Iphone Updates

Filed under: Software, Open Source, Beta Beat

If you’ve been cursing the big price tag and lack of VBA support in Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac, OpenOffice.org is coming to your rescue. Last September, the OpenOffice.org dev team announced that they would be porting the suite to run natively on the Mac. Previous versions ran under the X11 environment, which not only hogged resources, but didn’t have the Aqua look and feel we all love.

OpenOffice.org 3.0 is still beta, but a quick test-drive of the application showed that it is almost ready for prime time. OOo is a full-featured office suite, complete with word processor (Writer), spreadsheet (Calc), presentation package (Impress), drawing app (Draw), as well as database tools (Base) that are sadly lacking in other office suites.

The feature set of OpenOffice.org 3 is impressive:

• Imports Microsoft Office binary (.doc, .ppt, .xls) and Office 2007/Office 2008 for Mac (.docx, .xlsx, .pptx) files
• A solver component for solving optimization problems, something lacking in Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac
• Spreadsheet workbook sharing
• Display of multiple Writer pages while editing
• MS Office-like comments in Writer
• Limited VBA macro support — which is still better than no support
• Extensibility with Mozilla Thunderbird and Lightning, Sun Wiki Publisher and Report Builder

The price of OpenOffice.org 3 is, as always, free! If you’re up to test-driving beta ware that may not necessarily be as stable or fast as your other office suite(s), click here to be transported to the beta site.

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Filed under: Tips and tricks, Internet, Graphic Design

This was included in WebKit builds beginning several years ago, apparently, but is something I recently stumbled upon. Historically, Safari has been pretty insistent on making sure web page form fields (like drop-down menus and buttons) retain the Aqua look-and-feel. Web designers, on the other hand, have gotten used to choosing colors and font sizes for those controls, so they fit in with their site’s design.

Hopefully everyone can now be happy: Safari 3 allows web designers to style form controls with CSS. The results are pictured: instead of a glossy, Aqua-like control, Safari displays a matte-finish control in the color and size of your choosing. You can even apply background images to form controls. If you don’t apply styles to your controls, then Safari retains the Aqua look.

This shouldn’t require any changes to code that’s already written for other browsers: Safari 3 should pick right up on the formatting, and display it as the designer intended. It does, however, open up WebKit-specific CSS to your form controls.

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Filed under: Internet, iPhone

It looks like the reports of AT&T offering free Wi-Fi at their hotspots were not unfounded. Above you can see a new ‘Included Feature’ that AT&T is bundling with all their iPhone plans. Along with long distance calling, visual voicemail, call forwarding, 3-way calling and Caller ID you now get ‘Access to AT&T Wi-Fi hotspots.’ Not too shabby at all.

[via iLounge]

Update: And like that it is gone! AT&T really needs to get their story straight on this one.

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OtterBox is feeling charitable (not to anyone who hates pink gadget accessories, mind you) by launching a pink version of their Defender iPhone cases to raise money for the Avon Breast Cancer Crusade…

Mophie has received the coveted “Works With iPhone” badge for its Juice Pack Battery Extender, making it an official accessory for keeping your iPhone alive that bit longer. In fact, it boasts up to 8 hours additional talk time, 24 hours audio playback, 7 hours of video playback, and 6 hours of Internet playback, plus 250 hours of standby time…

Yesterday I reported that O2 had run out of stock of both the 8GB and 16GB models. It seems that’s not quite true. Either an iPhone-hating O2 employee was let loose on Photoshop and had too much fun typing “8GB…

The free WiFi at AT&T hotspots for the iPhone has been an interesting and on going saga. It has been confusing, with AT&T allowing free WiFi access, then just as fast, taking it away. Either way, it is back now, and more than that, it is official. Hopefully this time it is here to stay.

It seems that now, the access to the WiFi is included with iPhone plans. That is about as official as it can get, and in light of this, it is most likely you will not see AT&T disable it again. It is still not known if AT&T will deploy extra security measures, as anyone with a little know how can get free WiFi on there laptop using this offering.

The service is available at all of the 17,000 AT&T hot spots in the U.S. To use the service, all you have to do is connect to the hot spot using your iPhone. You will be presented with a screen that will ask you for your phone number. The number must be linked to a valid AT&T account, that has an iPhone active on it. This means that people with a jailbroken iPhone can not use the service. That is unless of course they have a buddy with an iPhone on AT&T.

[Via Mac Rumors]

Some interesting job descriptions posted on Apple’s international websites have been revealed. It would appear, that Apple is possibly seeking individuals to do some field testing of their new wonder device. The listing have popped up in more than one location, with the listing for Australia, as well as the U.K.

The listings call for someone who “technical understanding and experience with GSM/GPRS, EDGE, CDMA and UMTS”. Interesting, as the iPhone does not use CDMA. They could be talking about W-CDMA, but that is what UMTS is based off, and why be redundant. The first three listed are what we know in the current iPhone.

We do not know how long it has been up, just that since it is up, it is still available obviously. The listing in the U.K. is even more specific. In Germany Apple is looking for someone who “will apply his/her detailed technical knowledge of wireless standards (3G, Wi-Fi) to understand, prioritize and resolve issues found during certification”. It just may be possible there are some people out there that are packing a 3G iPhone, getting the device thoroughly tested in preparation for launch.

[Via RegHardware]

Filed under: iTS, Education, Podcasts

Hot for Hindi? Up for learning Uyghur? Wild about Welsh? LifeClever tipped us off to the fact that there are 926 free language training podcasts currently available in the iTunes Store. A quick glance at the available podcasts shows that you can learn 39 languages from Arabic to Yiddish with the help of your iPod or iPhone.

To find this treasure trove of linguistic goodness, launch iTunes, pop into the iTunes Store, click on the Browse link, and navigate to Podcasts > Education > Language Courses.

What am I going to learn on my summer vacation? I’m waffling between Sexy Spanish and Latinum. This is a great way to get your kids to learn a language and keep them occupied during that long, hot road trip to Wally World this summer.

Thanks, Tipster Chanpory!

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Filed under: Software

Software Update is pretty awesome for Apple software, but have you ever wanted that functionality for the rest of your apps? 19-year-old developer Louka Desroziers created a nifty little menubar app called LogicielMac Update that checks for updates to the applications installed on your machine. There are options to automatically download the updates and install them. You can also create an ignored list of apps that you don’t want to update.

The app gets most of its information from LogicielMac (logiciel meaning “software,” and Mac meaning “best platform ever”), a Francophonic site similar to VersionTracker and MacUpdate. But fear not, English speakers, as LogicielMac Update is localized for English. (Update: Reader Mark noticed that his copy of Firefox was updated with a French-localized version … so take note, Anglophones! Thanks, Mark!)

The only improvement I could see is showing the difference between free updates and upgrades (that you must pay for in order to get). I always hate it when I download an upgrade without thinking, wiping out my perfectly good old copy that I paid for.

LogicielMac Update is donationware, so show Louka some love if you like what he’s made. The download is 1.2MB, and Leopard is recommended. If you’ve felt unsatisfied by other update managers, check it out.

Thanks, Michael G!

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Filed under: Software

Software Update is pretty awesome for Apple software, but have you ever wanted that functionality for the rest of your apps? 19-year-old developer Louka Desroziers created a nifty little menubar app called LogicielMac Update that checks for updates to the applications installed on your machine. There are options to automatically download the updates and install them. You can also create an ignored list of apps that you don’t want to update.

The app gets most of its information from LogicielMac (logiciel meaning “software,” and Mac meaning “best platform ever”), a Francophonic site similar to VersionTracker and MacUpdate. But fear not, English speakers, as LogicielMac Update is localized for English. (Update: Reader Mark noticed that his copy of Firefox was updated with a French-localized version … so take note, Anglophones! Thanks, Mark!)

The only improvement I could see is showing the difference between free updates and upgrades (that you must pay for in order to get). I always hate it when I download an upgrade without thinking, wiping out my perfectly good old copy that I paid for.

LogicielMac Update is donationware, so show Louka some love if you like what he’s made. The download is 1.2MB, and Leopard is recommended. If you’ve felt unsatisfied by other update managers, check it out.

Thanks, Michael G!

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Filed under: Software

Once upon a time, my house was alive. It would wake me up with an hour-long procedure of ramping up the lights and using a zen chime at increasing intervals. Once the hour was up, it would check to see if I had opened the bathroom door yet and, if not, scold me with increasing levels of profanity for sleeping too late. It would read me the weather and top headlines while I brushed my teeth. It would turn lights on and off as I moved through the house. It had everything but an omnipresent, glowing red eye.

And it was grand, until a series of events (that I can now look back at and laugh) resulted in the PC it was all running on devouring itself and the connected backup drive. Now, in addition to an offsite backup system, I’ve got a lot of switches, sensors, motion detectors and the like and haven’t had the heart to build the system again. But here I am with an extra Mini, and Perceptive Automation just released a new version of Indigo. My inner geek is just itching to restore my home to its former blinking, talking, almost-sentient glory.

Continue reading Indigo 3.0, increased geekiness for your home

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Filed under: Software

Once upon a time, my house was alive. It would wake me up with an hour-long procedure of ramping up the lights and using a zen chime at increasing intervals. Once the hour was up, it would check to see if I had opened the bathroom door yet and, if not, scold me with increasing levels of profanity for sleeping too late. It would read me the weather and top headlines while I brushed my teeth. It would turn lights on and off as I moved through the house. It had everything but an omnipresent, glowing red eye.

And it was grand, until a series of events (that I can now look back at and laugh) resulted in the PC it was all running on devouring itself and the connected backup drive. Now, in addition to an offsite backup system, I’ve got a lot of switches, sensors, motion detectors and the like and haven’t had the heart to build the system again. But here I am with an extra Mini, and Perceptive Automation just released a new version of Indigo. My inner geek is just itching to restore my home to its former blinking, talking, almost-sentient glory.

Continue reading Indigo 3.0, increased geekiness for your home

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Filed under: Accessories, Analysis / Opinion, Hardware, Peripherals, Mac 101

More Mac 101, our series of basic tips for new and returning Mac users. Since most Mac models don’t offer extra drive bays, external hard disks are the way to go for adding vast storage capacity to your computer. External HDs are great for storing large projects, moving huge amounts of data from place to place, or backing up via Time Machine.

Hard disks are a commodity product nowadays: the market is flooded with a cornucopia of options, most of them cheap and easy to install. So which is right for you?

The trick is this: find out who makes the actual hard drive inside the external enclosure (that is, inside the nicely-designed plastic or metal box that sits on or under your desk).

It’s what’s inside that counts, and we’ll explore after the jump.

Continue reading Mac 101: External HDs

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“You can’t imagine how satisfying it is to know that if your hard drive dies, you will lose no more than one hour of work,” relates David Pogue (nytimes.com) in his review of Time Capsule. “The Time Machine automatic backup feature of the latest Mac OS X version backs up your Macs onto the Time Capsule, automatically, constantly, completely and wirelessly. And in my book, automatic, constant, complete backups are the only kind that really count.”

Using his 24-inch iMac, Jean-Pierre Hébert, the 68-year-old artist-in-residence at the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics at UC Santa Barbara, California, creates “algorithmic art” in a variety of media—from sand to copper to tree bark. “Mac OS X is a very good environment for me to work in,” he says. “It offers the best of all possible worlds.”

It seems clear that O2’s recent iPhone price cut has done the trick of clearing out stock. Visit the O2 Store’s iPhone page and you’ll be greeted with a splash page that simply reads “8GB and 16GB iPhone: iPhone no longer available”…

DJ Nitrogen has announced its new Ringtone Lab for the iPhone, which claims it’s possible to legally share ringtone creations with other users of the software. That’s because, instead of sharing the actual audio files, users create a “ringtone recipe” which contains the data that defines the ringtone - start, stop, fade, etc. Other users can only use ringtone data for the music tracks they already own…

Hands up who isn’t expecting Steve Jobs to announce the 3G iPhone at the WWDC in June? If you need a little more “evidence” (OK, rumour) to fuel that fire, how about a leaked email from AT&T which asks employees not to take holiday between 15th June and 12th July…

The first online science and nature film series, TERRA lets us enjoy the compelling documentaries produced by the grad students in the Science and Natural History Film Program at Montana State University. Through multiple seasons of programming, TERRA introduces us to the nature of our world.

“If your mom or dad has a Mac, help them safeguard their digital heirlooms with Apple’s Time Capsule,” implores Eric M. Strauss (abcnews.com). “Time Capsule combines simple setup and a speedy wireless network with automatic backup in a tidy box. Plus, recovering Aunt Chippie’s first black-jack victory photo after your mom’s hard drive crashes will certainly make it all worth the cost.”

If you’ve developed a great application using the iPhone SDK, a new web application for iPhone, or new software for Mac OS X Leopard, you could be honored with an Apple Design Award. This year, Apple offers awards in seven categories. But, hurry, the application deadline ends next Monday — on May 12.

A little light has been shed on what exactly Apple has planned for P.A. Semi, that is recently acquired for $278 million. It is rumored that prior to this acquisition, Apple had invested in P.A. Semi back in 2005. You will remember back in 2005, Apple switched from PowerPC to Intel chips. At the time P.A. Semi was operating with a PPC license, and it is assumed that Apple had come to them to manufacture low power PPC chips for there Mac lineup.

It seems that Apple again has their eye on P.A. Semi, but it does not answer the question of why they bought them. It would appear that P.A. Semi had acquired a little obligatory debt, that Apple paid off, and brought P.A. Semi under Apple’s control. Now Apple has access to all of P.A. Semi’s intellectual property and patents, and to Apple they must have been worth the cash.

Apple’s plans behind the acquisition are foggy. They want P.A. Semi not for a product that they currently design, but for their experience. Apple most likely will use P.A. Semi to design a chip for a new portable device, as it is very unlikely they would switch CPU architectures again for the Mac line. Unfortunately, we will just have to wait and see.

[Via MacRumors]

More information has been revealed about the latest iPhone firmware and SDK build. The latest build is called 5a274D. The new firmware was released on Tuesday, no warning was given, and it has taken a while for details to pour in. We finally have them though, and it seems there has been some significant changes to the build.

The latest build of the SDK is much smaller than previous builds. It weighs in at only 1.08GB. It has been suggested the reason is that lots of redundant code was removed. There has been some changes to the API as well. Namely the address book API, and the Embedded Apple Graphic Library. These changes suggest that applications will need to be re written to take advantage of the new libraries.

There is some evidence that suggests that push email will be in the 2.0 firmware. The latest build, revealed a toggle on/off option for a setting named “Use Push Mail”. You can also still opt to have your iPhone fetch your mail at a predefined interval. It is not known all the services that will be able to be pushed, one though is Yahoo! Mail.

[Via iPhone Hacks]

Sprint is making good on their promise to spend $100 million to promote their new iPhone competitor, the Samsung Instinct. The advertisements start running on May 9th, but the commercials are now available to view on YouTube. The advertisements very obviously take aim at the iPhone, with some shots showing the two devices side by side.

The advertisements leverage the EV-DO and true GPS that are packed into the Instinct. Sprint is hoping to use that comparison to convince people to buy the Instinct and not the iPhone. Someone should tell Sprint that the 3G iPhone, which could very well have GPS, will pack those features. No doubt Sprint’s Rev. A is fast, but so is HSDPA.

The advertisement conveniently leaves out the obvious fact that the iPhone has more screen real estate, and that it has a capacitive touch screen. The Instinct will no doubt be a good phone, but it will just not be the same appeal and wonder that the iPhone brings. So if you were looking for a tried and true iPhone killer, the Instinct is close, but alas no cigar.

[Via Gizmodo]

Filed under: Mac 101

Recently we here at TUAW were asked about navigating dialog boxes and applications with the keyboard. It is really easy to use the tab key to select different parts of the window and different buttons in a dialog box, if you know how to enable this behavior.

Open System Preferences > Mouse and Keyboard, and click the “Keyboard Shortcuts” tab. You are presented with two options at the bottom of the window (in the “Full keyboard access” section): Text boxes and lists only or All controls. By default, “Text boxes and lists” should be selected, but if you want to be able to select other buttons in a window with the tab key then you need to select the “All controls” option.

Now when you encounter a dialog box (or window), just press the tab key to switch between the various buttons on the screen. If you would like to go to a previous button, use shift + tab. When you’ve got the button you want highlighted, press the enter key or space bar. It’s as easy as that!

For more tips and tricks like these, visit the Mac 101 section on TUAW.

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Filed under: Gaming, Software, Education, Freeware

For (let’s say) “phans” of Crayon Physics, Phun 3.5 is a similar kind of physics simulator created by Emil Ernerfeldt for his thesis at Umeå University, Sweden. Not only is it Swedish, but it’s just been released for the Mac.

Sure, it’s rough-around-the-edges, and it follows pretty much none of the Mac’s interface or key-combination conventions, but it’s sure a fun (with an F) toy. Phun is Universal Binary, and freeware.

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If you’re browsing the web on a public computer, the last thing you want to do is leave personal information about yourself behind for others to discover. Of course, if you use Safari, you have a number of ways to safeguard your privacy while browsing publicly. Read about them in this week’s Pro Tip of the Week.

“A slate of under-the-hood improvements have facilitated a performance spike in the standard models that makes them an especially good value for people looking to upgrade,” reports Roman Loyola (macworld.com) in his recent review of the new iMac. “The 2.8GHz iMac, in all its 24-inch glory, is a stunning machine and is bound to make an impression in your home or office,” Loyola concludes.

AT&T has let the cat out of the bag yet again this year. A memo revealed this morning shows that AT&T is preparing for something, something big. The same thing happened last year before the launch of the original iPhone. Basically, the memo outlines that from June 15th to July 12th, all vacations should be rescheduled, and no new ones will be approved.

All rumors point to this time period as being the release date for the 3G iPhone. The question is though, is AT&T preparing for the launch of the new iPhone? The answer is quite possibly yes. This excerpt shows that they are talking about the same time last year, and that there is an opportunity to benefit from an exciting new product.

“Last year at this time we asked that all vacations be scheduled before June 15 or after July 15, to ensure adequate store staffing and to give everyone an equal opportunity to benefit from an exciting product launch. Thanks to your hard work, we experienced excellent sales during the mid-summer period. This year, the numbers you produced in 2007 will be hard to beat; but as a business, we must rise to the challenge, and make every effort to exceed last year’s sales results. Your management team is counting on you!”

The memo tells AT&T employees that they can expect there sales to soar. No kidding. We will all have to wait until WWDC though. AT&T may not be very good at keeping secrets, but I know another company starting with an ‘A’ that is.

[Boy Genius Report Via TUAW]

Nik Software today announced that its eagerly awaited Viveza plug-in for Aperture 2.1 is available for immediate download. Powered by U Point technology, the Viveza plug-in lets photographers make localized enhancements to brightness, contrast, or color without ever having to leave Aperture. “With the power and popularity of Aperture, we want our customers to decide how and where they edit their digital photos,” said Michael J. Slater president and CEO of Nik Software.

Hands up who isn’t expecting Steve Jobs to announce the 3G iPhone at the WWDC in June? If you need a little more “evidence” (OK, rumour) to fuel that fire, how about a leaked email from AT&T which asks employees not to take holiday between 15th June and 12th July…

Hands up who isn’t expecting Steve Jobs to announce the 3G iPhone at the WWDC in June? If you need a little more “evidence” (OK, rumour) to fuel that fire, how about a leaked email from AT&T which asks employees not to take holiday between 15th June and 12th July…

Nothing spectacular has been updated in Apple’s fifth iPhone SDK beta, released today. It’s a bug-fixing exercise, with support for the latest iPhone OS. No doubt you have plenty of broadband bandwidth to download all these updates. iPhone Developer page

News is extremely limited at the moment, but TUAW reports that another version of the iPhone SDK and iPhone firmware have been released by Apple, and are available now to download. The news is still coming in from the developers that have gotten a hold of the new firmware and SDK.

The new SDK weighs in at just under 1GB. This makes it less of a bandwidth headache for the developers. We are waiting for more details to come in now. Check back as we update this post, with all of the latest details about this unexpected update.

[Via TUAW]

Filed under: iPhone

I’m often impressed by the photos I get out of my little iPhone. It’s not a pro-level DSLR for sure, but for quick, off-the-cuff snapshots, it does a very good job.

I’m not alone in my belief. Computerworld’s analysis of current Flickr Data shows that the iPhone is their most popular camera phone. Part of that is the novelty of the iPhone, undoubtedly. Owners continue to relish any excuse to whip them out.

The other is ease of posting a photo to Flickr. Once you’ve added your special Flickr email address to your contact list, sharing a photo is a snap. Tap it once, tap “Email photo,” enter the first few letters of your Flickr email address and hit Send. Done.

While we’re on the subject, I’ll offer my tip for taking decent iPhone photos. Unlike nearly every other camera ever made, the iPhone exposes an image when the “shutter button” is released, not depressed. With that in mind, here’s the three step process I follow

1. Press and hold the “shutter button”
2. Compose the shot
3. Release

The tendency is to compose the shot and then tap the button, often resulting in blur. Try this method and watch the results.

[Via Ars Technica]

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Filed under: Software

VMware has just announced VMware Fusion 2.0 Beta 1, the first beta of the second iteration of their very successful virtualization product for the Mac. As you’ll recall Fusion allows you to run a host of OSes on your Intel Mac including, but not limited to, many flavors of Windows.

The above video gives you a tour of Fusion 2.0 Beta 1’s top new features, including:

• Multiple monitor support (up to 10 displays!)
• Improved networking and printing
• Support for DirectX 9.0 Shader Model 2 (this is experimental, and it might not work on your Mac)
• A refined UI for settings and VM management

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. The beta is available now, and best of all the upgrade to version 2.0, when it comes out of beta, will be free to all Fusion users. You can register for the beta program and download the hefty 300 MB installer here.

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Filed under: iPhone

RBC analyst Mark Abramsky says that the iPhone will exceed its projected goal of 10 million devices sold in 2008 — possibly by selling upwards of 14 million. How is Apple going to get these sales figures? Well, Abramsky suggests that AT&T could subsidize the iPhone by up to $200 for the 8GB model. This would mean the 8GB iPhone could sell for as little as $199 (previously rumored here); and possibly increase sales by 50 to 100 percent. According to Abramsky, this would mean Apple would have to drop revenue sharing with AT&T.

Mr. Abramsky also believes that Apple will start to sell unlocked iPhones (or iPhones without a specific carrier) without a premium over the AT&T iPhones. He suggest that unlocked iPhones could increase the adoption rate by two to three times for Apple’s phone.

All of Abramsky’s conjecture hinges on Apple and AT&T agreeing to end their 5 year exclusivity agreement early. We here at TUAW see no real reason for either company to agree to that, at least not in the States.

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Austrian newspaper Der Standard is saying that T-Mobile has confirmed the 3G iPhone for Austria. The report goes on to say that T-Mobile’s press conference states the device will be here soon. We all knew that though didn’t we? It is reported that Austria will be a test market. Meaning they will be one of the first to get their hands on the 3G version of the iPhone.

This would definitely not be a repeat performance, as the iPhone only reached Austria a few months ago officially. Austria is a great place for 3G, as it is covered well with the technology. Also, the prices for 3G plans in Austria are very affordable. 3G devices are discounted steeply there. This combination makes Austria an ideal location for 3G devices.

When asked, T-Mobile’s reply on the matter was “yes, we plan to bring the iPhone with UMTS support to market, but can’t and are not allowed to say when yet.” There you have it, another 3G iPhone rumor to keep us entertained until the real deal drops. Until then here is the article, for those of you that read Austrian that is.

[Via I4U]

Austrian newspaper Der Standard is saying that T-Mobile has confirmed the 3G iPhone for Austria. The report goes on to say that T-Mobile’s press conference states the device will be here soon. We all knew that though didn’t we? It is reported that Austria will be a test market. Meaning they will be one of the first to get their hands on the 3G version of the iPhone.

This would definitely not be a repeat performance, as the iPhone only reached Austria a few months ago officially. Austria is a great place for 3G, as it is covered well with the technology. Also, the prices for 3G plans in Austria are very affordable. 3G devices are discounted steeply there. This combination makes Austria an ideal location for 3G devices.

When asked, T-Mobile’s reply on the matter was “yes, we plan to bring the iPhone with UMTS support to market, but can’t and are not allowed to say when yet.” There you have it, another 3G iPhone rumor to keep us entertained until the real deal drops. Until then here is the article, for those of you that read Austrian that is.

[Via I4U]

Installer has just received an update. The new version of Installer supports searching for applications from within the program. It sure took it’s sweet time, but finally, it is here. Finally is indeed right, as Installer has been around for quite some time now. It is looking pretty good right now, but there are a few minor quirks that need to be sorted out.

One minor annoyance is that you have to select a sub category to use the search function. Why it is not implemented in the top level application directory is not clear. Maybe to save on resources while searching through all those applications? Also, it seems that is does not show applications that you have already installed. Not a big deal, but a little odd.

The update to Installer is available now. Next time you fire up Installer, you should be prompted to update. It is a great idea to implement in the Installer, as there are so many applications floating around now days. Hopefully those two trivial annoyances are taken care of in a future update.

[Via Just Another iPhone Blog]

A great way to text, set up video conferences with multiple parties, or host remote Keynote presentations, iChat also offers a fast and simple way to exchange large files with clients or colleagues. Find out how by watching the latest Quick Tip of the Week.

In his glowing review of the new 8-core Xserve, Tom Yager (infoworld.com) asserts that it “breaks the PC server mold with big iron-class reliability, availability, and serviceability features, but with neither the big iron price tag nor management complexity.” A great option for small business, “Xserve is built and supported to run not for one or two years, but three years, five years, and beyond.”

At Intezyne Technologies, viruses, spyware, and endless restarts kept researchers at the biotechnology startup from job one: finding better treatments for catastrophic illnesses. But the company put their computer ills behind them once they switched to the Mac. “Working on a Mac allows me to spend more time calculating and analyzing my data, and less time trying to figure out what’s wrong with my computer,” says co-founder Kurt Breitenkamp.

To celebrate the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival, such talented artists as Tony Gilroy, Amy Poehler, Clive Owen. Errol Morris, Jeremiah Zagar, and Wong Kar Wai came to the Apple Retail Store, SoHo, to speak about their latest projects. Now you can enjoy their talks, too, by downloading the latest podcasts.

Vodafone have issued a short press release confirming that they will be selling the iPhone in ten markets later on this year.  These will include Australia, the Czech Republic, Egypt, Greece, Italy, India, Portugal, New Zealand, South Africa and Turkey.  Previous sources had tipped the Indian deal, but this is a significant step for the carrier overall.

Prior to the launch of the iPhone in Europe, Vodafone was heavily tipped to be a key player.  It was a surprise, then, when O2, Orange and T-Mobile ended negotiations with the all-important UK, French and German distribution deals.  Vodafone later took T-Mobile Germany to the courts claiming their exclusive deal was “anticompetitive“.

While nothing is confirmed, the fact that the list Vodafone have released contains no markets in which the iPhone is presently sold suggests that either negotiations there are still ongoing or, perhaps more likely, that the existing carriers have been given - and taken - first refusal on the 3G iPhone.

Press Release:

Vodafone to Offer Apple’s iPhone in Ten Markets
06 May 2008

Vodafone today announced it has signed an agreement with Apple to sell the iPhone in ten of its markets around the globe. Later this year, Vodafone customers in Australia, the Czech Republic, Egypt, Greece, Italy, India, Portugal, New Zealand, South Africa and Turkey will be able to purchase the iPhone for use on the Vodafone network.