Macworld vendors to unveil new tablet PCs, apps for Leopard

Ranging from an Axiotron tablet computer to Parrot's Bluetooth wireless stereo speakers, many of the third-party software and hardware offerings on display at this week's Macworld will support Leopard.

Apple-owned FileMaker, computer tablet maker Axiotron, Bluetooth wireless specialist Parrot, and many other other hardware and software vendors congregating at Macworld San Francisco this week are showing their upgraded products for the new Leopard edition of Mac OS X.

For its part, Axiotron will display the Modbook, a Leopard-enabled slate-style tablet Mac aimed at combining the power of an Apple MacBook with Wacom's digitizer technology for art and design work. The hardware maker will also demo applications software from Corel, Autodesk, GPSNavX, Vision Objects, and Circus Ponies that specifically support the Modbook's capabilities.

Separately, Mindjet is expected to announce that MindManager 7 Mac, its software for visualizing and using information on Macintoshes, has now been extended to support the Leopard OS, including a new Quick Look feature in Leopard which allows a map to be previewed without opening the file.

Meanwhile, Apple's FileMaker plans to demo the final release of Bento, a personal database for Leopard which entered beta in November. During pre-CES activities last fall, FileMaker officials told BetaNews that they were looking at shipping Bento during either CES or Macworld.

Bento actually did make it out FileMaker's door in time for CES, but Macworld attendees will also be able to see how the personal database can be used on Leopard-driven computer hardware for purposes ranging from tracking children's progress at school to managing community projects.

Beyond including Bento themes for customizing the look and feel of the database, Bento works with Leopard effects such as the Waterfall option.

Back on the hardware side, Parrot will hone in at Macworld on products such as its Bluetooth wireless stereo speakers, which are reportedly capable of working with the Bluetooth Stereo (A2DP) capabilities new in Leopard for wireless streaming of music from iTunes.