Safari Version 4 Beta

Apple on Tuesday announced a public beta of Safari 4, a new version of its share-gaining web browser that packs a powerful new JavaScript engine and support for the latest web standards.

Dubbed “Nitro,” the engine in Safari 4 is said to run JavaScript 4.2 times faster than Safari 3. Other new features include Top Sites, for a visual preview of frequently visited pages; Full History Search, to search through titles, web addresses and the complete text of recently viewed pages; Cover Flow, to easily flip through web history or bookmarks; and Tabs on Top, to make tabbed browsing easier and more intuitive.

“Apple created Safari to bring innovation, speed and open standards back into web browsers, and today it takes another big step forward,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “Safari 4 is the fastest and most efficient browser for Mac and Windows, with great integration of HTML 5 and CSS 3 web standards that enables the next generation of interactive web applications.”

Check out the full details, and download the beta, on the Apple Safari site.

Tags: apple, Safari

Developing with MacRuby

Apple has posted an interesting new tutorial on developing OS X applications with MacRuby. MacRuby is an implementation of the Ruby programming language “ported to run directly on top of Mac OS X core technologies such as the Objective-C common runtime and garbage collector, and the CoreFoundation framework.ported to run directly on top of Mac OS X core technologies such as the Objective-C common runtime and garbage collector, and the CoreFoundation framework.”

What this means is that applications written with MacRuby can be a full-fledged Cocoa application with all the advantages that entails. The tutorial will take you through the process of installing MacRuby as well as building a sample application with Xcode. So if you’ve ever wanted to get started thinking about developing for the Mac, but have always been intimidated by Objective-C (which pretty much describes me), playing around with MacRuby might be just the ticket to get you started.

Tags: apple, Ruby, Tutuorial

Apple Announces iPhone Tech Talk World Tour

Apple technology evangelists will soon be traveling the globe to bring iPhone application development expertise to a city near you. (As long as you don’t live in the Southeastern US.) Learn about the tools and technologies you’ll use to create great iPhone applications, then work with the experts to optimize your code, refine your user interface, and apply the knowledge you gain from the sessions.

Whether you’re new to iPhone development, a seasoned professional, or an IT pro, you’ll find a session designed just for you. Plus, learn how to get your application in front of millions of users on the App Store.
Don’t miss this unique opportunity. The event is free, but space is limited. Register for an iPhone Tech Talk today.

Tags: apple, development, Tech Talk

Apple Drops iPhone NDA

Posted this morning to the Apple Developer’s site…

We have decided to drop the non-disclosure agreement (NDA) for released iPhone software.

We put the NDA in place because the iPhone OS includes many Apple inventions and innovations that we would like to protect, so that others don’t steal our work. It has happened before. While we have filed for hundreds of patents on iPhone technology, the NDA added yet another level of protection. We put it in place as one more way to help protect the iPhone from being ripped off by others.

However, the NDA has created too much of a burden on developers, authors and others interested in helping further the iPhone’s success, so we are dropping it for released software. Developers will receive a new agreement without an NDA covering released software within a week or so. Please note that unreleased software and features will remain under NDA until they are released.

Thanks to everyone who provided us constructive feedback on this matter.

Hurray! It is about time, and a great thing!

Tags: apple, development, iphone, nda