Who among us didn't want to start a career in illegal computer hacking after watching the movie Wargames (and who actually did)? You can fulfill your cyber crime fantasies with Uplink, Ambrosia Software's corporate hacking game.
You play as a covert agent hired to gain information from rival companies' computers. As you go, you earn money to upgrade your own equipment, gain deeper access and more.
I only played briefly, but I had fun. Ambrosia released verison 1.6.0 earlier this week, which is a Universal Binary. Other changes include
Updated game content
Toggle fullscreen and change resolutions in-game without restarting Uplink
Various bug fixes and enhancements
If you like DEFCON, another Ambrosia title (we took a look at DEFCON here), you'll probably enjoy Uplink. A single license costs $25US. Uplink requires Mac OS X 10.3.9 or later.
We're kicking off a few weeks of giveaways with a little bit of Macworld swag from Ambrosia Software. If you didn't attend Macworld, now's your chance to pretend you stopped by the Ambrosia booth anyway (for the full experience be sure to watch our interview with founder Andrew Welch too).
What's in the box? A WireTap Studio t-shirt (XL), a WireTap Studio pin, and a DVD with trial versions of all Ambrosia apps. Basically what you see in the image to the right. Not bad, considering all you have to do is leave a comment on this post (be sure to check your email and validate the comment so it appears). We'll leave comments and the giveaway open from now until Friday just before midnight (11:59 Eastern). Oh, this one is still just in the US, you gotta be 18, etc. Full rules after the jump.
Recap:
Ambrosia Macworld swag giveaway, prizes are a t-shirt, pin and DVD.
To enter, leave a comment on this post. If you're really cool you'll tell us your favorite Ambrosia app.
Comment must be left before January 25, 11:59PM Eastern time.
Three winners will be chosen, and their prizes shipped directly from Ambrosia.
Mike spoke to Ambrosia Software founder Andrew Welch about their newest app, WireTap Studio. Andrew gave us a few clues as to what to expect in the next version of Snapz Pro, and had a little criticism for Apple regarding games on the Mac.
Update: Despite the presence of the iToner 1.0.5 press release on Ambrosia's news page, the download page is currently offering up 1.0.4. Ambrosia's press rep has contacted us and says, "Sorry for the confusion and also the inconvenience. We are aware of an issue with iToner 1.0.5 and are currently working on it. For now, please revert back to using 1.0.4 -- we'll release another update in the near future. Thanks for your understanding and support."
The busy bees at Ambrosia Software have cranked out several updates this week, including the $15 iPhone ringtone tool iToner 1.0.5. (improved support for iPhone OS 1.1.1 + bug fixes); the free envelope printing utility EasyEnvelopes 1.0.6 (unspecified fixes and enhancements); the $15 menubar search enhancement iSeek (Leopard compatibility); and the $19 file transfer streamliner Dragster 1.0.5 (Leopard fixes). All can be demoloaded from Ambrosia directly.
Now that there's a blessed method for using GarageBand (not free, but bundled with new Macs) to create custom ringtones, it will be interesting to see how iToner continues to evolve and extend.
After our interview about iToner last week, Ambrosia Software president Andrew Welch sat down with us again to talk about his company's newest product, WireTap Studio, which was released yesterday. WireTap Studio will supercede WireTap Pro allowing users not only to record any audio source on their Macs, but also to edit that recording in a lossless manner. As you can probably tell from the interview, Andrew is clearly excited about the product and expects it to make a big splash in the market.
As we reported yesterday, Ambrosia Software is working hard to get their iPhone ringtone maker iToner working again after it was broken by the iPhone 1.1.1 update. Last evening the president of Ambrosia Software, Andrew Welch, was kind enough to sit down with us (virtually, anyway) to comment on the iPhone update and iToner, as well as to share some of his outlook as a third-party developer more or less beholden to Apple's business decisions. I think he draws an important distinction between the sort of hacking that went into the actual third-party iPhone applications and what iToner does. Speaking as he does from long experience, I think he has an interesting perspective on the development of third-party applications in the Apple ecosystem.
In the world of iPhone ringtones, there's the Apple way, and there's the way everyone else does it. For the latter, Ambrosia has released iToner which lets you use any MP3 or AAC as a ringtone for your iPhone (we first looked at iToner a couple of weeks ago). Changes in version 1.0.2 include:
Improved iTunes 7.4.x support
Fixes an issue where iTunes ringtones might not properly sync
Improved handling of playlists
GUI improvements
You already paid for you music, why pay for it again just to use it as a "ringtone?" iToner costs $15US and requires Mac OS 10.4.10 (and and iPhone. But you knew that).
I'm cleaning out the TUAW tipline, and I notice that we accidentally glossed over the fact that Ambrosia Software recently released version 1.0.5 of their game pop-pop, a fun little Breakout clone with a bunch of extras, and a pretty wacky art style. The latest release is a Universal Binary, is also compatible with Leopard, and contains other bug fixes and enhancements.
pop-pop is available from their website as a free trial, with the full game costing $25. And yes, the fact that you call it that tells me that you are, in fact, ready for a little pop-pop in the attic.
As Mat posted, Michael Simmons of Ambrosia SW dropped us a note yesterday to give a heads up about their new iToner product. $15 gets you a universal binary application that allows you to install new ringtones and easily assign them to your contacts.
I thought I'd follow up his post with a quick trick to assign custom ringtones to individual contacts.
To do this, choose Phone > Contacts and select any of your contact names. Tap Edit and scroll down the contact information page to tap Assign Ringtone. Select a ringtone and tap Info (top-left) to select that sound or select None to use the default ringtone for this contact.
Welcome to Monday, first day of the work week for those of us with such desk-chaining schedules. Today's prize is a way to brighten your Monday: a t-shirt! No, not a cool "Somebody's Got a Case of the Mondays" tee, like this one. It's our limited-edition TUAW shirt, the first of its kind, with supplies running pretty low at this point (we're hoping the winner wears a small, but we'll accommodate as we can). To sweeten the deal, today's winner also gets an Ambrosia pack, complete with t-shirt, cap, mug and neat-o pack of playing cards.
To enter, leave a comment on this post between 5AM and 11:59PM EST on August 27. Validate the comment for it to qualify, and only one per person please. Full rules on our TUAW Back-to-School Giveaway page. Good luck and thanks for reading!
UPDATE: Yes, we have tees in sizes S, M, L and XL! Also, this is the week we'll have the iPhone giveaway post-- stay tuned.
Earlier today, Ambrosia released version 2.1.1 of their popular screen capture tool (we've written about Snapz Pro X several times). For the unfamiliar: Snapz Pro X lets you capture what you're doing on your Mac's screen - or just a portion thereof - as a Quicktime movie. It's a fantastic way to make screencasts, and also snags audio and still images.
Version 2.1.1 brings a number of changes, including:
Improved registration experience
Several squashed bugs, including the blank frames at the end of some movies and garbled video capture on older, nVidia-equipped Macs
Improved performance for audio captures
We like Snapz Pro X quite a bit. Try it out.
A single license will cost you $69US. It's universal and requires Mac OS 10.3.9 or later.
Earlier today, Ambrosia Software released an update to DEFCON, the online, global thermonuclear war simulator (we first posted about DEFCON in April). It's quite fun - think of a high-tech game of "Risk." You must defend your territory and conquer even more. Changes to version 1.4.3 include:
Improvements when creating games on a LAN
Other game play bugs squashed
Defon costs $25US, is universal and requires Mac OS 10.3.9 or later. A free demo is available for download.
Who among us hasn't seen the geeky "Wargames" from 1983? More to the point, who didn't want to play Global Thermonuclear War with Joshua, the lovable hunk of circuitry that teaches us that, "The only winning move is not to play." So true, Joshua. So true.
To learn the lesson for yourself, check out Defcon. It's an online, multiplayer game (you can play solo if you wish as well) that challenges you to outwit your opponents and blow them all to smithereens. After all, what's a little mutually assured destruction among friends?
Defon costs $25US and is available from Ambrosia's website.
"Remember those super-cool space ships you doodled on graph paper in Middle School?" asks Ambrosia.
No, I answer. I remember the super-cool space ships I doodled last week in my college Poly-Sci class, though, so I'll play along.
Ambrosia just recently announced their new Mac-only, kinda-space-fighting game, SketchFighter 4000 Alpha. "Kinda," because while it plays like a space-fighter game, the setting isn't space: it's an old doodle-pad, and the ship, enemies, and scenery all take the form of hand-drawn sketches (hence the name). You go around "blasting cute little lady bugs" and other Middle School-esque doodles while exploring and fighting through various challenges. Ambrosia boasts "killer resolution independent OpenGL graphics," "unique two-player gaming mode that's unlike anything you've ever seen," as well as a level editor and online-play. Says our own Scott McNulty: "SketchFighter is loads of fun!"
SketchFighter is $19, and you can download a demo version (you can't do various things, like get past the second boss or create maps) from Ambrosia's website.
Inside Mac
Games has a nice roundup of reactions from various Mac
OS X game developers on the news of Boot Camp. Reactions on the whole are positive concerning the opportunities
that Boot Camp offers, and speculation from the likes of Aspyr, MacSoft, Freeverse and Ambrosia are hopeful that this
will help boost the Mac gaming platform even faster.
Check out the roundup, as there are some great comments from
individuals at these companies that touch on where they think the market is headed, and what we can expect in the
not-too-distant future of Mac gaming.
Who among us didn't want to start a career in illegal computer hacking after watching the movie Wargames (and who actually did)? You can fulfill your cyber crime fantasies with Uplink, Ambrosia Software's corporate hacking game. 
We're kicking off a few weeks of giveaways with a little bit of Macworld swag from 
After our 
As we 
In the world of iPhone ringtones, there's 
Welcome to Monday, first day of the work week for those of us with such desk-chaining schedules. Today's prize is a way to brighten your Monday: a t-shirt! No, not a cool "Somebody's Got a Case of the Mondays" tee, like 
Earlier today, Ambrosia released version 2.1.1 of their 
Earlier today, Ambrosia Software released an update to 
Who among us hasn't seen the geeky "
Inside Mac
Games has a nice roundup of 
