Mariner Software released Montage 1.3 beta this week. The public version is scheduled to be released in November. Montage 1.3 is a Mac-only screen writing software, and now supports exporting to Final Draft and Movie Magic Screenwriter, giving Montage more compatibility with industry standards.

Montage 1.3 now supports French, Italian, Spanish, and German, as has made improvements to it’s importing from Final Draft feature. Other changes include minor speed enhancements and bug fixes.

Though I personally haven’t used Montage, it sounds like an easy software to learn, yet powerful enough for professional screenwriters to use effectively. With it’s intuitively Mac-like interface, and pre-formatted themes for television, movies, and theatre, it’s a great tool for writing your next script.

Montage also has the ability to link with Apple Address Book, and includes hundreds of industry contacts, making it easier to submit your work.

If you would like to find out more about beta testing Montage 1.3, you can find information at Mariner Software.

Montage 1.3 will sell for $139.95 US, or can be acquired by a free upgrade to current Montage 1.0 owners. Montage 1.3 will also be sold onlne by Mariner Software as well as at retail stores, including: Amazon, CompUSA, Apple, Fry’s, MicroCenter, and The Writer’s Store.

Well Leo, looks like Microsoft is not afraid of the term podcast after all. In looking at the image of the new Zune however, they are not exactly giving podcasts top billing either. At least it’s finally in there.

Microsoft has announced the second generation Zunes. The designs look a bit cleaner and come in 4 colors, pink, green, black and glossy red (what no brown?). There are now 3 models. 2 flash based in 4 and 8 GB sizes and an 80 GB hard drive based model. The 80GB hard-drive model has a 3.2-inch screen. Other new features include wireless syncing, touch controls (scrolling?), and longer sharing times on “squirted” tracks. The 3 play limit still applies though. Along with the new Zunes Microsoft will launch the new “Zune Social” community web site in June along with an improved Zune Marketplace. General consensus on the web seems to be that the new Zunes will do OK, but will likely not make much of a dent in Apple’s iPod supremacy, probably stealing market-share from other 3rd part players like the Sansa and Zen.

For me what is most exciting about the new Zunes is podcast support. Finally. The Zune website says older Zunes will also be getting a software update, so I assume they will get podcast support too. Microsoft claims to have already sold more than a million Zunes, so that is a nice bump in potential new podcast listenership. It’s no iTunes 4.9, but good none the less. I am also hopeful that this may be the first sign that Microsoft is considering broader support for podcasting in it’s products. Hey guys, how about Windows Media Player next? Please.

My pre-ordered new Wireless Keyboard arrived, and I can say easily that my first impressions are very positive.

I have owned a Core2Duo MacBook for about a year, and become very accustomed to the keyboard style and layout. As a result, more and more when I sat down at my iMac to do some work I became annoyed at the bulky, blocky keyboard that came with the iMac. I even replaced it with the Wireless one that was previously released, which had little effect on my appreciation of the keyboard.

When Apple announced the new keyboard design I felt as if my mind had been read- for awhile now I had been thinking that it would be great if the keyboard for the imac was identical to that of the MacBooks. In fact, I’m considering an upgrade to a MacBook Pro, but am waiting for it as well to be upgraded to the recessed, square key design of the MacBooks and now iMac keyboards.

The New Wireless Keyboard is very, very compact. I don’t think it’s clear in the photos just how small, thin, and well-designed it is. It’s width and profile are exactly that of the MacBook’s- to a tee.
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A podcast about all things Macintosh. For Mac geeks, by Mac geeks. Show 201. iPhone 1.1.1 update released. Shooby’s bricked iPhone. iPod Touch 1.1.1 update. Updates for iLife, iPhoto, iMovie, iTunes (Win), iWork, iWeb and Apple’s store web site. Firmware updates for iMac, Mac Pro, MacBook and Xserve. Target sells pink Shuffle iPhone absent at Apple Expo. Listener comments web screen capture app. Rumors of an Appe PDA surfacing. Feedback on using exchange server with iPhone. Blocking IntelliTXT ads. Drawing tablets for the Mac.

New music, Chains of Love by Kellin Watson (Buy on iTunes)

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The measure of love is what one is willing to give up for it. — Pandora and the Flying Dutchman (1951)

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It’s finally here and I am downloading it now. For sure I will be covering the new features and updates on the next show. One thing that was made VERY clear from the installer was Apple’s stern warning to iPhone un-lockers that the update would potentially permanently damage their iPhone (see below). So re-lock your iPhone or don’t do the update.

Update: Looks like there are some challenges for iPhone hacks even if they re-lock the iPhone prior to running the update. I just spoke with Shooby and he used the currently published re-locking procedures to relock and restore his iPhone. He reinserted his AT&T SIM and ran the 1.1.1 update. After update his AT&T SIM was invalidated. Now, we are not sure if the error is with the procedure he used to re-lock the phone or if this will be the experience for everyone, but at the very least it should server as a BIG warning. If you have a SIM unlocked iPhone, please wait for the iPhone Dev team to look into this before running the 1.1.1 update. Shooby is working with them now, so stay tuned.

One of my previous posts pre-iPhone, I wrote about how there were ways to work around the iPhone’s limitations, and how you could use email to send your photos to Flickr. Well now, thanks to some hacker/tinkerers, we have a 3rd party native iPhone app that does the job splendidly!

The app is called iFlickr. It can be installed via the Installer.app hack which is really the only (read: easiest) way to install 3rd party apps on your phone. New and improved applications are finding their way to the iPhone every day—from an old-school NES game player to IM applications, a webserver, one-off iPhone-unique games like Lights Off and Tap Tap Revolution, all among many others. No, they’re not all perfect, some in alpha or beta in quality, but these apps are diverse in function and imaginative.

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Having recently purchased in an Xbox 360 I was disappointed to find out there was no native support for streaming content to your 360 from your Mac. One of the major selling points of the 360 is its ability to act as a media center, even allowing Mac formated iPods to connect via USB. Windows users can stream a wide array of media to their 360, but Mac users have been left out. This is where Nullriver Software comes in with Connect360.

The concept behind their software is to allow all of your iLife content to be streamed directly to the 360, and it works as simply as it sounds. Requiring minimal setup and only $20 USD for the full version, Connect360 is a must have for Mac and 360 owners. The only notable downsides are not the fault of Nullriver, but of DRM and Microsoft’s limited codec support.

There is a generous free trial version available that allows you to stream a limited number of photos, music, and videos at a time. For more information about supported content see this blog post from msdn.com

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A podcast about all things Macintosh. For Mac geeks, by Mac geeks. Special episode to announce the recipients of the Maccast 200 gifts.

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A podcast about all things Macintosh. For Mac geeks, by Mac geeks. Show 200. Apple Updates: iTunes 7.4.2, MainStage 1.0.1, 3G iPod Nano and IPod Classic Updates. Apple products don’t get old. They become Classic. iPhones making their way to EU. iPhone 1.1.1 Update feature breakdown. Ed Burns new Movie direct to iTunes. Griffin and Woz at the Emmys. New iPod? Buy your games again. Apple confirms iPod Touch Display issues. Apple denies Danish iBook fault, but accepts ruling. Jobs subpoenaed by SEC. Slimmer, smaller MacBooks on the way? Maccast 200 One Minute Tip What is NBC thinking? Stopping the iPhone Gmail email bug. OS X and Exchange Servers. Review: Balmuda X-Base. NullRiver makes cool Software. Replicating Menubar on multiple monitors. Another Dock tip

200th show gift giveaway on Monday. I’ll be at Podcast Expo next week. Come by and say Hi! Superheroes of Podcasting coloring contest at the show.

New music, I’ll Try by Moxie

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Hi, name is Werner Brandes. My voice is my passport. Verify Me — Sneakers (1992)

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Microsoft, on Monday lost it’s three year long appeal case (full extremely long document can be read here) against the EU anti-trust order which was imposed in 2004. The order will make the enormous fish pay a record fine of $613 Million, sell a version of Windows which does not include its media player, and force them to share code relevant for allowing devices of different operating systems to communicate with Windows devices.

This is a landmark case for the European Commission (EC) who seems to be actively pursuing large US companies with large market share in their respective fields, and it appears that Apple is next on the EC’s radar.

Apple and some of its music partners are currently facing investigation by the European anti-trust officials for the pricing of items in the iTunes store. The commission wants to discover the reasons for different pricing in different territories of the European Union (for people who aren’t in Europe, you can only purchase from the country which your credit/debit card address is located. Apple also has different prices in the different stores). This is no joke for Apple as the EC has power to fine a company up to 10% of there worldwide revenue.
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