Apple this week unveiled a new RSS feed made especially for iPhone developers. The feed collects all iPhone developer news and announcements into once place.

"You can now subscribe to a new RSS feed that will allow you to instantly receive updates to the iPhone Developer News and Announcements," Apple said. "Get the latest information on a wide range of topics including tips on submitting apps to the App Store, current turnaround time for app review, program updates, development and testing techniques, and much more."

Some stories included on the feed include an announcement that iTunes Connect will be unavailable from Dec. 23 through Dec. 28, and a way to add iPhone OS 3.x features while maintaining compatibility with iPhone OS 2.x. The RSS feed can be found at http://developer.apple.com/rss/iphonedevnews.rss.

Ustream announced Wednesday the availability of Ustream Live Broadcaster in the iPhone App Store. The company touts that it is the first live broadcast software made available for the iPhone and iPod touch. With it, anyone can broadcast live video from their phone.

"The Ustream Live Broadcaster is a free app that enables live streaming on 3G or Wifi, and users can notify their Twitter communities when they start broadcasting, and interact with their viewers using chat or Twitter through Ustream’s Social Stream," the company said.



The application is said to require the iPhone 3G or iPhone 3GS with iPhone OS 3.1 or later. It allows polls, works in portrait mode, can auto-record, and can record and save for upload later. Recordings can be shared on Ustream, YouTube, Twitter and Facebook. The free 6.1MB download is available through iTunes

Apple released several updates Tuesday containing fixes for noise issues with Macbook, Macbook Pro, and SuperDrive optical drives as well as fixes for AirPort client software.

Both MacBook and MacBook Pro EFI firmware updates enable users to apply the SuperDrive firmware update to eliminate the noise made by the optical disk drive during system startup and wake from sleep.

Products affected include:
iMac (20-inch, Mid 2009), MacBook Pro (17-inch, Early 2009), MacBook (13-inch, Early 2009), MacBook (13-inch, Mid 2009), MacBook (13-inch, Aluminum, Late 2008), MacBook Pro (15-inch, Late 2008), iMac (24-inch, Early 2009), iMac (20-inch, Early 2009), Mac mini (Early 2009)

The AirPort Client update is recommended for all Macintosh computers running Mac OS X Snow Leopard 10.6.2. The update contains fixes for the following:

• Inability to turn AirPort on or off in some cases after upgrading from Mac OS X Leopard


• An occasional loss of network connection when using Wake on Demand


• Inability to create a computer-to-computer network, or share the Internet connection on some MacBook, MacBook Pro, and Mac mini computers

All updates can be applied using Software Update or Apple's support page.

Just as it did last year, Apple plans to give away various media downloads to promote the iTunes Store for Christmas. The "12 Days of Christmas" promotion will again from from Dec. 26, 2009 to Jan. 6, 2010.

During that period, users will be able to download a free song, music video, app, TV episode or film from "some of the biggest star performers on iTunes." Each free download will be available for 24 hours.



Users can sign up for daily e-mail alerts at the promotion's official Web site, itunes12daysofchristmas.co.uk, or become a fan of iTunes UK on Facebook.

Apple this week released Java updates for Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard and Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard. It is the first Java update for Snow Leopard, and the sixth for Leopard.

The update is said to deliver improved reliability, security and compatibility for Java SE 6 (10.6) and J2SE 5.0 (10.5). It updates Java SE 6 to version 1.6.0_17, and J2SE 5.0 to 1.5.0_22. J2SE 1.4.2 is no longer being updated to fix bugs or security issues, and is disabled by default in the update for Leopard users.

Java for Mac OS X 10.6 Update 1 is a 78MB download available from Apple or through Software Update. It requires Mac OS X 10.6.2 or later. Java for Mac OS X 10.6 is 122MB download that requires Mac OS X 10.5.8 or later.

Originally scheduled to open this Saturday, Apple has postponed the grand opening of its new store in Frankfurt, Germany at the last minute. Apple has not yet revealed when the store will eventually opened, though according to Gary Allen of ifoAppleStore, it is expected in January 2010.

The three-story location was constructed in an existing building, but was heavily remodeled to meet Apple's standard architecture requirements for its retail outlets. Apple has updated the official page for the store to say it will open "soon."

It has been said that construction issues likely lead to the last-minute delay. Apple has said it is "putting the finishing touches on the final touches."

One-way video chat has been added to Fring, a free app for the iPhone which serves as a unified platform for contacts across multiple chat clients. The chat is only one-way, allowing iPhone users to receive video chat requests but does not allow for use of the camera on the iPhone itself for chatting. This limitation is according to the developer, "due to the location of the camera" on the iPhone.

The video functionality is available over the Wi-Fi connection and supports video though Skype to Fring and Fring to Fring chat.

Fring supports a variety of communication platforms including: Skype, MSN Messenger, ICQ, Twitter, Google Talk, Yahoo Messenger, AIM, and also offers support for a number of VoIP providers. Fring also interacts with Facebook, Last.fm and Google Mail.

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.