Filed under: Audio, Software, Developer
Roxio announces Toast 10 at MacWorld
Toast is the granddaddy of CD burning apps nowadays, an act that itself has become relatively obsolete (between iPods, internet radios, FM tuners, and streaming services, do we even really need to put media on a physical format anymore?). Roxio isn't sitting back with their software, though: they've released Toast 10 at MacWorld this week, and they are doing their best to stay on your Mac, whether you use your CD burner or not. They added streaming back in Toast 9, but 10 brings with it the ability to extract and control almost any sound or video that comes through your computer, from DVD footage to web video, exported out to TiVo, your Mac, your iPod, or anywhere else that plays it.
The app is available right now on the website for $79.99 (after a $20 mail-in rebate), or they're offering a "Pro" version that comes with SonicFire Pro (that you can use to piece soundtracks together), Bias SoundSoap SE (which will wipe hums and static from recordings), FotoMagico (slideshows from pictures), and LightZone (photo editor and enhancer), as well as a plug-in for Toast that will let you author Blu Ray and HD DVD discs. All that comes together for $130 (after a $20 mail-in rebate).
Whew. Despite the fact that almost no one is routinely burning CDs or DVDs these days, Roxio seems to be going all out to make sure there's still a need for Toast.
[via Ars]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
krye said 6:13PM on 1-05-2009
Maybe they'll fix all the Tivo bugs that have made our $99 software useless. Then again, they probably won't.
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Juan C. said 7:37PM on 1-05-2009
i agree 100%% i totally hope they fix the TiVo functionality... i haven't been able to successfully burn a single DVD of tivo'd shows on their crap-tastic software... it always LOOKS like it's working, but it never does.
I got an idea - why doesn't tivo team up with apple and make iLife able to read .tivo files? tivo is already considered the "apple" of the DVR world. seems like a match made in heaven to me.
Swimatm said 6:12PM on 1-05-2009
Uh, one word why people burn discs:
Backup.
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gozer said 6:28PM on 1-05-2009
backup on optical media? gross.
SpinThis! said 6:58PM on 1-05-2009
Gross... until something actually happens to the backup drive that you've been storing information on for the last few years. Only fools backup their hard drive with another hard drive backup. It's not a question of if your hard drive will fail—it's when. Last time I checked, even if the manufacturer offers, say, a 5 year warranty on the driver, your data that's on the drive isn't covered.
gozer said 7:42PM on 1-05-2009
backups go to 2 mirrored hdd's.
optical isn't permanent either. plus it's gross landfill.
Jon said 4:22AM on 1-06-2009
Reality check: no backup is permanent.
VanillaSpice said 7:53PM on 1-07-2009
Optical media has a much, much longer lifespan than any HD, like ten times as long (minimum - 100 years+ compared to ten years for a few lucky HDs). It has zero chance of corruption. It is far cheaper, so multiple redundant backups can be made without prohibitive cost. And the environmental cost of disposing a HD is much higher than an optical media disk, not to mention the higher environmental cost of the initial production.
Backup on optical media? Not gross, but smart.
reallycrazyguy said 7:28PM on 1-05-2009
Gah, for it's core feature, namely burning discs, this product is DONE. They couldn't sell upgrades on this anymore, as there is nowhere else to go with burning discs. So, they have started tacking on odd, unrelated features like sending video to Tivo's to try to get more money from people.
The unbelievable part of this upgrade is they are charging an extra $20 for an actual disc-burning related feature, namely to burn to Blu-Ray discs. This seems like raw gouging.
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radicaldreamer99 said 8:22PM on 1-05-2009
Backup into the cloud!
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Andre said 8:24PM on 1-05-2009
So, will burning Video_TS files finally wok in this version? :/
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Simon Arch said 11:18PM on 1-05-2009
Works just fine for me. What's going wrong? From personal experience I can tell you that the only time I had problems was when my DVD-RW drive was dying, or when I bought lousy media.
G said 8:33PM on 1-05-2009
Did they fix the fiddly little gimmick UI on the audio crossfade editor formerly known as Jam, or is this the first Toast upgrade I will skip completely?
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HB said 10:01PM on 1-05-2009
Video TS burning has worked flawlessly for me on ver 9..
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Simon Arch said 11:21PM on 1-05-2009
What, nobody's mentioned Disco or Burn or called Toast a bloated old dinosaur yet? ;) Seriously though, for what little disc burning I do Toast 9 works just fine for me. I see no reason to upgrade.
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Drunkus Rex said 12:51AM on 1-06-2009
So. 9 months after Toast 9, they expect us to pony up another $99 bucks for ... what? This sounds like Toast 9 with lipstick.
Earth to Roxio. This is Toast 9.2, *not* Toast 10. You don't get to round up, no money for you... To everyone. 2009 promises to be a fiasco for retailers, so wait until this hits the bargain bin.
Mac users are NOT stupid. This is BAD BEHAVIOR on Roxio's part. Bad Roxio, no biscuit.
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Steven Spiegel said 3:13AM on 1-06-2009
Rex,
My friend called me today and said he bought version 9 on December 1, 2008. When he saw that they released 10, he called Roxio and they wanted him to drop another $79.99 to upgrade!! What the Heck is with them anyway?? Software version 9 only good for 30 days? Shame on Roxio!! This is not how you keep people coming back for more!
eric f. said 11:23AM on 1-06-2009
really, if you can find a copy of v.8, you'll be just as happy. I feel that 9 was a total waste of my money.
Optimus Rhyme said 2:51AM on 1-06-2009
I'm still on toast 8. I prefer toast for burning as apples built in burn functionality feels awkward to me.
I never use any if the extra apps or features bundled with toast and would only ever upgrade for compatibility with a new os.
I will say that I burn files to CD when I'm giving them to people and they are too large to email. I also burn music CDs for my car as my stereo has no iPod input. People are still burning CDs and DVDs but I wish there was a Toast basic with just the cd burner functions and not all the other bloat.
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Jon said 4:22AM on 1-06-2009
Unfortunately this application is one of only two (the other being Adobe Encore) capable of burning Blu-ray video discs on the Mac. The end of the format war was supposed to end the uncertainty - now we're stuck in licensing hell.
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