We got our hands on a prerelease version of Apple's latest big cat, Mac OS X Lion, and we're definitely excited about what we've seen so far. The new Mac OS isn't slated for release until this summer, but the early prerelease shows off many of the latest bells and whistles that Apple hopes will help you be more efficient on your Mac.

Several of the new features make navigating your system and software easier. The new Launchpad, accessed from an icon in the Dock, lays out your applications just as on an iOS device, making it easy to launch your favorite apps quickly. Another cool new feature is the addition of what Apple calls Mission Control, which lets you do a four-finger upward swipe to see all open applications, your desktop, and even applications open in Spaces.

Multi-Touch controls seem to be a big theme in Lion, especially if you're using a multitouch trackpad on newer-model MacBooks. You can swipe to switch apps, pinch to zoom in, and use several other multitouch shortcuts to get where you want to go quickly.

All of the main Apple apps like Safari, Mail, and the Calendar app have been fine-tuned as well, adding extras that Apple hopes will save you time and give you a better computing experience.

There's plenty more to Mac OS X Lion, and we'll be putting together a comprehensive video, slideshow, and written review of the new Mac OS closer to the launch date this summer. But for a quick overview of more of the latest features in Apple's newest OS, check out Brian Tong's First Look at Mac OS X Lion.

The iPad 2 came out today and though I've only laid eyes on it for a few seconds (Donald Bell has been running around the office taking pictures and adding to his ongoing review), I'm definitely impressed with what I've seen so far. Apparently if you're looking to get one too, you'll need to be ready for long lines at the Apple store and an even longer wait if you order online, according to Josh Lowensohn.

Several developers have already updated their applications to take advantage of the iPad 2's upgraded processing power, which can be seen in Infinity Blade, Dead Space, and a few other top-name apps. Real Racing 2 HD also landed today, and looks great on the original iPad, but I have yet to see it in all its glory on the iPad 2.

As you have probably already heard, Apple has released a few apps of its own optimized for the iPad 2, including iMovie and GarageBand. I'll be writing reviews and shooting First Look videos for these early next week, so definitely check back for more info.

This week's apps offer a unique way to measure any object and a 2D snowboard racing game that's challenging, but great fun.

Photo Measures ($2.99) could be an incredibly useful app at certain times in your life, showing you the measurements of items in a photograph. Especially useful if you're moving into a new apartment or house, Photo Measures will place measurement lines right on the image, making it easy to see if a specific couch will fit in your living room.

You start by taking a picture of the object or objects you want measurements for. This app does not automatically enter measurements, obviously, but you can choose the type of lines (with or without arrows), the color, and the unit of measurement, and enter the number after using a tape measure, for example. It will also show angles, if you want to match up a piece of artwork to a tight spot. When you're finished, you'll have a photograph complete with measurements that you can take to the furniture store or maybe an art show to see whether a masterpiece will fit on your living room wall.

Photo Measures is probably not an app that you'll use every day, but you should definitely keep it in mind for when you move or if you work in construction, say. With just the right tools for the job, you should definitely check out this app for those times in life when you'll certainly need it.

iStunt 2 (99 cents) is a 2D snowboarding sequel that adds enough extras and unique gameplay to make it a great time-waster. Just like in the original, you'll be challenged to snowboard on several complex courses that involve loops, jumps, tricks, and even snowboarding upside down. The control system uses the iPhone accelerometer to control your snowboarder, a couple of onscreen buttons for grab tricks, and screen swipes for jumping over gaps.

iStunt 2 is better in almost every way than the original, with better designed tracks, better graphics, and more control options, but it does have some issues. Many of the tracks are so complex and require such precise moves that you'll probably end up racing tracks over and over to master the route without crashing. There are a number of side challenges as well--finding and collecting all 10 stars in a level gets you the gold medal, and there are routes you can take that change your path to the finish line. In the main game mode there is no time limit, so being a bit more adventurous pays off in getting more stars and more points. If racing for time is your preference, you can play the time trial mode to see just how fast you can complete each track.

Overall, iStunt 2 is a big improvement with plenty of new content to challenge even the most experienced gamers. If you like 2D racing games, pulling off huge flip tricks over big gaps, and inevitably playing the same level several times to get it just right, you should definitely download this game.

What's your favorite iPhone (or iPad) app? Do you have another good use for Photo Measures? Is iStunt 2 too complex for its own good? What do you think of the iPad 2? Let me know in the comments!

Researchers competing for $15,000 awards were able to successfully attack Internet Explorer 8 on Windows 7, Safari on Mac OS X, the iPhone 4, and the BlackBerry Torch 9800 in an annual hacker contest at the CanSecWest security conference this week.

For a variety of reasons, no efforts were made to attack Chrome, Firefox, Android or Windows Phone 7, the organizer of the Pwn2Own contest told CNET today.

One team of experts that had an exploit prepared to try against Windows 7 had to withdraw because of travel issues, according to Aaron Portnoy, manager of security research for HP DV Labs and lead for the ZDI (Zero Day Initiative) program that sponsors Pwn2Own.

Windows 7 also was going to be a target for George Hotz, who goes by the hacker name "Geohot," but he withdrew to focus on his legal defense, Portnoy said. Hotz has been sued by Sony for allegedly violating copyright laws by distributing tools that jailbreak the PlayStation 3, which allows home brew and pirated applications to be played on the console.

Another contestant who was going to target Safari, Android, and iPhone withdrew at the request of his company, Portnoy said, declining to identify the contestant or his employer or to speculate why. And Duo Security researcher Jon Oberheide said he blew his chances at exploiting Android in the contest by incorrectly assuming that a bug he recently found and reported to Google directly was ineligible for the event.

The team that successfully exploited the BlackBerry also was planning to attack Chrome, but spent their time on exploits for other targets, he said. Portnoy said he believed they would have been able to exploit Chrome because he "can attest to their skill."

On Wednesday, Chaouki Bekrar of French security company Vupen was able to attack Safari by using a drive-by download. Ireland-based researcher Stephen Fewer of Harmony Security exploited several bugs to defeat the memory protections in IE8, as well as bypass DEP (Data Execution Prevention) and ASLR (Address Space Layout Randomization) on a laptop running Windows 7.

Fewer's IE exploit was the most impressive of the contest, according to Portnoy. "He had three different vulnerabilities he used in tandem to exploit IE and break out of IE's protected mode, which is Microsoft's equivalent to sandbox architecture," he said. "It was a unique technique he discovered."

Meanwhile, Internet Explorer 9 does not contain the bug Fewer used in the contest, according to Microsoft. A fix for IE8 is being worked on, Jerry Bryant, a group manager with the Microsoft Security Response Center, told Computerworld.

Yesterday, three researchers--Willem Pinckaers, Vincenzo Iozzo, and Ralf-Philipp Weinmann--used three bugs to exploit the BlackBerry browser and run their attack code on the device. Charlie Miller, who successfully defeated Safari on the Mac the past three years, used a new exploit he created with colleague Dion Blazakis to run code on the iPhone after surfing to a Web page hosting malicious code.

Miller, a researcher at Independent Security Evaluators, noted that the iOS 4.3 software Apple released on Wednesday includes ASLR, which would somewhat mitigate his exploit. "The vulnerability I found is still in there, but it would be harder to write for it today than it would have been a few days ago," he said in a phone interview.

Through the Zero Day Initiative the Pwn2Own winners share the exploits with the companies whose software is affected so they can be patched. Researchers who hold exploits they weren't able to try in the contest can also report them through the disclosure program and get paid.

"It was nice to see that some of the platforms that didn't go down last year went down this year, like the BlackBerry," Portnoy said. "Media and public perception makes it seem that these devices are impenetrable if they weren't hacked at the contest," which is not the case.

In addition to cash prizes, winners in the contest receive laptops or smartphones, depending on the platform they target. Google also had said it would pay $20,000 to anyone who successfully attacked Google code as part of the Chrome contest. CanSecWest was held in Vancouver, Canada, this week.

Originally posted at InSecurity Complex

Adobe Systems, working furiously to disprove Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs' belief that the Flash Player is a bad match for mobile devices, will deliver its second version of the software for Android devices on March 18.

The software will be available in final form through the Android Market for Android 2.2 (Froyo) and 2.3 (Gingerbread) devices and in beta form for Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) tablets after Google's 3.0.1 system update, Adobe said in a blog post.

However, it's not for any Android device. People can check Adobe's list of Flash-capable Android devices to see if theirs made the cut.

Flash Player runs cross-platform software, notably games, and is widely used to stream video to personal computers. Adobe hopes to extend its cross-platform promise to mobile devices, but it's been hard given the different user interfaces and lesser hardware abilities compared to PCs.

Flash Player 10.2 for mobile brings several changes, though. One is hardware-accelerated video presentation on Honeycomb 3.0.1 devices, something that could help preserve battery power and increase frame rates for smoother video.

The new version also can take advantage of better hardware in some devices with graphics chips and dual-core processors--Motorola's Atrix smartphone and Xoom browser and LG's Optimus 2X, for example.

The new software also is better integrated with the stock Android browser and with screen keyboards, Adobe said.

To keep competitive on the desktop, Adobe also is working on improving Flash with versions 10.3 and 11 under development.

Originally posted at Deep Tech