Week in Apple: pre-iPhone-event edition

Week in Apple: pre-iPhone-event edition

Apple's fall media event is now official, while the fate of the iPod classic (and iPod shuffle) has been thrown into question. Those were just a couple of the headlines in our top Apple news for the week, which also included a hands-on with VMware Fusion 4, a couple new trojans targeting the Mac, and a mysterious new development within Xcode. Read on for the roundup:
Why Apple is ready to kill off the iPod classic: The classic iPod design and functionality has been around for nearly 10 years now, and new rumors claim that Apple is planning to kill off two of its four music player offerings. Ars explains why the decision makes sense, with a bonus reader poll.
Apple sends invites for October 2011 event: "Let's talk iPhone": The rumor mill can rest for now, as Apple has now confirmed its October media event by sending invitations to the press. On October 4, Apple's new CEO Tim Cook plans to "talk about iPhone."
Samsung lawsuits against Apple over 3G patents could backfire: Samsung is making no bones about its intention intensify its legal fight with Apple, accusing the company of "free riding" on its patented wireless technologies. However, its strategy of using FRAND-encumbered, "standards essential" patents may not be on the firmest legal ground.
Thunderbolt Display packs almost enough hardware to be an iMac: Apple's Thunderbolt Display has so much hardware to support its array of ports that it's very nearly an iMac.
VMware Fusion 4 hands-on: Lion, Windows 7, Windows 8, and more: VMware Fusion 4 is optimized for Mac OS X Lion, integrating with Launchpad and Mission Control, and allowing users to run extra copies of Lion in virtual machines. In this hands-on piece, we examine Fusion's ability to run Windows 7, Windows 8, Ubuntu, and Lion itself.
Mac trojan poses as PDF to open botnet backdoor: A new trojan targets Mac users by masking itself with a PDF while it opens a backdoor into the user's computer. This trojan isn't taking over the world quite yet, though.
Support for quad-core ARM CPU shows up in Apple's Xcode, but why?: Developers can now target quad-core ARM processors with Apple's Xcode tool chain, even though the processor doesn't currently ship in any Apple products. What could it mean?
Tutorial: OS X automation with MacRuby and the Scripting Bridge: Although AppleScript can be a powerful automation tool, limitations detract from its usefulness as a general-purpose scripting tool. Fortunately, you can get the best of both worlds by tapping into the Cocoa Scripting Bridge with MacRuby. In this tutorial, we show you how.
Mac trojan pretends to be Flash Player Installer to get in the door: Yet another new Mac trojan has made its way into the wild, though it may end up tricking more Mac users than the last one. Masquerading as as Flash installer, this trojan reports your Mac's details back to a remote server.
Judge shreds, dismisses iPhone privacy class-action: A federal judge has dismissed a class-action lawsuit filed against Apple and some advertising networks over data collection that allegedly took place without the users' "consent or knowledge."
Have a great weekend everyone!

Posted in: Gadget,Portable Audio