Surf-Bits Link Blog

Griffin Technology Inc., creator of exciting innovations for Mac, PC and iPod, today announced TuneBuds, a combination earbud and lanyard for iPod shuffle. TuneBuds keep both the earbuds and shuffle handy around the wearer\’s neck. Just snap TuneBuds onto the shuffle\’s USB connector, and you\’re up and running (or dancing). TuneBuds\’ audio cable, integrated into the lanyard, keeps you free of excess cords and tangled lines. TuneBuds make no compromise on sound quality. The comfortable earbuds supply superb audio to please the most discerning listener.

Pricing and Availability
TuneBuds\’ price is $19.99 USD, and is available at at www.griffintechnology.com and most major retailers where iPod accessories are sold.

XtremeMac announced its first accessory for iPod with video today, a clear protective case called MicroShield. This two-piece case snaps onto the front and back of the iPod, providing the body and screen with protection from scratches while highlighting its sleek design.

MicroShield comes with one front and two rear panels: one with an integrated, low-profile belt clip, and one without. This design offers the flexibility of using the front and rear panels separately or together and provides users with the option of using a belt clip or not. When used together, the front and rear panels encase the iPod in a hard plastic shell that provides unobstructed access to the Click Wheel, Dock Connector, and earbud jack. In addition, the design of the rear panel accommodates the iPod with either end up—allowing users to position the earbud jack either at the top or bottom—a feature that will be appreciated by those who prefer to use the belt clip with this case.

MicroShield is available in 30GB and 60GB models to accommodate both sizes of the new iPod with video. It retails for $24.95 and will be available in stores and online in one to two weeks. For more details and images of MicroShield, or to place an order, visit www.XtremeMac.com.

The new program allows customers to send in their old Apple or third-party PowerBook or iBook batteries and receive a $19 rebate for each NewerTech replacement battery purchased. The battery type sent in for rebate must be the same type as the battery purchased. If the customer wishes to return additional batteries, NewerTech will see they are properly disposed of even though the rebate will not apply.

NewerTech¹s laptop batteries, available for most Apple iBook and PowerBook models including all current Apple models, start at $119.99 and offer as much as 50 percent more capacity than Apple¹s stock batteries.

Visit http://www.newertech.com/rebate to take advantage of the program.

Everyone is looking for that hot gift this year, and with a number of accolades under its belt, a miniStack hard drive solution by Newer Technology, Inc., is sure to please the technophile on your list. The sleek miniStack is designed to complement the size, shape and color of Apples Mac mini, but also works great with any computer that has an available FireWire and/or USB port.

New pricing, that is up to 11 percent lower, now available as follows:


0GB (Add-Your-Own-HD kit (enclosure only) ­ $79.99 80GB 7200RPM solution w/2MB buffer ­ $139.99 160GB 7200RPM solution w/8MB buffer ­ $169.99 250GB 7200RPM solution w/8MB buffer ­ $199.99 320GB 7200RPM solution w/8MB buffer ­ $249.99 400GB 7200RPM solution w/8MB buffer ­ $349.99 500GB 7200RPM solution w/8MB buffer ­ $479.99

Bare Bones Software, Inc., developer of leading-edge power tools for Mac OS X, today announced the immediate availability of TextWrangler 2.1.1, their award-winning text editor. The updated version of this popular, general-purpose text processing tool includes maintenance fixes to reported issues and a few minor interface refinements.

TextWrangler 2.1.1 is available free of charge. An update package is available to all TextWrangler 2 users for download from the Bare Bones Software web site:

http://www.barebones.com/support/updates.shtml

DEVONtechnologies, LLC updates its intelligent notebook application DEVONnote to version 1.8 and releases maintenance updates for the freeware service CalcService and the free services menu helper HotService. The most recent update of DEVONnote brings a number of new productivity features and improvements that make it more productive and easier to use.

A new option allows to float DEVONnote main windows above all other windows, making dragging contents from other applications to a note much easier. Links between notes or from a note to a file or folder can be created simply by drag-and-drop, and whole groups can be dragged to the Finder (requires Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger). Items can now also be sorted by comment, and the contextual menus of text views provide a convenient \”See Selected Text\” command that lists other notes in the database related to a selected text passage.

Also, document packages, e.g. Pages, Keynote or OmniOutliner files, are now correctly imported as a whole, and double-clicking opens them in the default application for their type. The overall accuracy of See Also and Classify has been improved as well, the application is further optimized for Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger, faster and more stable.

Shirt Pocket announces the immediate availability of SuperDuper! 2.0, the most extensive update ever of its popular disk copying utility for Mac OS X. Every aspect of SuperDuper has been polished and re-engineered
to add new functionality while retaining — and improving upon — its legendary ease of use.

SuperDuper 2.0 improves on the acclaimed original in many ways, including: the ability to easily schedule backups; additional imaging options; more control over shutdown; better AppleScript support;
hundreds of UI improvements; and a completely rewritten, task-based User\’s Guide.

SuperDuper 2.0 supports Mac OS X 10.3.9 or later, and is a free update for existing users. The unregistered version will perform full backups for free. Registration costs $27.95, and includes many additional
timesaving features, including Smart Update for faster backups, Scheduling, and others.

More information, as well as a download link, can be found at http://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper.

Marware introduces its new line of cases for iPod video, featuring innovative materials chosen specifically to maintain the impressively slim profile of the iPod while providing maximum protection.

The Sportsuit™ Convertible, Marware’s flagship sports case, has been completely redesigned for the iPod video. Made of revolutionary orca-skin neoprene, the new Convertible offers maximum protection without adding bulk. A revolutionary side-opening lid, hand strap, and a redesigned armband that uses the patented Multidapt® clip system round out the new list of features for this premium sports case.

Most products will be available by the middle of December 2005. Please visit www.marware.com for details and updates.

Bare Bones Software, developer of leading-edge power tools for Mac OS X, today announced the release
and immediate availability of BBEdit(r) 8.2.4. BBEdit 8.2.4 is a maintenance release that fixes reported issues and adds minor interface refinements to this award-winning HTML and text editor.

The BBEdit 8.2.4 update package is available free of charge to all registered BBEdit 8 customers from the Bare Bones Software web site: http://www.barebones.com/support/updates.shtml

Speck Products today announced the arrival and shipment of the SkinTight 3-packs- rubberized cases for new 5G iPods. SkinTight 3-Packs in two sizes (for 30 and 60 GB iPods) will begin shipping today- both online and to major retailers nationwide, where shelves should be stocked in time for the start of the Holiday Shopping Season.

SkinTight 3-Packs for 5G iPods (with video) ship with 1 each clear, black and blue skin cases. 3 color coodinated, rubber backed (around the edge) screen protectors are included to keep your video screen looking sharp and scratch-free. The back and sides of the case feature a great looking \’hump\’ pattern for a solid grip and a cool texture. Speck\’s \’docking flap\’ feature lets you dock your iPod without removing the case.

SkinTight 3-Packs in 30 GB and 60 GB sizes are available for immediate purchase at www.speckproducts.com and will soon be available on retail shelves worldwide. For a complete list of Speck Products\’ resellers, visit http://www.speckproducts.com/wheretobuy.html.

Realmac Software today announced the release of it\’s hugely popular, easy to use web building software, RapidWeaver 3.2.0 for Mac OS X. RapidWeaver 3.2 has a slew of powerful new features. Such as a built-in media inspector allowing users to re-size, flip and rotate photos.
Users now have access to a revolutionary theme variation system allowing simply, easy customization. Not only that but users can apply different themes and variations to each page in their site.

While RapidWeaver is simple to use, it\’s also incredibly powerful. The page inspector allows you to change and modify the way pages are set up. For example, you can specify file, path and folder names, set the format and compression for images, add and remove meta tag information and associate extra files with each page and much more.

RapidWeaver makes it easy for everyone to publish Photos, Movies and Blogs online instantly. If you\’re thinking about starting a blog or website, RapidWeaver is the perfect choice. Not only does it allow you to work in a familiar iApp style environment it also integrates seamlessly with iLife, .Mac and Mac OS X. Download a FREE trial copy from http://www.realmacsoftware.com and see for yourself why more and more people than ever before are switching to RapidWeaver!

Griffin Technology IncGriffin Technology Inc., creator of exciting innovations for Mac, PC and iPod, today announced radio Shark software version 2.0. radio Shark makes time-shift recording of AM or FM radio simple. Radio Shark also allows you to start and stop recording at any time while listening, lets you schedule recordings and create presets of your favorite radio stations.

Included in the download is the radio Shark widget for use with Apple\’s Dashboard technology. Conveniently control the radio Shark USB radio with technology built right into Mac OS X Tiger

Sonnet Technologies, a worldwide leader in upgrades for Apple Macintosh® computers and iPod® digital music players, announces that PodFreq is now compatible with all new video-capable iPod models. PodFreq supports all iPod models with a dock connector (excluding iPod nano; PodFreq mini compatible with iPod mini), and allows you to play your iPod tunes, audiobooks and podcasts wirelessly through any nearby FM radio.

Purchasing a PodFreq is a simple way to get some of the most popular iPod accessories in one package; this premium FM transmitter with integrated dock comes complete with car charger and car cradle. There are no cables to plug in and no software to install, so it is easy to quickly tune and broadcast to any empty station frequency using up and down tuning buttons and the built-in display. Because PodFreq charges your music player’s battery while in the car, you can love your iPod even longer.

The manufacturer’s suggested retail price is $99.99. For more information about PodFreq, please visit http://www.podfreq.com

SpamSieve gives you back your inbox by bringing powerful Bayesian spam filtering to popular e-mail clients. It learns what your spam looks like, so it can block nearly all of it. It looks at your address book and learns what your good messages look like, so it won\’t confuse them with spam. Other spam filters get worse over time as spammers adapt to their rules; SpamSieve actually gets better over time as you train it with more messages. SpamSieve doesn\’t delete any messages–it only marks them in your e-mail client–so you\’ll never lose any mail. SpamSieve works with any number of mail accounts, of whatever types are supported by your e-mail software (e.g. POP, IMAP, Hotmail, AOL).

Requirements: Mac OS X 10.2.8 or later (10.3.5 recommended)
Price: $25; free update for owners of previous versions
Download: http://c-command.com/downloads/SpamSieve-2.4.dmg
More Info: http://c-command.com/spamsieve

Speck Products today announced the arrival and shipment of the popular ToughSkin rubberized case for new iPods (with video - 30 & 60 GB). ToughSkins in black will begin shipping today- both online and to major retailers nationwide, where shelves should be stocked in time for the start of the Holiday Shopping Season.

ToughSkin for iPod with video is available for immediate purchase at www.speckproducts.com and will soon be available on retail shelves worldwide. For a complete list of Speck Products\’ resellers, visit http://www.speckproducts.com/wheretobuy.html.