We start off another week with a mix of bargains for the Mac fan. First up are several factory-refurbished Apple MacBook Air laptops from the Apple Store, starting at $849 for a1.86GHz Core 2 Duo unit with 13.3-inch screen. Also, Handhelditems has a 77 percent discount on various cases for the iPod touch. Finally, AT&T Wireless has several refurbished iPhone 4 handsets, such as a 32GB model.
Along the way, we’ll also check out the latest batch of iPhone app price cuts, including “Harry Potter: Spells.” Additionally, we’ll take a look at another sale on 160GB Apple TV units, iPhone applications and Mac software. As always, details on these and many more items can be found at CoM’s “Daily Deals” page right after the jump.
He drives a hybrid and he’s fanatical about recycling — here are some gift ideas for the man who cares about the planet. Don’t forget to recycle the packaging!
It’s two days late, but late is better than never. GreenPois0n the jailbreak for iOS devices running iOS 4.1 is here. Unfortunately the first release is for Windows and Linux only, but the developers of the hack, Chronic-Dev, expect to release a version for Mac OS X soon.
The jailbreak supports iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, the third and forth generation iPod touch, and the iPad. Although it doesn’t presently support the second generation Apple TV at this time a future update will fix that.
The release of GreenPois0n follows last weekends surprise release of Limera1n by Geohot. Afterwards, Geohot and Chronic-Dev got together, so GreenPois0n now uses the same exploit as Limera1n. This cooperation saved Chronic-Dev’s SHAtter exploit for a future jailbreaking tool.
As far as I’m concerned the hacker cooperation can continue. I appreciate what they do for people who want out of Apple’s walled garden and I hope they continue to work together on future iOS hacking tools. You can download a copy of GreenPois0n for Windows or Linux by visiting www.greenpois0n.com.
Well, it looks like Apple finally saw fit to let that one engineer responsible for it get back to work: after months of ignoring the iPad and iPhone 4’s increased resolution, the official Remote.app for iOS has finally been updated.
It’s a hell of an update, too. Obviously, Remote now runs in native resolution on the iPad and on Retina Display devices like the iPhone 4 and iPod Touch… but it looks particularly good on the iPad, where the larger display is taken advantage of to deliver an aesthetic remarkably similar to iTunes in portrait mode.
Other new additions include a new more iTunes 10 like icon, compatibility with AirPlay, support for Shared Libraries on iTunes and the new Apple TV and numerous bug and compatibility fixes. As always, you can download Remote for free on the App Store.
With the announcement of Apple TV it’s never been more apparent that physical format is dying and your collection of DVDs is becoming more obsolete by the day. However, that doesn’t mean you have to purchase all your favorite movies again just so you can enjoy streaming them to your iOS devices. Here we’re going to show you how to take your encrypted DVDs and rip them onto your Mac.
It’s easy to extrapolate from the fact that Macs don’t have Blu-Ray drives already (even as an option) that, internally, Apple is banking on digital delivery as the future of high-definition content. Now, for the first time, Steve Jobs has confirmed it in one of his characteristic email exchanges with an Apple fan.
Writing a disappointed Blu-Ray fan about the form’s absence in Apple’s line up, Jobs wrote: “Bluray is looking more and more like one of the high end audio formats that appeared as the successor to the CD – like it will be beaten by Internet downloadable formats.”
When his correspondent respond that high-end video formats had a higher uptake, citing the lack of DRM as a main driver behind Blu-Ray growth, Jobs shot down the idea.
No, free, instant gratification and convenience (likely in that order) is what made the downloadable formats take off. And the downloadable movie business is rapidly moving to free (Hulu) or rentals (iTunes) so storing purchased movies or TV shows is not an issue.
I think you may be wrong – we may see a fast broad move to streamed free and rental content at sufficient quality (at least 720p) to win almost everyone over.
I think Jobs is write that Blu-Ray is clearly an interim format, although I’m skeptical, right now, of iTunes’ dominant place in the high-definition video digital delivery ecosystem: iTunes isn’t really making the most impressive show when it comes to video compared to the likes of Netflix, and I don’t really think that’s likely to change until Apple starts taking the Apple TV more seriously than “just a hobby.” Apple needs a competitively priced and featured set-top box to really get their video strategy into play.
You can never be rich enough or thin enough, and you can never have enough storage.
I’ve been playing with Iomega’s brand new StorCenter ix2-200, a 4TB network-attached storage/home server that totally kicks NAS!
Not only is it a nice big target for Time Machine backups, it’s also an iTunes server and a Bittorrent machine. It plays nice with the Mac, and is dead easy to set up and use.
We close the week with a familiar trio: MacBook Pros (2.66GHz 17-inch screen), more MacBooks (13.3-inch 2.4GHz) from the Apple Store, and the iPod touch ($149 for an 8GB). Along the way, we also offer a laptop case for your MacBook, plus the MyPlaylists app for your iPod touch or iPhone.
For details on these and other bargains (such as 40GB Apple TVs), check out CoM’s “Daily Deals” page after the jump.
We cap off the week by highlighting a trio of tactile Mac gadgets. Keyboards are likely the way most Mac cultists commune with their Apple devices. In the New York office, I change keyboards like a woman (sexist alert) might change shoes. The “professional” keyboard included with my iMac quickly gave way to Apple’s slim-line MacBook-like keyboard. Logitech’s diNovo Edge Bluetooth wireless keyboard also sports something the company describes as “TouchDisc navigation” that appears close to the iPod’s. Next up on the tactile parade are cases. It is ironic that Apple’s design team put so much effort into creating a sleek, slick and that I-just-gotta-touch exterior, only to have owners quickly hide it behind a forest of cases. We look at a new clip-on rubber case and a crystal clear protector. Finally, after keyboards and cases, cables probably are the most dragged, pulled or kicked component. Wouldn’t it be great if the snakes nest of cables could retract into a compact house? Well, we have just the gadget for you.
For details on these and other bargains, read CoM’s “Daily Deals” page.
Want to hear some news even more shocking than Microsoft’s supposed me-too tablet? This tidbit should surely knock you back on your heels – there’s another case out for the iPhone. That’s right, it’s Friday and we have the weekend gadget roundup, including more deals on Time Capsules and Apple TVs.
For details on these and other Apple bargains (like a 17″ laptop sleeve), check out CoM’s Daily Deals page.
