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HBO programming will soon be coming to the iTunes store according to a report by Portfolio.com. Apple is close to announcing it has signed a deal to sell HBO programs and movies on the iTunes website, according to HBO employees involved in executing the agreement. The deal marks the first time that Apple has agreed to a separate price structure for a content provider, one of the employees...

AppleInsider has noted that AT&T's website for existing users now has an option for a black iPhone. There have been rumors that Apple's upcoming 3G iPhone would come with a glossy black back (1, 2). While there have also been some reported image leaks as well, the authenticity of such images remains highly doubtful. Update: According to one report from the forum thread, Apple's online...

One woman has found Apple's Back To My Mac feature (part of .Mac) to be extremely useful in helping to capture a pair of laptop thieves. Police say the woman got a call from a friend asking if she was online. The victim said no and was told by the friend that her computer showed her as being on the Internet. At that point the victim signed onto another computer and used the "Back to My Mac"...

An anonymous source to TUAW claims that .Mac will see a refresh with the release of iPhone 2.0 which is expected at WWDC. While the site claims .Mac will see a "complete revamp", the details given indicate a less dramatic enhancement-related event, with the main features being exchange-like over-the-air syncing of calendars, contacts, and email via .Mac for iPhone, and .Mac syncing on Windows. ...

Reuters reports that America Movil will be bringing the iPhone to Latin America later this year. America Movil, based out of Mexico City, is the largest mobile carrier in Latin...

Virtualization software maker VMWare has announced a public beta of VMWare Fusion 2.0. Topping the list of new features is multiple-display support and experimental DirectX 9 Shader Model 2 support. VMWare notes that hardware acceleration has always been a feature of Fusion, with support for DirectX 8.1 in version 1.0 and DirectX 9 minus pixel shaders in version 1.1. Other improvements are...

Apple has released iPhone SDK Beta 5. According to Apple the release is centered on bug fixes and support for the latest iPhone OS. Apple released iPhone SDK beta 4 on April 23. The final version of the SDK is expected to be released at WWDC in...

French website ElectronLibre is reporting that Apple will be set to launch the iTunes video store in France later this month (Google English translation). Apple has signed contracts with seven major international and local studios, including Paramount and Disney, of course, but also EuropaCorp, the production house of Luc Besson. If true, France would join Canada, the U.K. and Germany as the 4th...

An anonymous source for CNet.com.au claims that Apple will launch the iPhone in Australia in late June with Optus as one of several carriers to support the phone. The source reportedly also hinted that the launch would be for the upcoming 3G version of the phone rather than the current version that uses EDGE for data. The rumor coincides with rumors earlier in April from MacTalk.com.au...

Apple yesterday filed its quarterly 10Q statement with the SEC. While the company had highlighted its fiscal performance in its conference call on April 23rd, the SEC filing provides a more granular view into the performance of various Apple products and initiatives. Apple's retail performance was particularly impressive, gaining the company 74% more sales than the year ago quarter. Strong ...

Apple has released iPod Classic Firmware 1.1.2, available via iTunes. While Apple only specifies that the release supplies "bug fixes", various anecdotal reports on the internet and in our forums suggest that various performance has been improved, including cover flow and audio quality. Apple released iPod Classic Firmware 1.1.1 in February that corrected a static issue when the units were...

Blackberry maker RIM is recruiting internally to form an iPhone software development team according to AppleInsider. "As part of a newly-created team, youll influence the development and design of BlackBerry software," the listing reads. "This is a very confidential brand new team and a senior position within RIM so I can't provide too many details. I guess you can figure out what it might be...

TUAW posts another rumor from the latest iPhone firmware 2.0 build released last week that indicates Apple is planning Jabber/XMPP support. Our anonymous iControl tipster has returned and tells us that a new XMPP framework has been spotten in the latest iPhone firmware. XMPP refers to the open source standard developed by the Jabber community for instant messaging. Remember back in March when...

Engadget reports that Apple's forthcoming 3G capable iPhone will incorporate a GPS module but be only slightly thicker than the current generation model. Engadet's visual description of the device largely mirrors that given by iPod Observer earlier this month that depict a more rounded phone with a glossy black back, but adds that the much-despised recessed headphone jack will be replaced by a ...

Apple today released Common Criteria Tools for 10.5. According to Apple, Common Criteria is an international standard that helps to ensure the security of computer systems in a network environment. You can optimize the security of your network by bringing each system into conformance with the standard defined by Common Criteria. To do so you must ensure that the hardware and software settings...

Tomorrow Apple will announce its financial results for the second fiscal quarter of 2008, spanning January through March, and give its guidance on what it expects in the third fiscal quarter. What should we expect? Let's recap what has happened this past quarter vs. last year. 2Q 2007 Highlights$5.26 billion revenue, $770 Million Profit ($.87 per diluted share)AppleTV formally announced, ship...

Apple has released MacBook Pro EFI Firmware Update 1.5.1. This update fixes several issues to improve the stability of MacBook Pro computers. After the firmware is successfully applied to your Mac, your Boot ROM Version will be:
 MBP21.00A5.B08 or MBP31.0070.B07 You can confirm the version of the Boot ROM installed on your computer using System Profiler. To complete the firmware update...

IBM's Research Information Services division is investigating the possibility of moving a significant number of employees to Apple's Macintosh platform according to a report acquired by RoughlyDrafted. In line with IBMs external strategy of offering a true Open Client that may be Windows, Linux or a Mac, the document noted, [Research Information Services] is focusing on providing an IBM...

Apple has released Safari 3.1.1 for Mac and Windows, now available via its website and Software Update. This update is recommended for all Safari users and includes improvements to stability, compatibility and security. Most significantly, Apple notes that 4 security issues have been patched in the release, one of which was recently used to successfully attack a MacBook Air in the CanSecWest...

Just a couple days after Apple released the latest MacBook Air firmware updates, Apple has released two updates to the MacBook Air involving the system's bluetooth functionality. MacBook Air Bluetooth EFI Update 1.0 and MacBook Air Bluetooth Firmware Update 1.0 are both predictably lacking in detail as to what the updates do, however Apple explains that the software requires manual...