image from tuaw.com

Zynga with Friends, the company that has created the ever-popular games such as Words with Friends and Hanging with Friends, has created an online version of Words with Friends that is playable on Facebook.

This version does not require flash and look virtually identical to the iPad version.  What’s really neat is that you can play mobile users!  And, if you have your devices logged in though Facebook, updates will appear very quickly.

So if you’re a Words with Friends fan, check out the Facebook version for free.

MacStories is chiming in today with an anecdote that steps into the mind of Apple’s head honcho Steve Jobs for a bit. The story was made first available as an in-app purchase through the Fortune magazine subscription on the iPad (later made available on the web on print copies).

The story shares some interesting information about Steve Jobs and the launching of the MobileMe web service. Specifically, the article shares the reaction Jobs had to the initial bogged networks and downtime of the service.

“In Fortune’s story, Lashinsky says Steve Jobs summoned the entire MobileMe team for a meeting at the company’s on-campus Town Hall, accusing everyone of “tarnishing Apple’s reputation.” He told the members of the team they “should hate each other for having let each other down”, and went on to name new executives on the spot to run the MobileMe team. A few excerpts from the article.

“Can anyone tell me what MobileMe is supposed to do?” Having received a satisfactory answer, he continues, “So why the f*** doesn’t it do that?”

Jobs was also particularly angry about the Wall Street Journal’s Walt Mossberg not liking MobileMe:

“Mossberg, our friend, is no longer writing good things about us.”

As a result of all the issues the service had starting off, Steve appointed a new director for the MobileMe service. Something else that a lot Apple enthusiast also found interesting is the training, or as some have stated, “the Apple way of life” after, or should, Steve Jobs decide to take a backseat.

“Steve Jobs hired dean of Yale School of Management Joel Podolny to run the Apple University, an internal group also featuring business professors and Harvard veterans that are writing a series of case studies to prepare employees for the life at Apple after Jobs. These case studies focus on Apples recent business decisions and internal culture, they are exclusive to employees and taught by top executives like Tim Cook and Ron Johnson.”

MacStories summarizes some of the other articles related to the anecdote on their website

iFans chimed in and gave some information on changes made with the Amazon Cloud Player. Among the changes, one of them was noted as Amazon making their Cloud Player software iOS compatible.

“While it isn’t quite as nice as an actual app, it provides nearly all of the functionality that you could ask for. Even the multitasking music controls work flawlessly. Sound quality is said to be ‘great,’ and the only part of it that is a little buggy seems to be the scrubbing capability”

While the new feature allows for iOS users to play music they have stored on the Amazon Cloud Drive service, it doesn’t allow for uploading content from their iOS device as that service requires Adobe’s Flash to make that possible. Drag-and-drop organization for playlist also appear to be unsupported as well as iOS compatibility seems to be only in the US. The software also doesn’t seem to auto format for iPhone, iPod and iPad making it rather awkward to use the service on the iPhone and iPod as those devices do not possess the screen real estate like the iPad.

WordPress for the iPhone and iPad has updated to version 2.8.  Here’s what the update text states:

Besides crash and bug fixes, the higlights for 2.8 are:

• Quick Photo button: only available on iPhone for now.
• Stats
• Added translations to Japanese, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, Bosnian, Hebrew, German, Dutch, French, and Croatian.

The Quick Photo button allows you to quickly take a picture and attach it to a new post on any of your blogs with one tap.  Also added is a Stats tab that works in tandem with the official WordPress stats plugin.  Be sure to add that plugin to your blog before using this feature.  If you haven’t, the app will walk you through the process.

It’s also important to note that this is most likely the last version of the app that supports iOS 3.x you wish to continue using WordPress on your iOS devices, be sure to update them for further compatibility.

Tweetbot, the new bird on the block when it comes to Twitter clients for the iPhone and iPod touch, has recently updated to version 1.1.  This much anticipated update comes packaged with the following:

• Landscape support for media, compose and web views
• Added User/Hashtag buttons to compose toolbar
• Improved accuracy of displayed locations
• Tweet gaps now load above instead of below
• Lists now sorted alphabetically
• Login now handles email address or username
• CloudApp image/video support
• Improved hashtag picker
• Fixed translation issue with British English
• Improved saving behavior for older devices
• Various bug fixes

Landscape mode has been added to a couple views in the app.  Now you can compose tweets, look at pictures and media, and view web pages in landscape mode.  Buttons have been added to the compose toolbar making it easy to add hashtags or @someone.  Location accuracy has been improved.  Lists are now sorted in alphabetical order.  Logging in now allows you to enter either an email address or a username.  If you use CloudApp, you now have image and video support in TweetBot.  Bug fixes and behavioral problems have been fixed with older devices as well as a miscommunication issue with the British English translation feature.

Be sure to update Tweetbot as soon as possible to get these much needed improvements.  Tweetbot is also available in the App Store here for $1.99 USD.

Fandango’s movie app for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch is now available in the form of 4.3.1.  Here’s what the update text states:

• Now available for iPhone/iPod touch, view details about movie casts and crews via our “Performer” pages
• On the iPad you can now “favorite” actors and other cast members in addition to movies and theaters.
• Also on the iPad, signup for Showtime Alerts to receive notification when tickets are available for the movies you want to see
• Other general usability enhancements

This update adds some features from the iPad version and gives them to the iPod touch and iPhone edition.  For example you can now view the “Performer” pages on the smaller screened devices.  On the iPad you can now “favorite” people, movies, and theaters as well as sign up for Showtime Alerts – giving you push notifications when tickets are available for movies newly added to theaters.

Be sure to update to 4.3.1 if you like to Fandango to your next favorite blockbuster film or if you’re new to the scene, check it out here and download it for free.

That’s a long version number!  Google has updated its iOS search app yet again!  Here’s what the update description says:

Speed Improvements

• App is more responsive and launches faster.

Look & Feel

• Bigger fonts.
• Tappable search results!

Other changes:

• Voice search via gesture optional.  Can be turned on via settings

Minor bug fixes.

This update makes the app snappier and more quick to respond as well as improves the UI with bigger fonts and tappable search results.  If you want to quickly search for something with your voice, a gesture can be turned on in the app’s settings.  Minor bug fixes are also included.

If you don’t want to be tied to Safari for quick google-ing, check out Google’s own search app on the App Store for free, here.  Also check out the Google Goggles feature allowing you to take a picture of something and have google search the text automatically!

Instagram sure has been busy shipping out updates for their Photography/Social Networking app – Instagram.  1.7 brings the following to your iPhone and iPod touch:

• Grid View for Profile Pages
• Optional Bio Field in Profiles
• Manage which push notifications you receive (on Edit Profile screen)
• Choose Profile Picture from Facebook & Twitter
• Stability Improvements for iOS 4.1
• Bug Fixes & Speed Improvements for Older Phones

Profile pages get an updated Grid View for easier viewing as well as an optional Bio field to tell a little more about yourself.  If you’re tired of constantly getting notifications, you can now choose what notifications you’d like to receive.  If you’d like to change your picture, you now have the option to choose one from Facebook and Twitter.  And of course there are speed improvements and Bug fixes for iOS 4.1 as well as older phones.

Be sure to get this update if you’re an Instagramer or check it out in the App Store here.

Apple is currently working on a new feature in Safari that allows for a different kind of bookmarking. “Reading List,” as the company calls it, allows user to save web pages for later reading in a innovative way.

Reading List lets you collect webpages and links for you to read later. To add the current page to your Reading List, click Add Page. You can also Shift-click a link to quickly add it to the list. To hide and show Reading List, click the Reading List icon (eyeglasses) in the bookmarks bar.

The icon for the software.

The feature, however, is made inactive and is tucked away in the confines of the software. Apple has not made mention of the new software in any of the Mac OS X Lion beta documentation. With the basic function of the software, it would put it in direct competition with the popular bookmarking services Instapaper and ReadItLater. How Apple plans to exactly deliver that feature remains to be seen. it can be confirmed that Apple is using some form of HTML and JavaScript to help out with the cause. Apple could add a variety of things that would compete with people established in that arena, such as Instapaper and ReadItLater’s ability to synchronize bookmarks across devices.

In the midst of the purchase of the iCloud domain name purchase by Apple, it is now being said that Cupertino is already using the iCloud name in software beta builds of iOS 5 and Mac OS X Lion.

Apple has begun adopting the “iCloud” name within several products currently under development, suggesting the appropriately labeled moniker is indeed the frontrunner for the company’s soon-to-debut Internet cloud service, which will span beyond streaming music, AppleInsider has learned.

According to people familiar with the matter, Apple is prepping beta versions of both iOS 5.0 and Mac OS X Lion ahead of its annual developers conference that integrate with a service dubbed “iCloud,” enabling users to sync and store much of the same information they currently can with the company’s existing MobileMe service, such as bookmarks, email, contacts and iCal events.

Much of the discussion of the new cloud-computing service coming from Apple is surrounded by their deliberations with music labels on allowing their content to be used in the new service. However, it’s been highly believed by some that the service will scale wider than that, allowing for a slew of multimedia and other content to be stored on the servers. There has been reporting going back over year stating that their will be some sort of video component in the new Apple cloud service. The facelift of MobileMe is said to attribute stateless storage for multiple types of content.

Today, Apple addressed the now widely public iOS tracking issue that has made some believe that this could be a potential invasion of privacy. The company has published a document in Q&A format answering some of the many question that have arisen about the logging of location in iPhone, iPad, and iPod products.

Giving explanation on the logging of location information for iOS devices, Apple has said:

Why is my iPhone logging my location?

The iPhone is not logging your location. Rather, it’s maintaining a database of Wi-Fi hotspots and cell towers around your current location, some of which may be located more than one hundred miles away from your iPhone, to help your iPhone rapidly and accurately calculate its location when requested. Calculating a phone’s location using just GPS satellite data can take up to several minutes. iPhone can reduce this time to just a few seconds by using Wi-Fi hotspot and cell tower data to quickly find GPS satellites, and even triangulate its location using just Wi-Fi hotspot and cell tower data when GPS is not available (such as indoors or in basements). These calculations are performed live on the iPhone using a crowd-sourced database of Wi-Fi hotspot and cell tower data that is generated by tens of millions of iPhones sending the geo-tagged locations of nearby Wi-Fi hotspots and cell towers in an anonymous and encrypted form to Apple.

This explanation is basically stating that Apple is using the iPhone, iPad, and iPod location information to track Wi-Fi hotspots and cellular network towers, not the location of the user.  The data that is transmitted back to Apple’s databases is encrypted and anonymous, ensuring its security. On the issue that data is still being logged when location services are off, Cupertino has said that they will be issuing a software update that will remedy that problem. The next software update to the iOS 4.x linage will execute the following:

- reduces the size of the crowd-sourced Wi-Fi hotspot and cell tower database cached on the iPhone,

- ceases backing up this cache, and

- deletes this cache entirely when Location Services is turned off.

Earlier on in the week, a source gave GigaOM information stating that Apple has purchased the domain name iCloud.com for $4.5 million. It was assumed that Apple is planning to roll out their new cloud-based music service under that particular name. The original owner of the name have renamed the site CloudMe and redirected visitors who try to navigate to the site using the iCloud domain name.

My source, who is familiar with the company, says that Xcerion has sold the domain to Apple for about $4.5 million. Xcerion hasn’t responded to my queries as yet. At the time of writing, the Whois database showed Xcerion as the owner of iCloud.

It seems as the Cupertino purchase is definitely legit as All Things Digital has been able to confirm that Apple has purchased the name from the group, though ATD wasn’t able to get the exact purchase price of the name.

Apple has indeed acquired the domain name iCloud.com from Sweden-based hybrid cloud computing outfit Xcerion. Sources in position to know confirm that Apple bought the domain as GigaOm first reported Thursday, though they declined to say whether its rumored $4.5 million price tag was accurate.

There has been some recent moves made by Apple that has many to believe that Cupertino is gearing up to introduce the new versions of iWork and MobileMe. With the iWork and MobileMe software products, Apple has always offered a discount to customers who decide to purchase the software bundled with a Macintosh machine. Back in February, Apple discontinued selling retail boxed version of the MobileMe web software and channeled it strictly for digital distribution. They also halted selling the software at a discounted price with the purchase of a new Mac during that time.

As some of you who may know, a incentive in the likeness aforementioned existed with Apple’s collection of office software known as iWork. With the purchase of a new Mac, the customer could choose the option to have the software pre-installed on customized Macintosh systems and receive a $30 discount from the full retail price, bring the grand total to about $49 dollars. Users also had the option to mail in a rebate to receive that same $30 discount if they purchased their Mac through authorized Apple retailers. It seems as though as that option is no longer available as customers on the Net have witnessed as they are building the machine of the specifications, they do not receive the discount. Apple appears to have notified official resellers as well that the promotion has ended has of April 18, 2011

This could very well indicate that Cupertino is on the verge of unveiling the new impression of the MobileMe and iWork software. It has been reported that Apple is in the works of updating the products with some saying that iWork will extend even further and be more integrated into their iOS counterparts and MobileMe receiving a complete makeover to implement new features that will include the web service to act as a “digital locker” for the user’s content and being able to stream that stateless information on demand.

it is not for certain when these updates will surface, as the iWork update was said to accompany the Mac App Store launch. However, many are stating that Apple is planning to unveil the new softwares at this year World Wide Developers Conference scheduled for early June.

Cupertino has made some new additions to Safari in Mac OS X Lion since we last seen it. Apple has added a “do not track” tool within the web browsing software to secure users better online, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The tool is included within the latest test release of Lion, a version of Apple’s Mac OS X operating system that is currently available only to developers. The final version of the operating system is scheduled to be released to the public this summer. Mentions of the do-not-track feature in Apple’s Safari browser began to appear recently in online discussion forums and on Twitter.

The Mac OS X Lion software is currently in private developer seeding and is scheduled to be due for release this summer.

The “do not track” feature was something that was originally proposed by the FTC. What the feature does is displays a “do not track” request from the browser that has this feature is activated on. However, it is still up to the advertising companies to comply with the request.

Do-not-track tools in browsers automatically send out messages to websites and online-advertising networks requesting that users’ movements around the Web not be tracked. The system will only work if Web companies agree to respect peoples’ tracking preferences.

Wall Street Journal states that the major advertising companies have yet to form a way to honor the feature.

Microsoft’s Internet Explorer and Mozilla’s Firefox have already implemented this feature in addition to Apple and their Safari web browser. Google and their Chrome browser have yet to embed the feature in their software.

Upon speculations prediction, Apple has released iOS 4.3.2 for the iPad, iPhone, and iPod. The update brings several fixes to the software including a fix for the iPad in which FaceTime would freeze and become responsive after previous use. It also addresses an issue with Verizon iPads were users were unable to connect to the Verizon network after turning off network connectivity. The CDMA iPhone is still in 4.2.x and received a separate update, update 4.2.7.

This update contains improvements and other bug fixes including:

- Fixes an issue that occasionally caused blank or frozen video during a FaceTime call

- Fixes an issue that prevented some international users from connecting to 3G networks on iPad Wi-Fi + 3G

- Contains the latest security updates

As mentioned before, The Boy Genius Report reported that the update would make it’s way to Apple servers in two weeks prior to this weeks release, again giving a on point accurate estimation of the software release date.

Apple Updates Safari To Version 5.0.5

Accompanying the new iOS 4.3.2 release for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod, Apple released the new installment for the their desktop browser Safari. There isn’t much to say about this update. Safari 5.0.5 administers security updates and irons out some minor bugs in the software. This software can be acquired through Software Update on your desktop machine or through the downloads pages of the Apple website.

Apple is on it’s typical hiring frenzy and the company has picked up Microsoft data center manager Kevin Timmons. Timmons filled the position for Microsoft for a little under two years. He was picked up by Redmond from his previous decade stint with GeoCities/Yahoo!

News that a bunch of us have been discussing is Apple hiring Kevin Timmons (GM of Microsoft’s data center services group). Don’t expect any press releases from Apple or Microsoft on this one. … The position Kevin is going to fill is not known and is not the position vacated by the departed Olivier Sanche. Olivier’s position has been filled by another data center operations executive.

Sanche was Apple’s previous manager for their data center before he passed away recently of a heart attack. Seeing as how the position has been filled, Timmons could very possibly be taking on other projects that are related to Apple’s data services. In fact, his position might even expand outside that of the data center. All Things Digital chimed in by stating that his roles may be larger than traditional and typical data center mangers. These roles may include the launch of a cloud service they may also be very likely linked to Apple’s anticipated remodeling of their MobileMe service.

Timmons left Microsoft this week and the company has confirmed his departure, though it declined to say why he left or where he was headed. But sources in position to know confirm hes hired on with Apple.

Details on Timmons’s responsibilities there are slim, though I’m told his role may extend beyond his datacenter expertise. Which is interesting to hear in light of recent chatter about Apple’s rumored cloud initiatives.

Apple is gearing up to open, or which has been stated as already open, it’s colossal data service center in North Carolina. The structure is said to support Apple iTunes and MobileMe products. In light of that information, many theories have developed into what Apple plans to do to iTunes and MobileMe with the power of this data center, such as the aforementioned MobileMe revamp serving as a “digital locker” for users content, and content being streamed instantly from iTunes, both allowing Apple new pathways into taking their iOS-powered product line.

Getting complaints from Viacom, Discovery Communications, and News Corp., the cable company Time Warner has agreed to withdraw several channels from it iPad application. Apparently, the three big organizations are requesting more money because the content is being delivered to customers through their iPad as well as their television sets. New York Times recorded Time Warner stating that the company said they believe that they had:

“…Every right to carry programming on our iPad app. But for the time being, we have decided to focus our iPad efforts on those enlightened programmers who understand the benefit and importance of allowing our subscribers — and their viewers — to watch their programming on any screen in their homes. In the meantime, we will pursue all of our legal rights against the programmers who don’t share our vision. The enthusiasm of our customers and the programming partners who have embraced the app, rather than those who are solely focused on finding additional ways to reach into wallets of their own viewers, has convinced us more than ever that we are on the right path.”

In replacement of the blocked channels on the application, Time Warner will be offering new channels from other unspecified sources. Thirty-two channels were showcased in the iPad application which represented a small portion of its entire cable line up.

Cablevision has said that it is looking to invest in the App Store. The application will apparently ditto all of the content that is available on TV, this does include video on demand. They have been getting any stress from the media companies who provide the content, based on what’s coming from the NYT.

Cloud computing is definitely the way of the future, and more than being apart of the movement, everyone wants to do it right and make it unique on how their service uses the cloud. Amazon has launched their quietly talked about cloud storage service the “Amazon Cloud Drive”.

With the new service, Amazon is offering five gigabytes [5GB] of storage space for the users to have free of charge. Additional space on the service is one dollar per gig. A user can buy up to a whole terabyte [1TB], or 1000GB [$1000], of storage space and use at their discretion. In addition to that, any user who purchases music form the Amazon music store can store the content on their cloud service for no charge to wallet or storage space on the service.

The Amazon Cloud Player is the software mechanism by which content can be played from the cloud service. The player is web-based, making it compatible for Safari, Firefox, Chrome ,and IE, in turn making it compatible with Mac or PC. They also have an application where Android users can play their content form the cloud on the mobile Android device. The software is not available to iOS, BlackBerry, or WP7 nor does it work on the Safari browser on iOS, leaving iOS devices completely incompatible with the feature.

Cupertino is said to be in the works to create a cloud-computing experience that some have identified as a complete facelift to the MobileMe web service, which some describing it as a “digital locker”. Apple is said to reach a deal with the Warner Brothers movie house and is very close to striking an agreement with music labels for April launch of the revamped service. There hasn’t been a specific charge that has been solid among the rumor mill. Many have said that the service will be free-of-charge with some pay features, such as additional storage.

In record breaking time, the World Wide Developer’s Conference has sold out in just around 10 hours. Last year, the event sold out in eight days with swift sales. However, selling out in a single day has taken many devs by surprise. This marks the fourth consecutive time the event has had a full house.

Here’s what TUAW reports:

First and foremost, Flow is a web app that many will find very similar to MobileMe in aesthetics. Through this interface, one can add and manage tasks through projects or even delegate tasks to other Flow users (a handy feature for teams). The real killer feature we’re seeing with Flow, however, is the cloud-based architecture. Combined with Metalabs’ new Flow app for iPhone and their Mac companion app, it’s a pretty great way to keep things in sync.

If you want to read the official release blog post, click here.

Flow has a 14 – day free trial.  After that, it’s $9.99 per month.  Flow is also available via a yearly subscription for $99.  Check it out at http://www.getflow.com/.

What do you think about this new change in direction.  Will you buy a subscription?

ColorSnapper is available in the Mac App Store for $4.99 (USD) here.

“If a web app is run from the iOS 4.3 home screen – in other words, if it is saved to the screen alongside local apps downloaded from the Apple App Store – it runs roughly two to two and a half times slower than it does in the browser, according to various tests. It appears that whereas Apple has updated the iOS 4.3 Safari browser with its high-speed Nitro JavaScript engine, Nitro is not used when web apps are launched from the home screen.

“Essentially, there are two different JavaScript engines,” says Alex Kessinger, a mobile application developer and blogger who has focused on building web-standards-based apps for the iPhone. “They’re not using the new JavaScript engine with applications that launch from the home screen.”

The applications saved to the Home Screen were also discovered to be unable to utilize HTML5 caching abilities, making the softwares inoperable when being used off-line.

An example of the speed issues was demonstrated in the article by using the SunSpider benchmark test. The results showed that navigating to a web-app right through Safari was 6700 ms faster than loading this web-app through the Home Screen (from Safari: 4047 ms; from Home Screen: 10747 ms).

Reportedly, developers have filed multiple bug reports to Apple about the Home Screen web-app issue. Again, reportedly, Apple seems to be even aware of some of the issues within the Home Screen loading of web applications. Apple has acknowledge some of the the issues , including the ones related to low quality synchronous mode rendering for web-apps saved to the home screen as opposed to those same applications loaded directly from the Safari web browsing application, are not scheduled to be examined by the company.

Word has gotten out to iLounge that Cupertino is planning to unveil the remodel version of MobileMe this April. On top of that, it has been mentioned that the new revamped service will be cloud-based and allow users to store all of the content on their Apple mobile devices for back up such as music, movies, photo, contacts, and a number of other things mentioned that can be accessed on demand by the user.

“The source, who works for a major educational institution, claims the schools supplier has said the current version of MobileMe is no longer available, and that Apple is suggesting new students sign up for the 60-day trial to cover the gap between the final MobileMe shipment and the launch of the new version.”

As for those who are currently subscribed to the MobileMe service that exist today, it has been mentioned that Apple is planning to support those customers till the end of next year. This has raised speculation that the remodel MobileMe service is different to where features are totally new or remade.

Some of the Apple-oriented sites, such as MacRumors, have some suspicions about the information coming from this source. One thing that the sites agree on is that an April unveiling of the software would seem to fit being that word has been released that Apple  is planning on holding an early April event to showcase iOS 5 and the MobileMe software.
Evidently, Cupertino has to be doing something with MobileMe. The company recently discontinued all brick-and-mortar retail sales of MobileMe, keeping acquisition of the software solely digital. This, in turn, has raised speculation that Apple is trying to downplay the current service in light of a new one.

Also added is a Priority Inbox:

Those familiar with Apple’s mail client will be happy to know that you can set a signature to each of your email accounts.

Quickly format your email with the new format bar:

and a “Minimal” mode:

Touch gestures:

Pinch to open/close a message, three-finger swipe to open and close the panel, three-finger swipe to navigate the message list or switch accounts. Sparrow now integrates a full array of multitouch gestures making it easier to navigate your mail and mail accounts.

and finally Contact Groups are supported.  Add to that a bunch of bug fixes:

Some of you were experiencing a bug related to archiving mails in Sparrow 1.0.1. This has been fixed.

Every single request that we have received has been taken into account and we have fixed numerous behaviors that you kindly reported to us. You can see the complete list of solved bugs here.

From Sparrow behavior at start up to the contrast of the selected cell color, we’ve improved Sparrow on every level.

Sparrow 1.1 is a free update and is available by checking for updates in the Mac App Store.  To check out Sparrow here.

Posterous, the online alternative blogging client that bases its input for post entry on email, has recently updated their iOS client to version 2.1.  The big feature with this update is the ability to post “Events”.  These are specific posts meant to be created for or at a particular gathering complete with a description and a picture.  This feature is very similar to FaceBook’s places feature and nabbing slightly towards Twitter.

Tagging posts has also been greatly improved.  To tag a post, tap the “tag” icon next to the title.

Overview of Updates:

• Events.  Create and share with events going on around you.
• Improved Tagging.  Tags are now added by tapping the “tag” icon to the left of a title.

Do you have a blog?  If so, what do you use?  Posterous?  WordPress?  Tumblr?

Alongside the release of the iOS software, Cupertino has also let loose Safari 5.0.4. The new software brings a bundle of tweaks that will improve performance, stability, and security of the Internet browsing application.

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

- Improved stability for webpages with multiple instances of plug-in content

- Improved compatibility with webpages with image reflections and transition effects

- A fix for an issue that could cause some webpages to print with incorrect layouts

- A fix for an issue that could cause content to display incorrectly on webpages with plug-ins

- A fix for an issue that could cause a Screen Saver to appear while video is playing in Safari

- Improved compatibility with VoiceOver on webpages with text input areas and lists with selectable items

- Improved stability when using VoiceOver”

Safari 5.0.4 can be downloaded through Software Update on your Mac or go to apple.com/safari and download the app.

“Wallaby” is the codename for an experimental technology that converts the artwork and animation contained in Adobe Flash Professional (FLA) files into HTML. This allows you to reuse and extend the reach of your content to devices that do not support the Flash runtimes. Once these files are converted to HTML, you can edit them with an HTML editing tool, such as Adobe Dreamweaver, or by hand if desired. You can view the output in one of the supported browsers or on an iOS device.”

As of right now, not all the features are supported, as stated in the release notes for the software. However, Adobe has made many conversions of the basic aspects of Flash, such as text, buttons, fills, and layers to HTML. The main objective of Wallaby is to convert Flash banner ads to non-Flash HTML compatible. The banners are currently the main objective being that they posses most of the basic functions that Adobe is focusing on.

Wallaby is available right now as a free download in which Adobe can gain feedback and it’s performance and what the user would like to see tweaked. As development of the function continues, Adobe will determine of they will include it in future versions of Flash for Professionals. Video after the jump

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Apple this week released a pair of Java updates for both Mac OS X Leopard and Snow Leopard. The update administers patches that remedies some vulnerabilities in the software as well as increasing reliability and compatibility of the software.

“- Java for Mac OS X 10.6 Update 4 (74. 81 MB, Requires Mac OS X 10.6.4)

Java for Mac OS X 10.6 Update 4 delivers improved compatibility, security, and reliability by updating Java SE 6 to 1.6.0_24.

- Java for Mac OS X 10.5 Update 9 (119.83 MB, Requires Mac OS X 10.5.8)

Java for Mac OS X 10.5 Update 9 delivers improved compatibility, security, and reliability by updating J2SE 5.0 to 1.5.0_28, and updating Java SE 6 to 1.6.0_24 for 64-bit capable Intel-based Macs. J2SE 1.4.2 is no longer being updated to fix bugs or security issues and remains disabled by default in this update.”

Support documents on Apple website give more in-depth information about the security details that have come in the new update.

Back in October of 2010, Apple made public that they will no longer be shipping Java packages through the Software Update on Macs. Steve Jobs stated that Oracle, owner of Java, would provide updates for here on out stating that Apple providing updates “may not be the best way to do it”. Later, Apple and Oracle announced that they will be releasing Java through a joint effort, with Apple providing updates for Java 6 and Oracle picking up the later versions

We have been hearing some rumors that Apple intends on holding an event that will focus on the next major release of the iOS series, iOS 5. Along with that rumor, we have been hearing that Cupertino will also be showcasing the remodel version of MobileMe. A MobileMe revamp has been the topic of discussion on the Net, speculating that Apple will present the service with advanced syncing capabilities and make it free of charge to use.

An April event would fall into place with a demo of the next-gen software that will run the iPhone, iPad, and the iPod. On top of that, it would be a right time for Apple to let developers get their hands on the software before they make a public release, Which would correspond into the next-generation iPhone. It was speculated that Apple was going to be talking about the iOS 5 software at the iPad event this week, however, the software was not in discussion and Apple kept things iOS 4.3 and iPad oriented.