Mac OS X Security Update 2005-009 available Apple has released the update through Software Update. Changes have been made to apache_mod_ssl, CoreFoundation, CoreTypes, curl, iodbcadmin, OpenSSL, Safari, sudo and syslog. The update weighs in at 5.9 MB. More information can be found here on Apple's support pages. - posted by Patrick Armbruster @ 23:27 [article link]  0 comments

Apple releases Broadband Tuner Apple's released Broadband Tuner 1.0. While I first thought, this was some sort of iTunes add-on that lets you listen to radio stations, I suddenly recognised that iTunes already had that feature and read again. It's actually a utility that tweaks the system parameters of your Mac for highspeed connections (5 Mbps and up). There's also an uninstaller available. - posted by Patrick Armbruster @ 17:05 [article link]  0 comments

intel's Apple group. s'that news? Apparently, intel has formed an internal Apple group. What this group does, intel won't say. But quite probably, they're trying to woo Apple into buying into intel's new technology. Now: What about this is actually newsworthy? I fail to get this, somehow. It's nothing but logical that someone at intel thinks about intel's bigger customers, and Apple - while not the biggest computer maker overall - is certainly important, since it's a good "press child". This intel Apple group, in my opinion, would actually be more importantm, if they were actively developing processors for Apple devices. But this doesn't seem to be the case. At least we've not heard anything about such... For now, let's just file this under "oh, okay." :) - posted by Patrick Armbruster @ 18:08 [article link]  0 comments

Mac OS X 10.4.3 (intel) cracked. According to various sources who've played with the build, you can again make OS X run on any newer PC (your mileage may vary...). The interesting thing about it is that it was previously believed that since the 10.4.1 build which was on Apple's developer kit when it shipped, Apple had tightened the lock. However, it seems that hacker "Maxxuss" has applied the very same technology for the latest build as was used on the original 10.4.1 build.
Unless Apple is merely playing with the hackers - rumours are that Apple's actual consumer hardware will be quite a bit different, and so would the operating system's locking code - it seems like Apple will have an OS piracy problem... - posted by Patrick Armbruster @ 14:52 [article link]  0 comments

Yonah T2600 at 2.16 GHz: PowerBook. Early next year, intel will release their Yonah line of mobile CPUs to the public - and Apple will apparently be a part of this launch according to our sources. According to them, Apple will release both an intel iBook as well as an intel PowerBook in the first quarter of 2006 already, despite previous assumptions that Apple's intel hardware would have to wait until mid 2006.
The Yonah processor family to debut as both a dual core and a single core variant. Top of the line will be the T2600, a dual core processor clocked at 2.16 GHz. There's also going to be versions clocked at lower speeds (T2500, T2400 and T2300 at 2, 1.83 and 1.66 GHz) as well as single core versions (T1300 at 1.66 Ghz would fit the iBook) and low power versions (L2500, L2300 etc.). The first intel-based Macintosh products could very well be announced at MWSF in January, although the iBook's processor variant is believed to be introduced only later in the quarter by intel. - posted by Patrick Armbruster @ 13:43 [article link]  0 comments

5G iPod: No need for Apple's expensive TV cable... Simply get a 'normal' A/V-RGB cable you can get at any electronics store. This blog entry at macdevcenter.com explains that you merely have to "hack" a little bit. The thing that makes Apple's RGB cable proprietary is that with a normal cable, you have to use RED for video (instead of yellow), yellow for white and white for red. In other words: It's a little trick by Apple to make more money. But one that can be circumvented easily. - posted by Patrick Armbruster @ 15:03 [article link]  0 comments

No new friends for iChat users? AOL gives AIM users two new friends. And they're always online and ready to chat with you. One is your "shoppingfriend", the other is "moviefone". They just show up! And are there! For you! Day and night! ;) ... At least on my iChat (using an AIM account, not a .mac one), though, they don't show up. And I'm not angry about that. - posted by Patrick Armbruster @ 16:24 [article link]  0 comments

Windows apps on OS X (X86) According to several sources (one visible here in French), it's easy today already to install Darwine (WINE for OS X) on an intel machine running Mac OS X (X86). And if you, say, doubleclick notepad.exe, it simply starts and runs. In Mac OS X. Might not work for complex applications, initially, but as we've reported several times since Apple's intel announcement in June 2005, CrossOver Office is being made compatible with intel Macs, so if you want to, you'll be able to run the Windows version of Office 'natively' on Mac OS X without having to reboot into Windows.
The question, of course, is whether this option has more pros than cons at the end of the day. It gives the user some instant flexibility (run those Windows-only accounting applications, for example...), but it also takes away a reason to actually port the software to OS X! On the other hand, Apple moving to intel processors might take away a stone from the road for developers to port applications to OS X.
Either way: If Microsoft isn't fast and good with bringing Virtual PC to intel Macs, there probably already will be a cheaper and better solution available! So let's treat this as good news. ;) - posted by Patrick Armbruster @ 11:52 [article link]  1 comments

Apple seeds Mac OS X 10.4.4 8G9 Shorty after the first build (8G7) emerged, Apple has issued another. There are a couple of changes between the two builds: Bluetooth and iSync, iDisk, SMB, MS-DOS FS, SearchKit and WebKit. - posted by Patrick Armbruster @ 11:27 [article link]  0 comments

Single proc. G5 1.8 GHz Firmware Update available Through Software Update. Can anyone confirm that this actually solves all the problems with those machines? Does it? Or doesn't it... - posted by Patrick Armbruster @ 17:37 [article link]  1 comments

Apple seeds 10.4.4 8G7 A first build of Mac OS X 10.4.4 has been seeded to developers now. Apple wants to concentrate on CoreAudio, the DVD Player software, the HIToolbox, QuartzComposer, QuartzComposerQTComponent, QuartzCore, ScreenReader, SoftwareUpdate and VideoConference. We'll continue to report as information trickles in. - posted by Patrick Armbruster @ 09:31 [article link]  2 comments

Mac OS X 10.4.4 - when? According to some developer contacts, Apple plans on delivering the next update to Tiger at MWSF in January 2006. AppleInsider mentiones that in earlier years, Apple has released OS X updates shortly before christmas, but seeing how wider testing will only begin at the end of November for 10.4.4, we fear that a final release could take until after MWSF (with machines unveiled at MWSF using special builds of either 10.4.3 or 10.4.4).
We'll give you the usual reports on the development, once our sources write in with first impressions of pre-release builds. - posted by Patrick Armbruster @ 23:49 [article link]  0 comments

VLC 0.8.4-test2 The people at videolan.org bring us a first public test version (well, test-2, actually) of the next VLC application. You can directly download the 13 MB package here. VLC is widely used to play all sorts of DivX, XviD, WMV and MPEG media, as well as the most simple way of watching DVDs with different region encoding without having to upgrade the firmware of DVD drives. - posted by Patrick Armbruster @ 01:24 [article link]  0 comments

Sony Ericsson Z520i Want a rather cheap, stylish, nice and light-weight clamshell phone that's supported in 10.4.3's iSync out of the box? Then you should definitely take a look at the Z520i. SE has upgraded their default interface with a couple of things that make life easier, such as showing the last few contacts when you're creating a new short message. I've had it for a couple of days now, and I gotta say: Certainly a nice phone. - posted by Patrick Armbruster @ 02:12 [article link]  2 comments