There has to be one or two moments in your computing life where you wish you had access to your home Mac when you're somewhere else. Apple has a solution for that called Remote Desktop - an application that allows you to access your files and pretty much everything else at home from a remote PC.

To have that luxury, however, you need to shell out at least US$ 300. That easily polarizes the users into those who can and cannot afford the handy little program. Fortunately, VNC has presented us a free alternative so that even casual users can enjoy the feature.

When VNC is installed into the remote and home computers, it allows you to easily get in the desktop of one or more computers if you have a LAN at home. Just remember to leave the Mac running and connected to the internet when you're not home and you can access it anywhere you want.

Users with home LANs who plan to use VNC often are encouraged to have their own domain names to avoid having to remember long IP addresses. These may also be written down, but is not advised for security reasons.

It may not be a loud issue, but there's a good number of Powerbook users who have had the desire to take advantage of the Bluetooth functions that their computer can wield but trouble in finding the perfect proximity detector application has prevented them from doing so.

Security issues have compounded this minor irk in the Apple computing world. Along with the ability to sync and remotely access peripherals came risks of exploits from other users. To date, there's a handful of proximity programs but only a couple give some real satisfaction.

Proximity is among the most popular applications of the sort because it efficiently does what it says it will: provide you with Bluetooth proximity detection. There are absolutely no frills, no complicated menus and no confusion involved. The only chink is that there's also no security functions.

Home Zone, on the other hand, is another cool program that offers a few security functions and some added oohs and ahhs. There's little to complain about the Bluetooth detection, but as a special bonus, it also has WiFi detection capabilities. The catch? It's only in its beta stages and it still isn't too user-friendly. We hope that the aforementioned factor can be addressed because Home Zone is such a promising project.

Other than the two, there's not a lot of other choices. The demand for a great Bluetooth app may not be overwhelming, but we say Apple can be that much better if it gives this little alley in its community a closer look.

 

Mac user Todd Lambert lists down four useful software for Macs. Some of us don't even know they exist, or that these great software could be had at absolutely no cost. Some of these software include the following:

1. WhatSize - WhatSize is a simple tool that allows the user to quickly measure the size in bytes of a given folder and all subfolders and files within it. It is nearly identical to Omni DiskSweeper except that it's free.

2. RSS Menu - A simple, menu bar based RSS reader. Kept very updated by the developer, super lightweight and takes up very little resources. Runs all the time, so you won't have to keep checking for news.

3. Serverskine - A web development team designed this for web developers who need to keep track of information regarding servers, customer login information, and other daily details that can often overwhelm.

4. Gawker - Offers time elapsed videography. Lets you record every 5, 10, or 30 seconds, or any time value you wish. So good, distributing it with iSight will be a great idea.

Download: WhatSize 10.3.9
Download: RSS Menu 1.9.5
Download: Serverskine 1.0.5

Note: You may download Gawker by following the Via link below.

We just heard of this rumor from Crunch Gear. Apparently, they've been probing their Apple source about another rumor when the said source offhandedly mentioned something about a meeting. The said meeting was about "licensing for the iPhone" which is in itself mysterious. What could it mean? Apple has always made it clear that it's a hardware company, so Crunch Gear assumed that the license was for iPhone accessories.

Not quite. The source mentioned that this license meeting was not for hardware, but rather for Apple iPhone software, in particular, licensing Multitouch and the OS. Now, we know, this is big news for fanboys out there. Apple might yet be working on iPhone as a platform.

After further probing, another source said that while nothing's been decided on for sure, this particular source's team was tasked with figuring how to get the OS to run on other hardware. Hmm...

 Apple just came out with the latest update to its operating system called OS 10.4.9, which fixes some compatibility issues as well as added security. The update may not be for everyone, so don't get too excited. Apple recommend it to Power PC users running the OS X tiger and OS 10.4.8 versions.

ZDNet, however, advised everyone to wait a few days before installing the critical update. This is to help users know what they'll be getting into as other people try installing the update. This will protect users from bugs that may come along with the new software.

The update has the following features:

1. RAW camera support
2. Handling of large or malformed images that could cause crashes
- Image capture performance
3. Mouse scrolling and keyboard shortcuts
4. Font handling
5. Playback quality, and bookmarks in DVD Player
6. USB video conferencing cameras for use with iChat
7. Bluetooth devices
8. Browsing AFP servers
9. Apple USB Modem
10. Windows-created digital certificates
11. Open and Print dialogs in applications that use Rosetta on Intel-based Macs
12. Time zone and daylight saving for 2006 and 2007
13. Security updates

We'll update you on how the Macintosh community responds after trying out the new software.

 

If you're an independent software maker who has dreams of making it big as the next Apple developer, this is good news for you. The Apple Design Awards is already accepting entries. The Awards, well on its 12th year, recognizes technical excellence and outstanding achievement in the design and development of software for the Mac OS X.

The Apple Design Awards has seven categories, namely: Best Mac OS X Leopard Application, Best Mac OS X User Experience, Best Mac OS X Developer Tool, Best Mac OS X Game, Best Mac OS X Scientific Computing Solution, Best Mac OS X Dashboard Widget, and Best Student Application.

This may be your chance as Apple Design Awards not only recognizes the talent and excellence of developers in making software, but also their resourcefulness in thinking up newer ways to use the Apple Mac OS X. The winners of this prestigious award will be announced at the Worldwide Developers Conference.

Recently, VMWare has released Fusion Beta 2 which has the "Experimental 3D Acceleration" feature. The feature basically allows you to play certain games that require DirectX 8.1 in Windows XP Service Pack 2 virtual machines(VM). However, Mac users shouldn't rejoice just yet as the game selection is rather limited, and the games that it supports are pretty old.

VMWare has a list of games that are compatible with this current "experimental" feature:

• Aliens vs. Predator Demo
• Breath of Fire IV
• Grand Theft Auto III (NOTE: Set the Display Setup option Trails to OFF.)
• Hitman 2
• Lord of the Realms III
• Max Payne 1
• Max Payne 2
• Need for Speed Porsche Demo
• RalliSport Challenge
• Tony Hawk 3
• X-2 Rolling Demo

Additional features and fixes of note for this release:

• Snapshot feature which enables rollbacks if something goes wrong.
• Experimental support for Mac OS X Leopard (Note: There WILL be support for Mac OS X Leopard in the full release).
• Improved keyboard and mouse support Â? Third-party graphics tablets, keyboards, and mice no longer interfere with keyboard and mouse input.

So far, Fusion Beta 2 seems stable and the added features well thought out. However, it still is in the Beta stage, so you can expect certain bugs or problems to pop up aside from those that are mentioned in the release notes. You can learn more via the Read link below.

Following up on a complaint that was posted at the Apple forums, a disgruntled and slightly confused Xbox 360 owner found that, among other things, his console isn't compatible with Apple's 802.11n Airport Extreme Base Station. And no, this isn't another Apple vs. Microsoft issue.

As time passed, Jamie Green, the complainant, figured out that if he disabled the Wi-Fi security protocols, only then does the Xbox 360 recognize the network. What's notable is that one participant, Warren Hoffman, claims his Wii and the Playstation 3 can recognize the APX secure network.

Microsoft support claims that Apple's routers are not recommended for Xbox Live, although there are also claims of reports that D-Link and Linksys router owners have complained about Xbox 360 issues, too.

Perhaps the old wired solution is a sure-fire way to get connected for those Xbox 360 users. Wired networks have wider bandwidths, anyway. And perhaps Microsoft can resolve this issue like last time.

Yeah, we know. Your Mac could do almost anything and everything, that's why they were blessed with an awesome fanbase. But if you feel like you need more flexibility in terms of recording in your CDs or DVDs, then Roxio might just have something that could be useful.

Roxio's latest software for Mac burners is the Toast 8 Titanium. This one offers a lot of improved and new features such as the ability to record data on a high-capacity Blu-ray discs. And if you value aesthetics a lot, Toast 8 also has a LightScribe feature that would label your discs to make it easier on the eyes.

Aside from that, this comes with a TivoToGo software for Macs. This is said to be the only authorized way for Mac loyalists to transfer their recorded TV shows from their TiVos to DVDs, iPods, or PSPs. The Roxio Toast 8 Titanium is now available for roughly 80 greenbacks and to check out the full list of features and requirements of this software, click on our read link below that will take you to Roxio's official site.

 

It seems that an Xserve prototype found its way to through Apple's tight net and landed on the lap of an unsuspecting AppleInsider reader. And what does he find out? Lo and behold: It's a SATA RAID prototype!

Well, particularly striking is the six fiber-channel interface right behind the Xserve chassis which confirms the six indicator lights available in front of the chassis. Unfortunately, the unit is only half complete, as it is missing one other RAID controller for seven additional devices and six more fiber-channels.

The mysterious machine, dubbed as "Q57," is only known to hold as 512 MB of RAM and 1 Terabyte of storage space either over four storage drives or 1 TB multiplied by four, plus 2 Gigabit fiber channel. The prototype firmware is recognized, but somehow not activated for configuration. SATA will provide for better RAID performance and cooler temperatures but Apple may forgo the release of a SATA RAID option and head right to a Serial Attached SCSI-based prototype.

The Xserve, having served Virginia Tech in their supercomputer initiative, might get the right overhaul over their fiber channel weakness. And it's right about time it did.

You may read more on the details of the leaked prototype by clicking the Read link below.