San Jose, October 27:

Apple Inc no longer accepts cash for iPhone purchases and now limits sales of the cell phone to two per person in a move to stop people from reselling them.

The new policy from Thu-rsday, said Apple spokeswoman Natalie Kerris. Before then, there was no cash restriction and the purchase limit was five per person.

“Customer response to the iPhone has been off the charts, and limiting iPhone sales to two per customer helps us ensure that there are enough iPhones for people who are shopping for themselves or buying a gift,” Kerris said. “We’re requiring a credit or debit card for payment to discourage unauthorized resellers.” More than 1.4 million units of the hybrid cell phone-iPod have been sold since it debuted on June 29, according to Apple. It is expected to be a popular gift for holidays. Apple thinks some people already have bought multiple iPhones to resell, including those looking to modify, or ‘unlock’, the phones so they work on networks other than Apple’s carrier partner in the United States, AT&T Inc.

Apple estimates that buyers of 250,000 of the iPhones sold so far intended to unlock them, Apple’s chief operating officer Tim Cook said in a conference call with analysts this week.

New operating system for Mac:

LOS ANGELES: Apple has released a new operating system for its ever more popular Mac computers. The upgraded OS 10.5, nicknamed Leopard includes some 300 impr-ovements including a ‘time machine’ that tra-cks and resurrects lost data and improved vid-eo-conferencing. — DPA