Apple on Monday evening posted the update 10.5.4 for its Mac OS X Leopard operating system. This release “includes general operating system improvements that enhance the stability, compatibility, and security of your Mac.”, Apple said. This release is believed to contain codes that support the upcoming MobileMe online service that will debut on July 11. The 88MB download is available via OS X’s Software Update mechanism or from Apple Downloads website.

Apple Mac OS X Leopard 10.5.4 update includes all recent security updates and 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 RAW image support for additional digital camera, improves L2TP VPN client reliability and solves AirPort reliability issues. The update also delivers fixes to improve the stability of iCal calendaring application. Read Apple’s support document for details of Mac OS X 10.5.4 update.

This update is widely believed to support Apple’s new MobilMe online services that will replace the .Mac service coming July 11. MobileMe costs $99 per year and comes with 20GB of storage, an email account with a @me.com domain, contacts, calendar, photos and file sharing services. You can synchronizes these information between Macs, PCs and iPhones so that everything is up to date.

Besides Mac OS X 10.5.4 Leopard update, Apple also released security updates for Mac OS X Tiger, Mac OS X Tiger Server as well as Safari 3.1.2 for Mac OS X Tiger. These updates replicate the security fixes featured in 10.5.4 Leopard update.

Apple will open its first directly-operated retail store on China in Beijing on July 19 just in time for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The three-storey store will open at popular SanLiTun area of the capital, and Apple is planning to open a second outlet during the Beijing Olympics in August.

Apple will sell its products and services at its recommended retail price in the store. This is a change from current practice where Apple China’s licensed resellers often charge higher than retail price. There is no further details from Apple China on the store’s opening.

The Apple branded stores will help Apple penetrate the China market, which has the No. 1 phone market and the No. 2 PC market worldwide. iPhone is expected to launch in mainland China later in 2008, based on comments by Steve Jobs. Apple will launch the 3G iPhone in Hong Kong on July 11, which is listed as the first 24 countries to get the 3G iPhone.

Source: ShanghaiDaily.com

Happy Birthday iPhone! Yes hard to believe but iPhone is one year old today. With all the hype and buzz around next generation 3G iPhone, let’s look back at some iPhone milestones for the past one year or so:

          <ul>
          <li>Apple announced iPhone on January 9, 2007</li>
          <li>iPhone is released on June 29, 2007 in United States with retail price of $599 for the 8GB and $499 for the 4GB model.</li>
          <li>On September 5, 2007, 68 days after the product launch, Apple dropped the 8GB model to $399 and discontinued the 4GB model. </li>
          <li>iPhone launched in UK and German on November 9, 2007</li>
          <li>Time Magazine named iPhone the Invention of the Year in 2007</li>
          <li>Apple on June 9, 2008 unveiled details of next generation 3G iPhone, which will include 3G mobile technology and Assisted GPS function.</li>
          </ul>

Apple is set to release the second generation 3G iPhone on July 11, we guess many of you already have plan to join the queue on day one.

Blizzard today announced during its 2008 Blizzard Entertainment WorldWide Invitational (WWI) event in France that it is working on the long-rumored Diablo III. The RPG action fantasy game will be released for both the PC and Mac simultaneously, but there is no release date schedule, system requirements or pricing information announced for Diablo III.

Blizzard has launched the Diablo III web site with much game details including official trailer and gameplay video. Diablo III’s P2P gameplay will be available online via Battle.net, which is Blizzard’s free online service that launched with the original Diablo in 1997. This confirmed that Diablo III is not following a subscription fee model as with World of Warcraft.

Blizzard sold more than 20 million copies of both Diablo II and Diablo II: Lord of Destruction since their release in 2000 and 2001.

Source: DailyTech

In the new Disney-Pixar movie WALL•E opening this weekend, the robot makes the standard Mac startup sound when he boots up. This suggests that the core operating system of the robot is a variant of Mac OS X and Apple already has plan to make foray into building robots. Well…

We are not sure if the robot looks like an Apple product, but the sleek EVE floating robot certainly fits the Apple look. Yes, Pixar team actually consulted Jonathan Ive in 2005 for EVE’s design. Jonathan Ive, if you are not aware, is Apple Senior VP of Industrial Design, and is the Apple ‘it’ design guy responsible for the design of Apple products such as iMac, iPod and iPhone.

MacHeist has just announced a new Summer Bundle that combine Parallels Desktop with MacPilot for $49. Parallels Desktop is the popular Mac virtualization software which normally retail for about $80. MacPilot is utility software that allows you to enable and disable hidden OS X features without resorting to command line.

MacHeist’s software bundle in the past has been popular with Mac users. If you have purchased MacHeist bundles in the past, you will get another $10 off the total price for this Summer Bundle, bringing it to $39. If this is not enough sweetener, MacHeist will give away a mystery bonus application for the first thousand customers.

Good deal indeed for a saving of $40 if you have been eyeing to get Parallels Desktop. But you better hurry as this offer runs through the end of June, which means you have only four days left.

What is the best way to run Windows applications on Intel Macs? This is one of the common questions for new Mac users especially switchers from Windows. For some, the ability to run Windows applications is a must-have feature when they pick up a Mac. Windows applications especially custom made programs from your company and games are more often than not Windows only, and there is no equivalent available in Mac OS X.

Back in the PowerPC Mac days, virtually everyone who needs to run Windows applications uses the program Virtual PC. Microsoft decided not to develop an Intel Mac compatible version of Virtual PC when Apple switched to using Intel processor in January 2006. Since then, a number of products have appeared to take advantage of the Intel processor for better Windows support than ever. These products fall into three broad categories, each with different strong points.

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Market researcher iSuppli, as with what they usually do with new Apple products, issued their teardown cost estimate of the 3G iPhone. iSuppli came up with a total of $173 for bill of materials and manufacturing costs. This is a virtual teardown estimate as iSuppli has yet to obtain an actual 3G iPhone. Apple 3G iPhone will be available on July 11th, 2008.

This low cost might explain why Apple is able to sell the new 3G iPhone for a low $199 price tag. The two main reasons according to iSuppli are: mobile phone service providers will subsidize the phone by paying Apple about US$300 per unit and the low cost of manufacturing materials for the 3G iphone.

In comparison, Apple sold the original iPhone for $499 initially, which costs $226 to make and does not include 3G and GPS components. Apple has managed to build the second-generation iPhone for 23% less than the first one. The most expensive component on the 3G iPhone is the $22.80 8G bytes of NAND flash memory, followed by the touchscreen at $20, iSuppli estimates.

This initial estimate does not include the cost of shipping, distribution, software development, packaging and accessories included with each iPhone. Taiwan’s Hon Hai (Foxconn), the world’s largest contract electronics manufacturer, is making the new iPhone at factories in China.

Office 2004 for Mac 11.5.0

Microsoft releases Office 2004 11.5.0 update today which improves compatibility with documents that were created in Office 2008 for Mac and in 2007 Office for Windows. This update also enables Office 2004 for Mac to read and to write Open XML Format documents provided you have installed the Open XML File Format Converter for Mac (Visit Microsoft Mac Downloads website to download the Open XML File Format Converter for Mac). This update also improves stability.

Check out Microsoft support website for detail description and download the update.

          <b>Office 2008 for Mac 12.1.1</b>

Microsoft releases Office 2008 for Mac 12.1.1 update today which fixes a number of performance and stability issues. This update requires Office 2008 for Mac Service Pack 1 as a prerequisite which you can download from Microsoft Mac Downloads website.

Check out Microsoft support website for detail description and download the update.

In a surprised news, Microsoft has promised to provide support for Windows XP till 2014, a full 13 years after Windows XP was released in October 25, 2001. Microsoft normally terminates support for its operating system within 10 years of its release.

Microsoft senior VP Bill Veghte said the software maker will provide security patches and other critical updates for Windows XP until April, 2014. “Our ongoing support for Windows XP is the result of our recognition that people keep their Windows-based PCs for many years,” Veghte wrote in a letter sent to customers. Majority of Microsoft’s large customers have not upgraded to the newer Windows Vista (released January 2007), due mainly to Vista’s resource requirements and lack of compatibility with older applications. Many of them are expected to skip Vista altogether and continue to use Windows XP until Windows 7 becomes available in 2010 or later.

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