The MacTrack – iPhone, iPod, iPod Touch and Mac News

Calgary, Canada – ModBusApps is proud to announce ModbusProbe, an application for the Apple OS X operating system to poll MODBUS(R) enabled control system devices. The application can poll either serially via a USB adapter or directly via TCP. There are a number of excellent Windows based programs that provide connectivity to logic solvers, but to date little development has been done with the Apple OS X operating system.

The application includes the ability to poll all four types of registers and display the results in decimal, hexadecimal, binary, or integer format. A help file has been developed to provide a basic understanding of the MODBUS(R) protocol. Future enhancements include the ability to monitor the data stream to and from the polled device(s) as well as providing the user to write to the device.

In addition to this application, the Cocoa Framework will be offered under the GNU License as a freedownload to give other Mac programmers the basic tools to develop MODBUS(R) tools for the Apple OS X operating system. The framework ModBusKit may also be downloaded from the ModBusApps website.

Features
* TCP and serial protocol supported
* Reading of Coils, Discrete Inputs, Holding Registers, and Input Registers supported, writing coming soon
* Uses a connection list with name, type, and device ID (IP address or serial port) for maintaining connections
* Uses zero or one based addressing, with check box for toggling
* Displays data in integer, hexadecimal, decimal, with binary coming soon
* Displays number of polls and successful responses
* Displays register prefix (10000x etc)
* Displays Warning dialog box if it can’t connect to the ModBus TCP server
* Checks for updates via Sparke Framework
* Basic application help book for the app and on MODBUS(R)
* This alpha release expires January 31st, 2008

Pricing and Availability:
ModbusProbe is in Alpha release and is a free download. As the application matures, it will become shareware with an expected cost of approximately $100 (USD). Note that this Alpha release has a date stamp expiry.

ModBusApps
ModBusProbe
Download version 1.0.0A2
MODBUS Organization
Screenshot of ModBusProbe
ModBusProbe Icon

Volitans Software was founded on February 22, 2007, by Matthew Butch, to sell SMART Utility. The name Volitans comes from the scientific name of the Red Lionfish. Matthew is an Apple Certified Macintosh Technician, an Apple Certified Technical Coordinator, and an Apple Certified System Administrator. Rudy Boonstra of R Engineering Inc. has worked extensively on control systems in the Oil and Gas sector. Rudy is an electrical / computer engineer. Matthew and Rudy partnered together to provide the Mac Community with the basic tools required to work on control systems via MODBUS(R). Ideally, this is the first step in one of many to establish the Mac as part of a control system engineer’s toolbox.

Amstelveen, The Netherlands – MacCoreMac Software and Flashcard Exchange today announced the availability of Mental Case 2.0 for iPhone and iPod touch. The new release offers two-way syncing directly with a Mac over a wireless network, and gives exclusive access to Flashcard Exchange, the largest online repository of flashcards with around 16 million cards. Mental Case 2.0 allows you to browse Flashcard Exchange, and download sets of flashcards directly to your iPhone or iPod touch. Mac users can now sync the downloaded flashcards, and any cards they may have created themselves, back to Mental Case on their Mac.

“The iPhone is a great platform for learning”, says Drew McCormack, Chief Developer at MacCoreMac Software, “You can take it with you, and whenever you have a few minutes, fill in time learning a language or studying for exams. It’s really ideal for flashcards, even more so than the Mac.”

“We are delighted to partner with Flashcard Exchange to bring an enormous range of content to the iPhone. At first, we thought about setting up our own online repository, like most others in the flashcard space seem to be doing, but it would have taken a long time to build up anywhere near the sort of knowledge base that Flashcard Exchange already has. So we contacted them, and they were as eager as we were to work together.”

Culley Harrelson, CEO of the company behind Flashcard Exchange, was equally pleased by the proposition of integrating Flashcard Exchange into Mental Case: “We were thinking about doing something for iPhone, but were torn between just optimizing our web presence, and doing a native app. We didn’t really have the development expertise to do a native app ourselves, so working together with MacCoreMac to bring our content to iPhone was a good solution.”

“We’ve known about Mental Case for a while. I personally think it is the best flashcard app on the Mac, and what they’ve done with Mental Case for iPhone is great. But what Mental Case lacked was a means of downloading content. Now, in version 2.0, Mental Case not only delivers a great user experience, but also the best content.”

Mental Case 2.0 for iPhone is available immediately from the iTunes App Store. It is available in two versions, a free ‘lite’ edition that allows browsing of Flashcard Exchange but not downloading, and does not support editing of flashcards on the iPhone. The paid edition costs $7.99 (USD), and allows direct downloads from Flashcard Exchange, and creation and editing of flashcards. Both versions sync over wifi with Mental Case for Mac OS X.

Mental Case 2.0
Download and Purchase
Screenshot
Screenshot/App Icon
Flashcard Exchange

About MacCoreMac Software
Founded in 2001, MacCoreMac Software is a company based in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, which develops exclusively for Mac and iPhone. Their flagship product is the flashcard application Mental Case.

About Flashcard Exchange
Flashcard Exchange was founded in January 2001 by Culley Harrelson. Since that time the web site has grown into a thriving community of educators, students and all types of enthusiastic learners. Culley still owns and maintains the web site. He does all of the development, and provides all support. He lives in northern California with his family. In January 2005 Culley formed Tuolumne Technology Group, Inc. to encompass Flashcard Exchange and his consulting business.

Lenexa, KS – BKeeney Software Inc. announces the availability of an update of the popular cross-platform presentation tool, Slideshow Magic. Home users and professionals alike can create professional looking multimedia presentations with Slideshow Magic quickly and easily without having to learn a huge program or spend a lot of money.

Version 5.1 changes all branding and registration codes from Koingo Software to BKeeney Software. All users need to obtain new registration codes. Existing licensed users can request a coupon code to get Slideshow Magic for free by sending an email with their existing Slideshow Magic registration code.

About Slideshow Magic:
Slideshow Magic is an easy-to-use multimedia production tool available for Microsoft Windows and Macintosh OS X users. Whether you are a home user looking to make a photo album to share with family and friends, or a business professional looking to make a multimedia production, Slideshow Magic offers a broad feature set to satisfy nearly any project. Easily add an audio track to the entire slideshow, or add smaller audio clips for each segment. Select from a wide variety of transitions and customizable titles!

System Requirements:
Slideshow Magic is compatible with Mac OS X 10.4 and later, as well as Windows 2000 and later.

Pricing and Availability:
New users can purchase Slideshow Magic for $9.95 (USD). A free 14-day trial can be downloaded from BKeeney Software’s website. For more information or to download a free trial version, please visit our website. For additional information on the news that is the subject of this release, contact Bob Keeney.

BKeeney Software
Slideshow Magic
Screenshot
Screenshot/App Icon

BKeeney Software Inc. is a software development consulting firm that specializes in cross-platform applications for Macintosh OS X and Windows.