The release of Apple's iPhone Software Development kit gave a lot of programmers new things to do, and I am not talking about game programmers now. The latest news from Sun are really interesting, since it seems we're going to see a virtual machine for the iPhone and iPod touch in the near future. Interesting enough?


According to Sun, there are over 6 million Java developers on the planet, and over 10,000 of them are working in mobile software development (to be honest, I think this number should have an additional zero in the tail, because I don't think only less than 0.01% of world's Java developers are working on software for mobile devices!), so having a JVM for the iPhone and iPod touch would ease the development of Java applications for both these devices.

At this time, there is no additional detail about the upcoming JVM available, but Sun officials said it should arrive "as quickly as possible".

While the ATI Radeon 2600 XT is no longer a last generation video card, it seems Mac Pro computers using it had a lot of issues because of them. Please don't get me wrong - from a hardware point of view, those cards are OK, but Apple's video drivers didn't quite fit them well, so mass system instabilities were noticed(nothing special with that, I got into such a thing lately on my Windows PC too, after updating my video drivers). These being said, it's obvious everyone having a Mac Pro with a 2600 XT video card was expecting a software update...


...which finally arrived less than a day ago, when Apple announced the update for the Mac Pro computers using the Radeon HD 2600 XT video card. Basically, this update is about solving the previously reported system freezes, but Apple didn't specifically listed which problems are being solved by it.

The 792KB update can be downloaded from here, where some additional information is also available. Unfortunately, I don't think "It updates the ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT graphics card firmware on all of the ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT graphics cards in the Mac Pro to improve system stability." is enough when talking about "useful information", but I guess we'll have to live with it...

Founded back in 1976, in Canada, Lionsgate grew up to become the most successful independent film and television distribution company in the United States. With titles such as Rambo or The Bank Job in their portofolio, Lionsgate will be a very good addition to the iTunes Digital Copy program, and that should be good news for everyone - Apple, Lionsgate, and the consumers!


If this sounds like something new to you, than you should know that Apple's itunes Digital Copy is all about placing iTunes-formatted movies on retail discs, providing a quick and legal method of synching movies with computers, iPods, iPones and Apple TVs, since these videos are restricted by Apple's DRM protection.

The first Digital Copy movie was Fox's Family Guy: Blue Harvest, and now first Digital Copy from Lionsgate is expected to be Rambo, on the 27th of May, followed by the American remake of The Eye, later this summer.

Being one major game publisher for the iPod classic, nano, as well as the fifth generation iPod, Gameloft couldn't have missed the opportunity to take full advantage of Apple's brand new iPhone SDK, so they are preparing the heavy artillery now...


With competitors like Sega, Electronic Arts or Freeverse, Gameloft has to come up with really good products for the iPhone, and their promises sound promising - according to the latest official statements, Gameloft is already working on 15 titles for the iPhone, which should become available later this year.

The most interesting part is that, with the help of Apple's iPhoen SDK, Gameloft's games (and those coming from other producers, I am sure) will take full advantage of the touchscreen, accelerometer or the 3D processor.

While I can only imagine how these new games would look and feel, I am sure iPhone users will have the fun of their lives in the coming months!

Today's world is moving much too fast, and this is painfully true for hardware producers and computer manufacturers. Apple, despite its innovative designs, is not magically shielded against this truth, so they must refresh their products line on a regular basis to keep customers interested... and I am not talking about lowering prices to remain competitive! These being said, don't you think the iMac and Mac Mini need to be brought up to date?


Since current iMacs and Mac minis don't include the 45nm Penryn chips from Intel, and their integrated graphics chips are also a bit behind what's currently inside the MacBooks, don't you think it's time for a change? Unfortunately, rumors aren't saying anything about design retouches, so I guess we'll have to wait a bit longer for those...

With the above, I almost told you everything, but let's say it loud and clear... "In the near future, Apple is expected to include 45nm Penryn chips in the iMac and Mac mini computers, as well as to upgrade the graphics chipset of the Mac Mini to the GMA3100, currently used in latest MacBooks."

Apart from the above, there are also some rumors about a thinner iMac, but that won't probably happen so fast...