We start today’s review of Apple bargains with white 13.3-inch Core 2 MacBooks for $599. After yesterday’s $600 dock/stereo on steroids from Bose, we get back to basics with a simple dock with remote control. Rounding out the day’s top three deals: a 17-inch MacBook Pro for $1,999.
For details on these and other items (like the 60 percent off deal on iPod and iPhone accessories), check out CoM’s “Daily Deals” page.
Steve Jobs made a welcome return to the public eye last week at a special music event to introduce Apple’s 2009 holiday iPods.
“The September music event was classic Apple. It marked the return of the world’s greatest corporate storyteller,” says communications coach, Carmine Gallo, author of The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs: How to be Insanely Great in Front of Any Audience.
Gallo’s book will be published later this month by McGraw-Hill and can be pre-ordered now from Amazon. Gallo’s written some insightful analyses of Steve’s presentations in the past, so we asked him to take a look at last week’s event. After the jump, Gallo breaks down his top ten presentation tips from Jobs’ latest speech.
We end the week with a continuing flood (alright, two) of iPods. Today it is the touch’s turn, with 8GB and 32GB models on sale. We all knew love was on life support, but Apple’s iTunes Store gives us the bad news: Love is Dead – and free. Finally, there are the Digital Performance Glasses from Metropole. They may not give you x-ray vision, but they are way cool.
Details on these and many other bargains are as close as clicking to the next page of CoM’s Daily Deals.
Apple’s new fifth-generation iPod nano, now with a video camera, is a perfect pearl of 21st-century technology. It’s a lovely piece of electronic jewelry that does almost everything except dispense pints of beer.
It can record video, play movies, store weeks’ worth of music, wake you in the morning, remind you of a dental appointment, record how many steps you walked to work, and how long it took you. It remembers all your contacts, records voice memos, stores your shopping lists and plays a bunch of games that are controlled by tipping and tilting the beautiful little device.
It’s easy to get complacent about Apple’s iPods, new ones come out so often. They’ve got to be 3D holographic auto-mastubators to get anyone’s attention. But take a step back, and it’s pretty astonishing how much advanced technology is stuffed into such a tiny device, and how beautifully it’s done.
The OS 3.1.1 update for iPhone and iPod touch is available now from Apple’s servers. Plug in your device, go to iTunes and hit “Update.”
Details after the jump.
You just installed Snow Leopard. Now what?
Here’s the best 10 tips and tricks we found for putting the beast to best use.
Today’s deals include Apple’s back to school sale on free iPods when buying a MacBook or iMac, classic iPods starting at $180, $49 8GB iPhone 3Gs and much more.
Details on these bargains and many others can be found at CoM’s Daily Deals page.
Today’s gadgets seem perfect for any iCowboy (or iCowgirl) lookin’ to rustle up some deals on Apple gear. For those packin’ an iPhone, we have a leather iPhone holster. If you need some accompaniment on those long cattle drives, there is a $40 deal on iPod speakers from Logitech. Finally, it gets dusty out on the range, so we also have 60 percent off on screen protectors.
For details on these and many other bargains (maybe even a cowboy dictionary) you can belly-up to the CoM Daily Deals page.
Sling Media has submitted an update to its groovy SlingPlayer Mobile app for iPhone that promises, among other things, true 16:9 widescreen support and, in markets not saddled with an exclusive AT&T service provider’s agreement, TV streaming over 3G.
Slingbox owners with DISH Network will also be able to navigate using a touch-supported native browser, instead of pushing through the TV-standard browsing screen being streamed in by the current version of the app.
Of course, the upgrade must first be approved by the App Store review overlords, and by now it’s well known what a capricious bet that can be. Sling Media has submitted a version for use outside of the US that would allow for streaming over a 3G connection, according to reports, and it’s no certainty Apple will approve such functionality for its customers abroad, either.
What is certain is that, regardless what Apple may feel about streaming TV over 3G, the specter of AT&T’s exclusive service agreement in the iPhone’s largest market effectively prevents US consumers from realizing the full potential of Apple’s inventiveness.
Netflix’s fantastic streaming movie service is coming to the iPhone and iPod Touch, according to a report in the trade mag Multichannel News.
Citing “an industry executive familiar with Netflix’s plans,” the trade mag says Netflix’s Watch Instantly service is headed to the iPhone, iPod Touch and the Nintendo Wii. However, because of bandwidth concerns, it will likely be available only over WiFi and not AT&T’s 3G network, MN says.
Either way, it’s great news.
I’m a subscriber and a big fan of Netflix’s service, which I find to be easier, more convenient and much, much cheaper than Apple’s iTunes. For about $20 a month, we get to stream a wide a wide variety of TV shows and movies from Netflix instead of paying a la carte for rentals or purchases from iTunes.
Indeed, Netflix’s Watch Instantly is the strongest of the online on-demand video services — the gold standard for content on demand.
The selection isn’t comprehensive, but I find it to be pretty good. There’s not the latest releases, but there’s a pretty deep and wide library of great movies, which is more than can be said for iTunes, which I find unbearably popcorn and shallow.
In addition, Netflix movies stream quickly, the quality is great, even on a big 42-inch HDTV, and we’ve never, ever encountered a problem — a rare and astonishing testament to the company’s technology. (We use the service through a Samsung Blu-Ray player which streams Netflix and Pandora).
The service is already available on a wide range of devices from Windows PCs and Macs, to the Xbox 360, TiVo and several Blu-Ray DVD players with support for streaming downloads.
