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Dan’s Holiday Gift Guide: rare Apple collectibles & swag for the techie who has everything

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Apple fans are a dedicated bunch. Many of us diehards run out and buy every new gadget, making it nearly impossible for friends and family to come up with an original gift idea related to one of our biggest passions. My holiday gift guide includes items that you can’t buy from your local Apple store, but are sure to delight any fan of the company. These aren’t complementary products like a nice iPhone stand or Apple Watch band, but rather hard-to-find swag and collectibles that only real Apple fans would appreciate. Head below to take a look at my outside-the-box gift ideas for the Apple lover in your life:

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9to5Toys Last Call: ecobee3 Smart Thermostat $180, LEGO iOS sale, Drive Genius 4 Mac download $50, more

Keep up with the best gear and deals on the web by signing up for the 9to5Toys Newsletter. Also, be sure to check us out on: TwitterRSS FeedFacebookGoogle+ and Safari push notifications.

Today’s can’t miss deals:

Last Call Updates:

App Store Free App of the Week: Worms3 ($5 value)

 

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Home: ecobee3 Smart Thermostat (not HomeKit) $180 (Orig. $250), KRUPS Espresso Machine (Prime only) $30 (Orig. $60)

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LEGO iOS sale: Movie Video Game hits lowest price ever, Lord of the Rings & Harry Potter $1 ea. (Reg. $5), more

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Drive Genius 4 the award-winning app for maintaining & repairing your Mac: $50 (Orig. $99)

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Logitech $20 off $49: MX Master Wireless Mouse $80 shipped (Reg. $100), gaming accessoriesmore

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Amazon’s Dash Replenishment Service is here and Prime members can order today

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Amazon’s new Launchpad store offers the latest gadgets from crowdfunding campaigns and startups

More new gear from today:

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Daily Deals: AOC 16-inch USB-Powered Portable LED Monitor $82, Jabra STEALTH Bluetooth Headset $66, more

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LEGO and Star Wars come together once again in this gorgeous new photography book

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More deals still alive:

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Free PS Plus Games for August: Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris, Limbo, more

Free Xbox Live Gold Games for August: Metal Gear Solid V Ground Zeroes, more

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New products & more:

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Livescribe announces new Echo Smartpen Pro Edition with 8GB of storage

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The LEGO Architect shows you how to build exact replicas of famous buildings and homes

9to5Toys Last Call: MFi Lightning cable $6, Logitech $20 off $49, Chromecast w/ $10 Amazon gift card $30, more

Keep up with the best gear and deals on the web by signing up for the 9to5Toys Newsletter. Also, be sure to check us out on: TwitterRSS FeedFacebookGoogle+ and Safari push notifications.

Today’s can’t miss deals:

Last Call Updates:

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Amazon’s Dash Replenishment Service is here and Prime members can order today

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MFi Lightning cables: iOrange 6.6-foot w/ LED indicator $12, Anker 3-foot in white $6 (Orig. $10)

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Logitech $20 off $49: MX Master Wireless Mouse $80 shipped (Reg. $100), gaming accessoriesmore

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Google Chromecast HDMI Streaming Media Player + $10 Amazon gift card: $30 Prime shipped ($45 value)

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Amazon’s new Launchpad store offers the latest gadgets from crowdfunding campaigns and startups

More new gear from today:

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LEGO iOS sale: Movie Video Game hits lowest price ever, Lord of the Rings & Harry Potter $1 ea. (Reg. $5), more

Games/Apps: Worms3 goes free for the first time, Dual Xbox One controller charging system $20, freebiesmore

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Daily Deals: Atari Retro Gaming Console $35, 13” Retina MacBook Pro (Mid 2014) $1,499, more

More deals still alive:

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Cut the cord! Mohu Leaf 50 Ultimate HDTV Antenna (open box): $30 shipped (Orig. $90)

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Headphones: Sony MDR-7506 Professional Folding $70 (Reg. $100), Beyerdynamic DT 1350 $150 (Orig. $300+), more

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Apple’s massive iOS sale w/ 100 apps for $0.99 ea: Rayman, Angry Birds, Pixelmator, Spider-Man, many more

Free McGraw-Hill iOS apps for kids: Monster Squeeze, more (Reg. $2 ea.)

QuickRes – the app that changes your resolution in a click: 50% off

App Store Free App of the Week: SpongeBob Moves In ($4 value)

Disney’s award-winning Animated iPad app hits a new all-time low price of $3 (Reg. $10)

Save 50% on the brand new Screenium 3 high-res, high-speed screen capture app for Mac

New products & more:

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The LEGO Architect shows you how to build exact replicas of famous buildings and homes

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Kodak’s 360 degree action camera adds must-see YouTube capabilities

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Review: Bang & Olufsen Beolit 15 Bluetooth speaker

Review: DODOcase Apple Watch Charging Stand

Review: SanDisk Connect Wireless Stic

Review: SwitchEasy’s Blocks + Colors are toy-like docks and cases for the serious Apple Watch

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Earlier in my reviewing career, I always tried to estimate the likely audience for products I tested: was an accessory likely to be universally appealing, somewhat popular, niche, or poorly received by virtually everyone? Many reviews (and reader comments) later, I learned there was at least a small audience for virtually anything, and conversely, that some people found reasons to dislike even the best-designed and best-reviewed products. I eventually concluded that there is no such thing as “universally appealing” or “universally bad” — just products for different audiences of different sizes.

SwitchEasy’s Blocks ($20) and Colors ($15) are as close to a test of my conclusion as anything I’ve covered so far for Apple’s $350-$17,000 Watches. Blocks lets you build your own Apple Watch dock from 92 plastic pieces that just so happen to be “compatible with Leading Manufacturer building blocks,” code for “works with Legos.” Colors is an inexpensive Apple Watch case designed to match three Apple Watch Sport bands. Toy-like in appearance, the designs are clearly not “universally appealing,” particularly for owners of expensive Apple Watches and Editions. But it’s possible that one or both of them may appeal to you, anyway…

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9to5Toys Last Call: top-of-the-line previous gen 11″ MacBook Air $1,000, Monoprice Action Camera $60, more

Keep up with the best gear and deals on the web by signing up for the 9to5Toys Newsletter. Also, be sure to check us out on: TwitterRSS FeedFacebookGoogle+ and Safari push notifications.

Today’s can’t miss deals:

Last Call Updates:

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11.6-inch MacBook Air (previous gen) 1.7GHZ/8GB/512GB + freebies: $1,000 shipped (Reg. $1,200+)

Monoprice MHD 2.0 1080p Action Camera: $60 shipped (Reg. $90)

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App Store Free App of the Week: Halftone 2 Comic Book Creator ($2 value)

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Amazon’s Treasure Truck brings daily deals to the streets

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Giveaway: Grovemade’s latest wooden creation provides a luxurious home for your Magic TrackPad

More new gear from today:

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Free McGraw-Hill educational iOS apps for your kids: Monster Squeeze, Beat the Computer, more (Reg. $2 ea.)

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Games/Apps: BioShock, Civ Rev 2 & XCOM go 50% off on iOS, Rayman Legends $20, iOS freebies, more

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Firebox’s new WTF section has a $236K Apple Watch and a full-size Delorean

Daily Deals: Canon Multifunction Laser Printer $95, Insignia 65-inch LED 1080p HDTV $700, more

More deals still alive:

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LG 49-inch 4K 60Hz Smart LED UHDTV: $600 shipped (Reg. $900)

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Verus iPhone 6/Plus cases in multiple styles & colors starting at $2 shipped

New products & more:

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LEGO unveils the highly detailed new Ferrari F40 Creator series set

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The Luzi Smart Lamp has Siri-like powers with charging options for Apple Watch

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E3:

9to5Toys Last Call: Star Wars May 4th Deals, 6′ MFi Lightning cables $7, iPad mini 2 WiFi+Cell 64GB $330, more

Keep up with the best gear and deals on the web by signing up for the 9to5Toys Newsletter. Also, be sure to check us out on: TwitterRSS FeedFacebookGoogle+ and Safari push notifications.

Today’s can’t miss deals:

Last Call Updates:

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Star Wars Day deals & freebies: Darth Vader and Son Kindle book $2, LEGO kits from $8, much more

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Daily Deals: Samsung Xpress Mono Laser Printer $50, Acer 27″ G-SYNC Gaming Monitor $400, Kindles, more

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Your choice $330 shipped each: Apple iPad mini 2 WiFi+ Cellular 64GB in Space Gray or iPad Air 16GB WiFi

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Review: iOttie’s Active Edge bike mount safely puts your iPhone front and center, exclusive 30% promo code

More new gear from today:

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Price Drop: Omaker M4 Splashproof/droppable Bluetooth 4.0 Speaker with NFC: $20 Prime shipped (Orig. $70)

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Canon Refurbished Digital Cameras: SL1 (body only) $300 (Orig. $550), Rebel T5 w/ lens kit $300 (Orig. $440), more

More deals still alive:

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Apple 11-inch MacBook Air 1.6GHz/4GB/128GB (newest): $750 shipped (Reg. $899)

iPhone 6 MFi battery cases: UNU DX 3,000mAh $50 (Orig. $70), Anker Premium 3,100mAh $30 (Orig. $70), more

New products & more:

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nexpaq’s iPhone 6 case enables killer features to be added and removed on-the-fly

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Feral Interactive’s entire games catalogue on sale at up to 75 percent off in the Mac App Store

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If you’re a fan of LEGO games on your Mac, or any of the many other games made by Mac gaming specialist Feral Interactive, you have six days to grab a bargain in the latest Mac App Store sale. This is the first time that the entire catalogue of apps from a developer has gone on sale, with discounts of up to 75 percent.

Notable titles include LEGO Star Wars Saga; the racing game GRID, which claims to combine the best of both arcade racing and driving sim worlds; defending the Earth from alien invasion in XCOM: Enemy Unknown (Elite Edition); and the award-winning Batman Arkham City GOTY.

Via TNW

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SmartBrick Bluetooth LEGO controller replaces infra-red remote with your iPhone

If you your kids play with LEGO Technic, and the standard infra-red receiver feels just a little 1990s, a new Kickstarter project has the answer. The SmartBrick is a Bluetooth LE receiver that forms a direct swap for the IR one, enabling you to control your hi-tech LEGO projects with your iPhone.

The SmartBrick has four ports, enabling it to control four functions, and if that’s not enough you can control up to 16 SmartBricks from the app, providing a total of 64 controls. Because it’s Bluetooth LE, you can embed the controller inside your model, and you get around 300 feet of range – and even control your device over the Internet.

The app allows you to choose the remote control profile you’d like for your device. Joystick, gamepad and gyroscopic controls are offered as standard, and you can create your own custom controls.

A pledge of £40 ($68) gets you a brick from the first production run, but there are still some Early Bird specials available for £29 ($49).

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Add some sick modular hardware controls to your Mac for $99 (Kickstarter project)

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Trackpads and keyboards are great for many things, but there are some tasks where there’s no substitute for a physical dial, slider or button. In video editing, for example, there’s a reason that professional kit uses a rotary dial to move forward or backward through the video clip. Photo editing and audio work are also far easier with physical dials and sliders.

While there’s a whole world of dedicated hardware controllers out there, the Palette project on Kickstarter takes a particularly neat approach: a modular system that you can design to your own requirements. There’s a power block, button, rotary dial and slider, and you can mix-and-match them in any layout you like, and they can be made to work with any software … 
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(Updated) iOS & Mac App special deals for the 4th of July

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From 9to5Toys.com:

iOS and Mac developers alike are slashing prices of their hottest titles to celebrate the 4th of July.  9to5Toys will be keeping you in the loop all week long on the best deals.  The links highlighting the new price will take you directly to iTunes to purchase immediately, no matter what device you’re on!  Read on for the deals below:
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