New and Noteworthy: Apple improves iPhone battery life; Vista, Mac OS X gain users, Firefox loses market share; more

Apple improves iPhone battery life Apple says it has boosted the iPhone?s battery life significantly beyond the figures specified when the device was announced. The iPhone will now deliver up to 8 hours of talk-time (instead of 5 has originally announced) and 250 hours of standby time, though it is not yet clear whether this improvement is due to increased battery capacity or reduced power usage.

Vista, Mac OS X gain users; Firefox loses market share Computerworld reports that Windows Vista and Mac OS X both continued to grow their share of the operating system market, while Firefox suffered its biggest-ever drop in usage, a Web metrics company reported. "By the end of May, Vista accounted for 3.74% of all operating systems on machines connecting to Net Applications Inc.'s clients' Web sites. The total share for Mac OS X -- which included older editions running on PowerPC processors as well as version 10.4, or 'Tiger,; on Intel-powered Macs -- was 6.46%. Vista was up about three-quarters of a percentage point from April, while Mac OS X was up a quarter of a point. Their gains came largely at the expense of earlier versions of Windows, such as Windows XP and Windows 2000, although Net Applications' 'Other' category, which is essentially Linux, also faded slightly." More.

Mac software sales help drive Adobe's Q2 numbers Computer Business Review reports that Adobe's second quarter sales got a boost from Intel-ready versions of the CS3 applications. "Demand for CS3 also seems to driven on the growth of online advertising and Internet video. The software is also getting a boost from Apple Macintosh users as it is first of its kind designed for Macs running on Intel chips. And with Apple's new OS X Leopard operating system due out in October, Mac professional customers of Adobe's CS2 might be tempted to upgrade both their hardware and software to take full advantage." More.

Previously on MacFixIt:

• Safari 3.0 beta (#5): Will not install/launch: Remove Safari Enhancer, update Speed Download; more
• AirPort Extreme Base Station 802.11n Firmware 7.1.1 (#4): Simple fix for some
• MacBook Pro LED: Displays flickering when not at full brightness

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