Well, this is a bit awkward.

Per PC Magazine, searches on Bing returned five times more links to malicious websites than Google searches, according to an 18-month study from German independent testing lab AV-Test. Though search engines have worked to suppress malicious results, the study concluded that malware-infested websites still appear in their top results.

The study looked at nearly 40 million websites provided by seven different search engines. About 10 million results came from Bing and another 10 million from Google. 13 million sites were provided by the Russian service Yandex, with the rest coming from Blekko, Faroo, Teoma and Baidu respectively. Of these 40 million sites, AV-Test found 5,000 pieces of malware—and admittedly small percentage of websites.

The study concluded that while all the search engines the lab evaluated delivered malware, Google delivered the least. It was followed by Bing, which returned a disconcerting five times as much malware as Google. Yandex, the Russian website, delivered 10 times as many malicious sites.

Thankfully, the 5,000 pieces of malware the study found are concentrated in Yandex results—which had 3,330 malicious links out of the 13 million the AV-Test looked at. Bing had a little under half that, with 1,285 malicious results out of 10 million pages. Google returned a mere 272 malicious results in 10 million while Bleko had even fewer: 203 out of around three million.

The good news is that if you’re a Google user or even a Bing user, the chances that you would encounter a malicious website in your search are low. Doing some quick arithmetic, it looks like the chance of a Googler hitting malware is about one in 40,118.

Of course, those odds are repeated billions of times a day. “[It] is important to remember that Google alone deals with a phenomenal total of 2 to 3 billion search requests worldwide every day,” reads the study. “If this total is factored into the calculations, the total number of websites containing malware found by the search engine is enough to make your head spin!”

In 2009, Google reported it handled around 320 million searches a day for America alone and around 2 billion worldwide. That’s potentially about 50,000 malicious sites a day.

In an era where malware is becoming more and more prevalent on the Mac, it never hurts to start with the right search engine.

Your next Mac display could be bendy/squishy/flexible.

Or not.

Per AppleInsider, Apple on Wednesday took down a job listing it posted in early April looking for a hardware engineer with experience in flexible displays, suggesting that the company is actively researching the advanced technology only now emerging in the consumer marketplace.

The listing, originally posted on April 1 at the company’s Jobs at Apple webpage, sought a “Senior Optical Engineer” who has experience with emerging technologies, including flexible displays. Apple’s post corresponds to recent rumors that a so-called “iWatch” would soon be brought to market, with the wristwatch-like device thought to sport a “curved display.”

According to the now pulled post, Apple is actively recruiting for “a Display Specialist to lead the investigation on emerging display technologies such as high optical efficiency LCD, AMOLED and flexible displays.”

Judging by the job summary and required duties, Apple appears to be researching how to best build a device with a high-quality flexible display. On the other hand, the company could merely be looking to study its options in how to best deploy such a product should the need arise.

Rumors regarding the iWatch have been making the rounds over the past few months, with rumblings pointing to an ergonomic wearable device featuring a curved screen. In February, users discovered a patent detailing a wrist-worn unit with a flexible display, providing concrete evidence that Apple is at least investigating such a device.

It is not clear why Apple pulled the job listing, though it could be that the company has found a suitable candidate for the position.

Video Lan Client, the nigh-indispensable open source media player for multiple audio and video formats (MPEG, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, Divx, ogg, etc.), was updated to version 2.0.6. The new version, a 41.9 megabyte download, adds the following fixes and changes:
- Support for Matroska v4 files.

- Fix WMV, Ogg, AVI, MP4 and subtitles crashes and issues.

- Numerous translations updates and new Welsh translation.

- Small fixes and improvements on the Mac OS X interface.

- Fix some HTTPS certificate rejection.

- Fix ALAC decoding.

- Fix FLAC 6.1 and 7.1 channel order.

- Fix the vimeo parser.

- Numerous D-Bus and MPRIS2 improvements.

VLC 2.0.6 requires an Intel-based Mac running Mac OS X 10.6 or later to install and run.

If you’ve tried the new version and have any feedback to offer, let us know in the comments.

A hefty update is never unappreciated.

On Wednesday, Adobe released Flash Player 11.7.700.169 for Mac OS X, a 16.9 megabyte download via MacUpdate. The new version adds the following fixes and changes:

Fixed Issues:
- On Retina-enabled OS X devices, Flash applications are scaled incorrectly upon opening (3496539).

-In AIR on iOS, loading a SWF with and embedded video can cause a crash in some circumstances (3514499).

- In AIR on iOS, loading an image from a remote server can cause a crash (3476445).

- On OS X, setting stage.fullScreenSourceRect when renderMode is set to “GPU”, leads to inaccurate mouse position reporting (3512232).

- In the Chrome browser, the copy shortcut (Ctrl/Cmd+C) fails (3496300).

- Attempting to embed a Flash project into Microsoft word can result in a crash (3498002).

- In AIR for iOS, some apps get rejected for missing push notification entitlement (3501744).

- In AIR for iOS, Flex applications running on iPad2 over 3G connections can experience a crash (3435401).

- In AIR for iOS, reloading of pure asset SWFs isn’t allowed (3516971).

- On OS X, some fonts do not rending properly when viewing Flash content in the Google Chrome browser (3506958).

New Features:
- Sandboxing enhancements.

- Prevent Cloud backup for Shared Objects (iOS).

- Use CPU render mode for selected devices (iOS).

- Externally host secondary SWF files (iOS).

Adobe Flash Player 11.7.700.169 requires an Intel-based Mac running Mac OS X 10.6 or later to install and run.

If you’ve tried the new Flash Player and have any feedback to offer, please let us know in the comments.

When in doubt, offer all the incentives you can.

Per 9to5Mac, T-Mobile USA announced the latest move in their continuing initiative to lure iPhone users to their network, which currently boasts the smallest subscriber base in the country. The new iPhone trade-in program allows subscribers switching to T-Mo from other carriers to recieve deep discounts on the iPhone 5 by swapping out their older model.

According to a press release from the magenta-branded company, the down payment on the iPhone 5 will completely vanish when customers trade in an iPhone 4 or 4S, and a US$120 credit will be applied to the monthly payment for the phone, essentially cutting the price down to only US$15 a month for the remainder of the two-year don’t-call-it-a-contract “agreement.”

The iPhone 5 doesn’t officially hit T-Mobile until April 12th, but pre-orders have been open since last Friday. Some early buyers may be disappointed to learn that they could have saved quite a bit of money if only they had waited an extra seven days.

The press release specifically lists the 4 and 4S models as being tradeable, which may mean iPhone 5 owners on AT&T won’t be able to get in on the savings by trading in their current-generation devices for the updated versions that work on T-Mobile’s AWS bands. That means those customers will have to stick to their existing handsets with the latest carrier software, which will enable LTE speeds, but will not allow use of T-Mobile’s “4G” network. Instead these models will be forced to use slower speeds due to hardware differences.

If you’ve pre-ordered an iPhone from T-Mobile or want to hurl your two cents in, let us know what you make of this in the comments.

Never doubt the power of an operating system upgrade.

Per AppleInsider, code found in the just released Mountain Lion 10.8.4 beta build references the next-generation 802.11ac wireless protocol, hinting that Apple may soon introduce the technology in its Mac lineup.

The string was discovered in the OS X 10.8.4 beta build 12E30, which was seeded to developers earlier on Tuesday, and suggests Apple is planning on releasing a lineup of Macs compatible with the 802.11ac wireless draft.

While 802.11ac has yet to be ratified as a wireless standard by the IEEE, a number of OEMs have already started rolling out routers based on the draft. Although Apple has yet to adopt the protocol, other manufacturers began shipping products last year, meaning the Cupertino company shouldn’t be far behind.

As the fifth-generation wireless standard, 802.11ac promises to deliver data speeds of 1 gigabits per second over two channels, each carrying single link speeds of 500 megabits per second. In theory, the draft can reach speed of up to 1.3Gbps, which improves upon the existing 802.11n spec that tops out at a theoretical maximum of 900Mbps (450Mbps per channel). In addition, 802.11ac can accommodate up to 8 MIMO streams and extends effective range over previous technologies.

In January, Apple posted job listings for Gigabit Wi-Fi engineers, and the company was rumored to have struck a deal with Broadcom to use the chipmaker’s “5G Wi-Fi” silicon in as-yet-unannounced products.

Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

An update’s an update.

On Wednesday, Google released version 26.0.1410.63 of its Chrome web browser. The update, a 49.8 megabyte download, adds the following fixes and changes:
- Stability improvements.

- A new version of Adobe Flash.

Google Chrome 26.0.1410.63 requires an Intel-based Mac with Mac OS X 10.6 or later to install and run. If you’ve tried the new version and have any feedback to offer, please let us know in the comments.

Ok, this is interesting.

Per the United States Patent and Trademark Office and AppleInsider, Apple on Tuesday was awarded a patent for an offline purchasing system that would allow iTunes users to buy music, movies and other media when not connected to the internet.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office granted Apple U.S. Patent No. 8,417,575 for “On-device offline purchases using credits,” which describes a system involving the purchase of offline credits stored on a given device that can be put toward media in the iTunes store even when not connected to the online marketplace.

Currently, iTunes users must be logged in or have an internet connection to successfully purchase and download content from the online storefront, but Tuesday’s patent lays the groundwork for a type of “pre-loaded” payment system. Beyond the obvious applications for on-the-go iPod touch users and perhaps frequent travelers, the patent could be a harbinger of new never before seen iTunes functionality.

According to Apple, the proposed service involves media stored on an electronic device, like an iPhone or iPod touch, that is not part of the user’s owned library. If a user wants to buy a track, but cannot connect to the Internet to provide a means of payment, they can use pre-paid credits previously purchased through the store and subsequently loaded onto the device. Once a data network is accessed, the appropriate deductions are made to a user’s on-board credit allotment.

Users can add credits to their device accounts either through the device itself or what appears to be a specialized portal on the desktop version of iTunes, along with other options. Multiple forms of payment are accepted, including credit cards, bank accounts and other digitally connected assets a user links to their online profile.

As noted by the patent, in order to play back a purchased song or movie, a device must first have a copy of said media item, as well as authorization to play back the content. The device can retrieve copies of “unauthorized” media in any number of ways, including recommendations downloaded from the media store. Carrying on with the recommendation example, the device can restrict access to the content in any number of ways until authorization, or a purchase, has been detected. In some instances, the media might be played back at a lower quality, or there could be a limit to how many times a track is played.

The locally-stored media can be displayed in a variety of arrangements, including a layout similar to the existing iTunes iOS app, making browsing and buying new content easy. Once a user makes a selection, they can purchase the locally stored media with the credits they bought in advance, which will remove the restrictions previously imposed on the content. In other words, the authorization and playback transaction would be fully completed offline.

The property could be a boon for iTunes users who don’t have ready access to the Internet and, if made real, would likely drive sales for the digital music giant. Specific implementations were not thoroughly discussed, though Apple already has iTunes Match, which allows users iCloud access to their entire music collection, even tracks imported from CDs, for a yearly fee. While mere speculation, further cloud computing integration could bring even more tie-ins with the offline purchasing service, such as music sharing or gifting.

It remains unknown if and when Apple plans to roll out the offline crediting functionality, but the device-specific solution could theoretically be implemented with a firmware update as no hardware limitations were described in the patent.

Apple’s offline purchasing patent was first filed for in 2010 and credits Taido Nakajima, Tyler Mincey, Gloria Lin and Joey Darragh as its inventors.

Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

This could lead to some nifty stuff.

On Monday, Intel announced a new version of its Thunderbolt technology that will ship with devices in 2014. The new Thunderbolt technology supports up to 20Gbps throughput, which is up from the 10 Gbps supported by the current version of Thunderbolt.

Per 9to5Mac, the new technology supports 4K resolutions, which could open the door for even higher-resolution Mac displays. Perhaps, this is the technology that Apple needs to work with in order to begin a Retina display rollout for its all-in-one desktop computer, the iMac, or even Mac Pro compatible Thunderbolt displays.

Intel says the technology, which currently goes under the codename Falcon Ridge, will ship next year alongside Intel’s next-generation core processors.

One of the technical reasons for Apple to not release an iMac with a Retina display yet is that the current Thunderbolt processors available could not support the bandwidth needed to push so many pixels. Given Apple’s typical 2x Retina mode scaling, a Retina 27-inch iMac would need to power a resolution of 5120 x 2880 (2 times 2560 x 1440). The new Thunderbolt technology coming in 2014 would essentially double the current tech’s capabilities, making a Retina iMac more plausible.

Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

Never doubt a nifty firmware update.

Per TmoNews, a software update released this past Friday will give iPhone 5 users on T-Mobile access to the carrier’s LTE network, in addition to adding a number of other features like Visual Voicemail

T-Mobile on Friday updated its support forums to detail the new features the carrier update will bring. All eligible iPhones using a T-Mobile SIM card will now have access to Visual Voicemail, the Commercial Mobile Alert System, and LTE connectivity on T-Mobile’s AWS spectrum for iPhone 5 users.

The update also brings HD Voice to T-Mobile iPhone 5 users, and it contains device/network optimizations that will improve battery life.

The update is restricted to iPhones running iOS 6.1.x or higher. Rumors of the update leaked earlier this month, and it has rolled out as predicted.

T-Mobile’s network currently hosts roughly two million iPhone customers using unlocked devices, adding about 100,000 more per month. The carrier will begin officially carrying Apple’s smartphone on April 12, with a 16GB iPhone 5 available for US$99. Pre-orders for the device began on Friday.

Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.