14 DAY TRIAL // Welcome back for another batch of free Mac apps. Ready to throw that TV set out the window and make more room around the house? Good, we've got just the Mac app for you. Also, if you're the proud owner of an iPhone or iPod touch, we've get a free utility app for you that lets you customize the appearance of your device. A third piece of software (demo version), aimed at those who want to stay in shape, is also available.
Livestation – Watch TV on Your Mac, for Free
The Livestation player, just launched this week, can receive a range of live radio and television broadcasts over a wired or wireless broadband connection. Not only that, but the Mac version of the app is "extra stylish, mac centric, and totally awesome," according to the developer. It doesn't need Silverlight either.
What it does require, though, is an Intel Mac running OS X Tiger or Leopard, a broadband connection with a minimum 800Kbps download speed and, if you live in the UK, a full TV license to legally watch TV on your computer.
Besides letting you watch popular TV channels like BBC, EuroNews, Discovery and more, for free, the application also sports a chat feature. Simply hit the chat bar, assign yourself a nickname, and enter the chat room to meet and talk to other Livestation viewers! You can use the search tab to search for new channels. The image quality is alright (not as high-quality as the description had us thinking), while the sound quality is impeccable.
Since this app practically gives you the chance to watch otherwise-paid TV channels, there are some aspects to point out. One of them is that you should only install and use this version of the Livestation player if you are comfortable using pre-release / beta versions of a piece of software. This is more of a trial version of Livestation, which initially provides television and radio services from a limited number of international news broadcasters for testing purposes. Nevertheless, it's free to use until the developer decides to roll out the first public release. According to the makers, additional channels will be available in the future as well.
Also note that, while you are viewing or listening to a channel, some amount of the stream may be shared with other users of Livestation Video. This consumes a significant amount of network capacity in time. Using Livestation may transfer more than 200MB per hour. This could quickly exceed the limits on usage set by some broadband service providers, so you should make sure that your network provider is able to support this level of sustained usage. Reception of these services may also require a television or radio license in some countries. You should make certain you're not using these services without a license.
All this being said, you can grab Livestation here, install it and watch free TV in a matter of seconds. You will be asked to create an account (e-mail and password). Livestation requires Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger) or later. UPDATAE: the description of Livestation has undergone a few changes, to remove a statement saying the software was only available for Intel Macs. Since this edition of Softpedia Recommended Mac Apps of the Week was posted, the developer has updated its lineup with a PowerPC version of Livestation. The PPC version is also available for download using the link above.
ImagePhone - Wallpaper Maker and Manager for iPhone / iPod Touch
This week, developer Polo Planet Software released a stripped down version of its Phone Wallpaper X application, named ImagePhone. The application is free to download and use, for now (Public Beta Version), and lets you make and manage your own iPhone / iPod touch wallpapers.
The program also sports editing abilities such as crop and resize. Users can even apply Core Image filters, such as Sharpening, Sepia, Gamma, Blur, Crystalize, Edges and Kaleidoscope, to name a few. Some examples are available below.
Josie Maran Wallpaper - courtesy of iphone-wallpapers
As you can see, ImagePhone uses a virtual iPhone display for live preview. Image editing is easy thanks to the adaptable graphics editor that allows to crop and resize images in accordance with the defined exact position and size, Polo Planet notes, while native iPhone support allows uploading backgrounds easily. You can automatically create backgrounds from iPhoto library, and let ImagePhone prepare images for better compatibility with the iPhone's display. ImagePhone also integrates with Address Book, and lets you import your contacts' pictures. Wallpapers can ultimately be transferred to the iPhone, or can be exported into different formats.
ImagePhone is a Universal Binary (good for both PPC and Intel Macs). It requires Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger) or higher, and at least 35 MB of disk space. The free app is right here.
BeFit - Track Calories for Weight Loss
Developed by Jon Brown, BeFit is an easy-to-use Mac app that will help you track the caloric value of your meals. It's intuitive, functional and practical, and lets you track your foods using lists, food groups, the Spotlight searching feature in OS X, and more. You can even print out your food lists.
BeFit lets you track every single piece of data found on the Nutrition Facts panel on the foods that you eat everyday. Besides tracking calories, you can also keep a tab on stuff like sugar intake, which is great for diabetics, for instance. Track fats taken in vs. calories, if you will - the possibilities are limitless. The developer also notes on his website that BeFit is "a culmination of everything that [he has] been getting as feedback on the Calorie Tracker widget. People want to be able to track calories from foods, make their own lists and create / plan meals all in an intuitive interface."
BeFit's goal is mainly that of creating food lists. The program calculates and graphs the food items included in them, and uses Apple's Core Data technology to browse through a database of over 7,000 foods. The foods are stored in your own lists, and hefty graphs are created.
Making lists is easy as pie (although pies aren't exactly “easy,” if you know what I mean). Just press the + button on the bottom left hand corner and it will automatically generate a new list. To name it, just click once and it will enter edit mode. Type in the name for your new list. To remove a list, just select the one you wish to delete, and press the delete key.
To view all the food items, choose the Food Library list in the left side menu. This will automatically show you all 7,500+ foods in the database. You can scroll down and add the foods you want by clicking on the food and dragging it into a list. If you can’t find the food you’re looking for, then search for it in the provided field above. The built-in Spotlight search will narrow down the library based on your search for ease of use.
Best of all, you needn't worry about saving your progress within BeFit. Each time you quit or open the program, it reads from a recent backup of your data, because a new backup image is automatically created and stored upon quitting it.
Referring to the user-friendly interface, developer Jon Brown points out that BeFit is as intuitive as other Core OS X applications. Also noted on the BeFit page is a list of features to be included with the first update. With the next release, users will benefit from food quantities, custom food items and improved report functionality.
Current users of Jon Brown Designs products receive a 50% discount buying BeFit now. The demo version of the app can be found here.
A similar nutrition-tracking tool, developed by the folks at NSObjects, is Calories. It costs 19 bucks and offers custom foods, metric measures, advanced reporting, printing, and search features. The demo version supports 100 foods, so if you're not a fancy eater, yet need to track your calorie intake, better look into it. You get to keep it forever.
