MacRumors

Microsoft has announced packages and pricing of their upcoming Office 2008, to be released in January.

All versions have been further localized to Danish, Finnish & Norwegian (the "Nordic Pack".)

Also announced is a new technology guarantee. Buyers of Office 2004 from here on out will be eligible for an upgrade to Office 2008 for only the cost of shipping and handling.

Apple's Phil Schiller was quoted by an Associated Press article about today's announcement that SIM Unlocked iPhones may become permanently disabled by upcoming iPhone updates.

Schiller clarifies that this is not an intentional move to disable unlocked iPhones:

''This has nothing to do with proactively disabling a phone that is unlocked or hacked,'' Phil Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide product marketing, said in an interview. ''It's unfortunate that some of these programs have caused damage to the iPhone software, but Apple cannot be responsible for ... those consequences.''

To clarify, this appears to affect iPhones that have been specifically SIM Unlocked to use other carrier SIM cards besides AT&T. iPhones otherwise "hacked" to install 3rd party applications are unlikely to be affected in the same manner.

There has already been one tutorial on how to relock your iPhone. We'll be posting coverage of apps, tools, tutorials at our iPhone blog.

Apple has issued a statement today that programs available for the iPhone to SIM unlock it could cause "irreparable damage" to the device.

Apple has discovered that many of the unauthorized iPhone unlocking programs available on the Internet cause irreparable damage to the iPhone's software, which will likely result in the modified iPhone becoming permanently inoperable when a future Apple-supplied iPhone software update is installed.

Apple plans to release the next iPhone software update later this week which will include the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store.

It appears the statement only refers to SIM Unlocking your iPhone to allow it to use networks outside of AT&T. It would appear that 3rd party hacks (Ringtones, Applications) would not cause the same problems.

One forum user indicates it is possible to reverse the SIM Unlock by reflashing the firmware but must be done manually at this time.

Update: A rough guide to relock your iPhone, ahead of the software update.

As we approach the release of Apple's Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard), Appleinsider suggests that this may be the last major Mac OS revision that supports the PowerPC architecture.

Looking ahead, those people familiar with Apple development cycles speculate that Mac OS X 10.6 will exclude support for PowerPC-based Macs entirely, requiring that users have one of the company's Intel-based systems which first began making their way to market in early 2006.

Cited as speculation, Apple may not yet have made a decision on this matter. Apple has made no announcements about Mac OS X 10.6. Based on the most recent Mac OS development cycles, Mac OS X 10.6 would not likely ship until 2009.

In preparation with its broader iTunes store partnership with Starbucks, Starbucks has announced that from October 2nd to November 7th, stores will hand out "Song of the Day" cards that can be redeemed on the iTunes store for a selected song of 37 artists featured on Starbucks Hear Music label, including Joss Stone, Dave Matthews, John Mayer, Annie Lennox and Band of Horses. The first song will be Bob Dylan's "Joker Man."

Starbucks also will offer a limited-edition reloadable purchasing card that includes two free iTunes downloads when customers register their cards online.

The latest Mac OS 10.5 Leopard seed that was released on Friday to developers has introduced a number of notable visual tweaks to the operating system. Notes and screenshots have been gathered from public forums which reveal the improvements found in the latest version of Mac OS X Leopard.

iCal's icon reflects today's date

- The Welcome Video to Mac OS X 10.5 now has a new audio track and has been posted (link updated) to YouTube. (iTunes link to the song as noted by mycintosh)
- iCal's Dock icon now reflects the current date when iCal is not running (image)
- New Desktop images (1, 2)
- New Spaces Icon (image)
- Front Row has its own icon (image) and seems identical to Apple TV
- Menus and dialog sheets now overlay with a translucent filter, allowing you to see a hint of the underlying windows.
- Screen sharing "finally works right" and seems very fast at full resolution
- More user interface consistency across the operating system
- Gallery of screenshots

Many of the screenshots from this InsanelyMac thread.

Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard is available for preorder at Amazon.

NewTeeVee claims that Apple has partnered with a small San Francisco-based video advertising startup named Podaddies. The extent of the deal appears to be developing advertising support for Apple's Quicktime and iTunes groups, and does not involve a direct financial investment.

Podaddies CEO claims that its technology is currently functioning on "connected iPod and iPhone devices" and is working on adding compatibility for disconnected devices. ("Connected" may refer to internet-connected like the iPod touch and iPhone.)

Previous reports have revealed that Apple has been exploring the possibility of in-line video advertising. In-line ads would be video advertisements that would play at the beginning, middle or end of the content itself. In previous discussion it had been suggested that this in-line advertising would presumably discount the cost of the media itself.

Ad supported media could also be add additional flexibility to Television and Movie distribution through the iTunes Store. NBC recently pulled out of the iTunes Store to launch their own distribution. Meanwhile, Hulu is another major industry initiative to offer ad-supported content to consumers directly.

After seeding Leopard 9A528d just yesterday, Apple has released 9A559 to ADC members tonight. Yesterday's update appears to have been primarily testing Leopard's Software Update mechanism.

The 6.55GB download lists only two known issues for Leopard. The two issues described involve upgrading from Tiger to Leopard on PowerPC systems in certain scenarios, and HP printer drivers.

As mentioned yesterday, Apple will need to finalize Leopard soon in order to meet their October shipping deadline. Apple had originally slated Leopard for earlier this year, but announced in April that it would be delayed until October.

Apple has detailed many of the features of Leopard on their website.

TheStreet claims that they have heard that Apple is expected to sell 2.35 million iMacs and MacBooks this quarter, beating out analyst estimates by 400,000 units.

Meanwhile, they also claim to have heard more about Apple's "subnotebook Mac" which is described as "ultra-thin" with a 10-12inch screen, sleek rounded edges and less than 2 pounds.

They expect the new subnotebook next quarter in time for the holiday sales season, and even claim a memo has been circulated to tell some employees to cancel vacation plans between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

TheStreet has not been a particularly accurate source of Apple rumors, so this should be taken with a grain of salt. However, it is somewhat consistent with recent rumors of a thin MacBook. TheStreet was previously responsible for the Drop in Production of iPhones rumor which was credited to Miller Tabak & Co. analysts, but was based on a misunderstanding ("We don't have an Apple analyst, we don't even have a tech analyst")

9to5mac reports that Apple is readying MacBook updates in the near future which will see new enclosures.

The new enclosures have been seen in both Black and Silver aluminum variants and are "considerably slimmer" than the current MacBook and a bit slimmer than the current MacBook Pros. The enclosures are said to have a thinner border around the LCDs, and the keyboards resemble the new Bluetooth keyboard.

Cryptically, they claim that "there is something strange about the touchpad" but details are promised at a later date.

While they believe these represent the consumer MacBook revisions, they can't exclude that this may be the long rumored "thin" MacBook Pro. The MacBook was last updated on May 15, 2007.

Macworld Expo has opened registration for January 2008.

The 2008 Macworld Conference & Expo takes place between January 14 - 18, 2008 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, CA. The keynote address will likely take place on Tuesday, January 15th, 2008 with the expo floor opening immediately afterward.

Apple announced the iPhone at the 2007 Macworld Expo, and early rumors are pointing to at least a MacBook Pro update at 2008 expo. A circulating priority code (08-E-VF01) promises free Exhibit Hall passes until October 5th.

MacRumorsLive will return in January for keynote coverage, and this year MacRumors will provide extended Macworld Expo floor coverage. Vendors exhibiting should feel free to contact us for possible coverage.