Download New and Improved TrailRunner 1.9.307

Plan your workouts for increased motivatio

Berbie has released a new version of its route planning app for Mac OS X, TrailRunner. Numerous functions have been tweaked, including map loading, background pre-loading, split at lap-points and track replacements.

According to Berbie, patches included with TrailRunner 1.9.307 should fix an infinite loop problem with route merge. As map loading performance is pretty good now, the software has re-enabled the low-res background pre-loading. Fixed bugs include:

- Fixed a bug with elevation calculations for intermediate tracks
- Fixed a problem with section split
- Fixed a problem where merged way-points could lose their name
- Fixed a problem with route import and split at lap-points
- Fixed a problem with intermediate track replacements.

TrailRunner is aimed at sports dealing with long-distance traveling, such as running, biking, hiking, and inline-skating. The free software is able to determine how long or how effective one's workouts are, and what routes work best for them. TrailRunner can also calculate a route for the desired distance, and export directions onto the users' iPods. This way, users get detailed orientation, while keeping the workout going. In recent releases, the company introduced the ability to display collected workout data within the program, matching the recordings with routes created by users. Berbie integrates with nikeplus.com, the online community for the Nike SportBand, and the Apple Nike+ iPod Sport Kit running devices.

“There might be several motivations you start running,” says Berbie. “Just to get fresh air several times a week, to lose weight or to exercise as a semi professional for races and honor. Either motivation needs goals you define in a training plan and methods to check up your progress, like measuring your burned calories and weight loss, your improved heart-rate, your speed and ranking in a competition or just being able to master a marathon in a given time.”

TrailRunner is beta software. All beta releases of TrailRunner (including the one available today) will run for about three months, the company says. The latest version of TrailRunner - available below - requires Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard. A download link for Tiger users is also available following the same address.

Download TrailRunner (Free)

Download New OnyX 2.0.3 (Free)

General purpose utility for Mac OS X

Titanium Software has released a new version of OnyX, an application that lets users tweak pretty much anything there is to tweak within Mac OS X. The new release adds half a dozen changes, including a new Info panel and updated Help. OnyX is completely free to download and use.

OnyX can manipulate everything from the Finder, Dock, Dashboard, Expose, and Safari to the Login window, and even the hidden settings of some of Apple's own applications. The utility enables you not only to optimize the way OS X works, but also to manage some of the processes behind most applications.

It allows you to delete caches and remove a certain number of files and folders that may become cumbersome, and there's also the option to see detailed info of your configuration. Just as important, OnyX is able to save a Desktop before modifying and relaunching the Finder. As you would expect, the app also lets you modify its appearance – window transparency, the icon, and the toolbar icons, and more. The latest version of the app brings the following enhancements:

· New "Info" panel;
· Modifying the number of recent places in the dialogs;
· Deleting Logs improved;
· Many alert messages modified;
· Bug while opening the Parameters panel corrected (catalan version);
· Help updated and reindexed.

NOTES
- It is very important to back up your data before using OnyX. The application is not bug-free, and no user is infallible, according to the makers.
- If your computer freezes, don't worry, OnyX cannot destroy the System. If your computer freezes during the verification of the volume, it is a completely normal behavior! Once OnyX is finished checking, control will be returned to you.

OnyX is available for Mac OS ranging from Jaguar to Leopard. You can download the latest version of OnyX using the link below.

Download OnyX (Free)

Download: Adium Updated – Fixes Bugs

Updated to libpurple from 2.5.2 to 2.5.4

Developed by Adam Iser and Evan Schoenberg, Adium is a fast, fun, and free instant messaging client that supports most existing IM protocols. The latest version of the application includes so many bug fixes you'll probably simply skip the reading part and go straight for the download.

But, just in case you're curious, Adium 1.3.3 Beta 2 fixes major bugs found in previous versions of the software. Those include (highlights):

· Fixed a crash when a Yahoo user messages an MSN contact;
· Fixed display of Gadu-Gadu user icons;
· Fixed "Unable to add user - Unknown error (205)" when connecting to MSN;
· SASL PLAIN or IQ Auth passwords are no more in debug logs fixes to MySpace and MSN;
· Fixed problem of events being recorded with wrong contact;
· Fixed a bug that caused Adium to leave log files open.
The full changelog is available here.

According to the release notes, tab completion of names in groupchats is now case-insensitive, while Greek and Slovenian localizations have been updated.

Adium replicates many of the features (and the look) of Apple's own IM client, iChat. Adium combines an array of IM protocols, such as AOL Instant Messenger (including ICQ and .Mac), Jabber (including Google Talk), MSN Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, Bonjour, Gadu-Gadu, Novell Groupwise and Lotus Sametime.

The IM client also gives users the possibility to connect with multiple types of accounts at the same time, combining all their friend groups into one big list. Supported buddy icons include AIM, MSN, and Yahoo! The free IM app boasts a customizable appearance that blends with the Aqua interface.

Adium requires an Intel or PPC Mac and Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger) or higher. To get the latest version of the program, go to the address below.

Download Adium (Free)

You may also want to look into GameBoy Sounds for Adium, an application developed by Nadim Kobeissi that replaces Adium's standard soundset for a number of events.

Hardware Configuration for the Perfect 7.9 Windows 7 Score

The Windows Experience Index grows up

Say goodbye to those times when the maximum score that a Windows Vista PC could return was 5.9. With the introduction of Windows 7, the Windows Experience Index has evolved from 5.9 up to no less than 7.9. However, at the same time, other aspects of the WEI have not changed in the least. The score that Windows 7 will return will continue to be based on the lowest subscore, taking into consideration hardware resources such as Processor; Memory (RAM); Graphics; Gaming Graphics (typically 3D); and Primary Hard Disk. But while the scoring is the same as the one debuted in Vista, the WEI can now go as high as 7.9.

“In Vista, the WEI scores ranged from 1.0 to 5.9. In Windows 7, the range has been extended upward to 7.9. The scoring rules for devices have also changed from Vista to reflect experience and feedback comparing closely rated devices with differing quality of actual use (i.e. to make the rating more indicative of actual use.) We know during the beta some folks have noticed that the score changed (relative to Vista) for one or more components in their system and this tuning, which we will describe here, is responsible for the change,” Michael Fortin, one of Microsoft’s distinguished engineers and head of the Windows Fundamentals feature team, revealed.

With Windows 7, the maximum score possible will be 7.9, a good couple of points up from Vista's 5.9. What will take for a computer to achieve the new WEI peek? Well, according to Microsoft, nothing short of the key technology improvements as they go mainstream, namely solid state disks, but also high-end graphics and multi-core processors, plus a consistent volume of RAM.

“For these new levels, we’re working to add guidelines for each level. As an example for gaming users, we expect systems with gaming graphics scores in the 6.0 to 6.9 range to support DX10 graphics and deliver good frames rates at typical screen resolutions (like 40-50 frames per second at 1280x1024). In the range of 7.0 to 7.9, we would expect higher frame rates at even higher screen resolutions. Obviously, the specifics of each game have much to do with this and the WEI scores are also meant to help game developers decide how best to scale their experience on a given system,” Fortin added, indicating that graphics remained an area with the largest amount of scores available.

The bottom line is that, in order to achieve a perfect 7.9 Windows 7 score, users will have to buy a computer powered by at least an 8 core processor. However, the processor is simply not enough. Customers will also have to feed their machine with RAM, somewhere in the vicinity of 8 GB. At the same time, Solid State Drives (SSDs) with very high random I/O rates and as low as possible latency issues will also contribute to getting close to 7.9. When it comes to graphics, users will need a card with at least DirectX 10 support and a WDDM 1.1 driver.

Windows 7 Beta is available for download here.

Product keys to activate Windows 7 Beta are available here.

New Silverlight Streaming Plug-In for Expression Encoder 2

Available for download

A new Silverlight streaming publishing plug-in is available for download. Designed to be integrated seamlessly with Expression Encoder 2, the plug-in is set up to permit users to publish content directly to the Silverlight Streaming service. In this regard, they will be able to enjoy a streamlined publishing process in relation to Silverlight Live, when it comes down to videos or screencasts. Microsoft Evangelist Keith Combs underlined that the tool was still in pre-release stage, but indicated that functionality was not affected even though the plug-in was still under development.

“There are a few things to remember about publishing to Silverlight Streaming (affectionately known as SLS internally),” Combs stated.

“If you spent a lot of time creating a video with another tool, you are not required to re-encode it with Expression Encoder 2 assuming the video is Silverlight compatible already. The first time you upload an 'application' into SLS, it uploads the video and all of the supporting configuration files. If you decide to change the player template, you can upload again, but this time you only need to upload the changed config files. Much faster the second time.”

The plug-in is based on the public application programing interface allowing job outputs from Expression Encider 2 to be made available to Silverlight Streaming via Windows Live service. As of version 2.1.0, the plug-in comes to the table with support for Silverlight 2 content authored with Expression Encoder 2 Service Pack 1.

“After you push the video and config files to the silverlight.live.com servers, the SLS service creates a nice iFrame link you can use to embed in a webpage or blog post,” Combs added. “You can automatically publish after the encoding job is done. If you are using the Source video profile on the front-end and not making any changes in your job, the encoding process is quick and then you are left watching the upload. And last and most important, the new SLS plug-in is supporting the kewl Silverlight 2 templates that shipped with Expression Encoder 2 SP1. Install SP1 to get them.”

Silverlight Streaming Publishing Plug-In for Expression Encoder v2 is available for download here.

NVIDIA Ion Is Heading to Apple's Mac Mini

Intel Atom, NVIDIA GeForce 9400M combo to power first Apple nettop

According to a recent news-article on Tom’s Hardware, NVIDIA could be powering another Apple system, namely the highly-anticipated Mac Mini. It appears that said system will be built on the chip maker's Ion platform, which combines the highly-successful Intel Atom processor, designed for netbooks, and the company's GeForce 9400M graphics processor, which has already been featured on some of Apple's more recent systems.

NVIDIA has been developing the Ion platform as an alternative to small-sized desktop computer systems that are powered by Intel's low-power chipset and Atom processor. With the Ion, the chip manufacturer can enable system builders to come up with desktop PCs that provide a decent performance ratio and almost all features that are available for a full-fledged desktop. However, due to the Ion's small-size form factor, such systems come in a considerably smaller package and with a more decent price tag.



Back when we first had our hands-on experience with the Ion, in December last year, we were certainly left with the feeling that we were holding NVIDIA's version of the Mac Mini. The system's small size and overall performance specifications allow for full-HD video decoding and, with the help of the chip maker's CUDA technology, the GPU can be used for more general purpose computing.

According to Tom’s Hardware's sources, an NVIDIA partner has confirmed Ion in the upcoming Mac Mini. Moreover, it appears that Apple was among the first to receive a prototype unit of the Ion, long before other NVIDIA partners had a chance to work with it. This could mean that the new Mac Mini will be powered by an Intel Atom 330 processor, coupled together with a GeForce 9400M GPU. The solution could allow for the lowest priced Mac system on the market, enabling a higher number of customers to take advantage of Apple's exclusive operating system.

The Ion-based Mac Mini is said to be scheduled for a March release, around the same time as the CeBit show in Hannover, Germany.

NVIDIA Announces Collaboration with WIPRO for CUDA Technology

WIPRO to offer CUDA to global customer base

NVIDIA, the leading manufacturer of computer graphics and the creator of the CUDA technology, recently announced that it was working closely with Wipro to provide the CUDA professional services to their joint customers worldwide, enabling developers with easier access to NVIDIA's parallel computing architecture. According to the chip maker, the collaboration with Wipro will allow companies to exploit the parallel computing power of the GPU for their development efforts.

“We are approached by customers and ISVs all the time that recognize the potential of GPUs to transform their work and who wish to get accelerated software into the market as fast as possible,” said Andy Keane, general manager, GPU Computing business at NVIDIA. ”Wipro, as the first global company to form a CUDA team to provide solutions, brings a strong expertise in providing software services to many of our key target segments including seismic, financial modeling, medical imaging, video processing and others. Now customers all over the world can augment their teams with Wipro’s support and begin to rapidly take advantage of the massive parallel computing power of NVIDIA GPUs.”

NVIDIA's CUDA technology is designed to allow application developers to tap the unexploited power potential of a graphics processing unit in order to accelerate a certain application, consequently boosting the performance level. The parallel computing architecture provided by the Santa Clara, California-based graphics maker is accessible through an industry standard C language programming environment. Several other companies, including Wolfram Research, MotionDSP or SciComp, have already used NVIDIA's CUDA technology in order to accelerate their own applications.

“GPUs represent a paradigm shift in High Performance Computing and Wipro is excited to form a CUDA team to enable solutions to customers in markets such as Oil & Gas, Health & Life Sciences, Financial Services and Media & Communication,” said V R Venkatesh, senior vice president, Product Engineering Services, Wipro Technologies. “Wipro’s two decades of experience in providing domain-intensive technology solutions combined with NVIDIA’s CUDA solutions for the high performance computing space will make for a powerful combination for our combined global customer base.”