Tim Haddock

Digital artists tired of being tethered to their desks by cumbersome cabling will appreciate Wacom's latest addition to the pen tablet market--the Intuos4 Wireless.

Sleek, black, and beautiful, the Intuos4 Wireless pen tablet looks and functions almost identically to its wired cousin, the Intuos4 M ( Macworld rated 4.5 out of 5 mice ). Its updated pen technology still offers 2048 levels of pressure-sensitivity, tilt sensitivity, and an ergonomic, battery-free, DuoSwitch-equipped stylus with a variety of interchangeable nibs. It still features an ambidextrous layout with eight programmable ExpressKeys tagged by customizable illuminated (OLED) mini-displays. And it still incorporates a programmable Touch Ring with presets that facilitate quick operations like zooming or increasing brush size. Only now, thanks to Bluetooth technology, it's wireless. (OK, it does include a USB cable for battery charging, but that's to be expected.)

The Apple iPad ( Macworld rated 4 out of 5 mice ) may be this spring's most talked about touch-sensitive device, but for digital artists, the Wacom Cintiq 21UX interactive pen display still holds the title of top tablet. Thanks to a recent redesign, the 22-inch Cintiq now offers twice the pressure sensitivity of its predecessor, two strategically repositioned Touch Strips, and 16 programmable ExpressKeys that enable you to customize the tablet to fit your work style.

Traditional graphics tablets require you to sketch on one surface and watch as the results appear on the monitor on the other side of your desk. This approach can be tricky to master. With the Cintiq, you draw directly on the built-in monitor screen. Even better, depending on the software brush you select, you can achieve different artistic effects. Push harder and your stroke darkens. Tilt the pen for a broader line.

For years, documentary-style film and video makers have struggled to use jury-rigged tables within word processing programs to create the unique two-column scripts needed for planning documentaries, commercials, and corporate videos. Final Draft AV 2.5.2 aims to put a smile on those creative faces by taking over such time-consuming formatting duties so that filmmakers can focus their time where it matters--on content.

Warning: If you want to write Hollywood blockbusters, Final Draft AV 2.5 is not for you. Look instead at traditional screenwriting programs such as Final Draft ( Macworld rated 4.5 out of 5 mice ), Movie Magic Screenwriter ( Macworld rated 4.5 out of 5 mice ), and Montage ( Macworld rated 3.5 out of 5 mice ). Audio-visual (AV) scripts are a different beast, and the dialogue-heavy format of a movie script doesn't suit itself to planning mediums where video and audio are often captured separately. Enter the two-column script--video on the left, audio on the right.

Hollywood may love remakes, but ticket buyers beware: it's often tough to tell whether you're about to see a modern reinvention of a tried-and true tale, or a timeless classic ruined. Thankfully, Final Draft 8 is a solid sequel to what has become the industry-standard screenwriting application, offering an updated interface, a handful of feature enhancements, and a new file format.

As a 15-year user of Final Draft, I'm fairly accustomed to the program's quirks and subtleties. I wasn't really looking for an upgrade. But even I appreciated some of version 8's feature refurbs and flourishes. For example, users who take advantage of Final Draft's ScriptNote feature to give and get feedback from other writers will appreciate the readily accessible ScriptNote navigation controls, transplanted to the toolbar at the top of the main screen.

I know what you're thinking: it's hard to get excited about the traditional Intuos tablets now that Cintiq is on the scene. These days, buying a graphics tablet without a built-in pressure-sensitive LCD display seems about as novel as bringing home a big-screen standard-def TV for your home theater. But with the release of the Intuos4, Wacom proves that its veteran pro tablet line still has some new tricks in it yet: double the pressure sensitivity, a new iPod-style touch wheel interface, and programmable ExpressKey buttons complete with LED labels. All of this makes for better control and less reliance on your keyboard. The Intuos4 scores big style points for its new matte black look with gloss black accents. Southpaw sketchers will appreciate its reversible design, which ensures optimum usability for either lefties or righties via an easy selection in the driver configuration. And cable management is a breeze: the tablet is tethered by one pliable mini-USB cable, with the option to change cable routing to optimize your workspace setup.

The Intuos4 M (for medium) model, which I tested for this review, provides a roughly 9 3/8--by--5 3/4--inch drawing area, making its proportions a nice match for today's widescreen monitors. (The tablet comes in small, large, and extra large versions too.) The Intuos4 pen is very comfortable to hold, thanks to a soft rubber grip covering more than half of its length. As you'd expect from Wacom, the pen is wireless and you'll never need to replace a battery. The pen's DuoSwitch, which resembles a small rocker switch, resides beneath your thumb or index finger--whichever feels more natural. One slight squeeze on either end of the rocker is all it takes to right-click or double-click. And there's always the standby Wacom-style eraser nubbin on the other end should you make a mistake.

Most screenplays are doomed to fail from page one. The culprit? Bad story DNA. Mariner Software's Contour 1.1 story development software helps screenwriters develop a structurally sound movie blueprint that meets Hollywood studio development department standards and satisfies moviegoers. By bundling a proprietary story structure methodology (which you might traditionally find in a screenwriting how-to text) with a software toolset, Contour enables screenwriters to craft a pretty solid outline, even if they lack knowledge of basic movie storytelling theory.

Ever since Aristotle first described three-act structure more than two thousand years ago, story gurus have dreamed up paradigms trying to explain what makes a successful narrative tick. And screenwriters and studio execs alike have flocked to these methodologies, seeking a better understanding of what makes a movie work. Several popular screenplay-formatting apps have added outlining tools that allow writers to organize their story chunks according to these theories. But typically, they require the user to already have a solid grasp of screenplay structure theory. Not Contour. Contour works much like a software install wizard, asking the user to answer simple questions, constructing the foundation for a feature film in the process.

Many people think that a screenplay begins when a writer types the words fade in on a blank page. But in reality, nearly every good screenplay starts with a solid outline. Movie Outline 3.0.5 aims to set itself apart from the screenwriting software pack--Final Draft , Movie Magic Screenwriter, and Montage --by focusing on this vital pre-writing phase of the screenwriting process. The programs aims to help you build a strong structural foundation for the 120 pages of action and dialogue that will follow.

At the heart of Movie Outline's approach is an emphasis on steps rather than scenes as the building blocks of a story, which makes a lot of sense. Scenes tend to be tied to locations, and their boundaries are somewhat arbitrary. Steps are defined by what's happening. A single step--a hero searching for a lost set of keys, for example--can span multiple locations, indoor and outdoor, and hence multiple scenes.

The use of mind mapping software is becoming increasingly common in corporate America, but who wants to fork out hundreds of dollars just to create these tangled bubble diagrams at home? Thankfully, you don't have to. At less than $20, Markus Müller's MindNode Pro 1.0.3, is a fun, colorful, and simple-to-use application with a learning curve so shallow even your boss could figure it out.

Part of the reason MindNode Pro is so easy to learn is that there isn't much to it. A 30-second tutorial, and you're off and running. Within 15 minutes, I felt like I knew the program cold.

Looking for a mind mapping application that packs a powerful punch, takes it easy on your wallet, and is a dream to use, even for a novice? FreeMind 0.8.1 will get you two-thirds of the way there.

Java-based and open source, FreeMind is not going to win any beauty contests. FreeMind's own FAQ puts it best: "Mac OS X users usually have higher expectations when it comes to usability and UI consistency, so they might become frustrated by the lack of compliance to their user interface guidelines." Thankfully, what it lacks in looks, it makes up in ability--especially when you consider that other fully featured programs like Mindjet MindManager fetch US$129.

Google's Android is as an open-source operating system meant to give smart phone manufacturers a powerful platform on which to base their phones. It's even been touted as a challenger to Apple's iPhone OS.

But iPhone users have grown accustomed to thinking about phone hardware and software as part of a unified whole. So the first Android-running smart phone bears the burden of representing Android to the world. The Google-backed G1's user experience will be a function of the HTC hardware, the Google Android platform, and service provider (T-Mobile) combined. How will the G1 (introduced last month and scheduled for release later this month) stack up next to the Apple gold standard?

Some tasks seem impossible in their scale. Climbing Everest. Running a marathon. Writing a novel. Thanks to Mariner Software's StoryMill 3.1, aspiring authors need not be intimidated any longer. In breaking up this daunting task by focusing on scenes--the individual building blocks of fiction--and providing a framework for capturing all of a writer's research, ideas, and pages in a single document, StoryMill's hybrid word processor/database approach gives today's newbie novelist a significant leg up. Just add talent, dedication, and insight into the human spirit.

When most people think of a novel, they think of a pocket paperback, not the thousands of sticky notes, index cards, and legal pad--scribblings that fill the shoeboxes that fill the shelves that fill their authors' closets. StoryMill (called Avenir, prior to version 3.0) provides the structure for not only capturing all these musings, but for linking them together and building upon them until they crystallize into a story.

For many weeks after Apple's App Store opened its virtual doors, the most popular application in the place turned out to be nothing more than koi swimming lazily in a pond. And yet, if you were to glance at the Top Paid Apps listing at the App Store any time in recent weeks, you'd usually see Koi Pond holding down the top spot. Even now, with heavy hitters like Spore Origins and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed to contend with, Koi Pond remains a mainstay on the App Store's popularity charts.

Just how many downloads does it take to dominate the iPhone bestselling paid app spot for four weeks running? The Blimp Pilots, the five-person team behind App Store phenom Koi Pond, isn't telling. But there is a lot to learn from Koi Pond's journey from idea to actuality, and designer Bill Trost and engineer Brandon Bogle were more than happy to share with Macworld some helpful advice for aspiring iPhone developers.