New & Noteworthy: MACAST; AmEx; MacFixIt on Talk City; more

MACAST 1.0, a revamped renamed version of the MacAMP MP3 player, has been released. Note: one install per copy John Morton found that this update only allows you to run the program on one machine. It prevents you from installing the software on two different machines through the use of an Internet database the authors keep when the registration is processed. This means, for example, that if you use the program on your desktop Mac and on your PowerBook (when you are away from your desk), you will have to purchase two copies!

eOne injunction Japan court grants injunction against Sotec for copying the iMac. An Apple press release has more details.

American Express Blue not yet for Mac A reader found that the new American Express Smart Chip and Reader, designed to be used with the company's "Blue" secure online credit card, is not yet compatible with the Mac. He received the following reply from American Express Interactive Customer Service: "The required software is not yet compatible to Macintosh Operating Systems, but should be available soon."

Update: Schwab also not for Mac Joe Strauss adds that the new Schwab Velocity Equity Trading Software also does not run on a Mac. Here is what Schwab says about this new software: "Currently our new Velocity equity trading software runs on Windows 95 or 98 only and is not yet compatible with the Macintosh platform. However, we want to assure you that our Macintosh users are equally important to us and we are working to remedy this situation."

FireDrive DAT shipping Mactell Corporation has announced that their new external FireWire tape backup drive, the FireDrive DAT, is shipping.

Extensis name change A press release reveals that Extensis is now Creativepro.com.

The CPU Scorecard web site allows you to select avariety of CPUs for speed comparisons. I'm not sure what data it uses to calculate its scores, but the G4 certainly does well.

Schiller interview Apple Vice President of Product Marketing Phil Schiller fielded questions from Germany's Macwelt magazine. A MacWEEK article has the summary.

Join MacFixIt.com staff members on Talk City tonight at 7pm PT (10pm ET) to answer your troubleshooting questions live. Ted Landau and other members of the MacFixIt staff will be there. You can use Talk City's Java client available at http://www.talkcity.com, come right into the chat through this link: EZtalk Computer-MacSOS or download the Mac chat client IRCLE and join the server: chat.talkcity.com.