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Mozilla Tuesday updated Firefox 4 to its fourth beta release, adding two major new features: Firefox Sync and Panorama.

Firefox Sync lets users access browser history, password keychain, bookmarks, and open tabs across their different desktop computers, iOS, or Maemo-based mobile devices. Sync is available as an add-in for Firefox 3.5 and 3.6, but in Firefox 4, it is a built-in feature.

Now approaching its third year online, Adobe's Web-based photo editing suite Photoshop Express underwent a significant redesign which launched Wednesday. Adobe Photoshop Express Editor, Organizer, and Uploader are included in the refresh.

Firstly, a Photoshop.com account is no longer needed to use Photoshop Express Editor. Users can simply navigate to the Web app, upload photos directly from their local drive, edit and change the photos, and then save them back on their local storage. Previously, an account was necessary, and photos were uploaded to online storage first before they were edited. This is still an option, as Photoshop.com members can still store and share photos online as well as create albums, but it's no longer the only way to use the Editor.

CCleaner (Crap Cleaner) is a freeware system optimization and privacy tool. It removes unused files from your system - allowing Windows to run faster and freeing up valuable hard disk space. It also cleans traces of your online activities such as your Internet history. CCleaner can also clean very quickly, usually taking about ten seconds to run.

Download: CCleaner 2.35.1219 Slim
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Homepage: CCleaner

A phishing scam relies on hijacking users' iTunes accounts linked to PayPal, giving thieves the ability to drain money from someone's online account.

"Sources close to Apple tell me iTunes has not been compromised and the company isn’t aware of any sudden increase in fraudulent transactions," he wrote.

PayPal has said it is reimbursing customers for the fraud, but added that the problem "is happening on the iTunes side." Further questions about the scam were referred to Apple.

An Apple spokesperson told the San Jose Mercury News that the company is aware of the problem.

After making them available to TechNet subscribers last month, Microsoft has released betas of Service Pack 1 for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 to the general public.

This is the same version of the update that was previously released, so don't expect any new features or fixes.  In fact, users of the company's consumer OS who have been keeping up with the monthly security updates won't see any notable changes at all.  Windows 7 SP1 is largely a collection of fixes and updates previously made available through Windows Update.

Server users will of course get all of the patches, but will see a few new features as well.  The most important are dynamic memory support for virtual machines and the introduction of RemoteFX for enhanced desktop virtualisation.

Toshiba said Wednesday that it had made a breakthrough in hard disk design that will allow hard drives to have much higher capacities than what is currently possible today. The research is in something called bit-patterned media, a magnetic storage technology.

The recording surface is broken up into tiny magnetic bits, each of which can hold a single bit of data. The bits are made up of several grains, which are organized in rows. This organization is what makes it possible for data to be found easily.

Current technologies require the data to be spread across a broader section of the disk, requiring hundreds of magnetic grains to store bits of data. However this technology is reaching its upper limits, requiring drive manufacturers to look for new ways to store data.

A Texas-based researcher claimed he had discovered that about 40 different Windows apps, including the Windows shell, suffer from a critical vulnerability that could open up users to attacks by hackers. The flaw was originally discovered in iTunes for Windows, and was patched by Apple four months ago with iTunes 9.1.

Rapid7 chief security officer HD Moore detailed his findings to Computerworld in an interview on Wednesday. He said a wide range of applications are affected, and it was found while looking into another flaw involving Windows shortcuts, which Microsoft patched in an emergency update.

The flaw exists in how the programs handle malformed DLLs. While the methods to trigger the hole differ slightly from application to application, execution causes the hole to open which allows the hacker to execute arbitrary code and/or install malware on the infected machine.