Macworld Expo--The Show Floor #4 (Final)

This year's Macworld Expo was very difficult to take in with only one day. There was new stuff everywhere and most of it I simply had to pass by to stay on my planned schedule. I did deviate a few times when something really compelling caught my eye, like mimio and Intego, but mostly I had to pass seeing updates from MYOB accounting software, the latest Funnel Web server logging and analysis software, etc.,etc.

Micromat--TechTool Pro 3: Currently, and for some time, TechTool Pro has been my general maintenance utility of choice. The product is superb, the company is small enough to respond rapidly to questions or problems, Micromat rapidly fixes any problems that unexpectedly crop up and quickly updates for new Mac OS versions and, perhaps best of all, they don't charge for upgrades to work with the latest version of the Mac OS. I stopped by the booth. Jeff Baudin wasn't in New York but I got a good demo of v3 that's due out July 29th. We posted the detail on Tuesday, July 18th, so please check our July news archive. TechTool Pro 3's interface departs significantly from v2.x in that instead of one window there are several: the Navigation window (a table of contents for all the tools) and each test has its own window as does the ensuing report. TechTool Pro 3's principal new features are virus protection and conflict isolation to become a more complete Mac health system.

Intego--NetBarrier and VirusBarrier: I was surprised to see Intego with a large area and theater seating for demonstrations. The demos were continuous (at least while I was near the area) and they were chock-a-block full. Macs Only! recently reviewed NetBarrier 1.5.2 and had difficulty getting any answers to our questions from Intego by email or phone. The person I spoke to at the booth would not confirm that a v2.0 is in the works but replied that they are always looking to improve their products, a good reply. When asked about a more detailed manual on how to set up rules for the firewall feature, the booth staffer referred me to the PDF file that came with the v1.5.2 updater. The PDF file appears to be the same as the printed manual that came in the box with v1.0. Their new product introduced at Macworld is VirusBarrier. It has a very attractive interface, a 3D vertical strip with Scan, Select, Log, NetUpdate and Preferences 3D buttons, However, it appears to have no additional functions than do Virex and Norton's AntiVirus.

XLR8, Inc.--MACh Speed G4 ZIF MPe and Dual Processing Carrier: I spoke with David Reynolds, XLR8's Product manager, at the XLR8 booth. Their newest product is a multiple G4 processor carrier with a riser card to hold the two CPU cards. It will be available in September in 400 and 500 MHz models. The Carrier card will cost $159. The riser that holds two G4 CPU ZIF MPe procesors will be extra but no price has been established yet. Then there is the cost of two G4 CPU ZIFs. So XLR8 is another company that will help older Power Macs move into the multiprocessing world.

NewerTechnology--iMAXpowr G4 and MAXpowr G3 PB: Newer is alive and kicking, I am pleased to report. Roger Kasten, Senior VP and CTO, was fervently showing all comers their new G4 (that's right, not G3) 433 MHz CPU upgrade with 1 MB of backside cache for the first iMacs, i.e. the 233 to 333 MHz models (Rev. A-D). For a net $549 one can have a super fast iMac that Apple doesn't even make, a G4 iMac. Gauge Pro and SoundJam MP software are bundled with the CPU upgrade. One pays $699 and gets a $150 rebate when the old CPU is returned to Newer. The iMAXpowr G4 is shipping today. Also brand new is the MAXpowr G3 PB for the Wall Street (1998) and Lombard (1999) PowerBook G3 Series. The MAXpowr G3 PB runs at 466 MHz and will be available in late August according to Roger. He exclaimed the 466 runs very cool. "Here, touch it (the PowerBook)." Rogers says. "It's not hot and it's been running all day." He is right! "466 MHz is what we determined was the best speed to not have a significant temperature issue." He explained. The upgrade is to one's own CPU card. Take it out and mail it to Newer in a special box and it comes back with the new CPU installed taking about 5 days. Some units will also require new and faster cache. The price without changing cache is $499 and with a cache change it is $549. Can you be without use of your PowerBook for 5 days? 466 MHz may be worth your while. It's pleasing that both Newer and PowerLogix are offering CPU upgrades for the earlier PowerBook G3 Series.

Microsoft--Office:mac 2001: Last but certainly not least is Microsoft's new offering the Mac world, Office:mac 2001. Microsoft had the second largest display area at the Expo as usual. This time the area was clearly dedicated to its upcoming productivity suite which will be available in October. I already noted several of the main features of the new Office for the Mac that were revealed in a short keynote presentation by Kevin Browne, Microsoft's General Manager for the Macintosh Business Unit. The more detailed demos on the show floor were extremely impressive. The interface is more Mac-like with compatibility among Mac Office 98, Windows Office 97 and Windows Office 2000. There are lots of nifty new features only available in the Mac version and all are super: Project Gallery (a task-based starting point), 400 templates with design wizards, Format Pallette (holds most of the formatting tools), Image Effects (correct and enhance images), List Manager for managing lists in Excel, Data Merge Manager for merging lists etc., Tri-pane View in PowerPoint that combines slides, notes and outline in one window for much easier work, drag and drop QuickTime movies into PowerPoint presentations and save presentations as a QuickTime movie that can be viewed by anyone with a QuickTime player. Microsoft was giving out a demo CD that walks one through all the features. In my opinion, Office:mac 2001 is nothing short of sensational.

Well, that is about it. Trying to see everything on the show floor in a day was exhausting to say the least and, of course, impossible. I wish I had another day to ferret out the jewels among the many booths that I did not have the time to stop at and speak with the people there. Clearly, this was the best ever East Coast Macworld Expo that I have ever attended. The Mac is not only back, it is thriving beyond all expectations! I returned with a little booty besides T-shirts, hats, antenna ball, etc. I got the Acard (Sonnet Tempo Ultra ATA 66 drive adapter) and Aspyr's new game Deus Ex. I also came away a working demo of iListen, a CD tour of Office:mac 2001, a CD tour of mimio and a CD of Power On ACTION Utilities, Now-Up-to-Date and Contact--no Rewind demo unfortunately.

Come back for the URL to the Macs Only! Macworld Expo photo gallery and I'll try to catch up on some other news since Tuesday.

-- TGIF, July 21 --

[4:00p] Macworld Expo--The Show Floor #3: One thing I noticed about this year's Macworld Expo is the proliferation of large, fancy and eye-catchingly designed booths. Almost any company of any size seemed to have one and that included relatively small new comers like Intego (NetBarrier) and Power On (Rewind). My photo album will have a bunch when I get the time to try out iTools improved HomePage and post them.

Macsense--Xrouter Pro: I wanted to see this little $199 gem since hardware routers are coming down in price to the point where they make sense to be used as the gateway device for a cable or DSL internet connection instead of an older Mac. We have a PowerMac 7300 with a 400 MHz G3 CPU upgrade performing this chore. I still think the older computer is a better solution for a moderate sized network because it can be used to administer the other computers and the network plus serve as a back up if something goes wrong with the network and it comes down at a critical time. This has never happened (where's some wood?) but it's nice to know that the capability is there. I wouldn't buy a new computer to do this but if you have a "cast off" its better than almost giving it away unless, of course, charitably to a good cause. The Xrouter Pro is a smallish box with 4 10/100bT switches (not a hub) and their ports. Switches are much better than a hub because they are configurable. The Xrouter Pro has support for the increasingly important Point-to-Point Protocol over Ethernet (PPPoE) required by some DSL ISPs like Earthlink and it acts as a firewall for security with selective URL blocking for controlling internet access. It's cool and appeared to work as advertised. It's available. I'm going to have to try out several of these small routers and write a review since they will become more important in the future with high speed internet connections and home and small office networks.

Power On Software--Rewind: Rewind is truly the hit of the new utility software displayed. In fact, Rewind got the "Best of Show" award. This $89.95 (25 per cent off if ordered at the show) utility remembers the state of your computer's software in a database. If you have a disabling crash or a conflict introduced by new software or some other software issue like accidentally deleting a file--anything software related--that suddenly crops up, Rewind claims to be your savior. It claims that you can rewind hard drives, files and application installations like the OS to a time where they worked. There is even an emergency start up feature--hold down the R button while powering up and then you can rewind to a happier time when your system worked. Power On's booth was always mobbed with a huge crowd and the demo did every thing as advertised. Rewind will be available some time October-December.

Virtual Ink, Inc.--mimio: If you use whiteboards (neo chalkboards) at all, mimio appears to be an indispensable companion. mimio attaches to a whiteboard of any size up to 4' by 8' and projects what's written on the whiteboard into a computer. I does so in color and real time. The output is a file that can be dragged and dropped into any Mac application. It also has one-touch printing, email and HTML features. With it's mimioMouse and an LCD projector, the whiteboard becomes an interactive touch screen. The demo worked extremely well and I was astounded. We've got a whiteboard on wheels with a button that spits out black and white photocopies of what is written on it and it cost a fortune. mimio will be available in September at $599. If ordered at the show, it's $100 off and if ordered on mimio's web site, www.mimio.com, before August 11, there is a $50 discount. We'll be one of the first to get one.

IBM--ViaVoice Enhanced: This application extends ViaVoice's speech recognition capability for direct dictation, editing and correction into Microsoft Word 98, AppleWorks 6.0 and Internet Explorer 4.5. Why 4.5? The booth attendant didn't know why nor why the same capability is not extended to the Outlook Express emailer either. It appeared very similar to the original ViaVoice. I bought ViaVoice some time ago for a review but never completed it because the upfront time to use ViaVoice is just too much to master for just a review, especially since one could only dictate into ViaVoice's note pad. This new edition at $149 ($139 show special from DataVision) extends VV's capabilities but only a bit. Many will find it to be very useful, I'm sure, but its not worth the price to me with its steep learning curve and current application limitations.

MacSpeech Inc.--iListen: I found MacSpeech at a small booth along the wall in a separate room from IBM but just a stone's throw from the Apple area. They were getting lots of traffic. MacSpeech is advertises iListen to work with almost any application that you can type into. They were demoing a MacSpeech iListen beta by dictating into several programs. It didn't work reliably, probably because of the huge din in the Javits conference center, but it did work. The people in the booth claimed that it takes but 10-15 minutes to learn and use iListen which, if true, is a huge improvement over ViaVoice. However, the staff also said its accuracy improves significantly if you read into it and make corrections just like ViaVoice. Some of the senior staff came from Articulate Systems which makes PowerSecretary for the Mac but I don't know if they are using that engine or a new one--booth staff wouldn't or couldn't say. MacSpeech's iListen will cost $159 with a headset and is targeted for September availability. If you want to upgrade from the original ViaVoice, it might be worth waiting to see how iListen turns out. They gave me a demo CD, one of the few I kept from the show, so I'll post a note soon after trying it out.

Sonnet--Tempo Ultra ATA 66: I was looking for some company that is marketing the Acard Ultra ATA 66 controller (for IDE drives rather than SCSI) under their company name. I found one at Sonnet, a long time manufacturer an marketer of performance, clock chippers and CPU upgrades, for the Mac. The person I spoke to from Sonnet readily admitted that the Tempo was a rebranded Acard but added that they had tweaked the firmware to Sonnet's specifications. He seemed to be relieved when I told him that I was actually looking for a rebranded Acard and was happy to find it at a company as solid as Sonnet. They had them on special for $100 at the show and I picked one up for evaluation and later report. IDE drives are fast, huge and cheap when compared with SCSI drives and appear to be just as reliable--Maxtors are everywhere. Also new from Sonnet was a 400 MHz G3 upgrade card for the PowerBook 1400. With Sonnet, the 1400 seems to be involved in a renaissance. The Crescendo G3/PB 400/200/1 MB was selling for $499--not bad for a 400 MHz PowerBook 1400. Us PowerBook 2400c owners have to pay $1300 for the same speed CPU.

There is still more, so please come back for the next update!

[1:00p] Macworld Expo--The Show Floor #2

Microtech Intl.--FireSCSI Xpress: Microtech is another company that specializes in useful adapters or converters. We have recently provided favorable hands-on reviews of a couple of their products, USB CameraMate and USB XpressSCSI. Their latest product due out in mid August is FireSCSI Xpress, a converter for connecting a SCSI device through a Firewire port. FireSCSI Xpress should be faster than its companion USB SCSIXpress because it supports 5 megabytes/sec (asynchronous) to 10 megabytes/sec (synchronous) transfer rates as opposed to a maximum of only 1.5 megabytes/sec for the USB converter. FireSCSI also requires Mac OS 9.0.4 or later so it can take advantage of the built in SPB2 protocol with generic Firewire drivers. FireSCSI is a small rounded box, a little bit smaller than a cigarette box and just a bit heavier, with a SCSI DB-25 port on one end and a Firewire port on the other. There's also an AC adapter so it is not limited to SCSI devices with termination power. I saw a preproduction unit in operation and it is fast. It is also plug and play so a running SCSI device can be plugged into a running Mac. The list price will be $99.

Contour Design--UniMouse Pack n' Go and UniRack: Contour Design markets all sorts of great peripherals from USB mice to stands. Jim Golden showed me their latest offering, a tiny OPTICAL mouse about 3" long and 1-1/2" wide. It's ice with an iMac colored button and should find its way into nearly every PowerBook users travel bag. It looks and works great. The Pack n' Go is due out in 4-6 weeks and the list price will be $34.95 but CompUSA will be carrying them for $29.95. Jim then showed me Contour's other new product, the UniRack, to hold CD jewel cases or to provide a flat surface to stack external peripherals like Zips or hard drives. It is clear polycarbonate and fits on top of a Power Mac G4 or B&W Power Mac G3. The UniRack will have an SRP of $19.95 and will also be available in 4-6 weeks.

Battery Technology, Inc. (BTI)--2400c Battery: As a PowerBook 2400c owner, I paid an obligatory stop at BTI to find out if they are making progress on producing a battery for it. Last summer they told me it would be ready in the fall and last winter they told me it would be ready late spring. Unfortunately, it is still not available even as used 2400c batteries go for almost ridiculously high prices on eBay. Fortunately, BTI claims to have not given up since it has such a high investment already. The plastics are ready but the problem is getting the Li-on battery management firmware (software in a chip) to work right. They wouldn't say if there was an Apple or IBM licensing issue involved but I hope not. Their projection was that the battery would be ready in the September-October time frame, same as they told me last year I add cynically. I hope all 2400c owners at Macworld Expo paid a visit to BTI and asked about the battery to give them more encouragement. BTI also plans to add a battery for the PowerBook G3 1999 (Lombard) and PowerBook (Firewire) 2000 (Pismo) in 2-4 weeks.

techtracker.com--ProTools: Most of you may know that VersionTracker was sold to techtracker.com and that VersionTracker now sports a new, more professional looking (if not busier) interface. Maybe some of you also know that Ted Landau's MacFixIt is also now owned by techtracker.com. This consolidation creates a powerful independent on line technical support company in the Portland, OR, techtracker.com which also does Windows PCs. techtracker.com was showing its new technical support software, ProTools, which automates updating applications and utilities. ProTools makes a list of the software on your computer then proactively notifies you when an update is available. This makes visiting the VersionTracker web site every day unnecessary. ProTools also notifies you of conflict reports on the software that you have installed. ProTools is implemented via a desktop client (Macs OS 8.6 and newer) with a menu bar icon. This service will start around September 15th with a 90-day free trial period and after that there will be a subscription at an unnamed as yet price.

dealmac.com--mydealmac: dealmac.com had a booth and I stopped and spoke with a very busy Dan Grandepre about his new personalized mydealmac feature. First let me note that Dan is a great guy, his dealmac.com is THE place to find news on the greatest deals on Mac stuff and, best of all, he still owns and operates it! With mydealmac, one can personalize what one is looking for and be notified by email within minutes when a deal on an item you are interested in is listed on dealmac.com. You can go to dealmac.com today and set up your mydealmac preferences.

SPSS, Inc.--SPSS v10.0: If you are a scientist like Macs Only!'s Editor in Chief, an engineer or use complex statistical analyses in business or pleasure(?), then you will be extremely happy to know that this premier statistical analysis package will finally be updated to v10.0, equivalent in every way and better in some than the Windows version. I won't bore the large majority of you by detailing SPSS because if you need SPSS you already know about it. I checked out the new Mac interface and it is great and easy to use. Data preparation is made very easy by the interface. Graphical support of data display and analytical results is superb. Look for SPSS v10.0 at $999 in September. Academic pricing will be a terrific $499.

Harman-Kardon--SoundSticks: The image says it all. SoundSticks is a $199 combination of the iSub subwoofer originally built for the iMac and a stack of 4 small speakers in two satellite "sticks". They connect by USB to ANY Mac with USB. The SoundSticks sound is fabulous even with the huge din and roar of the crowd at Macworld and is loud enough to drown it out. SoundSticks is available exclusively from the Apple Store and is shipping today.

Please stop back. There's more to come!