Elgato has just announced the release of version 1.1 software for its $99 Turbo.264 device. The update is free for registered users.

The Turbo.264 is a USB 2.0-based peripheral that can dramatically speed the conversion of digital video to H.264 and takes the load off your Mac’s main CPU using the included software.

The new 1.1 release adds two iPhone presets and now offers user-customizable settings for video conversion with manual select soundtracks for DVDs. The updated release also improves widescreen detection, improves performance and sports a number of bug fixes, including fixes to problems decoding 1080i HD sources.

Apple’s scheduled press event will be at the Apple Town Hall in Cupertino, California tomorrow starting at 10 AM PST. New Mac-related hardware is expected, which may include a new iMac, a updated Mac Pro, and the possible dropping of the Mac mini (or replacement).

Update Apple’s iLife and iWork suites, are also expected. iLife ’06 suite of applications was updated more than 18 months ago at Macworld Expo in January 2006. I would not be surprised that new versions of iLife and iWork is just previewed and do not ship to Leopard pounces in October. There could be some .Mac enhancements announced as there are sorely needed. I do not expect to see any Apple’s iPhone or iPod product line announcements. But maybe. We will all know tomorrow.

In other news, Apple has seeded Tiger 10.4.11 and Leopard Preview Build 9A499 to developers. I am sure an iPod update (maybe with 16GB of stoarge for the Nano) on the horizon before the Xmas season. Apple is already preparing to broaden its iPhone distribution to several prime retailers well ahead of the important holiday shopping season.

Verizon has sent out mailings touting the new online media guide for FiOS TV that is based on the work of Project Mercury. Project Mercury is a long awaited “in-house” development of a new media capabilities for the IMG (interactive media guide) and DVRs (digital video recorders) that is offered by FiOS TV. This has been called FiOS TV 2.0 by some.
The mailing I received had no deployment date mentioned. It seems Verizon is staggered the rollout of the new guide for FiOS TV users. These are the unconfirmed deployment dates:

• New customers only for NJ/PA/DE 8/2
• Extisting customers for NJ/PA/DE 8/28
• Other parts NJ 8/7
• NY 8/9
• CA 8/14
• FL 8/16
• TX 8/21
• MD 8/23

MA was originally scheduled for 8/2, but has been moved to sometime next week. There are reports of the Northern Virginia Region to be deployed sometime in mid August. Be interesting to see if this new guide is really an improvement or just new colors. Personally, I would just like to see some new HD channels.

If you are planning to run Windows on your new Mac, you are lucky to have several choices: Apple’s Boot Camp, VMware Fusion, Parallels Desktop for Mac, or some open source solutions. In fact it has never been easier to run Windows or Linux on your Mac.

Deciding on a virtualization software will probably come down to VMware Fusion or Parallels Desktop for Mac. Both are excellent and fairly inexpensive (actually the same price). Here is a nice review I found over at Macintouch on VMware Fusion where the reviewer Robert Mohns makes some comparisons to Parallels Desktop for Mac. You can download VM Ware’s Fusion right here and Parallels is available here to try for yourself.

Continue reading iPhone Tip #9: Setting the Hidden Caps Lock Key…

Originally, reported as mainly a security update the 1.01 firmware also adds calendar alerts to sound settings, fixes a bug in Google Maps functionality, and allows FM transmitter accessories to work with the device. There is now a BCC option in the iPhone’s mail settings to send yourself a copy of outgoing mail, whereas before there was only a CC option. In addition, the Passcode Lock functionality now offers up to one hour to request the password when usage is idle, where before it the only options were immediately or one minute. Also, the capability of having 50 favorite numbers in the phone application instead of the previous 20.

Additionally, the firmware enhanced iPod accessory compatibility. When docked in an iPod Hi-Fi speaker system, an iPod Hi-Fi menu now appears under Settings, enabling the iPhone to access the same Treble Boost and Bass Boost “Tone Control” settings found on iPods and iPod nanos. This feature, originally designed to simplify iPod Hi-Fi sound tweaks through an additional main menu option, has remained unavailable to third-party developers since Hi-Fi’s release. The iPhone can now play music through many previously incompatible car adapters and other external speakers originally designed for the iPod.

Applications are said to load quicker and feature faster response times after users complete the update, which takes around five minutes and comes as a 7MB download via iTunes.

Apple has released an update for iTunes. According to notes provided with the update, iTunes 7.3.2 provides bug fixes to improve stability and performance — no other details were provided. Available via Software Update.

RapidWeaver 3.6.2 release includes some bugfixes, but a few new features too: Aperture support in the Media Browser; Dynamic PHP Sidebar to “significantly reduce upload times when posting entries, particularly on larger sites”; Customisable RSS URLs (for integration with services such as Feedburner) and more.

The upgrade is free to registered customers of RapidWeaver 3.6.x users, owners of versions of RapidWeaver 3.5.1 or earlier can upgrade for $25, and a new license costs $49. If you are not familiar with RapidWeaver. It is a great solution for building and maintaining websites with writing the actual code. I highly recommend it. RapidWeaver is built in Mac OS X’s native language, Cocoa, so it is for Mac users only.

VMware announced the release date for the final version of Fusion 1.0, its virtualization software for Macs, to be Monday, August 6, with boxed versions available at retail in mid-month. Highlights include Unity, which makes it possible to use Windows applications alongside Mac applications, multi-core support in virtual machines, snapshots of virtual machine states, drag-and-drop file transfers, Boot Camp auto-discovery, support for 64-bit guest operating systems (on 64-bit Mac Intel hardware) and more. Prior to the release on Monday, VMware Fusion is still available for pre-order at $39.99 for an electronic download (release price will be $79.99).

Continue reading iPhone Tip #8: Stop Duplicate Gmail Messages From Showing Up…

Mac users must wait until next year for fresh versions of Word, Excel and PowerPoint: Microsoft has moved its intended launch of Office for Mac 2008 to January from the second half of this year. No new features have been announced. They just need more time. See ReelSmart Poll on bottom left!