Yesterday saw Apple release updates for iPhoto, Aperture, Safari and Java, although for some reason we are unable to see this update. I’ve been trying to download these for several hours now, but my iMac is telling me there are still no updates available, which seems very strange. Although, this makes me believe this is a staggered update for certain countries.

The two biggest updates were iPhoto 9.4.3 and Aperture 3.4.4, and from the bug fixes and improvements I cannot wait to update from iPhoto 9.4.2. Included are features to help improve Mountain Lion compatibility, the ability to delete photos from Photo Stream, and the crashing issue when syncing images to Facebook has finally been rectified.

As for Aperture 3.4.4, there had been several occasions when the previous version would unexpectedly quit when uploading images to Photo Stream, as well as during imports. There was also an issue where raw images would not display correctly from the Nikon P7700. Finally, thumbnails will now display in the correct size.

You can see the full release notes for the iPhoto 9.4.3 and Aperture 3.4.4 updates HERE.

Java SE 6 has now been replaced with Java for OS X 2013-002, which is said to be more secure and reliable. There’s also Java for Mac OS X 10.6 Update 15, which are both rather similar updates. There’s also Safari 6.0.4 update for Lion and Mountain Lion, and Safari 5.1.9 update for Snow Leopard.

It’s clear to see that these are just minor releases just to keep us happy until the big change that is OS X 10.9, which should bring with it a host of updates for the two apps mentioned above, as well as Safari and many other features of Mac OS X.

Have you been able to download these updates yet?

Apple CEO Tim Cook has recently taken a Town Hall session with the company’s employees to discuss the successful holiday season sales, and talk about exciting things coming in the future. Cook also took the opportunity to reveal some new Apple employee benefits according to 9To5 Mac.

The company is now one of the wealthiest corporations in the world, and is giving some of that back to some of its employees. They will soon be giving $500 discounts on new purchases of Macs, and will also get a $250 discount when buying a new iPad.

It is thought that the new discount plan will begin sometime during June, which if latest rumors are anything to go by is when the next iPhone model will be coming. Employees of the company can make use of the plan every three years, and must have been working for Apple for at least ninety days.

The Mac part of the discount plan excludes the Mac mini because it is priced close to the $500 discount. Apple employees already enjoy a 25% discount on Macs, so for many cases $500 is a big discount. Do you work for Apple or know anyone who does?

If you want to be able to tell how much free space is accessible, or you are not near to your computer Disk Alarm will alert you. Disk Alarm also lets you use your menu bar to obtain free space. The easy to use app introduced by Pomcast.biz helps with the immediate reaction needed to delete or move files.

Save time with advanced alerts and keep your computer functioning at full capacity at all times. You can monitor your free space using a percentage option. Disk Alarm 1.0.1 is available worldwide at $3.99 United States Dollars or the currency equivalent, also for use in different languages including Spanish, French, Dutch, German and US English.

Disk Alarm has an optional function of loading up every time your computer starts and you log in. Keep an eye out for a warning given previous to your update of Disk Alarm, you need to quit it. While the window is active, hit Cmd Q. then you can click the “free space” displayed in MB/GB to toggle it to a percentage.

An effective computer app for letting you know what space is left is always a welcome addition. To see more on Disk Alarm 1.0.1, visit the Apple Store.

No need to waste time rearranging icons and cleaning up your desktop, just use the free app bought to you by Old Jewel Software. Clean Slate 1.0 will be free of charge until 8 May to mark its release, after that time this app will cost $1.99 in United States dollars.

You may need to take a screenshot, record a screen movie, or do a presentation and without any clutter in the way. Clean Slate will help you hide certain icons until you need them again, double-clicking will let you see desktop icons or control-click to see icons in a menu.

A keyboard short cut is accessible for speedy usage, it is your choice put it in the dock, in the menu bar or just leave as it is. In addition, you can have any image in the picture browser using Documents folder, Pictures folder Aperture, iPhoto, and Lightroom photos or anywhere else at your disposal.

If you need to show someone something particular, Clean Slate 1.0 is a handy app to tidy up your desktop. For this limited time free app head over to the App Store.

Brought to you by Massachusetts based Gray Design Associates, the application allows users to thoroughly configure their puzzles. Until now Jigsaws Galore has only been available for the Windows platform. Almost every part of the game can be adjusted by the user to suit their requirements.

You can choose the style and size of pieces, and even the thickness of them which can be card, paper, and wood. Rotation can be turned on or off at anytime even while playing. Pieces can be automatically arranged around the edge or in a grid.

Pieces can also be arranged automatically by similar color and shape, and users can create any number of handy trays. The application comes with 64 great looking puzzles, or users can create their own from photos or screen captures.

Jigsaws Galore is currently being offered for the introductory price of $2.99 on the Mac App Store. Requires Mac OS X 10.6.6 or later.

Stem Innovation are responsible for a lot of sleek designed accessories mainly aimed at the Apple consumers and devices. On the outside these latest accessories feature performance-tuned bass-reflex ports, whilst also containing Stem Sonic iQ which is an audio enhancement technology inside.

As the article by Shane McGlaun at Slashgear explains you will be able to plug in this pair of devices using an AC adapter as well as a USB plug and will also feature the usual headphone out port but also have a configured DSP enhanced amp.

Both measure 6.55” tall and are compatible with 240V as well as 120V. You can even connect your MP3 device via an aux input. These are yours to own for $99.95 and can be purchased at Apple stores as well as online. Check out the Stem Innovation site for more information by clicking here.

What do you think of these stylish speakers? Will you be adding them to your Mac soon? Let us know in the comments below.

Although the Kindle application is probably more at home on portable devices, it does appear to be popular on other devices too. In fact, according to Marc Chacksfield over at techradar.com, Amazon Kindle has already become the fifth most popular app on the app store.

The Apple Mac version of the Kindle app offers everything you would expect from the popular eBook service, including over 775,000 titles to choose from. As noted over on the itunes.apple.com website, the list includes new releases and 107 of the 111 New York Times Best Sellers.

Over 610,000 of the books available are priced at $9.99 or less, with 79 of those being from the New York Times Best Sellers list. Users can even choose from thousands of free classics such as Pride and Prejudice or maybe The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.

Another great thing about the app is the fact that you can try many books before you buy them, with free book samples that allow you to read the first chapter. The Amazon Kindle app for Mac does require Mac OS X 10.5 or later. Do you think you’ll be downloading this app?

According to BBC News, thats 425 times the amount of the original cost. The auction was held at London’s Christie’s auction house a few days ago. There were only 200 made, which were built in Steve Jobs parents garage – how things have changed for the Apple CEO, you only have to look at the iPad and the new MacBook Air to know just what i am talking about.

The specs of the Apple-1 was said to be high in its day, just 8-bit 6502 microprocessor and 8K bytes of RAM. I do not know about you, but I would love to see one of these devices for real, this will give you a true sense of just how far Apple has come.

According to AP Marco Boglion, a private collector won the bid over the phone – not certain what he plans to do with his purchase.

Another device that was up for auction was Alan Turing’s papers to break the code of the Enigma machine; this did not make the reserve price.

How much would you have paid for the Apple-1? Was it worth $210,700?

I have already said how disappointed I was about not getting AirPrint on my iOS devices, but what’s the use of moaning – it never gets us anywhere with Apple? Anyway, back to the matter at hand. The update also offers improved graphics drivers and Exchange compatibility fixes.

According to Rik Myslewski from The Register, there are 134 vulnerabilities that have now been fixed, some of which include Apache, Adobe Flash and MySQL. That’s not the end of it, performance has also been increased, along with improvements to Bluetooth.

Just remember to backup your system before you go ahead and update your Mac device. Once you have downloaded Mac OS X v10.6.5 please let us know if you have had any issues.

Office 2011 for Mac includes the usual favorites, such as Excel, Messenger, PowerPoint and Word. However, there is something new for the 2011 edition, Outlook. This is certainly nicer than the standard mail service that Apple offers you.

Those of you who use Office Mac 2008 knows that there are a few issues, so is nice to know that Microsoft has listened to users and developed the new version into something much better. On the Office for Mac Blog, they point out that performance was one of the most important features – so nice to see that the 2011 edition will now open the applications much quicker.

Office for Mac 2011 ranges in price from store-to-store, some of the best deals will be found at Amazon, Apple, Best Buy, or by download as mentioned above.

What are your first thoughts of Office Mac 2011?