An Apple employee has posted a listing on the Facebook Marketplace for a job on the iPhone team. The listing starts:

“Software Engineer iPhone Mail Application #2988020

Apple Computer iPhone Technology is looking for a proactive, highly motivated Software Engineer for Software Design and Development on the iPhone Mail Application.”

Source: the facebook listing, the Apple.com job listing

Mac OS X Leopard will add a few new layers of security to OS X with memory randomization, application sandboxing, a better firewall, signed applications, and more. Here I have put a few of them together. The memory randomization and application sandboxing are some of the big new ones that will help secure OS X. Because by default it wasn’t very secure. (Pre-order Leopard now at Amazon and save $20!)

Memory Randomization
This security technology, known as ASLR (address space layout randomization), randomly arranges the positions of key data areas on the hard drive to prevent malware authors from predicting target addresses. It means that the bad guys will not know where everything is on your hard drive because each computer will have things moved around randomly. It makes it a lot harder to attack.

Sandboxing
Apple plans to add Sandboxing (systrace) in Leopard to limit an application�s access to the system by enforcing access policies for system calls. The feature is aimed at restricting an app�s file access, network access, and ability to launch other applications.

Many Leopard applications � such as Bonjour, Quick Look, and the Spotlight indexer � will be sandboxed so hackers can�t exploit them, Apple said.

Application-Based Firewall
You will gain more control over the built-in firewall in Leopard. You can specify the behavior of specific applications to either allow or block incoming connections for those applications.

Signed Applications
A digital signature on an application verifies its identity and ensures its integrity. All applications shipped with Leopard are signed by Apple, and third-party software developers can also sign their applications. It adds another level of security.

Tagging Downloaded Applications
Protect yourself from potential threats. Any application downloaded to your Mac is tagged. Before it runs for the first time, the system asks for your consent � telling you when it was downloaded, what application was used to download it, and, if applicable, what URL it came from.

Stronger Encryption for Disk Images
Give your data even more security. Disk Utility now allows you to create encrypted disk images using 256-bit AES encryption.

Source: Apple Mac OS X Leopard Features

Apple Mac OS X Version 10.5 Leopard at Amazon for $109 (you save $20!)

Apple reported fiscal 2007 fourth quarter results after the bell today. The company had net quarterly profits of $904 million, or $1.01 per diluted share, on revenue of $6.22 billion. Analysts were looking for 86 cents per share on sales of $6.07 billion. The stock was up $17.15 to $187.57 in after hours trading at the time of this report.

Apple shipped 2,164,000 Macintosh computers, representing 34 percent growth over the year-ago quarter and exceeding the previous quarterly record for Mac shipments by 400,000. The Company sold 10.2 million iPods during the quarter, representing 17 percent growth over the year-ago quarter. Quarterly iPhone sales were 1.1 million bringing cumulative fiscal 2007 sales to 1.4 million

Jobs was optimistic, looking for a strong December quarter with Apple’s “best products ever.” OSX Leopard being released at the end of October is rumored to be followed by a product line refresh. So the future looks bright.

Earnings results compare to revenue of $4.84 billion and net quarterly profit of $542 million, or $.62 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was 33.6 percent, up from 29.2 percent in the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 40 percent of the quarter�s revenue.

Source: Apple Reports Fourth Quarter Results

Apple today introduced the iPod Touch. It looks remarkable similar to an iPhone, with a large touchscreen, single home button, and built in Wi-Fi. The built in Wi-Fi is what excites me. I have been wanting something like this for a long time, and now I have to find a way to justify the purchase when I already have an iPod nano.

The iPod touch is an unbelievable 8 mm thin, and is priced starting at just $299. It has a 3.5-inch widescreen display, built-in accelerometer that automatically senses when you rotate it into its landscape position, it automatically switches to Cover Flow so you can browse your music collection by album cover artwork with just a flick of a finger. iPod touch also has a built-in ambient light sensor that automatically adjusts the display�s brightness. iPod touch features up to 22 hours of audio playback and up to five hours of video playback.

The new iPod touch is scheduled to be available later this month. The 8GB iPod touch model is $299 (US) and the 16GB iPod model is $399 (US).

Source: Apple Press Release

Apple today discontinued the 4GB iPhone and lowered the price of the 8GB iPhone $200 to $400. This is very good news as it simplifies their iPhone line and makes it much more affordable.

Source: Apple Press Release

Apple today unveiled an all new all-in-one iMac line featuring 20- and 24-inch widescreen displays encased in aluminum and glass enclosures. The entire new iMac line features the latest Intel Core 2 Duo processors and a new, ultra-thin aluminum Apple Keyboard, built-in iSight video camera for video conferencing and iLife �08. The 20-inch iMac now starts at just $1,199, $300 less than the previous 20-inch model, and the 24-inch iMac starts at just $1,799, $200 less than the previous 24-inch model.

The new iMac features highly recyclable and durable materials including scratch-resistant glass and professional grade aluminum. The power-efficient iMac also meets the stringent new Energy Star 4.0 requirements.

Source: Apple PR
Great pictures from AppleInsider

Apple today announced that the iPhone will feature up to 8 hours of talk time, 6 hours of Internet use, 7 hours of video playback or 24 hours of audio playback. Apple also announced that the entire top surface of the iPhone, including its 3.5-inch display, has been upgraded from plastic to optical-quality glass to achieve a higher level of scratch resistance and optical clarity.

Source: Press Release

The iPhone is coming June 29th according to AT&T commercials that have begun airing. You can check out the commercials on Apple’s website here, and the iPhone product page here. The Calamari commercial shows how you can search for places with the built-in map feature, get the restaurant info, and call them with the tap of the screen. The map feature is innovative and uses Google Maps. I would love an iPhone, if only it didn’t use Cingular/AT&T.

Here’s another video from the D5 conference. In this Steve Jobs and Bill Gates share the stage. Things start out cordially and then there are a few jabs here and there. This will hopefully be the last video I post here about D5, unless you want to see more or I find out important information that relates to Apple. It’s always interesting to find out how things started, and you definitely get some more background info on the Apple/Microsoft connection. This video has excerpts, but you can get all the parts of the full interview from the D5 website here.

Below is a video of Steve Jobs at today’s D5 conference. He talks about the iPhone, AT&T, and why they made the iPhone. He also talks about Apple TV, iTunes Plus, and where the Mac business is, talking about the staggering Mac growth. This is a must watch, and some of the info was incorporated into tonight’s AppleWatch Live show that should be online tonight or tomorrow.

Apple today began offering their 13-inch Macbook line with a slightly faster processor, better default specs, and a lower price. They now come with either a 2.0GHz or 2.16GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, a .03 increase from the previous limit of 2.13GHz. No Santa Rosa yet as the front-side bus remains at 667 MHz. And each model comes default with 1GB of memory, still only expandable to 2GB. Now I know what they meant when AppleInsider said that Apple was looking to “absorb” more from their 13-inch Macbook design (link).

This modest update was enough to allow me to order a Macbook guilt-free. I just can’t wait anymore and at least I’m getting to take advantage of a speed increase and $200 price decrease (more with my soon-to-expire educational discount). Plus I know Apple either already worked out most of the kinks in the system or they at least repair problems initially ignored.

Source: Apple Press Release

Apple confirmed two weeks ago that the release of the next version of OSX has been delayed from June until October. Employees were needed on the iPhone team to make sure it would ship in June, meaning that they won’t have enough time to get all the bugs worked out of Leopard by June.

This means I probably won’t be waiting as long to buy a MacBook as I would have if Leopard was going to ship in June.

Source: AppleInsider

Here’s a video from CBS where they take a closer look at the Apple iPhone and you can to see exactly how it works. Apple Inc’s Phil Schiller shows John Blackstone the many features of the iPhone. I’m especially amazed by how you can scroll through contacts with your finger. The video even shows how things change when you turn the iPhone. I want this baby badly.

A few months back Steve Jobs introduced the iTV. The real name for that device is now the Apple TV. It is a set-top box that has a 40GB hard drive, wireless support, and it can stream video and music from up to five computers. It syncs with iTunes, and can even download the movies you haven�t watched yet to its hard drive. You can then watch movies, TV shows, music and more on your TV.

The device will ship for $299 in February.

Well it’s almost official. Steve Jobs is unveiling the iPhone in his Macworld keynote speech right this moment. A few details have emerged from the people live-blogging the keynote. AppleMatters and Engadget write that it is a wide screen iPod with touch control, a mobile phone, and an internet communication device. There is no need to have a plastic keyboard, buttons can be placed on the screen in software. The phone also runs OS X, and has no need for a stylus as everything is operated with a finger. They have even developed new technology called Multi-Touch that ignores accidental screen presses. iTunes is used to sync all your media to the iPhone, including contacts, calendars, notes, bookmarks, email and music.

The iPhone has a 3.5-inch 160ppi screen, and only one button. At 11.6mm it’s extremely thin. There is even a 2 megapixel camera built in, a 3.5mm headset jack, SIM tray, and sleep-wake switch. There is a proximity sensor to turn off the display when the phone is near your ear. A light sensor adjusts brightness. And an accelerometer can tell which way you are holding the phone, in landscape or portrait mode. The phone unlocks by sliding your finger across the screen.

The phone features visual voicemail that lets you choose which voicemails to listen to just like email. No longer will you need to listen to each voicemail in succession. The phone integrates GSM and WiFi. The phone is coming in June. They announced it today because it takes two months to get FCC approval. The 4GB version will cost $499 and the 8GB version will cost $599. Cingular will be the exclusive partner in the US.

Sources: AppleMatters, Engadget