Part of the announcement at today's media event was a demonstration of Apple's Facetime video-conferencing features on OS X, allowing the many iOS devices out there that support Facetime to connect with people running Macs.

Facetime is similar to any other video-conferencing tool, and by Steve Jobs' own admission there is not much to it: you receive or make a call, the person answers, and you both are able to see each other. The software will automatically show portrait or landscape view depending on how the other person is holding an iOS device, but beyond that there is not much else to the program.

If you want to try Facetime, Apple has a beta version available for download on the Facetime for Mac Web page. The installer just includes the Facetime application, and there are no extensions, libraries, Fonts or other system resources included with the application. This means that if you want to uninstall it, all you have to do is remove the application from your Applications folder and optionally remove the preferences file for the application, which is called "com.apple.Facetime.plist" and is located in the /username/Library/Preferences/ folder.

The beta requires OS X 10.6.4 or later, which also means it will only work on Intel-based Macs. While you do not need an iSight Webcam to run the program and view incoming video, you will need one to (obviously) send video. The program is a 13MB download and will take up 38MB of space when installed, and will not require a restart.

I suspect that sooner or later the Facetime and iChat video conferencing features will be merged, but for now they exist in these separate applications.

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Originally posted at MacFixIt

Earlier today, Apple CEO Steve Jobs revealed FaceTime for Mac, a beta version of the FaceTime video chat app that came to iPhone 4 this past June. One of our biggest complaints about FaceTime for iPhone was that it restricted video chat participants to those who own an iPhone 4. Today's beta software exponentially opens up the FaceTime platform to include users of Mac OS X Snow Leopard--for the time being.

CNET Senior Associate Editor Scott Stein and I jumped on three phone calls. Scott used CNET's high-speed Internet and a Webcam built into his New York-based iMac. I initiated and answered calls from an iPhone 4 in San Francisco using Wi-Fi.

iPhone impressions:
I had a satisfactory experience overall from the iPhone side. Video technology has not been good enough in the past on any platform (even Cisco's Umi telepresence) for me to see it as more than an aid. It's nice to have and helps forge a connection, but I wasn't surprised that the video quality piping into the iPhone left something to be desired. Even on a relatively small iPhone screen (compared with a laptop or desktop), Scott's face and background appeared washed out and indistinct.

As with video chats on many other platforms, audio was much more in sync than the video. Although my iPhone 4 dutifully recorded my own movements in a thumbnail image, Scott noted that my video feed froze a few times on his Mac. It also appeared that there was some video delay. At a certain point in the call, it appeared that sound and video weren't syncing up on the New York side. The tip-off was that Scott and CNET TV Producer Wilson Tang resorted to gesturing to make sure I understood we'd have another call once the video equipment was all set up. When you have to mime "5 minutes" and a thumbs-up, you know your video isn't seamless. And yes, we will embed the video hands-on of FaceTime on Mac and iPhone once that's been produced.

The audio timing, on the other hand, was spot on from the San Francisco/iPhone end. I didn't notice any delays, crackles, or distortions. FaceTime essentially uses the iPhone's speakerphone functions, so I did have to ratchet up the volume to make up for the externals speaker's volume loss.

Scott's experience wasn't as clear as mine in either the audio or the video departments.

Mac impressions:
Mac users have already enjoyed iChat and multi-person video conferencing for years now, and those expecting a revolution with FaceTime might be sorely disappointed. The beta software release does exactly what it says it does, but not much more. The bare-bones interface tries to mimic an iPhone, but the contacts list on the right-hand side pulls from the address book and can't be updated directly from the FaceTime application. FaceTime also currently exists as a separate communications tool from iChat, meaning it'll live as another icon on your dock.

Video is oddly stretched into a portrait configuration, matching the iPhone 4: a shaded-out part of the camera's field of view helps frame what an iPhone or iPod touch user would see. The VGA resolution of FaceTime video chat also shows: while contained in its own window it's passable, but blown up to full-screen it's quite fuzzy.

Jessica's Wi-Fi-connected iPhone 4 came through with a lot of dropped frames and choppiness both in audio and video. Sometimes it resembled a transmission from the moon, but at other times it worked passably. In any case, it wasn't an experience we'd want to enjoy over long periods of time. We tested on both an iMac and a Mac Mini, connected via CNET lab's high-speed Ethernet. In the case of the Mini, we were pleasantly surprised to find that plugging in a third-party USB webcam worked, although it didn't look as sharp.

FaceTime initiates calls via phone numbers or email addresses, and accepts calls sent to a registered Apple ID. We found that FaceTime calls sent to our iPhone 4 number went to the iPhone, while FaceTime sent to our .Mac email address were funneled to the Mac--actually, to both Macs simultaneously when both were logged in with the same Apple ID.

Landscape or portrait mode can be toggled via the menu or a keyboard shortcut, and shortlists for Favorites and recent calls match what's available on the iPhone. FaceTime's a great tool for keeping in touch with iOS-enabled buddies away from a Mac, but we'll like it a lot more when it's better integrated with iChat. Stay tuned for our hands-on video.

Originally posted at iPhone Atlas

OS X 10.7 "Lion" is the eighth major release of OS X, and comes with a new philosophical approach to the Mac. Apple has been using OS X for the "Mac OS" as well as the underlying OS for the AppleTV as well as the iOS on iPhones and the iPad, and is now looking to bring some of the innovations in the iOS back to the Mac OS to enhance the Mac experience.

The first is multitouch gestures, a feature that has been progressively implemented into OS X with Apple's multitouch trackpad, Magic mouse, and Magic trackpad input devices. While many might imagine a touch-screen option for notebooks, Apple is not going to go in that direction, indicating user fatigue as the main problem with that approach, but also that it is just cumbersome for most users. Instead, Apple will be concentrating on the horizontal approach to gestures and inputs that we have seen in the multitouch trackpads, and is leaving the onscreen gestures to mobile devices.

The second feature is the implementation of the Mac App Store on OS X. This is available as a standalone application that you can put in your Dock, which will open and show a view into the store similar to the iTunes store. It will allow you to better discover new applications as well as offer easy one-click purchasing and installation of applications. When applications are purchased, they will immediately show in the Dock along with a progress bar indicating the download and installation progress for that application. When the progress bar is done, the application can be launched immediately.

While Apple is advertising the new App Store for Lion, the program will be available for Snow Leopard within 90 days, so stay tuned. Apple has a developer kit to hopefully get other applications into the store besides its iLife and iWork suites, and we expect that like the current App Store for the iOS, it will populate rather quickly.

The next feature in Lion will be the Home Screen feature called the Launch Pad. This looks like a merge between the current Dashboard and the iPhone home screen, and it will show you the available applications on the system, which can be launched with a single click. Like the current Dock, you can create folders for applications, but the larger screen real estate allows for more to be viewed at once, and be better organized not only in folders but also on multiple screens. This addition makes us wonder whether or not Apple is going to be replacing the Dock with this new feature.

Beyond home screens, as with iPhoto and recent releases of Safari, Apple is concentrating on full-screen and has options for supporting applications that can be viewed in full screen, allowing users to take their own full workspace but also be flicked off the screen with a multitouch gesture. Apple is also working on implementing auto-save features for applications in OS X Lion, which has been a lacking option for many applications including Apple's own, since the implementation has been up to individual developers. This should also be a welcomed addition to the program.

Finally, Apple is trying a new approach to Expose, Dashboard, Spaces, as well as the new full-screen application support in Lion, which is to merge them all into a single view called Mission Control. This will show all running applications, with individual windows for each application being lumped into stacks called "clusters." This will likely be a huge relief for those who keep many windows open at once and get lost when Expose is invoked. It might have been nice to see a cover-flow feature implemented in Expose, but the clusters view looks like it will suffice.

When Mission Control is invoked, not only are applications lumped together, but full-screen applications are shown in a separate section, allowing you to quickly switch between them as well. It looks like Apple is ironing out some of the clutter that can happen in multitasking environments, and Mission Control seems so far to be a good enhancement to previous multitasking management options.

These new features in Lion do bring up a few unanswered quiestions, such as what will happen to the Dock, or the Command-Tab switching abilities prior versions of OS X? Additionally, since many of these implement multitouch gestures, will they require the use of a multitouch input device? Many systems that should support Lion have limited multitouch options, so hopefully Apple will implement options for these systems.

Apple has just given us a preview release of Lion, and many of these answers will come over the next few months as Apple rolls out new information about Lion. The OS is on track to be released sometime in the summer of 2011, and if Apple sticks to its past reputation, that means it will likely be released in late September or early October. Meanwhile current and future information about OS X 10.7 "Lion" should be available on Apple's "OS X Lion" Web page.

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Questions? Comments? Have a fix? Post them below or e-mail us!
Be sure to check us out on Twitter and the CNET Mac forums.

Originally posted at MacFixIt

Editors' note: We will continue to update this article as new information becomes available from Apple.

Today in Cupertino, Calif., Apple announced a major update to its multimedia management suite. The hope for iLife '11 is that it will provide a compelling reason for customers to choose Apple computers over hardware running Windows during the upcoming holiday buying season. Current Mac users can upgrade to the new iLife for $49 starting today.

iPhoto '11: The first feature for iPhoto mentioned this morning is the enhancement for full-screen modes, showing not only photos and editing possibilities, but also the ability to scroll through albums. Full-screen modes really immerse you in your photos, and have become a much desired component for many programs, including Web browsing as shown in the new "Reader" feature in Safari as well as document-composing in Word and Pages, along with e-book readers.

In addition to full-screen features, iPhoto is now more integrated with online services such as Facebook and Flickr, and will dynamically grab photos from these online accounts to show in iPhoto albums and galleries. Oddly, there was no mention of MobileMe support, but we can expect that MobileMe members will be able to access their galleries in iPhoto at least the same way as they currently do.

For those who miss Apple's iCards, the new iPhoto will have options to print photos on letterpress cards. It's not really an iCards replacement, but gives a real card people can hold in their hands, which from some perspectives is preferable.

The last new feature of iPhoto is a major enhancement to photo book creation. The books are a lot more customizable, and can be quickly formed and populated from any album. As expected with an update, there are also new themes and options for customizing layouts implemented into this feature.

iMovie '11: Apple's main goal with the latest version of iMovie is to make it even easier to use than before. For one, the app will offer news and sports themes. Also, the audio-editing bar is now highlighted to make it stand out more in project mode. Changes to the audio fade-in are visible as you edit, and there are also new audio effects, such as robot and Darth Vader. Additionally, the program offers automatic titling, which will add text such as "instant replay" to specifically selected scenes.

Perhaps the most exciting update is the ability to create movie trailers. This feature offers various templates with titles, fade-ins, effects, sounds, and so on. You can add your own titles, cast, credits, and even a studio name to your videos. Apple has even included original scores from the London Symphony Orchestra that you can add to your trailer.

iMovie has added some additional export options: Vimeo, Facebook, and CNN's iReport. Also, the face detection feature from iPhoto now works in this app.

Garageband '11: It appears that the new Garageband is getting more pro-level tools along the lines of Apple Logic. For instance, you can take tracks that play at different speeds and sync them with a feature called GrooveMatching. To activate this feature, hover your mouse tracks until a star appears, then select the "groove" track. The rhythm of that track is then applied to every other instrument in the song. Supposedly, the technology ensures the songs don't end up sounding robotic.

Garageband also includes a music lesson feature for learning to play the guitar or piano. Some lesson styles are already included, but more will be available to purchase separately. When you miss notes, the program indicates your error in red; bad timing is marked with yellow, and at the end, you get an overall score for your performance.

Looks like there's no new news on the iWeb and iDVD aspects of iLife.

Panda Security has launched its latest product, this one geared specifically for Mac users.

The security firm today unveiled Panda Antivirus for the Mac, designed to defend Mac OS and OS X users against viruses, spyware, adware, and other forms of malware. In addition to scanning e-mail and local files on the Mac, the new software will prevent Mac users from unknowingly sending malware-infected documents to friends and colleagues running Windows or Linux, Panda said.

Moving beyond the computer, the software will also scan iPhones, iPads, and iPods to make sure those portable gadgets aren't delivering malware to other devices or to the Macs themselves.

Priced at $49.95 for a one-year license, Panda Antivirus for Mac can be downloaded from Panda's Web site starting today. A free trial version is also available.

Panda's announcement comes that same day that Apple is hosting a "Back to the Mac" event, at which it will discuss, among other things, the next major version of Mac OS X.

The question of whether Macs need antivirus protection has long been debated. Many experts and users have felt that the Mac's relatively small market share has kept it off the radar of malware writers. But as its market share creeps up and more threats come directly from the Web rather than through local files, Mac users may find themselves more vulnerable.

In a recent interview with CNET, J.R. Smith, CEO of antivirus company AVG, said that even though there's lot less malware for Macs, the threat does exist, especially with the browser as the potential port of entry.

At one point almost two years ago, even Apple was recommending that Mac users install antivirus software, pointing out that the Mac was susceptible to Web-based malware. However, the company quickly switched gears and removed that bit of advice from its Web site the following day.

On its end, Panda naturally is touting a need for its new Mac antivirus software.

"We are approaching a tipping point where it will soon be financially viable for cybercriminals to target their efforts at Mac users," Ivan Fermon, senior vice president of product management for Panda Security, said in a statement. "When Apple reaches 15 percent market share worldwide, which Panda expects will happen very soon, we predict that hackers will begin to aggressively target attacks against this platform. The rapid increase in use of Apple-powered devices--iPhones, iPods, iPads--is also making the Mac platform a much more attractive target."

According to market researchers IDC and Gartner, Apple isn't yet in the top 5 PC vendors worldwide--Asus comes in at No. 5 with 5.4 percent market share--but in the U.S., Apple has reached the No. 3 spot with 10.6 percent of the market.

Panda said that it knows of around 5,000 strains of malware designed specifically to target Apple computers, with around 500 new samples popping up each month. The company pointed out that phishing scams and scareware rely on the trust of the victim rather than on malicious code, making them a potential threat to all computer users. More vulnerabilities are also being discovered on the Mac, added Panda, with 175 so far this year compared with only 34 in 2009.

See also: Help! My PC is infected with malware (FAQ)

Originally posted at News - Security

The scramble to release Firefox 4 in 2010 means it's a frenzied time for Mozilla, but there's more afoot at the organization than just building a browser.

Specifically, Mozilla is concerned about how people on the Web will find and pay for the increasingly sophisticated online applications made possible with modern Web browsers.

On Tuesday, Mozilla announced its labs project to develop "Open Web App Ecosystem" technology for finding, managing, and distributing Web apps.

"The open Web is a great platform for rich applications. It would be even better if it had additional capabilities to ease discovery, acquisition, installation and use of apps, while also enabling monetization for developers," Jay Sullivan, Mozilla's vice president of products, said in a blog post announcing the work.

It's clearly an answer to the Chrome Web Store, which Google is set to launch soon to support its Chrome OS software. But Mozilla's plan is indirect, providing others with app store tools rather than offering one itself.

"At this point in time, Mozilla has no intention to build our own store or distribute apps ourselves. We expect to see app stores develop, which will provide access to both free and paid Open Web Apps," Mozilla said in an FAQ.

Mozilla envisions several features for its technology. For one thing, it would enable discovery and payment for what it calls Open Web Apps--those built with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript but not, for example, with Adobe Systems' Flash. For another, it would ensure that a paid app, once purchased, would run on any computer or browser the purchaser used.

App stores, like grocery stores, benefit from having a wide range of goods available, so it's likely that app stores will benefit from a large scale the way that Apple's iTunes and Amazon.com have. It remains to be seen who might be interested in picking up Mozilla's technology and running a large-scale app store based on it.

Of course, this work something of a sidelight to Mozilla's central project, Firefox. In that area, there's been a flurry of activity in the last two days.

On Tuesday, Mozilla released Firefox 3.6.11 to fix five critical security vulnerabilities and other problems. Also out is Firefox 3.5.14, which had its own share of holes. Firefox 3.6.11 is also available from CNET Download.com for Windows, Mac, and Linux.

Meanwhile, the big effort is focused on Firefox 4, an update that brings faster JavaScript, a new user interface, and hardware acceleration to the open-source browser. The seventh beta, which has been in the works for weeks now, is the last opportunity to add new features, but its release awaits fixes relating to that new JavaScript engine, among other things.

Among the developments:

• A second phase of hardware-based acceleration is coming to newer Windows machines that support Microsoft's Direct3D 10 graphics interface for tapping into graphics processor power. The feature, which should improve performance by bypassing Direct3D 9 when it's not needed according to Mozilla meeting notes, is becoming enabled by default.

• Jetpack, the next-generation extensions framework for customizing Firefox, will get more exposure with its inclusion in Mozilla Central, the frequently updated code base out of which Firefox is built. Jetpack is still under development, with version 0.9 expected to be finished soon.

• The latest version of Mozilla's e-mail software, Thunderbird 3.1.5, has been released to fix security holes, too, for Windows, Mac, and Linux. Accompanying it was Thunderbird 3.0.9, which turns out to be the penultimate version of that incarnation. "Thunderbird 3.0.10 will be the last security and stability update for Thunderbird 3.0.x and will be made available later this year," Mozilla said in a blog post Tuesday. Thunderbird 3.0.0 arrived last December.

• Extension developers should know that after the release of Firefox 4, Mozilla is scrapping the built-in profile manager that's useful for testing with a variety of browser configurations. It's being replaced with a standalone profile manager software package. "This will be available as a separate download, and will include a lot of cool features not available in the current incarnation of Profile Manager, like the capability to back up and restore profiles," Mozilla programmer Jonathan Griffin said in a blog post Monday. (On a side note, the original request to remove the profile manager was filed in 2003 by Ben Goodger, who eventually left Mozilla and now leads user interface work for Google Chrome.)

Originally posted at Deep Tech