Monday September 25, 2006

- Apple announces Aperture 1.5 - Joe Le Boss - 18:03:32

Apple has just held a special event a Photokina.
We have learned from the weblog Tuaw.com that a new version of Aperture, version 1.5, was presented.
With the new version comes new system libraries which include better support for external backup, notably via DVD burners or RAID systems.
Another innovation is integration with iLife by the means of plugins, this new function allows the integration of services such as Gettyimages, iStockPhoto, or Flickr.
We have also learned that the enlargement function has been improved, it is now possible to increase photos up to 1600%.

The Aperture page on Apple's site has not yet been updated, further information should soon be available.

[Update] The update will be free. The price of the complete version is 299 euros.
[Updatex2] The Aperture page has been updated to reflect Aperture 1.5

[Updatex3] Worth of mention is that Aperture is now officially supported on ALL recent macs. That includes your MacBook and MacMini, too.

[translation by jwa]

- Quad Core Xeon: Additional Information - Lionel - 11:15:24

Dailytech has released new information concerning the forthcoming Quad Core Xeon.
Among all the new Xeon models, the interesting one for Mac Pro will be the Xeon Cloverton having identical architecture than the current Xeon Woodcrest sitting in Mac Pro.
Those Cloverton Xeons should be clocked at 2.66, 2.33, 1.86 and 1.60 GHz and their respective introduction prices (per unit for 1,000-unit lots): $1172, $851, $690 and $455.
Based on those expectations, a high-end Mac Pro based on 8 Cores should cost around 4000€.
However, having an entry-level Mac Pro and performing a CPU upgrade latter on, might be a financially interesting opportunity... but Apple might be already preparing the launch of 8-Core Mac Pro as soon as the new Quad Core Xeons become available.

[translation by Linathael]

- 6 SATA Busses on the Mac Pro - Lionel - 11:05:08

There are 4 spots for SATA II hard drives in the Mac Pro.
However, those that are curious will have noticed that System Information reports 6 SATA fields.


In fact, there are 2 free SATA connectors on the motherboard.


They are hidden behind the power connector for the graphic card.
It would be entirely possible to connect cables to them, not to add internal disks, which would be complicated, but to transform them into external SATA ports in order to connect compatible external cases to it.
The advantage of external SATA drives compared to Firewire drives, even 800, is obvious. These disks don't need a converter, as a result the bandwidth and access times are greatly superior.
To make this simple, it would be necessary to get this sort of thing which our partner Macway sells, but with longer cables.


We are going to closely study the feasibility of this bidouille.
The presence of these two free connectors makes us all the more regret that Apple did not judge it useful to add these ports. Perhaps they preferred to favor FireWire 800.

[translation by jwa]

- 3D Rendering Competition: - Lionel - 11:01:20

Thanks to Yves for this info

This image, representing 5 glass-made objects reflecting in others, has received the Scientific Illustration Award for Visualization Challenge.
On his website, Richard S. Palais, explains how he has generated this image thanks to the software he has developped 3D-XplorMath running on OSX.

This applciation can be downloaded from his website: here

[translation by Linathael]

- Mac Pro Cinebench 9.6 Results - Lionel - 10:22:51

Mac Pro Cinebench 9.6 Results

Here are the results obtained from a 3 GHz Mac Pro with 4 Gb of RAM and a X1900 XT by the latest version of Cinebench, 9.6.




If you take a look at the results shown on the 3dfluff.com site, the Mac Pro is the fastest machine in both single and multi CPU modes. It is also very fast in Open GL 3D with its X1900 XT, and it is only seriously beaten by an overclocked Geforce 6800 GT.

You can download this version of Cinebench by clicking the following link: cinebench_9.6.zip

[Update] frcs posted the results obtained on his Mac Pro, which is identical except having a Quadro FX 4500, in the forums. Here are the results from the card:

Shading (CINEMA 4D) : 585 CB-GFX
Shading (OpenGL Software Lighting) : 2374 CB-GFX
Shading (OpenGL Hardware Lighting) : 5353 CB-GFX

OpenGL Speedup: 9.14

There is now a real measure of performance in favour of this professional and very expensive card. This is good news for those who had invested in one!

[translation by jwa]

- An Unusual Camera that uses a Mac mini - Lionel - 09:59:59

Thanks to all of you who reported this to us. Here is what Richard sent in:

Due to my wanderings in a photo forum I discovered a post which spoke of a digital camera which has very impressive specs...

http://www.roundshot.ch/xml_1/internet/de/application/d438/d925/f934.cfm


It takes 6x17 pictures with a 160 MP sensor (that's not an error, it really is 160). The sensor is a DALSA.
The photo files are 922 Mb, which makes using compact flash impossible. Instead the manufacturer provides a rather unusual storage device, in fact, it is nothing other than a Mac mini, which is connected to the camera via Gigabit Ethernet... Astonishing, no?

[translation by jwa]

- Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Beta 4 - kurisu - 07:33:42

Adobe seems to be keen on stealing Apple's thunder on this first day of "Photokina" week.

The company has just announced the availability of Photoshop Lightroom Beta 4.

Apart from the longer name, which seems to confirm Adobe's idea of placing the software as a complement to Photoshop (and not the other way around), this new version includes a more refined interface, a better management of DNG files, and an export/action interface (one could imagine for instance a flickr exporter kind of thing).

It will be nice to see today what Apple has to say about their own professional digital photo management solution, a.k.a. Aperture.