Apple have released a minor update to Safari that amongst other updates and bug fixes will now disable any older versions of Flash that Apple deem insecure. 

In a move to further increase the security of Safari and reduce the risk of infections from vulnerabilities in Adobe's Flash plugin, Apple have decided that Safari will disable any old versions of the popular plug in. It will then direct you to Adobe's website in order to install the latest version.

Although some will see this as part of the Apple 'Flash' war, it is in effect a good move to get everyone on the latest version of Flash, which itself can now auto update on OS X. Google's rival browser, Chrome, already auto updates itself and it's own version of Flash so this change to Safari is welcomed.

In addition to this issues with performance and usability have been addressed. You can update your version via Software Update if OS X hasn't already checked for you.

The service is currently US only and is $4.99 a month, but is will be released in the UK 'shortly', whatever that means.

As much as the iPad can be used for work purposes (with some patience and willingness to adapt), I think this is a welcome app for the corporate world. Couple this with a keyboard case and your iPad is suddenly a nifty laptop during school hours and a piece of cool coffee table tech at home. Why take two bottles into the shower?

Well that's what we thought before we stumbled across this tip.

It seems all you need to do is hold down on the Compose button rather than just tapping it as if your composing a new email. Mail will then pop up your most recent draft. (No we had no idea either). Once you do it it makes complete sense, just like holding down on the Back button of a web browser in order to see your browsing history. It's a wonder that Apple don't publicise these little short cuts more.

Seemingly out of nowhere and with  Keynote announcement, Apple have announced the next version of OS X 10.8. A section on Apple's website details the additions to the new operating system: Messages, Reminders, Notification Centre, Games Centre and Twitter integration. Yep you've guessed it: more features of iOS are coming to the Mac along with further integration of iCloud.

Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple has described iCloud as being part of a long term strategy for Apple, with nearly 100 million users having signed up to the service. The inclusion of dedicated Mac Apps for Reminders, iMessage as well as iOS 5 style notifications prove this intention of Apple to sell more Macs as a bonus to massive iPad and iPhone sales.

Mountain Lion is due to be released in the summer of 2012 just as previous versions have been released to the public. We can expect it to only be available via the Mac App Store just like it's predecessor Lion. Members of the Apple Developer community can download a preview of Mountain Lion here.

The latest comes in the form of a name dispute from China. Proview, a Chinese manufacturer, has long insisted they hold the rights to the iPad name in China and Hong Kong. They have now requested the courts block any import/export of iPad products to China until this is resolved. With manufacturing based there, this could (and it's a massive could) affect global supply levels, driving up prices.

Apple insist they bought the rights from Proview years ago - worldwide rights including China and Hong Kong. Apple never give too much away on these disputes so we'll have to piece it together from one-sided news reports.

The service enables you to 'match' your music collection to Apple's own vast music collection on their iTunes store rather than have to upload all your music at once. Why? Well it saves you time - a lot of it in fact - compared to other Cloud based Music services such as Google Music. It also cuts down on the amount of music Apple have to store themselves.

Any tracks that iTunes doesn't match are then uploaded along with your playlists and album artwork. You can then access your entire music collection on any iDevice running iOS 5 or any PC or Mac in which you install iTunes. So if your work PC can run the latest version of iTunes you can log in with your Apple ID and see all your music. Here's the killer feature too: despite some reports you can stream your music from iTunes Match. So if you have a vast music collection like many others now, you do not have to worry about storing it away from your main computer.

The only downside is the absence of a web interface like that of Google Music, so in order to play it you must use your iOS 5 device or install iTunes. If you can do either of these though you soon start to see the benefits when you start using it. Given that Apple are now storing all your music in the Cloud, you no longer have to worry about keeping a local copy. Need to reclaim 20GB of space? Then just delete what your not listening to. The item remains in your iTunes Library but gains a Cloud logo next to it. You can then still double click on it to stream the track or choose to re-download it from iTunes.

The well trumpeted other advantage to this is that if the track has been matched successfully with iTunes, you now download an iTunes standard file. These are 256k AAC and free of any copy protection (DRM). So you can potentially upgrade your old 128 MP3 rips easily with iTunes AAC's created straight from the studio masters.

You can purchase iTunes Match through iTunes 10.5 and must be running iOS 5 to use it on your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch.

There are many great Tumblr sites out there collecting images. What's even better is when they show just how good Apple's design is by how much others copy it!

In fact some enterprising users have managed to prematurely sign up to Apple's music in the cloud service, iTunes Match in the UK. TheNextWeb have reported that by a cheeky 'hack' that UK users have been able to sign up for the service even though it is yet to launch on our shores.

Other curious users have attempted to trick iTunes into thinking they are in the US rather than the UK by signing out of iTunes, changing the Store to the US and then clicking on iTunes Match before signing back in.

We've tried this loophole ourselves but without luck: having clicked to purchase iTunes Match on the US store and entering our Apple ID we where greeted with 'Computer Says No' dialog box. iTunes then reverted to its homepage, but not before revealing for a few seconds that the UK price is £21.99.

Apple may of closed the sign up loophole but they have still let the price cat out of the bag. It's a price we like too as for only 2 CD's not only could you get the benefits of having all your music in the cloud, but you'll be able to upgrade all of it to 'iTunes Plus' 256k AAC tracks, all free of DRM (copy protection). Even music you've ripped yourself. This strikes us as a rather cheap way to legitimise a lot of ripped music.

Perhaps Apple have started to use the same currency converters as the rest of us.

Apple have released this anticipated update to its mobile OS in order to solve poor battery life issues that have affected some users. Even more exciting: this is the first iOS update you'll be able to do without connecting your iPhone or iPad to your computer!

Just go to Settings them General and hit Software Update when connected to WiFi:

It's only 39.1mb if you update on your device, far quicker than previously with iTunes. Why? Well if you decide to do the update through iTunes then you'll need to download a much heftier file that contains the whole of iOS 5.0.1 rather than just the changes. No point doing that is there?

Even better if your an owner of an original iPad. This update adds multitasking gestures support which previously was only for iPad 2 owners. We've just tried it and it works well. An unexpected bonus! You may need to switch them on in Settings after you've updated:

The update also addresses general security and bug fixes, issues with Documents in the Cloud and it makes Siri compatible with Australian accents...

Various reports have popped up across the interweb since the release of iOS 5 about hidden and yet to be unreleased features being found by hackers. The latest concerns the Keyboard in iOS 5 and a feature which offers suggestions of words on a bar above the keyboard.

This feature is already something that Android users take advantage of, which had lead to speculation that Apple have withheld it to avoid pouring yet more petrol on the endlessly burning patent issues flame.

So what does it look like? Well intriguingly you don't need to do any jail breaking or hacking to see the feature in action. You just need to switch to a Japanese keyboard:

So that's all good and well if you speak Japanese but what if you want to have it on your iPad with a United Kingdom keyboard? Well most the internet will say you'll have to jailbreak your precious iDevice. You can do this to add extra features but we recommend you don't unless your an experienced user that enjoys hacking or your frustrated and wish you'd bought an Android.

What if you don't want to jailbreak but your an advanced Mac user? In that case this guide over at Gizmodo will show you how to enable this feature. Do proceed with caution though and don't say that we haven't warned you.

It remains to be seen if Apple will add this feature for all users in the future. If so it will be an interesting twist in the battle between Apple and other companies implementing Android.