Gamers looking for a solid digital delivery platform on the Mac are notoriously hard up. Actually, scratch that: Mac gamers are notoriously hard up.

The good news here, then, is that recent betas of Valve Software’s popular Steam delivery system contain files that strongly hint that the “App Store for Windows Games” service is coming to OS X. These files are a new “osx.menu” file and graphics for Mac window buttons.

The bad news, unfortunately, is it’s not likely to make much difference: one of the reasons Steam is so great on Windows is because it has tens of thousands of games available for it. The library on the Mac is far more paltry, and OS X gamers are simply better off using Steam through Boot Camp to play the latest games than waiting two to four years for a company to maybe get around to releasing a sloppy OS X port of a game the PC world has already forgotten about.

Steam’s a great service, so I don’t doubt it’ll be useful… but publishers aren’t getting any more serious about OS X as a gaming platform. If you’re not on iPhone OS, Apple gaming is just pretty much dead. The best can be said about this development is that it may indicate that Valve is interested in porting its own games to OS X, all of which require Steam in order to run. Team Fortress 2 or Portal on the Mac is a pretty thought, but hardly likely to revolutionize anything.

Sure, Apple stuffs the iPhone full of perfectly functional apps before they hit stockrooms. Ok, more-or-less functional. Look, who are we kidding here: Many of the iPhone’s native apps are about as functional as a box of matches; sure, I can get a fire started with it (maybe) — but if I really want to set something ablaze, I’d rather have a butane torch. Or a flamethrower.

Today we go back in time in our way-back machine to the days of G3 iMacs. A number of refurbished oldies-but-goodies lead-off our top deals, including a 500Mhz 15-inch CRT desktop for $39. Also on tap, a new category, App Store titles aimed at children, including Farmer Fred’s Animal Farm learning game. Finally, a plethora of stereo systems for your iPod, including the $29.99 Pixxo MiniBooMX iPad speakers. The system offers an FM tuner, alarm, and plays tunes from your iPod, but no recharging dock.

As always, details on these and many other items, are available at CoM’s “Daily Deals” page right after the jump.

A new survey out indicates people are still interested in buying an iPad, but possibly not in the same numbers as before the tablet device was a known quantity. The figures seem to echo those released earlier this month showing a drop in demand for the new Apple product after the Cupertino, Calif. company’s public announcement.

The latest survey conducted by ChangeWave Research for RBC Capital says 13 percent of people asked are either very or somewhat likely to purchase an iPad. A September survey by ChangeWave for RBC found demand for an unspecified Apple tablet priced between $500 and $700 at 21 percent.

Is Amazon planning to morph its Kindle e-reader into an all-purpose tablet PC and take on Apple? That’s the thinking of one analyst who views a Monday announcement with Microsoft as potentially the first signs of a ‘KindlePad.’

“Amazon is going to build a ‘KindlePad,'” MKM Partners analyst Tim Boyd told Barron’s Monday. Amazon will pay an undisclosed amount for a cross-licensing deal with Microsoft. The arrangement gives the online retailer access to the software giant’s intellectual property while Microsoft can use Amazon’s Linux-based servers. Amazon’s Kindle is specifically mentioned.

Amazon may have sold 3 million Kindles since the e-book reader was introduced, a recent report suggested. Although the company has been reticent about specific sales figures, CEO Jeff Bezos told analysts “millions” of consumers own Kindles.

Office for Mac isn’t exactly a software suite most Apple fans pick up unless they absolutely have to, but if you don’t mind compromising your integrity a little bit, you can pimp Office on Twitter a little bit and automatically enter yourself into a drawing to win one of two 2.53GHz, 15-inch MacBook Pros.

All you need to do is either follow officeformac on Twitter, or retweet @officeformac while including the #officeformac hashtag. With a little bit of luck, you’ll win one of the garishly repainted, Office-branded MacBook Pros.

Unfortunately, it’s only open to residents of the US or Canada, which means Microsoft is missing a golden opportunity to bribe at least this Germany-based Apple blogger into saying some good things about their products. If you’re interested, you better get moving: the give-away ends on Thursday.

[via TUAW]

Tomorrow is Steve Jobs’ 55th birthday. Many happy returns Steve.

Steve Jobs was born February 24, 1955.

To celebrate his birthday, we’re replaying Jobs’ great 2005 commencement speech to Stanford University’s graduating class.
Delivered just a year after being treated for cancer, Jobs is uncharacteristically open about life and death. If you’re interested in learning more about when Steve Jobs was born, check out this detailed look at his life and legacy.

Jobs tells three simple stories from his life, and they all include some some great advice. He advises to trust your gut, follow your heart and do what you love.

It’s a great speech. The video is 15 minutes long. If you haven’t seen it, you should.

The video and full transcript of the speech after the jump.

Complaints from women are behind Apple’s recent purge of sex-themed apps, Phil Schiller told the New York Times.

Philip W. Schiller, head of worldwide product marketing at Apple, said in an interview that over the last few weeks a small number of developers had been submitting “an increasing number of apps containing very objectionable content.”

“It came to the point where we were getting customer complaints from women who found the content getting too degrading and objectionable, as well as parents who were upset with what their kids were able to see,” Mr. Schiller said.

Apple’s App Store Porn Police or, perhaps the Puritanical Posse, if you prefer — has its work cut out if it’s to make Steve Job’s new decision stick and ban “overtly sexual apps” on the App Store.

As a previous post pointed out, some culling of the filth and froth has already begun, invariably taking down relative innocents in its wake. But the images posted here, snagged within the past half hour from the iTunes menu of available titles, give an idea of how thin the ranks may have to become before Apple’s online emporium has as squeaky clean a catalog as some might want.

Tellingly, too, it will be interesting (as some comments to the ongoing SEXGATE coverage have pointed out) whether Playboy and Sports Illustrated will ever be deemed too “overtly sexual” to have a place at the App Store table.

Hypocrisy, is thy name Apple?

We kick-off the last week of February with two hardware deals and one software bargain. First up is a Mac Pro for $2,649. The desktop unit has 4 cores and pumping at 2.66GHz. Next is a fresh batch of App Store freebies, including geoLocals 3, a location-based search search application. The final top deal is the CiragnoTV Mini USB media device. You can take video stored on USB or a memory card and display it all either on a TV with HDMI or a simple AV connection.

As always, for details on these products plus many others, be sure to check out CoM’s “Daily Deals” page right after the jump.