Another OS X update!

AirPort has been updated addressing reliability issues with 5GHz networks and issues that may result in slower performance in Logic Studio or MainStage.

iCal received updates fixing seven issues with the application including reliability for meeting requests, cancellation notices, delegation, and syncing with iPhone. The update also fixed an issue that prevents deleting an iCal event without notifying the creator.

iCal now includes a checkbox that excludes information-only calendars from affecting availability and a problem with copying and pasting attendees from one event to another has been resolved.

Performance issues when loading secure web pages in Safari has been resolved. Another performance issue where client certificates are on a smart card has also been addressed.

Spaces & Exposé received a couple of updates, as well. An Exposé problem that may result in only a subset of windows being shown has been fixed. An issue has been fixed when switching from a space keeps the Finder as the active application and dragging an application from the list of application assignments does not assign the app to the Space have both been addressed.

Mac OS X 10.5.4 includes additional RAW image support for several cameras and an issue with saving and reopening Adobe Creative Suite 3 files on a remote server has been fixed.

Improvements for L2TP VPN client reliability have also been made.

The update is available from the Mac OS X Software Update utility or directly from Apple’s Web site.

Thanks, Macword

Continue Reading »

Apple is preparing significant changes to the iPod nano as it prepares a dramatic ramp-up in iPhone 3G shipments, according to a report by FBR Research analyst Craig Berger. The investment expert now anticipates an updated, lower-priced iPod nano in the near future on top of refreshes for both the iPod classic and iPod touch. Further details are unavailble, though Apple has traditionally increased capacities of the iPod in August or September as flash memory and hard drive technology improves; the company took the unusual step this year of doubling iPod touch capacity to 32GB just a few months after the product was introduced.
Apple is also now said to be increasing its iPod production to match and is estimated to be building 15 percent more of the media players than it did with Berger's previous check, although he adds that the shift is now more towards the iPod nano and classic rather than the iPod touch, which has regularly been Apple's second-strongest iPod in terms of online Apple Store sales since its debut. The move is reported to push Apple's profit margins down for the sake of maintaining or growing iPod sales share.

Equally important is a large boost to iPhone production, according to additional reports. The analyst says that his firm now sees Apple shipping about 15 million iPhone 3G units over the course of the summer and fall quarters, or more than the 11 million estimated just last month. Seven million of these are due to be made in the July-to-September period alone, he adds. The numbers don't include production of the now discontinued original iPhone, about two million of which were believed to have been made during 2008.

With the increased production, Apple is now expected to readily surpass the goal announced last year of shipping 10 million iPhones during 2008, which it estimated at the time would give it one percent of the world cellphone market. The increase is also believed to help the bottom lines of Broadcom and Marvell, both of whom have chipsets in the new handheld.

Berger also concludes that Mac shipments are also stepping up in anticipation of end-of-year demand, with production increasing between 10 to 20 percent. Apple is poised to "knock the cover off the ball" and not only recover its iPod share but essentially sidestep any American or European economic downturns in the process, the analyst says.

Thanks, Electronista!

Continue Reading »

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates joins CEO Steve Ballmer at a town hall event Friday, Gates' final day as a full-time Microsoft employee.

Bill Gates' farewell speech to Microsoft reminded employees that the company knows how to come from behind as well as to lead.

"In some cases, those are the ones that bond you the most," Gates said, recalling some of the tougher times. "You know when IBM decides to attack you or when some legal ruling isn't quite right, and you have to do a press conference afterward."

Gates, whose voice cracked at times, thanked Microsoft's employees for all of their dedication as he marked his final day as a full-time Microsoft employee. (Note: I was not at the event, but Todd Bishop at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer has posted an audio clip on his blog, from which these quotes are taken).

"You've made it so much fun for me," Gates said. "There won't be a day in my life that I'm not thinking about Microsoft and the great things that it's doing."

For more on the event itself, check out reports from the Seattle P-I and from Reuters.

Thanks, CNET.

Continue Reading »

Apple hasn't sued Psystar yet, so it's no surprise the company is pushing the envelope as far as it can -- it's just introduced two rackmount servers that come with OS X Server pre-installed. The OpenServ 1100 and 2400 are both configurable with 2.5 GHz Xeon processors and up to 16GB of RAM, with the 1U 1100 sporting four drive bays and the 2U 2400 rocking six. Just like Psystar's other products, you're on your own (or at the mercy of Psystar) for service and support, since Apple won't help you -- and considering Psystar kept sending us support tickets for that DHCP issue but never actually called us to resolve it, that might make enterprise customers a bit wary. On the other hand, with prices starting at $1599, we're certain some desperate render shop will take the plunge.

Source: Engadget

Continue Reading »

Apple today announced it has sold over five billion songs through iTunes, and repeated its claim to have become the biggest US music retailer, citing data from NPD Group.
The company added that its now seeing 50,000 movies purchased and/or rented each day, "making iTunes the world's most popular online movie store," the company added.
iTunes features movies from all of the major movie studios including 20th Century Fox, The Walt Disney Studios, Warner Bros., Paramount, Universal Studios Home Entertainment, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), Lionsgate and New Line Cinema.
The iTunes Store now offers over eight million songs, over 20,000 TV episodes and over 2,000 films.

Continue Reading »