We've lost another Apple Master too young. Composer and conductor Michael Kamen died today of a heart attack at age 55. Mr. Kamen had worked on diverse projects such as arrangements for Pink Floyd's 1979 "The Wall" and other rock artists from Sting to David Bowie, numerous film scores including Grammy Award-winning Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and the Die Hard movies, and conducting the recent UK tribute to Beatle George Harrison. (See Andante's excellent article today on his acheivements, and for film music, you'll see some of your favorite movies at IMDB.) Mr. Kamen was a beloved Apple Master, as well, using Mac software like Sibelius who mourn his death today on their site. (Sadly, Apple has removed their page on Mr. Kamen along with the now-outdated Apple Masters site.)

Elemental Audio Systems announced today the availability of version 2.0 of Firium, it's linear phase equalizer. In addition to a redesigned user interface,version 2.0 brings Digidesign Pro Tools RTAS compatibility to Mac OS X. This plugin is also available in VST and Audio Unit formats for Mac OS X.

Available for $129 , Firium 2.0 will be provided as a free upgrade to registered users of version 1.

Apple today introduced the new 20-inch iMac , the largest flat-panel display
ever offered in an all-in-one desktop. The new 20-inch iMac joins the 15- and 17-inch models in the popular consumer desktop line and offers twice as much screen area as the 15-inch display model, enabling users to view more than two full pages side-by-side. The new iMac also includes Apple's latest operating system, Mac OS(R) X version 10.3 "Panther".

the new 20' iMac

Apple just updated its PowerMac G5 line. New features include a new 1.8G dual G5 model replacing the mono processor version, still Superdrive on all 3 models and PCI support (instead of PCI-X) on the entry level model.

The new G5 line becomes:

-G5 1.6GHz (800MHz bus) 256MB RAM / 80GB HD / SuperDrive / NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 Ultra. $1799 (1399 GBP - 2032 EUR)

-G5 2 x 1.8GHz (900MHz bus) 512MB RAM / 160GB HD / SuperDrive / NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 Ultra. $2499 (1899 GBP - 2750 EUR)

-G5 2 x 2GHz (1GHz bus) 512MB RAM / 160GB HD / SuperDrive /ATI Radeon 9600 Pro. $2999 (2299 GBP - 3348 EUR)

The new PowerMac G5 line

After drums and strings, a replacement for backing singers? Yamaha will soon release (planned at January 2004 NAMM) Vocaloaid, a VST plug-in designed to synthesize human voices. Planned for PC, but may we hope for a Mac version?