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Traveling? iPhone can help!
Filed under: Productivity, iPhone
If you're a road warrior and an iPhone owner, chances are you are not using your beloved technology to its fullest potential. There are many applications and services that can make your trip a lot less stressful so you can focus on enjoying the trip rather than making sure everything goes according to plan. Everyone by now is accustomed to using the iPhone for browsing the web while waiting for a plane or listening to music while sitting on a bus. But did you know you can do things like check in for your flight, listen to the radio in your home town from a thousand miles away, and at some airports even get through security all using just your iPhone?

Read on, weary travelers, if you too want to learn the many ways in which the iPhone can make your entire traveling experience pleasant, even if you're traveling for business.
Continue reading Traveling? iPhone can help!
TUAW Traveling? iPhone can help! originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 27 Dec 2008 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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TUAW Holiday Giveaway-tacular Part Four: iPhone party
Filed under: Accessories, iPod Family, TUAW Business, iPhone, iPod nano, iPod touch, iPod classic

Plenty of folks are probably getting iPhone gift cards this season, and for anyone who wants to make their iPhone the hit of the party (later, once you've actually purchased and activated the thing) here's a lineup for you: some speakers (which fit just about every iPod ever made plus the iPhone), a stylus to keep grubby fingers of your precious, and a case.

I tested the JBL speakers and the stylus. The JBL speakers provide an astonishing amount of sound in such a small package. We turned it up as far as felt safe, and the kids had their fingers in their ears. Plus, at either loud or soft volume the audio was always very clear, not muddled with bass or too tinny on the high end (this was from the iPhone with no EQ).

The Pogo stylus does what it says: provides a poking stick for the iPhone's surface that works. It's a stick, and it pokes -- that's about as good a recommendation as you'll get from a stylus. The thing was just a short piece of aluminum too, so there's no heft at all. If you're used to a Mont Blanc in your hand you may be disappointed, I guess.

Thanks to Dr. Bott for the JBL On Stage 200iD Speakers, iSkin Revo2 iPhone 3G case (in red and black) and a Pogo iPhone stylus.
- Open to legal residents of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia and Canada (excluding Quebec) who are 18 and older.
- To enter leave a comment telling us what music you would play on some really loud speakers.
- The comment must be left before December 31, 11:59PM Eastern Time.
- You may enter only once.
- One winner will be selected in a random drawing.
- Prize: JBL On Stage 200iD Speakers ($149.95), iSkin Revo2 iPhone 3G case ($39.99), Pogo iPhone stylus ($19.95)
- Click Here for complete Official Rules.
TUAW TUAW Holiday Giveaway-tacular Part Four: iPhone party originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 27 Dec 2008 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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New life for your old iPod
Filed under: iPod Family, How-tos
Got an iPod gathering dust? Even if your preferred iPod is one of the shiny new ones you've recently acquired, there is still plenty of life left in those relics of iPod history.

Lifehacker just published a list of their top 10 suggestions to use an old iPod in new ways. There are some of the more common methods (such as a making a basic stereo system by adding speakers or turning it into a backup drive) and some pretty inventive ones like as turning it into a standalone portable Windows XP boot drive.

As one of the readers at LH commented, the biggest missing suggestion is to give the old iPod to a friend or family member. That's exactly what I did with my first iPod. I took my eldest niece with me when I upgraded two years ago, then presented her with my 3G iPod when she expressed an interest it. Since then, she's received a new one of her own. The iPod I purchased then is now alternating between providing music in a home speaker system and in the car.

Have you found an inventive way to recycle your old iPods? Let us know in the comments!

(Via Lifehacker)
TUAW New life for your old iPod originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 27 Dec 2008 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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TUAW Review: Scrabble for iPhone
Filed under: Gaming, Software, Reviews, iPhone, iPod touch
Hasbro's Scrabble is a classic board game, and Electronic Arts made the crossword game one of the first releases for the iPhone / iPod touch platform. Although the game has been available since July, I decided to wait to review it until some of the early bugs were squashed and new features were added. Since Scrabble is a holiday favorite for families, it's the perfect time for a review of the game.

The original board game is played with 100 small hardwood tiles, most of which have a letter of the alphabet and a point value printed on them. The playing board is a 15 by 15 grid with some squares marked as double or triple letters or words. The object, to those few people who have never played the game, is to create words from a rack of letters randomly assigned to you.

Points are assigned per word based on the individual point values of the tiles and whether a letter or word overlays a colored multiplier square. After the first word has been placed on the board, subsequent words must touch another word in crossword puzzle fashion.
Continue reading TUAW Review: Scrabble for iPhone
TUAW TUAW Review: Scrabble for iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 27 Dec 2008 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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D'Oh! The Simpsons TV makes it to iTunes
Filed under: iTS

Back in 2005, TUAW conducted a poll of its readers to see what TV series they wanted to purchase through iTunes. Among the top five was The Simpsons.

The Simpsons Movie was previously available through iTunes, but it is one of the movies that has disappeared in the past few weeks. In the past couple of days, however, the main Simpsons TV series has finally made it into the iTunes lineup.

Only the eight episodes aired thus far in season 20 are uploaded in standard definition. Hopefully earlier seasons will arrive, along with high-definition once it starts. The Simpsons (link opens iTunes) can be purchased from the U.S. iTunes Store for $1.99 an episode with a season pass for $37.99.

Or, for those wanting a free alternative in the U.S., the episodes are also on Hulu and can be streamed onto Apple TV using boxee.

Thanks for the tip, Tyler!
TUAW D'Oh! The Simpsons TV makes it to iTunes originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 27 Dec 2008 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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AT&T sells $99 refurb iPhones until end of December
Filed under: Retail, Deals, iPhone

Just last week we mention that AT&T would start selling the iPhone 3G through its website. AT&T took that idea a bit further, and is now offering an iPhone 3G at a really good deal.

Currently being offered is a refurbished 8GB iPhone 3G for only $99US (with a 2-year contract). You heard right, you can get an iPhone 3G for only $99. So the rumors about the $99 iPhone were semi-true, except this isn't Walmart, and it's only a limited deal. You can get $50 off all refurbed iPhones until December 31.

Here's how the prices break down for the refurbs:
Thanks for the tip, Binja!
TUAW AT&T sells $99 refurb iPhones until end of December originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 27 Dec 2008 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Apple looking pretty good at Amazon
Filed under: Apple Financial, Holidays, iPod touch
For many online and brick and mortar stores, it has not been a great holiday season. Even with all the after-Christmas sales today, retailers are saying they do not expect to be able to make up for the effects of a dismal economy.

For Amazon, however, things went very well. Today Amazon reported that this has been their best season so far, shipping an amazing 72.9 items per second. Amazon has not reported profits, so with deep discounting they may not have made as much money as last year, even though they have sold more items.

In the electronics category, where computers and MP3 players sit, the Apple iPod touch was a best seller. Of the 25 best selling notebook computers, 7 were Apple laptops when I checked. (These numbers change hourly.) Only one other laptop that sells for more than 500 dollars made the top 25, a Toshiba for $599. The rest of the top sellers were all under $500 and included several netbooks. Are you listening, Apple? Netbooks are catching on. What is so interesting is that Apple users did not seem to be very sensitive to price, and the best selling Apple notebook was not the cheapest, but was in fact the new unibody MacBook.

For desktop computer sales, 3 of the 5 best sellers are Macs, but note these numbers change hourly too. Dell and HP round out the top 5. While not authoritative, Apple seems to weathering some of the economic recession. When Apple releases holiday benchmarks for their retail and online store, the results should be interesting.
TUAW Apple looking pretty good at Amazon originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 26 Dec 2008 16:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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SimCity for iPhone: A week later
Filed under: Gaming, iPhone, iPod touch
Last week, Electronic Arts finally released SimCity for the iPhone. Like Rolando, which came a day later, SimCity was an eagerly anticipated game with a lot of high expectations. On the surface, it looks fantastic. The graphic capabilities really shows off what the capacity of the iPhone is capable of and it's very addicting.

One reader comment stated that our initial review wasn't really a full-on review, and that it only scraped the surface. In a way, he was correct. A game like SimCity is something that you play over time on the iPhone, and you actually can dedicate a lot of effort to it. Last week's review was based on observations after only a few hours of play. SimCity is a game where certain effects on the system can't be felt until you've played it longer than a day. In this case, it's been eight days since my previous review, and a lot of the game's faults have started springing up during that time.

So, what's the game like after a week?

Continue reading SimCity for iPhone: A week later
TUAW SimCity for iPhone: A week later originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 26 Dec 2008 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Get VMWare Fusion 2.0 at a steal, after rebates, free upgrade
Filed under: Software, Deals
If you have been waiting to get your hands on VMWare's Fusion, then now is the perfect time. Fusion is the software that allows you to run Windows, Linux, and now Mac OS X Server in a virtual machine right inside of Mac OS X! And you don't have to pay the regular $79.99US for it either.

MacMall is currently offering VMWare Fusion 1.0 for $14.99US after a $20US mail-in rebate. Fusion 1.0 can be upgraded to the newest version (2.0) via a free upgrade available from VMWare. You can grab this after-holiday sale item from the MacMall website.

Know of more holiday sale items online? Tell us about them in the comments!

Thanks to Karl for the tip!
TUAW Get VMWare Fusion 2.0 at a steal, after rebates, free upgrade originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 26 Dec 2008 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Creaceed's HDR photography contest
Filed under: Cool tools, Odds and ends, Graphic Design
Although many TUAW contests are limited to North American participants, here's a contest sponsored by a Belgian Mac development firm that is open to everybody!

Creaceed's Hydra 1.6 software is a Leopard-only solution for creating HDR (High Dynamic Range) photographs. If you're not familiar with HDR photography, it's a way of creating photographs that are closer to what the human eye actually sees (view Flickr gallery). To do this, you take two or more photos of the same scene; some are overexposed, some underexposed, some are just right.

For example, if you see a beautiful sunset with your own eyes, you can see details in both the sunset and the surrounding landscape. Since digital camera CCDs don't have the same dynamic range as your eyes, photos of the sunset usually show the landscape as being too dark. If you get the landscape "right", the sunset is washed out.

Hydra takes those photographs, aligns them, and then performs some algorithmic magic to create HDR images that are perfectly exposed across the entire photograph.

If you got a new digital camera for Christmas, give Hydra a try, and then enter your best HDR images into Creaceed's contest. Entry details can be found here -- good luck!
TUAW Creaceed's HDR photography contest originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 26 Dec 2008 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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TUAW Holiday Giveaway-tacular Part Three: cool portable accessories
Filed under: Accessories, Portables, TUAW Business

Were you lucky enough to get one of Apple's new, greener portables? Today's prize bundle is geared for the mobile computer user and includes a Thermapak lap pad that helps to cool the machine, a lock to secure the machine in public and an iKlear polish kit for the screen.

I had a chance to use the lap cooling pad, and on my 1st-gen MacBook Pro running Flash and getting quite hot, the pad did a great job of cooling the machine down. There are crystals inside the pad, and as they get hot, they melt, which helps dissipate the heat. My lap no longer felt hot, and when I lifted up the computer the bottom didn't feel painful to the touch. The pad had gone from crunchy to gooey as well, which my kids thought was awesome.

Thanks to Dr. Bott for the prizes today, each of which are among their most popular items.
- Open to legal residents of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia and Canada (excluding Quebec) who are 18 and older.
- To enter leave a comment on this post.
- The comment must be left before December 31, 11:59PM Eastern Time.
- You may enter only once.
- One winner will be selected in a random drawing.
- Prize: Thermapak Laptop cooling pad ($30), MicroSaver notebook lock ($44.99), iKlear Apple Polish kit ($24.95),
- Click Here for complete Official Rules.
TUAW TUAW Holiday Giveaway-tacular Part Three: cool portable accessories originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 26 Dec 2008 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Friday Favorite: Mac HelpMate
Filed under: Software, Cool tools, Troubleshooting, Friday Favorite
I'll open this Friday Favorite with a caveat -- Mac HelpMate is not an app that just anyone is going to want to license. However, if you're a Mac consultant and/or do system support for many Mac users, this is an application you should consider.

Mac HelpMate is the brainchild of Dean Shavit, an Apple Certified System Administrator based in Chicago, Illinois. Dean's goal in producing Mac HelpMate was to eliminate many of the issues that Mac support professionals deal with when trying to perform remote support tasks for their clients. What are those issues? Usually, they consist of trying to reach the end user's network through a maze of firewalls and routers. For example, one of the major issues with Apple's Back To My Mac remote access and control technology is that it doesn't work with many cable or DSL modems that don't support UPnP (Universal Plug-and-Play) or NAT-PMP (NAT - Port Mapping Protocol).

Mac HelpMate provides zero-configuration remote access through a proxy server run by Shavit's company, eliminating the hassles of trying to talk clients through configuration of their Macs and network hardware.
Continue reading Friday Favorite: Mac HelpMate
TUAW Friday Favorite: Mac HelpMate originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 26 Dec 2008 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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So you just got an Apple TV -- now what?
Filed under: iTS, Apple TV, Holidays

All day on December 25, TUAW presents "Now What?" We've got first steps and recommendations for all the Apple gifts you (hopefully!) found under the tree today. Happy holidays!

The Apple TV launched almost two years ago and has yet to really "take off." That's OK, with more and more downloadable HD content, improved support for stuff like podcasts and Airtunes and some awesome third-party solutions, the Apple TV can easily become a great media center.

Did Santa bring you an Apple TV this year? These are my tips for making it even more awesome!

Boxee It

I've made no secret about my unabashed love for boxee, the awesome media center with a social kick that can run on your Apple TV. It should be no surprise that my first piece of advice is that you set-up boxee on your Apple TV as soon as you get it connected to your TV and home theater.

Need an invite? If you don't have a friend to ask, check out the boxee forums, hit up the boxee Twitter feed or pester me (@film_girl) and you should be able to get one pretty quickly. On January 8th, 2009, boxee will be opening up the alpha for everyone.

After you've updated your Apple TV to the latest firmware, follow my instructions or take a look the information at the ATV USB Creator project page for the the details on making a patchstick. The process is extremely easy and you just need a USB stick (1 GB or more recommended) and a few minutes to get everything up and running.

Once boxee is installed, you can enjoy Hulu (if you live in the US), streaming video from other services, last.fm and playback of other file types that won't natively play on the Apple TV; you can store those files either on the Apple TV, or that you access from another hard drive.

Learn about the other cool software add-ons

I really love the Awkward TV Wiki, which is a great way to stay abreast of the latest programs and hacks users have created for the Apple TV. Most of these plugins can be installed via a patchstick -- like boxee -- and they run on-top of the existing Apple TV interface. Some of the coolest utilities, like Couchsurfer, have recently been updated for firmware 2.3.

Although modifying your Apple TV does come with some risks (you might have to do a factory restore if something goes wrong), the methodology of applying said modifications has become much, much easier and you really aren't putting your Apple TV at risk. Still, keep in mind that Apple won't provide any technical support for a modified Apple TV (which means, restore it to factory settings before sending it back :-)).

Try out a new remote, ore the iPhone/iPod touch remote app

One of the most usefulf feature additions in firmware 2.3 is the ability to program a universal remote to work with the Apple TV. If you have a really nice programmable remote, like the Logitech Harmony, you've already been able to use it with the Apple TV -- but now you can do the same thing with your TV or receiver remote.

Even better, if you have an iPhone or iPod touch, the Remote app [iTunes link] is pretty awesome. The Remote app let's you control music from your Apple TV -- which is fantastic if you want to use the ATV as a music center.

Rent some holiday movies or buy a holiday TV show

'Tis the season! Rent or buy a Christmas movie directly from the Apple TV! You can also peruse some holiday TV classics, like The Best Christmukkah Ever from the first season of The O.C.
TUAW So you just got an Apple TV -- now what? originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 25 Dec 2008 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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So you just got a hard drive -- now what?
Filed under: Accessories, Hardware, How-tos, Holidays

All day on December 25, TUAW presents "Now What?" We've got first steps and recommendations for all the Apple gifts you (hopefully!) found under the tree today. Happy holidays!

Some good soul gifted you with a hard drive for the holidays. I can't think of a better gift! There are two ways to use that extra disk space -- the right way, which I'll get to in a moment, and the way many people do it, which is to just expand their disk space because they are running out of room.

I'm here to tell you that is the wrong thing to do with a new hard drive if you don't have a backup strategy already. Let's make a few assumptions here. The new drive has a USB 2.0 interface, or it has a Firewire 400 or 800 interface. It also is at least as large as your primary hard drive. Even better if it is bigger. Use that drive as a backup device, not for more disk space. Old hands around computers already know this, but if you are just getting started, it really is extra important to have all your files duplicated on another drive.

With any computer, stuff happens, like a sudden power surge, a drive failure, or a kid in the house who loves to see how the Mac trash can works. Can you really afford to lose all those pictures, emails, documents and CDs you lovingly ripped to iTunes? I didn't think so.

Getting a heavy duty back up is not too challenging. If you plug a brand new drive in, your Mac (assuming you have Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard) will ask you if you'd like to use it as a Time Machine drive. Time Machine is Apple's built-in backup solution, and it is great for people who constantly change or update files and sometimes have a good reason to go back and get the old versions. The larger your extra drive, the further you can 'go back in time'. Time Machine allows you to restore all the data, but it can take several hours and may require your original system DVD if your machine isn't bootable.

Read on for more...
Continue reading So you just got a hard drive -- now what?
TUAW So you just got a hard drive -- now what? originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 25 Dec 2008 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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So you just got a camcorder -- now what?
Filed under: iLife, Multimedia, Video, Holidays
All day on December 25, TUAW presents "Now What?" We've got first steps and recommendations for all the gifts you (hopefully!) found under the tree today. Happy holidays!

Did Santa leave you a camcorder for Christmas? If he did, you probably did what most people do -- ripped open the package, slapped a battery pack on it, and started recording the fun. Hopefully you're reading this post before you've succumbed to that temptation, so you can avoid issues later on. Here are some hints to make your future as a filmmaker as trouble-free as possible.

1) Read The Manual. Most people tend to toss out the manual with the wrapping paper, but for something as complex as a camcorder it's a good idea to keep and read the manual. Sure, with a point and shoot camcorder like a Flip Mino you can get away with giving the camcorder a quick charge and then going to town recording the kids bouncing off the walls in a sugar-induced frenzy. But if you were really good and Santa got you a high-end HD camcorder with a powerful zoom lens, image stabilization, and other cool features, you'd better learn how to use them.
Continue reading So you just got a camcorder -- now what?
TUAW So you just got a camcorder -- now what? originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 25 Dec 2008 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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TUAW Holiday Giveaway-tacular Part Two: so you got a used nano?
Filed under: Accessories, TUAW Business, iPod nano

Budgets are tight, we get that. So this holiday season, if all you could afford for yourself or a loved one was a 3rd-gen nano, we've got a trio of cases for you: one for running, one for general protection and one with little built-in speakers, for sing-alongs.

Again, courtesy Dr. Bott: ifrogz Audiowrapz ($24.99), Griffin Streamline ($20.99), ifrogz Treadz ($14.95)
- Open to legal residents of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia and Canada (excluding Quebec) who are 18 and older.
- To enter leave a comment telling us what your favorite color is, if you have one.
- The comment must be left before December 31, 11:59PM Eastern Time.
- You may enter only once.
- One winner will be selected in a random drawing.
- Prize: ifrogz Audiowrapz ($24.99), Griffin Streamline ($20.99), ifrogz Treadz ($14.95)
- Click Here for complete Official Rules.
TUAW TUAW Holiday Giveaway-tacular Part Two: so you got a used nano? originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 25 Dec 2008 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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So you just got an iPhone -- now what?
Filed under: iPhone, Holidays
All day on December 25, TUAW presents "Now What?" We've got first steps and recommendations for all the Apple gifts you (hopefully!) found under the tree today. Happy holidays!

Congratulations, you've finally gotten an iPhone! It's either your very first one, or you've managed to upgrade to the iPhone 3G. As with any new hardware purchase, now you get to have even more fun selecting accessories for it.

How to use your iPhone
There is plenty of information out there if you're looking for a basic guide to the functions of your new iPhone. One of the best sources for free information is right here at TUAW. Here's a couple of tips to help you get started:
- Taking screenshots: Hold down the home button and then quickly press the sleep/wake button. You'll see a flash and hear the sound of a camera click, and a screenshot of your current screen will be placed in the Camera Roll under Photos.
- Back to home: If you're browsing a page on a home screen other than the initial one, press the home button again and it'll take you back to the first page of the home screen. You can also speed-scroll through your home screens by tapping to the left or the right of the white & gray page indicator dots at the bottom of the screen.
- Back to the top of the screen: In both Mobile Mail and Mobile Safari, if you've scrolled down to the bottom of the page and want to get back to the top easily, just tap the menu bar and your page will spring back to the beginning.
Headphones
If you're like a good many people, you want to replace the stock Apple earbuds as soon as possible. I love my Bose In-Ear headphones, for example. Shure is another excellent brand for purchasing earbuds, and their SE110MPA Sound Isolating Stereo Headset includes an inline microphone and a control button for receiving and ending calls. Sennheiser also makes a similar headset, but for a lower price. For the true audiophiles, there's Etymotic's hf2 headset. If you have $350 to spend, there is the Beats headphones by Dr. Dre.

If you like Apple's headset but find that it's a poor fit, then it's worth the $9 to purchase a set of BudFits. They attach onto Apple's earbuds and then wrap around your earlobe for a very secure fit.
Continue reading So you just got an iPhone -- now what?
TUAW So you just got an iPhone -- now what? originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 25 Dec 2008 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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So you just got an iMac -- now what?
Filed under: iMac, Holidays

All day on December 25, TUAW presents "Now What?" We've got first steps and recommendations for all the Apple gifts you (hopefully!) found under the tree today. Happy holidays!

It was probably the biggest box under the tree (unless you really splurged on the anniversary edition of the Radio Flyer wagon); now that you've got your new, speedy iMac unpacked and plugged in, what's next?

USB + Input

Despite a full set of three USB ports on the back of the iMac, you're inevitably going to need more ports up front at some point. A hub that makes a fashion-forward statement -- or a retro one -- will be a nice add-on for your machine. If you're going to be importing loads of holiday pictures from your new digicam to your iMac, a standalone SD card reader will be faster than using the camera's tethered upload.

If you're feeling restricted by the included wired Mighty Mouse, you could spring for the wireless Bluetooth version... but believe it or not, Microsoft makes a snazzy Mac-friendly wireless mouse too.

Storage

If you've already got a Time ~~Machine~~Capsule or other outboard storage, you're all set to begin backing up your new iMac; otherwise, a drive for backup should be first on your post-Christmas shopping list. Western Digital's MyBook Studio Edition matches your iMac's aluminum finish and provides quad-interface storage for backups and more. If you forgo the Firewire, you can find USB-only 1TB drives for around $100US -- no excuse not to get the storage you need. Of course, if you need lots of storage, there is another way.

Continue reading So you just got an iMac -- now what?
TUAW So you just got an iMac -- now what? originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 25 Dec 2008 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Aurora Feint announces two new iPhone games
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Gaming, Software, Odds and ends, Deals, iPhone, iPod touch
Stick with us here: first, there was the free Aurora Feint: The Beginning, which has recieved some pretty rave reviews as one of the first iPhone games. Then there was Aurora Feint II: The Arena, which added multiplayer and some much-awaited MMO features. And now the folks behind it all have announced two more Aurora Feint games: there's Aurora Feint II: The Beginning, which features the gameplay of the first game with new graphics and the extra MMO features included, and Aurora Feint II: The Tower Puzzles, which contains more of the gameplay seen in the "Tower" location in the full game. Got all that?

The Arena and The Beginning are not compatible -- The Arena offers multiplayer, while The Beginning is all singleplayer. And the second version (II) of The Beginning is still singleplayer, but offers the MMO features introduced in The Arena along with the singleplayer gameplay. And The Tower Puzzles is more puzzles based on the "Tower" mode, and according to the iTunes description, does not include the MMO features. Whew. Complicated, no?

The good news is that it's all cheap -- for now, anyway. The very first game is still free. The Beginning (version II) and The Tower Puzzles are both 99 cents right now as an introductory price, to go up to $2.99 and $1.99 respectively in January. And The Arena is $7.99 -- pricey, but it's the only place you can dive into multiplayer (and it's also not compatible with both versions of The Beginning). All are available in the App Store right now, and even if you don't want any of them, feel free to scan your eyeballs over the pretty pictures below.

Gallery: Aurora Feint
TUAW Aurora Feint announces two new iPhone games originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 24 Dec 2008 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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