VelaClock and VelaClock Deluxe Update

Vela Design Group has announced VelaClock Deluxe 2.1.11 and VelaClock 2.1.11, Dashboard widgets. For current customers, both versions are a free update. Users of the standard version of VelaClock may upgrade to the Deluxe version for $6.00.

VelaClock is a world clock widget with a highly configurable user interface. Users can quickly display the time of sunrise, sunset, or twilight, duration of daylight, moonrise, moonset, phase of moon, time zone information and more. VelaClock users include people that communicate locally and internationally (phone, email, iChat), photographers (seeking twilight times), outdoor enthusiasts and people interested in the moon and astronomy.

What's new for version 2.1.11:
* For Deluxe version, increased maximum selectable year to 2015 (short menu) and 2030 (long menu). Old maximum values were 2010 and 2020.
* Fixed problem with registration.


VelaClock Deluxe has all the features of VelaClock, plus:

1. Add user-defined places: defining and adding places allows cities that are not already built into VelaClock to be included. Any latitude and longitude will work; a GPS can be used to enter your current location. This feature provides accurate times for sunrise, sunset, twilight, moonrise and moonset for any location one enters.

2. Change the current date: changing the current date provides the ability to view information for any day in the past or future (from 1932 to 2030). Daylight Saving Time rules are up-to-date and historically accurate. This feature allows one to determine sunrise, sunset and twilight times for days in the past or future. Additionally, one can determine moonrise and moonset times as well as phase for any day. This is great for photography and outdoor activities.

Description for VelaClock Deluxe and VelaClock:


The interface of VelaClock can easily be configured to use a minimum amount of screen space or if the user wishes, more detailed information about the currently selected city can be displayed. The top pane of VelaClock displays a list of cities and corresponding local times. Multiple lower panes can be opened to display more information and take up more screen space (each pane has a full and a minimized version):

1. A light level bar that gives the user a picture of the 24 hours of natural light (bright daylight, three kinds of twilight and night) for the current day. A thin white bar indicates when the moon is visible. Daylight duration and the change in minutes of daylight from the previous day are also displayed.

2. Specific times for sunrise, sunset, moonrise and moonset. Begin/end times for civil twilight, nautical twilight, and astronomical twilight can also be displayed.

3. An image of the moon as seen in the sky above the currently selected city. This image accurately depicts the angle of the moon's crescent. Because this angle can change dramatically within the span of an hour, it is updated once a minute, as is the moon's phase. This view also contains the name of the current phase, as well as local times for the next and previous phase events (new, quarter, full).

4. An analog clock and detailed time zone information, including full time zone name and the number of hours the selected city is ahead or behind the user's current time zone (as set in System Preferences). The current season name (winter, etc.) is also displayed.

5. Deluxe version only: A Change Date pane that provides the ability to view information (sunrise time, etc.) for any day in the past or future (from 1932 to 2030).

VelaClock has been an Apple Staff Favorite many times in the past, and frequently appears in Apple's Top 50 widgets list. In the February 2006 issue of Macworld, VelaClock 1.4 was reviewed in Dan Frakes' Mac Gems column and received a four-mice rating. In issue 123 of DG magazine, VelaClock 1.4 received a favorable review in John Feld's Graphics Report column. VelaClock 1.0 was released on the same day that Mac OS X 10.4 "Tiger" was released, April 29, 2005. Since that day, VelaClock has progressively improved with more than ten updates.

No Internet connection is required. VelaClock is a unique widget in that it is completely self-contained. Many widgets are lightweight front-ends to web services; such widgets require an Internet connection. By contrast, VelaClock is designed to function without an Internet connection, and so is particularly useful for laptop users away from their home or office. Astronomical calculations are performed by an internal code module. VelaClock was designed specifically for Mac OS X users and was built using the Apple Xcode toolset. VelaClock requires Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger or newer. It is fully compatible with Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard.

Pricing and Availability:
VelaClock Deluxe is priced at $15.95 (USD). VelaClock Deluxe Household, for up to 5 computers within a single household, is priced at $23.95. VelaClock (standard version) is priced at $9.95. Existing VelaClock users may upgrade to the Deluxe version for $6.00.


Read More