Jordan Kahn

If you’re looking for some great apps to spend those iTunes gift cards this holiday weekend (currently 20% off on 9to5Toys), below we’ve put together the best App Store apps discounted for Black Friday. Like our roundup yesterday of the best accessories for your iPhone, iPad, and Mac, we’re only including the best of the best, and we’ll continue to update throughout the weekend.
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While Apple’s Black Friday deals started going live in Australia and elsewhere today with Apple Store Gift Cards in place of traditional discounts, it appears Apple will be offering discounts and not gift cards in at least some countries. The UK, France, Germany and other European Apple Online Stores have now started posting Black Friday promotions with discounts on iPads, MacBooks, iPods, Apple TV, and many accessories.
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It can be hard to cut through the noise with just about every retailer online having sales for Black Friday and Cyber Monday. That’s why we’ve put together a list of the best deals available only for iPad, iPhone, iPods, and Mac. You won’t find any deals on TVs or microwaves in the list below, just the best of the best accessories for your iOS device and Mac, and we’ve only included great products from companies we trust (many of which we’ve reviewed personally). If you still need to buy a Mac, iPhone, or iPad first, you’ll also find a roundup of the best deals on Apple hardware from 9to5Toys at the bottom. As always, we’ll update as more deals are announced throughout the weekend and you can send any you might find to tips@9to5Mac.com.
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During a talk at the LISA ’13 conference in Washington D.C earlier this month, a couple members from Google’s Macintosh Operations team explained how the company has been forced to develop its own set of tools to manage its fleet of roughly 43,000 Macs. The reason, according to Google engineers Clay Caviness and Edward Eigerman, is that Apple isn’t doing a great job at supporting its enterprise management tools. As the first slide of the presentation (pictured above) puts it, “While Apple won’t do much for you, there are tools out there you can use to keep your machines secure, up to date and useful.”

“We don’t use any of Apple’s tools to manage the Macs. Apple arguably produces two tools, Mac OS X server… and Apple Remote Desktop. It kinda breaks down when you get it over 50, 100, 200 machines that you’re managing… we’ve sort of lost their attention as far as enterprise management tools.”

During one slide (pictured above, right), Google uses the red line to represent the release of the iPhone while noting Apple’s remote desktop “hasn’t had a major revision to it since 2006.” To avoid using Apple’s management tools, Google has either developed its own tools or is using open source tools for everything from configuration, to package management, monitoring system levels and more. Google announced during the talk that one of the imaging tools it developed, CanHazImage, will soon be hitting open source. 
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Update: It turns out this deal doesn’t provide much of a savings in the long run. T-Mobile is raising the monthly installment from $20 to around $27, so while you won’t have to put any money down up front, you’ll still be paying off the full cost of the device over the 24 month installment plan period.

According to a leaked internal memo posted by TmoNews, T-Mobile is going to be dropping the upfront price of both the iPhone 5s and 5c to $0 down on its usual instalment plans for Black Friday. That cuts the usual down payment for the iPhone 5s down from $149 and the iPhone 5c from $49. The deal will officially kick off on Friday and last through Sunday, but the report notes that “a select number of stores will be accepting orders from Thursday evening.” After getting your iPhone for $0 down, you’ll pay around $20 a month for 24 months on T-Mobile instalment plans.

Some regionals carriers are also gearing up for big discounts this Friday. Appalachian Wireless announced it will offer the 16GB iPhone 5, 5C or 5S for a penny on contract today only and nTelos will also have the iPhone 5c for $0 on Friday. Appalachian is also advertising the penny deal for Black Friday on its site, but no word if iPhones will be included after today. T-Mobile definitely beats Walmart’s best deal with the iPhone 5c for around $45 on contract, but we’re thinking other retailers and carriers might announce iPhone discounts for Black Friday too.

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As we reported late last week, Honda just announced that it’s finally rolling out the promised Siri Eyes Free update that will enable hands-free use of Siri from a connected iOS device in select Accord and Acura models. This feature isn’t to be confused with Honda’s new implementation of iOS in the Car, which sources told us was slated for a December 3 unveiling.

The new Siri Eyes Free feature is available via a dealer installed accessory for the 2013-2014 Honda Accord and the 2013 Acura RDX and ILX, but we’re hearing the new iOS in the Car features, which will likely be branded under Honda’s Hondalink brand, will be limited initially to the just unveiled 2014 Civic.
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Apple’s new senior vice president of retail Angela Ahrendts won’t be taking up the newly created position officially until Spring 2014, but in the meantime Ahrendts has already started the process of transitioning to a new CEO at Burberry. In a blog post on LinkedIn, Ahrendts talks in length about the following her intuition when deciding to take a new job at Apple, much like she had when first joining Burberry, and also outlines her plans for transitioning to new leadership. If you’ve ever heard Tim Cook talk about moving to Apple, ‘following instincts’ will definitely seem like a theme.

And as I look forward to what will define the next generation, I believe it is imperative that great companies add greater social value – the larger the company, the larger the obligation.

Ahrendts notes that the company has started transitioning to new leadership at Burberry in recent weeks and also describes some of her business philosophies in the process:
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According to a report from TechCrunch, Apple has recently implemented updates to the App Store’s search engine allowing it to compensate for “misspelled queries with small typos” and provide more useful results. The update also reportedly extends to app titles that have spaces in the title:

For example, those looking for the highly ranked “QuizUp” game wouldn’t have found it before if they had typed in “Quiz Up” with a space. Now it appears.

The result will ultimately be better discoverability for apps in the App Store, especially for developers targeting keywords that are commonly misspelled. As noted by TechCrunch, it’s also something that has helped Google provide better results on its Play store (as highlighted in the graphic from SEO firm SearchMan above):
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After releases of Grand Theft Auto III and GTA Vice City on iOS, developer Rockstar announced today that GTA: San Andreas is set for a release on mobile devices next month. The game, which was originally released for the PlayStation 2 back in 2004, will arrive on iOS devices and the other mobile platforms with the usual updated graphics:

Encompassing Los Santos, San Fierro, Las Venturas and everything in between, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas has been upgraded for its mobile release. Newly remastered graphics including dynamic and detailed shadows, greater draw distance, an enriched color palette, plus enhanced character and car models make this the best-looking version of San Andreas yet.

Rockstar also notes that the title will include full support for the new iOS 7 MFi game controller framework and new contextual control options for the touchscreen:
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Apple today posted a job listing on its website looking for a Payments Software Engineer that will “help build a next generation payment platform.” Apple says the payment system will consist of integration of payment devices, middleware and acquirers that will “push the boundaries in new markets for Apple Retail.”
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After launching a new iPhone trade-in program through its retail stores in the U.S and UK and another initiative in India, Apple appears to be planning even more trade-in programs in emerging markets. A new job listing posted on the company’s website seeking a Reuse (Trade-In) Worldwide Program Manager is looking for someone to assist in “developing and implementing programs in emerging markets, with emphasis in APAC and ALAC, while enhancing current EMEIA and North American programs.”

That sounds a lot like Apple is planning to launch new trade-in programs in some of its emerging markets across Asia Pacific (APAC), Latin America and the Caribbean (ALAC). Apple describes the trade-in programs as a “mega trend” and lists its objectives as increasing its share of the used electronics market and “reducing the flow of Apple-branded materials into unauthorized markets, which tarnish the Apple Brand.”  The job listing adds, “Scaling these programs to keep Apple on the leading edge of this emerging mega trend is a priority,” something it has already started doing in recent months with its new retail store trade-in program in the US and UK.

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Update: A source close to the company tells us the feature is “more than just simple mirroring” and indeed part of Honda’s implementation of iOS in the Car. Collaboration with Apple first started in 2011 and Honda initially announced Siri Eyes Free, but the new 2014 Civic will be the first of its vehicles to expand its collaboration with Apple to the new iOS in the Car features. We’re told Honda plans to announce new iOS integration features the first week of December and that the hardware will enable a full roll out of iOS in the Car for the 14 Civic when Apple is ready with the feature later this year. We’ve reached out to Honda for an official comment and we’ll update if we hear back.

Update 2: It’s official.

After announcing back in January that it would begin supporting the Siri Eyes Free feature as an option in some of its 2013 Accord and Acura models, Honda will become the first major car manufacturer to support iOS mirroring on December 4. That could mean drivers of its new 2014 Civic just unveiled yesterday will be able to control their iOS devices using the 7-inch multitouch display built into the dash of the car. Honda confirmed mirroring technology would be available in the Civic when it goes on sale next month on its Twitter account (pictured below). It also noted that the promised Siri Eyes Free updates will be available at the beginning of December.

Earlier this year Apple unveiled a new strategy to further integrate its mobile platform into vehicles with the introduction of iOS in the Car at WWDC in June. The new features will see Apple working with car manufacturers to allow users to place calls, have more control over Siri, and view maps, but it’s unclear exactly what mirroring technology Honda will be using using in its new Civic Coupe. iOS in the Car is expected to make an appearance in new vehicles in 2014, while Apple is already working with Audi, BMW, Chrysler, General Motors, Jaguar, Land Rover, Mercedes-Benz, and Toyota to implement Siri Eyes Free.
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Regional carriers are starting to announce availability for cellular models of Apple’s new Retina iPad mini just as the company today started offering the device to walk-in customers.

Bluegrass Cellular announced today that it is now offering the iPad mini Wi-Fi Cellular models in-store and online. Available on the carrier’s website now starting at the usual $530 for the 16GB model, the carrier is also offering all three models (16GB, 32GB, and 64GB) on its no-contract “Freedom, Expanded” plan. That allows customers to make 12 monthly payments to get the device they want with the ability to trade-in and upgrade to a new device after a year. That plan will run $26.50/month for the 16GB model on Bluegrass, $31.50/month for the $630 32GB model, or $36.50/month for the $730 64GB model. The carrier appears to only have Space Gray models of the device available, at least online, and the Freedom Expanded plans are only available in-store. Another regional carrier, C Spire Wireless, will begin selling the Retina iPad mini over the next week. Update: U.S. Cellular has also begun cellular iPad mini with Retina Display sales today on its website.

In other Retina iPad mini news, we’ve just received word Apple has just started selling the device to walk-in customers in its retail stores following an initial launch for Personal Pickup orders only.

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Fortune is out today with its annual Businessperson of the Year list and this time around a couple notable Apple connections have made the list. Coming in at #4 behind #1Elon Musk, activist investors, and Tencent CEO ‘Pony’ Ma Huateng, is Apple’s recently hired Head of Retail, Burberry CEO Angela Ahrendts. 
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Apple executives have reached out to employees today in a company wide email urging them to review Apple’s Business Conduct Policy, a document describing how employees should conduct themselves in and outside the company while representing Apple. An email from Apple’s SVP and General Counsel Bruce Sewell (below) was accompanied by a new version of the policy available to employees in iBooks format and a video from CEO Tim Cook discussing the policy.

It’s unclear if there was a situation at Apple that could have prompted the email and video from Apple executives to employees. Apple notes that the policy “explains in very clear terms how you are expected to conduct yourself with our customers, business partners, government agencies, and fellow employees.” The document also covers legal principles  “like antitrust and anti-corruption laws” that all employees are expected to follow.

In the video, Tim Cook quotes Martin Luther King Jr saying “The time is always right to do what is right” and urges employees to speak up about other employees not following the code of conduct. Cook’s full quote from the video below:

As Dr. Martin Luther King once said, the time is always right to do what’s right. At Apple, we do the right thing. Even when it’s not easy. If you see something that doesn’t meet our standards, speak up. Whether it’s a quality issue or a business practice, if it affects Apple’s integrity, we need to know about it.
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