Apple wins eight iF design awards at CeBIT...

Apple recently won eight iF Product Design Awards at the CeBIT 2008 show in Hanover, Germany, out of nine products that were submitted for consideration. Out of 2771 products shown at the conference, 821 of them were considered for the awards, according to SetteB.IT. Apple's iPod nano, Classic, and Touch were among the winners, as well as the iPhone and Bluetooth headset. The standard USB and Bluetooth keyboards, and Apple's aluminum iMac also won accolades.

Solo unveils laptop bag with retractable strap...

Solo recently unveiled the Smart Strap Laptop Portfolio for 15-inch laptops, featuring a retractable shoulder strap and several other features. The leather bag contains a built-in accordion file, and a zip-down organizer for pen loops, business card holders, key fob, and accessories. Solo's Ride Along Pocket allows users to safely keep tickets nearby and accessible. The Smart Strap Laptop Portfolio is available from several retailers for $100.

Lockdown 1.0 encrypts data with OpenSSL...

Northern Softworks recently unveiled LockDown 1.0, its new software that allows users to encrypt their files and data. LockDown makes use of OpenSSL to provide six encryption ciphers, which the developer claims are "industrial strength". Users simply drag-and-drop their data onto the application, and LockDown can even function with the clipboard. Northern Softworks is currently selling Lockdown 1.0 for $10 from its website.

[u] QuickTime update breaks Flash websites (for some)...

Users on Apple's Discussion boards are experiencing a hanging problem with several websites after the recent Quicktime 7.4.1 update. The problem seems to manifest when visiting particular Flash-enabled websites such as YouTube and ESPN.com, causing the browser to "beach ball" until it has been forced to quit. Users isolated the problems by disabling plug-ins, which allowed the sites to function properly.

Sun vows Java on iPhone...

Sun intends to use the newly established iPhone SDK to provide a Java virtual machine for the device, the company's Java marketing VP Eric Klein said late Friday. The company hopes to implement a native version of Java Micro Edition that would provide a direct framework for most any application that can run with the mobile-optimized virtual environment. Implementing the engine should allow the Java games that often land on most phones as well as business-grade tools such as customer relations management and enterprise resource management software, Klein adds.