We just released Übercaster v1.6.3 (finally…)

Download the new version from Übercaster’s download page or use Übercaster’s built-in update feature.

Features and fixes in v1.6.3 include:

• PleasantConnect is now able to run in 64-bit environments (aka Snow Leopard).
• Pressing “Backspace” deletes the selected chapter marker when the Chapters subview on the Cut layer is activated.
• Fixed several issues with Undo/Redo on the Cut Layer.
• Fixed an issue with AAC export when running on SnowLeopard <rdar://problem/6004695>.
• Fixed an issue with Skype panels concerning spaces and dashes in telephone numbers.
• Fixed a memory management bug concerning Skype panels.
• Fixed several bugs concerning displaying waveforms.
• … a lot more fixes and enhancements.

See Übercaster’s revision history for a full list of changes.

If you’re using PleasantConnect, please update the current installation of this system extension.

To do so, use the PleasantConnect uninstaller, included on the installation disk in the Extras folder. After restarting the computer, use the new Install PleasantConnect button in the Advanced Preferences view in Übercaster to install the new version.

Sorry again for the long delay of this update!

First of all, I’m very sorry for the lack of frequent Übercaster updates lately. Also I regret the stability problems some users have.

I’d like to explain some of the reasons for the recent slowdown on Übercaster’s updates in a bit more detail:

First and frontmost I’d like to emphasize, that we didn’t abandon Übercaster at all! We still support Übercaster, we still develop Übercaster, and we have exiting plans for Übercaster’s future.

Übercaster v1.6.3 was supposed to be released back when Snow Leopard came out, providing full Snow Leopard compatibility.

Unfortunately some unexpected additional problems with v1.6.3 on Snow Leopard occurred, shortly before the official release. This is why there is still gist a beta of v1.6.3 available.

If you have not downloaded it yet please give it a try. I just released v1.6.3 beta 7 and, although it is still tagged as beta, it’s probably much more stable than v1.6.2 (on Snow Leopard as well as on previous versions of Mac OS X).

You find a link to Übercaster v1.6.3 beta 7 on Übercaster’s download page.

The best way to fix a lot of the current problems with Übercaster would be to completely overhaul its code base and switch to “Snow Leopard only”.

Übercaster still runs on Tiger and this means that there is a lot legacy code in there, bloating up Übercaster’s code base. This makes it very hard to maintain the code.

A lot of problems would just disappear by simply throwing all legacy code away and replace it with new technology provided by Snow Leopard. Of course, Übercaster would greatly benefit by being “Snow Leopard only”: More lightweight, better performance, more stable and last but not least by providing a refined UI.

This has been (and still is!) exactly the plan for Übercaster:

1. Release Übercaster v1.6.3 as a baseline for future bug fixes on the legacy code.
2. Start the “Übercaster 2″ (Snow Leopard only) project.

Unfortunately there have been some unexpected obstacles and drawbacks in the last few view months.

A recent loss in the family definitely slowed things down. There are a lot of things to handle and even after most of them are done, it’s definitely not easy to go “back to normal”.

Then, the unexpected additional Snow Leopard problems mentioned above. This prevented us from releasing v1.6.3 so far (but we’re close to a release now!).

Last but not least, we have unexpected success with one of our iPhone apps. Although this basically is a good thing, it increased the time-consuming process for handling support requests considerably. Unfortunately, this really took me by surprise and caught me straight to something that you could call a “support trap”: More than 3/4 of my day I have been busy to handle support requests. So far, I’ve handled over 2500 support requests in 2009, most of them consisting at least 2 or 3 mails. There has been hardly enough time to do most basic bug fixing and updates.

We approach this problem by extending the “Pleasant Software Team” with a new member, dedicated to handle support requests.

We hope that this step lifts a lot of pressure off me in the long term and gives me much more time to advance Pleasant Software’s projects.

Ok, that’s it for now.

Sorry again for the lack of blog posts lately! That’s another thing I try to find more time for…

And don’t forget to check out Übercaster v1.6.3 beta7!

Finally: We’re switching to the new Birdie Online Course Editor tonight!

Unfortunately, it’s a little bit more work than just uploading the new web application: The new course editor is based on a new database model, managing Birdie’s course database. The new database is not only much more flexible for future extensions, but also faster (hopefully).

This also means, that Birdie on the iPhone and iPod touch will fetch it’s course data from a new source in the future. If everything is working as planned and expected, the whole switch should be transparent to Birdie users and there’ll be only a short disruption in the availability of Birdie’s course database during the next few hours.

We took the old course editor offline when we started the transition earlier tonight. But the new course editor should be up and running until tomorrow (Monday) morning, CEST.

The new course edior is not only much more comfortable to use and more compatible with all the different web browsers, it also enables users to directly edit existing course data. There’s already one tutorial movie for the new course editor available in German. English tutorial movies will follow soon. The editor itself will be available in German and English localizations.

We’ll keep you updated on the progress right here in the blog. 

[Update: Monday, 11 AM CEST]: The update has finished successfully. The new Course Editor is now available!

Ted Landau interviewed me at WWDC for the MacObserver.

Click here to read the interview on the MacObserver homepage.

At June 8, this year’s WWDC (Apple’s world wide developer conference) starts in San Francisco, CA. As in the past years, I’ll be there as an attendee, learning all news around Mac and iPhone development (I hope).

That’s why I’ll be out of office from Friday (June 5th) for about 2 weeks. Of course, I’ll continue to check e-mails and handle support requests during this time, but probably not as frequent as usual. Please excuse any delays during this time.

Übercaster v1.6.3 beta 4 is now available for download and testing.

Here’s a preliminary list of changes:

• Solved several issues with Undo/Redo on the Cut Layer
• Audio from the Audiochat panel and the Skype panel in the same project are now routed correctly. Audio in from a Skype panel is now also routed to audio out of the Audiochat panel (i.e. “Ubercaster Out”) and vice versa.
• Pressing “Backspace” deletes the selected chapter marker when the Chapters subview on the Cut layer is activated (i.e. has the keyboard focus and displays a blue border).
• Fixed an issue with AAC export when running on SnowLeopard <rdar://problem/6004695>
• Fixed an issue with Skype panels concerning spaces and dashes in telefone numbers
• Fixed a memory management bug concerning Skype panels (crashed sometimes on hang up).
• Fixed a GUI problem with the Source subview on Cut layer, when deleting the currently displayed track.

Please give it a try. Any feedback appreciated!

With Birdie v1.6, Pleasant Software takes the next step and releases a major update for its golf scoring application for the iPhone and iPod touch. In response to the #1 feature request, Birdie v1.6 enables users to start rounds in training mode. In this mode, Birdie tracks additional data like putts, drive length, fairway hit and more.

New in Birdie v1.6:

• New “Training Round” mode for tracking statistical data like putts, fairway hit, drive length etc.
• Measuring drive lengths with GPS on iPhone 3G.
• Extended scorecards.
• It’s now possible to send game results as CSV files by e-mail.
• When searching for courses by name, Birdie now automatically tries to find nearby courses for the entered location.
• Several more improvements and bug fixes.

We just added new content to the Developer section on our site: Creating a Microphone Enhancer for Übercaster.

Übercaster comes with a default MicEnhancer for Microphone panels and another one for Skype panels.
But it’s no problem to add additional MicEnhances with other characteristics or specially designed for specific devices. If you like to create your own MicEnhancer for Übercaster, please have a look on the new documentation.

After 8 days waiting, TwittMS has been approved by Apple and is now available in the App Store!

TwittMS is an application for sending and receiving Direct Messages within the Twitter network. Never before has this feature been accessible in an easy to use way. By concentrating on this specific task, TwittMS finally does it right and offers unmatched features: Conversations are displayed in chat-style views, contacts can be grouped on multiple pages, and much more! 

We just submitted TwittMS v1.0 to the iTunes App Store and now wait for its approval.

The TwittMS homepage has been launched yesterday. Besides detailed information on TwittMS and some FAQs, it also presents a nice screencast of TwittMS.

Be sure to get a glance at our new, shiny app on its product page.

We surely let you know when TwittMS gets approved and will be available in the App Store.