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iMac rumored for next week; new iPhone SDK; Apple updates

A recently accurate tech website claims that Apple's long-awaited iMac refresh will appear next week. Also, Apple's latest iPhone developer kit adds enhanced OpenGL 3D support, downloads have appeared for a Boot Camp update, and Common Criteria security tools are available.

Rumor sees iMac next week

The wait for refreshed iMacs could be over before the end of April, according to a rumor circulated Thursday by Geeksugar.

The female technology site refers to "Apple tipsters" who say the update is due next week and will most likely appear on Tuesday, as with most Apple updates. While short on details, the news outlet adds that the sources correctly identified this year's MacBook revision a day before it appeared and also says that processor speeds and hard drive upgrades are the primary candidates for improvement.

Apple is known to be developing a Penryn-based refresh of both the iMac and its Mac mini cousin for the spring, delivering the cooler-running and faster processors to systems that haven't been updated since August of 2007.

iPhone SDK update adds OpenGL ES emulation

Apple this week issued its fourth beta edition of the iPhone SDK for third-party developers.

The update is described by Apple as enabling OpenGL ES graphics to run directly from the iPhone Simulator software, saving developers the trouble of attaching a live iPhone or iPod touch to test software using the mobile 3D graphics standard.

No other major additions are reported as accompanying the release, which is free for registered iPhone developers.

Boot Camp Update 2.1

Apple on Thursday released three updates to Boot Camp, each of them targeted at improving support for different Microsoft operating systems.

Version 2.1 is available for users running Windows XP (215MB), Vista 32-bit (228MB), and Vista 64-bit (236MB). The update is required before Windows XP users can install Microsoft's Service Pack 3 update.

Users must run the update from their Boot Camp partitions.

Common Criteria Tools for 10.5

Also released this week are Apple's Common Criteria Tools for 10.5 (103KB).

The utility lets IT managers and other security-focused users assess whether a Mac OS X Leopard system meets minimum security requirements for use in certain data-sensitive conditions, such as US Federal Government offices or information security firms.