Security takes the lead in this issue with Rich Mogull’s explanation of why the iPhone 3GS hardware encryption is easy to circumvent, along with our coverage of Mac OS X 10.5.8 and GarageBand ’09 5.1, both of which contain security-related changes and other bug fixes. But after that, we have a wide variety of articles. Adam passes along news of two more Mac software bundles, and Glenn Fleishman notes the drop in ebook and hardware prices for the Sony Reader. Glenn also shares his thoughts about the latest App Store brouhaha and NewsGator’s poorly handled shutdown of RSS syncing capabilities for NetNewsWire. Apart from Microsoft updating Office 2008 to resolve a document opening bug, things were fairly quiet in the world of software updates, with the main notable updates being QuarkXPress 8.1 and Firefox 3.5.2.
Microsoft has released an update to Microsoft Office 2008 to fix a bug introduced in version 12.2 that prevented certain Open XML documents from being opened.
Apple has updated GarageBand '09, fixing a bug that would change your cookie settings in Safari without telling you and tweaking a few features.
Need more Mac software? Two new bundles will help you load up your hard drive. But are we all starting to suffer from bundle fatigue?
It's a race to the bottom, as Sony matches Amazon's price of $9.99 for the ebook versions of bestsellers for its Sony Reader. The company also announced two new Reader models for $199 and $299.
The URL shortening service tr.im has decided, in the face of increased traffic and no revenue potential, to halt its operations at some point in 2010. It's hard to make money redirecting millions of URLs from long to short.
The saga of Apple's strange pronouncements on apps submitted to the App Store continues with a dictionary required to get a 17+ rating due to mature words. Phil Schiller then explains to Daring Fireball's John Gruber what happened.
Time to do the update dance again - Mac OS X 10.5.8 offers a slate of bug fixes that improve reliability throughout the operating system and close a number of security holes.
Although the iPhone 3GS automatically encrypts all data on the device using special hardware, the implementation is deeply flawed, allowing access to your information if someone has access to your iPhone.
NewsGator, maker of NetNewsWire, said it will abandon its own online RSS newsreader and synchronization servers in favor of Google Reader. Users will have to switch by the end of August.
Read on for a collection of links to the most interesting articles and resources that the TidBITS staff discovered on the Web this week.
Notable software releases this week include QuarkXPress 8.1 and Firefox 3.5.2.
Readers this week are tracking recent Mac news items, such as the release of a higher-capacity Time Capsule, Apple's decision to reject the Google Voice app for the iPhone, NewsGator's surprise switch to Google Reader, and issues with Mac OS X 10.5.8. Also this week, readers talk about the Windows software that drives some Ford car dashboards, get help with AppleScript, relate experiences with Web hosting companies, and recommend printers.