Apple

An unpublished part of iPhone's latest programming framework lets third-party developers pipe video out to an external device, albeit not without a few catches.

Gearlog has discovered a weird issue with the latest generation (Late 2008) MacBook Pros – they run like dogs when the battery is removed. To the tune of a 37-percent drop in speed without the battery.

Zach Honig benchmarked a 2.53GHz MacBook Pro with Maxon’s Cinebench R10. With a battery the MacBook Pro scored 5,549, without 3,504.

Apple just updated Safari to version 3.2.1. According to Software Update, "This update includes stability improvements and is recommended for all Safari users." Apple updated Safari only a few weeks ago, adding protection from phishing websites.

If you've been paying attention to the Apple updates this week, then you know that they've done some heavy-updating in this area. In the past week, they've updated iPhone/iPod touch, iTunes, Apple TV, Pro Applications, Trackpad, and QuickTime.

One of the great myths about Mac OS X is that it's invulnerable to malware. But two pieces of malware making the rounds show that certainly isn't the case. One reason the Mac has been safer than PCs in the past is that Windows has so much more market share. But now that the Mac is gaining in popularity, expect Mac-based malware to increase as well.

Apple may not have wanted you to be able to check out the streets and buildings from up close in Google Maps but there’s not much they can do to stop the hackers from figuring out ways around the artificially imposed restraints. It didn’t take long for someone to come up with a workaround that enables Street View and other new features that Apple withheld from iPod touch users in the software update 2.2.

The guys from the Dev Team have done it again - Quickpwn 2.2 and Pwnage Tool 2.2 have been released for those looking to unlock the latest 2.2 Apple firmware for both the iPhone 2G as well as the iPhone 3G - this DOES NOT include the highly awaited BASEBAND UNLOCK which allows you to use your carrier/telco locked iPhone 3G with any SIM card! However, it will allow you to upgrade to 2.2 and still make use of your TurboSIM or similar SIM 'hijacker'. Currently there is no unlock for 2nd gen iPod Touch users, but that should change in the days to come.

Apple has just released firmware 2.2 for the iPhone and iPod Touch - if you don't care for jailbreaks and soft unlocks, you can grab the update through iTunes or via these direct links:

1st Gen - http://appldnld.apple.com.edgesuite.net/content.info.apple.com/iPhone/061-5779.20081120.Pt5yH/iPhone1,1_2.2_5G77_Restore.ipsw

Apple just released an update to iTunes. Version 8.0.2 "...improves stability and performance and provides a number of important bug fixes." They note that this update adds VoiceOver capabilities for both iTunes and iTunes U. VoiceOver is the built-in screen reader utility for Mac OS X that helps visually challenged users.

In addition to VoiceOver, Apple also includes the following "important" bug fixes:

Like Qik and FlixWagon, LiveCLIQ is a free application that allows live streaming and recording of videos directly from your iPhone. Before some of you get too excited, let me tell you right away that this app is only available for jailbroken iPhones. This means that if you’re on a stock iPhone, you will have to wait 2017, until Apple finally decides to add video recording to the iPhone for you to enjoy this neat feature…

Apple's new MacBook lines include a form of digital copy protection that will prevent protected media, such as DRM-infused iTunes movies, from playing back on devices that aren't compliant with the new priority protection measures.

The Intel-developed technology is called High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP) and aims to prevent copying of digital audio and video content as it travels across a variety of display connectors, even if such copying is not in violation of fair use laws.