mac.iLounge

If you code web sites on your Mac, Panic’s Coda is probably already one of the key apps in your arsenal. Years after its original release, Coda is about to receive a huge update with the release of Coda 2 ($50-$100), which is coming to the Mac App Store on May 24, 2012. Over 100 new features are being added, including changes that radically improve the user interface—and let you work across two different devices at the same time. Read More

Developed by the company of the same name, AirServer ($15) has evolved a lot since its early days. At first it simply turned your Mac into an AirPlay receiver, capable of streaming audio and video from compatible devices. When iOS 5 added AirPlay mirroring, so did AirServer. Now with its update to version 4.3, the app has been refined even further, and the developer is calling it “the game console for the Mac” due to gamer-friendly features. Read More

Now that the Internet has brought a world of information to our fingertips, the challenge is to quickly find what you’re looking for. Liquid Words ($1) is a new Mac App Store title from The Hyperwords Company that sets out to do just that. A powerful reference tool, it allows you to drill down into any subject in a matter of a second or two. What makes it so fast compared to a traditional web search? Keyboard shortcuts.  Read More

Zombie lovers of the world, rejoice! Following the successful TV adaptation by AMC, Telltale Games is now bringing Richard Kirkman’s ultra-popular comic series The Walking Dead ($25) into the Mac gaming realm. Like many of the developer’s titles, this one is episodic: episode one is available right now, with four more set to be released on a monthly basis, with each additional episode included for the initial asking price. Telltale calls this an adventure horror game, though after playing through the first chapter, we’d say it’s better described as an interactive story. You’ll need a relatively recent Mac running Valve’s Steam to experience the impressively textured, cel-shaded 3-D world. Read More

The gap’s shrinking between the release dates of big console/PC games and Mac versions, as demonstrated by Deus Ex: Human Revolution - Ultimate Edition ($50), published by Feral Interactive. First released in August 2011, the prequel to the popular series has now landed in the Mac App Store, and is ready to be downloaded by anyone who meets the—admittedly high—minimum specs. Read More

Selective saturation can be an awesome photo effect when it’s done right — and MacPhun’s Color Splash Studio ($4) makes doing it right easy. Thanks to specialized tools and high-end algorithms, it can take even the most mundane photo looks great in a snap. Read More

If you’re in a creative field, odds are you’ve got at least one piece of Adobe’s Creative Suite installed on your machine — and if so, it’ll soon be time to upgrade. Adobe Creative Suite 6 ($1,300-$2,600) includes all new versions of Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Dreamweaver, Flash, Premiere Pro, After Effects, Prelude, and Audition, among other applications. Read More

In the Apple world, there are plenty of things you can buy for a hundred bucks: an iPhone 4 or an Apple TV, for example. Believe it or not, 3D modeling software is on that list too. Cheetah3D ($100) from MW3D-Solutions costs the same as a pair of iPod shuffles, but it’s no slouch. This Mac App Store title, designed specifically for OS X, is made to be easy to learn and to use but is a full and powerful CGI solution. Read More

It’s time to add baby books to the list of physical items that are successfully being replaced by digital versions. With the release of Anne Geddes’s My First Five Years ($15) in the Mac App Store, new parents can easily chronicle the first five years of a child’s life, using a variety of templates to create an interactive book-like experience. Unlike a printed book, this app gives you the ability to customize the pages to your liking, so it’s easy to see a bright future ahead for the digital evolution of this successful print-based product. Read More

Time Machine is an awesome OS X feature—a savior when you’ve lost a file or experienced a hard drive failure. The only real problem is the interface, which requires you to take an animated trip through time and space just to find missing files. Sometimes you just want your data restored without graphical flourishes, and that’s where Contract Web Development’s Fast TM Restore ($6) comes in. Read More

Macs have largely been spared the virus and trojan issues that have crippled Windows PCs for years, but Flashback malware is now making rounds—and the news. Statistically, you’re probably not in any danger, but it’s worth checking your Macs to confirm you’re not part of the 1% that’s been infected. The easiest tool we’ve seen is developer Juan Leon’s Flashback Checker (Free), which handles the dirty work for you.  Read More

When it comes to video games, the term “fun” can be pretty subjective. Some people are content to stack blocks and watch lines disappear, while others want to shoot everything in sight. Then there are those who get a kick out of being scared to death—or close to it. If you fall in to that group, Frictional Games release of Amnesia: The Dark Descent ($20) on the Mac App Store is sure to come as frighteningly good news. Read More

When it was introduced, Flexibits’ Fantastical was a totally new interface for iCal on the Mac, bringing natural language recognition and more to your calendar. Now Cobook’s Cobook app (Free) is seeking to do the same for Address Book. Available as a public beta, this software allows you to interact with your contact information in a whole new way, and from what we’re seeing so far, it works quite well. Read More

There’s no shortage of hardware KVM—keyboard, video, mouse—switches out there for the Mac; we featured a particularly full-featured one from j5 create a few months ago. Now Bartels Media has decided to shake up the game a bit with the release of ShareMouse. Free for personal use, this piece of software replicates those physical switches, allowing you to share a mouse and keyboard between two computers… or up to a staggering 26 Macs or PCs if you’re a Pro User. Read More

We remember being skeptical at first, but LEGO getting the rights to make sets and games based on various movie properties was a smart choice. The games are ridiculously fun takes on some of our favorite titles such as Batman and Star Wars, injecting humor into the familiar plots. Now Feral Interactive is adding to the catalogue with the just released LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7 ($30), available in the Mac App Store. Read More