On Thursday, version 6.4.0.833 of the Skype VoIP application was released. The new version, a 40 megabyte download, offers the following fixes and changes:

New and Improved:
- Infinite chat scrolling

- Improved find within the chat

- Custom Chat Styles removal

- Improved send and receive contacts

- Improved file transfer

- Support for Simplified Chinese

Resolved:
- [Contact] Easier to add a new number to any existing contact.

- [Contact] Easier to add a contact number from the Contacts list.

- [Generic] Fixed random crash when waking from sleep.

- [Generic] Fixed crashes due to outdated 3rd party plugins

- [File Transfer] File transfer shows correct received size.

- [Preferences] You can switch speakers from Preferences during the incoming call.

- [Profile] You can add “Apply an effect” when editing display picture.

- [Screen sharing] Picture-in-Picture for screen sharing will appear in case switching to the Contacts list.

- [Skype Home] Disabling animated emoticons from Preferences will also take effect in the Skype Home view.

- [Calling] Improved dial pad animation in the calling toolbar.

- [Calling] You can use firewire device for Skype video call.

Known Issues:
- [Conversation] Chat input field does not switch to SMS mode when adding PSTN numbers to new conversation. Fix is in progress for next release.

- [SMS] SMS sending status stays to ‘sending’. Fix is in progress.

Skype 6.4.0.833 is available for free and requires an Intel-based Mac running Mac OS X 10.5.8 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.

You can’t knock improved language support.

CrossOver, the popular virtualization program from CodeWeavers, has been updated to version 12.2.1. The new version, a 78.9 megabyte download, is available as a demo, offers the following fixes and changes:

- Updated Chinese support,

CrossOver 12.2.1 retails for US$59.95 and requires Mac OS X 10.6 and or later and an Intel-based Mac to install and run.

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

Keep it short and sweet, folks.

Per The Unofficial Apple Weblog, Apple’s voice interaction system Siri has been updated, this time specifically to ask users to keep it short. Siri’s system doesn’t deal well with longer user queries, so if you happen to ask something that’s just too long for Siri to deal with, she’ll interrupt you, giving you a quote from a famous person, and then asking you to rephrase the question, shorter or in fewer words. Siri herself doesn’t have the authority to change your speech patterns, apparently, so she’s recruited figures such as William Strunk and Thomas Jefferson to make her point more clearly.

So, um, try speaking long sentences to Siri and see if it begins correcting you with quotes of some of the greatest wordsmiths of the past.

You can’t say ABC’s not investing in the iOS side of things…

Per AppleInsider, Tuesday saw the launch of of version 3.0.0 broadcaster ABC’s iOS app, one that for the first time will allow users in select markets to watch live television from a U.S. broadcaster.

The new version saw ABC’s app’s name change from ABC Player to Watch ABC. App users in New York City and Philadelphia will now have the ability to see a live stream of ABC’s programming, and plans are underway to roll out the live service to at least six more markets where ABC owns local stations.

The live stream feature will arrive in an additional 13 Hearst-owned stations over the rest of the year. ABC is working to bring the feature to users in other markets, but that will depend on the willingness of more than 200 local broadcasters to join in on the live streaming.

The service is currently unrestricted, but ABC’s release notes for the app state that the app will begin verifying whether users are customers of an eligible local cable system beginning July 1.

The live streaming move is a first among the major U.S. broadcast networks, and it signals a shift in their thinking. While cable giant ESPN — which, like ABC, is also owned by Disney — has gradually grown, the capabilities of its apps to the point where it now includes the ability to watch live content, the broadcasters have been reluctant to move beyond delayed release of content to their apps.

The live streaming also functions as a salvo against services like Hulu. The near future will see ABC holding back its most recent TV episodes from the free versions of Hulu and ABC.com.

Among the more troubling developments has been the rise of Aereo, a service that uses antennas to capture broadcast content and stream it to subscribers, who watch it on their iPads and other mobile devices. The major broadcast networks say Aereo’s service amounts to illegal rebroadcasting, a violation of their content rights. So far, though, the courts have disagreed.

By putting its own live content out in an app that it controls, ABC is taking a risk, but also partly wresting control from Aereo and similar services. Announcing the move, Disney-ABC Television Group president said it was the result of a realization that ABC wasn’t moving fast enough to give consumers what they want.

“We keep a very close eye on consumer demand,” said Anne Sweeney, the Television Group president. “We watch how people are behaving with their devices, and we really felt that we needed to move faster.”

The Watch ABC app is available as a free download in the iTunes App Store. The 38.8MB download requires an iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad running iOS 5.0 or later.

Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

It’s a huge update file, but it might be helpful.

Late Tuesday, Apple released iMovie 9.0.9, the latest version of its consumer-level video editing application. The new version, a 1.08 gigabyte download, adds the following fixes and changes:
- Addresses issues where iMovie does not recognize video cameras connected to your Mac.

- Improves compatibility with projects imported from iMovie for iOS.

- Includes stability improvements.

iMovie 9.0.8 requires Mac OS X 10.7.4 or later to install and run and can be snagged manually or via Mac OS X’s built-in Software Update feature.

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

Handy updates are handy updates.

Late Tuesday, Adobe released version 11.0.03 of its Adobe Reader and Adobe Acrobat Pro applications. The updates, which can also be snagged through the Adobe Update Utility, add the following fixes and changes:

Japanese support:
- Automatic signature detection is supported.

- Added support for the Japanese Postal Code barcode.

EchoSign integration:
- Acrobat and Reader now intelligently detect if a document may need to be signed. On successful detection, a document message bar appears with a button “Open Sign Pane” which on clicking opens the right-hand Sign Pane.

- Signature appearances can now be imported through the user’s webcam. Reader saves the signature for future use in signing workflows.

- Save a Copy: Allows the user to save the file locally or in cloud. The file will be renamed based on whether user signs the document or not.

- Send via Email: Allows users to upload the document to the EchoSign server where they can fill-in details and send the signed document.

- Send via Fax: Same as the Send via Email option.

- Get Others to Sign: Enables users to send documents that need signing to others through the EchoSign service.

- The dialog which asks the user if they want to save the signed document is removed, thereby streamlining the signing process.

Digital signatures:
- The product now supports allowing administrators to control trust for JavaScript execution for specific certificates through the use of cTrustCertifiedDocumentsByOIDs in HKCU and/or HKLM. If the values in this registry preference match an OID in a certificate’s Extended Key Usage field, then that certificate is trusted.

Tools Pane:
- Tools pane performance is improved.

- The Tools Pane is open by default and the user’s selected state is saved across sessions.

Services integration:
- When using Export PDF, Create PDF and Send Now services, the user can now choose Open from online account > Acrobat.com.

- In the Create PDF panel, the “Convert” button is now a “Select Files” button. After a file is selected the button changes to “Convert”.

- When you open a document from Acrobat.com that you were reading earlier on another device, the document opens to the page where you left off.

- The ExportPDF panel is now available in the Japanese version of Reader.

Fixes:
- Acrobat crashes on Export Image to Online Account (SharePoint).

- On OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion, PDF file preview color is incorrect in A10 and A11 when monitor display profile is other than sRGB.

Miscellaneous:
- PDFMaker plug-in not opening PPT file after conversion from FileSite server.

- Unable to use tabs to put focus on HTML field following embedded PDF.

- Acrobat browser plug-in does not calculate decimal numbers in an AcroForm correctly when system locale is set to French.

- Page being incorrectly identified as scanned in the PDF invokes OCR unnecessarily.

- Print button off screen on low resolution devices in Reader/Acrobat XI.

- The IE AcroIEHelper browser helper object is removed. Needed functionality is moved to a plugin.

- Cannot save PDF from Firefox when multiple windows are used.

- In Reader, doing an overwrite with content type enabled results in a “bad parameters” error.

- Error while entering the value for Managed Metadata field.

- Added support for the Turkish Currency symbol.

Acrobat Reader 11.0.03 and Acrobat Pro 11.0.03 require an Intel-based processor and Mac OS X 10.6.8 or later to install and run.

If you’ve tried the new versions and noticed any differences, please let us know what you think.

According to version numbers, Firefox can now legally purchase an alcoholic beverage…

On Friday, Mozilla.org released version 21.0.1 of its Firefox web browser. The new version, a 40.2 megabyte download via MacUpdate, adds the following fixes and changes:
- The Social API now supports multiple providers.

- Enhanced three-state UI for Do Not Track (DNT).

- Firefox will suggest how to improve your application startup time if needed.

- Preliminary implementation of Firefox Health Report.

- Ability to restore removed thumbnails on New Tab Page.

- CSS -moz-user-select:none selection changed to improve compatibility with -webkit-user-select:none (bug 816298).

- Graphics related performance improvements (bug 809821).

- Removed E4X support from Spidermonkey.

- Implemented Remote Profiling.

- Integrated add-on SDK loader and API libraries into Firefox.

- Added support for element.

- Implemented scoped stylesheets.

- Some function keys may not work when pressed (833719).

- Browsing and Download history clearing needs unification to avoid confusion on clearing download history (847627).

Firefox 21.0 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, please let us know in the comments.

You can’t knock healthy competition.

Per The Unofficial Apple Weblog, Google announced that it will be upgrading its complimentary Google Drive storage space from 5 GB to 15 GB.

Google says the changes will be rolling out over the next several weeks to all customers. All that space is shared, so if you are just using Google Drive Photo (for example), that 15 GB is shared with any other Google services that require storage.

With this move, Google has unified its storage system, a similar concept to the Apple pool of iCloud storage, although at this point Apple does not count image storage in Photo Stream against your 5 GB allotment. Google has a free iOS app so you can access this storage space, and it can also be managed through a web browser on any computer.

Take a gander at Google Drive as the upgrade occurs and if you love it or hate it, please let us know in the comments, as always.

It’s a rumor, so it kinda sorta has to be true…

Per Cult of Mac, the next-gen iPhone 5S handset could come with a sapphire crystal capacitive touch home button that incorporates a new fingerprint sensor, according to supply chain sources in Taiwan and TechNews.tw.

Apple is expected to do away with the traditional physical home button, which has long been one of the most unreliable components on iOS devices. It’s thought that using sapphire crystal, which has a hardness second only to diamond, will prevent the button from getting scratched and ruining the fingerprint sensor.

This wouldn’t be the first time Apple has used sapphire crystal in an iPhone. The iPhone 5 has a sapphire crystal camera lens on its back, which Apple chose to try to prevent scratches from ruining your photos.

According to sources close to the story, the Cupertino company will choose the same material for the iPhone 5S’s home button.

But it won’t be a physical button like existing iOS devices. They insist Apple will employ a capacitive touch home button for the first time with the iPhone 5S, eliminating one of the most unreliable components in an iOS device (the physical home button has a tendency to fail after long periods of use).

Not only will it be a capacitive touch button, but it’ll also incorporate a fingerprint sensor, the sources claim. We’ve been hearing for many months that Apple will add fingerprint sensing technology to the iPhone 5S, following its acquisition of AuthenTec last year.

As for the handset’s release date, the current rumors have its arrival pinned around August or September, alongside a plastic low-cost iPhone.

Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

There may be new life for iWork on the horizon.

Per AppleBitch, a handful of recently discovered job listings suggest a possible next-generation iWork software suite may soon see release, with the latest postings asking for specialists in quality assurance, one of the final steps in software building.

While some of the listings date back to the end of March, the most recent ad for “SW QA iWork” hit Apple’s job portal only two days ago.

At present, there are eight iWork-related positions on the “Jobs at Apple” webpage, three of which deal with quality assurance or software verification. One listing, posted on May 11, is looking for a software quality assurance specialist, a sign that Apple could be readying deployment some time soon.

From the job listing:
“The iWork team is looking for a software QA engineer to work on the next generation of Desktop, Mobile and Web application/services. This position requires a self-motivated individual with strong problem solving skills who can contribute in a dynamic team environment.

Bug reporting and isolation:
Planning, designing, and executing test cases
Ensure the successful delivery of a quality product by performing ad hoc and structured tests on a daily basis”

In another interesting post from May 7, a “HiDPI Image Specialist” is sought, with the ideal candidate to be tasked with aiding the iWork visual design team in translating graphics to Retina-toting devices. At the very least, the job ad reveals Apple is looking add high-resolution screen support to its productivity suite.

While there has yet to be any official word on a next-gen iWork product, the number of job listings and information therein strongly suggest such a product is in the offing, and could be released in the near future. The current iWork ’09, which includes Pages, Numbers and Keynote, was released in 2009, and is seen by some to be long overdue for an upgrade.

Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.