-To-FireWire cable with PowerPod
Mozilla updated
to version 1.6
Apple has no
plans for Super Bowl ad
Apple to be
debt-free Feb. 16; sells remaining stake in Akamai
Finale 2004
for OS X shipping Jan. 16
Chance to win
iPod mini with purchase of Cocktail
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