According to Apple, the software "includes general operating system improvements that enhance the stability, compatibility, and security of your Mac." The download is available through OS X's Software Update mechanism or as a free download from Apple's web site, weighing 88 MB for users who already run their Mac on the 10.5.3 update.

Besides 10.5.4 Leopard update, Apple has also released the Security Update 2008-004 for Mac OS X Tiger and Tiger Server (both Intel or PowerPC). These updates replicate the security fixes featured in 10.5.4 Leopard updates so that both systems are one level in terms of security. The patch includes protection against vulnerabilities in major system components, such as CoreTypes, Dock, SMB File Server, Ruby on Rails interpreter and Webkit.

Additionally, the company has updated Safari on Tiger to version 3.1.2, fixing a serious issue in the open-source WebKit browser engine that powers Safari. The problem could allow malicious JavaScript programs to allow running potentially dangerous code through the browser or crash the browser. The Leopard 10.5.4 update also addresses the same WebKit issue under Leopard. Windows XP and Vista users already have access to Safari 3.1.2 for Windows since June 19.


Plugging Leopard security holes

Leopard 10.5.4 update includes all recent security updates released between Mac OS X 10.5.3 and the new update. The 10.5.4. update resolves issues with several system and third-party applications, such as saving and re-opening Adobe Creative Suite 3 files on a remote server. It adds additional RAW image support for several digital camera models, improves L2TP VPN client reliability, solves AirPort reliability issues when on 5 GHz 802.11a and 802.11n networks and Logic Studio or MainStage problems with AirPort. The update also delivers many fixes to the system’s iCal calendaring application that is now more reliable, with several new options and user interface improvements available.

Changes to the Safari web browser address a potential performance issue when loading secure web pages or issues that may arise if a user accesses web pages with client certificates that reside on a smart card. Spaces and Exposé features that handle virtual desktops and windows management also received minor tweaks. Switching from a space with a Finder window now keeps the Finder as the active application instead of the application residing in the destination space. Also, dragging an application from the list of application assignments in the Spaces System Preferences does not assign the application to the desired space. A problem with Exposé that may result in only a subset of windows being shown is resolved as well, Apple said.


Important pre-requisite for MobileMe

Besides the regular slew of security, reliability and performance improvements, this update is widely believed to contain the code necessary to support Apple's new MobilMe suite of online services for Mac, PC and iPhone users that will replace the aging .Mac service. Dubbed "Exchange for the rest of us", MobileMe is a $99 a year service that comes with 20 GB of storage space shared between all services, including push email, contacts, calendar and photos, web galleries and online file sharing. These services can be accessed through a Web 2.0 web interface that looks and feels like a desktop application.

MobileMe seamlessly synchronizes personal information (contacts, calendars and email from Outlook on a PC or Mail/iCal/Address Book on a Mac) between any number of PCs, Macs and iPhones so that everything is up to date, all the time. MobileMe is set to debut on July 11, the same day as iPhone 3G. Apple is already transitioning some user .Mac user accounts from its @mac.com name space to the new MobileMe @me.com name space.

Labels: News

In a major step forward in search technology, Adobe ( NSDQ: ADBE) is working with Google ( NSDQ: GOOG) and Yahoo ( NSDQ: YHOO) to make Flash files searchable in online search. The project will enable searches on Flash content to return text and links, which can then be indexed, and hence available in search results for the users. Content from a Flash application or even a game or advertisement will be available to search engines, reports InfoWorld. Pages containing a Flash .SWF file will be returned in a search. Google has already implemented this, while Yahoo, ever the laggard, will enable Flash search in a future version, whenever that comes out.

As for images and video, no luck yet. From Google's own description: "If your Flash files only include images, we will not recognize or index any text that may appear in those images. Similarly, we do not generate any anchor text for Flash buttons which target some URL, but which have no associated text. Also note that we do not index FLV files, such as the videos that play on YouTube, because these files contain no text elements."
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No plans were disclosed for other search engines like MSFT's Live.com or Ask.com, but expect them to be enabled at a later date...MSFT might take a while, though, since it has its own Flash competitor Silverlight, and has its own motives on not surfacing Flash fils in results.

Among the beneficiaries will be the fancy e-commerce/transactional info sites who use Flash to develop their shopping site and product pages, whose results will now crop up in the search results...and this may even lead to some new SEO tricks, who knows?

Labels: News

Verizon Wireless may not challenge Apple's dominance of digital music any time soon, but its new DRM-free music initiative could help boost its mobile data business and broaden the market beyond iTunes.

Powered by RealNetworks' Rhapsody service, Verizon's upgraded V Cast Music store offers unprotected MP3 tracks via a $15 monthly subscription, as well as individual downloads to mobile devices or PC.

The subscription buys unlimited access to 5 million songs from all four of the major labels--Sony BMG, Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group and The EMI Group.

Anyone, including non-Verizon subscribers, can use the service to download DRM-free tracks to a PC for 99 cents each. Subscribers can also buy songs directly through their mobile phones for $1.99 apiece, with an extra copy downloaded to a customer's PC.

Rhapsody subscribers can also sync their phones to the new V Cast service.

With the move, Verizon and Rhapsody join others in distributing digital music free of encryption software, including wireless rival AT&T (with Napster), Amazon and Wal-Mart. But so far, none have managed to put a dent in the 80% market share Apple commands through its iTunes store.

Consumers to date have shown a decided preference for 99 cent downloads via iTunes and the iPod to music subscriptions from services such as Rhapsody and Napster.

Wireless and Internet analysts do not necessarily expect the new Verizon service to spark a dramatic shift. But the carrier is poised to become a bigger player in digital music and improve its mobile media revenues through V Cast.

"This is where the subscription model can perhaps finally find a mainstream audience," wrote Michael Gartenberg, a vice president and research director at JupiterResearch, in a post on the firm's analyst blog Monday. "More importantly, it's a differentiated offering that can potentially have some appeal."

Overall, Jupiter projects that digital music sales, including subscription services and downloads, will triple to $3.4 billion in 2012 from $1.04 billion in 2006.

By pairing with Rhapsody, Verizon is more than doubling its music catalog on V Cast and offering a competitive subscription price at $15 a month, according to William Ho, a senior wireless services analyst at technology research firm Current Analysis. Verizon also hinted during a conference call Monday that over-the-air downloads would be added to subscriptions at some point.

"This is all about adding stickiness and increasing ARPU (average revenue per user)," Ho said.

While Verizon declined to disclose how many subscribers the existing V Cast music service has, a company spokesman said millions of customers use it each month.

Verizon has the biggest share of the mobile audio market among the five largest carriers--at 38%, according to Nielsen Mobile. That includes realtones, ringbacks, ringtones and full-track downloads. But songs made up only 16% of Verizon's audio sales.

Nielsen estimated the wireless audio market in the first quarter at $268 million.

Analysts emphasized that a strong promotional push from Verizon and Rhapsody would be required for the new music initiative to be successful. "Let's see just how aggressively Verizon markets both Rhapsody and paid downloads, and whether they can make cell phones as cool as iPods," wrote David Card, a vice president and senior analyst at Jupiter, on the firm's blog.

A Verizon spokesman said the carrier planned to promote the music service in print, broadcast "and a full range of advertising elements to come," though providing few details.

During the conference call, RealNetworks founder and CEO Rob Glaser also said the new V Cast service would be a key part of marketing efforts tied to its related "Music Without Limits" initiative announced Monday to sell MP3 downloads directly via Rhapsody.

That service, which allows users to listen to up to 25 tracks per month before buying songs, will be syndicated across MTV.com, CMT.com, VH1.com and Yahoo.

MTV Networks, which owns 51% of Rhapsody America, has agreed to provide $200 million in TV marketing related to the Rhapsody service over the next five years, Glaser said.

To help counter the iPod, Verizon also plans to introduce a new handset--the LG Chocolate 3--next month as its first device designed specifically with the new music service in mind by streamlining the process of downloading and transferring music from PC to phone.

In the meantime, several other existing Verizon handsets have been "retrofitted" to handle the service, including the Decoy and Dare from LG and the Samsung Glyde.

Labels: News

BOSTON - If you're traveling overseas, try to leave your computer at home. If you must have it, put only a few files on it and leave as many as possible behind. Encrypt the files you do bring.

These are some of the steps that computer security analysts advise for international travelers anxious to avoid being the victim of data espionage. The AP reported Thursday that U.S. authorities are investigating whether Chinese officials secretly copied the contents of a government laptop computer during a visit to China by Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez.

Such incidents illustrate the care that business executives or government officials should take when they travel to places where rivals might try to filch vital trade secrets or sensitive information. Dangers exist even if travelers keep their laptops closely held the whole time but connect to Internet networks abroad.

"Unlike several years ago, people are traveling with the entire contents of their office in their briefcase and plugging into what we might call a promiscuous port, not knowing who they're talking to or who runs the Internet security provider they're connecting to," said Mark Rasch, a former federal computer crime investigator now with FTI Consulting Inc.

Experts suggest people reconsider bringing a computer when they travel to locales of uncertain trustworthiness.

If leaving the laptop home is impractical, the best bet is to deploy whole-disk encryption. That cloaks every file on a computer and grants access only to the user who enters the proper password. Some whole-disk encryption products are even free; Windows Vista comes with one, called BitLocker.

This will protect a computer that gets lost or stolen while it's turned off. But whole-disk encryption is far less secure if the user selects an easy-to-guess password. And it's all but pointless if the user logs in with the correct password and then leaves the machine unattended and unencrypted.

To address the latter issue, security analyst Bruce Schneier, chief technologist for BT Counterpane, uses whole-disk encryption on his laptop and then a second layer: He encrypts individual files on the machine separately, with a different password.

Travelers connecting to the Internet also should access business files only with methods that encrypt data streams against snoops. Such methods include VPNs (virtual private networks) for network traffic and SSL (secure sockets layer) for e-mail.

It's also key to deal with data on mobile devices. It's conceivable that a foreign government would try to install a tap on a prominent traveler's cell phone.

Getting physical access to the device is not required. Joel Brenner, the National Counterintelligence Executive, told a conference in December that business executives have picked up tracking bugs and other security vulnerabilities on their mobile devices during international business trips. Brenner advised leaving such devices home and using a temporary, disposable one while overseas.

Schneier points out that even cautious travelers could find their data copied at any international border crossing, if guards ask a traveler to enter decryption passwords so a computer can be inspected. (U.S. courts have yet to clarify whether you can say no to that question upon entry to this country.)

Schneier said several companies now deal with this issue by giving their employees a laptop whose hard drive has been wiped clean. While on their trips, the employees have things they need e-mailed to them. Then they wipe it clean again before they cross another border.

The approach has a downside for many business travelers, Rasch said: "You can't do a lot of work on the plane."

Labels: News

For the upcoming release of Firefox 3, Mozilla aims to set a new world record for the largest number of software downloads in 24 hours.

The company has put out a call to its global community of users to pledge to download the new 3.0 version of Firefox on the day the browser is made available to the public.

Given that there's no established Guinness World Record for software downloads, Mozilla is destined for the record book no matter what happens. A Mozilla spokesperson said the company is working with the Guinness Book Of World Records to verify the record attempt and will be furnishing 10% of the company's download logs for an extrapolated final download count.

Justin Fitzhugh, director of IT for Mozilla, is confident that Mozilla will be able to handle the bandwidth surge, which he said is likely to be a fraction of the load Mozilla bears when it releases automated browser updates to its installed base of users. "We've scaled for this already," he said, noting that in addition to the servers in its own data center, Mozilla relies on donated server capacity around the world.

Mozilla claims that it has 175 million users in more than 230 countries. The United Nations recognizes 192 member states. Presumably, Mozilla is counting perhaps a dozen countries with limited or substantial international recognition (Taiwan), several would-be countries not recognized by other nations (Abkhazia), and a variety of territories (Norfolk Island).

Over at SpreadFirefox.com, there's an interactive map that lists by country those who have pledged to download Firefox 3.0 on the designated day. At the time this article was filed, the United States had the lead, with almost 38,000 promising to participate in the download event. In Turkmenistan, only six people have committed. Enthusiasm for the download record attempt is clearly higher in neighboring Uzbekistan, where 50 people have pledged to participate.

About two weeks ago, Mozilla released Firefox 3.0 RC1, a version of the new browser deemed stable enough for public testing. Mozilla says the official 3.0 release will occur in June.

Firefox 3.0 RC1 is noticeably faster than version 2.0. It also handles memory better.

As of May 29, Firefox has 17.76% of the global browser market share, according to Net Applications. Microsoft Internet Explorer accounts for 74.83%, and Apple's Safari accounts for 5.81%.

Labels: News