Last night Apple released version 6.0 of the Apple AirPort Utility for the Mac as well as Time Capsule Firmware Update 7.6.1. The new release does not appear to have gained any new features or fix any bugs. However AirPort Utility 6.0 has been given a facelift. The new user interface (UI) looks just like the iOS version of the utility.

The user is presented with a network diagram of how the network devices (Apple only) are connected together and to the Internet.

Clicking any one of the icons brings up further details about that device.

To edit the setting for an Apple wireless access point (AirPort Express, Time Capsule, AirPort Extreme) click the icon for the device and click edit.

The new interface for editing the devices settings has been simplified. I found it a lot easier to find what I was looking for.

I did have one disappoint, however. Apparently my 802.11b AirPort Express is too old and is no longer supported. Apple does provide a solution but I suspect that my WDS system no longer works. Time for a trip to Creative Computing.

Have you tried the new AirPort Utility and have some tips to share? Have you run into any issues? Please let me know in the comments area below.

I’m a big Google Services user but some of my friends and colleagues prefer Yahoo! I’ve written about how to integrate Google Services with my Mac, iPhone and iPad but I’ve remiss in writing anything about Yahoo! Enabling Yahoo! Services on Mac OS X 10.7 (Lion) is fairly straight forward.

System Preferences

The direct method for setting up Google services on OS X Lion is via the System Preferences. OS X Lion System Preferences has a new option called Mail, Contacts & Calendars under the Internet & Wireless section. Select it.

Mail, Contacts, and Calendars

If you are an iPhone or iPad owner this next screen shot will seem very familiar to you. To setup a particular service, click the Add Account… button and select the icon for the service. In this case, we are setting up Yahoo! services so select Yahoo!.

Once you select Yahoo! you will be prompted to add you Yahoo! username and password. The username should be you complete email address. After entering your credentials click Setup.

Once your Mac has connected successfully to the Yahoo! servers you can select the services you want to sync to your Mac. Go ahead and select all of them including Yahoo! Chat.

You should now be able to read your Yahoo! Mail via the Mac OS X Mail app, chat on Yahoo! via iChat, and your Address Book should start filling up with your Yahoo! contact. Launch iCal and you will see all your Yahoo! calendar details.

Getting a digital cert

I use free digital certificates issued by certificate authority Comodo but you can also get a paid one from Verisgn. Getting a certificate issued is quite easy. Fill out the form on the web site with some basic information and wait for an email. Follow the instructions in the email to download and install your certificate. On Mac OS X that means downloading the certificate file and opening it in Keychain.²

Keychain

On Mac OS X digital certificates are store in the Keychain. I want to use the certificate with my iPad or iPhone so I need to bring that certificate over to the iPad. This means I’ll need to export the certificate from Keychain and import into the iPad.

Once your certificate has been installed, launch Keychain and find your certificate in the Certificates section of Keychain. Right click the certificate and export it to somewhere on your hard drive. I exported the certificate from Keychain to my Documents folder. Make to protect the certificate file with a string password when prompted.

Creating a configuration profile

To install the certificate onto the iPad we’ll need the help of the iPhone Configuration Utility³. The iPhone Configuration Utility is used by corporate information technology engineers to manage the configuration parameters of corporate iOS devices. It allows them to create, maintain, encrypt, and push configuration profiles, track and install provisioning profiles and authorized applications, and capture device information including console logs. We’ll be using it to create a configuration profile to install the certificate.

Download, install and launch the iPhone Configuration Utility. Select the Configuration Profiles tab and then press Command-N on the keyboard to create a new profile.

Now you will import the cert you exported from Keychain. Select the Credentials tab and then click the + symbol. Find and select the digital certificate file to import. Enter the password you choose earlier when you exported the certificate.

Installing the cert

At this point attach your iOS device to your computer and you’ll see the device appear in the left hand of the configuration utility. Select the device and then click the Configuration Profiles tab. Find the profile you just created in the list and then click install to push the profile to your device.

On the screen of your iOS device you should see a prompt to confirm the installation of the profile. Once you click install to confirm, you are done.

New profiles entries will be visible in the General->Profiles section of the Settings app on your iOS device.

Configuring the email account

Now that you have a digital certificate on your iOS device you’ll need to configure Mail to use it. You’ll do this from the Mail, Contacts, Calendars tab in the Settings app on the iOS device. Select the email account from the list. Select the Account tab.

Enable the S/MIME switch and then turn on Sign and/or Encrypt depending on what you want to do and then tap Done. That’s it! You can now use the Mail app to send signed and encrypted email.