Beta 4 or 5A258f - call it as the coder inside you would, but Apple's fourth build for the iPhone SDK Beta rolled out today. It's reportedly coming out with a plethora of tools, samples, frameworks - some that were present in the previous builds. But most importantly, SDK Beta 4 updates the simulator formerly known as Aspen with Open GL ES support. Find out more on this update at the full story.

Jiggy is more than just five letter word with a jelly groove to it. Apparently it's also the name of a new application authoring suite for the Apple iPhone, and it could make some serious waves in the Apple homebrew community. And maybe after that little dance party you're throwing to get the mood swinging, you can hop over to the full story for the lowdown on PsyKoh LLC's offering for the budding Apple homebrew developer.

Xcode 2.4.1 - the latest version of Apple Computer's integrated development environment for Mac OS X - has been released. Xcode is a user-friendly app that contains all the tools necessary to create, debug, and optimize Universal applications for both Intel and PowerPC platforms.

This update features bugfixes for a number of issues found in previous versions of Xcode including:

• Stability and security fixes in the Xcode IDE, cctools, debugger, and compiler
• CHUD has been updated to version 4.4.3.
• The 10.3.9 and 10.4u SDKs have been updated

The full Xcode package is is bundled with Interface Builder, AppleScript Studio, Java development support, and WebObjects development tools, among many others. For the latest Xcode information see the Xcode updated release notes page. It is available free to ADC members.

The score: Dell - 3, Apple - 1.

So far, those are the only exploding laptop cases that have been catching attention. Most likely, there are more laptops going boom somewhere, but are left undocumented. Anyway, it looks like Dell is not alone in its misery, as an Apple laptop exploded -- this time in Kristiansand, Norway. The employees of a company, called Ide`til Produkt AS, got the fright of their lives as a battery of one of their  12" Powerbook G4 laptop suddenly caught fire recently.

An employee divulges that smoke appeared from the corner of the laptop, where the battery was located. He moved away from it and then flames shot out of the laptop. The said employee, Ive Skrede, was quick-minded enough to push the battery to a trash can and to take it out of the office. The trash can fire intensified. This type of laptop uses lithium-ion batteries, and they create their own oxygen when they burn. If you could recall, Apple launched a worldwide Battery Exchange Program for the iBook G4 and the PowerBook G4.

After the fiery incident, Mr. Skrede contacted Apple about what had happened. The company took it seriously as the laptop will be sent to Apple labs in Ireland, and replaced. Whether the fire is caused by the company or by the owner's negligence, definitely the Apple brand would be hard to remove from this fiasco.