MacHELP

Updated: Please see Apple’s page on the iBook/PowerBook Battery Exchange Program.

My Dream App opened for business today. My Dream App is a competition that invites people to submit their idea for the best Macintosh/OSX “Killer App”. Participants will compete for chances to have their idea turned into a functional Mac shareware app and earn royalties on sales as well as prizes for finalists.

Competition judges include Digg.com founder Kevin Rose, columnist David Pogue, former Apple evangelist Guy Kawasaki, and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak.

Apple has released MacBook SMC Firmware Update 1.4f10, which addresses fan behavior in MacBook portable systems. This reportedly cures the “moooing” problem reported by some users caused by the fan repeatedly starting/stopping every few seconds.

Apple has released Boot Camp 1.1 Beta, which resolves issues when running on the newly-released Mac Pro systems as well as adds drivers for built-in iSight cameras and microphones.

DEVONtechnologies has released DEVONthink Professional 1.2 and DEVONagent 2.0.2.

A number of online publications have put their detailed Mac Pro reviews and benchmarks online:

Galen Zink has written an excellent article entitled “Apple Notebook Power Adapters: Dangerous By Design?” detailing his problems with short-circuiting and sparking Apple portable power adapters. There’s also been a Slashdot discussion about the issue.

The 2006 Apple Design Awards winners were announced at WWDC on August 8th. A list of the winners (from Phil Ryu):

Best Student Application:
Runner-Up: PhotoPresenter by Arizona Software
Winner: LineForm by Tribar Software

Best User Experience:
Runner-Up: Boinx FotoMagico by Boinx Software
Winner: iSale by equinux

Best Widget:
Runner-Up: WeatherBug Widget by WeatherBug
Winner: iClip lite by Inventive and Widget Machine

Best OS X Graphics:
Runner-Up: Unity by Unity
Winner: Modo by Luxology

Best Automator Workflow:
Runner-Up: Lecture Recording Workflow 1.2 by the University of Michigan School of Dentistry
Winner: Build Real Estate Catalog/Ultimate Productivity Action Pack

Best Developer Tool:
Runner-Up: F-Script by F-Script
Winner: TextMate by MacroMates

Best Game:
Runner-Up: Wingnuts 2 by Freeverse
Winner: Sims 2 ported Aspyr

Best Scientific Computing Solution:
Runner-Up: FuzzMeasurePro by Christopher Liscio
Winner: EnzymeX by Mekentosj

After extended delays, Apple has finally published the buildable kernel sources for Mac OS X on Intel systems.

Apple has made the WWDC 2006 Keynote Address available as a QuickTime stream.

Engadget, The Mac Observer, and PowerMax have some great internal photographs of the new Mac Pro systems, while The Apple Blog has pictures of the freebie items given out to WWDC attendees.

Update: PowerMax has already received their new Mac Pro and has more “take it apart!” pictures.