Leopard overhauls file sharing for services like AFP (remembered fondly as AppleShare), Samba, and FTP, while bringing back the long-missed shared folders options. The new approach makes it much easier for any user to share files over a network or the Internet.
With the new TwitterWhere service, you can find tweets from people in specific locations, making it an interesting way to track important events like the Southern California fires.
Steve Jobs writes a short note assuring his interest in allowing third-party development of programs for the iPhone (and, by the way, iPod touch), reminding us sternly of how dangerous mobile phone viruses and malware are, and setting a date for release of the software toolkit: February 2008.
To commemorate our 900th issue of TidBITS, we're giving away a free ebook version of the "The Wireless Networking Starter Kit, Second Edition." Enjoy!
Broadcom announces new third-generation cell chip that could be the core of a next-generation iPhone. Kitchen sink? You bet. Couple 3G with ARM processors, Bluetooth, stereo audio, and FM radio - and the fastest GSM-based 3G data protocols on the market.
Apple has released Apple Remote Desktop 3.2 Admin and Client, fixing a variety of nagging bugs, improving performance in several situations, and adding Leopard compatibility.
Speakers (and writers) of languages that use non-Roman character scripts and letters should rejoice: they'll finally be able to type .com in their native tongue and keyboards.
Many people claim they want the iPhone without the phone part, but the iPod touch seems to have a few too many limitations. What about Nokia's N800 Internet Tablet, which provides a full-featured Web browser on a Linux-based platform? Travis Butler looks deep into the N800 to see how it stacks up.
Is Twitter a truly inane waste of time, where people blather about trivialities, as Adam originally thought, or is it actually a useful service that can provide not just interesting commentary from interesting people, but also up-to-the-minute headline news? (Hint, it's the latter!)
Four years ago, I nearly bankrupted myself with a bandwidth bill for 200 GB of transfers over a couple of days. Last week, the same transfers cost $25. It's the future: cheap bandwidth and many options for distribution.
Glenn Fleishman has forgotten more about Wi-Fi than most people know, but luckily he wrote it all down in a pair of Take Control ebooks first. Both "Take Control of Your 802.11n AirPort Extreme Network" and "Take Control of Your Wi-Fi Security" have now been updated with the very latest information from the wireless world, and even better, both are free updates for our loyal readers. Can we grab a nap now?
A new firmware release for the iPhone fixes numerous security problems, while adding subtle features, such as the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store, and a switch that lets you avoid expensive overseas data charges.
The Wi-Fi exploit heard round the world a year ago August is now explicated in an extremely technical paper. But still no simple, verifiable, third-party proof, despite what are ostensibly the researcher's best intentions.
In an effort to clear the decks before Leopard pounces, we have published not one, not two, but three free updates to popular Take Control books about Apple Mail, managing spam with Apple Mail, and Apple's .Mac online service.
More options to update older Macs to nearly the fastest flavor of Wi-Fi - 802.11n - without fuss. A USB option is particularly attractive for the widest support of varied systems.