Apple, Inc. has recently released the newest version of its popular web browsing software.  Safari 4 offers many improvements over previous versions, including many performance enhancements.  For example, the “Nitro engine” in the newest version of Safari runs JavaScript over 4 times faster than the previous version of Safari.  Safari version 4.0 also executes JavaScript up to 30 times faster than IE 7 and more than three times faster than Firefox 3.  Safari loads HTML web pages three times faster than IE 7 and almost three times faster than Firefox 3.

Some of the new features in Safrai 4 include things such as ‘Top Sites’, for a neat visual representation of the user’s most frequently visited pages; ‘Cover Flow’, a feature that allows the user to easily flip through web history or bookmarks like album covers in iTunes; and ‘Tabs on Top’, which makes tabbed browsing easier and more intuitive than ever before; and ‘Full Page Zoom’, which allows for a closer look at a website without degradation of quality.  To some (such as myself) one of the most welcome new feature in Safari 4 also features built in developer’s tools that help with the development of web pages.

Apple’s newest browser, Safari 4, offers support for innovative new web standards including HTML 5 and CSS 3, which allow for new feature-rich web applications with media, graphics and fonts.  Safari 4 is the first browser that supports advanced CSS Effects, which allow web developers the use of reflections, gradients, precision masks, and many other tools that allow for awesome looking web content. Safari 4 is also the first browser to that has passed the Web Standards Project’s Acid3 test that examines how well a browser adheres to web standards.

Safari 4 is built on Apple’s WebKit, the world’s fastest and most advanced browser engine.  WebKit is an open source project that aims to create the world’s best browser engine as well as advance the adoption of new web standards.  Recently, WebKit has led the way for the introduction of the new HTML 5 and CSS 3 web standards.  Many of the industry’s newest browsers are based on WebKit including Google Chrome, the Google Android browser, the Nokia Series 60 browser and Palm webOS.

This report tells about the knock off cell phones and music players fashioned after Apple’s iPhones and iPods.  Apparently in China and other Asian countries there are so many counterfeit products for sale that the counterfeit Apple products are more abundant than the genuine versions.  Is this a good thing because it shows that the authentic versions of name brand products are so desirable that everyone wants to make copy of them?  After all imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, right?  Or is this a horrible trend that should be stopped at all costs because it dilutes the brand with inferior clones?  Post your thoughts in the comments.

Apple Inc. has recently announced that this will be the final year that the company will be exhibiting at the annual Macworld conference.  This press release has the official statement from Apple.  This years Macworld conference will be held January 5-9, 2009 in San Francisco at the Moscone Center.  For many years, the keynote address speeches that Steve Jobs has given at various conferences have made big news.  Many of these historic keynote speeches have been at Macworld and similar shows.  Apple has recently said that they have been scaling back their exposure at different conventions and other exhibitions.  On on hand it may be good that the company has so many avenues to deliver its message, but on the other hand it is a shame that the biggest name at the Macworld show is going to be leaving.

The Wall Street Journal has released this video featuring iPhone games. These games, mostly in the puzzle genre, are easy and fun to play because of the iPhone’s touch screen and other sensors that allow the game to know how you hold and move the device.

A new security flaw has been discovered that allows unauthorized access to private data stored on an iPhone. When a user sets up a passcode lock for the iPhone, the device still allows some information to be accessed. This means that anyone with access to the device can see certain data that is stored on your iPhone. Although this may be a security flaw in a way, it could also be useful. It could be used to store emergency contact information and numbers so that people could access it without knowing the passcode to gain access to the entire device. I think Apple should build this in as a more prominent feature instead of having it kind of hidden so that people think its a security flaw.