Stargate Computers News

Apple update Safari and Tiger

2008-07-01T08:45:00.001+01:00

Apple has released a security updates for OS X 10.4 Tiger and its Safari web browser.

Safari 3.1.2 addresses a memory corruption issues that could be exploited by a maliciously crafted website to cause unexpected application termination or enable arbitrary code execution.

Security Update 2008-04 is addressing several issues with the operating system. This update is only for Tiger users; Leopard users received this update as part of the 10.5.4 update released on Monday.

If a system requires a password to wake from sleep and Exposé hot corners are enabled, it was possible to access the system without the password.

The person would need physical access to the machine to bypass the screen lock – this issue has been fixed.

A problem has been fixed when visiting a maliciously crafted website with “Open Safe Files” enabled in Safari could lead to a file to be opened on the user’s system, resulting in arbitrary code execution.

A couple of issues running Ruby on Mac OS X leading to arbitrary code execution have also been fixed.

A memory corruption issue exists in WebKit’s handling of JavaScript arrays. Apple fixed this problem by improving bounds checking. WebKit is the basis for Apple’s Safari Web browser.

Issues have also been fixed with VPN, Tomcat, System Configuration and SMB File Server.

The are several versions of the update available — one for PowerPC, one for Intel, Server (PPC) and Server (Intel).

Both updates are available via Software Update or from apple.com/support/downloads.

Apple Releases OSX 10.5.4

2008-06-30T23:20:00.001+01:00

Apple on Monday released Mac OS X 10.5.4 fixing several issues with iCal, AirPort, Safari, and Spaces & Exposé.

AirPort has been updated addressing reliability issues with 5GHz networks and issues that may result in slower performance in Logic Studio or MainStage.

iCal received updates fixing seven issues with the application including reliability for meeting requests, cancellation notices, delegation, and syncing with iPhone. The update also fixed an issue that prevents deleting an iCal event without notifying the creator.

iCal now includes a checkbox that excludes information-only calendars from affecting availability and a problem with copying and pasting attendees from one event to another has been resolved.

Performance issues when loading secure web pages in Safari has been resolved. Another performance issue where client certificates are on a smart card has also been addressed.

Spaces & Exposé received a couple of updates, as well. An Exposé problem that may result in only a subset of windows being shown has been fixed. An issue has been fixed when switching from a space keeps the Finder as the active application and dragging an application from the list of application assignments does not assign the app to the Space have both been addressed.

Mac OS X 10.5.4 includes additional RAW image support for several cameras and an issue with saving and reopening Adobe Creative Suite 3 files on a remote server has been fixed.

Improvements for L2TP VPN client reliability have also been made.

iPhone pay-as-you-go pricing leaked?

2008-06-26T13:08:00.001+01:00

O2 briefly posted then removed pay-as-you-go pricing for the new 3G iPhone.
The UK carrier's Pay & Go page did say that £300 for the 8GB model and £360 for the 16GB model would get you six months of unlimited web access; text and phone call costs would be extra, covered by one of O2's Pay & Go plans. After six months, net acccess would cost £10 per month.

That page now says "iPhone is coming soon for Pay & Go" but all price information has been removed.

O2 has definitely announced the Pay Monthly tariffs for the iPhone, with the more expensive rates including a free handset.

Researcher slams Adobe for ‘epidemic’ of JavaScript bugs

2008-06-25T06:18:00.001+01:00

Adobe patched its free Reader and commercial Acrobat software this week to plug the latest in what one researcher called an “epidemic” of JavaScript vulnerabilities.

Office 2008, 2004 updates, XML converter released

2008-06-24T20:57:00.001+01:00

Microsoft released updates for Office 2008 and Office 2004 improving stability and fixing issues caused by previous updates. The company also released its Open XML converter, allowing users to convert Office 2008 documents to older versions.

T-Mobile cuts Data Roaming Charges

2008-06-20T23:38:00.001+01:00

T-Mobile has announced a cut of 80 percent in its European data-roaming charges, in time for the 1 July deadline imposed on operators by the European Commission.

Information society and media commissioner Viviane Reding told operators in February that they would have to make their data-roaming rates more reasonable by the start of July, otherwise the Commission would consider proposing strict new regulations on such charges. On Friday, T-Mobile said its data-roaming charges within Europe would, as of 1 July, drop from £7.50 per megabyte to £1.50 per megabyte.

The move will make T-Mobile the cheapest UK operator in terms of using a mobile phone or data modem for internet surfing while abroad on the continent. The operator also said on Friday that it would be cutting its rates for text messaging while in Europe — another bugbear for Reding — from 40 pence per message to 25 pence per message, bringing T-Mobile in line with its rival O2. Leaving opt-in bundles aside, O2 and 3 will, until 1 July, be the cheapest UK operators for data roaming, as they already charge just £3 per megabyte.

Mozilla Releases Firefox3

2008-06-18T11:47:00.001+01:00

Mozilla has released Firefox 3, the open source browser for the internet. Here at Stargate Computers we strongly urge you to update to the new version of this excellent program.

iPhone 3G Prices for the UK

2008-06-10T10:48:00.001+01:00

Britons will pay exactly the same for the new iPhone 3G as buyers in the US, according to prices announced by O2.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced that the second-generation iPhone would start from "$199 worldwide" during his WWDC keynote last night. Click here for full details of the iPhone 3G launch.

But British buyers rarely see a straight dollar conversion of US prices, with Apple itself among the companies that routinely charge Brits more for its products than US buyers.

However, O2 has confirmed that the 8GB version of the iPhone 3G will cost £99 on a £30 or £35 monthly tariff, while those prepared to sign up for the £45 or £75 monthly tabs will get the hardware for free.

The 16GB version will cost £159 to those on the two cheapest tariffs, £59 to those who pay £45 per month and free on the £75 per month option.

O2 says it will also offer the new iPhones on a pay-as-you-go basis for the first time, but has yet to announce pricing for this model.

New pricing model

Apple has ripped up its business model for the launch of the iPhone 3G. The mobile networks will no longer pay Apple part of the subscription fees they get from iPhone users, but instead will subsidise the devices up front to make them cheaper.

"The vast majority of agreements we have reached do not have those follow-on payments, so you can conclude that the vast majority of carriers do provide subsidies for the phone," says Tim Cook, Apple's chief operating officer.

Analysts say the new pricing model won't hit Apple's profits. "It is still a very profitable business," says Shaw Wu, an analyst with American Technology Research. "Now the negative is it announced the elimination of some of the monthly fees, but I can't really imagine the economics really being too much different."

Jobs claims Apple has sold 6 million iPhones so far, and Cook says he is "still very comfortable" that the company will hit its goal of selling 10 million units by the end of 2008.

Apple has released Quicktime 7.5

2008-06-10T08:55:00.000+01:00

Apple has released Quicktime 7.5, which improves Application Compatibility and addresses Security Issues.

OSX Snow Leopard Update

2008-06-10T08:50:00.000+01:00

Apple has given Mac developers a first preview of Snow Leopard, the next version of OS X for the Mac.

Rather than focusing primarily on new features, Snow Leopard will enhance the performance of Apple's operating system and set a platform for future developments and features. It is optimised for multi-core processors, exploits the power of graphic processing units (GPUs), enables unprecedented amounts of RAM and has a new media platform with QuickTime X.

A new technology code-named Grand Central enhances support for multi-core processors making it easy for developers to create programme that take full advantagem while Apple's new Open Computing Language (OpenCL) lets any application tap into the gigaflops of GPU computing power previously available only to graphics applications. And with further improvement to OS X's 64-bit technology, Snow Leopard raises the software limit on system memory up to a theoretical 16TB of RAM.

Using media technology developed initially for the iPhone, QuickTime X is designed optimise support for modern audio and video formats to provide highly efficient media playback.

And, for the first time, OS X will provide native support for Microsoft Exchange 2007 in Mail, iCal and Address Book.

"We have delivered more than a thousand new features to OS X in just seven years and Snow Leopard lays the foundation for thousands more," said Bertrand Serlet, Apple's senior vice president of Software Engineering. "In our continued effort to deliver the best user experience, we hit the pause button on new features to focus on perfecting the world's most advanced operating system."

Snow Leopard will ship in about a year.

Steve Jobs Keynote At WWDC 08 Highlights

2008-06-09T17:49:00.010+01:00

1. OS Snow Leopard is official ! ! The new version of OSX is going to be called Snow Leopard. More details to follow as soon as I know more ! !

2. iPhone 2 Software is announced - Full Exchange Support, Push Everything, Remote Wipe and VPN support out of the box. Everything enterprise users wanted is now part of the official iPhone software. Also the iPhone SDK and App Store has officially been released (the previous version was in Beta). Highlights of some Apps - a game by Sega ($9.99), Typepad Blogging tool (Free), Loopt (Social Networking - a bit like Facebook - Free), Mobile News Network (News Reader from Associated Press - Free) There are also a lot of other apps coming out for the iPhone. The iPhone can also read iWork Documents and Powerpoint Presentations. The software will be released in early July. Cost for iPod Touch owners is $9.99 (about £5).

3. iPhone has now got 3G at long last, GPS Receiver, and a flush headphone jack. The Battery life is 5 Hours on 3G talk time, 5-6 Hours High Speed Browsing, 10 Hours 2G Talk Time. This looks like a Blackberry beater to me (and yes I am going to get one as soon as possible - even though I am using the top-of-the-rage Nokia, a e90 Communicator.) The Price is $100 for the 8Gb and $299 for the 16Gb - a lot cheaper than the old iPhone, no details on pricing in the UK - Check O2's Website for UK Pricing. The release date is July 11th.

4. MobileMe - Exchange for the rest of us. Me.com is the new push Email, Calendar or Contacts for the rest of us. It can sync between Macs, Calendar or Contacts. You can also upload photos directly from an iPhone to your Mobile Me Gallery. You can also access the data over the Internet through an AJAX interface (GMail on steroids). You can also access the iDisk via the web interface as you can with .Mac. The service is going to replace .Mac. This new service will be available early July.

WWDC '08

2008-06-06T23:46:00.002+01:00

I will be covering all the important announcements at WWDC '08 here. Please check back on Tuesday for all the latest information ! ! !

Highlights :

iPhone 2

.Mac Upgrade

New Version of OSX????? (Code name Snow Leopard and Intel Only)

Please note that these are all rumors, know one knows what apple are going to do apart from Apple ! !

Apple updates printer drivers

2008-06-06T23:42:00.001+01:00

Apple has updates the printer drivers for Brother and Canon printers in OSX 10.5 Leopard. To install these new drivers you need to be running 10.5.3 and have a brother or canon printer installed.

The drivers will be installed via Software Update.

Apple Releases update for OSX 10.5 Leopard to 10.5.3

2008-05-28T20:26:00.000+01:00

The 10.5.3 Update is recommended for all users running Mac OS X Leopard and includes general operating system fixes that enhance the stability, compatibility and security of your Mac.

Microsoft Releases Service Pack for Office 2008

2008-05-15T10:19:00.002+01:00

Microsoft has released a service pack for Office 2008 for Mac. The service pack includes all the updates to 12.0.1 and has a host of bug fixes including support for Exchange in Entourage.

Windows XP SP3 has been released

2008-05-07T01:41:00.001+01:00

The latest, and last Service Pack for Windows XP has just been released to the public. Please use Windows Update to update your Windows XP Machine to this important upgrade.

New Store Just Launched

2008-05-04T15:30:00.000+01:00

Stargate Computers has just launched a new Online Store - Stargate Office Supplies.

You can browse this store for all your computers, software and stationary needs.

We update our award winning MedicLetter

2008-05-01T22:54:00.000+01:00

We have updated our award winning Bulk Emailing Program, MedicLetter. The minor release was a bug fix release.

The Current Version is 3.6.1 Pro

For more information on MedicLetter please click here.

Apple updates iMac firmware

2008-04-30T19:27:00.000+01:00

Apple has introduced a firmware update for iMac's equipped with either the Radeon HD 2400 XT or HD 2600 Pro graphics cards.

Microsoft ships new Mac Messenger

2008-04-30T19:25:00.000+01:00

Microsoft's Mac Business Unit (BU) has announced the release of Messenger for Mac 7, its instant messaging client. Version 7 is a free download, available from the Mac BU's website.

Apple upgrades Java for Leopard

2008-04-30T19:24:00.001+01:00

Apple has released an essential upgrade to the Java software implemented in Mac OS X 10.5, introducing support for Java SE 6 v.1.6.0_05 to the OS.

Apple updates iMac with faster processor, graphics

2008-04-28T14:00:00.000+01:00

Apple on Monday updated its iMac consumer desktop computer, adding the latest Intel Core 2 Duo processor and more powerful graphics.

The new iMacs feature faster processors across the product and they also feature a 1066 MHz front-side bus and up to 4GB of 800 MHz DDR2 SDRAM memory. The 24-inch iMac also has an optional NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GS with 512MB of video memory, delivering what Apple says is up to two times standard performance for graphic intensive applications.

The new iMacs also feature AirPort Extreme 802.11n Wi-Fi networking, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR; Gigabit Ethernet; built-in iSight video camera; a total of five USB 2.0 ports (including two on the Apple Keyboard); and one FireWire 400 and one FireWire 800 port.

The new iMacs come in three basic models. The 20-inch with a 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with a 1066 MHz front-side bus; 1GB RAM; a 250GB Serial ATA hard drive; and an ATI Radeon HD 2400 XT with 128MB GDDR3 memory.

The mid-range 20-inch model has a 2.66GHz processor with 2GB RAM, a 320GB hard drive and an ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO with 256MB GDDR3 memory. The high-end 24-inch has a 2.8GHz processor, 2GB RAM, a 320GB hard drive and an ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO with 256MB GDDR3 memory.

Build-to-order options include a 3.06 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, up to 4GB DDR2 SDRAM, NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GS with 512MB of video memory and up to a 1TB Serial ATA hard drive on the 24-inch iMac; up to 4GB DDR2 SDRAM and up to 750GB Serial ATA hard drive on the 2.66 GHz 20-inch iMac; and up to 4GB of DDR2 SDRAM and up to 500GB Serial ATA hard drive on the 2.4 GHz 20-inch iMac.

Apple Updates Bootcamp

2008-04-26T23:05:00.000+01:00

Apple has updated Boot-camp for Leopard. The update allows boot-camp to run properly on the forthcoming service pack for XP, SP3 and also sorts some stability issues out.

Apple buys low-power processor designer

2008-04-23T16:21:00.000+01:00

Apple has acquired a fabless semiconductor company, PA Semi, according to a report at Forbes.com.

PA Semi designs energy efficient processors based on the Power architecture that Apple used in its Macintosh computers for many years before adopting Intel's x86 chips.

That gives some clue what Apple might do with the acquisition, said Alan Brown, research director at market analyst Gartner.

"The most likely product for Apple would be an ultra-mobile PC," he said.

But use in a future version of the iPhone isn't as likely, ARM has a very strong position, and the power consumption would be a challenge, according to Brown.

One of the main reasons that Apple switched to using Intel processors was heat dissipation. Intel offered mobile processors that had better performance without thermal issues that constrained the performance of the mobile Power chips that Apple had been using.

But the acquisition of PA Semi calls that Apple partnership with Intel into question, according to Brown. It would appear that Apple is planning to use an alternative processor, to allow greater differentiation in the market place,he said.

"Apple must have seen something in PA Semi it can't get from Intel, or it's cheaper for Apple to own the intellectual property," he said.

Apple's switch to Intel processors was facilitated by its parallel development of an x86 version of its Mac OS X operating system. It still develops Mac OS X and other software for older PowerPC-based Macs, as well as the newer x86 models, releasing the software as a "universal" binary that will run on both platforms.

PA Semi licenses the Power instruction set from IBM, so its chips are software compatible with the PowerPC chips Apple used.

PA Semi's dual-core PWRficient chip, launched last year, can deliver three to four times the performance of existing chips for the same energy consumption, the company claims. The processor is intended for use in embedded systems such as networking and storage devices, or telecommunications infrastructure.

Apple paid US$278 million in cash for PA Semi, the Forbes report said, citing a person familiar with the deal.

Apple representatives in Europe could not immediately be reached for comment. A spokesman for Bessemer Venture Partners, one of a group of U.S. investment funds that PA Semi lists as its owners, also declined to comment.

PA Semi was founded in 2003 by industry veterans including Dan Dobberpuhl, who while working at DEC led the development of a number of microprocessors including the T11, a design used in the Alpha processor. The company has about 150 employees.

UK carrier confirms iPhone price cut

2008-04-17T14:55:00.000+01:00

O2, Apple’s iPhone partner in the U.K., plans to cut prices on the 8GB iPhone to £169, fueling speculation about a second-generation phone that may be waiting in the wings.