Today, Redmond offer a view into the upcoming Microsoft Office suite of software that will be coming to the Mac OS X platform later this year. Via YouTube, the compnay has taking footage of developers explaining the their jobs on the project and disccusing new features that the software will be incorporating.

“Starting off with the new Template Gallery in Office 2011, this feature allows you to quickly and easily pick a template from the built-in designs to the thousands of templates online – giving you a head start to create great looking, professional documents.”

“Core features in Outlook for Mac like the Conversation View help you sort emails easily to keep track of what you need to do. Additionally, the new file-based database is faster and provides more stability with Time Machine support.”

“Tying all of the new features together is the Office for Mac ribbon, designed as an evolution of the Office 2008 Elements Gallery while also utilizing the classic Mac menu and Standard Toolbar giving you the best of both worlds. We have put the most commonly used controls at your fingertips making it easier for you to find what you need. You can even minimize the ribbon and the Toolbar for more screen space or for the more advanced users who rely on keyboard shortcuts.”

The company has released multiple betas of the application bundle throughout the year. With each new beta, the company displays continuing refinements and polishing progressing further into the finished product that will be published for retail. The software suite is expected to presented to the public sometime in the fourth fiscal quarter of this year. Below is the video provided by Microsoft profiling the development of the office software collection.

Cupertino has made available this week the second installment of the iOS 4.1 software to developers. This update in particular is expected to remedy a few kinks that have been documented by Apple from users of the iPhone.

One the fixes that is expected in this update is the intermitting issue of the proximity sensor activating and deactivating. A few users have reported this to Apple as they have been experiencing this issue more so in making and receiving phone calls. The proximity sensors primary purpose is to deactivate the Multi-Touch display of the iPhone when held close to the body to prevent inadvertent commands to the system.

Apple made public at their July 16 press conference that they have gained knowledge and are aware of the proximity sensor bug and are currently working on a fix that will be administered soon. This fix is more than likely coming in the next rendition of the iOS platform, which is iOS 4.1.

Moat people are expected to update to the new software once it is released by Apple due to the response that Apple has received with the iOS 4 software update. As documented by research firm Chitika, half of the iPhone populating alone is already running 4.x iOS software with half of that population running iOS 4.0.1.

After HP mentioned something completely different a couple months ago, we are now hearing that they are planning to take one of their acquired Palm properties, webOS, and is directly pitting it agains Google’s and Apple’s ever-so-popular Android and iOS platforms with their Windows 7 demoed slate. The Windows version of the tablet computer is said to be targeted to the enterprise opposed to the typical consumer.

HP (Hewlett Packard), who is the largest producer of Windows-operated machines, presented their HP Slate PC early in the year alongside Microsoft’s CEO Steve Ballmer which ran Windows 7. The move was scene widely as a direct challenge to Apple’s yet to be released iPad. However, as the iPad got off to an alarming start, the HP Slate project seemed to dissolve as a marketable product. Then HP bought was what was left of Palm, sparking new rumors that they were going to axe Windows Mobile from there offerings altogether. Later Mark Hurd, CEO of HP, stated that they bought the company solely for their properties and patents.

“We are not going to spend billions of dollars trying to go into the smartphone business. That doesn’t in any way make any sense. We didn’t buy Palm to be in the smartphone business, and I tell people that, but it doesn’t seem to resonate well. We bought it for the IP [intellectual property]. The webOS is one of the two ground-up pieces of software that is built as a web operating environment.”

However, HP went on the record recently announcing that it would be using it’s acquired webOS platform to power their future smartphone lineup. This confirms the fact that the company is completely abandoning their Windows Phone 7 approach, which would coincide with the fact that their name was missing from the group who intend to release Windows Phone 7 devices. It also contradicts what Mark Hurd stated what the reason behind the Palm acquisition.

The world has seen Apple’s iPad and iOS platform soar in every area it has ventured, from people continuously lining up at RadioShacks, Best Buys, AT&T, Apple Stores and even Wal-Marts across the United States when shipments come in, to iPads completely selling-out all over the world. However, in the next coming months, Cupertino will see some more company’s who are looking into getting their hands dirty in the mobile computing landscape. HP pushing their webOS initiative with a collection of devices, Google’s expected Android-powered tablet and Microsoft and their Windows Phone 7 software. Competition is definitely beefing up for Apple. Hopefully, this is not the same “too little, too late” situation experienced with the iPhone, for the competition’s sake that is.

Apple has made iAd spots available to all developers of the iOS platform. Developers who are interested in using the medium to promote their properties of the iOS software can do so by purchasing spots for their content as well as other products the groups and individuals produce.

“You can now purchase iAd advertising to promote your app to millions of users across the iAd Network. With iAd for Developers, users can download apps from the App Store without leaving the app they’re in. It’s easy to get started, contact us today and learn how you can drive more downloads of your app with iAd for Developers.”

Apple launched the iAd advertising software this quarter with select companies such as Nissan and Disney. Placing for the big companies was mentioned to be as much as a million dollars for a spot on the iOS platform. Apple seems to be letting the developers have a chance to utilize the iAd medium to promote their own products and creations. It is likely that developers will use the software as Apple’s advertising initiative appears to garner much attention from users. One developer has willingly and proudly announced that iAds helped him rake in $1500 in a mere day.

As we expected (much sooner than we expected) here at MacApper, Apple has released the trackpad software update for the MacBook for owners to utilize the three-finger window managing feature that is present in the new Magic Trackpad.  Trackpad update 1.0 carries a 75MB data weight count and requires Mac OS 10.6.4 to be installed as the current OS firmware. The update also provides support for the Magic Trackpad.

The following machines support both inertial scrolling and three-finger window management.

MacBook (13-inch, Early 2009)

MacBook (13-inch, Mid 2009)

MacBook (13-inch, Late 2009)

MacBook (13-inch, Aluminum, Late 2008)

MacBook Pro (17-inch, Mid 2010)

MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2010)

MacBook Pro (17-inch, Mid 2009)

MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2.53 GHz, Mid 2009)

MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2009)

MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2009)

MacBook Pro (17-inch, Early 2009)

MacBook Pro (17-inch, Late 2008)

Apple has also released updates for Windows-operated machines to utilize the Magic Trackpad. The update comes in at 6.6MB and is available for both the 32 and 64-bit worlds Microsoft has to offer (64-bit download weighs half of the 6.6MB download for the 32 bit). The update is ready for all Macs running Windows via Boot Camp and Windows machines that incorporate Bluetooth technology.

With the most expected product release from Apple this week, the 27-inch LED Apple Cinema Display has arrived for users of MacBooks and Mac Pros who have waiting for the tech to present themselves. In addition to that, Apple has decided to retire the 24-inch Cinema Display as well as the massive 30-inch display that has been on sale for some time now. Confirmation has been received that Apple will only sell the two displays “while supplies last” for a lower price than the new 27-inch.

The new 27-inch will begin shipping in September and presents a 60% increase in display landscape. Along with that, it supports the same 2560 by 1440 pixel count that the company’s 27-inch iMac incorporates. Also like the iMac, the new display also has an iSight camera built right in along with a microphone, speakers and USB 2.0 as well as a MagSafe port as an addition. An ambient light sensor is also embedded into the display to detect change in lighting condition. The display will then adjust its light and power consumption according to optimize performance and viewing aspects. Like the iMac, MacBook, iPhone and iPad, the display incorporates the same In-Plane Switching (IPS) technology that provides unrivaled color accuracy and picture clarity at any position within the product’s 178° viewing angles.

Apple has released an update to Safari that enables the public release of the Extensions feature along with the corresponding Extension Gallery. The Extension feature allows users to add functions and features from third party developers that can allow them to complete a variety of tasks. This feature not only adds another dimension of versatility to the Safari web browsing, it also exposes further ability and power behind the HTML5, CSS3 and JavaScript web standards as one of the most premium web development tools.

“Apple today released Safari® 5.0.1, turning on Safari Extensions and introducing the Safari Extensions Gallery. Apple introduced extensions support in Safari 5 in June so developers could begin creating extensions with HTML5, CSS3 and JavaScript web standards. With Safari Extensions Gallery, users can quickly find extensions that add powerful new features to Safari, from toolbars that display live web feeds to sophisticated programs that filter web content. Safari 5.0.1 allows users to download and install extensions either from the Safari Extensions Gallery or directly from a developer’s site.”

“Safari 5 has been a big hit, and user response to the innovative new Safari Reader has been fantastic,” said Brian Croll, Apple’s vice president of OS X Product Marketing. “We’re thrilled to see so many leading developers creating great extensions and think our users are going to love being able to customize Safari.”

The Extension Gallery can be accessed through the “Safari” selection in the Mac OS X Menu Bar. The Gallery already host a healthy array of developments courtesy of The New York Times, Twitter, Amazon, eBay and also includes developments from smaller third-party sources. Based on the plentiful collection we have seen in the Gallery, it seems as though developers have respond to Apple’s invite to create and submit extensions to be hosted on the Gallery as the new software feature is off to a sprinting start.

Aside from the new Extensions feature, the update comes with a number of security, stability and performance tweaks and fixes…

New in this update: Safari Extensions

Customize Safari with features created by third-party developers Find extensions in the Safari Extensions Gallery, accessible from the Safari menu and extensions.apple.com

This update also contains improvements to stability, accessibility and security, including the following:

• More accurate Top Hit results in the Address Field
• More accurate timing for CSS animations
• Better stability when using the Safari Reader keyboard shortcut
• Better stability when scrolling through MobileMe Mail
• Fixes display of multipage articles from www.rollingstone.com in Safari Reader
• Fixes an issue that prevented Google Wave and other websites using JavaScript encryption libraries from working correctly on 32-bit systems
• Fixes an issue that prevented Safari from launching on Leopard systems with network home directories
• Fixes an issue that could cause borders on YouTube thumbnails to disappear when hovering over the thumbnail image
• Fixes an issue that could cause Flash content to overlap with other content on www.facebook.com, www.crateandbarrel.com, and other sites when using Flash 10.1
• Fixes an issue that prevented boarding passes from www.aa.com from printing correctly
• Fixes an issue that could cause DNS prefetching requests to overburden certain routers
• Fixes an issue that could cause VoiceOver to misidentify elements of webpages

For detailed information on the security content of this update, please visit this site: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1222

The update also includes the fix for the recently exposed AutoFill security hole mentioned awhile back by researcher Jeremiah Grossman of WhiteHat Security

“Impact: Safari’s AutoFill feature may disclose information to websites without user interaction

Description: Safari’s AutoFill feature can automatically fill out web forms using designated information in your Mac OS X Address Book, Outlook, or Windows Address Book. By design, user action is required for AutoFill to operate within a web form. An implementation issue exists that allows a maliciously crafted website to trigger AutoFill without user interaction. This can result in the disclosure of information contained within the user’s Address Book Card. To trigger the issue, the following two situations are required. First, in Safari Preferences, under AutoFill, the “Autofill web forms using info from my Address Book card” checkbox must be selected. Second, the user’s Address Book must have a Card designated as “My Card”. Only the information in that specific card is accessed via AutoFill. This issue is addressed by prohibiting AutoFill from using information without user action. Devices running iOS are not affected. Credit to Jeremiah Grossman of WhiteHat Security for reporting this issue.”

Safari 5.0.1 is available for download in the Software Update feature of your Mac and PC as well as the Apple website.

Probably one of the most interesting inventions of this week’s array of new Apple developments is the introduction of the Apple Battery Charger. Even though Apple has been developing their own batteries for quite some time now, it rather new to see them step in the cylindrical power cell aspect of battery development. It extends further beyond that, however, with Apple not only providing in-house battery development for their customers to purchase with their wireless Mac products, these batteries, as well as the charger, offer something far better than the industry has to offer.

Unlike the alkaline battery producing giants Duracell and Energizer, Apple uses NiMH technology to power these cylindrical power cells. The battery cells can also be recharged and has a lifespan of up to ten (10) years for a single battery. In addition to an industry-leading lifespan, the batteries also possess an industry leading charge retainment. After a full charge, the batteries can be stored away for a year and still retain at least 80% of the original full charge.

Next to the batteries themselves, Apple has also produced a unique recharger. Mostly all of the chargers the industry produces charge battery cells at a constant voltage. Once the batteries are fully charged, the voltage from the charger remains the same resulting into what the industry and many consumers know as “overcharge.” As a result, battery life and battery lifespan are depreciated prematurely. Apple’s Battery Charger, in simple terms, has a brain. The charger can detect when the cylindrical cells are fully charged. At that instant, the charger dramatically decreases voltage and keeps the batteries both at full charge and from overcharging. On top of that, the charger has an industry-leading standby consumption, or “vampire draw,” of any charger. The industry average continues to draw 315mW (milliwatts) when in a standby state. Apple’s charger uses an amazing 30mW when in it’s standby position, that’s over 10 times less what the typical charger consumes.

The design, like all things Apple, is completely uniformed with all of Apple’s products. baring the same alternating current (AC) adapter design of many Apple plug-in products, the retractable prongs make it easy and neat to stow away in one of the drawers on you office or home and is interchangeable so you can support AC outlet plug standards around the world.

The main advantages behind the new Apple top-of-the-line rechargeable AA battery cells and Apple’s Battery Charger is that they are friendly to both the environment and your wallet. Being that the batteries are highly rechargeable and extremely long lasting, far less money is spent on one-time only alkaline cells, which mean far less batteries end up in trash heaps. Apple has definitely provided a better, more convenient mean to keep your Apple peripherals charged while even further reducing the company’s carbon footprint that they keep a very serious demeanor about.

Followed since before the introduction of the iPad, many people across the Internet have been wondering what the “Magic Slate” and “Magic Trackpad” name filing at the United States Patent and Trademark Office was for? Many thought that one of them was going to be the name of what we now know as the iPad. However, even after the iPad’s release, the name still lingered in the USPTO, sparking investigation across the Web on what Apple was cooking up for this name. Then this leaked image was released along with the blueprints for it that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) received from the people in Cupertino…

After the FCC approved the application, rumors spurred the Net that Apple was on the verge of releasing the device. Hence, the Magic Trackpad was bestowed upon us this week. In layman’s terms, it is essentially the Multi-Touch trackpad stripped from the MacBook, made bigger (80% bigger) and placed to sit by itself. However, it brings all the Multi-Touch trackpad goodness from the MacBook experience to the iMac, Mac Pro and Mac mini (as well as some Windows machines out there incorporating Bluetooth as it seems). This has possibly been the most examined product out of the flurry of technology that has been released this week from Apple. Already in Apple Stores ready fro customers to test out as well as purchase, it has already been speculated what the main objective is for the Magic Trackpad: Replace the point-and-click mouse. Douglas Engelbart, creator of the mouse, has provided a technology that has served as the longest-standing human input device (aside from the keyboard) for the personal computer for three decades now. In fact, it was Apple who ditched the “rolling ball/pool ball” pointing method and adopted the point-and-click mouse with the introduction of the Mac and its graphical user interface (GUI) in 1984, making both technologies widely and highly popular in computing and setting the standard for computers. Its pretty much guaranteed that Apple’s creation of GUI is laser-etched in steel and reinforce five times over (meaning that technology will never be obsolete), it seems that the mouse has taken a few blows in these past decades. Probably the heaviest one of all is the introduction of Multi-Touch technology. Made popular by the guys in Cupertino, Multi-Touch is spreading like wildfire among the industry. However, it was never, as some would say, “properly introduced“ to the desktop machine. The Magic Trackpad looks like its out to give formal “hello” to the desktop computer.

The device incorporates all the functions of the Multi-Touch trackpad thats presented on the MacBook. In addition to that, a new gesture comes in to play on the Magic Trackpad  — the ability to move your windows about the screen with a three-finger gesture. As of right now, this is only present on the Magic Trackpad and has proven quite useful from those who have been using the gesture. It isn’t yet present in the MacBook, but over here at MacApper, we highly expect a software update for that feature to be present within a couple days. The device is wireless connecting by way of Bluetooth, which is standard on every Mac. Like all things Apple, it definitely complements and just looks like it belong with any Mac or Apple product for that matter, sitting flush next to the Wireless Apple Keyboard. Two AA batteries power this smooth-feeling device and like the Magic Mouse and Wireless Apple Keyboard, it detects when activity is idle and decreases use of power to preserve battery life. To operate it on your Mac, you will need  Mac OS 10.6.4 and the latest software update. Just like the MacBook’s trackpad, it does in fact click when pressure is applied to initiate single and double clicking commands. AS far as design goes, its beautiful to look at and even more beautiful to feel. Cut from the same aluminum material as the Apple Keyboards and same anti-wear glass of the MacBook’s trackpad.

Apple has been notoriously known to set the standard. The company has been the first for many things and watched as the industry adapts it while they move on to the next soon-to-be standard. They where the first to implement the mouse, graphical user interface, all-in-one computer design, floppy disks, optical discs, USB, FireWire, 802.11 wireless fidelity, mini HDD, Multi-Touch as well as a few others and the first to discontinue use of some of these technologies and replacing them with new ones that the industry hasn’t done yet. Despite what Apple’s motives are with the Magic Trackpad, it seems it will unintentionally (or intentionally) make an attempt to replace the mouse human input device.

The Khronos Groups has released the new OpenGL 4.1 on Monday, July 26 at the SIGGRAPH (Special Interest Group on Graphics) conference. The new spec brings even tighter integration with mobile OpenGL ES and OpenCL Application Programming Interfaces as well as tapping deeper into the graphics performance on both Macs, PCs and mobile devices, especially on the iPhone, iPod and iPad.

The OpenGL standard serves as the software that steers graphics controller in devices across multiple platforms by allowing those devices to use the graphics hardware in a standardized fashion. Apple has definitely used the standard in its software offerings and has made it an increasing part of it’s development process. This is evident in Apple’s Mac OS X: Leopard offering with OpenGL 2.1 and the 3.x support provided in Snow Leopard, for example.

The latest installment of the OpenGL standard offer various improvements and enhancements…

The ability to query and load a binary for shader program objects to save re-compilation time

The capability to bind programs individually to programmable stages for programming flexibility

64-bit floating-point component vertex shader inputs for higher geometric precision

Multiple viewports for a rendering surface for increased rendering flexibility

The ability to set stencil values in a fragment shader for enhanced rendering flexibility

New callback mechanisms to receive enhanced errors and warning messages

The new standard also adds full compatibility with the mobile OpenGL ES 2.0 standard used in device like the iPhone, iPad and iPod. With this feature, developers can more seamlessly port their projects from mobile to desktop platforms. New extensions added to the standard also allow synchronization of objects to OpenCL event objects for better exchange and use of data with the OpenCL spec.

Hardware vendors are already bringing support for the new technology into their offerings. Barthold Lichtenbelt, Senior Manager of Core OpenGL at NVIDIA issued a press release announcing the implementation of the new specification in the graphic chip’s maker’s designs.

“I am also pleased to announce that NVIDIA will release OpenGL 4.1 production drivers on our developer site for all Fermi-based graphics accelerators, including the GeForce GTX 400 series, during SIGGRAPH.”

Ben Bar-Haim, Corporate Vice President of software at Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), the acquirer of the graphics hardware maker ATI made congruent statements saying AMD/ATI “plans to support OpenGL 4.1 in an upcoming driver release” for their hardware configurations.

OpenGL began back in the 80’s at the premium graphics hardware maker SGI (Silicon Graphics Incorporated). OpenGL was then made an open-sourced specification in the preliminary 90s, but was shadowed over by Microsoft’s Direct3D standard. The tech nearly dissolved completely until Apple discounted QuickTime 3D and fully embraced the OpenGL standard which it now uses in almost all of it offerings. Apple’s continued use of the technology has propelled it in to the limelight of technology as Sony’s Playstation 3 and Nintendo’s Wii gaming consoles all excessively use OpenGL.

Reuters chimes in that AT&T is currently fixing the software defect that is preventing users of the network to experience quite slow upload speeds despite the new iPhone 4’s HSUPA support. It was revealed back in early July that the software that petals the equipment used by AT&T had a glitch and they were collaborating with Alcatel-Lucent, makers of the equipment, to remedy the problem.

“The No. 2 U.S. mobile operator said on Monday it had begun rolling out an Alcatel-Lucent software patch that would restore uplink speeds for its high-speed data services that depend on so-called HSUPA technology.

This patch will be deployed on a phased basis over the next two to three weeks”

AT&T, the exclusive U.S. provider for iPhone, said the iPhone 4, the latest Apple device, was the only smartphone that runs on its HSUPA network.”

There has been some reports submitted this past weekend of the issue being fixed and users experiencing the high speed upload bandwidth. However, it will take an estimate of two to three weeks for all networks to experience the same high speed activity they are expecting.

The folks over at MacRumors has received some information that Cupertino is prepping up to begin the beta testing for the next installment of the Mac OS X: Snow Leopard sub-series. Mac OS 10.6.5 has been under development for quite some time now and it seems that the software has been ironed out well enough for third-party developers to begin testing on.

Through the third-party development testing period, Apple receives feedback from developers on area where the company has made changes as well as alerts to areas that need some attention. This allows Apple to further develop and polish the operating system before it is released to the public. The time that this process will be done and lead to the update release is extremely variant. There has been instances where it has taken Apple one to two months to get everything in the software squeaky clean to one or two weeks. In light of that, there is no way to exactly pinpoint when Apple will be publicly releasing the software update or even when developers will get their hands on the project to begin testing. MacRumors does give insight that developers who usually get the to test the software first probably might see something coming this week.

With the new introduction of Apple products that were speculated to arrive recently, Apple has introduced the new and improved iMac. The latest rendition of the flagship and 1984 industry-setting desktop Mac lineage receives an increase in brainpower with a new line of CPU standards and the storage to go with it. Apple delivers this all in the same simple, yet gorgeous design of the last generation’s body.

Apple has decided to retire the Core 2’s jersey and draft in Intel’s new pride and joy, the “Core i” series. Every iMac from this day forward comes standard with Intel’s Core i3 dual-core processors that packs more power using less of it. The Core i series is more energy efficient that the previous praised Core 2 models. With that, Intel brings “Turbo Boost” to the Core i lineup, allowing the chips to exceed the speed that they are originally clocked at. The i3s pack a punch when it comes to speed ranging from 3.06 to 3.2GHz. Users can also choose the Core i5 dual-core models that clock in at snappy 3.6GHz. With the 27-inch iMac models, Apple is providing the option to double the processing cores with the i5 and i7 offerings. The quad-core i5s offer customers quad-core calculating power with the speed to boot. i5s with four cores clock in at 2.8GHz. The i7 comes zooming in at 2.93GHz on a four-core processor. All Core i players support Hyper-Threading.

With the addition of the new CPU line up, Apple has made more room for data to stay and has sped up how fast your machine stores and retrieves it. Along with the ability to hold up to two terabytes of ATA data storage, Apple gives the option for you to add an additional 256GB of SSD (Solid State Storage). Compared to the the conventional hard disk, SSD stores everything much faster because everything is stored on one layer (like the iPhone, iPod and iPads flash storage), preventing the need for a moving head or parts, and by default, drastically decreasing the potential for data corruption due to shock.

Apple has also nixed the NVIDIA graphics cards and made AMD/ATI graphics the standard for the iMac. ATI’s Radeon HD 4670 GPU with 256MB of GDDR3 memory comes standard on the new iMac. As an option, the machines can utilize the Radeon HD 5670 with 512MB of GDDR3 memory.

Apple’s has definitely beefed up the iMac lineup for the Mac OS X software to tap into even more power create an enjoyable, smooth experience. The new line is priced the same as the previous starting with the 21.5-inch model starting at $1199 and offer personal configurations at apple.com

As rumored throughout the Internet, Apple has released a flurry of new products today. Among the collection of new additions, Apple has debuted it’s long awaited 12-core Mac Pro, undoubtedly the fastest personal computer on the planet.

The new Mac Pro, due for retail and delivery this August, comes packed with Intel’s new “Nehalem” and “Westmere” Xeon processors that contain six-cores on a single dierunning up to a snappy3.33GHz and comes complete with the company’s new “Turbo Boost” feature, allowing the chips to exceed speeds they are originally clocked at. With the Turbo Boost feature, Intel has also incorporated integrated memory controllersthat give direct access to the RAM for the CPUs, further increasing responsiveness from the machine. Also, with each individual physical core, there are two virtual cores, giving the Mac Pro 24 virtual cores that are recognized by Mac OS X: Snow Leopard. These chips boost the performance and production of the Mac Pro fifty percent (50%) compared to the previous generation.

“The new Mac Pro is the most powerful and configurable Mac we’ve ever made. With up to 12 cores, the new Mac Pro outperforms our previous top-of-the-line system by up to 50 percent, and with over a billion possible configurations, our customers can create exactly the system they want.” – Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing.

To add more ability to power, the titan machine can hold two Xeon processors like its predecessor, giving the user the option to wield astonishing 12-core processing power at their command. With that, Apple has made storage and RAM containment possibilities on the machine simply jaw-dropping. Cupertino has given the ability to hold up to four 1TB and/or 2TB Serial ATA (Advance Technology Attachment) HDDs (equals to up 8TB storage capacity in total) and up to four 512GB (just about 2.05TB) SSDs (Solid State Drive). The computer can also house up to 32GB of DDR3 memory (four per processor) clocked up to a speed of 1333MHz (1.33GHz), combining that power with stability of the 64-bit processing capacities of Snow Leopard to result in alarming application and OS response.

Apple has moved from NVIDIA graphics and has made ATI/AMD Radeon graphic cards the standard for the new Mac Pro. The machine comes running on a ATI Radeon HD 5770 with 1GB of GDDR5 with two Mini DisplayPorts and a dual-link DVI port. The ATI Radeon 5870 is also an available option. It offers an even faster clock speed and wider memory bus than the 5770 chip  You can also chose to hold two Radeon 5770 GPUs at once, giving you support for up to 6 displays.

Last but not least, Apple has finished up the new powerhouse to its collection of computers with some I/O. Two FireWire 800 ports in the front accompany the USB 2.0 ports along with a 3.5mm headphone jack for your audio peripherals. On the back are three USB 2.0 ports, two more FireWire 800s, optical audio in and out as well as analog audio I/O and the Mini DisplayPort and dual-link DVI of the graphics module. They also kept the two dual-layer SuperDrive option.

The new Mac Pro is definitely a step ahead of its previous rendition. Plenty of power compels this machine for any professional who demand speed and power into their workflow. The new Mac Pro is scheduled to be shipped and delivered in the upcoming August month with retailing starting at $2499.00 for the quad-core, $3499 for the eight-core and $4999.00 for the twelve-core base model configurations.

A new patent has emerged from the shadows illustrating Cupertino’s interest in creating an operating system that could be cheaper to own or free as advertisements take care of that aspect. The application “Advertisements in Operating System” has reappeared from the patent portfolio of Apple as they have added some new ideas to the file.

From the minds of Freddy A. Anzures, Mike Matas, Gregory N. Christie, Patrick Coffman and yes, the man himself: Steve Jobs, describe an operating system that would present an advertisement to the user disallowing them to use some basic functions of the software. At the end of the advertising segment, the user then would be able to continue what they were doing prior to the ad presentation.  The ad itself can be presented in a variety of ways, the patent states. Visual, audible, interactive, and can promote the opportunity for the end user to obtain some good or service, such as a deal on a HDTV or any deal or promotion the advertiser wishes to publish.

“The operating system can disable one or more functions while the advertisement is being presented. At the end of the advertisement, the operating system can again enable the function(s). The advertisement can be visual or audible. The presentation of the advertisement(s) can be made as part of an approach where the user obtains a good or service, such as the operating system, for free or at reduced cost.”

The OS would have an internal timer at which the user could preset the next time they are interrupted by an advertisement. Users could even pre-purchase more time to use the computer before an advertisement presents itself within the user’s experience. These software wouldn’t be used for personal use, but rather for public use such as an Internet café or a library. Potential users of this system could use a machine for free or, for a fee, use a machine that is opted out of the advertisement system.

While the images in the patent application show the tech being used on a Mac OS X-like software (being that a menu for the advertisements are presented in something that appear to be the Menu Bar and the Mac OS Dock displayed at the bottom of the image), Apple doesn’t directly note that the tech would be used on Mac OS, but rather mention that the software could be used on a variety of platforms such as smartphones, set-top boxes (such as TiVo or ReplayTV), and television sets and the software that they incorporate.

It doesn’t seem strange to us that the patent has been resubmitted by the Cupertino, California based company, as the are already in the advertising playing field with the iAd software thats off to a really impressive start. Apple’s goal and plan the change advertisement from the traditional way we see it is it merge the interactivity of the web and the emotion of television into one where the experience of the ad is more immersive.

iAds, in general, seem to be off to a really successful start for both Apple and developers. Apple has seen their iOS developer landscape hit a sharp increase do to iAds. Apple’s main purpose for iAds, to help developers keep their apps free and possibly create lower cost apps, also seem to be registering quite well among devs with one report of the software that aided a developer to rake in well over a thousand dollars in a day off one free app. With iAds showing great performance off the starting line, Apple’s estimation could possible come to fruition — to capture just about 50% of the mobile ad landscape at the end of the 2010 calendar year.

Probably one of the most used speech-to-text applications used on iOS, Dragon Dictation, has recently updated their application to bring some new additions and fixes to the software.

Facebook and Twitter integration

One of the updates that has been brought to the app, and possibly the most requested for, is Facebook and Twitter integration. When you speak your text for the software to interpret, the app now give you the option, along with the copy to clipboard and email options, to send the text as a Facebook update or a Tweet.

In-Text SMS Messaging

Another very requested feature that falls in-line with the Facebook and Twitter functions is the ability to send text, or SMS messages, right from the application. This option is also now presented in the new 2.0 update.

Other Additions and fixes

The application now also allows you to accept a call and still access the scratchpad after doing so. In addition to that, they have built-in software support for United Kingdom dialect for English (in addition to the American version of English). For example, when saying the word “color,” the app will now insert a “u” for the UK spelling of color (colour). The company has promised more language support gradually by years end including French, Spanish, Italian and German.

Dragon Dictation, if you don’t already have it, is available for the iPhone, iPod and iPad as a universal application in the App Store for free.

Mac4Ever has made claim that Apple will be releasing a new iLife software suite, iLife ‘11, on August 7, 2010. The collection of creative applications is also said to include a new app that is unknown. Included with the new package is updates, fixes and enhancements made to Faces and Places on iPhoto, an entire new iWeb application and the extraction of iDVD. MobileMe Gallery is also said to join the pack with the Faces and Places features iPhoto brings

- ILife ‘11 will be sold for $79

- Release Date of 08/07/2010

- All applications will be 64-bit

- Improvements in iPhoto faces & places

- Improving the integration of social networks

- IWeb will be totally renewed

- New application (mystery!)

- Disappearance of iDVD

- MobileMe gallery in beta (with faces & places)

There has been rumors floating about prior to this that Apple was working on iLife and would be releasing it before the year was out, however, there wasn’t an exact date. Not only does Mac4Ever pinpoint an exact date of the software’s release, but they have provided detail on what’s to be expected in the new software lineup. Judging by past releases of iLife, it would seem that Mac4Ever speculation could possibly bear fruit as Apple in the past has released the iLife software with the next year branding. In August of 2007, Apple released iLife ‘08. What’s interesting enough is that the date that the source states falls on a Saturday, in which Apple has been known to release new Mac software on a weekend.

The AP (Associated Press) reports that the government has administered new rules that will allow users to unlock and jailbreak their iOS device, or for that matter, any device. Jailbreaking, for those who may not be familiar with the term, allows for unauthorized software to be operated on the iPhone and other devices. Unlocking provides the user to migrate a device to another carrier network even if the network doesn’t offer the device.

“Owners of the iPhone will be able to break electronic locks on their devices in order to download applications that have not been approved by Apple. The government is making that legal under new rules announced Monday.

The decision to allow the practice commonly known as “jailbreaking” is one of a handful of new exemptions from a federal law that prohibits the circumvention of technical measures that control access to copyrighted works.”

Jailbreaking is something that Apple informs the user that such action will subject them to a flurry of vulnerabilities and void Apple’s One Year Limited AppleCare Coverage. Cupertino provides further detailed insight on what a user can expect and other technicalities that may present themselves during the jailbreak experience. Jailbreaking is a common practice that some users execute in order to obtain pay-for applications on the App Store for free and to tap into another ecosystem that contains apps that are not permitted on the iOS platform. However, reading further into the document released by the AP, in terms of Apple not rendering service, the new federal policies wouldn’t allow Apple to deny service for such reasons. In counter to that, Apple could still deny service of unauthorized tampering with software/hardware in the Terms of Service agreement.

The EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation) has posted the full document in PDF format released by the Copyright Office of the U.S. Library of Congress along with a corresponding press release.

“On balance, the Register concludes that when one jailbreaks a smartphone in order to make the operating system on that phone interoperable with an independently created application that has not been approved by the maker of the smartphone or the maker of its operating system, the modifications that are made purely for the purpose of such interoperability are fair uses. Case law and Congressional enactments reflect a judgment that interoperability is favored. The Register also finds that designating a class of works that would permit jailbreaking for purposes of interoperability will not adversely affect the market for or value of the copyrighted works to the copyright owner.”

Some examiners of the new legalization also mentioned that carriers could still permit users not to unlock their devices through the subsidized contract’s “End User License Agreement” or EULA.

Update

CultofMac received official word from Apple stating that jailbreaking your iOS device will void your warranty.

“Apple’s goal has always been to insure that our customers have a great experience with their iPhone and we know that jailbreaking can severely degrade the experience. As we’ve said before, the vast majority of customers do not jailbreak their iPhones as this can violate the warranty and can cause the iPhone to become unstable and not work reliably.”

A new application that has emerged in the App Store dubbed “Text’nDrive” allows for sending emails completely hands-free, preventing the modern habit that has become the subject of talk of people ranging from Oprah Winfrey to Tyra Banks: Texting while driving. This application makes answering a message (email for now) can all be done with the command of your voice and not of your hands.

The developer has stated that the app, at the moment, doesn’t support the functionality for SMS right now, as the name might make you think, but is under development currently and is being aimed for released no later than the end of this summer. The application does allow you to send emails hand-free, though.

The application debuted on the App Store for $20, which many people would like to see a demo of the application for that price. Hands Free Software has cut the price in half since the intro, which makes the app available now for $10. As for a demo being put in place, the group created a lite version of the software that’s also available on the App Store, however, it is limited to 45 words when it comes to text-to-speech. Speech-to-text is not included in the lite version, so you can’t se how well the speech recognition is before you plan on buying it, which is a thumbs down from us. But if you are interested in trying or buying the app, just click any one of the two images below and…you know the rest.

Apple had their quarterly conference call this week and while most of the stuff discussed were financials and other miscellaneous questions, some questions about the future of Apple’s core business, software, arose and was avoided being answered. The main software that was mentioned was the future of FaceTime and its potential to become universal as Apple has plans to make the source code open. Although some of the analysts try to squeeze something out of the tight-lipped company, Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook simply replied “punting that one for another day” and stressed that the call should be channeled for financial related inquires.

Since the announcement that FaceTime was going to be open-sourced, many people have been talking about the potential that Apple has with its new software. As FaceTime, for the time being, is only available from iPhone to iPhone, many see the integration of the software coming to the Mac OS X system, more specifically iChat, as a “no-brainier.” It’s addition would enable Mac users to initiate video calls with other iPhone’s and FaceTime compatible devices. The technology could also spread to other platforms, in which Android and Windows were among some of the softwares mentioned by experts. Skype has also mentioned that they will be watching the landscape for progression of FaceTime and where it goes once Apple has released the source code, implying that the company has plans on working with the standard. It has the ability to really create a universal means for users to video chat among any device the technology is incorporated in. FaceTime has the potential to be something big for Apple, which they are pretty prone to making hits.

Apple has launched the iPhone Case Program by way of an application on the App Store. The app is free to download and provides, in Apple fashion, a seamless way (and the only way) to receive a free iPhone case on behalf of the company. With your purchase of an iPhone 4 (before September 30) you will be eligible to receive a free select case of your choice from Apple. The application for the program can be downloaded by clicking the iPhone icon below

The application allows for Apple to distinguish which phone is eligible for a case by obtaining the corresponding device’s IEMI and serial numbers that the order is being made through. Users can then select the popular Apple Bumper case or any one of the select third party cases that are already in the market. Users will then receive confirmation from the app and through email of the order. Shipping is noted as 3 weeks so users should see their product arrive in about early September.

Chitika, a third party research firm, is reporting that 50% of the iPhone ecosystem is now operating on iOS 4.x. The research excludes applications installation and focuses on users who are likely to install software updates.

From the chart constructed by the research firm, 44 and a half percent of iPhone users are on iOS 4 while 5% are running 4.0.1 that was released just last week. Those stats bring the number of iOS 4.x users to 49.93%. Thirty percent of the other half of the population are running 3.1.3 while another 14% are running 3.1.2. 3.0, 3.0.1 and 3.1 user make up 5% of the population. There are even some people out there that are running an even earlier version than 3.x (presumably those who are still using the original iPhone). They make up just under a percent of the ecosystem. Apple arguably has developed the easiest method in the industry into keeping their user up-to-date in not only the handheld devices, but in software period.

The group stacks iOS’s stats up against Android. According to the charts, Android is lagging quite far behind in keeping its user base on the latest software. Over 50 percent of the users are still using Android 2.1, while well over 20 percent are on Android 1.x. However, these results are not because of users choosing not to update to the latest software, but more so that they can’t. Since the release of the 2.2 Android software, the only handset that has been able to update to 2.2 is the Google Nexus One, which is no longer being sold. Another reason for these numbers is that vendors and mobile carriers are working to tweak the software to meet their handsets needs. Most users who have bought their Android phone with a 1.x software can’t update to the new ones in the 2.x lineup due to hardware limitations and the fact that Google, the handset makers and/or the carriers see no need to spend the time to create a version of the 2.x software for those devices.

Experts on the matter say that it is a bit of a hassle with developers as they have to test their applications not only against a large variety of handsets, but the installed software that each hardware configuration runs as different software versions dramatically differ in the application programming interfaces they support. On the iOS platform, its a completely different story, as Apple provides a single installed user base of their mobile devices and software, which experts mention is a “developer’s playground”

New information about a potential security risk in Safari was presented this week by the Register. According to the group, there is a security exploit in the AutoFill function of Safari that could possibly allow malicious infiltration of personal data from the Address Book service within the Safari web browser. Security research Jeremiah Grossman follow-up with a demonstration of the exploit on his blog to show users what exactly someone with malicious intent can obtain from this security hole.

All a malicious website would have to do to surreptitiously extract Address Book card data from Safari is dynamically create form text fields with the aforementioned names, probably invisibly, and then simulate A-Z keystroke events using JavaScript. When data is populated, that is AutoFill’ed, it can be accessed and sent to the attacker.

What’s more interesting, however, is that the vulnerability completely doesn’t work with phone numbers and addresses, only name, city, state, country, and business/company fields.

Still, such attacks could be easily and cheaply distributed on a mass scale using an advertising network where likely no one would ever notice because it’s not exploit code designed to deliver rootkit payload. In fact, there is no guarantee this has not already taken place. What is safe to say is that this vulnerability is so brain dead simple that I assumed someone else must have publicly reported it already, but exhaustive searches and asking several colleagues turned up nothing.

Jeremiah stated that he did indeed inform the exploit to Apple, but he has only received an automated acknowledgement of his findings. Be that as it may, Grossman says he has showcased the security hazard in Safari to the public to inform users of the software that they might potentially become a victim and showing the necessary precaution one should take: Disabling the AutoFill feature, which is on by default.

If you are not sure on how to turn of the AutoFill feature. Follow the steps below…

• Go to “Safari” in the Menu Bar at the top of you display and select “Preferences”

• Unselect or uncheck the top box which is associated with your Address Book.

Our friends over at Cult of Mac discovered a new social application that turns you iPad into a magazine that catalogs all of your social content into a magazine-like interface.

Designed from the ground up for iPad, Flipboard creates a magazine out of a users social content. Simply launch Flipboard and flip open the cover to get started. From the Table of Contents readers can view their sections and personalize the magazine.

The software generates magazines  by adding social networking accounts, such as Facebook and Twitter, and using the content from those accounts to populate the magazine’s material. As updates are being made to social networks, they are added to your personal Flipboard magazine where you can read, view, comment and like the content that your friends publish. Though we have yet to experience the application (which we are in the process of doing), we are rather impressed with the GUI for this software. It presents your content in a clean, stylish and immersive demeanor, and we love pretty things. Their has been a few kinks reported with the app, mainly connection errors that have been occurring, but that’s probably just a result of high demand for the product. The app is available on the App Store and is free of charge. You should definitely take a gander at this if you have an iPad and tell us what you think.

The much anticipated Skype update to allow background activity in the application for users is now live in the App Store. Many users of the application have been anxiously waiting for the multitasking switch to be turned on from Skype to allow them to experience the software outside the application before the “sometime in August” deadline approached.

Run Skype in the background with multitasking in iOS4. Receive Skype calls and IM while other apps are running or when your iPhone is locked. You can also continue your call while you switch to another application. Multitasking is available only with iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS.

The app was updated previously this summer to bring voice calling over third generation (3G) networking. Seems like Skype was quick to roll this development out after the beef between them and Fring started. Fring no longer offers Skype compatibility as they state that the boys over at Skype “cowardly” disabled the ability for their software to be incorporated into Fring’s newly updated application that implements video calling over 3G. Skype responded to the “coward” statement by saying that the new update and features that Fring implemented in their new software update tarnished the acclaimed experience that the Skype network as become widely known for. Despite the exchange of words from the VOIP groups, it’s still not clear who really disabled the ability.

There has been a rumor floating about that Apple is planning to charge iPad users for the new iOS 4 update that they are currently developing for the device. However, after some investigating into the licensing agreement, Apple clearly states that the next update will be free of charge.

Back when the iOS 4 software was the talk of the tech world, Cupertino said that the next major software update for the collection of iOS devices will be made free. They even took it a step further by placing statement within their end user license agreement.

“For example, if your iPad originally shipped with iPad 3.x software, Apple would provide you with any iPad OS software updates it might release up to and including the iPad 4.x software release. Such updates and releases may not necessarily include all of the new software features that Apple releases for newer iPad models.”

Even though Apple has stated that it doesn’t plan to charge for the iOS 4 for the iPad, it doesn’t mean that they could not charge for future major updates to the iOS platform. As they have done with the iPod, Apple could charge users a nominal fee to update to the new software. However, Apple has done away with the small fee it use to charge iPod owners and began issue free updates, starting with iOS 4.x being free to iPod users.

Apple has updated iBooks to version 1.1.1 in line with the iTunes 9.2.1 update for the Mac. The new update brings several new features to the software including audio and video capabilities, viewing detailed images within books and stability and performance updates as well.

Double-tap an image within a book to view it in greater detail.

Experience books that include audio and video.

Enjoy substantial performance improvements when reading PDFs.

Look-up definitions to English words inside books without a specified language.

Addresses an issue that may have caused some book downloads to not complete.

Includes many stability and performance improvements.

The new iBooks application can be downloaded or updated through the App Store.

There has been word floating about that FileMaker, subsidiary of Apple, planned on taking their widely acclaimed software to the mobile space on the iPad and the iPhone Tuesday on the App Store. Well, the app has been released for the iPhone for $20 and for the iPad priced at $40. FileMaker Go will allow users to view their FileMaker Pro records on the Apple branded devices as well as granting them the ability to edit and search their content. Users will also be able to swap between different layouts and organize their search results by form, table and list views. Many of the features that you are probably familiar with (if you are one of the many FileMaker abusers) such as QuickFind, Data Sources, Tab Controls, portals and a bundle of other recognizable things will be present in the new mobile version of its desktop counterpart. The app even plans on using iTunes File Sharing to transfer files, despite you not being connected to a FileMaker hosted network. Users can, alternatively, download all their content from any one of the various file sharing networks. FMG is available for the iPhone running the iOS 4 software and the iPad’s iOS 3.2.1 as well.

“View, edit and search your FileMaker Pro records on your iPhone with FileMaker Go. Whether youre checking inventory in the warehouse, managing event registration on-site, or updating project status while traveling, you can do it all while youre on the go.”

iPhone Version.

iPad Version

A walkthrough of the software is also available.

Click or tap to play

Apple on Tuesday released iTunes 9.2.1, the latest installment of one of the most ventured venues for entreatment in the universe. The new version fix a couple of issue and administer, usual for Apple, a reapplication of security, stability and performance. The update is made available through the built-in Software Update feature of your Mac and the installed version of iTunes on you PC as well as at apple.com.

• Disables older versions of some incompatible third-party plug-ins
  - Addresses minor issues with dragging and dropping items
  - Addresses a performance issue when first syncing to some devices with iTunes 9.2
  - Addresses an issue upgrading to iOS 4 on an iPhone or iPod touch with encrypted back-ups
  - Addresses other issues that improve stability and performance

It’s been stated that more Apple mobile devices will see FaceTime integrated with the addition of the new iOS software and Apple’s initiative to spread their standard to more people (that means that the iPod and iPad are going to have a front-facing camera soon). With that being brought to light, many people have asked how Apple plans to do that without phone numbers on the iPod and iPad. Well, the Boy Genius Report (BGR) has reported that they have received information from a “source” that states FaceTime for iPad and iPod will be carried out through email addresses. Apparently, through some investigation of the iOS 4.1 beta released Wednesday night, this “source” has discovered this email method that Apple might use.

“It’s actually pretty simple… Your Apple ID will be registered with your device/s, and that will allow other Apple devices to start a FaceTime call using your email address. Apple will also reportedly make use of push notifications to deliver these incoming FaceTime connection requests as we have been informed there is a push notification detector tied into the FaceTime frameworks in the new iPhone OS 4.1 beta.”

Even though the individual mentioned that FaceTime calls will be associated with Apple ID’s, the screenshot (below) indicates that all the user would need would be a valid email address, which stretches functionality. While this speculation seems workable, it does raise the question “What would a user with multiple iDevices do?” Would they have to assign a different email address with that iPad or iPod? Maybe they could use the same email address, but then, how would a user know which device to call if both devices use the same email address. These seem to be only questions that the folks over in Cupertino can answer. It’s pretty much a sure thing that they already have something that works seamless, which is the way Apple like things.