Blizzard has always been a game software company near and dear to the hearts of Mac users everywhere. This is because of Blizzard’s insistence on simultaneous release of their games on both Windows and Macs. Well, we got more reason to heart Blizzard now.

In the beta of the forthcoming release of Ver. 2.2 of World of Warcraft, Mac users can now record in-game videos using Quicktime using the H.264 codec, with selectable resolution and frame rates. Vid-cap your red-eye quests and post them on YouTube! Aside from numerous fixes, the beta version also optimizes graphics performance on Macs with Altivec (PPC) or SSE (Intel) systems.

Not all Macs can smoothly record caps, however, as the requirements are a bit hefty. You’ll also need Quicktime 7.1.6 running on OS X 10.4.9.

The beta still isn’t available to the general public yet, and is only for beta testers running in the Public Test Realms of WoW. Not to worry, it’s expected to be released soon.

In my job as a tech reviewer I’ve had the pleasure of reviewing most of the line of the new Nokia N Series phones, but have benn forced to interface with Windows PCs since Macs and Nokias have never really seen eye to eye - or ear to ear. Until now, that is.

Nokia’s released a beta version of Nokia Media Transfer 1.0, which enables most of the Mac goodness we know and love to work with their N Series of mobile phones, including interfacing with iTunes, iPhoto and transfer music, video, photos, podcasts and all sorts of media natively and automatically via USB or Bluetooth. It’s a wonderful breakthrough app that just might bridge the long-running communication gap between Mac users and Nokia phones. It’s not comprehensive and still a bit limited, but it’s a great start.

Nokia Media Transfer 1.0 Beta is currently compatible with the N70, N70 Music Edition, N71, N72, N73, N73 Music Edition, N75, N76, N77, N80, N90, N91, N92, N93, N93i and N95 models. It requires at least a fully updated Mac OS X 10.4.9 or higher installation, and at least iTunes 7.0 and iPhoto 6.0. If you got one of the N Series and want to try it out, you can get it at the Nokia site here. It comes in a free 2.2mb ZIP package, and in English only. Keep in mind that even if it’s a 1.0 version, it’s still in beta, but it works fine with the N76 I’m currently using. So far.

There’s a sequential installation gallery after the jump if you want to get an idea what it does first before you try it:

[Read the rest of this entry »]