- Performance improvements for Top Sites
- Stability improvements for 3rd-party plug-ins
- Stability improvements for websites with online forms and Scalable Vector Graphics
- Fixes an issue that prevented Safari from changing settings on some Linksys routers

This update is recommended to all Safari 4 users and is available in Tiger, Leopard, Snow Leopard, and Windows flavors. The download is around 35MB in size depending on which system you are running.

I’m someone who lives in Safari, and I can definitely notice a difference in the “Top Sites” and vector graphics performance.

Following months of rumor and speculation, cultish king of the iGeeks presented the highly anticipated iPad in January; ten-inch, multi-touch computer intended to fill gap between smartphone and laptop. Delighted: nerds everywhere. Scared to death: newspaper and magazine publishers. Also unveiled new iBookstore and iBooks application in direct challenge to Amazon’s Kindle; several book publishers have committed to content agreements.

Jobs’s wealth comes from being the single largest Disney shareholder, which came as a part of a deal by Disney to buy Pixar from Jobs, and Disney stock has been in on a gradual increase over the past year. Most of the remainder of his wealth comes from the Apple shares he holds which have increased in vale $150 over the past year.

I’m getting tips in from sources who claim that Apple is set to revamp its high-end Mac Pro line, adding a ‘hexacore’ Core i7-980x model to the line up.

All information points to this happening next Tuesday, March 16th

I suspect the reason for these machines being released on Tuesday is due to the fact that Intel is set to release the Core i7-980X chip on that day. That said, Intel is also planning to release several other processors on that day, which leaves open the possibility for any of Intel’s new high-end processors making their way into the new Mac Pros.

Verizon’s service would act as a trade off for the customer. Instead of paying the extra $130 up front to Apple for the 3G compatible iPad, the customer will instead buy a (as little as)$50 MiFi device and a two year contract at $39.99 a month for 250MB or $59.99 for 5GB. These offerings are priced higher than the contract-free plans offered by AT&T at $15 a month for 250MB and $30 for unlimited data for the iPad. The main difference (besides price) would be that Verizon’s option would allow for up to five different devices to connected to the MiFi device at once.

Pick your poison.

Firstly, Apple has added gesture tools for “3Tap” and “LongPress”, which are already used by Apple for turning the iPhone’s display on and off when using the VoicOver feature, and for cut/paste respectively. With Apple adding these features to the SDK, it should be easier for application developers to implement these gestures in future applications.

It has also been noted that Apple has removed several icons in the SDK that suggested the iPad would indeed have a camera either at launch or as an added features in a future revision.

Between the developers I spoke to, the consensus was this: Apple doesn’t appear to be opposed to ‘app generators’ and templates per se, but in the last month or so it has started cracking down on basic applications that are little more than RSS feeds or glorified business cards. In short, Apple doesn’t want people using native applications for things that a basic web app could accomplish.

The report goes on to quote Medialets CEO Eric Litman who points out that Apple is in the process of ensuring that the iPhone applications offer higher-quality user experiences that set the iPhone apart from competing devices.

Apple wants iPhone apps to be superior to Web experiences because they are extremely sticky and drive people specifically to buy the iPhone over competing smartphone platforms. Apps that are too simple or largely indistinguishable from the Web, other apps or particularly other apps on other platforms send the message to end users that the iPhone app ecosystem might not be particularly special.

It appears Apple is narrowing their focus to app-building services that simply use basic app templates to build apps that present web content.

To me, Apple should have had this mentality in the first place, and not after they allowed this junk into the store. Because the App Store is a very public facet of the iPhone — that is to say it is a major selling point– Apple is trying to tie it in with it’s own (“premium”) image more closely than they ever have before to differentiate themselves from the sea of junk phones.

So why did Apple allow these in the App Store in the first place?  I think it was out of good faith, or more likely a side effect of pioneering a mobile software store. Another reason might have been to help buffer the app store numbers. I would wager these kinds of apps make up a significant number of the apps in the App Store. They’re easy to make, and thus any profit they see off of these is easy earned money.

Steam and Valve’s library of games including Left 4 Dead 2, Team Fortress 2, Counter-Strike, Portal, and the Half-Life series will be available in April.

“As we transition from entertainment as a product to entertainment as a service, customers and developers need open, high-quality Internet clients,” said Gabe Newell, President of Valve. “The Mac is a great platform for entertainment services.”

Valve goes on to confirm reports that Portal 2 is coming to Mac in a simultaneous release for Windows.

Portal 2 will be Valve’s first simultaneous release for Mac and Windows. “Checking in code produces a PC build and Mac build at the same time, automatically, so the two platforms are perfectly in lock-step,” said Josh Weier, Portal 2 Project Lead. “We’re always playing a native version on the Mac right alongside the PC. This makes it very easy for us and for anyone using Source to do game development for the Mac.”

It is widely expected that third-party game makers that sell their titles through Steam will be making Mac compatible versions in the future. This press release also mentions “Steam Play”, a feature that will allow purchasers of Valve’s games for either Mac or PC to play on the other system free of charge.

One of the few things I missed after switching from the PC was the ability to play Counter-Strike: Source.

We’ll have to wait and see how this pans out. I suspect the iPad will ship before these new MacBook Pro models do.

For those who aren’t familiar, tethering is the sharing of a cellular data connection from, say, an iPhone to a non-cellular device such as a notebook. If implemented, this is normally handled through software of some sort.

Jobs answered another email where in he deflated any doubts about whether the iPad actually could achieve the promised 10 hour batter life. His response:

“… yes, we are getting 10 hours in 1.5 pounds.”

Jobs composed this response with an iPad. Proving that at least Steve eats his own dogfood.

Our checks in Taiwan indicate some minor delays on the iPad. The manufacturing of the iPads was supposed to pick up in February, but volumes even in March are still low. Current volumes are much lower than the market expected but most checks are indicating minor delays. The delays do not appear to be a glass or manufacturing process delays.

Other reports from earlier in the week have been claiming that iPad production delays may lead to shortages or even a delay in launch for Apple’s upcoming tablet device.

That said, there have been plenty of rumors claiming that the iPad will launch within Apple’s “60 days” (from the announcement date) timeframe. Some have specifically pegged the date at March 26th.