Today’s deals include iMacs starting at $399, MacBook Core 2’s (with free shipping) for $999 and more MacBook Pros, starting at $1,898. Plus, we have App Store freebies, new iPhone cases and much more.
For details on these bargains and many others, check out the CoM Daily Deals page.
TomTom’s much-anticipated car navigation software for the iPhone is finally available on the App store for $99.99.
The software wowed at Apple’s World Wide Developers Conference in June by proving the iPhone could be a platform for industrial-strength software like a turn-by-turn navigation system.
TomTom’s app offers the usual GPS features: route planning, turn-by-turn voice instructions, 6 million points of interest, and auto re-routing if a turn is missed.
But it also boasts tight integration with the iPhone, including pinching and zooming of maps, automatic rotation between portrait and landscape modes, and tight integration with the iPhone’s contact list (tap a contact and the software finds the quickest route to them).
The App also includes TomTom IQ Routes, a smart route-finding feature that recommends routes based on popular driving patterns.
Be warned: the App and it maps weigh in at a whopping 1.21GB. And at $99, the software is more expensive than rivals like CoPilot Live ($34.99), Sygic Mobile Maps ($39.99) or Google’s free Map app; but it doesn’t require a monthly service fee, like AT&T’s Navigator, which adds $10 a month on your phone bill as long as you use the app.
An optional car mount kit (pricing has not yet been announced) includes iPhone charging, a GPS-boosting antenna, a speaker for turn-by-turn instructions, and a microphone for hands-free dialing and Voice Command. The mount kit can be used in horizontal and landscape orientations.
The TomTom app is compatible with the iPhone 3G and 3GS. It is available on iTunes in four versions:
TomTom US & Canada – $99.99
TomTom Western Europe – $139.99
TomTom Australia – $79.99
TomTom New Zealand – $94.99
Pretty convincing pictures and a video of the upcoming iPod Touch with a camera have surfaced. The pictures and video show clearly the camera and microphone first hinted at in dozens of cases for the device.
Posted to a blog by Maxim Radio talk hosts Covino & Rich, the pictures and video show a prototype device with a distinctive red motherboard and a cracked screen. The blog has published several images of the device.
The prototype was a “durability test phone,” the blog’s tipster said, and was likely tossed out. It was purchased from an iPod parts dealer. According to the tipster, who claims to work with Apple:
-to show it’s real. If you look at the board, it states Apple 2009 very clear. The 2nd gen AKA iPod touch out now, has 2008 on it. They haven’t revised the 2008 touch. I will compare them in pic in a sec.
-BTW, these phones NEVER leave Apple and this one left but it was a durability test phone, so that’s why the screen is all gridded off and cracked.
-The side by side picture is the inside of the current gen vs the 3rd gen (one coming out in September).
-I acquired this from a guy that I buy parts phones and iPods from. I believe he’s a recycler in ***********, so what most likely happened is that Apple threw this away and he some how got it and sold it for parts.
Much has been said about the super-handy Flip digital video cameras. These well-designed, inexpensive cams have gotten plenty of favorable reviews.
But the question is whether they’re worth having when the iPod gets video capability.
The Flip model we tested is ripe for iPod comparison: the 8G UltraHD records two hours of video and is slightly cheaper than an 8G iPod Touch, with a price tag of $199. It shoots 720p (1,280×720) high-definition video.
So, should you wait to see what’s behind door no. 2 or stick with the Flip HD?
Full review after the jump.
An authorized Apple reseller in Portugal has started selling new cases for the upcoming, camera-equipped iPod Touch and iPod Nano.
Promai’s Jivo TPA cases look for the most part like the new cases out of China, but for one important detail: the placement of the headphone jack on the iPod Touch.
Look carefully at the Portuguese pix, and you’ll see the headphone jack has moved to the top, like the iPhone’s. But in the Chinese cases, the headphone jack is at the bottom, like current models. I’m inclined to put more faith in the Chinese cases, whose makers say they have good intelligence about Apple’s new offerings.
Hot off the Chinese forums are three new pictures of a prototype iPod Touch — or are they?
Certain details do look right. The iPod Touch has a metal backplate, like its predecessor. And the camera on the back is in the center of the device, not offset to one side like the iPhone’s — a detail first reported by Cultofmac.com.
However, there’s no microphone next to the camera — a feature indicated by the new cases Chinese manufacturers are already making for the device. Also, the Touch is pretty beaten up for a new device, even if it is a prototype.
Fake or not, something very like this is just a couple of weeks away. A new iPod Touch and iPod Nano, both with cameras, will likely be released at an Apple press event on September 8, and will cost $199/$299/S399 for 16/32/64 GB models.
As well as pictures, the new iPods will also likely be able to capture and edit video, and send clips via email, Mobile Me and YouTube.
All the forum pictures after the jump.
Today’s daily deals are perfect for the back-to-school crowd, or anyone looking to own a Mac without breaking their bank account. Remember the iconic CRT iMacs – you can own a piece of the past for $60. Love the sleek lines of a MacBook Air but the price tag disrupted your daydreams – now just $999. Looking for an iPod Video but want some spare change, too? Snag an iPod Video for just $140.
Details of these and many other deals can be found in CoM’s Daily Deals page.
After our post on yesterday’s en masse binning of hundreds of working Macs from a “PC only” school district in Florida, a reader who wished to remain anonymous sent us pics of those computers destined by that school for the trash. We also received comment from a school administrator.
First things first: here they are, stacks of laptops and neat rows of Macs destined for the rubbish heap. Our tipster says more than 208 perfectly good Macs are headed for the dump.
As many of you pointed out in the comments of yesterday’s piece, even if the school district didn’t want to use the Macs, they could’ve sold them and used the money — or given them away instead of just dumping them.
More pics of the great Florida Mac massacre & commentary after the jump.
I am a sad panda today. As you may or may not have noticed, three quarters of my big post on Apple vanished when I fixed a typo.
Why? Because I was using Blogpress, an iPhone blogging app that I had been enjoying. Here’s the thing: Blogpress has a show-stopping bug. It doesn’t correctly interpret the tags we use for jumps.
Which is pretty inexcusable. But rather than talk about how Blogpress is deeply frustrating and ruined my morning, I thought I’d make this a positive thing. Tell us what the best iPhone blog apps are. Whichever we like best will get some positive coverage, and we might even document the whole bake-off process. Developers with promo codes, bring it on.
Here are the requirements for the app:
— WordPress compatible
— Landscape keyboard
— Can edit in HTML and WYSIWYG
— Recognizes tags
— Handles categories and post management
And a little flair never hurt anyone, either.
One more thing, my parting words to Blogpress:
(Picture from D Squared in Germany)
— Post From Blogpress
Good news for haters of Apple’s glossy MacBook screens: the matte display is back as an option on the 15-inch MacBook Pro, although Apple is charging an extra $50 for it.
Check Apple’s online store. The glossy widescreen display can be replaced with an optional antiglare display. The specs are the same — 1,440 x 900 pixels and a LED backlight — but the matte display has a silver bezel around it instead of a black one. Plus it costs an extra $50.
Apple’s not selling it though. Look how the website copy downplays the antiglare option:
“Choose a standard glossy display that lets you view graphics, photos, and videos with richer colors and deeper blacks, or an optional antiglare display.”
The matte screen was already an option on the top-of-the-line 17-inch MacBook Pro, but isn’t yet offered on the entry-level 13-inch MacBook Pro. It’s just a matter of time though. I personally like the glossy screens, which I think look great. I’ve never, ever been distracted by its much hated “mirror” effect.
