Last Thursday, Apple released the Java for OS X Lion 2012-003 update to kill the Flashback malware.  The update also configures the Java web plug-in to disable automatic executive of Java applets, which keeps Flashback from spreading.  This update works for all Mac users with Java installed.

For OS X Lion users WITHOUT Java installed, Apple has provided a download of a Flashback malware removal tool.  If Flashback malware is found, a dialog box will appear and let you know that the malware has been removed.

Yesterday Apple revealed the 3rd generation of the iPad, which will be available in stores on March 16 (can also be pre-ordered now for delivery on March 16).

Among the stunning new features are:

• New Retina display that delivers 4x the number of pixels of the iPad 2 (and 1 million more pixels than an HD TV)
• 5 megapixel iSight camera with 1080p HD video (new image stabilization feature as well)
• New A5X chip with quad-core graphics

The new iPad Wi-Fi models will be available in black or white, priced at $499 for the 16GB model, $599 for the 32GB model and $699 for the 64GB model.

iPad Wi-Fi + 4G for either AT&T or Verizon will be available for $629 for the 16GB model, $729 for the 32GB model and $829 for the 64GB model.

Also! The 16GB iPad 2 is now being offered at a very affordable $399.

We mentioned the announcement of Elgato’s portable Thunderbolt SSD last week, and since then it appears as though more and more Thunderbolt devices are being announced, as more and more users are looking for high speed storage solutions.

ars technica has a good preview of the Thunderbolt devices on display at the 2012 International CES, which is currently underway in Las Vegas.

Our head tech James recently implemented Promise’s Pegasus RAID with Thunderbolt at one client site, and reported that the transfer speeds EXCEEDED his expectations. With the Promise Pegasus R6 Thunderbolt RAID + Mac mini server, reads over AFP / the network were clocking in at 100MB/s (or, 800Mbps, which would be the theoretical FireWire max).  Some site examples: 8GB upload over the network in under 2 minutes (i.e., much faster than a direct FireWire connection), and a 100GB download in around 10 minutes.

The new iPhone 4S was officially announced today, and pre-orders will be taken as of this Friday, October 7. The iPhone 4S comes in black or white, and is $199 for the 16GB, $299 for the 32GB, and $399 for the 64GB (with contract). But!  Users now have the choice between AT&T, Verizon and Sprint as far as carriers are concerned.

The latest and greatest version of the iPhone includes an amazing 8-megapixel camera that can record 1080p video AND has a new image signal processor for image stabilization (which brings it up to par with most point-and-shoot cameras on the market).

The processor is a zippy Dual-core Apple A5, which makes apps launch faster and increases the speediness of all the functions of the phone.  Battery life is also much improved over the iPhone 4, with up to 8 hours of talk time on 3G.

The iPhone 4S is also a proper “World Phone” – Hybrid GSM / CDMA and Bluetooth 4.0.

But really the most exciting part of the new phone is Siri, the “Assistant” or live AI.  Siri lets you use your voice to send text messages, schedule appointments, make phones calls, find restaurants… just about anything you would normally do with your iPhone.  Check out the video of how Siri works here.

So the white version of Apple’s iPhone 4 went on sale yesterday. Should be the same device but just a different color, right? Well, it seems as though there is a slight difference between the two versions. MacRumors reported yesterday that the white iPhone 4 is slightly thicker than the black iPhone 4 (see photos here). While the report notes that the size difference is noticeable to someone who has the black version of the iPhone 4, it’s really only a 0.2mm difference in thickness so all available iPhone 4 cases look as though they will still work.

A lot of users out there are still wondering which is better — MacBook Air or iPad 2?  I tweeted about this a while ago, but thought I’d revisit the question as it has been coming up a lot lately.

Brooke Crothers wrote a spot-on review of the two machines for CNET a few weeks back. His verdict (much the same as ours) is that the MacBook Air is probably a better value for users who need to have great browsing and media capability AS WELL AS the ability to use the software that is part of their every day workflow. And it’s much faster, too!

For the full list of pros and cons, click here.

Attention fellow Mac users!  We’ve already had a report of a user bricking his iPhone when he updated to iOS 4.3.  We caution all our clients and users out there to wait until we’ve had a chance to read through the reports being posted on the interwebs and test it out ourselves…

Most of the rumors turned out to be true. The iPad 2 is thinner, faster AND lighter! It does indeed have TWO (2) cameras on the front and the back (FaceTime for iPad!). The new 1GHz dual-core A5 chip is supposed to be twice as fast as the original, with ultra fast graphics up to nine times (9x!) faster.

While we were a bit disappointed that there’s no Thunderbolt connectivity on the new iPad 2, we were pleasantly surprised to see HDMI output on the new tablet (it does require an Apple Digital AV Adapter).

The iPad 2 will be available for order on March 11!

The Apple Store is down, which is a definite sign that a new device is going to debut. All reports point to the release of a second-generation iPad, since the invitation to today’s media event shows this image:

The new iPad 2 is purported to be thinner, have more RAM and a faster processor and one or even two cameras.

Full coverage of the event begins at 1:00pm NYC time and you can tune in by visiting Macworld.