I am a sucker for software bundles. Whenever any of the companies that sell discounted bundles for less than what each individual title is worth, it can be difficult to decide if I really need the apps or not. Apparent is a less recognized player in this bundling game compared to MacUpdate or MacHeist, but they've been releasing bundles of themed software for a couple of years. This time around, they are offering software aimed at productivity that will cost you just short of $30. These titles include the following: TextExpander: TextExpander lets you use customized abbreviations to let you insert frequently-used text strings and images. ...

When a new version of Microsoft Office is announced, the news is almost always greeted with a mixture of both hope and dread. The new features always sound so great, absolutely brilliant in some cases; but along with them comes the fear of bugs and, as has often been the case, dreadful performance of the initial (and sometimes subsequent) releases of a given version. So the two biggest surprises in Office:Mac 2011 are the facts that it runs extraordinarily well and it’s quite possibly the fastest version of Office that Mac users have seen in years. What’s even more amazing is that this is combined with innumerable feature enhancements ...

These firmware updates aren't the sexiest announcements, but if you're running a mid 2010 iMac with hard drive issues then it should come as welcome news. Apple's latest patch fixes a hard drive issue that may prevent iMacs (of the 21.5-inch and 27-inch varieties) from booting properly. The 767KB update, which requires Mac OS X 10.6.7, is available through your computer's Software Update or through the link below. So what are you waiting for? Get downloading! [TUAW]

Intel has officially confirmed that USB 3.0 will be natively supported on their next architecture set to replace Sandy Bridge in 2012, Ivy Bridge. Ivy Bridge is a 22nm version of Sandy Bridge, and if it natively supports USB 3.0, we will likely see USB 3.0 in the Mac lines. The chipset is set to launch early 2012, so we won't have to wait long. Thunderbolt is pretty much directly competing with USB 3.0, although Thunderbolt has many advantages over USB 3.0. There is no way that the two technologies can't live in harmony on a single system, because even though USB 3.0 is slower, it is also backwards-compatible and is more than fast enough ...

I like to think of MacDirectory as a truly useful source of everything Mac, even if not everything is truly Mac itself. I am a true Apple fanboy, and I will probably stay that way, but I am also a deal hunter to the core, and I try to be frugal. If you are a Final Cut Studio user, you are probably familiar with alternative software Avid Media Composer. Cutting to the chase, Avid is offering their Media Composer software for just $995 as a cross-grade deal for Final Cut Pro users until June 17. This is still a pretty big price tag, but compared to $2,495 for the boxed version at full retail, it is a pretty incredible deal. If you are a ...

Adobe held a keynote yesterday at Photoshop World 2011 to demo an upcoming Photoshop app for iPad that supports a variety of interesting features that aren't available in the currently available Photoshop Express app. Check out this video from Photography Bay to see the Keynote: There is no word on when the app will be released, but it is still in development, so it will probably be awhile. The iPad's hardware is definitely capable of tackling a higher workload, so it would only make sense to make it a portable art studio. [source: Photography Bay via MacRumors]

For those of you who haven't heard or seen the banner ads, MacUpdate has launched their Spring Bundle of apps, and this time around offers some interesting software all for a small price of $50. The 10 applications (11 for the first 30,000 buyers) are $381 worth of software, so it is definitely a deal. This bundle seems to cater specifically to the power user who needs his workflow to be just so. It includes a lot of utilities, and they aren't cheap utilities either. It includes the following software: Parallels Desktop 6 ($79) virtualization software Divvy (first 30,000 buyers - $14) workspace manager 1Password ($39) password management ...

Along with sports streaming Apple TV 4.2 brought in some flickering screen issues and hiccups that woke the device from sleep and affected audio input. Apple has splashed water onto those maladies with this 4.2.1 update. Here's the list of fixes: TV compatibility –– Addresses issues that may cause the screen to flicker or display incorrect color on some older TVs. Wake from sleep –– Addresses an issue where Apple TV may not wake up from sleep. Audio –– Addresses an issue where audio may not be heard on some TV models after switching from another input. Stability and performance –– Apple TV Software Update 4.2.1 includes ...

Stellar, a company that has been building PC and Linux utilities since 1993, jumped onboard the Mac OS this year with its Stellar Toolbox suite of twelve disk utilities. The $99 application suite offers maintenance tools, secure deletion, S.M.A.R.T. monitoring, diagnostics, repartitioning and secure deletion. A separate product, Data Recovery, provides intelligent (file-format-aware) recovery tools as well as an available in-house data recovery service. Suntil Chandna, Stellar CEO told us, “"Stellar Drive ToolBox offers immense power to users to work safely and efficiently. Toolbox is very easy to use and remains effective in resolving ...

Microsoft's Senior Director of Product Management of Office for Mac, Pat Fox, today announced in a blog post that Microsoft will be giving out free 30-day trials of Office for Mac 2011. Their slogan is "Try It, Buy It, Love It," and they seem pretty confident users will like the improvements over Office 2008. They report that Office 2011 has exceeded their internal sales milestones, and they have received many complements on the new experience. I personally am happy with TextEdit for most of my documents, but there are times where I need more powerful software. The software is available in two variants, Home & Student and Home & Business,

Google has announced that Cloud Print, their driverless universal printing service that was released last April to the browser community. Last month, they opened this service up to the Chrome notebook pilot program. As of Monday, this service is now available to mobile users on iOS 3+ and Android 2.1+. You will be able to print any document you open in the Google Docs app, as well as .doc and .pdf attachments. This is an extremely useful feature, especially for those who don't necessarily have one of the select few AirPrint-enabled printers. The service is being rolled out over the next few days, but in order to use it, you'll have to ...

Our friends over at MacTech have done a comparison of Parallels Desktop 6 and VMware Fusion 3.1 to discern which is the better software. Both of these apps are virtualization apps that are designed to let you run an alternate operating system (usually of the Windows variety) alongside or integrated with Mac OS X. The tests that MacTech ran both softwares through were 3D graphics, boot times, searches, file compression, loading SSL pages, and several other general use tests. Very rarely did Fusion perform better than Parallels, and when it did it was part of the graphics testing in which Parallels was faster in 92% of. Both virtualization ...

Epson and Thinxstream have dropped the price on their AirPrint alternative, PrintJinni, from $6.99 to free. This will be a permanent price change, and will open up printing to all Epson wireless all-in-one printers. Whether or not this means AirPrint will expand further remains to be seen, but in the meantime, this is a great alternative. PrintJinni is available for all iOS devices running iOS 3 or later. The app is not yet available in the app store for free because the price change has yet to be processed. [via: Engadget]

The impressive utility tool Evernote has released a version 2.0 beta for the Mac that introduces a couple of new features that users should be excited to see. Now users can share documents to the public or specific Evernote users via the Mac client whereas before doing so was only possible through the Web-based version of the program. Unfortunately, you'll have to upgrade to the Premium service ($5/month, $45/year) to actually collaborate on these shared documents. The other new feature, Notebook Stacks, is free, free, free, thankfully. Now you can drag and stack folders into stacks and Evernote will even remember how your folders are ...

After the release of AirPrint yesterday, many people were disappointed that their printer was not supported and that there was no sign of it being supported without some sort of third-party software. One concerned member of the MacRumors forum emailed Steve Jobs to get to the bottom of it. Of course, Steve replied in his typical terse way: Member question: You got me all hyped up about AirPrint. Now with iOS 4.2 released, I find out that I can only print on 11 select printers. Seriously?! Steve's reply: Lots more coming soon. It's what it takes to make a giant leap to driverless printing, which is huge. Hopefully more printers will ...

Google is on a roll today, evidently, as they have released not only Google Voice for iPhone, but have now introduced Google Docs for iOS devices. It is web-based, but requires iOS 3.0 or later. (Mobile support is also offered for Android 2.2 or later.) With Google Docs, we're always trying to make you more productive - and part of that means making it possible for you to get things done from anywhere, at anytime. That's why we're excited that the new documents editor now supports editing on your mobile browser. We're rolling this out over the next few days. The video below is the editing feature in action, enjoy! [via: MacRumors]

There have been several different companies that have been successful offering bundles of applications, and now there is another one on the market that is taking a slightly different approach. MacBundles is inviting its users to pick and choose whatever apps they want in their bundle at $5.95 a piece if you buy between 5 and 9 apps, or $4.95 if you by ten or more. The full bundle is available with all 12 for $50, but if you really don't need all the applications, this could be a great solution for you. Their current offerings are BookMacster, Clean Text, HoudahSpot, IconBox, iMedia Converter, MenuEverywhere, PrintMagic, RingTone Studio, ...