Nuclear Software

Thursday, 4 November 2010

Light Peak Coming in Early 2011 With Apple at Forefront?

CNET reports that Intel is preparing to launch its Light Peak high-speed computer connection standard as soon as early next year, paving the way for 10 Gbps connections.

Light Peak is now on track to appear in products in the first half of 2011--and likely earlier in the year than later, according to an industry source familiar with the progress of the technology. Light Peak is significantly faster than even USB 3.0, carrying data at 10 gigabits per second in both directions simultaneously.

Apple is expected to play a key role in the deployment of Light Peak, as the company was said to have played a key role in the development of the technology.

. . .Apple is expected to back Light Peak, if past comments from Intel still hold. Shortly after its annual developer conference in 2009, Intel said that it had showed the technology to third parties, got feedback, then incorporated the feedback into the next design, adding, at that time, that "Apple is an innovating force in the industry." (Apple has reportedly claimed that it conceived the idea for Light Peak.)

If Apple implements Light Peak, it would be a safe bet that the company will have a lot to say about the technology--maybe with a catchy name in tow. And it would probably not be wild speculation to say that Apple would want to be the first to use it.

The apparently-imminent release of Light Peak technology could explain the reluctance of Intel to adopt support for USB 3.0 in its chipsets and Apple CEO Steve Jobs' recent claims that the company doesn't see USB 3.0 "taking off". With the two companies reportedly collaborating on the even faster Light Peak standard envisioned as a replacement for USB, FireWire and various display connector standards, they may simply have decided to bypass USB 3.0 entirely.

Nuclear Software - Mac Software News and Reviews

LaCie Brings USB 3.0 Hard Drive Support to Mac Pros and MacBook Pros

Just as rumors of Intel pushing forward on its Light Peak connectivity standard surface, LaCie has announced support for USB 3.0 on Mac OS X with the release of a free driver to support the company's USB 3.0 hard drives.

LaCie announced today a major breakthrough, introducing industry-leading performance to Mac users with the availability of a USB 3.0 driver for Mac OS. The driver brings the fast speeds of LaCie's USB 3.0 hard drives to Mac computers and laptops - delivering transfer rates that are more than two times faster than FireWire 800!

With Apple yet to support USB 3.0 hardware and CEO Steve Jobs suggesting that such support is not likely to appear anytime soon, users will need to purchase either a PCI Express Card ($49.99) or ExpressCard/34 ($59.99) to add two USB 3.0 ports to their Mac. Consequently, LaCie's USB 3.0 solutions are only compatible with Mac Pros offering a PCI Express slot and MacBook Pros offering an ExpressCard/34 slot.

USB 3.0 offers a theoretical maximum of 5 Gb/s, topping the 3 Gb/s available through eSATA. Real world burst performance on LaCie USB 3.0 hard drives is on the order of 130 MB/s for single hard drives and 220 MB/s for dual hard drives.

Update: For clarification purposes, LaCie is not the first manufacturer to deliver USB 3.0 drivers to Mac, as CalDigit released a Mac-compatibleSuperSpeed PCI Express Card and SuperSpeed ExpressCard, to support the company's line of AV Drive external hard drives, in early September.

Monday, 27 September 2010

iStat Menus 3.1

About iStat menus
A set of 8 separate and highly configurable menu extras that let you know exactly what’s going on inside your Mac. View realtime stats for CPU, Network, Date & Time, Disk Usage, Disk Activity, Sensors (fans & temperatures), Memory and Battery. Each menu extra comes with many different display modes, customizable colours, font sizes and widths.

What’s new in this version?
- Added new Combined extra.
- Added around 100 new sensors for Intel based Macs.
- Improved sensor support for PowerMac G5s and PowerBook G4s.
- A new icon.
- Fixed bug with battery sensors being listed under fans on PowerBooks and iBooks.
- Fixed bugs with week of year in menubar.

iStat Menus

NukeSoft - Mac Software News and Reviews

iBank 4.0.1 Released for Mac

The new iBank delivers a new standard for intuitive, full-featured personal finance software. The software monitors account balances at a glance, tracks your investments, maintains budgets, and manages your credit cards, savings, checking and loans — all in an easy, powerful, familiar Mac interface. And with built-in support for Direct Connect, updating your accounts has never been easier. There is a free 30-day free trial which allows you to get started risk free.

What’s New in this Version
- Exchange rates round to three decimal places
- Bond info lost during OFX import
- Some transaction types aren’t recognized during OFX import
- QIF import fails with “We should have at most one match” error
- Many more enhancements.

More about iBank:

iBank