Apple Inc. is fed up with a small Florida-based firm that has been selling its own brand of computers running hacked versions of the Mac OS X operating system and has finally slapped the company with a lawsuit.

The Mac maker filed a formal complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on July 3rd, just one day after Psystar began distributing a modified version of the Mac OS X 10.5.4 Leopard update to customers who had previously purchased one of its unauthorized Mac systems.

While details of the suit are unclear at this time, AppleInsider has learned that Apple and its counsel at Townsend and Townsend and Crew LLP filed the suit on grounds of copyright infringement.

In April, Psystar made headlines when it announced a $400 desktop dubbed OpenMac (later renamed Open Computer) which was described as "a low-cost high-performance computing platform" based on the ongoing OSX86Project -- a hacker-based initiative aimed at maintaining a version of the Mac OS X operating system for everyday PCs.

A representative for the company, identified only as Robert, would later go on record and challenge Apple to bring formal charges against his firm, arguing that the Mac OS X end-user license agreement, which prohibits third-party installations of Mac OS X on non-Apple hardware, stands in violation of antitrust laws.

"What if Microsoft said you could only install Windows on Dell computers?," he said. "What if Honda said that, after you buy their car, you could only drive it on the roads they said you could?"

With Apple remaining largely silent on the matter, Psystar last month continued to taunt the Mac maker by aggressively staking its claim as the lone company outside of Apple selling Mac OS X systems, unveiling a pair of Xserve-like rackmount computers unofficially based on Mac OS X Leopard Server.

As part of its unauthorized Mac clone business, Psystar has promised to provide customers with altered versions of Mac OS X system updates for its Open Computing products shortly after Apple releases official versions for its own systems.



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Without further ado I announce my new Mac OS X theme for use with Tiger & Unsanity's Shapeshifter; iLeo.

The name is derived from its theme inspirations and feel- illuminous, Lunar, Leopard, Loco, Uno, Universe (Leo is a star-sign). Furthermore my theme is also inspired by famous themes such as Milk, Eternal, Canum, Qure, Dragon among others.

It showcases black illuminous feature elements, semi-transparent white menus, Leopard style metal unified windows, metalic buttons and subtle Loco style windows... Its a carefully perfected balance.


iLeo launch site

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Once again, digging through Apple's XML files has revealed the url to the iPhone 2.0 Firmware that is presently available on Apple's servers. One of MacRumor's readers found this new firmware image:

iPhone1,2_2.0_5A347_Restore.ipsw [download - 3G]
iPhone1,1_2.0_5A347_Restore.ipsw [download - 2G]

This build is slightly higher than the one of the latest iPhone Firmware Beta (5A345) which was also spotted on shipping iPhone 3Gs. Despite the filename appearing in the XML file, the actual firmware has not yet been released officially. As well, the firmware carries a "1,2" designation while all previous firmwares, including the beta firmwares carried a "1,1" number.

Apple has posted an updated guide about firmware upgrades and warns:

"Normally if you choose to update, the iPhone or iPod touch software is updated but your settings and media are not affected. If your device currently has a software version prior to 2.0 (1.x) and you are updating to software version 2.0 or later, all data on your device will be erased in order to perform install the new software. In this case, iTunes will offer to create a one-time media backup of your device depending on what content is on your device and what content is stored in the iTunes Library you are connected to. You should ensure that you have enough free space on your Mac or PC to accommodate a backup that matches the capacity of your iPhone or iPod touch (4 GB, 8 GB, 16 GB, or 32 GB) if you proceed with the this backup."

Be sure to fully sync prior to proceeding. In order to install this firmware, you will have to do it manually by pressing the Option key when pressing the "Check for Update" button in iTunes. Then select the .ipsw file manually. If for some reason your download is a ".zip" file, rename it to ".ipsw" before proceeding.

We expect the firmware to be officially released shortly and will appear in your iTunes software update. If you don't wish to wait, you can use this method, but should proceed with caution and at your own risk. That being said, there are reports of people having successfully used this firmware on the original iPhone, and are successfully downloading and running App Store apps.

Note: Can not be used for iPod touch.

[Source: MacRumors]

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Another OS X update!

AirPort has been updated addressing reliability issues with 5GHz networks and issues that may result in slower performance in Logic Studio or MainStage.

iCal received updates fixing seven issues with the application including reliability for meeting requests, cancellation notices, delegation, and syncing with iPhone. The update also fixed an issue that prevents deleting an iCal event without notifying the creator.

iCal now includes a checkbox that excludes information-only calendars from affecting availability and a problem with copying and pasting attendees from one event to another has been resolved.

Performance issues when loading secure web pages in Safari has been resolved. Another performance issue where client certificates are on a smart card has also been addressed.

Spaces & Exposé received a couple of updates, as well. An Exposé problem that may result in only a subset of windows being shown has been fixed. An issue has been fixed when switching from a space keeps the Finder as the active application and dragging an application from the list of application assignments does not assign the app to the Space have both been addressed.

Mac OS X 10.5.4 includes additional RAW image support for several cameras and an issue with saving and reopening Adobe Creative Suite 3 files on a remote server has been fixed.

Improvements for L2TP VPN client reliability have also been made.

The update is available from the Mac OS X Software Update utility or directly from Apple’s Web site.

Thanks, Macword

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Apple is preparing significant changes to the iPod nano as it prepares a dramatic ramp-up in iPhone 3G shipments, according to a report by FBR Research analyst Craig Berger. The investment expert now anticipates an updated, lower-priced iPod nano in the near future on top of refreshes for both the iPod classic and iPod touch. Further details are unavailble, though Apple has traditionally increased capacities of the iPod in August or September as flash memory and hard drive technology improves; the company took the unusual step this year of doubling iPod touch capacity to 32GB just a few months after the product was introduced.
Apple is also now said to be increasing its iPod production to match and is estimated to be building 15 percent more of the media players than it did with Berger's previous check, although he adds that the shift is now more towards the iPod nano and classic rather than the iPod touch, which has regularly been Apple's second-strongest iPod in terms of online Apple Store sales since its debut. The move is reported to push Apple's profit margins down for the sake of maintaining or growing iPod sales share.

Equally important is a large boost to iPhone production, according to additional reports. The analyst says that his firm now sees Apple shipping about 15 million iPhone 3G units over the course of the summer and fall quarters, or more than the 11 million estimated just last month. Seven million of these are due to be made in the July-to-September period alone, he adds. The numbers don't include production of the now discontinued original iPhone, about two million of which were believed to have been made during 2008.

With the increased production, Apple is now expected to readily surpass the goal announced last year of shipping 10 million iPhones during 2008, which it estimated at the time would give it one percent of the world cellphone market. The increase is also believed to help the bottom lines of Broadcom and Marvell, both of whom have chipsets in the new handheld.

Berger also concludes that Mac shipments are also stepping up in anticipation of end-of-year demand, with production increasing between 10 to 20 percent. Apple is poised to "knock the cover off the ball" and not only recover its iPod share but essentially sidestep any American or European economic downturns in the process, the analyst says.

Thanks, Electronista!

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