On Tuesday, Roxio released version 11.0.2 of its Toast Titanium authoring software. The new version, available here, adds the following fixes and changes:

- Resolves issue causing slow write speeds on some recorders.

- Audio effects applied to video projects can now be correctly previewed in the Edit window.

- Various localization issues addressed.

Toast Titanium 11 requires Mac OS X 10.5 or later to install and run and retails for US$79.99.

If you’ve tried the new update and noticed any changes, please let us know in the comments.

Late Wednesday, software giant Google released version 6.0.2.2074 of its popular Google Earth program. The new version, a 23.8 megabyte download, adds the following new features:

- Fixed a problem where we were over fetching certain kml layer data and running into issuing of using large amounts of memory and slowness during zooming in.

- Fixed an issue of ruler tool disappearing. In 6.0 beta, when measuring using the path tool, if you break to add a place-mark then you go back to the path and click “save” the path and ruler tool disappears all together.

- Fixed an issue with incorrectly measuring long distances. Improved navigation in Street View inside buildings.

- Fixed a crash with elevation profile if there was empty gx:value node in KML.

- Optimized amount of terrain and imagery data fetched while viewing photo overlays.

- Fixed an occasional crash while viewing 3D buildings. Fixed broken fly-to links within local kml files.

- Fixed an issue where new place-marks added were with absolute altitude instead of being clamped to ground.

- Fixed an issue where the title for panoramio pictures no longer appeared when hovering over panoramic icons with your mouse if scale legend was enabled.

- Fixed an issue when there was occasionally a missing wall in 3D buildings.

- Optimized amount of data fetched in Street View.

- Fixed an issue where tilt by holding “shift” and moving the scroll wheel only worked in one direction on Mac.

The new version requires Mac OS X 10.5 or later to install and run.

Video Lan Client, the nigh-indispensable open source media player for multiple audio and video formats (MPEG, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, Divx, ogg, etc.), was updated to version 1.1.8. The new version, a 25.2 megabyte download, adds the following fixes and changes:

- Security update regarding video width concerning some demuxers.

- Support for a new Dirac encoder based on libschroedinger.

- Package of the new VP8/Webm encoder ‘Bali’.

- Notable updates in .mp4, .ogg, .ape demuxers.

- Major updates in most language translations.

- Fixes in skins2 supports of Winamp2 skins.

- Upgrade on the look of VLC for Mac OS X.

- Auto-detection for .txt subtitles is fixed.

- Fixes on Windows integration, notably regarding volume keys.

- Codecs updates.

- Many miscellaneous fixes.

VLC 1.1.8 requires Mac OS X 10.5 or later to install and run.

If you’ve tried the new version and have any feedback to offer, let us know in the comments.

Late Tuesday, Mozilla.org released version 4.0 of its Firefox web browser. The new version stands as an 26.8 megabyte download offered the following fixes and changes:

- Firefox 4 is available in over 80 languages

- Uses JägerMonkey, a new, faster JavaScript engine that is up to six times faster than Firefox 3.6

- Support for the Do Not Track (“DNT”) header that allows users to opt-out of behavioural advertising

- Firefox Sync is included by default, allowing you to securely synchronize between multiple computers and mobile devices

- Certain graphics rendering operations are now hardware-accelerated using Direct3D 9 on
Windows XP, Direct3D 10 on Windows Vista and 7, and OpenGL on Mac OS (OpenGL on Linux will be supported in the future)

- Direct2D Hardware Acceleration is now on by default for Windows 7 users

- WebGL is enabled on all platforms that have a capable graphics card with updated drivers

- Native support for the HD HTML5 WebM video format, hardware accelerated where available

- Firefox button has a new look for Windows Vista and Windows 7 users

- Tabs are now on top by default on Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux

- You can search for and switch to already open tabs in the Smart Location Bar

- The stop and reload buttons have been merged into a single button on Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux

- The Bookmarks Toolbar has been replaced with a Bookmarks Button by default (you can switch it back if you’d like)

- Crash protection for Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X when there is a crash in the Adobe Flash, Apple Quicktime or Microsoft Silverlight plugins

- You can turn any tab into an “App Tab” by right-clicking on it and selecting “Make into App Tab” from the context menu

- The default homepage design has been refreshed

- Overhaul of the bookmarks and history code, enabling faster bookmarking and startup performance

- Per-compartment garbage collection is now enabled, reducing work done during complex animations

- Additional polish for the Firefox Add-ons Manager

- Improved web typography using OpenType with support for ligatures, kerning and font variants

- Web developers can animate content using CSS Transitions

- Responsiveness and scrolling improvements from the new retained layers layout system

- HTML5 Forms API makes web based forms easier to implement and validate

- Support for the new proposed Audio Data API

- Support for HSTS security protocol allowing sites to insist that they only be loaded over SSL

- A new feature called Panorama gives users a visual overview of all open tabs, allowing them to be sorted and grouped

- An experimental API is included to provide more efficient Javascript animations

- Firefox now supports the HTML5 video “buffered” property

- Changes to how XPCOM components are registered in order to help startup time and process separation

- New Addons Manager and extension management API (UI will be changed before final release)

- Significant API improvements are available for JS-ctypes, a foreign function interface for extensions

- CSS Transitions are partially supported

- Core Animation rendering model for plugins on Mac OS X. Plugins which also support this rendering model can now draw faster and more efficiently

- Web developers can update the URL field without reloading the page using HTML History APIs

- More responsive page rendering using lazy frame construction

- Link history lookup is done asynchronously to provide better responsiveness during pageload
CSS :visited selectors have been changed to block websites from being able to check a user’s browsing history

- New HTML5 parser

- Support for more HTML5 form controls

- Web authors can now get touch events from Firefox users on Windows 7 machines

- A new way of representing values in JavaScript that allows Firefox to execute heavy, numeric code (used for things like graphics and animations) more efficiently

Firefox 4.0 requires an Intel-based Mad and Mac OS X 10.5 or later to install and run.

If you’ve tried the new version and have any feedback, let us know.

Late Tuesday, Apple released iTunes 10.2.1, the latest version of its multimedia/jukebox application for Mac OS X. The new version, a 75.6 megabyte download, offers the following fixes and changes:

- iTunes 10.2.1 also includes improved Home Sharing, and lets users play music from their iTunes library on any iPhone, iPad or iPod touch over Wi-Fi using iOS 4.3. Any other changes to iTunes from version 10.2 are likely minor, as Apple did not detail them.

iTunes 10.2.1 is available via Mac OS X’s Software Update feature and requires Mac OS X 10.5 or later to install and run.

Late Tuesday, Apple released iTunes 10.2, the latest version of its multimedia/jukebox application for Mac OS X. The new version, a 75.6 megabyte download, offers the following fixes and changes:

- Sync with your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch with iOS 4.3.

- Improved Home Sharing. Browse and play from your iTunes libraries with Home Sharing on any iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch with iOS 4.3

iTunes 10.2 is available via Mac OS X’s Software Update feature and requires Mac OS X 10.5 or later to install and run.

Google Chrome, Google’s new web browser, just reached version 9.0.597.84 for the Mac. The new version, an 32.2 megabyte download, offers the following the following changes:

- WebGL is a new technology which brings hardware-accelerated 3D graphics to the browser. With WebGL in Chrome, you can experience rich 3D experiences right inside the browser with no need for additional software.

- With Chrome Instant (à la Google Instant), web pages that you frequently visit will begin loading as soon as you start typing the URL. (“Look, Mom – no enter key!”). If supported by your default search engine, search results appear instantly as you type queries in the omnibox.

- Lastly, the Chrome Web Store is now open to all Chrome users in the United States. As part of this, we’ve now added a link to the Chrome Web Store on the New Tab page, along with two sample apps. (If you don’t use these sample apps, they will automatically disappear after some time).

Google Chrome requires Mac OS X 10.5 or later and an Intel-based Mac to install and run.

If you’ve played with it and have an opinion, let us know what you think in the comments.

You love your new MacBook Air.

You would have asked it to prom if it had been around back then.

And it might not be able to record video chats despite having the hardware to do so.

According to MacFixIt, a reader wrote to state has not been able to record video chats in iChat on his new MacBook Air notebook. While video chats work fine, for some reason the “Record Chat” option in the “Video” menu does not work and the program will not allow video chats to be recorded. This is in contrast to both prior MacBook Air models, all other Mac systems that support video chatting.

MacFixIt reader “Joseph” writes:
“I’ve just discovered that the new MacBook Air, unlike every other current-vintage Apple laptop and desktop, is unable to record a video iChat. My local Apple Store tells me that the problem lies within the hardware itself. Can anyone tell me more specifically what that problem is, and whether there might be any workarounds?”

In the midst of diagnosing the problem, the article suggests creating a new user account on the system to test iChat with and see if any user-related settings were contributing to the problem.

On systems that support recording, a green check will appear. On the MacBook Air systems experiencing this problem an “Insufficient CPU” error will be shown.

Apparently other users have reported experiencing this problem, and in a call to AppleCare, one reader was told it is caused by the latest model of MacBook Air having a hardware incompatibility with iChat that prevents video chats from being recorded. To see this, if you go to the “Video” menu and choose “Connection Doctor,” select “Capabilities” from the drop-down menu and the “Record video chat” option will show “Insufficient CPU” instead of a green check.

Some MacBook Air systems that are experiencing this problem have been able to record video when running Mac OS X 10.5.x, indicating this issue may be with the previous 2009 models that shipped with Mac OS X 10.5 in addition to the 2010 models that shipped with Mac OS X 10.6.

The hardware in the latest MacBook Air should be fully capable of recording video chats.

Therefore, this is likely a bug in iChat that is preventing this feature from working. It appears Apple uses a specific feature of certain CPUs in iChat’s recording feature, and this feature is either not present in the CPUs used in the latest MacBook Air systems, or it has been disabled in firmware or by how the CPU interfaces with the other hardware changes in the latest MacBook Air systems.

Meanwhile if you are affected by this issue, one workaround that’s been located is to use QuickTime Player’s video chatting capabilities. To do this, start up a video chatting session and launch QuickTime Player. Then start a screen recording session, switch to iChat, and set the video to be full screen. This will record the screen and your audio input which you should then be able to import into iMovie or any other editing software.

If you’ve seen this issue on your end, please let us know.

Late Wednesday, Apple released iTunes 10.1.2, the latest version of its digital jukebox/digital hub software. The new version, an 90.4 megabyte download, sports the following fixes and new features:

- Use AirPlay to instantly and wirelessly stream videos from iTunes to the all-new Apple TV.

- Sync with your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch with iOS 4.2.

- The update also allows for syncing with Apple’s CDMA iPhone (a.k.a., the Verizon iPhone available on February 10th).

iTunes 10.1.2 requires Mac OS X 10.5 or later to install and run and can be located, downloaded and installed via Mac OS X’s Software Update feature.

If you’ve tried the new version and noticed any major changes, please let us know.

On Wednesday, software company Delicious Monster released version 2.6.3 of the shareware favorite, Delicious Library. Delicious Monster allows Macs with webcams to scan the bar codes of any book, movie, music CD or video game, then creates an archive based on background information from the Internet. Additional features help keep the library organized and reseller’s tools allow for items to be quickly posted for sale online.

The update, a 17.3 megabyte download, adds the following fixes and changes:

- Removed strange ☛ and ☞ characters that suddenly appeared in our final localizations due to recent changes in our build system. These are still in this beta, but will be removed in the final.

- Fixed some minor coding errors I made a long time ago around multi-threading that could, in rare cases, cause crashes.

- Fixed some broken links in Help files.

- Changed the app name in the main menu to “Delicious Library” to comply with the Mac App Store (but now we aren’t in compliance with the Apple Human Interface Guidelines).

- Folded in various other changes made for the Mac App Store that shouldn’t change visible functionality but still need testing.

Full release notes can be found here and Delicious Library 2.6.3 retails for US$40 and requires Mac OS X 10.5 or later to install and run.