It's easy to get spoiled using Apple's Media Browser, that little tool that pops up in many of the iLife and iWork applications and provides access to photos, music, graphics, and movies. But what about those cases where you want to use Media Browser and the application you're in doesn't support it?
Karelia Software, makers of the popular website creation tool Sandvox, has just shipped an update to iMedia Browser. iMedia Browser 1.1.1 works with Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger) and 10.5 (Leopard). It provides all of the functionality of Media Browser, but for just about any application on your Mac. This update adds international support and new media sources.
iMedia Browser now supports the following media (information from Karelia's website):
Browse Photos: iPhoto / Aperture / Lightroom library, Pictures folder, and other predefined folders.
Browse Music: iTunes library, GarageBand songs, Music folder, etc.
Browse Movies: iTunes and iPhoto libraries, Movies folder, etc.
Browse Links: Bookmarks from Safari, Camino, OmniWeb, etc.
Drag and drop any folder into the source list to add to your library.
As the really old song says, "the best things in life are free", and iMedia Browser is no exception. Download it and start enjoying your media in almost every application you use.
If you're bored silly with the typical theme backgrounds in Keynote, pop on over to iPresentee's website and check out Keynote Motion Themes 2.0. These themes, which were released today (7/7/08), add five more motion themes to iPresentee's product line.
All of these themes provide moving backgrounds to catch the eyes of your audience. The five themes -- Money, Curtain, Rain, Story, and Exercise Book -- include 14 or more master slide layouts each.
Motion Themes 2.0 is available online for $25, or you can purchase individual motion themes for $10 each. And by the way, the free Keynote Objects icons are still available on the iPresentee site.
Keynote Objects is a package of 100 attractive icon-like objects that can be used not only with Keynote, but also with Microsoft PowerPoint and Word. All of the objects have a transparent background, and are easily resized, rotated, made more or less transparent, or shadowed.
I'm actually going to use several of the objects as icons for a new web site that I'm designing, simply because they offer an attractive and cohesive set of art objects. What will you use your free Keynote Objects for?
Do you find it annoying when you go to type in an e-mail address or hyperlink into Pages and it automatically thinks you want the text turned into a hyperlink? Well, you can easily change this setting in the preferences.
Just open Page's Preferences (Pages > Preferences, or use command + , (comma) to open preferences). Once there, select the "Auto-Correction" tab and un-check the box labeled "Automatically detect email and web addresses." Now when you start typing a link or e-mail address inside of Pages it will appear as text.
Today Apple posted the schedule for Apple Camp. Apple Camp is held at Apple retail stores for kids 8-12 to go learn about creative things like: making presentations with Keynote, taking and managing photos with iPhoto, creating music with GarageBand, and making movies with iMovie.
Each sessions lasts about 3 hours and is available at all Apple retail locations. Kids attending will receive a DVD or CD with their creations on it, field guide, t-shirt, and will be able to get other giveaways. Best of all, Apple Camp is free though registration is required.
Apple has posted a online seminar on using iWork '08 in a business environment. Presented together with Rebecca Breitenkamp, the CFO of a biotech company that uses iWork internally, the half-hour video goes over some of the basic ways that Pages, Numbers, and Keynote can be used in a corporate setting. It not really a step-by-step tutorial, but more of a series of examples of how well iWork functions on what many folks think of as Microsoft Office's turf.
To watch the video you will need need to complete a free registration.
Today, Apple posted an update to the Keynote presentation app (part of iWork '08). This update, version 4.0.3, says that it "addresses performance and stability issues when working with large documents."
You can download this update by opening Software Update (Apple menu > Software update) or by downloading the installer package from the Apple support downloads site.
Please note: Users must have Keynote 4.0.2 installed on their computer to install this update.
If you give many presentations on the Mac, chances are you're using Apple's Keynote presentation software. One cool feature in Keynote is the ability to demo something on your Mac without giving away your next slide or notes. When you're in the middle of a presentation, just hit the "h" key on your keyboard. This will hide the entire Keynote application and show your desktop.
When you press the h key, the Keynote icon in the dock will change and include a play button. When you want to resume your presentation, just click the Keynote icon in the dock.
Apple keeps the updates coming with new versions of Keynote (version 4.0.1), Pages (version 3.0.1) and Numbers (1.0.1). The description of each is typically cryptic. According to Apple...
The Keynote update primarily addresses issues with builds and performance.
The Pages update primarily addresses issues with change tracking and performance.
The Numbers update primarily addresses issues with tables and performance.
Sound good? If you've purchased iWork '08, launch software update.
Brian, who also told us about that Keynote hack when '08 was first dropped, sends a note about Galleria, a theme he's selling for Keynote that's designed specifically to show off photos. The theme takes advantage of the new "media placeholder" function in Keynote '08 that lets you place photos exactly how you want them, and then replace them with just a click. And any photos you put in can then be resized or cropped right there on the slide.
Galleria also has lots of samples to use, layout choices, and extras like shapes and buttons and picture frames. It might be a little more than you need unless you're putting together a Keynote project that shows off lots of photos, or if you regularly show off photos in Keynote presentations (it's $19.95 for the whole package). But if it fits your bill, Brian definitely knows what he's doing with Keynote-- using his theme could save a lot of time in getting things set up yourself.
David Weiss is an employee at Microsoft's MacBU, and while he has makes it clear that he doesn't speak for Microsoft or the MacBU, his recent post about iWork '08 is interesting from a couple of directions. He starts with a little self-congratulatory back-patting for Microsoft's embracing an "open" XML file format and talks a little bit about the challenges involved with "starting from scratch" in writing an office application. Most telling, however, is his conclusion. He writes that the "core value of Office on the Mac" is simple: compatibility. What's interesting about this is about what he doesn't say. He doesn't say that the "core value" of Office is getting your work done efficiently, or producing nice documents, spreadsheets or presentations. Basically what we need the MacBU for is to keep us compatible with Windows. And as I've started to play with iWork '08 I think he's more or less correct. Office for Mac is just about compatibility with Windows, not about giving Mac users the best user experience in document creation. And with Office for Mac dropping support for Windows-compatible macros, it increasingly looks like the MacBU isn't even doing that particularly well.
At this point, and assuming they make their January ship date, we're not going to see an Intel native Office for Mac until two full years after the first Intel Macs were released (two and a half years since the transition was announced). With Numbers, Apple has taken a decisive step. While it's not going to replace Excel for big-time number crunchers, it's absolutely good enough for casual users like myself. Keynote was already well ahead of PowerPoint in terms of beautiful presentations and the new Pages is a significant improvement as well, particularly for straight word-processing. Considering all this, it's getting hard to see what purpose there is in having Office unless you have to deal with cross-platform issues on a constant basis (especially since iWork '08 is already more compatible with Windows Office 2007 formats than Office for Mac 2004 is). I don't think Microsoft Office is going to die anytime soon; it's too entrenched in business for that to happen. But with iWork moving ahead the way it is, I don't really see any reason for non-business Mac users to fork over hundreds of dollars to Microsoft for a sub-standard user experience. I had initially assumed I'd automatically upgrade to Office for Mac 2008 whenever it ships; now I'm quite doubtful. These look like dark days for the MacBU to me. What do you think?
We reported that Office 2008 for the Mac has been delayed until January 2008, which means you'll have to use the beta file converter before you can open Word 2007 for Windows documents on your Mac (Office 2007 introduced a new file format called Office Open XML which Office 2004 for the Mac doesn't support. The converter dumbs down the file so Office for the Mac can open it).
Sure, you could do that, or you could use the first word processor for the Mac that supports that file format natively: Pages '08. That's right, Apple's little word processor that could can open Word 2007 documents (and earlier). It doesn't just open them either, Apple says that styles, tables, and other parts of the document are intact as well.
That sound you just heard? The MacBU screaming in frustration.
Are you chomping at the bit for iWork '08? Chomp no more (I mean, that can't be good for your teeth)! Apple has just made available a free 30 day trial for download. Take Pages, Keynote, and Numbers for a spin before you plunk down your hard earned cash for it. Now, if only Apple would do the same for iLife '08.
[Update: Looks like assumptions were right! Steve did indeed debut a new member to the iWork family, Numbers, and Erica has the details in a new iWork '08 post.]
Our hat is tipped to MySkitch user Steve for spotting what appears to be a new iWork icon in Steve Jobs' dock during today's Apple press event. Could this be some sort of iSpreadsheet? Possibly a Quicken-killer? We'll just have to wait and see, as Steve is still singing the praises of the new iLife and .Mac.
While iWork isn't exactly at the top of everyone's wishlist of Apple software, it still offers a fairly strong set of Apple-esque tools for creating gorgeous presentations and documents. Since the company already has a fairly thorough iWork product page aimed at the general audience, it seems only natural (if a bit long-time coming) that Apple focus on the business customer with a new set of iWork@work Profiles. Through case studies that delve into the daily duties of a photographer, a historian and an architect, Apple highlights how iWork (and iLife, of course) helps them all get the job done.
Naturally, these profiles are filled with quite a bit of Apple fluff, but I think it's interesting to read some of the finer details and features that iWork offers people who are actually running businesses with it. Yes there are plenty of complaints against iWork - it's missing a spreadsheet, it doesn't do this, it messes with that - but these profiles are a nice read if you're willing to set all that stuff aside for a moment and investigate what Apple's productivity suite has to offer.
It's easy to get spoiled using Apple's Media Browser, that little tool that pops up in many of the iLife and iWork applications and provides access to photos, music, graphics, and movies. But what about those cases where you want to use Media Browser and the application you're in doesn't support it?
If you're bored silly with the typical theme backgrounds in Keynote, pop on over to 
iPresentee
Today Apple posted the schedule for 
Today, Apple posted an update to the 
Apple keeps the updates coming with new versions of Keynote (version 4.0.1), Pages (version 3.0.1) and Numbers (1.0.1). The description of each is typically cryptic. According to Apple...
We reported that Office 2008 for the Mac has been delayed until January 2008, which means you'll have to use the 
While iWork isn't exactly at the top of everyone's wishlist of Apple software, it still offers a fairly strong set of Apple-esque tools for creating gorgeous presentations and documents. Since the company already has a fairly thorough 
