Apps

Be sure to follow 9to5Toys to keep up with the best gear and deals on the web: Twitter, RSS Feed, Facebook, Google+ and Safari push notifications.

Today’s can’t miss deals:

Last Call Updates:

Synology DiskStation 2-Bay NAS (DS214+): $300 shipped (Reg. up to $440)
Home: Dyson DC39 Vacuum $250 (Reg. $375), Dyson fan $100 (Reg. $200+), more

iPad mini w/ Retina display 32GB WiFi $430 shipped (Reg. $499)

Infinity Blade II goes free for a limited time (Reg. $7)

Winegard FlatWave HDTV Indoor Antenna w/built-in amp (refurb): $20 shipped (Reg. $100)

Giveaways presented by SlickWraps: Apple TV, $100 iTunes gift card, $50 SlickWraps gift card, more

Other new deals:

New! uNu DX iPhone 5/5s 2300mAh MFi Battery Case (white): $50 shipped (Reg. $90)
New! Daily Deals: Logitech iPad Covers $25, Samsung Blu-ray Player $40,more
New! Games/Apps: Dishonored $12, Tilt to Live 1 & 2 go FREE, more iOS freebies
New! HP Chromebook 14″ 1.4 GHz (refurb.) $180 shipped (Reg. $300 new)
New! $50 of Brookstone credit for $25 (online and in-store)

More deals still alive:

Apple iPad mini 64GB WiFi in Black or White $349 shipped (Reg. $629)
Media: X-Men, Wolverine Collection w/ Days of Future Past: $25, more
1 year magazine subs: Pop Science $5, Macworld w/ digital $7.50, more
Sonos product w/ get six months of FREE Google Play Music ($60 value)
$400 Off Home Solar Power systems from SolarCity with Free Installation
Become an Adorama VIP for FREE ($149 Value)
Amazon Fire TV and Kindle Fire HDX 7″ 16GB Bundle $249 shipped (Reg. $328)
Beats by Dre Pill XL portable BT speaker w/$50 Amazon GC: $253 shipped ($350 value)
Samsung 840 1TB SSD: $429 (Reg. $850), Seagate 1TB hybrid SSD: $90 (Reg. $149)
Yamaha NX-P100 Portable Bluetooth speaker: $100 shipped (Reg. $200)
Motorola Dual-Charge 4000mAh Power Pack refurb $18 shipped (Reg. $50)
djay 2 for iPhone is now a free download for the first time, iPad version is 50% off
Philips 10.5-watt (60W equiv.) Slim Style Dimmable LED Light Bulb $9 (Reg. $14)
OtterBox iPad Air Defender Series Case (black): $60 shipped (Reg. $100)
LEGO movie early iTunes release, Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey preorder $30, more
Toshiba 5TB Canvio Black USB 3.0 Hard Drive: $185 shipped (msrp. $300)
Belkin 20% sitewide coupon: Thunderbolt Express Dock w/ cable $184 (orig. $330), more

New products/useful info:

Apple acquisition: Beats tries to solidify its high end (sound) rep with new Solo2 cans
Eyefi Mobi 16GB SDHC memory card w/ 1-year of Eyefi Cloud for $100 shipped ($130 value)
Deal Analysis: Is the Kinect-less Xbox One for $399 a good value?
Take $150 off early 2014 MacBook Airs (requires .edu email), deals from $750 (up to 17% off)

Microsoft/Google/Android:

The Hisense H6 is a 55-inch Android-powered TV priced under $650
Download 5 free Android apps from the Amazon Appstore, get 1,000 Coins ($10 value)
Acer Chromebook 11.6″ refurb $100 AR (Reg. $200)
OtterBox Defender Series for Kindle Fire HD 8.9 $15 shipped (Reg. $80)

Crowd-sourced crime-reporting and safety app Tapshield goes public

Ben Lovejoy May 29 2014 - 7:16 am PT

A crowd-sourced crime-reporting and safety app trialled on selected university campuses has now been rolled out to everyone. Tapshield allows real-time viewing of crime stats and suspicious activity in an area, and allows you to summon help when in trouble.

An award-winning mobile safety app and response dashboard, TapShield uses collaboration and crowd-sourcing to build safer communities & improve response times. Think of TapShield as your social safety network with you wherever you want to go.

The way the app works is that users can report crimes in progress and anything else they spot that concerns them, and those locations and incidents are then automatically shown to other Tapshield users in the area.

When a crime is reported, Tapshield sends a message to campus security when used within one of the participating colleges, and dials 911 when used elsewhere. You also have the option of sending a non-emergency alert to police when you see something that concerns you but which doesn’t justify an immediate emergency response – such as a bunch of street lights out, leaving a path in darkness.

If you have to make a journey that concerns you, you can specify your route and ETA and allow family and friends to follow your journey remotely, raising the alarm if you go off-route or don’t reach your destination when expected.

Finally, the app has a ‘yank’ mode, which automatically sends an alert if headphones are forcibly pulled from the device, such as when your phone is snatched by a thief.

Tapshield is a free download from iTunes.

Via TheNextWeb

Readdle’s PDF Expert goes universal, adds even more power in version 5.1

Mike Beasley May 29 2014 - 7:00 am PT

5 Comments

PDF Expert, the powerful PDF viewing and editing application from Readdle, got a big update today that features few new features and tweaks to make it even more useful along with a big speed boost.

The big news, though, is that PDF Expert is a universal app for the first time. Where previous versions were device-specific for the iPhone and iPad, PDF Expert 5.1 brings both interfaces together in one app. To accommodate the change, the old iPhone version has been retired. Version 5.1, which was formerly iPad-only, will now work on the iPhone as well, with all features supported across both devices.

RSS client Reeder 2 for Mac now available on the Mac App Store

Zac Hall May 28 2014 - 8:15 pm PT

7 Comments

After a brief public beta period, the popular RSS client Reeder is out with the first update to its Mac software since Google Reader broke support Reeder last year.

The new version supports a number of RSS services that have proven popular since Google Reader ended (like Feedbin, Feedly, and Feed Wrangler), and it now serves as a standalone RSS client without syncing so you won’t have to depend on an RSS service to use the app in the future.
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HockeyApp app testing platform gets big 3.0 update w/ Team Management & more

Jordan Kahn May 28 2014 - 7:49 pm PT

HockeyApp, one of the last big independent, cross-platform app testing platforms after Apple acquired TestFlight (and pulled Android support) earlier this year, gets a big update today with version 3.0. The full change log includes a long list of new features, enhancements, and fixes, but the company ran through a few of the most notable new features in a blog post. One of the most requested new features is Team Management:

You asked for it, you (finally!) got it. You can now create and manage users in teams with HockeyApp. Once a user has accepted your team invite, you can add this team to apps without sending further invites. Our new User Control Center shows you which teams and users have been added to the app, which device are not provisioned, and which users have applied to become a tester.

The release also includes a new feature for adding Organizations that are owned by multiple people, a new notification system, feedback attachments, and a much improved user interface and overall user experience. In addition, you’ll find updated pricing plans and more details on the company’s website here.

Beats Music iOS app drops yearly pricing to $99, extends free trial as Apple confirms deal

Jordan Kahn May 28 2014 - 1:37 pm PT

9 Comments

Right as news is breaking that the Apple and Beats deal is finally official for $3B, the Beats iOS app has just been updated with new pricing and an extended free trial for all users.

Up from the previous free 7-day trial offered by the service, Beats Music now offers a “no strings attached trial” for 14 days to all users. Most notable in the update, however, is the fact that the service is slashing pricing from $119.88 a year to $99.99/year:

We’ve dropped price of our yearly subscription to $99.99, down from $119.88.

The service will continue to charge $9.99/month for users not purchasing a yearly subscription. The Beats Music website FAQ has been updated to reflect the new pricing and also continues to list $15/month family plans and extended free trials offered to AT&T customers.

Apple also confirmed today that it will continue to operate Beats Music as a separate service including Android and Windows phone apps.

Version 2.1.0 also includes “tons of bug fixes so the whole experience runs smooth as silk.”

What’s New in Version 2.1.0

● We’re stoked to announce that our no strings attached trial has been extended to 14 days to ensure everyone gets ample time to explore the full Beats Music experience.

● We’ve dropped price of our yearly subscription to $99.99, down from $119.88.

● To top it off, we pushed tons of bug fixes so the whole experience runs smooth as silk.

Apple tweaks Top Charts in App Store on iOS

Jordan Kahn May 28 2014 - 11:23 am PT

TechCrunch notes that Apple has quietly made some changes to the App Store Top Charts by reducing the top 300 apps previously listed across Paid, Free and Top Grossing categories to just 150. It’s what I expect will be a welcomed change that shows Apple is attempting to clean up the App Store ranking system, but it’s not one that most users are likely to notice. As noted by app tracking company Appsfire in the report, “most users don’t even get to that part of the ranking – except industry watchers. If there’s any good reason to remove this part, it’s because it’s not used.”

It is, however, still up for debate if this will have any impact on the mostly smaller developers that will get booted from the top charts as a result. The change so far is only on the App Store on iOS.

It’s a sign at least that Apple is attempting to improve the App Store charts and app discovery in general, something it’s been doing behind the scenes on a regular basis. The change won’t do much to combat the shady tactics used by some developers to game the charts, but hopefully Apple has some bigger changes in store for iOS 8 that we’ll see at WWDC early next month.

In other App Store news, mobile analytics firm App Annie, which is often the best source around for tracking App Store related data that Apple doesn’t provide, announced today that it is acquiring competitor Distimo. With the acquisition, the company is now tracking more than 600,000 apps and has 270,000 registered business users. That includes “90 percent of the top 100 app publishers by revenue.”

Chrome iOS app gets improved Omnibox, revamped search results page

Jordan Kahn May 28 2014 - 10:05 am PT

1 Comment

Google updated its Chrome app for iPhone and iPad today with a few minor features to make the browsing experience more comfortable. First up is right-to-left Omnibox support for Arabic and Hebrew after adding initial autocomplete support for right-to-left languages in the previous update. The company said the update also brings the ability to “Easily refine your search queries and view more results” thanks to a slightly revamped search results page.

In addition, Google will now let you “see your search term in the omnibox, instead of the long search query URL.” That means when you enter a search query and land on a Google search results page, you’ll no longer see a long, confusing URL in the omnibox but rather just your search term much like in Apple’s Safari iOS app.

What’s New in Version 35.0.1916.38

• Added right-to-left support to the omnibox for Arabic and Hebrew
• See your search term in the omnibox, instead of the long search query URL
• Easily refine your search queries and view more results on the search results page
• Stability improvements and bug fixes

9to5Toys Last Call: iPad 2/3/4 Smart Cover $8, WD 4TB desktop HDD $130, iPad mini 64GB $349, more

Justin Kahn May 28 2014 - 9:51 am PT

Be sure to follow 9to5Toys to keep up with the best gear and deals on the web: Twitter, RSS Feed, Facebook, Google+ and Safari push notifications.

Today’s can’t miss deals:

Last Call updates:

Buy a Sonos product & get six months of FREE Google Play Music All Access ($60 value)
Bose Solo TV Sound System $349 (Reg. $399)
$400 Off Home Solar Power systems from SolarCity with Free Installation
Origin is now offering Battlefield 3 on PC for FREE until June 3

Apple Original Smart Cover for iPad 2, 3, and 4 (New, open box) $8 shipped (Reg. $17)

Western Digital 4TB My Book USB 3.0 desktop drive $130 shipped (Reg. $160)

Apple iPad mini 64GB WiFi in Black or White $349 shipped (Reg. $629)

Media: X-Men & the Wolverine Collection w/ Days of Future Past code for $25, iTunes movies $10, more

Giveaways presented by SlickWraps: Apple TV, $100 iTunes gift card, $50 SlickWraps gift card, more

Other new deals:

New! Daily Deals: iPod Nano 16GB: $130, Logitech BT Speaker: $40, more
New! Wireless Printers: Canon all-in-one $150 (orig. $595), Samsung $80 (Reg. $180)
New! Games/Apps: TopNotes Pro & Guitar Lessons (Reg. $50) go FREE, more iOS freebies
New! 1 year magazine subs: Pop Science $5, Macworld w/ digital $7.50, more
New! Become an Adorama VIP for FREE ($149 Value)

More deals still alive:

Amazon Fire TV and Kindle Fire HDX 7″ 16GB Bundle $249 shipped (Reg. $328)
Beats by Dre Pill XL portable BT speaker w/$50 Amazon GC: $253 shipped ($350 value)
Samsung 840 1TB SSD: $429 (Reg. $850), Seagate 1TB hybrid SSD: $90 (Reg. $149)
Yamaha NX-P100 Portable Bluetooth speaker: $100 shipped (Reg. $200)
Motorola Dual-Charge 4000mAh Power Pack refurb $18 shipped (Reg. $50)
djay 2 for iPhone is now a free download for the first time, iPad version is 50% off
Philips 10.5-watt (60W equiv.) Slim Style Dimmable LED Light Bulb $9 (Reg. $14)
OtterBox iPad Air Defender Series Case (black): $60 shipped (Reg. $100)
LEGO movie early iTunes release, Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey preorder $30, more
Foscam wireless/wired cam: $49 (Reg. $85)
Toshiba 5TB Canvio Black USB 3.0 Hard Drive: $185 shipped (msrp. $300)
Belkin 20% sitewide coupon: Thunderbolt Express Dock w/ cable $184 (orig. $330), more
UP! Mini 3D Desktop Printer $600 shipped (msrp. $1,259)

New products/useful info:

Eyefi Mobi 16GB SDHC memory card w/ 1-year of Eyefi Cloud for $100 shipped ($130 value)
Deal Analysis: Is the Kinect-less Xbox One for $399 a good value?
Take $150 off early 2014 MacBook Airs (requires .edu email), deals from $750 (up to 17% off)

Microsoft/Google/Android:

The Hisense H6 is a 55-inch Android-powered TV priced under $650
Download 5 free Android apps from the Amazon Appstore, get 1,000 Coins ($10 value)
Acer Chromebook 11.6″ refurb $100 AR (Reg. $200)
OtterBox Defender Series for Kindle Fire HD 8.9 $15 shipped (Reg. $80)

Apple releases iTunes 11.2.2 with fix for unexpected podcast downloads

Zac Hall May 28 2014 - 9:14 am PT

Apple today has released yet another stability patch to iTunes 11.2 on OS X. The latest version, iTunes 11.2.2, specifically addresses an issue with unexpect podcast episode downloads, according to Apple. The software update also includes stability improvements.

Apple first released iTunes 11.2 alongside the release of OS X Mavericks 10.9.3; a subsequent update followed with the release of iTunes 11.2.1 with a security fix.

The update is available via Software Updates in the Mac App Store.

Adobe Revel now gives users 2 GB of free storage for photo uploads

Benjamin Mayo May 27 2014 - 9:48 am PT

Alongside a minor update to the app, Adobe Revel has changed their business model slightly. Before, free accounts were limited to uploading just 50 photos every month. Going forward, free accounts get 2 GB of fixed storage for uploads.

Vesper 2 for iPhone adds sync support for backing up notes (Vesper for Mac next)

Zac Hall May 27 2014 - 6:39 am PT

Update: Brent Simmons write on his blog that Vesper for Mac is indeed next.

Vesper received a major feature update overnight bringing one of the most requested features to the note-taking app: support for sync. Vesper, the project of John Gruber, Brent Simmons, and Dave Wiskus under the name Q Branch, was released almost a year ago for the iPhone and decidedly lacked iCloud sync (due to reliability) or any alternative. Simmons has since been journaling his experiencing with building an in-house sync solution for Vesper on his Inessential blog if you are interested in reading the behind-the-scenes work that goes into such a project…

Google-owned VirusTotal releases Mac-compatible version of malware detection app

Mike Beasley May 26 2014 - 4:25 pm PT

7 Comments

Google-owned VirusTotal today released a version of the VirusTotal uploader application (via The Next Web) compatible with Mac OS X. Previously the software was only available for Windows-based machines.

VirusTotal Uploader works in conjunction with the VirusTotal web service to check files and links for malware. Google hopes that the release of the software for the Mac will help users more easily detect attacks on Apple’s platform. From the VirusTotal blog:

9to5Toys Lunch Break: ZAGG up to 50% off, Memorial Day sales from Belkin/J Crew/LifeProof, more

Justin Kahn May 26 2014 - 10:29 am PT

Be sure to follow 9to5Toys to keep up with the best gear and deals on the web: Twitter, RSS Feed, Facebook, Google+ and Safari push notifications.

Today’s can’t miss deals:

ZAGG up to 50% off sitewide: invisibleSHIELD, keyboards, cases, chargers, headphones, other accessories, more

Memorial Day Sales: Lacoste 25% off, Gap 40% off, LifeProof 25% off, J. Crew 30% off, Lowe’s 10% off, more

Beats by Dre Pill XL portable Bluetooth speaker w/ $50 Amazon gift card: $253 shipped ($350 value)

Giveaways presented by SlickWraps: Apple TV, $100 iTunes gift card, $50 SlickWraps gift card, more

Other new deals:

New! Samsung 840 1TB SSD: $429 (Reg. $850), Seagate 1TB hybrid SSD: $90 (Reg. $149)
New! Yamaha NX-P100 Portable Bluetooth speaker: $100 shipped (Reg. $200)
New! Daily Deals: iPhone 5s $549, Otterbox iPhone 5/5s $15, $100 off Printers, more
New! Games/Apps: PS4 $360 ($40 off), 66% off Jump Remote Desktop, more iOS freebies
New! Motorola Dual-Charge 4000mAh Power Pack refurb $18 shipped (Reg. $50)

More deals still alive:

Save up to $300 on current generation iMacs w/.EDU email ($150 w/o), from – $1000
djay 2 for iPhone is now a free download for the first time, iPad version is 50% off
Philips 10.5-watt (60W equiv.) Slim Style Dimmable LED Light Bulb $9 (Reg. $14)
OtterBox iPad Air Defender Series Case (black): $60 shipped (Reg. $100)
LEGO movie early iTunes release, Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey preorder $30, more
Foscam wireless/wired cam: $49 (Reg. $85), FI9821W V2: $85 (Reg. $149)
Toshiba 5TB Canvio Black USB 3.0 Hard Drive: $185 shipped (msrp. $300)
Belkin 20% sitewide coupon: Thunderbolt Express Dock w/ cable $184 (orig. $330), more
UP! Mini 3D Desktop Printer $600 shipped (msrp. $1,259)

New products/useful info:

Eyefi Mobi 16GB SDHC memory card w/ 1-year of Eyefi Cloud for $100 shipped ($130 value)
Deal Analysis: Is the Kinect-less Xbox One for $399 a good value?
Take $150 off early 2014 MacBook Airs (requires .edu email), deals from $750 (up to 17% off)

Microsoft/Google/Android:

The Hisense H6 is a 55-inch Android-powered TV priced under $650
Download 5 free Android apps from the Amazon Appstore, get 1,000 Coins ($10 value)
Acer Chromebook 11.6″ refurb $100 AR (Reg. $200)
OtterBox Defender Series for Kindle Fire HD 8.9 $15 shipped (Reg. $80)

9to5Toys Weekend: Apple TV/$100 iTunes gift card giveaways, iMac $300 off w/ .edu email ($150 w/o), more

May 25 2014 - 9:49 am PT

Be sure to follow 9to5Toys to keep up with the best gear and deals on the web: Twitter, RSS Feed,Facebook, Google+ and Safari push notifications.

Today’s can’t miss deals:

Giveaways presented by SlickWraps: Apple TV, $100 iTunes gift card, $50 SlickWraps gift card, more

Save up to $300 on all current generation iMacs w/.EDU email address ($150 w/o), starting below $1,000 shipped

Daily Deals: Kensington Lightning dock: $18, Samsung 48″ 1080p Smart HDTV: $625, more

djay 2 for iPhone is now available as a free download for the first time, iPad version is 50% off

“@amazontechdeals: Get a Free Google Chromecast with Purchase of SONOS PLAYBAR http://t.co/QhlRfblZP2 pic.twitter.com/868fa0s4BZ

— 9to5Toys (@9to5toys) May 25, 2014

Other new deals:

Best Buy has 40 Blu-rays on sale for $5 each w/ free pickup or free shipping on orders of $35+ http://t.co/Nu8oK5Stzn pic.twitter.com/vg3H60D4d0

— 9to5Toys (@9to5toys) May 25, 2014

New! Philips 10.5-watt (60W equiv.) Slim Style Dimmable LED Light Bulb $9 (Reg. $14)
New! Games/Apps: Batman Arkham Origins (PC) $7.50, TowerMadness, Order & Chaos and BLiP go FREE, 4 Elements HD $2 (Reg. $7), more
New! Logitech UE 4000 On-Ear Headphones $20 shipped (Reg. $100)

https://twitter.com/9to5toys/status/470595310138695680
More deals still alive:

Netgear Centria N900 Gigabit router w/ 3.5-inch storage $55 shipped (Reg. $250)
OtterBox iPad Air Defender Series Case (black): $60 shipped (Reg. $100)
Seagate Wireless Plus 1TB iOS/Android Storage $170 shipped (orig. $200)
LEGO movie early iTunes release, Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey preorder $30, more
Foscam wireless/wired cam: $49 (Reg. $85), FI9821W V2: $85 (Reg. $149)
Toshiba 5TB Canvio Black USB 3.0 Hard Drive: $185 shipped (msrp. $300)
Kingston MobileLite wireless card reader $30 w/ free Prime shipping (Reg. $60)
Belkin 20% sitewide coupon: Thunderbolt Express Dock w/ cable $184 (orig. $330), more
Nest Learning Thermostat 2nd Generation: $224 shipped (Reg. $250)
UP! Mini 3D Desktop Printer $600 shipped (msrp. $1,259)
Logitech Ultrathin iPad Air Keyboard Cover: $54 shipped (Reg. $100)

New products/useful info:

Eyefi Mobi 16GB SDHC memory card w/ 1-year of Eyefi Cloud for $100 shipped ($130 value)
Deal Analysis: Is the Kinect-less Xbox One for $399 a good value?
Take $150 off early 2014 MacBook Airs (requires .edu email), deals from $750 (up to 17% off)

Microsoft/Google/Android:

The Hisense H6 is a 55-inch Android-powered TV priced under $650
Download 5 free Android apps from the Amazon Appstore, get 1,000 Coins ($10 value)
Acer Chromebook 11.6″ refurb $100 AR (Reg. $200)
OtterBox Defender Series for Kindle Fire HD 8.9 $15 shipped (Reg. $80)

Tweetbot 2 and 3 for iOS get mandatory updates, previous versions will stop functioning soon

Mike Beasley May 23 2014 - 6:18 pm PT

6 Comments

Tapbots, the development team behind the popular Tweetbot Twitter client for Mac and iOS have issued a mandatory update for all users. According to a post on the Tapbots blog, all current mobile versions of the app will cease to function soon due to a change in the app requested by Twitter.

Updates for both iPhone versions of the app are rolling out now. Users on iOS 6 running Tweetbot 2 can look out for version 2.8.8, while users on the newer Tweetbot 3 can already find version 3.3.2 in the App Store. The Mac and iPad versions of the app aren’t mentioned in the post, so it’s possible they won’t need to be updated. (Update: The iPad version has been updated to version 2.8.8 as well.)

YouTube working on separate mobile app for creators, fan donation feature, more

Jordan Kahn May 23 2014 - 10:21 am PT

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jR8XBZRkkao&feature=youtu.be]

YouTube announced today that it will be releasing regular “Creator Preview” videos letting YouTube creators know about upcoming features so they can provide feedback ahead of time. In the first Creator Preview, the company announced that it’s working on a separate mobile app just for creators in addition to a few other interesting new features:
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Apple releases iAd Producer 4.2 with full-screen iPhone banner support

Zac Hall May 22 2014 - 7:56 pm PT

Following a series of software releases over the last week including OS X 10.9.3, iTunes 11.2, Safari 7.0.4, and Podcasts for iOS, Apple has tonight released a point update to its iAd Producer software in the developer center. The previous update to the software was released earlier this year in March. The update includes, among other improvements, support for full-screen iPhone banner iAd creation. Full release notes after the break.
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9to5Toys Last Call: djay 2 goes free, Jawbone BIG Jambox $200, Philips 10.5-watt LED light bulb $9, more

May 22 2014 - 9:59 am PT

Be sure to follow 9to5Toys to keep up with the best gear and deals on the web: Twitter, RSS Feed,Facebook, Google+ and Safari push notifications.

Today’s can’t miss deals:

Apps/Games:

djay 2 for iPhone is now available as a free download for the first time ever, iPad version is 50% off
Infinity Blade III $3 (Reg. $7), GTA V $30, Amazon launches digital games Mayhem sale, Siege Hero FREE, more

$50 iTunes gift card for $40 shipped from Staples (20% savings)

Jawbone BIG Jambox $200 shipped (Reg. $300), Logitech UE Boom $129 shipped (Reg. $200)

~~Brother Multi-Function Wireless Monochrome Laser Printer $100 shipped (Reg. $200)~~

Philips 10.5-watt (60W equiv.) Slim Style Dimmable LED Light Bulb $9 (Reg. $14)

13-inch MacBook Pro w/ Retina display 2.4 GHz/4GB/128GB (newest version) $1,100 shipped ($200 off)

Samsung 28-inch 4K UHD LED 60Hz Monitor $597 shipped (Reg. $700) http://t.co/hOaznq4Ydb pic.twitter.com/v9mRfZYtei

— 9to5Toys (@9to5toys) May 22, 2014

Other deals from today:

New! Netgear Centria N900 Gigabit router w/ 3.5-inch storage $55 shipped (Reg. $250)
New! Daily Deals: Urge 4000mAh Battery Pack: $15, Canon Printer w/ AirPrint: $85, more
New! 1 year magazine subs: Macworld w/ digital $7.50, more
New! Download 5 free Android apps from the Amazon Appstore, get 1,000 Coins ($10 value)

More deals still alive:

HBO shows land on Amazon Prime Instant Video today: Sopranos, Wire, deadwood, more http://t.co/SyzFuhs0oU pic.twitter.com/HfWefuxtKw

— 9to5Toys (@9to5toys) May 21, 2014

Sony PlayStation 4 console $370 shipped (Reg. $400)
OtterBox iPad Air Defender Series Case (black): $60 shipped (Reg. $100)
Seagate Wireless Plus 1TB iOS/Android Storage $170 shipped (orig. $200)
Razor Pocket Mod Vapor 24V Electric Retro Scooter $210 (Reg. $350)
LEGO movie early iTunes release, Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey preorder $30, more
MacBook/iPhone/iPad accessories from Incase up to 85% off, Case-Mate 40% off
Foscam wireless/wired cam: $49 (Reg. $85), FI9821W V2: $85 (Reg. $149)
Toshiba 5TB Canvio Black USB 3.0 Hard Drive: $185 shipped (msrp. $300)
Kingston MobileLite wireless card reader $30 w/ free Prime shipping (Reg. $60)
Belkin 20% sitewide coupon: Thunderbolt Express Dock w/ cable $184 (orig. $330), more
Nest Learning Thermostat 2nd Generation: $224 shipped (Reg. $250)
UP! Mini 3D Desktop Printer $600 shipped (msrp. $1,259)
Nikon D3200 Digital SLR Camera refurb w/ Lightroom 5 $330 shipped (Reg. $530)
TP-LINK 150Mbps wireless pocket $20 w/ free Prime shipping (Reg. $40)
Logitech Ultrathin iPad Air Keyboard Cover: $54 shipped (Reg. $100)
REI Sale knocks 20% off one item, GoPro HERO3+ Black for $320 (Reg. $400)
LunaTik TikTok Watch Wrist Strap for iPod Nano 6G in 5 colors: Starting at $5 shipped

New products/useful info:

Eyefi Mobi 16GB SDHC memory card w/ 1-year of Eyefi Cloud for $100 shipped ($130 value)
Deal Analysis: Is the Kinect-less Xbox One for $399 a good value?
Take $150 off early 2014 MacBook Airs (requires .edu email), deals from $750 (up to 17% off)

Microsoft/Google/Android:

Acer Chromebook 11.6″ refurb $100 AR (Reg. $200)
OtterBox Defender Series for Kindle Fire HD 8.9 $15 shipped (Reg. $80)

Osmo for iPad combines physical puzzles and games with interactive apps

Zac Hall May 22 2014 - 9:26 am PT

4 Comments

Parents who share their iPads with their kids for playing games and other entertainment will want to check out this novel idea from the startup company Tangible Play. The product is a combination of iPad game apps and iPad accessories that use the front-facing camera to connect real world gameplay and interactions with what is happening within the compatible apps. At launch, three apps will be available: Tangram, Newton, and Words.

As TechCrunch points out, the company behind Osmo is founded by former Google employees:

The company was founded by ex-Googlers, including Pramod Sharma, who had earlier seen the the intersection of physical and digital when he helped build Google’s book-scanning machine, and Jérôme Scholler, who had worked on Chrome for Android.

For parents and iPad owners interested in Osmo, the game set is currently available for pre-order in a crowdsourcing campaign to raise funds for development. Early backers can join in on the fun at $49 and the final product is expected to ship later this fall. Osmo will be regularly priced at $99 starting June 22nd, so interested backers will want to jump in soon.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbwIJMz9PAQ]

Pixelmator 3.2 revamps the Repair Tool, adds locked layers, 16-bit support for all Macs and more

Benjamin Mayo May 22 2014 - 5:31 am PT

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The Pixelmator team is relentless, releasing significant updates to the application every few months. Version 3.2 (codenamed ‘Sandstone’) is no exception and can be downloaded from the Mac App Store now. Codenamed Sandstone, this iteration adds a majorly-revamped Repair Tool, 16-bit channel editing for all Macs (not just the Mac Pro) alongside a whole bucket of other improvements.

The Repair Tool now uses color-correction to match repaired areas seamlessly. It also has clever smarts that mean you don’t have to precisely select an object anymore, the software will remove the whole object automatically. Pixelmator will also try its best to infer the structure of the background area, for a more natural final edit.

The Repair Tool now has three different options, Quick, Standard and Advanced. Quick is meant for small blemishes, whereas Standard and Advanced tackle the removal of larger objects from a scene. It’s not exactly clear under what circumstances you are supposed to change mode, so I chose ‘Advanced’ every time in my testing and the results were fantastic. It’s sort of like magic. You can see an example of what this is capable of after the break …