Apple Mac HQ

You read that correctly! Write a blog post and win a Macbook Air. I wish I had the budget to offer such a deal, but this contest is from Smashing Magazine. Prizes will be given to the best 10 articles submitted, where the best will receive the Macbook Air. The deadline for the guest author contest is August 5th, 2008. Among the article submission guidelines:

• Between 450-1200 characters
• It may be controversial and subjective, but it should not be boring
• It should have a valid HTML-markup
• It can be a discussion article or a top 10 list

Head on over to the post announcing the contest for more rules and other information. If you’re interested in web design or development, I highly suggest adding Smashing Magazine to your feed reader!

Popularity: 18% [?]

I’m always on the lookout for various Mac related contests to share with Apple Mac HQ readers. Here’s another one from the folks at Podango. Up for grabs is a pair of Audioengine speakers.

All you have to do is simply link to the Apple Phone Show website. Full details and rules for the link contest are HERE. You can watch a video review of the Audioengine speakers from Liana Lehua of the Apple Phone Show if you are interested to learn more about the speakers. Good luck to everyone that enters!

If you see any other Mac related contests, drop me a line so I can inform the Apple Mac HQ readers!

Popularity: 34% [?]

Don’t have an iPhone and want one? How does free sound? In exchange for your email address, Yazsoft is giving away two 8GB iPhones between now and March 31st, 2008. All you have to do is visit their website before March 31st and follow the directions at the bottom of the page. No purchase is necessary, but if you buy Speed Download (their software) you receive three bonus entries per license purchased. The drawing for the two iPhones will be held the first week in April.

So what exactly is Speed Download? Speed Download is a unique product actually. It’s a combination download manager/ftp client/file sharing utility/iDisk and WEBDAV connectivity client. I actually received a copy as part of the MacHeist bundle but never installed it. I’m curious about the ftp client part so I might get around to installing it. The website has a fairly comprehensive tour of the Speed Download features. The software was just updated to version 5 and a license will set you back $25. If you received it as part of the MacHeist bundle the upgrade price is $15 (same price as version 4 upgrades). If you want to demo Speed Download they have a 21 day trail available.

Popularity: 50% [?]

One of the funny yet annoying ads during the Super Bowl was the Tide “Talking Stain” ad. The gist of the ad was that a guy on an interview had a stain on his shirt and the interviewer couldn’t concentrate on what the interviewee was saying because the stain was “talking” to him. The commercial was fairly original, but the stain had this annoyingly high voice while it spouted gibberish.

Tide has announced a contest where you film a spoof of this ad and you are entered to win some prizes. Among the prizes are a specially designed custom iPod. The contest is open to US residents only and ends on March 9th, 2088. For official rules, visit the contest website. In addition to getting all the rules and such, you can also see the ad that aired during the Super Bowl.

The website also allows you to download the stain voice as a ringtone, a stain desktop wallpaper, a stain buddy icon, and the stain mp3. I’m completely baffled why anyone would want to download these however.

[Via TUAW]

Popularity: 35% [?]

If you’re looking for a Nintendo Wii this holiday season, Riverfold Software has the answer. Riverfold Software is the company behind the Mac software Wii Transfer which allows you to share your movies, music, and pictures directly to your Wii.

Just in time for the holidays, Riverfold Software is holding a contest where the winner will receive a Nintendo Wii. Entering the contest is simple using the two entry methods available. Using the first method, just post a message to twitter and include “@wii” (without the quotes) at the beginning of the message. The second method involves filling out a two line form with your email address and the email address of a friend. You can enter once via each method for a possible total of two chances to win.

As usual with many of the contests we’ve featured recently, it’s open only to US residents 18 years of age and older. If you want to win, you need to hurry since the contest ends December 15th at noon CST. You can read all the contest information, rules and fine print here. Good luck to you all!

Popularity: 29% [?]

If you want an iPhone but don’t want to put down $399, Apple Phone Show is coming to your rescue. Apple Phone Show is hosting a contest and the prize is an Apple gift card valued at $399. So if you already have an iPhone, you can still put that gift card to use.

The contest has one way to enter. Just take a picture with your iPhone or of an iPhone (or something iPhone related) and uploaded it to Flickr. Previous rules were limited to pictures taken with an iPhone but those rules were amended to allow non iPhone owners to participate. Once you upload the picture to Flickr, tag it with APPLEPHONESHOW and that’s it. If you post a link in your blog or website to the Apple Phone Show website you can enter two pictures, otherwise you can only enter one picture in the contest.

The contest ends December 31st, 2007. You must be a US resident 18 years of age or older to enter. For the full rules and additional details about the contest, visit the Apple Phone Show website here. The winner will be announced at the 2008 Macworld in January.

Popularity: 37% [?]

If you would like a free iMac and don’t mind filling out a survey, then I’ve got a link for you. Macworld is giving away a free iMac to someone who completes this survey by January 31st, 2008. The contest is limited to US residents 18 years old and older. For the official rules, visit the link above and click the drawing rules link. Good luck to everyone who enters!

Popularity: 47% [?]