One vaunted feature of Apple’s Mac OS X v10.4 “Tiger” release is “Dashboard,” a new technology that enables developers to create Widgets, a mini-application of sorts that can do anything from display a clock or calculator to retrieve info from the Internet, enhance other applications and more. Apple hopes to spur interest in Dashboard Widget development through its new Dashboard Widget Contest — the winner gets public recognition and a 40GB iPod.
The Widgets themselves are based on Apple’s Web Kit, and can be constructed using JavaScript, HTML and CSS. The Software Development Kit (SDK) and documentation are already included in the Mac OS X Tiger Developer Preview release seeded to ADC members.
Apple is accepting submissions from Apple Developer Connection (ADC) members whose memberships include access to pre-release versions of Mac OS X v10.4. Submissions must be made by November 30, 2004. The contest is open to Apple developers in the United States and a number of other countries — please visit the Web site for the official rules.