Application Releases in time for the ADAs

With yesterday (May 12, 2008) being the deadline for Apple’s esteemed Apple Design Awards, there was a flurry of activity this past weekend of application updates. Some brand new applications have been unveiled, while other applications have received major updates.

I have been keeping a eye open for some of these new releases the past few days, and have compiled a list of some of the applications that have been introduced, and ones that have been updated.

The first application on my list is TapeDeck. TapeDeck is an application that was released as version 1.0 on May 9th. The basic premise behind TapeDeck is being able to record audio quickly and easily. This is a Leopard-only application, that takes advantage of technologies like Core Animation, and Core Audio. Each new “tape” that you record is stored in a sliding panel, that is easy to search. When you record, the little wheels of the deck even spin, which is a nice touch. TapeDeck has been released for $25; look for a full review on MacApper soon.

The next app on my list is Bokeh. Bokeh, a joint application from Ollie Wagner and Geoff Pado, is an application that was born from Freeze Frame. It allows you to stop an application from using the processor, freeing it up for other applications to use. For example, you could freeze every other application you have open except for Final Cut Express if you were rendering a scene and wanted FCS to be able to use all of your processor. When you “Focus” on an app (freezing all other applications except for one) the screen behind the app blurs, hence the name Bokeh. A full review of Bokeh is currently in the pipes, to be consumed by you readers in the near future.

Next up we have a few application updates. Pixelmator got a big update yesterday, bringing it up to v1.2 (Draftsman). This update was free to all registered users and brought plenty of bug fixes, and some new functionality. Most notably was the introduction of rulers, a curves feature for “adjusting the entire tonal range or making precise adjustments to individual color channels in an image, and a new color balance tool essential for controlling the overall color mixture in an image for color correction work,” (Pixelmator Weblog) an enhance tool, and a polygonal lasso. The documentation of Pixelmator has also been updated, as well as a few enhanced Automator actions. You can pick up the update right from within Pixelmator, or from the Pixelmator Team’s Website.

Another application that received quite a considerable update is Picturesque, from Acqualia. I reviewed Picturesque v1.0 way back in May of 2007, and with this update, you won’t even recognize Picturesque anymore. The interface of Picturesque has been completely redone, doing away with the floating inspector window. This update in addition to a new interface, has brought a few new tools, like Perspective and Crop. A review of Picturesque has just been posted to MacApper, by our very own Joe Turner.

Now those are the only ones that I found in my travels through the internet, but I would be happy to hear some of the other ones that I may have missed.

We will find out the winners of the ADAs in a months time at Apple’s World Wide Developer Conference this June.

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