Category: Software & Technology

Mac OS X 10.5.2, released today as a free update to the current version of the Mac operating system, adds support for RAW files from the Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III, Canon PowerShot G9, Hasselblad CF-22, Hasselblad CF-39, Leaf Aptus 75s, Nikon D3, Nikon D300 and Sony Alpha DSLR A700.
 
Once installed, applications such as Apple’s Aperture, iPhoto and Preview should be able to view and convert RAW files from these cameras. Non-Apple applications that draw on the same OS-level code may be able to as well, though some may require updates of their own to utilize the expanded RAW file support.

Check it out here.

It is with great pleasure that I announce the immediate availability of MarsEdit 2.1, a significant update to Red Sweater’s Eddy-Award winning desktop blog editing application.

Check it out here.

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The image adjustment technology, which first appeared in Nikon Capture NX and is that program’s standout feature because of how much simpler it makes the process of applying selective corrections to a photo, will soon be available for both Mac and Windows versions of Photoshop and Photoshop Elements in the form of a plug-in called Viveza.

Check it out here.

Extensis has released updates to its Portfolio suite of photo cataloging and web publishing applications. Portfolio v8.5.1 and Portfolio Server v8.5.1 for Windows and Mac add support for the RAW files from the Canon EOS 40D, EOS-1Ds Mark III, Nikon D300, D3 and other models, plus improved import and use of XMP-format metadata. The Mac version also introduces full compatibility with Mac OS X 10.5 and later.

Check it out here.

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PicLens instantly transforms your browser into a full-screen slideshow experience. With just one click, PicLens makes photos come to life via a cinematic presentation that goes beyond the confines of the traditional browser window. With PicLens, browsing and viewing images on the web will never be the same again.
Immerse Yourself.
Why mundanely flip through online photo galleries or squint at thumbnails from Google Image Search when you can sit back and get an immersive, full-screen experience instead? Come on and let yourself “be transported to a wonderful and magical world.” (Review by Lifehacker)

Check it out here.

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Several times now I’ve expressed my appreciation for PicLens, a beautiful (and free) little browser plug-in that enables full-screen, hardware-accelerated slideshows from Google Images, Flickr, MySpace, deviantART, and other sites.  It’s changed my whole online photo viewing experience.

Check it out here.

Check it out:

New Tools to Bolster Mac’s World – New York Times

The other Mac software news this month is more exciting.

For years, the industry’s most amazing speech-recognition program has been Dragon NaturallySpeaking for Windows. In its latest version, I got 98.9 percent accuracy right out of the box, without even reading the training scripts.

On the Mac, though, the only speech-recognition option was a program called iListen, which was built on far less sophisticated speech technology from Philips. Seven years ago, I asked iListen’s creator, a former Dragon engineer named Andrew Taylor, why on earth he’d based his Mac program on the Philips software instead of Dragon’s.

The answer, it turns out, was that the Dragon technology would cost too much, and the conditions for using it were too onerous, in Mr. Taylor’s view. He went with the Philips software, but never gave up his dream of bringing Dragon technology to the Mac.

Eventually, the Mac’s popularity rose, new bosses took over at Nuance (the current owner of the Dragon technology) and Mr. Taylor finally landed a deal.

The new program, MacSpeech Dictate ($200 with headset), is a big deal, especially for the thousands of Mac lovers who have been running Windows all these years just so they could use Dragon NaturallySpeaking.

John Nack on Adobe:

Photoshop engineer Geoff Scott spotted a beautiful black & white image from photographer Moose Peterson, made with the help of Photoshop CS3.  (Too bad the online version isn’t larger.)   Moose writes, “I’ve always loved B&W photography but until recent developments such at the Epson 3800 and 7800 and B&W conversion in Photoshop, B&W was downright painful. With amazing paper like Epson’s UltraSmooth Fine Art and the ease of B&W conversion in CS3, why wouldn’t someone enjoy the amazing old art of B&W photography.”

For more info, check out Russell Brown’s 4-minute video intro to the Black & White dialog, where he shows off the ability to click and drag on color regions to adjust them, as well as a technique for hand-tinting the results.  Russell produced some great B&W presets for Camera Raw in CS2, so I’m sure he’ll offer more good info, tips, and settings for the much-improved B&W controls in CS3’s Camera Raw 4.0.  I had fun using the new split toning functions, together with Photoshop’s venerable Lighting Effects dialog, to show my wife contemplating a “Portrait of the Governor as a Young Man” on New Year’s Eve. (It was a weird party. ;-))

Here.

Business Week, via ValleyWag:

The man who, after Jobs, is most responsible for Apple’s amazing ability to dazzle and delight with its famous products, chose instead to talk about process — what he called “the craft of design.” He spoke passionately about his small team and how they work together. He talked about focusing on only what is important and limiting the number of projects. He spoke about having a deep understanding of how a product is made: its materials, its tooling, its purpose. Mostly, he focused on the need to care deeply about the work.

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After graduating, Ive joined Grinyer in 1989 in a London startup, Tangerine Design. But he couldn’t get British companies to appreciate his work. When a company mothballed a bathroom sink he’d spent months working on, “he was dejected and depressed,” says Grinyer. “He had poured himself into working for people who really didn’t care.” Ive admits he wasn’t cut out to be a design consultant, where salesmanship is the most essential skill. “I was terrible at running a design business, and I really wanted to just focus on the craft of design,” he told Pearlman.

Here.