The first phone posted on our front page, is about to get 3G support sometime next year. Because we're a hardware and gaming site, phone news are not allowed, but since it's an Apple creation and not exactly a phone (it's an iPhone) we can make an exception once. At a meeting of the Churchill Club on Wednesday, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson said: "You'll have it next year," when asked when a 3G iPhone would appear. AT&T is the exclusive mobile carrier for the iPhone in the US. Current iPhones connect to EDGE-based networks for intensive data-transmission chores such as browsing and email. EDGE advertises in-the-field download speeds in the 70Kbit/s to 135Kbit/s range, although its technical top end is 384Kbit/s. 3G networks use HSDPA/UMTS technology and boast download speeds between 600Kbit/s and 1.4Mbit/s. The iPhone's reliance on the much slower EDGE technology was roundly criticised before the smartphone was launched in June, and the issue has come up again as Apple released the iPhone in Europe, where 3G-based cellular networks are much more widespread than in the US. But in September, Apple CEO Steve Jobs made it plain that the iPhone would stick with EDGE for now because of power and battery issues.

That's right folks, for the low low price of €749, you can go to France and get your very own non-contract-binding iPhone from Orange. The iPhone is normally around €399, with a binding two-year contract. The fees add up as such: You buy a no-contract iPhone for €649, and if you want the iPhone unlocked, it'll cost you €100 more. The fee only applies for the first six months of iPhone ownership, however, so if you wait a while the unlocked iPhone will "only" cost €649. Anyone from the U.K. hoping to pick up a somewhat cheaper unlocked iPhone can expect to spend around £536 for the whole kit and caboodle. The iPhone goes on sale in France tonight.

Apple updated QuickTime to version 7.3 recently to address a much-exploited bug, but a new QuickTime vulnerability has emerged, prompting security agencies to issue warnings to those running QuickTime on either Windows XP or Windows Vista. There is no word yet on whether Mac OS X is vulnerable to the new QuickTime bug. Apple's QuickTime is vulnerable to malware disguised as streaming video, and attack code has been published on the milw0rm.com web site. According to the U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team, QuickTime versions 7.2 and 7.3, and perhaps earlier versions, contain a buffer-overflow bug. "Apple QuickTime contains a stack buffer overflow vulnerability in the way QuickTime handles the RTSP Content-Type header," US-CERT said. "This vulnerability may be exploited by convincing a user to connect to a specially crafted RTSP stream." RTSP is the Real-Time Streaming Protocol, which QuickTime supports. When users click on a link for a malicious RTSP stream, an attacker might be able to execute arbitrary code on the compromised system. Solutions of limiting this vulnerability until a new patch is released, can be found here.

Apple is investigating whether or not faulty Seagate hard drives are to blame for data loss on some MacBooks. Retrodata, a U.K. data recovery firm, reported that certain 2.5-inch Seagate drives used in MacBooks had a manufacturing flaw that causes the drive heads to scratch the surface of the drive and cause major problems. The faulty drives are all Seagate 2.5" Serial ATA drives that are manufactured in China, with a Firmware revision of 7.01. No other drives seem (at this stage) to be affected. If your MacBook has a 7.01, Retrodata advises backing up your data and consider replacing the drive. Apple representative said:

We've received a few reports that some MacBook consumer notebooks may have hard drive issues, and we're looking into it.

Germany is the first country, other than France, to offer an unlocked iPhone. For €999 ($1481/£720), the German citizen can march over to T-mobile and purchase an iPhone devoid of contracts and locks. This is more than double the price of a stock iPhone, which is roughly €399. However, when you think about it, €999 actually isn't all that bad. After the initial €399 cost, T-Mobile iPhone customers are boxed into a 2-year contract. After all fees are said and done, iPhone customers would spend €1575 to maintain two years of service, which they are legally obligated to do, lest they incur early termination fees.

T-Mobile also announced that it would be happy to unlock iPhones already purchased, but did not name a price for this premium service at time of publication.

The Open Group, a vendor- and technology-neutral consortium focused on open standards and global interoperability within and between enterprises, today announced that both Mac OS X Leopard and Mac OS X Server Leopard from Apple Inc. have been awarded a certificate of conformance to the UNIX 03 standard. UNIX 03 is the certification mark for systems conforming to the latest UNIX product standard developed by The Open Group Platform Forum for the Single UNIX Specification version 3. This certification is significant as it further broadens the installed base of UNIX systems in the marketplace to include a popular desktop platform. In addition, Apple's UNIX 03 certification is a milestone for the UNIX certification program since Mac OS X is the first operating system derived from the open source BSD base of historical UNIX products to meet the certification requirements.

Apple has admitted that the firewall in its new Leopard OS X may be misleading to users, after complaints that the "Block all incoming connections" setting was not all that it was made out to be.

The 'Block all incoming connections' setting for the Application Firewall allows any process running as user "root" (UID 0) to receive incoming connections, and also allows mDNSResponder to receive connections. This could result in the unexpected exposure of network services.

As a result, the company has quickly released a patch to fix this issue, which also fixes a flaw that lets processes running as root through the firewall even if they are added to the list of blocked applications, and an issue which means an application needs to be restarted before changes in firewall settings will take affect for it.

The 10.5.1 Update for Mac OS X Leopard is recommended for all users running Mac OS X Leopard and includes general operating system fixes that enhance the stability, compatibility and security of your Mac. For detailed information on this update, please visit this page. To update to Mac OS X 10.5.1, use Software Update or the standalone installer here.

In Europe, it seems like the iPhone is greeted with nothing but tribulation and joy. After initial sales figures of 10,000 units were reported in the mid-afternoon of the first day of sales in Germany, one of the CEOs of T-mobile exclaimed "we're delighted". British sales were not much different. After stores opened their doors to queues seen camping out overnight, the BBC recorded scenes of "mayhem" in London. The iPhone goes on sale in France on November 29th, twenty days later than it did in Germany and the UK. However, the wait will be worth it: by French law, all mobile phones sold in France must come unlocked, to join whatever network the French customer chooses. Apple is working closely with French telecom companies to make sure that French iPhones do not make their way out of France, where a factory-unlocked iPhone would fetch a pretty penny.

Mobile email company Visto has launched a service that delivers corporate mobile email access on the iPhone. The Visto Mobile service lets iPhone users securely and easily access corporate email without downloading any additional software to the iPhone or requiring any changes to security policies or corporate firewall settings. The service is already available in the US and will be made available across Europe from today through Visto's website. Use of the service is free for the first 60 days, a video demonstration of the service in action is also available. Visto Mobile exploits the iPhone's user interface, which already allows users to send and receive attachments, receive rich HTML email and view e-mails as they were originally sent. Visto Mobile adds the corporate directory search capability, so individuals can search for any contact and either place a call, send an email or obtain driving directions by selecting the contact's phone number, email address or physical address.

Despite the utterly deplorable weather conditions in London last night, a small horde of dedicated iPhone enthusiasts was seen waiting in front of the local O2 store. Graham Gilbert, 22, officially has the honor of being the first man to be seen waiting for the iPhone in London. Graham has "been looking forward to the iPhone since it was announced in January." Once Graham has an iPhone, he plans to stick with O2, and not unlock/modify his iPhone. He his efforts to unlock the phone would be in vain every time Apple released a firmware update. The Apple iPhone die-hards will be able to get their hands on the iPhone at 6PM tonight, local time.

It seems as though the mass adoption of Mac OS X Leopard is bringing Apple more than publicity and sales. The German security experts at Heise Security and security blogger Rich Mogull tested OS X Leopard out for themselves, and found some serious problems. The OS X Leopard firewall works by signing applications that aren't already signed by Apple, so that they are given the go-ahead by the firewall. Unfortunately, when a program changes, that go-ahead disappears. Skype is one of those programs that changes itself, and so it comes as no surprise that Skype users are reporting trouble getting Skype to work on their Mac OS X Leopard computers. World of Warcraft also has this problem, though it's not entirely understood why. World of Warcraft forum members report that reinstalling the game clears the bug right up.

After reports early last month of Apple's latest iMacs experiencing random freezes linked to the Radeon HD drivers used by the machines, Apple has released a patch which should fix the problem. It is recommended for all 20" and 24" iMacs using 2GHz, 2.4GHz or 2.8GHz processors, with separate downloads available for both OS X Tiger and the new OS X Leopard.

Apple has quietly updated its MacBook range of notebooks to use Intel's new Santa Rosa platform, accompanied by the introduction of Intel GMA X3100 integrated graphics. The new platform should offer a slight bump in speed to all the MacBooks, which ship with either 2.0GHz or 2.2GHz processors, as well as the option of up to a 250GB hard drive. Apple has also updated to Mac Book Pro range to allow buyers to upgrade to a 2.6GHz processor for an extra $250. You can take a look at the complete MacBook specs here.

Apple today announced that it sold (or delivered in the case of maintenance agreements) over two million copies of Mac OS X Leopard since its release on Friday, far outpacing the first-weekend sales of Mac OS X Tiger, which was previously the most successful OS release in Apple's history. Sales included copies sold at Apple's retail stores, Apple Authorized Resellers, the online Apple Store, under maintenance agreements and bundled with new Mac computers. Leopard is the sixth major release of Mac OS X and is packed with more than 300 new features.

Apple posted a support document on its Web site addressing reports of interminable "blue screen" problems that caused some Mac users upgrading to Mac OS X Leopard no small degree of frustration. Apple said the problem could be related to "application enhancement software" that does not work with Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard. Apple recommended two solutions for Leopard owners attempting to upgrade: novice users should reinstall Leopard using the "Archive and Install" method detailed here. Other solution involves using the command line to get rid of the application enhancement software.

Mac OS X 10.5: "Blue screen" appears after installing Leopard and restarting report

A significant number of Mac owners upgrading to Leopard on Friday reported that after installing the new operating system, their machines locked up, showing only an interminable - and very Windows-like - "blue screen of death."

I'm upgrading my 20" iMac (Core Duo) at the moment and the installation 'completed', then the computer rebooted and it has been sitting on a plain blue screen for the past 30 minutes.

There is no progress indicator of any sort but I can occasionally hear the hard drive seeking.

explains thread posted on Apple forums. Many other Apple users complain from the same issue. Some reports speculate that the glitch might be related to a third-party program that installs a base-level framework that modifies OS X. Unfortunately, Apple was not available to comment on the story. Continue reading the full thread - Installation appears stuck on a plain blue screen.

Just one day after its release, Apple's new OS X Leopard has already been hacked to work on standard Intel-based computers. Admittedly it isn't guaranteed to work 100% yet, and is more than likely illegal in some way, but all you need to give it a try is a patched DVD image, a zip file with a patch and a USB flash drive. After that you're just three easy steps away from running the new operating system on your Intel PC (SSE3 and later) but unfortunately there's no AMD support available yet. As many PC owners have a slight dislike for Macs this may not be too appealing to everyone, but you can take a look at the procedure here.

Apple has begun limiting sales of its popular iPhone to two per customer and no longer accepts cash for payment.

We're requiring a credit or debit card for payment to discourage unauthorized resellers,

said Apple spokesperson Natalie Kerris, calling the demand for the iPhone "off the charts." The previous limit was five iPhones per person, which tempted hackers to buy in quantity to resell or unlock them from their intended use with AT&T Mobility. This precaution is intended to lower the sale rate of phones, bought to be unlocked. The new restrictions are also aimed at ensuring enough iPhones for increased holiday sales. The iPhone will soon launch in Germany, the United Kingdom and France.

Apple is now the most valuable computer maker in the world. At the current US$186 per share, Apple's value as a company is US$162B. That's now larger than IBM ($159B) and Intel ($155B) and fourth in terms of computer companies behind only Cisco ($189B), Google ($208B), and Microsoft ($290B). Read the full report in Saul Hansell's New York Times blog.

Despite all the bad press the iPhone has been getting in response to such allegations as locking people to a certain network and preventing third party applications from going on the iPhone, 82% of all people who've ever bought an iPhone are reported as being "very satisfied". The iPhone also makes up two percent of all phones on the street today, and 16% of all phone customers who plan on buying a new phone within the next six months are planning on getting an iPhone.

Big deal, most would say, every console or device that hopes to catch on needs an SDK (Software Development Kit), so that popular games and applications can run on the device. However, for quite a while, Apple seemed to think it was impervious to this law of the market. With the latest iPhone controversy however, involving lawsuits of network-locking and possible toxicity, Apple decided it was for the better if they let third-party developers put their stuff on the iPhone. An SDK will be shipped to anyone who wants one as soon as all the kinks are worked out, which Apple estimates to be some time in February 2008.

Apple has dropped the price of its iTunes Plus songs that have no digital rights management (DRM) software protection and allow owners to move song files freely from one device to another. The 256kbps DRM-free song files were originally priced at $1.29 per song with a lower per-song average price for buying an entire album. iTunes now seems to be offering the same files for 99 cents per song, the same price it charges for its usual 128kbps DRM versions.

iTunes Plus has been incredibly popular with our customers, and now we're making it available at an even more affordable price,

Tom Neumayr, senior manager for iPods, Apple TV and iTunes, said in a statement. The change closely follows Amazon.com's launch of its own digital-music store.

Apple confirmed Tuesday that Mac OS X Leopard will go on sale Friday, October 26 at 6:00 p.m. at Apple's retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers, and that the company's online store is now accepting pre-orders for the software. Available for $129 (single user) and $199 (family pack), Mac OS X v10.5 Leopard is packed with over 300 new features, installs easily, and works with the software and accessories you already have. Additionally Mac OS X Leopard introduces a brand new desktop with Stacks, a new way to easily access files from the Dock; a redesigned Finder that lets users quickly browse and share files between multiple Macs; Quick Look, a new way to instantly see files without opening an application; Spaces, an intuitive new feature used to create groups of applications and instantly switch between them; and Time Machine, an effortless way to automatically back up everything on a Mac.

Lawyers filed a class action lawsuit against Apple and AT&T seeking $1.2 billion in damages because the iPhone is locked to AT&T's wireless network. The suit also notes that Apple will not allow unauthorized applications on the iPhone. Filed on behalf of Paul Holman in the State of Washington and Lucy Rivello in California, the lawsuit explains that in the United States the SIM chip is locked to the wireless carrier, not the hardware device. Damian Fernadez, the attorney who filed the state suit explains in court documents what Apple is accused of:

Apple punished consumers for exercising their rights to unlock their iPhones. Apple issued a software update that 'bricked' or otherwise caused iPhone malfunctions for consumers who unlocked their phones and installed the update. Apple's unlawful trust with AT&T substantially lessens competition and tends to create a monopoly in trade and commerce throughout the entire United States.

Apple and AT&T both declined to comment on the story.