Professional video editors who have been patiently waiting for substantial improvements to Final Cut Pro X had that patience rewarded on Tuesday, with a point update that brings back features such as multicam and broadcast monitoring. But that isn’t all of the news, as a third-party developer releases a pair of tools for allowing FCPX to play nice with its legacy version as well. There’s even more on deck for this fine Tuesday, January 31, 2012 as well…
With the release this morning of Final Cut Pro X 10.0.3, Apple has finally lived up to the promises it made seven months ago after its controversial introduction to the Mac App Store. But one thing still lacking is the ability to import projects from the legacy Final Cut Pro 7, which Apple has left to third party developers. Thankfully, that wait is now over, as Assisted Editing is now offering 7toX for Final Cut Pro, a .99 Mac App Store purchase that allows metadata from a Final Cut Pro 7 project to be imported to Final Cut Pro X using XML, with full support for most every feature you can imagine. Better yet, the same developer is now selling the .99 Xto7 for Final Cut Pro, which does the same thing in reverse: It translates XML exported from Final Cut Pro X and allows it to be imported into Final Cut Pro 7. Coupled with the pro features offered by today’s update of the host software, it will be interesting to see what the critics will be left to complain about now.
This morning’s Final Cut Pro X 10.0.3 update may have grabbed all the headlines, but Apple didn’t stop there, pushing out minor updates to Motion 5 and Compressor 4 as well. Motion 5.0.2 now features improved speed and responsiveness for text editing, the ability to automatically add animation keyframes when recording is disabled, a keyboard shortcut for repositioning animation curves or paths, the ability to adjust the pan and scale of an image in a drop zone and an enhanced look for the Keyframe editor. Compressor 4.0.2 finally allows markers to be set as chapter markers by default, adding Uncompressed 8-bit and 10-bit 4:2:2 to the export settings list along with improved transcoding speed from Uncompressed 10-bit 4:2:2 to ProRes. Both updates are free in the Mac App Store for existing users.
With its former senior vice president of retail now working his mojo at JCPenney (and God help them, they need it!), Apple today announced that John Browett will step into those very large shoes, where he’ll report directly to CEO Tim Cook. Browett’s last gig was with Dixons Retail, billed as “a European technology retailer,” where the new veep has been CEO since 2007. Browett won’t report to work until April, where he’ll oversee “Apple’s retail strategy and the continued expansion of Apple retail stores around the world.”
Valve Software released Steam as a mobile app for iOS and Android devices last week, but it was unfortunately a closed beta. Thankfully, that barrier has now been shattered and today the company announced the app was open to everyone, allowing gamers to chat with Steam friends, browse community groups and user profiles, view screenshots and user-generated content for their favorite games, read the latest gaming news and stay up to date on unbeatable Steam sales — so, basically everything except actually play the games. But hey, what do you want for free, folks?
Firefox 9, your number is up! Mozilla today pushed out Firefox 10 to its release channel for both desktop and mobile. So what’s new? On the desktop, the forward button is now hidden until you navigate back and most add-ons are now compatible with new versions of the browser by default. WebGL now gains anti-aliasing and CSS3 3D-Transforms are now supported, along with a new HTML5 tag for <bdi> as well as full-screen APIs. Last but not least, Mac OS X users get a bug fix which caused Firefox to crash when closing a tab with a Java applet installed. Sure, nothing earth-shattering, but look at the bright side: At the pace they’re going, Firefox 11 (which is already in beta) will be here before you know it, right around the time that new browser smells starts to wear off of Firefox 10.
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Despite hyperbolic headlines claiming video editors are abandoning Apple’s Final Cut Pro in droves for competitors Avid and Adobe, Apple is still very much hard at work on improving Final Cut Pro X — including a considerable update released on Tuesday which restores a number of features missing since its release last sunny summer.
Apple Inc. has announced the availability of Final Cut Pro X 10.0.3, a new update to the company’s 9.99 video editing solution which is available now from the Mac App Store. A free update for existing users, the update is significant for veteran FCP editors, since it brings back a variety of popular features that didn’t make it into the first three versions of FCPX.
Despite the modest version 10.0.3 number, the new FCPX reintroduces multicam editing, allowing editors to automatically sync up to 64 angles of video and photos using audio waveforms, time and date or timecode. Multicam Clips can include mixed formats, frame sizes and frame rates, making it a huge leap from the same functionality on Final Cut Pro 7. A powerful Angle Editor allows users to dive into a Multicam Clip for precise adjustments, while the Angle Viewer plays back multiple angles at the same time and seamlessly cuts between them.
Broadcast monitoring also returns to Final Cut Pro X with this update, although Apple cautions the feature is still in beta for now. Waveform displays, vectorscopes and calibrated, high-quality monitors can now be used with FCPX through Thunderbolt or third-party PCIe cards.
Video editors will also be jumping for joy now that media relinking has returned to FCPX, as well as the ability to import and edit layered Photoshop PSD files. On the improvements front, chroma keying is now a one-step affair, with the addition of advanced controls including color sampling, edge adjustment and light wrap. Apple boasts, “you can tackle complex keying challenges right in Final Cut Pro X, without having to export to a motion graphics application, and view your results instantly with realtime playback.”
A 30-day free trial of Final Cut Pro X continues to be available from Apple’s website, while the 10.0.3 update is available for purchase or update directly from the Mac App Store.
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Apple fired up the Software Update engines today to push out a new AirPort Utility update (or two!), and as January winds down we’re looking ahead to the inevitable announcement of a new iPad next month, along with a cascade of companion updates such as iOS 5.1 and most likely, the OS X Lion 10.7.3 which has been simmering with developers for a number of weeks. With that in mind, here’s what the tech world has been talking about on this Monday, January 30, 2012.
Apple may still be the king of the tablet jungle, but that doesn’t mean there’s isn’t another device nipping at its heels while gobbling up the low-hanging fruit at the other end of the spectrum. AppleInsider is reporting that Amazon’s Kindle Fire has now shipped something like six million units in the first quarter of the year, which puts it in the neighborhood of the original iPad. Analyst Jordan Rohan of investment bank Stifel Nicolaus called the Kindle Fire sales “quite impressive” and praised how Amazon used its “distribution prowess to define and dominate the low end of the device ecosystem,” particularly when faced with so much competition not only from the iPad itself but also a tidal wave of other tablets running Google’s Android. The analyst predicts that Amazon will eventually use the Kindle Fire to launch a new video subscription service to go head-to-head with Netflix, although the e-tailer will have to expand its horizons beyond its own hardware if it has any chance of succeeding there.
Not to be outdone by AT&T and Verizon Wireless, third-place carrier Sprint today introduced Sprint Mobile Zone, the company’s official iPhone app which “offers Sprint customers immediate access to their account online, Sprint News and promotions.” According to SprintFeed, the app works for both Sprint and non-Sprint customers, offering simple device management, Apple and Sprint store locators and help functions, including access to a Sprint care representative. Sound good to you? Then head to the App Store and get your 1.6MB download on today.
It’s been relatively quiet on the Software Update front recently, but that’s all over now that Apple has pushed out not one but two new updates to the AirPort Utility as well as a new 7.6.1 firmware for the AirPort Base Station and Time Capsule. First up is a modest AirPort Utility 5.6 for Mac OS X Lion update, a 13.10MB download which “resolves an issue using network passwords stored in the Keychain.” Strangely, Cupertino has also pushed out the more full-featured AirPort Utility 6.0 for Mac OS X Lion, essentially an all-new 14.13MB download which completely does away with the old look of the utility app in favor of the one used by the iOS version. Coming along for the ride is the AirPort Base Station and Time Capsule Firmware Update 7.6.1 which “fixes an issue with wireless performance and provides support for remote access to an AirPort disk or a Time Capsule hard drive with an iCloud account,” which certainly sounds like a tasty little update for this sleepy Monday evening.
There has been plenty written about Apple implementing a near-field communication (NFC) payment system for the iPhone, and many were disappointed when it didn’t arrive with last year’s iPhone 4S. Google may have gotten the jump on Cupertino with its Wallet app for Android, but it’s been severely limited to a few handsets thus far. According to MacRumors, Apple is still actively looking to add NFC to a future iPhone, suggested by a recent Fast Company interview with a Mastercard executive who grudgingly coughed up some potential clues: “I don’t know of a handset manufacturer that isn’t in process of making sure their stuff is PayPass ready,” the executive said, and when pressed to reveal whether or not that includes Apple, he whipped out the confidentiality clause. “Um, there are…like I say, [I don't know of] any handset maker out there… now, when we have discussions with our partners, and they ask us not to disclose them, we don’t.”
9to5Mac is reporting that Apple has modified its existing reservation system in Hong Kong in an effort to thwart would-be scalpers who rained on the mainland China release earlier this month. The updated method is described as “a lottery system of sorts for iPhone reservations that appears to target scalpers employing bots from snatching up all the iPhones every day.” That means no more first-come, first-served — customers will be required to provide a government-issued photo ID in order to buy an iPhone. This “lottery” is apparently open only during a three-hour window each day, and handsets are not available to walk-in customers at this time. Successful reservations will receive a confirmation email by 9pm that night with a time to pick up the iPhone the next day.
http://9to5mac.com/2012/01/30/apple-combats-scalpers-with-lottery-system-for-iphone-4s-reservations-in-hong-kong/
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