Developer BigBoss earlier announced on Sleepers that several iPhone homebrew applications got simultaneous updates today. These include Categories 2.04b, BiteSMS v2.3, and MyHTML v1.3. Read their respective changelogs after the jump.

After a full month since the MacBook Air's initial introduction, demand for the unit appears to have increased. Various retailers, including Apple's own stores, have reported a shortage of stock. To find out more about the stock woes of the MacBook Air and the apparent increased sales of the product, check out the full article.

The iPhone has proven itself to be immensely popular since its launch, but Apple is not yet content with its success. Aiming to hook the younger set into the iPhone mania, Apple has recently aired a new TV spot focusing on a popular social networking site, Facebook. Check out Apple's Facebook widget in action in the full article!

In this year's World Wide Developers Conference, Apple announced the winners of the Apple Design Awards. This award, which was first handed out a good 12 years ago, is said to "recognize technical excellence and outstanding achievement in Mac OS X software design and development."

The Apple Design Awards has seven categories in which software developers, whether independent or otherwise, can take part in. The categories include: Leopard Application, User Experience, Developer Tool, Game, Scientific Computing Solution, Dashboard Widget, and Student Product. The winners of each category are as follows:

• Leopard Application:
• Delicious Library 2.0 (alpha) by Delicious Monster
• User Experience:
• Coda 1.0 by Panic Inc.
• Developer Tool:
• CSSEdit 2.5 by MacRabbit
• Game:
• World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade 2.0 by Blizzard Entertainment
• Scientific Computing Solution:
• Papers 1.0 by Alexander Griekspoor and Tom Groothuis
• Dashboard Widget:
• BART Widget 1.0 by Bret Victor
• Student Product:
• Picturesque 1.0 by Zac Cohen

Each of the said applications are pretty well-known among the Apple community and have really changed the computing landscape in its own way. For the listing of the runner-ups and a description of each program, click on our read link. Be sure to keep checking back here for the latest Apple updates.

Here's something interesting. A while back, Macenstein posted about an unusual entry in the built-in Dictionary/Thesaurus app that ships with Mac OS X. According to the post, someone from rave.com noticed that if you type the word "democracy" into the Dictionary widget and then switch over to the thesaurus, you get the following example usage of the word:

It's an odd and slightly controversial example, so the guys from Macenstein checked with the people from Oxford University Press to get their side of the story. After three weeks of waiting, they finally got a response from the dictionaries editor of the Oxford University Press.

The editor said that he "checked the hardcopy of the New Oxford American Dictionary & Thesaurus and did not find in it any sample sentence attached to the definition of democracy." The editor also added that he suspects it was "added by the Apple programmers."

Did a border programmer add that little nugget of knowledge? We can't rightly say. Still, we're leaving you guys with another example from the same widget. Feel free to tell us what you think by leaving a comment below.

 

If you're an independent software maker who has dreams of making it big as the next Apple developer, this is good news for you. The Apple Design Awards is already accepting entries. The Awards, well on its 12th year, recognizes technical excellence and outstanding achievement in the design and development of software for the Mac OS X.

The Apple Design Awards has seven categories, namely: Best Mac OS X Leopard Application, Best Mac OS X User Experience, Best Mac OS X Developer Tool, Best Mac OS X Game, Best Mac OS X Scientific Computing Solution, Best Mac OS X Dashboard Widget, and Best Student Application.

This may be your chance as Apple Design Awards not only recognizes the talent and excellence of developers in making software, but also their resourcefulness in thinking up newer ways to use the Apple Mac OS X. The winners of this prestigious award will be announced at the Worldwide Developers Conference.

Apple finally released the latest update for Mac OS X 10.4.7 -- the Mac OS X 10.4.8 Update, also called "delta". Those who are updating from Mac OS X 10.4, 10.4.1, 10.4.2, 10.4.3, 10.4.4, 10.4.5, or 10.4.6  to 10.4.8 should install Apple's "combo" update instead.

Apple offers troubleshooting tips if your installation encounters issues. Basically, you use one of the two methods in updating to Mac OS X 10.4.8: The Software Update or the standalone installer.

The update addresses some important issues in the printing, Finder and other Apple applications, networking and modem, and third party software, and security among other things. It's a leap from the 10.4.7 version, especially when it comes to improving reliability and support with other apps as well as enhancing the software's general performance.

With the latest version, it's now possible to sync iTunes with other iPod models with less hassle. Furthermore, the external Apple USB modem has improved the connection reliability when faxing in France or Belgium. Issues with Microsoft Word's OpenType fonts, Microsoft PowerPoint presentations, Canon EOS Utility and even with the TV Tracker 2 Dashboard widget have also been resolved.

Note that the update applies for both Intel- and Power-PC-based Macs. Download your standalone installer for PowerPC and Intel-based Macs here.

Let's face it; not every house in the world has a modem yet. But naturally, I was shocked when I found out that my vacation house in southern France had no phone or Internet connection at all. How the hell was I supposed to fill in those two weeks without surfing the web? Luckily my MacBook was brand new, so I had some stuff to check out, but obviously that wasn't going to last for a long time.

I guess that if you own a MacBook yourself, you've found out that it's loaded with features. And after I watched a bunch of movies I put on it a week before my arrival at the house, I just went searching for stuff I had not discovered yet in the Tiger OS. Well I definitely had fun with Photo Booth, although it's kind of sad to sit there making strange faces of yourself.

Then there's GarageBand. I must say I didn't really know what it was at first (I thought it was a program to make notes compose your classical music or something), so it really surprised me it was the way it was. Well... it didn't take me too long to find out I sucked at that stuff, so I abandoned it more or less.

Oh and the fun I had with the dictionary widget! I looked up some English words I didn't quite understand (I'm Dutch, give me a break), and now I know them. Handy! But that was about the only useful widget as the other ones required a connection. I had the usual fun with Photoshop CS2 but it wasn't quite as fun when you can't take pictures from the web. Also, I hoped 203 songs and a couple of (video) podcasts in iTunes were enough for two weeks. Sadly, I got bored with all of them after a while, so I had to make my own tracks in GarageBand... and they were crap.

Of course I pretty much knew there wasn't a modem in my house, but surely one of the neighbours has a unsecured wireless connection? Okay, there was one, but it was WAP protected. Too bad. After a while I gave up. I went to the pool and to McDonald's.

So kids, always check whether your new house in the mountains has a connection. If not, you better start "borrowing" some movies while you still can.

Somebody's been poking around Steve Jobs' computer and got a hold of the features of the upcoming Mac OS 10.5 Leopard. The information is not confirmed but that won't stop us from posting it. This is after all the Leak Department. According to the leaked documents (which will put the Mac security system in bad light if proven genuine) the major MacLeopard changelog will be seen in the following:

• Spotlight 2.0
• Dashboard 2.0
• Safari 3.0
• iChat 4.0
• Automator 2.0
• QuickTime 7.2
• Mail 3.0
• iCal 3.0
• Address Book 5.0

See the details of the "supposed" Mac OS changelog after the jump!

Widgets are fun but were designed to be functional. Now, if you're like most Apple People (the one's who are not widget pack rats, anyway), you probably install the widget first before running it to see if it is something that serves your need. If the answer is no, you go through the uninstall process, unless you don't mind sifting through a sea of widgets on your Dashboard to find the one that you need.

Did you know you can test a widget without installing and uninstalling it? Yes, you can! And here's how. When the widget installer window loads, press and hold Command and Option. This changes the Install button to a Run button:

Hit the Run button and you can use the widget the same way as the "installed" widgets. You can modify settings, move it, view its output plus it appears on the Dashboard and its directory. However, when you close it, the widget wonÂ?t add to clutter your Dashboard bar because it's not there! Just one of those little-known tricks that can make a big difference!