Apple has just released an update for Digital Camera Raw Compatability version 2.3 for download.  You can get this via software update or the Apple download page.  The update shows the following:

This update extends RAW file compatibility for Aperture 2 and iPhoto ’08 for the following cameras:

Canon EOS 50D
Nikon D90
Sony DSLR-A900
Nikon Coolpix P6000
It also addresses issues related to specific cameras and overall stability.

[Download]

 Aperature has a new update giving it 2.1.2 as a version.  The update is available via update or via the download page.

via Apple:

The Aperture 2.1.2 update improves the printing quality of books, cards and calendars ordered through the Aperture printing service. The update is recommended for all customers using Aperture 2.

[Download]

  Mozilla today announced that a new Alpha build of Firefox had been made available.  Firefox 3.1 Alpha 2 includes support for the HTML 5 video component and a handful of new features.  The video has been show playing with a translucent appearance and integrates perfectly into the browser with minimal effort. 

Another feature is the inclusion of web worker threads; a scripting capability allowing JavaScript to be run in the background  as to prevent the user from experiencing hang times while using it.   The browser also features the ability to drag tabs around without reloading the page.

Firefox has had its planned browser releases scheduled for some time, but this release seems to have been released in response to Chrome, or maybe this is just coincidence.

It seems firefox is playing catchup to a browser it never knew existed.

[via Arstechnica]

  Google Gears 0.4 was just released.  This is an update to the current project from Google which allows you to use applications normally accessible from the "cloud", directly on your desktop without a connection.  The application makes Google’s online service such as Google Documents function without having to connect to the internet.  

Google Documents is a Document editor like word, but not quite as robust.  It was designed to allow you to create documents from your browser.  The addition of google gears allowing you to create and edit the documents offline has great appeal and saves from the cost of expensive word processing clients.

From Google: 

The latest version of Gears adds:

• The Geolocation API, which provides access to the user’s geographical position
• The Blob API for handling blocks of binary data
• Access to files on the client machine through the Desktop API
• Support for sending and receiving Blobs with the HttpRequest API
• Localization of Gears dialogs to 40 languages

More details about the improvements in 0.4 can be found on our API history page.

Get it [Here]

From Google Gear’s Site:

Google Gears is an open source browser extension that lets developers create web applications that can run offline. Gears provides three key features:

• A local server, to cache and serve application resources (HTML, JavaScript, images, etc.) without needing to contact a server
• A database, to store and access data from within the browser
• A worker thread pool, to make web applications more responsive by performing expensive operations in the background

Google Gears is currently an early-access developers’ release. It is not yet intended for use by real users in production applications at this time.