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Don't say you've never thought this before, but Apple types can be a bit on the smug/annoying side at times. Case in point: in the newly released Leopard operating system, the icon Leopard uses to represent Windows machines on your local network is a sight that should be familiar to Windows users the world over. It's a bulky old-school CRT monitor displaying the infamous blue screen of death (aka BSOD).

This little in-joke is actually pretty funny, but Engadget's Ryan Block wants to be a uniter, not a divider, so he put together a handy set of instructions … Read more

Although Apple is selling its new Mac OS X Leopard operating system on its improved security, researchers at Heise Security have already found fault with its firewall. Unlike with Windows Vista, the Apple firewall is not enabled by default and must be enabled by the end user. Even if you had the firewall enabled in a previous version of the Mac OS X, after an upgrade to Leopard the firewall will again be set to "Allow all incoming connections." It will be disabled.

According to Jürgen Schmidt, editor in chief at Heise Security, if you enable … Read more

Apple set the blogosphere on fire Monday when word leaked of the company's latest effort to limit iPhone unlocking. Recent media reports reveal that that the company has instituted a two-device-per-visit limit for iPhone purchases and has banned the use of cash for such transactions. However, the latest news indicates that Apple is now also banning the use of Apple Gift Cards for iPhone sales. Wired News confirmed the rumor on Monday afternoon. A representative from the Burlingame, Calif., Apple store told Wired News that "official" policy is now that gift cards will not be accepted for … Read more

Our review of Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard last Thursday lauded its lovely interface innovations but withheld judgment about the operating system's speed until we could put it through its paces.

Tests returned from CNET Labs on Saturday show that Leopard didn't perform noticeably faster than Mac OS 10.4.6 Tiger. (See the chart in CNET's review of Tiger.). Because Leopard's improved speeds of between 1 percent and 3 percent fall within the 5 percent margin of error, it's fair to call Leopard and Tiger even.

Lab tests explored Leopard's boot time, … Read more

I will say this: NBC's Jeff Zucker has got serious stones.

According to a report in the venerable entertainment industry trade rag Variety, Zucker, president and CEO of NBC Universal, asked Apple for a cut of iPod revenue as part of the failed negotiations between the two companies over a contract extension for the right to sell NBC's shows on iTunes. (Thanks, Valleywag.) If that's true, wow.

A source familiar with NBC Universal's negotiations confirmed that the company asked for a slice of iPod revenue but only after Apple refused to budge on variable pricing.

"… Read more

Third-party applications for the iPhone won't be released until early next year, but there's an easy-to-install new jailbreaking application out this week if you can't wait.

The Unofficial Apple Weblog, source of much of the details behind The Great iPhone Hack 2007, brings news of the release of the AppSnapp installer, which bypasses Apple's OS X 1.1.1 update in order to let iPhone and iPod Touch users put third-party applications on their devices. This appears to be one of the simplest jailbreak applications yet released for the 1.1.1 update; the others involved … Read more

Okay, I admit it: I want an iPhone.

I'm surrounded by them these days, it seems. On the bus. On the streets. At work. Everywhere I go, I see people pulling them out and the gadget hound in me is suffering a little bit.

Since the iPhone came out, and since Apple announced the iTouch, I've been parroting a standard line when anyone asks when--not if--I'm going to get one: I say, either when the iPhone is available on Verizon, my carrier, or when the iTouch has a 60 GB hard drive. Whichever comes first.

But, I … Read more