AnyBizSoft PDF Converter for Mac is an integrated 6-in-1 solution for converting PDF files into six common document formats: MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, EPUB, HTML and Text. With it, Mac users can extract data, or edit PDF contents in Word, rearrange information or calculate data in a PDF table in Excel, create interactive PowerPoint presentations from PDF materials, convert PDF documents into e-books to read on the Apple iPad or other portable readers, repurpose PDF content for publishing online.
(PR Newswire) | Cost: US$69.95 (20% discount for STOPPRESS readers)| Requires: Mac OS X (Windows v. also available)| For further info click here, and see also our full product review

July 27, 2010, Update: From July 26 to August 8, 2010, anyone visiting the AnyBizSoft Facebook page can get a free licence of their AnyBizSoft PDF to Word for Mac, worth $39.95.

myManuals 3.3 from MOApps simplifies the creation of instruction manuals, in HTML, PDF, XML, .doc, RTF or webarchive formats. Features include one-click creation of tables of contents, easy annotations to illustrations, search features, text styles, custom meta tags, custom HTML, autosave, templates, and more.
(Macintouch) | Cost: US$24.95 | Requires: MacOS X 10.5+ | For further info...

Macworld provides basic tips on practising safe computing. Although oriented for Mac OS X, many of the tips are applicable for PC users as well, as they cover issues such as choosing a good password; securing your home network; what to do when you're on a public network; strategies for minimising the risk of infection by trojan horses or spyware when online; backup strategies; and using single-site browsers (SSBs).
(Macworld) | Requires: Mac OS X, Windows, Linux\Unix | For further info...

When you no longer want a particular application or any of its preference files and other ancillary files, AppZapper will delete them all for you. CleanApp does the same, but AppZapper also offers you a convenient place to store all the purchase information for each app (date of purchase, the company's website, the licensee's name, and registration key). It also offers a "Hit List", where you can scan your list of applications and delete the ones you don't want.
(Ars Technica) | Cost: US$12.95 | Requires: Mac OS X 10.4+ (10.6+ for v.2.x) | For further info...

TranslateIt! is a multilingual dictionary for Mac OS X which translates words on the fly by merely hovering with the cursor over them. The translation appears in a pop-up window, and draws from "most widely known online dictionary/translation services". It offers other methods, too: translation from clipboard, drag-and-drop translation, manual input of queries in the main window, double-click translation of words in dictionary entries displayed in the main window. It also offers a built-in utility for easy creation of custom dictionaries; a Words Quiz (a game for easy learning of new words); and a multilingual user interface (Russian, English, French, German). A companiion iPhone/iPod Touch version is also available. Pricing is licence-based, from $25 for one year through $100 for a lifetime licence.
(MacMegaSite) | Cost: 1 year ($25), 2 years ($35), 5 years ($50) and lifetime license ($100) | For further info...

Speaking of batteries, coconutBattery is a donationware utility that shows Mac laptop users the current charge of their battery – and its current maximum capacity of it in relation to its original capacity. In addition, it reports on the battery-loadcycles (how often did you fully load your battery), on the current charger (it will warn you if the wrong type of charger is being used) and last but not least information about the age of your Mac. coconutBattery is Universal Binary, so will run on PPC and Intel Macs.
(David Alison's Blog) | Cost: Free (donations welcome) | Requires: Mac OS X 10.4+ | For further info...

Nemetschek has just announced that a Snow Leopard-compatible version of Vectorworks 2009 (Service Pack 5) has now been released. Versions prior to Vectorworks 2009 are not currently planned to be updated to support Mac OS X Snow Leopard (v.10.6).
(Source: Nemetschek Technical Bulletin) | Cost: | Requires: Mac OS X 10.6 | For further info...

Ever wanted to type or sketch something quickly right there, on the Mac OS desktop, without first opening an application for it? Well, Conjure (now at v.4.1) offers you just that. You can do more than type or sketch, too, but actually brainstorm with mind maps. The new version is Snow Leopard compatible and offers new backdrops, a Knife tool "for cutting anything", and more. See the company's website for video demonstrations and a free trial version.
(Macintouch) | Cost: US$25 | Requires: MacOS X 10.5+ | For further info...

Autograph by Ten One Design, does what should have been possible years ago, namely sign your name digitally using your laptop's trackpad. The app resides in the menu bar, can be invoked by a hotkey, and you must sign with your finger – not a stylus. At this stage, it's also limited only to unibody MacBooks using the latest MacOS X version, Snow Leopard. On the plus side, it costs only $7 (free if you buy the company's Pogo Sketch app) and there's a free/trial version with no time limit that adds a watermark to the signature.
(Source: Macworld) | Cost: US$7 | Requires: Unibody MacBook & Mac OS X Snow Leopard | For further info

For in-depth and updated technical information on any Mac OS computer, iPod, iPhone, Apple printer or other Apple hardware, check out the free (donations welcome) MacTracker, now at v.5.0.8. Have an iPod or iPhone but still using Windows XP or Vista? There's a version for you, too.
(Source: Macintouch) | Cost: Free (donations accepted) | Requires: Mac OS X 10.3+ or Windows XP/Vista | For further info...

Seen a font that you like but don't know its name, or how to begin to track it down? FontGenius might help: give it a picture of a typeface and it will provide a list of likely fonts that match it – complete with character previews using same – using a built-in font profile database. It will then help you locate, purchase, and/or download matched fonts online. (The name suggests that a Windows version is also available, and it may be on the cards, but we've found no mention of it yet.)
(Source: Macintouch) | Cost: US$39.99; Site licence $150 | Requires: Mac OS X 10.3+ | For further info...

The new trend of offering desktop applications at a fraction of their usual price by bundling them in a special limited-time sale is throwing up a new opportunity. The next Mac Sale is due Aug 4th, featuring… – they won't say what, apart from it being ten “all killer, no filler… from committed Mac developers", ranging from programming to graphics, from network utilities to web design. The bundle will be available to buy for two weeks.
To buy, you must register interest at The Mac Sale to register your interest. As extra incentive, registrants are get the chance to win a brand new iPod Touch without any purchase required.
(Source: MacMegaSite) | Cost: US$49.99 | Requires: Mac OS X | For further info...

Hard on the heels of the release of iPhone OS 3.0 with its long-awaited copy-paste facility, CopySend from Thinking Code allows you to copy text, photos or links from your iPhone or iPod touch and send it wirelessly (over a Wi-Fi connection) to your Mac – or vice versa. You can also send a snapshot of anything on your iPhone/iPod touch to your Mac's clipboard, for pasting into any document. Password protection is also possible.
The software consists of two components: CopySend Server (free) installed and running on the Mac, and CopySend ($0.99) on the iPhone/iPod Touch.
(Source: Macintouch) | Cost: CopySend Server – free; CopySend iPhone/iPod touch $0.99. | Requires: MacOS X 10.5+, iPhone/iPod touch & Wi-Fi connection | For further info...

When you have dozens of images to browse online, Cooliris offers a compelling alternative to the standard and somewhat tedious "Previous-Next" button: a plug-in for Firefox, Safari, and Flock, it provides images and video content in a full-screen, horizontally expanded, interactive 3-D “wall” view.
Once you install the plug-in (which takes seconds), simply visit any supported Web site and either click the Cooliris button in the toolbar or mouse over a thumbnail and click the icon. Cooliris then takes over your screen, displaying all the page’s image or video content, plus all related content from subsequent pages, on the 3D wall. Searching through hundreds of Google images, YouTube videos, and Facebook photos has never been easier.
As a bonus, it works with the images on your your hard drive too, including those in iPhoto.
Seeing is believing. It even provides a Search function with which to search out content across Google, YouTube, Amazon.com, Hulu, Flickr, and more. A Discover menu will give you ideas.
An all this for free. Not bad.
(Source: Macworld) | Cost: Free | Requires: Mac OS X 10.4+ | For further info.../

VelOCRaptor 1.0 is a new OCR (Optical Character Recognition) app for the Mac, which converts images of scanned text into computer text by simple drag-and-drop of the image file. (See our review of it here).
(Source: Macintouch) | Cost: US$29 | Requires: MacOS X 10.5+ | For further info...

Label Wizard from Black Cat Systems allows you to create your own custom sheets of labels of around 400 different sizes. You have complete control over the layout of the label, with the ability to place text, picture, rectangle, oval, line and even a serial number on each one.
(Source: Macintouch) | Cost: US$19.99 | Requires: Mac OS X, Windows | For further info...

Schreiben 5.0 from German software house MOApp is a €9 wordprocessor designed to be lean and quick like TextEdit "with a nicer interface", but nevertheless open and save Word .doc, .docx, OpenOffice .odt, RTF and XML. and offer many Word-like features such as word count, drag&drop snippets etc.. The latest version (5.0) is for Intel-based Macs using 10.5; previous versions can run on PPC and 10.4.
(Source: Macintouch) | Cost: €9 | Requires: MacOS X 10.5+ | For further info...

The OWC USB 2.0 Display Adapter from Other World Computing allows you to add an extra display to Intel Macs or Windows PCs using any standard USB 2.0 port. The adapter connects to HDMI, DVI, and VGA equipped displays (including projectors) in 32-bit color at resolutions up to 1600x1200 or 1680x1050 digital. Included driver software means that the display can be used in mirror mode or as an extension of the desktop. Up to four adapters can be attached to a single computer.
(Source: Macintouch) | Cost: US$99 | Requires: Mac OS X 10.4+ or Windows 2000 & up | For further info...

If you're into Tweeting and you're on a Mac, you might like to know that Atebits' Tweetie for Mac is a desktop equivalent of its previously-released Tweetie for iPhone. Features include conversation view, independent composition windows, trend searches, threading of Direct Messages, a tear-off search results list, a browser bookmarklet for sending links to Tweetie, and more. Tweetie is for Mac OS X 10.5 (Universal Binary), and in its recent review of all Mac-based tweeting apps, it was the reviewer's preferred choice of the lot.
(Source: Macintouch) | Cost: US$14.95 (until May 4) | Requires: MacOS X 10.5+ | For further info...

Prizmo 1.0 from Creaceed is an answer to the idle musing of no doubt many a user – an app that allows you to use your digital camera as a "scanner" for both 2D and 3D objects, including receipts, book and magazine pages, signs and posters, landscapes, and more. Its bundled software allows you to correct the resulting image for contrast, sharpening, and – impressively – for perspective, too. The resulting images can be printed, emailed, or saved to disk. Includes support for JPEG, RAW, and TIFF input images, and more. Any digital camera will do, but it for best results it recommend a 10-megapixel camera or higher. For potentially saving you the cost of a scanner such as the ScanSnap or the newly released NeatDesk for Mac, however, there is a price.
(Source: Macintouch) | Cost: USD $39.95 | Requires: MacOS X 10.5+, digital camera | For further info...

Microsoft has released the latest updates for Office 2008 and Office 2004, to address a critical security issue in Excel and improve performance. The 2008 update requires you to have installed update #12.1.0. If you're using MS Office for Mac 2004, be advised that it will cease to be supported as of as of Oct 13, 2009, and will thus no longer receive any updates.
(Source: TidBits) | Cost: Free (update) | Requires: Mac OS X 10.4+ | For further info...

Billed as a unique tool for managing both projects and workgroups, Teamwork 4.1 is a very full-featured web-based team work manager, written in Java, with tools for project management, agendas and meetings, work logging, collaboration, and other functions. Project management data may be exported to MS Project. The latest version includes integration with Twitter and Google Calendar, a revamped interface, a business process extension, smart search functions, dynamic web parts that allow in-place and multi-line editing, and more.
A helpful, if Swiss-accented explanatory video online (“manADGEment” = management, “assee-knees” = assignees) gives a good picture of its features and advantages.
(Source: Macintouch) | Cost: €90 per user; €790 for 10-user pack. | Requires: Java 5 & Mac OS X 10.4+, Windows, or Linux | For further info... /

PDF Studio from Qoppa Software allows you to carry out a wide range of editing operations to PDF documents without Adobe Acrobat. These include: annotating, scanning-to-pdf, fill PDF forms and saving them locally, changing security, highlighting text and more... It is offered in versions for Macintosh, Linux, Windows (including Vista), and AIX, and is localized for English, French, German, Spanish. (A Mac-only – and slightly cheaper – alternative is PDFpen by SmileOnMyMac Software.)
(Source: Macintouch) | Cost: US$60 | Requires: Mac OS X, Windows, Linux\Unix | For further info... Continued…

BumperCar 2.2 from Freeverse Software is a web browser for children based on the same engine as Apple’s own Safari. Featuring a start page that encourages children to explore a collection of kid-friendly sites, it can be configured to be in a Home, School or Pre-School setting with personalized features appropriate for each location. It also filters out objectionable web content, limits the sharing of personal information, and forces Google to use a "Safe Search" mode. A “Tunnel of Mystery” teleports kids to a random kid-safe site. BumperCar. Parents may add additional controls of their own choosing in the Preferences. Unlike most other browsers, however, it isn’t free – but then, you can’t have everything.
(Source: Macintouch) | Cost: US$29.95 | Requires: Mac OS X 10.4+ | For further info...

NeoOffice, the open-source suite based on OpenOffice that allows you to open and save Microsoft Office documents (Word, Excel, Powerpoint), is now out in version 3.0, bringing with it new features and enhancements.
(Source: Macworld) | Cost: Free (donations accepted) | Requires: Mac OS X 10.3+ | For further info... /

Next time you decide to throw out an app that you no longer need, don't just throw it in the Trash – make sure that all its associated preference panes, cache, and other files are discarded as well. We normally use CleanApp for this purpose, but now you can also try the newly-minted Amnesia 1.0 from Koingo Software. It includes a secure delete option, a log of uninstalled files, a backup/restore option for applications and their related files, an option to move rather than delete files, rebuild of the Launch Services database after removing files, and other features.
(Source: Macintouch) | Cost: US$9.95 | Requires: Mac OS X 10.4+ | For further info...

GraphicDesignerToolbox 1.0 from Opcoders is a new type of graphics editor for creating textures, web graphics, logos, photos, applying effects to text and to photos. It takes a radically new approach to drawing: instead of conventional drawing tools and layers, it provides adjustable building blocks – over 80 in total – that apply certain effects in serial fashion and which the user tweaks, "much like a modular sound synthesizer." Users can download a free trial copy of unlimited duration, but which is limited to saving projects with 10 building blocks or less.
(Source: Macintouch) | Cost: US$39.95 | Requires: Mac OS X 10.4+ | For further info...

If you like Google Sketchup, you'll appreciate Sketchers Studio, which allows you to create 3D animations from your SketchUp models. It comes embedded with Google 3D Warehouse Browser, a timeline view, camera control including zoom, multi-camera switching, three types of effects, export to QuickTime movies, and more. Sketchers Studio is currently $59 for Mac OS X 10.5 (Universal Binary).
(Source: Macintouch) | Cost: US$59 (usually $79) | Requires: MacOS X 10.5+ | For further info...

iPresent It from ZappTek converts PowerPoint, PDF, and Keynote presentations into slideshows that can be synced to the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPod Photo and later models. The latest release (v.2.4) adds support for Keynote '09.
(Source: Macintouch) | Cost: US$17.95 | Requires: Mac OS X 10.3+, Windows | For further info...

SpellCatcher X 10.2 is a global Mac OS X spelling checker that also provides thesaurus and dictionary lookup, interactive and batch checking modes, shorthand glossaries, auto-completion, and other features. Continued…