New releases of iCalMaker and Tunes Menu

On Monday 1st November 2004 new versions of iCalMaker and Tunes Menu will be released.

iCalMaker: The new version of iCalMaker, version 1.7.2, is a small maintenance/bug fix release. Specifically this release fixed:

- a bug that was only evident if iCal files contained events with different time zones was imported
- a small problem with handling of ‘comma-delimited’ files
- iCalMaker now handles some of the more ‘extreme’ formats better
- a bug in an Apple API that was causing some odd behaviour when dealing with ‘event duration’
- a small memory leak introduced in 1.7.1

iCalMaker will be available for download on Monday at MMISoftware and is a free upgrade for registered users. The program costs US$30 and can be purchased from our online store.

Tunes Menu: This release of Tunes Menu brings it to version 1.3.5.

The release includes a couple of new features:

1. The ability to do ‘manual’ searches, i.e. just open the manual search window and type in the details of the CD.
2. Amazon searches now show the price of used CDs in square brackets.

Tunes Menu will be available for download on Monday and is freeware.

PLEASE NOTE: TUNES MENU IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE AND IS NO LONGER SUPPORTED

Press release sent out for Tunes Menu

A press release has been sent out for Tunes Menu using the services of Al Harberg at DPDirectory

The press release reads:

For Immediate Release

Contact: MMISoftware, +44 781 391 2012, nick@mmisoftware.co.uk

Find on-line suppliers of music CDs from iTunes data

MMISoftware has released version 1.2 of Tunes Menu.

Tunes Menu is an easy to use menu-based CD search program for Mac OS X. The program adds a menu to the system menubar which allows rapid on-line searching for the best prices on CDs at selected local, country-specific, stores. To use Tunes Menu you simply select a song in iTunes, go to Tunes Menu and click ‘Copy and Find’. Tunes Menu will then search local suppliers for the best price and report any fndings via the menu. To purchase the CD you simply click on the store name in the menu and the store website will open in your default browser.

Tunes Menu works by taking a copy of the album and artist details from iTunes (either the playlist or the iTunes Music Store) and then searching a range of online stores specific for the region of the user. At present Tunes Menu will search stores in the United States (Amazon US, CDUniverse, CD WOW! and SecondSpin); United Kingdom (101cd, Amazon UK, CD WOW!, Kelkoo and WHSmiths); Australia (CD WOW!, dStore, ozcdshop and TopShop); Germany (Amazon and CD WOW!); Ireland (CD WOW!); Netherands (CD WOW!); Norway (CD WOW!), Sweden (CD WOW!); and Hong Kong (CD WOW!). For European countries not listed above Tunes Menu will default to Amazon (Germany) and CD WOW! (Europe), and if no local stores are available the program will default to Amazon (US).

Further stores are being added and users are encouraged to submit store suggestions to store_request@mmisoftware.co.uk

Tunes Menu is free and can be downloaded from MMISoftware (http://www.mmisoftware.co.uk/downloads/tunesmenu.dmg.sit). The program runs Mac OS X 10.2 or greater.

For more information, contact MMISoftware, PO Box 181, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE12 9WD, United Kingdom. Call: +44 781 391 2012 E-mail: press@mmisoftware.co.uk Internet: http://www.mmisoftware.co.uk/

About MMISoftware:

MMISoftware is a small company that writes software for Mac OS X. The company was founded in 2001 and is based in the UK. The company has a basic programming philosphy – it looks for simple solutions to complicated problems. In addition to Tunes Menu the company also produces iCalMaker (text-based iCal file editor), mailMaker, Power on X (a statistical power calculator), Web Photos (easy production of on-line web-based photo-albums), and a series of ‘drag-and-drop’ utilities including webSiteCleaner (slims down bloated html files), JPEGCleaner (slims down bloated JPEG files and prepares them for mailing), and quickWebAlbum (rapid on-line photo-album creation tool).

PLEASE NOTE: TUNES MENU IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE AND IS NO LONGER SUPPORTED

Tunes Menu has been updated to version 1.3.1

Tunes Menu has been updated to version 1.3.1. The update includes a number of bug fixes:

• Restored Kelkoo searching in the UK
• Fixed a problem with searches on dStore, ozcdshop, and TopShop in Australia
• Solved a minor problem with CD WOW! searches in Hong Kong

Tunes Menu is free, requires Mac OS X 10.2 or greater, and is available for download (204 KB) at http://www.mmisoftware.co.uk/downloads/tunesmenu.dmg.sit.

PLEASE NOTE: TUNES MENU IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE AND IS NO LONGER SUPPORTED

‘Tunes Menu’ updated to version 1.3

Well, an update of ‘Tunes Menu‘ has been released.

This release added a number of stores and contained a major bug fix.

The stores CD WOW! and SecondSpin were added for the US and 101cd for the UK. In addition, searches for CD WOW! across Europe were added, as well as local CD WOW! stores in Ireland, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway and Hong Kong.

The bug fix dealt with a rare bug in all Amazon searches (US, UK, and Germany) which was causing occasional crashes on some machines. (A tricky bug to track as it needed a combination of the right CD and the right store. A CD that caused a crash in the US, may not cause a crash in the UK or Germany.)

NOTE: TUNES MENU IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE AND HAS BE DISCONTINUED

‘Tunes Menu’ updated to 1.2 and now supports Mac OS X 10.2

‘Tunes Menu‘ has been updated to version 1.2 and support for Mac OS X 10.2 added.

‘Tunes Menu‘ is a Mac OS X program which provides a simple and easy way to search online music stores via a system-wide menu. The program is fully integrated with iTunes and allows rapid searching of selected local online music stores. The program currently support Amazon (World wide, Europe and UK); Kelkoo, and WHSmiths in the UK; CDUniverse in the US; and CD WOW!, dStore, ozcdshop, and TopShop in Australia. More stores will be added in the near future. (If you have a suggestion for a store please send it to: store_suggestion@mmisoftware.co.uk

Tunes Menu is free, requires Mac OS X 10.2 or greater, and is available for download (180 KB) at http://www.mmisoftware.co.uk/downloads/tunesmenu.dmg.sit. The update has added support for Mac OS X 10.2 and the CD WOW! music store in the UK.

PLEASE NOTE: TUNES MENU IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE AND IS NO LONGER SUPPORTED

Tunes Menu updated to 1.1

Tunes Menu has been updated to version 1.1.

The new version contains a number of minor bug fixes but most importantly adds 4 new stores for Australia:

• CD WOW!
• dStore
• ozcdshop
• TopShop

If you have particular store you would like added please e-mail store_request@mmisoftware.co.uk

Tunes Menu is freeware and can be downloaded from MMISoftware or by following this link.

PLEASE NOTE: TUNES MENU IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE AND IS NO LONGER SUPPORTED

MMISoftware releases ‘Tunes Menu’

MMISoftware has released ‘Tunes Menu‘. Actually it was released about two weeks ago but with the general frantic work to complete the project (and test it), and then to chase some bugs in version 1 (and release version 1.0.1), a blog entry on the subject got delayed.

So, what is ‘Tunes Menu’ and how did it come about?

What is ‘Tunes Menu’?

‘Tunes Menu’ is a simple and easy to use program that puts a small musical note icon on your toolbar. When you are in iTunes (either the music store, or one of your own playlists) you can select a song, go to the Tunes Menu and click ‘Copy and Find’. Tunes Menu will then go out on the net (assuming you are connected) and find selected local online stores and report back (in the menu) if the store has the CD and the cost. You can then simply click on the store name in the menu and this will open your default browser and take you to the store.

How did ‘Tunes Menu’ come about?

There is a simple story behind ‘Tunes Menu’. Before the iTunes Music Store (iTMS) was available in Europe I spent a lot of time copying track names etc. from iTMS in the US, via BBEdit, to stores in the UK such as Amazon, WHSmiths and Kelkoo to find the CDs I wanted and it occurred to me that this process could be automated. As with all programs the completion of a working application took longer than expected and by the time the program was complete iTMS had been launched in Europe. However, even with iTMS now available I still found that I was searching on line for the CD I had found in iTMS, hence it was decided to release ‘Tunes Menu’.

At the time of writing ‘Tunes Menu’ is at version 1.0.1 and it a 164 KB download at MMISoftware.

The program supports searches at Amazon in the UK, the US and across Europe; WHSmiths and Kelkoo in the UK, and CDUniverse in the US.

More stores will be added in the near future and if you have any store suggestions please send them to store_suggestion@mmisoftware.co.uk.

PLEASE NOTE: TUNES MENU IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE AND IS NO LONGER SUPPORTED