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TidBITS Watchlist: Notable Software Updates for 6 February 2012

Audio Hijack Pro 2.10.1 — While small in terms of numeric progression, Audio Hijack Pro 2.10.1 from Rogue Amoeba adds some welcome new features. The latest release of this audio recording program includes the latest version of the Instant On component (5.0), which can now capture audio from sandboxed applications purchased from the Mac App Store. The Multi-Process mode, previously used in conjunction when pulling audio from several Web browsers, is now used for additional applications to improve audio capture. Finally, audio pulled from input devices can now be configured in Audio MIDI Setup instead of always using
channels 1 and 2. ($32 new, free update, 5.2 MB, release notes)

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Sandvox 2.5 — Karelia has released Sandvox 2.5, a major update of its popular Web site creation software. This new version introduces a drag-and-drop Slide Show object that enables you to cycle through images, and it offers a variety of controls including timing, transitions, and captions. It also provides enhanced sharing capabilities via Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and email. And, it’s updated to take advantage of Mac OS X Lion features, including Resume, Auto Save, Versions, and full-screen view. The update is rounded out by improvements to .m4v file compatibility, Quick Look support, enhancements to text layout and
alignment, and localization in Italian, Spanish, and Chinese. ($79.99 new from Karelia or the Mac App Store, free update, 31.5 MB, release blog post)

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Firefox 10.0 — Continuing with its inane version numbering scheme, Mozilla has released Firefox 10.0, adding a few minor features to the Web browser and fixing a couple of bugs. (Firefox 8.0 and 9.0 were too minor to warrant mention — you can think of 10.0 as 4.6 in the real world.) The only feature you’re likely to notice is that the Forward button is now hidden until you’ve navigated back in browsing history. Firefox also now allows most add-ons to be compatible with new versions of Firefox by default, so you won’t lose access to add-ons every 6 weeks when Mozilla releases a new version. Also, Firefox 10.0 now
offers support for anti-aliasing for WebGL, CSS3 3D-Transforms, the HTML5 element for bi-directional text isolation, and HTML5 full-screen APIs. Fixed bugs include one that could cause a crash when closing a tab containing a Java applet and another that cropped up when moving bookmarks. Outstanding bugs worth keeping an eye on include slow scrolling in the main Gmail window, an incompatibility with Growl 1.3, jerky scrolling and text input, and failure to play Silverlight video on some Macs. (Free, 31.4 MB, release notes)

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Final Cut Pro X 10.0.3 — Apple has updated Final Cut Pro X to version 10.0.3, a minor version number adjustment that doesn’t properly convey the scope of significant changes to the professional video editor. Introduced to controversy last year, Final Cut Pro X 10.0 was a ground-up rewrite that lacked capabilities found in Final Cut Pro 7. Now, this third minor update restores some of those features. Multicam editing tops the list, with support for up to 64 camera angles (Apple’s Top Features page offers an impressive video of how multicam works, including
automatic synchronization using the tracks’ audio). Also new are advanced chroma keying controls, a media relink feature to reconnect projects and events to new media, the capability to open layered Photoshop files directly, a beta version of broadcast monitoring with third-party PCIe and Thunderbolt devices, and more. Now we’ll see if pros who shunned Final Cut Pro X at first reconsider the app for future projects. ($299.99 new, free update, 1.37 GB, release notes)

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