A new update for iPhoto '09 was released Tuesday. It contains fixes for face recognition performance and accuracy and also resolves minor issues with book ordering and iPod touch support.

The update can be installed via Software Update or though a standalone installer. It is recommended for all users of iPhoto '09.

Apple does caution before installing:
If you imported photos of people while using iPhoto 8.1, there's an extra step you should take after installing the 8.1.1 update. Select all those photos, Control-click to open the contextual menu, and then choose Detect Missing Faces. This will redetect the faces in those photos and correct any face recognition issues introduced in iPhoto 8.1. You should not quit iPhoto during the Detect Missing Faces process.

The day after Thanksgiving represents the largest retail sales day in the U.S., also known as "Black Friday." Apple has posted a teaser on its Web site of coming deals on Friday, though no specifics were available as of Monday morning. The company is touting the sale as a "one-day Apple shopping event" scheduled for Nov. 27.

"Come back to the Apple Online Store the day after Thanksgiving for a special one-day-only holiday shopping event," it reads. "You'll find dozens of great iPod, iPhone, and Mac gift ideas -- all with free shipping."



In previous years, Apple has offered modest discounts on its products during the annual Black Friday sale. In 2008, it discounted $101 from the unibody MacBook Pros and $51 off the polycarbonate MacBook.

The term Black Friday refers to the day's reputation of bringing stores from losses to profits, or "into the black," for the year. In 2007, roughly 1.4 million people visited Apple's Web site the day after Thanksgiving, a 111 percent increase from the year before.

Workable Windows Magic Mouse drivers have been extracted from Apple's Bluetooth update for Boot Camp. Uneasysilence has released both 32 and 64-bit versions of the software, enabling stand alone PCs to use the Magic Mouse outside of Boot Camp for the first time.

The Magic Mouse was the first-ever multi-touch enabled mouse. It allows users to navigate using intuitive finger gestures instead of scroll wheels, balls, or mechanical buttons. The top surface of the mouse is a multi-touch surface able to track the inputs of individual fingers. The Magic Mouse comes standard with the iMac and is also available as a standalone product.

Apple this week updated its Server Admin Tools for remote administration of Snow Leopard Server. The 10.6.2 update matches that of Mac OS X 10.6.2, released earlier this month.

The update includes the latest releases of iCal Server Utility, Podcast Composer, Server Admin, Server Monitor, Server Preferences, System Image Utility, Workgroup Manager and Xgrid Admin.

The 241.40MB update is available for download from Apple, and requires that Mac OS X 10.6.2 already be installed.

Apple released a new driver update for Boot Camp Thursday. The update, which weighs in at 23.87 MB, addresses issues with the trackpad and digital audio port. It also adds support for the Magic Mouse and wireless keyboard.

Boot Camp 2.1 must be installed before running the update, and Windows Vista Service Pack 2 must be installed on machines running it before installing the update.

Boot Camp was a feature first released with OS X Leopard that allows users with Intel-based Macs to install a copy of Windows on a separate partition.

An issue where the built-in iSight Camera on Apple's LED Cinema Display was not recognized by some applications has been addressed with a new firmware update released this week. LED Cinema Display iSight Firmware Update 1.0 is a 654KB file available for download from Apple. It requires Mac OS X 10.5.8 or Mac OS X 10.6.2.

To confirm that the update has been installed, choose "About this Mac" from the Apple menu, open the hardware section, select USB, and locate and select USB High Speed Bus. If the update has been installed, selecting Display iSight should list the version as 2.31.

A new Windows-only release of QuickTime was issued by Apple this week. Version 7.6.5 is a 30.99MB file available for download. It requires Windows XP SP2 or later, Windows Vista, or Windows 7.

The minor update addresses a couple of issues: It fixes a problem where applications did not reliably load libraries required by QuickTime at startup, and it patches an error where movies embedded in a Web page were not properly displayed using custom scale attributes.

QuickTime 6 Pro users should know that installing QuickTime 7 or later will disable the "pro" functionality in previous versions. Those upgrading from version 6 will need to purchase a QuickTime 7 Pro registration code.

Google this week updated its Google Earth mapping software for the iPhone and iPod touch. Version 2.0 adds numerous features to the software, including the ability to view maps created on a desktop computer on the iPhone. The update also adds more languages, improved icon selection, and better performance.

"By logging in directly to your Google Maps account, you can view the same maps that you or others have created, using the My Maps interface," the company said. "Maybe you're on a trip and want to see where Tony Wheeler, the co-founder of Lonely Planet, most likes to travel. Or perhaps you're walking around looking for a restaurant and you want to see where world-famous chef Ferran Adrià likes to eat. All you have to do is click "Save to My Maps", open Earth on the iPhone, log in with the same account information, and voilà, you have your same collection of My Maps right in your pocket."

In version 2.0, touching an icon produces a small glow under the user's finger to let them know which icon they have selected. If a finger touches multiple icons, the software provides a list of icons to make it easier to select an individual one.



Google Earth now offers 31 languages, up from the original 18. The complete list of supported languages is English (U.S), English (UK), French (France), German, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese (Brazil), Portuguese (Portugal), Danish, Swedish, Finnish, Norwegian, Korean, Japanese, Russian, Polish, Turkish, Ukrainian, Arabic, Thai, Czech, Greek, Hebrew, Indonesian, Malaysian, Romanian, Slovak, and Croatian.

Apple this week released four new printer drivers for Mac OS X 10.6. The latest updates apply to printers from Canon, Brother, HP and Lexmark. The updates require Mac OS X 10.6.1 or later.

The individual updates can be downloaded directly from Apple for Canon (274.59MB), Brother (99.9MB), HP (387.44MB) and Lexmark (117MB). A full list of printer and scanner compatibility is also available on Apple's support Web site.

Snow Leopard includes a number of printer-related features, including "Nearby Printers," a list of available printers that will appear right inside your printer dialog box. Users can simply connect a USB printer and the print queue will be automatically created.

Friday, Apple released a firmware update for its latest iteration of the nano, aimed at fixing audiobook playback, Genius mixes with Nike + iPod Sport, accessibility settings for Mono Audio, and skipping of VoiceOver menu items when using headphone + and - volume buttons. This update can be downloaded through iTunes.