RUMOR: iOS 4.3.1 RELEASING IN A FEW WEEKS

According to BGR, Apple will be releasing iOS 4.3.1. This will be a minor update to the upgrade released a few weeks ago. The new update will include:

• Baseband updates for the 3GS and iPad (original)
• Fixed memory hang that results in memory corruption when reading large files from USIM filesystem
• Fixed problem with NTLM authentication in apps and on websites
• Fixed issue with the Springboard and 3rd party apps not recgonizing the gyroscope on the iPad 2
• Fixed iPad 2 jailbreak vulneratbility

MACBOOK AIR BUGS ADDRESSED IN OS X 10.6.5

Earlier this month, BGR reported Apple was working on fixes for a string of troublesome MacBook Air bugs. The issues were widespread, and they involved a variety of problems with display flickering, fading and discoloration when affected notebooks woke from sleep. Internal documents revealed by BGR suggested that the problems would be addressed by an upcoming software update and as expected, OS X 10.6.5 appears to have resolved the bugs described in those documents. Apple also issued a new support document on the matter. While Apple’s description of the issues does not appear to encompass all of the problems reported earlier this month, we have confirmed with several affected users that these bugs no longer occur on their devices. [BGR]

APPLE RELEASES MAC OS X 10.6.5

Apple released version 10.6.5 of its operating system OS X for the Mac. Fixes and improvements include:

• improve reliability with Microsoft Exchange servers
• address performance of some image-processing operations in iPhoto and Aperture
• address stability and performance of graphics applications and games
• resolve a delay between print jobs
• address a printing issue for some HP printers connected to an AirPort Extreme
• resolve an issue when dragging contacts from Address Book to iCal
• address an issue where dragging an item from a stack causes the Dock to not automatically hide
• resolve an issue with Wikipedia information not displaying correctly in Dictionary
• improve performance of MainStage on certain Mac systems
• resolve spacing issues with OpenType fonts
• improve reliability with some Bluetooth braille displays
• resolve a VoiceOver issue when browsing some web sites with Safari 5

This is the first in a three step process of software releases this week. iTunes and iOS 4.2 are anticipated to hit this week as well. [BGR]

GOOGLE TO PAY CASH REWARDS FOR BUGS

Google has decided to start offering more cash rewards for all the bug hunters out there.

Although a reward program has been in place for the Chromium open source project since January, Google has now decided to expand the scheme to include its other web properties. Those properties include:

*.google.com
*.youtube.com
*.blogger.com
*.orkut.com
If you’re wondering what bugs are worthy of a reward Google is keeping things very open by stating:

Any serious bug which directly affects the confidentiality or integrity of user data may be in scope.

You won’t earn cash for any of the following, though:

attacks against Google’s corporate infrastructure
social engineering and physical attacks
denial of service bugs
non-web application vulnerabilities, including vulnerabilities in client applications
SEO blackhat techniques
vulnerabilities in Google-branded websites hosted by third parties
bugs in technologies recently acquired by Google
As to how much you can earn, the rewards are substantial if you report regularly or hit a goldmine of bugs Google will payout multiple times for. The guidelines are as follows:

The base reward for qualifying bugs is $500. If the rewards panel finds a particular bug to be severe or unusually clever, rewards of up to $3,133.7 may be issued. The panel may also decide a single report actually constitutes multiple bugs requiring reward, or that multiple reports constitute only a single reward.

Anyone deciding to give their reward to charity will see the amount matched by Google. [Geek]