Recently, a lot of rumors have been flying around regarding the iPhone and Leopard release dates. One of the more recent ones said that both products wouldn't be making the projected deadlines and that its makers have moved back the release dates quite a bit. Apple has given word that both products are on track and that they should meet their expected respective launch time frames.

The recent statement given by Apple regarding the delay of the Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard to October was fairly recent. The company said that they had to "borrow some key software engineering and QA resources from our Mac OS X team" for the iPhone's development. Now, it's been said time and again, but perhaps Apple is really stretching their considerable resources quite a bit with the iPhone. Hopefully, both products come out without a lot of bugs because a lot of Apple fans will be very disappointed if they do.

It looks like the company is still sticking with their "quality over release date" policy. This is something a lot of other companies should emulate, especially with their OS releases.

 

Connect360">NullRiver Software released a new version of Connect360, tagged as Connect360 v3.0. Before we discuss the changelog for this new version, let's first take a look at what Connect360 is about.

Connect360 is an application that bridges the Mac to the Xbox 360 by allowing music playbacks and photo viewing on Microsoft's next-gen console. In previous versions, Connect360 has worked on the internet radio broadcast capabilities, as well as iPod libraries access on the Xbox 360. Apart from that, they also made the application compatible with Xbox's Spring dashboard update, and required Mac OS X 10.3.9 or later.

On to what's in store for us in this new version:

• Choose where your videos are stored
• Support for H.264 and MPEG4 videos in MOV and MP4 containers
• Support for iTunes Podcasts in the above formats
• Bug fixes

If you're interested to get Connect360 v3.0, we suggest you follow our Read link below. As for the registration of your own Connect360 copy, you better prepare US$ 20 for it.

Rob Mead at Tech.co.uk shared some of the "secrets" that were revealed at the Apple shareholder's meeting at Cupertino, California.

Third-party apps for iPhone. First, it seems that the iPhone will be open to third-party applications. Apple CEO Steve Jobs had said that the Apple iPhone wouldn't be open to third-party applications, that it would be a closed system based on Mac OS X (the goal was to make sure that the iPhone wouldn't be buggy). But it now seems that Mac developers are free to make apps for the iPhone.

Leopard delay. Steve Jobs also said that the delay of the launch of the Mac OS X Leopard operating system, the next version of Mac OS X, was partly due to the iPhone. According to Jobs, the issue isn't money; the issue is talent. It seems that Apple has dedicated a lot of time and talent to the iPhone, and there just wasn't enough left over for the Leopard. "I wish developing great products was as easy as writing a check," said Jobs. "If so, then Microsoft would have great products."

The smaller and innovative iPhone. It looks like there's a smaller iPhone on the way. Apple has made an application to the US Patent & Trademark Office for a sleek little device with a display on each side (patent number 0070103454). This "Back-Side Interface for Handheld Devices" has a rather interesting concept:

An electronic device uses separate surfaces for input and output. One of the surfaces (e.g. the bottom) includes a force-sensitive touch-surface through which a user provides input (e.g. cursor manipulation and control element selection). On a second surface (e.g. the top), a display element is used to present information appropriate to the device's function (e.g. video information), one or more control elements and a cursor. The cursor is controlled through manipulation of the back-side touch-surface. The cursor identifies where on the back-side touch-surface the user's finger has made contact.

In other words, the new iPhone is a dual-screen set-up with a touch screen. Hm. That reminds us of the Nintendo DS (over 40 million units sold worldwide).

Apple and the mobile phone market. Jobs also said that Apple really has to look deeper into the mobile phone market. In 2006, there were 135 million MP3 players and 200 million PCs sold. But in that same year, there were 1 billion mobile phones sold. That's a big market to explore.

If Apple thinks that the mobile phone market is worth exploring, then we at QJ.NET wish Apple the best. Several of us love our iPods, and if Apple's iPhone can do for mobile phones what the iPod did for "mobile audio and video," then we don't mind the Leopard delay at all.

In case you turned off the Microsoft AutoUpdate feature on your Mac, be informed that there's a new version of MS Office 2004 ready for download. The file is around 59.5 MB and contains several improvements that will enhance the security and stability to your system.

Aside from the above mentioned, Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac 11.3.5 also contains fixes for vulnerabilities that, when exploited by attackers, overwrite the contents of your computer's memory with various malicious codes. Online site Power Page noted as well the following additions:

• Corrects a bug that can increase the use of system resources when files or objects are dragged to an Office application windows
• A patch for Excel which would prompt the program to suddenly open workbooks or other files
• A patch to reduce PowerPoint's number of unexpected quits
• An update which improved responsiveness in Microsoft Entourage

The update should be used on Mac OS X 10.2.8 (Jaguar) or any other higher versions of Mac operating system. Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac 11.3.5 applies to Office 2004 Standard Edition, Office 2004 Student and Teacher Edition, Office 2004 Professional Edition, Word 2004, Excel 2004, PowerPoint 2004, Entourage 2004.

The Read link below should take you to Microsoft's download page for the update.

 

It seems Apple is getting into the swing of things, bringing the buzz of its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) to the public. Forum-goers are abuzz with news that Apple is sending out teaser emails enticing people to sign up for the event. The company's main draw: a feature-complete version of the Mac OS X Leopard.

For those having difficulty reading the text, here's what it says:

At the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference, we're planning to show you a feature-complete version of Mac OS X Leopard, and you can take home a beta copy. Be the first to get your hands on the Leopard beta and get a huge head start on development. Register now for WWDC 2007 - it's your ticket to the future of Mac OS X.

According to the teaser, early registration's also been extended to May 11, so Mac lovers everywhere can save some extra cash with their applications for the June event. As for what "feature-complete" means, we're certain that grabbing the beta will tell everyone more about it. Till then, we'll just have to sit tight and wait for the WWDC.

According to Mac News Network, Apple's recent patent application clued in a couple of images detailing the Mac OS X Dashboard and its ability to be manipulated in a 3D fashion. In addition to being able to flip the Dashboard to reveal several other faces of multiple Dashboards, each new face will sport different assortments of widgets as defined by the user of the system.

While it's a novel idea, the concept looks just as similar to Beryl, a breath-taking interface modification for users of supported flavors of Linux. In a similar fashion, Beryl allows Linux users to flip their entire desktop to reveal other different faces of the cube, and each new face also sports a different assortment of windows as set by the user.

Mere "coinkidink"? We'd like to say yes, but then the Apple patent doesn't rip off the concept of "Vista-killer" desktop interface to level against Microsoft's Aero interface. You can hop to the article in MacNN through the "Read" link below, but before you do, check out a demo of just what Beryl does and judge for yourself. Thanks to w00styl3 for the video.

It seems like file sharing between Mac OS 9 and Mac OS X has been crippled by the latest OS X security patch. According to MacNN, one of their readers reports that when a Mac OS 9 user tries to copy a file to an open Mac OS X file share, the fileshare "disconnects and the Finder reports that the share unexpectedly closed down."

The MacNN reader in question supports numerous clients across London and has clients that require Mac OS 9 to run older applications such as Quark 4 and other DTP applications. Other users have reported encountering similar issues. Another MacNN reader, though, has come up with the following workaround:

From within the Chooser:
Be sure to hold down the OPTION key while double-clicking the fileshare. This should force TCP/IP access rather than Appletalk access. That ought to fix your trouble. If not, then select the TCP/IP button and access the server that way instead of via Appletalk.

What about you guys? Anybody out there using Mac OS 9 experiencing this? Leave a comment and let us know.

Apple is slowly but surely opening the seals on the details regarding its upcoming Mac OS X platform release. One of the interesting revelations is about iChat, a messaging tool which will change the way you think about software of its kind.

The iChat application will be much more than a run-off the mill instant messenger. Aside from the ability to send quick messages, users can stream videos, 3D images and slide shows along with digital audio.

Apple says that developers are putting in the last screws to the iChat package, but it also revealed that AppleScript makes the software easy to modify for updates in the future.

"One of the powerful capabilities that the Instant Message framework gives you is the ability to determine if a contact in a user's buddy list is online or not," said the company in a technology overview and adds "you can also get the Address Book data for that contact as well as other status information."

On the techy side, Apple says that developers and users can take advantage of the 'presence' function, which allows the identification of your buddies whenever they're online to alert them of a Theater event or other what nots. iChat may have a few more months before rolling out, but these details already have Mac-heads drooling for more. For more details, follow the read URL.

It's been a while since we had any news about Frets of Fire, the Guitar Hero clone for Mac OS X. Early this year, we posted a GlovePie script that let Wii owners (or Wiimote owners, at least) use their Wiimotes with the game. Today, we came across a post at The Unofficial Apple Weblog announcing that the Guitar Hero II X-plorer guitar controller can now be used in Frets of Fire thanks to the Pref360 controller driver.

The whole thing originally came about when TUAW blogger Mat Lu asked Colin Munro, the creator of Pref360, to help him get the X-plorer controller to work with Pref360 and, in turn, Frets of Fire. If you're not up to doing some technical work on Pref360 itself, don't worry. The latest version, 0.05, now has native support for the X-plorer controller.

According to Lu, the Pref360/X-plorer combo "works great with Frets of Fire; just install Pref360 and then go into the Frets of Fire button setup and you should be able to assign the fret and strum buttons (the whammy bar is not yet supported in Frets of Fire)." You can download Pref360 for free from Tattiebogle.net.

While Mac owners can expect to enjoy enhanced computer security by way of a recently released security update for 25 OS X flaws, another new Mac owner is about to enjoy a new MacBook Pro laptop by hacking into it.

This is the case of software engineer Shane Macaulay, who has reportedly broken into one of two MacBook Pro computers set up at the CanSecWest conference's Hack a Mac contest. This successful hack attempt comes after a revamp of the contest rules last Friday, and after previous hack attempts had failed.

Macaulay has reportedly teamed up with security researcher Dino Davi Zovi for the attempt. "The vulnerability and the exploit are mine," said Zovi, regarding how the pair worked. "Shane is my man on the ground."

As for how they plan to split their bounty, Macaulay is expected top keep the MacBook Pro laptop, while Zovi is planning to submit the detected exploit to security company TippingPoint Technologies to apply for their Zero Day Initiative bug bounty program. "Shane can have the laptop, I want the money," Zovi said. That's the rough of what's happened at the event - the full technical details are available at the source link.