As per usual, 9to5mac is on the scene here in San Francisco for Macworld|iWorld 2013. We’ve got some exciting things lined up for this year and we’re looking forward to seeing what the Apple community has on offer. Our coverage starts tomorrow morning.
A quick pre-setup run through video of the main exhibition hall is below:
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From 9to5Toys.com:
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For 2 days only, Best Buy is having their Winter Doorbuster sale. This event includes hot deals such as 30% off all OtterBox cases (iPhone 5, iPad mini, iPad), $200 off select MacBook Air models, and a free $20 gift card with the purchase of a new 16GB iPod nano.
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Notably, MacBook Airs now start at $799 for the base model. For reference, Apple charges $850 for a refurbished unit and we rarely see it even get within $100 of this price. Now is a good time to get in on any MacBook Air, they are all $200 off.
Best Buy now dominates our MacBook Air product page for low prices across the whole line-up.
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Winter Doorbuster Days, It Feels Like Black Friday, 2 Days Only-Friday and Saturday.
From 9to5Toys.com:
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It was just a few weeks ago that Apple began selling Retina MacBook Pros at the online Apple Store at 15% off prices. Today, Apple began selling the 13-inch variety at the same 15% discounts (via MacRumors) for 15% off yielding prices that now start at $1439.
Apple refurbished products are packaged and look like new and come with the same one year of AppleCare. See all of the best prices on Apple Products on our Apple product pages.
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LaCie is throwing down two more 5big drive enclosures for CES this week. Starting at $1,199.00, the Thunderbolt version boasts up to 20TB capacity and transfer rates that extend to 785MB/sec. Meanwhile, the much less expensive Gig Ethernet NAS version is aimed at small business and starts at just $549. Both look like stellar products, and we’re hoping to get some hands-on time later this week at CES.
On the other end of the ‘useful’ spectrum lies LaCie’s new offering: a Philippe Starck ‘Blade Runner’ USB 3.0 4TB drive. The boat designer‘s enclosure looks like a giant hard drive heat sink, but I’m not sure if it is functional. Fewer than 10,000 of these $299 devices will be produced…thankfully.
IEEE’s Rod Furlan just explained how he built his own Google Glass-like prototype with an iPod touch.
Google’s Sergey Brin revealed at the 2012 Google I/O Developers Conference in June that a pair of beta, or “Explorer Edition”, Google Glasses cost $1,500 and would start shipping to I/O attendees in 2013, but Lee realized the components to such a headset display must be readily available if Google was able to start developing one. And so, he decided to build his own—admittedly rough—version.
After promptly selecting an iOS-enabled, head-mounted Myvu video display, Lee tried to find an onboard computer:
I settled on a fourth-generation iPod Touch. I had to “jailbreak” it, which eliminates limitations built into the iOS software by Apple. Once that was done, I could mirror the Touch’s main display to the microdisplay using its composite video output. This choice of onboard computer meant that for a point-of-view camera (used to record images and video), I needed one that could communicate via the iPod Touch’s Wi-Fi or Bluetooth wireless interfaces. I used a Looxcie Bluetooth camera, which is small enough to be mounted on the side of the frame once you strip it from its plastic shell; you can order it online for around $150. (I’m already building a second iteration of my prototype around a Raspberry Pi. This will allow more control over the camera than is currently possible with the iOS apps that work with the Looxcie and better integration of sensors such as accelerometers.)
Lee tested the prototype once the assembly process was over, and he noted his world immediately changed forever:
My world changed the day I first wore my prototype. At first there was disappointment—my software was rudimentary, and the video cable running down to the onboard computer was a compromise I wasn’t particularly pleased with. Then there was discomfort, as I felt overwhelmed while trying to hold a conversation as information from the Internet (notifications, server statuses, stock prices, and messages) was streamed to me through the microdisplay. But when the batteries drained a few hours later and I took the prototype off, I had a feeling of loss. It was as if one of my senses had been taken away from me, which was something I certainly didn’t anticipate.
Lee continued to give insight into how Google Glass and his iOS prototype could provide immense value. Unfortunately, he only corroborated his post with a few illustrations and no images. Go to IEEE for more details.
This article is cross-posted on 9to5Google.
If you haven’t heard, those who purchased a new Mac with Apple’s built-to-order 3TB hard drive option found themselves unable to utilize Boot Camp assistant to install Windows. Boot Camp Assistant is currently limited to drives up to 2.2TB. Apple hinted that support might come at a later date, but TwoCanoes shares a step-by-step guide for getting the job done in Boot Camp until then:
Since it is not possible to get around the 2.2 TB limitation with booting Windows, it is possible to organize the partitions so that Windows is the last of the first four partitons and is within the first 2.2 TBs of space on the drive. Since the Mac can see the remaining space above the 2.2 TB limit, this space can be used for addtional storage space for OS X.
In order for Windows to boot successfully and still be able to utilize all of the available space on a 3 TB (or larger) hard drive, Windows must be installed on the fourth partition. You can use Disk Utility to create the partition, but since Disk Utility does not show hidden partitions, it can be difficult to see what is going on if some partitions are hidden. To have Disk Utility show hidden partitions, open Terminal and run the following command:
From 9to5Toys:
Apple has taken an additional $50 off the refurbished 2011 Mac mini this afternoon on its online Certified Refurbished Store. Apple now offers the Intel Core i5 starting at $469 for the 2.3GHz model with 2GB of RAM. As it does with the entire refurb store, a 1 year warranty is applied just like new models.
From 9to5Toys.com:
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Amazon’s Deal of the Day today is a wide range of storage products from Lexar and Crucial. Notables are Crucial’s 16GB of Mac RAM for $62.99 (which work in most recent Macs), Lexar USB sticks for less than $.50/GB and half off Crucial SSDs in large sizes for over half off.
Best Buy is also offering a solid deal on 8GB SanDisk Cruzer USB Sticks at $4.99/ea.
From 9to5Toys.com:
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If you are still trying to get in on the 20% off iTunes gift cards, two new options sprung up over the break. GiftCardMall via Ebay Daily Deal offers a $50 iTunes gift card for $40 with tax only in Colorado, today only. Without tax, that’s the lowest price we’ve seen to date on an iTunes gift card. You can also pay via Paypal.
For its Rewardzone customers (free Sign-up), Best Buy also offers 20% off iTunes gift cards from $15-$100 yielding prices of $12-$80. This deal is valid thru the 29th and is available with free shipping online or in-stores for pick up. Not into the Rewardzone? Best Buy will still give you 15% off.
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As we move past Christmas and into Boxing Day worldwide, Apple has confirmed its annual ‘Lucky Bag’ sale for Jan. 2 in Japan. The sale, which takes place in seven stores across the country, allows shoppers who get in line early to purchase a 33,000 yen ($390 USD) gift bag that includes the possibility of headphones, an iPod touch, cases, an Apple T-shirt, and other accessories. The real surprise is a few gift bags are loaded with special items like a MacBook Air or iPad that a few lucky people will receive.
Lucky Bags are a big tradition in Japan and other parts of Asia to bring in the New Year. Apple’s Lucky Bag event, much like Black Friday in the United States, brings out overnight campers who seek the silicon treasures. As one person noticed in 2011, getting in line at 5 a.m. still wasn’t early enough. Will any 9to5mac readers venture out? Check out a gift bag below: [Apple via Tech in Asia]
From 9to5Toys.com:
Whether you need some more goodies to supplement the presents you received or you need to make up for the lack of gifts because your family turned into a bunch of scrooges, we’ve got your back.
We know iDevices were on the top of many of your lists so if you were lucky enough to get a new iPad, iPhone or iPod we’ve got the hottest deals on apps and games. Also, if you can’t find anything below that interests you be sure to check out Best Buy’s iTunes card sale. You can save 15% on all cards, starting from just $12.75.
20% off BodyGuardz Apple device accessories; Skins, screen protectors, cases, headphones
50% off Kensington Apple device accessories: Mac, iPhone, iPad
OtterBox up to 15% off including iPhone 5 & iPad Mini Cases
Also don’t forget to outfit your new iPhone, iPad or iPod with some extra Lightning cables. Starting at just $16
OK, so Santa skipped over your house and didn’t deliver a new Apple device, Here’s some deals for you:
Apple iPod Shuffle 2GB with Bonus Accessory Kit $39
Apple iPad 3rd Generation 64GB WiFi w/ Retina display $550
Apple TV 3rd generation 1080p $79
Cowboom 15% off sitewide discount, save on iPad, iPad, iPhone and Mac
Apple iPod touch 32GB (5th Generation – Latest Model) $295 with a FREE $30 Best Buy gift card
Apple iPod Nano 7th gen. 16GB with Bonus Accessory Kit (Silver) $139
Microsoft Office for Mac Home and Student 2011 Family Pack $99 (Reg. $149)
Jawbone bluetooth Jambox speaker $130
So you waited too long and you need a last second gift for that last person on your shopping list? No problem Apple fan! We’ve got some great options for you.
1. Head over to the iTunes store and either email or Print a gift card in $10, $15, $25, $50 or $100 denominations. Or save a few bucks at Walmart/Sams Club.
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2. Amazon has a load of Printable and email-able gift options including embedding your own photos and videos for a personal touch. You can even send gifts over Facebook if that is your thing. Amazon carries lots of Apple products and peripherals which your giftees will love. Best Buy offers the same services.
From 9to5Toys.com:
Update: Best Buy is now down to 15%. Still worth your time.
Today only, Best Buy knocks 20% off the price of physical iTunes gift cards across the board from $15 -$100 (including the very handy $10 three-pack). iTunes gift cards are good for music, videos, iBooks, movies, and iOS/Mac Apps. They can be ordered site-to-store for pick-up up until 3PM on Dec 24th or ship for free if you don’t need them by Christmas.
If you are looking to buy an email-redeemable iTunes credit, Walmart still sells a $50 emailled iTunes credit for $40, though readers sometimes complain about Walmart’s reliability.
Obviously, these make great last minute gifts/stocking stuffers and are an easy way to get 20% off all of your Apple media.
Amazon also offers gift cards that can be sent via email, Facebook or printed out in any denomination.
From 9to5Toys.com:
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For a limited time, Walmart is offering the $50 iTunes gift card for $40. That’s 20 percent off and the lowest price we’ve seen for these. The card comes immediately through email, and it counts toward free shipping on other items. It can be purchased for use in the US iTunes Store on iBooks, Mac and iOS Apps, Music, Videos, Movies and more.
Limit two per customer. International readers have mixed results when purchasing these. You usually need US-based credit cards.
You can save even more on your iTunes purchases by using this discounted gift card to purchase heavily discounted apps. 9to5toys has been tracking some of the best iPhone and iPad app deals for the holiday season. Most notably:
EA Games iOS holiday sale, over 50 iPhone & iPad titles starting from just 99 cents
iPhone & iPad game, Infinity Blade II, temporarily $2.99 (Reg. $6.99)
iPhone & iPad game, Infinity Blade, temporarily 99 cents (Reg. $5.99)
iPhone & iPad app, Skyfire Web Browser (iOS Flash media player), now on sale
iPhone & iPad game, The Dark Knight Rises, temporarily 99 cents (Reg. $6.99)
As customers begin receiving the new iMac this month, business-end users and gamers may find one issue when booting up their new machine. As reader Michael Verde first shared with us, the built-to-order 27-inch iMac configuration with a 3TB Fusion Drive (an extra $400) will not allow any Boot Camp use. This essentially cuts off access to a full Windows experience that some Mac users may want to benefit from. Many might consider this a bummer, as a sizable amount of users turn to Boot Camp to access necessary Windows programs or just simply enjoy Windows paired with Mac hardware.
Apple highlighted the issue on both its iMac configuration and Fusion Drive explanation page. “Boot Camp Assistant is not supported at this time on 3TB hard drive configurations,” Apple said in buried text. “At this time,” could mean the feature is enabled down the road in a software update, but it is non-existent as of now.
There are virtualization solutions, such as Parelles and VM Ware, that provide a Windows experience, but they do not offer a full experience that many may want. Boot Camp users include gamers who want to run games at full settings and business users looking to use specific business apps in a full Windows environment.
Right now it is not clear what the cause is, or if it has anything to do with Apple’s new Fusion Drive technology, but it seems that Boot Camp is limited to hard drive with less than 2TB of space (PC World has a good explanation for this). Announced in October and shipping in the new Mac Mini and iMacs, the top Fusion Drive configuration provides 128GB of flash storage coupled with 3TB of HDD space. The cheaper configuration, 128GB Flash Storage + 1TB HDD, supports Boot Camp. So, we have to wonder: what is holding back the more expensive configuration? We reached out to Apple for comment.
Shortly after releasing iOS 6.0.2 to the masses this afternoon, Apple seeded build 12D43 of OS X 10.8.3 to developers. The folks in Cupertino have not listed any new features or known issues, but they asked developers to focus on AirPlay, AirPort, Game Center, Graphics Drivers, and Safari. The last pre-release build was released on Dec. 5. You can check today’s release out on the developer center, while the full release note is below:
From 9to5Toys.com:
Update: You are too late for Best Buy but Walmart has that beat with 20% off $50 iTunes gift cards.
Today only, Best Buy offers the $100 iTunes gift card for $85 with free shipping (which will arrive before Christmas) or in-store pickup. iTunes gift cards are good for music, videos, movies, iBooks, Mac and iOS Apps and much more.
Note: Sam’s Club has a $25 4-pack for $84.64 with free shipping for delivery before Christmas.
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Apple has released an update to the late 2012 models of the iMac, that owners will sure want to grab. The iMac EFI Update 2.0, weighing in at 4.32MB, brings general performance fixes to sleep and Thunderbolt, and additionally improves the compatibility when using 5GHz band Wi-Fi. As always you can grab the update directly from Apple or via Software Update. [Apple]
Don’t miss: Apple releases Mac Wi-Fi Update 1.0 improving 5GHz band compatibility
Apple just released Mac Wi-Fi Update 1.0. The 1.49MB update, recommended for all late 2012 Mac systems, according to the folks in Cupertino, improves the compatibility when using the 5GHz band Wi-Fi. Like always, you speed-hungry Wi-Fi users can download the update directly from Apple or via Software Update. More info:
This update is recommended for all late 2012 Mac systems. This update improves compatibility when using the 5GHz band in Wi-Fi.
Boot ROM or SMC Version Information: To confirm the update has been applied, the CFBundleVersion string of the AirPortBrcm4311.kext will need to be checked.
New driver delivered in update: AirPortBrcm4331.kext CFBundleVersion = 612.20.15
/System/Library/Extensions/IO80211Family.kext/Contents/PlugIns/AirPortBrcm4331.kext/Contents/Info.plist
[Apple]
Siri’s feature that allows users to speak to find directions is great, but if you find yourself using Google’s new mapping solution instead of Apple’s, you may find yourself a little frustrated when Siri loads up the latter. Luckily, the folks at JailbreakNation showed us how to use Siri to launch directions with Google Maps. A command like “take me to the nearest Apple store” will prompt Siri to launch Apple Maps to not take you to your desired location. However, you simply add “via transit” to the end of your command to use Google Maps. So, a simple “Take me to the nearest Apple store via transit” will do just the trick. You can check it out demoed on video below:
Don’t miss: MapsOpener jailbreak tweak sets Google Maps as default maps app
As we approach Christmas and the end of the year, we thought we would throw together some of the more interesting review items we received over the past months.
27-inch AOC LED IPS super slim monitor
First up is the $299 27-inch AOC LED IPS super slim monitor (I2757FH) that has a vague Mac aesthetic with a silver stand and ultra-thin bezel around the edges. This one comes with two HDMI ports, a VGA port, AUX audio ports, and some small speakers. The 27-inch IPS LED display is very nice, but it is obviously not as crisp as a Thunderbolt Display of the same size. And, after some adjustments to the default washed-out look, I was very happy with the color representation. Front capacitive controls are easy to deal with, and overall build quality is very nice, especially for AOC, but the downsides include: the lack of a USB hub, it is not easily wall-mountable, and the super small and poor tiny 4W speakers. You are definitely going to want to have separate speakers.
This AOC display would be best suited in an office/dorm room/bedroom doing double duty as a PC/Mac external display and perhaps display for an Apple TV/Cable box. Recommended at $299, or check out the USB Display link powered 22-inch display
Some iPhone users who’ve tried the new Google Maps already will want to use the app instead of the often-criticized Apple Maps. Sadly, Apple doesn’t yet offer a way to make Google Maps the default application to allow iOS users to choose which mapping app opens when map URLs are clicked or using Siri.
As expected, the crafty folks in the jailbreak community have already cooked up a new tweak called “MapsOpener” that will make Google Maps the default. You can check out the tweak courtesy of Hashbang Productions and available via Cydia’s Big Boss repo. As we told you earlier this week, jailbreak tweak FullForce will also make Google Maps scale to the iPad’s large screen. Check out MapsOpener demoed below.
MacRumors noted today that Apple is utilizing the automatic daily checks for malware definitions it implemented last year to block an OS X trojan horse discovered earlier this week. The trojan was originally detailed in a blog post on Dr. Web. Known as “TrojanSMSSend.3666”, Apple has now updated its “Xprotect.plist” blacklist to allow OS X to detect and alert the user if downloaded:
Apple has moved quickly to address the threat, adding definitions for the malware to its “Xprotect.plist” blacklist, which is part of the basic anti-malware tools Apple launched with OS X Snow Leopard in 2009. In its original incarnation, users were required to update definitions manually, but as malware threats against OS X grew, Apple last year instituted automatic daily checks to keep users’ systems updated.
For users out there whose 2012 Mac Mini’s HDMI video has been flickering, Apple just released a fix. Available via software update and Apple’s website this afternoon, Apple released Mac mini EFI firmware update 1.7 that addresses the issue. The file is only 4.53MB and is “recommended for all users.”
Source: Apple
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