This post was written by Mary Joseff
Apple Inc. has released a fix for a serious security flaw in the Windows version of the Safari Web browser, which allowed the download of software from a malicious Web site without giving the victim any advanced warning. The patch, part of a security update recently issued by Apple, has changed Safari in a way that it would first seek permission from a user before downloading an application from a Web site to the desktop. In a description of the patch, Apple seemed to place the blame on Microsoft, saying the vulnerability stemmed from “how the Windows desktop handles executables.”
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Apple has released a software upgrade for the iPhone 3G and iPod Touch that adds new features and fixes some stability bugs. Apple users were caught by surprise when they connected their iPhones to iTunes 8 and found the 2.2 software waiting for them. As one of the iPhone’s most frequently touted applications by Apple, Google Maps received the most attention in iPhone 2.2. At the top of the list is Google Street View, which lets users take a virtual walking tour by navigating through street level pictures of areas that have been located through Maps.
Apple has launched its new MacBook consumer notebook family in India. The company is offering seven models in three product categories. All of them are built using the new mechanical design which uses a single ‘unibody’ ultra light aluminium chasis. This enables the company to claim the lightest, thinnest title in their class, for many of the offerings. The seven new releases include the MacBook, MacBookPro and MacBook Air categories. All the machines share Apple’s trademark design innovations: a gesture-sensitive touch pad; recessed ports; displays back lit with LEDs; light-adjusting keyboards.
Apple Inc. has filed a patent for a technology which would enable a layer of solar cells to be inserted under a touch-sensitive screen of the sort used in the iPhone. This would let owners of Apple devices, such as iPods and iPhones, charge the devices by leaving them out in the sun. If awarded, the patent has the potential to make the iPhone a truly portable device by eliminating the need for the phone to be connected to a power supply by wires.
Softbank Corp. has won the right to sell Apple Inc.’s iPhone in Japan and will market the popular next-generation phone in 2008, in a coup for the nation’s third-largest mobile communications carrier. For Apple, Japan’s large but saturated mobile phone market will be an important stepping stone in its bid to expand its global mobile phone share.
Apple has announced the launch of its new cross-border gifting service whereby the residents of the United Kingdom would be able to send Apple products as gifts for Christmas. This new facility provided by the company is limited to the delivery of products within select 15 countries of Europe. The door-to-door deliveries will be through courier. Any return or refund will be covered by the return policy of the Apple online store where the recipient of the gift will be based, in case of a need for return.
To fix its MobileMe software, Apple has released 27 patches, ending an embarrassing episode associated to the iphone launch. MobileMe is the e-mail service which was supposed to start working on the day of the launch of the iphone. However, it worked so unsystematically that the company had to keep shutting the service down and return the money to its customers. However, the provider had maintained that nothing was wrong with its service. MobileMe is a hosted service. Thus, Apple was able to make all the changes on the servers without the need to inform anyone. With the various aspects of MobileMe re-written, users report that the service is working fine now.