Forget RAM, forget a faster CPU, forget a beefier graphics card. If you are still running a Mac with a spinning, physical hard drive, the best upgrade you can possibly make is to drop a solid-state flash drive into the machine. The immediate effect on perceived performance is stunning: it’s the difference between seeing a spinning beach ball every hour and not seeing one for months at a time.

Unfortunately, for a long time, what has kept most people from making this update to their older Macs has been price. SSDs are more expensive than physical HDDs. That’s still true, by the way, but it’s less so now than it ever has been, making this a perfect time to finally take the plunge.

Remember that audio makes up the first half of the term, “audio-visual.” Movies are just as much about sound as they are vision – a fact that Hollywood never forgets; nor should you. Apple made some fairly great improvements to the audio editing capabilities of iMovie ’11, and here they are.

Earlier this week, Microsoft revealed their new “iPad killer,” a sleek and sexy tablet they’re calling the Surface. The guys over at Gizmodo think it looks even better than the iPad and the MacBook Air. We don’t. Who’s right? What better way to find out than to grab Gizmodo’s Editor-in-Chief, Joe Brown, and let the fists fly on an all new CultCast.

Can Joe convince us that Microsoft is the coolest company in tech right now? Or will the CultCast crew enlighten the Gizmodo chief? Find out on a titillating new episode — and don’t miss the reveal of our favorite new gadgets!

Hit the subscribe button right now and read on for the show notes.

With the incredible success of the App Store, sometimes it’s easy to forgot that there are still many, many countries the world over that don’t have access to it yet. That number has been reduced today, however, as Apple brings its mobile marketplace to another 32 countries, bringing the total number of countries with access to the App Store to 155.

Nike+ Running for iPhone has received a huge update this morning, which not only introduces a fancy new look, but plenty of great new features as well.

It’s now even faster to get into a run thanks to the dedicated run button seen throughout the app, and the new landscape history view allows you to “visualize your runs side-by-side.” One of the update’s most impressive new features, however, is the ability to “tag” your running shoes and get a reminder when it’s time for a new pair.

In two days, Sonic the Hedgehog will be celebrating his 21st birthday. While Sonic goes out and parties like it’s 1999, SEGA will be discounting all digitally available Sonic games for you and I to enjoy. For a limited time, you can head over to any of the following gaming/app stores and enjoy the great deals being offered by SEGA.

One of concerns for IT departments as first iPhones and then iPads and other consumer-focused technologies began creeping into the workplace is how to support the personal devices and apps of employees. That issue took center stage this week as security vendor Fortinet identified that most millennial workers feel that support and security for their mobile devices and other technologies is their responsibility and not the responsibility of an employer or IT department.

What that means is that many IT departments may need to rethink what technical support means. That isn’t a new concept. Various studies and reports have shown that members of Gen-Y prefer to engage support resources using a range of technologies beyond a helpdesk phone line including email, texts, and social networks. As this new vision of support emerges, one model for the future help desk is the Genius Bar from Apple’s retail stores.

Since the debut of the sixth generation iPod nano in late 2010, watchband cases have become all the rage. Within only a few weeks of release, numerous iPod nano watchbands started popping up, some better than others. There’s a new watchband in town now, and it’s shaping up to be the most impressive one yet. The Syre is the first iPod nano case to feature Bluetooth technology built in.

This post is brought to you by Alex&Rovich, publisher of the RealPinocchio app.

Although everyone knows Pinocchio, to most people in the English-speaking world at least, he is the doe-eyed cartoon puppet who’s “got no strings” in the animated Disney movie made in 1940. Since then, there has not been a faithful rendition of Carlo Collodi‘s world-famous wooden creation, who first appeared in an Italian newspaper serial in 1881 and then a children’s novel two years later. This is something of a travesty for Pinocchio, who in his original appearances was a free-spirited and willful marionette, a “truant and a vagabond.”

RealPinocchio is a new app that restores the original story of the genuine Pinocchio. And the famous book is now finally interactive.

Many workplaces are looking at options for social collaboration. The idea is to harness the power of social networks as an internal communication and collaboration tool. While there are some powerful and full featured options in this space, a new iOS and Android app called Pride aims to provide the core benefits of social networks in a free service that’s extremely easy to set up, manage, and use. More importantly, Pride delivers a fun and playful experience that is likely to encourage employees to use it while delivering some very tangible business benefits.

Pride was created by mobile and social enterprise startup DoubleDutch, a company that delivers mobile CRM and event management solutions. The company’s approach is all about using mobile technology to engage with key partners – customers, clients, sales staff, event attendees, and pretty much anyone else involved in a business. That shows through in Pride as well as the companies other products.

Though you may not have heard of Kim Dotcom, you’ve mostly likely know about his large file sharing service Megaupload, which was shut down by the United States Department Of Justice in January, under copyright infringement charges. Dotcom is now back online for the time being, and has posted the above photo on Instagram showing a meeting with him and Apple’s co-founder, Steve Wozniak.

This looks like a simple trick, but the result is just hypnotic. It looks like Redditor eharp1126 just set up a screen sharing loop between two machines on his MacBook Pro, but the result is positively Escher-like… a long mirrored hallways of Mac infinity.

Source: Reddit

On average, iOS is the most expensive mobile platform for developers. It’s the second most profitable mobile platform overall behind RIM’s BlackBerry. One in three mobile developers can’t earn enough money to living from the apps that they produce.

Those are some of the details contained in a new report from mobile analyst and strategy company VisionMobile. The report delves into the heart of the so-called app economy and provides a range of information and statistics about app development, its costs, and the income potential that comes from being an iOS, Android, BlackBerry, or Windows Phone developer. If you’re considering a career as a mobile developer, this is must-read report. For the rest of us, it’s a fascinating sneak peek into the experience of app developers around the world.

Gone are the days of folding and unfolding huge maps that you get from the gas station or the Automobile Club, what with GPS, Maps apps, and the like. Using the built-in Maps app is a great way to get where you need to go, but what if you want to take your navigation to the next level? What if you need to make sure you don’t get a speeding ticket? What if you want to get your kids excited about the National Park you’re all going to see? Maps app won’t do any of that justice. Here are three apps that will, though.

Yesterday we brought you news of Tweetbot for Mac, officially confirmed by Tapbot’s own Paul Haddad via tweets sent out from the application. Today, Mark Jardine, Tweetbot’s graphic designer, has posted this picture of Tweetbot for Mac running on the new, Retina display MacBook Pro.

I’ve waited over two decades to own a real robot. It was one of those silly childhood dreams to own something straight out of Terminator that obeys commands, spies on people, and rains down havoc if need be. Even though we’re in the year 2012, we still haven’t managed to create affordable robots, which is a pretty big letdown if you ask me. Thankfully, we’re getting closer, and playing with the new Parrot AR. Drone 2.0 has given me hope that the toys of the future are going to kick some major ass.

This is your last chance to get the ultimate Slidevana package for PowerPoint and Keynote. Tired of the same old template and layouts? How do 150 PowerPoint layout plus 150 Keynote layouts strike you? That should be plenty to get you inspired and rocking your presentations.

You have to act fast though…this deal only lasts another 12 hours and then it’s gone.

Grab it now!

This week’s TIME Magazine cover story is called “The Cult of Apple in China.” On newsstands tomorrow, it’s an in-depth look at how Apple thrives in China.

The article’s author, Hannah Beech, writes: “The American company is thriving in China, even as other Western tech firms struggle with local competition and communications restrictions imposed by the authoritarian state. Apple products now serve as the ultimate totem of upward mobility in a country with a fast-growing middle class.”

That all sounds rosy, but as Beech makes clear, the future is far for certain as Apple, as the government of China increasingly becomes nationalistic. How long will they allow Apple to profit so handsomely within China without starting to try to take a bigger piece of the pie?

If you had any doubts that the world of iPhone accessories could grow any stranger or more diverse, then throw them out now. The Shaka Wind Meter proves that there are still plenty of depths yet to plumb.

The Shaka is a simple little gadget: a fan that plugs into the headphone socket of your iPhone and tells you the wind speed. It’s made for surfers, but has many more uses than that.

Who doesn’t love the Drobo? People who like to lose their data, that’s who. For the rest of us, today brings good news: New Thunderbolt-equipped Drobos, one for the desktop and one for taking on the road.

Alphyn Industries’ DELTA415 Wearcom jeans may as well have been called the Dork-O-Tron 3000, for they are nerdy in the extreme. They are also flat-out awesome, and if I was the kind of person who spent $160 on a pair of jeans, then I’d be al over them. Or all in them, I guess.

The Wearcoms are simple: the front right pocket has been replaced by a see-through phone pouch, complete with a protective flap to cover it.

If you were asked to name a company who would finally solve all of your password woes, who would it be? Apple? Google? 1Password? Lastpass?

Good guesses, but no. The company who’s going to end all of your password juggling problems is Detroit carmaker Ford. And they’re going to do it with an iOS app and a Chrome extension that means that just sitting down in front of your Mac with your iPhone in your pocket will be enough to unlock all of your accounts and profiles on the web, instantaneously.

TextExpander from Smile Software is a wonderful tool that turns text strings and images into tiny little shortcuts, saving you time and effort every time you type. It’s a little like the Shortcuts feature Apple built into iOS 5, but a million times better. You can currently find it in the Mac App Store, but we’d advise you not to buy it there.

Why? Because the Mac App Store version is the older version 3.4.2 release, and Smile Software has chosen to depart Apple’s marketplace for version 4.0. It turns out that the Cupertino company’s strict sandboxing rules, which went into effect on June 1, don’t allow some of TextExpander’s core features.

CloudOn is one of the more interesting options for working with Office documents on the iPad. The company offers a cloud-based version of the core Microsoft Office apps plus Adobe Reader. Unlike a virtual desktop solution, CloudOn provides just the applications and not a full Windows desktop. When it comes to creating and editing documents, CloudOn’s app relies on popular cloud storage options: Box, Dropbox, and Google Drive.

As a startup, CloudOn has seen strong growth since it launched its service earlier this year. The company announced a new round of funding this week ($16 million) and used the opportunity to tease users with details of its upcoming plans, most notably support for group editing and collaboration as well as expansion beyond the iPad and Android tablets. 

Laptop bags are all well and good, but sometimes, they just can’t fit what you need to carry: groceries on the way home from work, a change of clothes for the gym, a picnic lunch on a nice day or a bag of books you picked up on the way home. And while a well-made laptop bag might be very fashionable on a man, on a lady, it might not be nearly as chic.

One of our favorite bag companies, Waterfield Designs, has just outed a new bag that address both issues: the Outback Tote. And it’s a beauty.