All hypes and myths about Apple being the most secure OS, or at least being the last OS to be hacked may have been busted by Charlie Miller on Thursday when he managed to hack an Apple MacBoock Air for 2 minutes flat during the CanSecWest security conference's PWN 2 OWN hacking contest. Show organizers offered a Sony Vaio, Fujitsu U810 and the MacBook as prizes, saying that they could be won by anybody at the show who could find a way to hack into each of them and read the contents of a file on the system, using a previously undisclosed "0day" attack. Nobody was able to hack into the systems on the first day of the contest when contestants were only allowed to attack the computers over the network, but on Thursday the rules were relaxed so that attackers could direct contest organizers using the computers to do things like visit Web sites or open e-mail messages. Miller, best known as one of the researchers who first hacked Apple's iPhone last year, took advantage of the new privileges given by the jury and within 2 minutes, he directed the contest's organizers to visit a Web site that contained his exploit code, which then allowed him to seize control of the computer. He was the first contestant to attempt an attack on any of the systems, and that was enough for him to win quick $10,000 and perhaps show how secure the MacBook Air was. Continue reading the full story with more details here.

CNET News.com has learned that Lenovo and Fujitsu are in the process of putting together systems based on the special Core 2 Duo chip that Apple is using in the MacBook Air. The new laptops should be out shortly, according to sources familiar with the companies' plans, and will give customers a chance to see what the rest of the PC industry can do with the ultra-low-power chips. Both manufacturers did not comment on the story. Apple asked Intel to design the special Core 2 Duo chip last year as it was putting together the design that would become the MacBook Air. The chip fits into a package that's significantly smaller than the standard Intel notebook chip, and it uses less power than the standard Core 2 Duo, allowing it to fit into the slim MacBook Air without melting the inside of the package or eating the battery.

Here's one more MacBook Air contender coming from Toshiba, actually two more: the Portégé R500 11J and 11I. The 11J, with 64GB of SSD and no optical drive, is clearly looking for a fight with the Mac Book Air. Toshiba even claims to have the thinnest and lightest laptop in the world (779g and 25.5mm). Specifications for this model include: Core2 Duo ULV U7600, 2GB DDR2 667MHz memory, Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950, Wi-Fi (802.11 a/g/n), Bluetooth, 3G+/HSDPA and price range of 2500 €.

There's been a barrage of Apple stories today, but here's one that people won't be quite so pleased to hear: the battery in Apple's new MacBook Air will not be user replaceable, much like the iPod and iPhone. Apple has clarified the issue, saying that the price of a replacement will be $129, just like the MacBook Pro battery, and installation will be free. This shouldn't be too much of a problem for most users given that the battery will probably be fairly durable and the notebook does boast five hours of battery life, but would cause a slight inconvenience of having to send the machine off to Apple if it does need replacing, and would prevent people from using a backup battery.

Apple just unveiled their new ultraportable notebook, called the Macbook Air. It features a 1.6 GHz Core 2 Duo, which can be upped to 1.8 GHz at a price. There is no optical drive, but a 80GB 4200 RPM hard drive or an optional 64GB SSD drive. The battery should last around 5 hours. The front is just a mere 0.16 inches high, while the back tops out at 0.76 inches. The keyboard is full size and features the same layout as on the new Mac Pro keyboard. It is backlit and has a black finish. The optional USB 2.0 Superdrive is available for $99 USD.

The Macbook Air will sell for 1,799 US Dollars or 1,699€s.