We told you we loved Christmas right? We also really like deals. Deals, tips, tricks, writlefifers, all of it. This is why we now proudly present the Christmas Gift Guide Part 3 – Tips & Tricks for buying Tech this Christmas!
According to Macrumors, Apple now has an official policy on price matching, which allows specialists to price match iPhones, iPads, and Macs, giving up to 10 percent off on products without authorization. Specialists are also allowed to give business customers up to 20% off a non-Apple accessory when purchased with an Apple product via special order.
Apple also has free shipping now through December 22nd.
If you’re thinking of buying that special someone a Smartphone this holiday season, you should get yourself along to Whistleblower – a fantastic tool that you can use to compare cell phone plans online, and see which one is best for your needs and your budget!
If you use Amazon ( and you should) you should be aware of a couple of things. Firstly, they will price match on cell phones and televisions within 14 days of shipment of the product. Click here to see the details.
Amazon also offers 3-months of Amazon Prime Membership for free for parents & caregivers. This includes Free 2-day shipping on qualifying items, 30% off Select Diapers & Wipes which qualify for subscribe & save (15% discount + 15% S&S discount, an additional month of Amazon Prime for each $25 you spend on a single order (up to 1 year total of free prime) and exclusive e-mail discounts and offers.
If you’re a college student you can also get free Prime membership for 6 months and only $39/year after that as well as a $5 credit for each friend you refer. Click here to sign up.
College students should also click here to apply for Best Buy’s student discounts, all you need is your student email address ( must end in .edu). With this, you’ll save $50 on MacBooks and receive similar discounts in your email.
You guys should definitely check out the refurbished products on the Apple special deals page here. You can find deals like the iPad Mini Wifi 64 Gb with a 1 year warranty for $419, 13 inch MacBook air for $849, or Apple TV for $75.
Target’s markdown day is usually Monday for electronics. Markdowns usually take place every two weeks and items will continue to be marked down every two weeks until sold or the discount reaches 75 percent. Markdown schedule’s might vary from store to store, so it won’t hurt to check.
You can get a bunch of sweet Mac applications all in one go from MacUpdate in corroboration with Macrumors. For only $39.99, the bundle includes 10 applications such as iStopMotion 3, Anonymiser, and Backblaze. All up it’s worth a cool $360 clams. Click here to check out the deal.
And here’s a couple of specific deals you should check out:
iPad Mini and iPad Mini with Retina Display Smart Cover by Apple – 19.99 for blue, 14.99 for all others including Red. Free Shipping. Click here to see the deal.
Pioneer A4 WiFi Speaker w/ AirPlay Streaming $80 + Free Shipping save $120! Check it out here.
Get a Apple 15.4″ MacBook Pro for $1549.99 with a discount and rebate at MacMall.
Happy dealing and Writlefifing and Merry Christmas!
iPhone Antidote LOVES christmas. We put our christmas tree up in October, no joke.
AND we’ve been tracking the best gifts this year so you can get everyone in your life the best damn christmas present they’ve ever had. We’re talking tears in the eyes of the toughest man you know kind of christmas gifts. You guys are gonna get so much christmas karma this year!
Although tech stuff tends to be on the higher side of the budget range, we’ve tried to include a broad range of prices AND gifts for a broad range of ages and interests.
We’ve also provided some nice gift viewing music to serenade you whilst you read. Did we mention that we love Christmas?
You ready? Here we go!
Health Conscious
For the health conscious in the family, any of the Fitbit product line will make for a perfect gift. At iPhone Antidote, we recommend the FitBit One (seen above), but the Fitbit Flex has been reviewed positively as well.
The gadget tracks steps, miles,and other activities undertaken as well as calories taken in and expended, weight and even your sleep patterns. A very effective tool for maintaining or improving healthy living.
The Fitbit range is sold in most good tech stores. The Fitbit One is $99.99 and the FitBit Flex sells for $99.99 everywhere. Try Best Buy or Target.
Speakers.
Cos everyone loves music, right? And how awesome is it when you can just press a button on a device and music comes pounding out across the room? Or across the campsite? That’s why everyone needs a portable bluetooth speaker, like the Beats by Dre Pill ( shown above), $199.95 at most good techy retailers. Try Macy’s or AT&T.
We’d also highly recommend the SoundLink Mini Bluetooth speaker from Bose. Get it here for $199.99.
Groupon currently has a good deal on the BassBoomz Portable Bluetooth Speaker, usually $130, now $29.99. Click here to see the deal.
On the other hand, Airplay speakers ( strictly Apple only connectivity) give better sound quality than bluetooth, but you certainly pay for it. The one we like the most is the Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin Air for $599.99. Click here to get that price.
The iKross Bluetooth Stereo Music Audio Receiver makes any speaker in your house a bluetooth connectable speaker. Uh, awesome? Get it for $24.98 here.
Game systems
If you haven’t already snapped up one of these and are wanting to, well, we wish you luck my friend. They are a little scarce on the ground at the moment, but we think that supplies might bulk up towards the pointy end of Christmas. Might.
But if you can, either of these would make a smashing christmas present. Just make sure you get the right one, and we’re not telling you which one that is- they are both awesome, but it is a fierce battle forged in people’s minds as to brand alliance, much like Samsung and Apple products. If the person you’re getting it for has no alliance, you’re good to go on what suits the budget and environment.
The Playstation4 is $399.99 at Walmart, Best Buy & most good retailers. The Xbox One is $499.99. Consider getting a product bundle as well.
The alternative to the two big players is the Nintendo Wii Ufor just $299.99 at Best Buy -that’s the Wii U Console Deluxe Set with New Super Mario Bros. U AND New Super Luigi U games.
Games
Games! Woop! These are the top coolest games we can think of to recommend!
Grand theft auto V. The game everyone’s been talking about! Be warned, this is not the game to get your 10 year old! Mature themes run throughout, but those, uh, mature enough to play it? They say it rocks socks. In a more mature way of saying that. Available now on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.$59.99 at Best Buy.
Groupon currently have a deal to buy Just Dance 2014 for Wii, Xbox 360 Kinect, or PS3 Move . Super fun and easy game for everyone to play. Usually $39.99, now only $29.99.
Toys
We scrounged the very bowels of the internet to get the top 5 coolest kids toys for your little munchkins this year.
The new Furby Boom toys are the most interactive Furbies yet. And they’re back, in a BIG way. Starting at $47.80 at Walmart.
Snap Circuits – super award winning learning toy, where the objective is to build projects such as AM radios; burglar alarms; games, etc. Shop Amazon for $45.07 with Prime here.
Romo Robotic Pet for iOS. Romo is a little guy creature ( downloadable app) that lives in your iOS device – attached to his wheels he can roll around, snap photos and interact with and adapt to his environment. Get this at Brookstone for $199.99.
Ubooly Smart Toy is an interactive smart toy that doubles as a really cute little thing AND an educational toy with 1,000+ fun activities for ages 4-10. Ubooly tells stories, plays games, teaches lessons and every week, new activities are pushed wirelessly to your mobile device. Yes please.
The iStabiliser Monopod. A smartphone and gadget holder thingy, so your photos turn out super stable, and your arm doesn’t hurt when you’re filming. Get it here for $ $34.95.
Hellonomad Charge card (seen above).USB powered charge card that is the size of two credit cards, so can fit easily in your wallet. Get it here for $25.
For cases, we reccomend trying out either Opena casefor function ( they have the bottle opener case among others) or Red Bubblefor design.
Groupon currently has a deal for Agloves Touchscreen Winter Gloves, so you can use all your smart gadgets even when it’s super cold! Usually $25.99, now only $ 7.99! Get in fast, it’s super limited.
Groupon currently has a deal on for the HMDX Bluetooth Speaker & Alarm Clock with Apple Lightning Pin Dock. Usually $79.99 now only $39.99! Get it here.
iHip Robot Mini Speaker. Super cute brightly colored little speaker guys! Groupon currently has them down from $29.99 to just $6.99. Excellent stocking stuffer!
Quadcopter/helicopter
No matter what age, a Heli or Quadcopter will bring a lot of joy this holiday season. The best of the lot would be the Stunt Copter ( seen above) at Brookstone for $69.99. It takes a little learning, but comes with a repair kit and takes some good smashes with no damage. Designed for inside and outside play, it’s a perfect toy that takes some practice- but the practice is hella fun.
For more of a toy than a project, we’d recommend this the Hovermaxx UFO RC Helicopter, for only $19.99 from Brookstone, it’s perfect for beginners age 6 and up for inside play and includes 6 LED lights on the device.
For the Quads, we’d definitely recommend the Parrot AR.Drone 2.0 App-Controlled Quadricopter($299.99 at Brookstone), it’s big brother the Parrot AR.Drone Quadricopter Power Edition which lets you stay in the air for 3 x longer ($369.99 at Brookstone), or if you want to go REALLY LARGE – the DJI Phantom Aerial UAV is really top notch. Check it out. ($453.44 with prime at Amazon)
Smartwatch if you cants wait ( but we suggest you do).
If you or one of your loved ones realllly can’t wait for the iWatch or similar expected far advanced tech, then it’s ok, we got you.
We recommend the Pebble Watch if you’re after a standalone smart watch (173.99 from Amazon), or the Martian Passport Smart Watch if you’re after a stylish accessory to go with your smartphone ($299 with Prime from Amazon).
Both are great Smart Watches and hella stylish to match, but expect big advances in battery time and capabilities as early as next year in their own updates and in new products.
Cool things
Light show fountain speakers. Turn on your favorite jam ( do we still say jam for music? ) and the water inside the speakers will dance to the beat and the 4 multi-colored LEDs will light up. Super rad. $49.99 from Thinkgeek.
GoPro Hero 3. You’ve all seen the video’s right? These are the cameras that you attach to things as you go hurtling down a ski-field, climbing up a rock or simply hiking to the ocean. They’re also beginning to be a must have. Starting at $199.99
Bird Photo booth. Catch the au naturale side of your backyard bird friends with this bird photo booth. Uses your own iPhone or GoPro, but comes with macros and polarising lenses. You can also, uh, talk to the birds using FaceTime? $149.99 from Thinkgeek.
Game boy watch. Everyone loves vintage gamer stuff! And now you can wear it on your hand! $86.87 including shipping here.
Perfect Drink App-Controlled Smart Bartending. Exactly what it says it is; a fancy cocktail machine. It includes a smart scale and app that lets you choose from hundreds of drink recipes, follow real-time pouring instructions, and watch as a virtual glass fills on your smartphone or tablet, as well as suggesting what drinks you can make from what you have. (Kahlua and Bacardi 151 anyone?) $69.99 from Brookstone.
Really cool things
ELECTRIC DELOREAN DMCEV.Brought to you by the DeLorean Motor Company in association with Epic EV, the Electric DeLorean is battery powered but its AC induction liquid-cooled electric motor packs 260 horsepower. That means a top speed of 125mph and 0-60 in 4.9 seconds.
The Flying Hovercraft. Yes, it’s a flying hovercraft. It glides over land and water yet also soars in the air up to 70 mph with the aid of integrated wings. A 130-hp twin-cylinder, liquid-cooled gasoline engine, turbocharged and fuel-injected, drives its 60″ wood/carbon composite thrust propeller while a 1,100-rpm 34″ lift fan inflates its durable vinyl-coated nylon skirt for hovering above the ground.
That’s a wrap! ( get it? …Christmas wrap? ..no?) I hope you guys found some nice gift ideas for your loved ones and enjoyed the dulcet tones of Miss Mariah!
Happy Happy Holidays!
P.S. Watch out for our 2nd tech christmas guide coming soon on where to find the best deals on everything Apple!
Now you can access all Yahoo has to offer direct on Apple TV. Similar to their recently launched iOS app, this means you can access all the content that Yahoo hosts as well. That means AWESOME! Hello SNL, Hello The Colbert Report, Hello The Daily Show!
The shows aren’t live but you can get them shortly after they’ve aired. You have to sign in using Google Plus, Facebook or or using the app’s registration.
This latest addition to Apple TV comes after they’ve already, just this year, added Time Warner’s HBO Go, WatchESPN, Sky News, Vevo, Disney, Weather Channel, and Smithsonian.
We see what you’re doing here Apple. Slowly building up an excellent service, then BLAMMO! June 2014, hello Apple iTV!
Hello already killer service, hello agreements already set in place with the top TV making peoples, hello awesome design aesthetic AND HELLO major league new tech.
Do you guys remember a lil’ while back when a video featuring a blocky, stack together futuristic idealistic mobile phone started doing the social media rounds?
This one:
If you haven’t seen it, definitely check it out. There are some really smart ideas in there, formed by some people really thinking about how to make the future of tech better.
The phone in the video above is designed by a group called Phonebloks, and it’s a design prototype; it’s not real, yet. Turns out Motorola has been thinking along the same lines as the guys from Phonebloks, and now they’re working together on a project that is super exciting.
Over the last six months, our MAKEwithMOTO team took Sticky, a truck wrapped entirely in velcro and filled with rooted, hackable Motorola smartphones and high-end 3D printing equipment, across the country for a series of make-a-thons.
On that trip we saw the first signs of a new, open hardware ecosystem made possible by advances in additive manufacturing and access to the powerful computational capabilities of modern smartphones. These included new devices and applications that we could never have imagined from inside our own labs. Open fuels innovation. See some examples here, here, and here.
After the trip, we asked ourselves, how do we bring the benefits of an open hardware ecosystem to 6 billion people? Meet Ara.
Led by Motorola’s Advanced Technology and Projects group, Project Ara is developing a free, open hardware platform for creating highly modular smartphones. We want to do for hardware what the Android platform has done for software: create a vibrant third-party developer ecosystem, lower the barriers to entry, increase the pace of innovation, and substantially compress development timelines.
Our goal is to drive a more thoughtful, expressive, and open relationship between users, developers, and their phones. To give you the power to decide what your phone does, how it looks, where and what it’s made of, how much it costs, and how long you’ll keep it.
Here’s a sneak peek at early designs for Project Ara:
The design for Project Ara consists of what we call an endoskeleton (endo) and modules. The endo is the structural frame that holds all the modules in place. A module can be anything, from a new application processor to a new display or keyboard, an extra battery, a pulse oximeter–or something not yet thought of!
We’ve been working on Project Ara for over a year. Recently, we met Dave Hakkens, the creator of Phonebloks. Turns out we share a common vision: to develop a phone platform that is modular, open, customizable, and made for the entire world.
We’ve done deep technical work. Dave created a community. The power of open requires both. So we will be working on Project Ara in the open, engaging with the Phonebloks community throughout our development process, as well as asking questions to our Project Ara research scouts (volunteers interested in helping us learn about how people make choices).
In a few months, we will also send an invitation to developers to start creating modules for the Ara platform (to spice it up a bit, there might be prizes!). We anticipate an alpha release of the Module Developer’s Kit (MDK) sometime this winter.
So stay tuned. There will be a lot more coming from us in the next few months.
–Paul Eremenko, and the Motorola Advanced Technology and Projects group, Project Ara Team
We would have suggested OS X Liger (rawr!), but Apple went ahead without consulting us, starting over with the naming process for system upgrades and leaving the big cat names behind.
Announced back in June at WWDC and coinciding with their new ‘Designed by Apple in California’ ads and the announcement that the Mac Pro will be built solely in America, Apple started a new naming scheme for their operating system based on locations in California.
Mavericks is a surfing location particularly well known for its dangerous big wave riding in Northern California, just north of the town of Half Moon Bay.
Now, it’s also the new Apple operating system. Is it as cool as beach with big wave breaks? Well, kinda? We may have trapped ourselves in that comparison- it might not be that cool, but it is very cool.
Here’s the double rainbow of coolness for you guys;
New Finder Tabs.
Just like in your Internet browser, you can now have independently controlled tabs in your finder windows. You can merge these finder windows and take the finder full screen.
Tagging.
Filed under ‘I wouldn’t have though of this, but now that you did, it looks really freakin useful’ is tagging.
With Mavericks you will be able to ‘tag’ documents and media – save it, tag it as sports, home, to do, etc. and it catalogues these under their tags in the side bar of the finder.
You can tag documents with multiple tags, create new tags on the go, and the best part? Searching using tags. For instance, searching for ‘iphone stuff’ and ‘the best’ will naturally take you directly to your saved iPhone Antidote Wallpaper.
Multiple Displays
Users will now be able to access the menu bar and dock separately on each screen with multiple display support. You will also be able to load separate and independent applications on each screen, and drag them from screen to screen.
Apple TV is not forgotten here either, as it can now be a fully powered OS X display, with access to menu bar dock and independent applications also.
Extended Battery Life
There is a heap of new processing elements included in Mavericks to extend your battery life and reduce CPU utilization by up to 72%.
We particularly like a new feature called app nap, which figures out what applications and web pages are in use, and which are not. The system will then simply stop giving power to the web pages and applications that you’re not currently looking at.
Compressed memory pretty much does what it says, compressing inactive memory to provide spare memory to running applications when needed.
Timer Coalescing groups low end operations together , creating tiny periods of time when your computer can enter into an idle, low power state, which in turn saves your battery.
Safari
Safari is updated with Mavericks, starting with an all-new homepage with top sites and a sidebar with your bookmarks and access to your reading list. This will also include shared links from people you follow on Linkdin and Twitter.
Safari uses less energy in this update and includes accelerated, smoother scrolling and one click bookmarking. In your readin list, you will be able to scroll continuously through all of your articles, one after the other.
iCloud keychain
Cross device safe keeping of all your passwords and credit card information starts with iCloud Keychain.
This new feature will store all your passwords, across all your devices, so you don’t have to think about them ever again. Sounds pretty good right? The keychain will even suggest new passwords for you, and then will go ahead and put it in the cloud, encrypted.
With your credit card information, when shopping online, the keychain will offer the last four digits of all the cards you have stored, and you can pick one when paying and be done with it.
Although this sends little tiny shivers of scariness up the security part of our spine, it also sounds super useful and convenient.
Notifications
You can now get all your notifications, from all your devices, on your computer.
What’s also pretty great about this is you will have a number of new options for action within the notification when it appears on your screen.
You can respond directly to most notifications, (by replying to email, declining Skype calls etc.), within the notification banner when it appears.
Once you have actioned a notification, you won’t see it again on any of your other devices, and they will all be updated with your response to the original notification.
When the computer is awoken from sleep, all the alerts you may have gotten when it (and you!) were asleep will be listed.
Calendar
The calendar app has been updated in a really cool way- where now if you have appointments scheduled, the app will give you a ton of information you might need for them.
The calendar will now provide you with weather in the spot where your appointment is scheduled, as well as suggestions for restaurants etc if you require them.
We particularly like that the calendar will work out and tell you the travel time to and from your appointment, and will even add it to the calendar so you cant double book the time when you’re supposed to be on your way!
You will also get notifications of when you need to leave on your phone and/or computer.
Maps
Maps hits the computer with Mavericks! You can now access street maps, 3D flyover data and info cards. You can also push turn-by-turn directions to our iOS device straight from your computer.
iBooks
iBooks will be on your computer by Fall with this system update. Now you can access all the books in the iTunes store as well as your stored books and bookmarks, and read them full screen on your computer screen.
But what is really cool is for the educators and the learners amongst us.
iBooks for Mavericks will come with interactive textbooks, which feature videos and other media embedded within the normal text. You will also have the ability to highlight and make notes, and learn using study cards made from the material.
Sounds pretty awesome huh?
OS X Mavericks is available RIGHT NOW for FREE in the Mac App store. Download it here now.
HTC have released a new smart phone, and it’s the second one in recent history to have a fingerprint Sensor. The first, of course, was featured on the home button of the iPhone 5S, and it was called the Touch ID.
HTC ‘s new phone is called the HTC One Max and the fingerprint sensor is located on the back of the device, near the camera lens.
You activate the sensor by swiping it and while it can only recognize 3 different fingers, each finger can be linked to different functions, i.e. unlocking the phone or opening the camera.
Unfortunately, the positioning of the sensor, the fact that you need to wake the phone from sleep before using it and no doubt it following so quickly in the footsteps of the highly viewed Touch ID means the reviews of the HTC Max One inclusion of a fingerprint sensor is coming under some quite loud criticism.
“The fingerprint scanner implementation here is clumsy, awkward, and comfortably in line with the long history of failed attempts at making this technology work.”
“A big part of the frustration is that you can’t really see or feel the scanner to position your finger on it properly. Equally, it’s not obvious how the thing works — it doesn’t technically “scan” an image of your fingerprint, but instead measures the capacitance of your skin to create a unique signature. ”
“Overall, the fingerprint scanner could work better; it’s not quite as intuitive as Apple’s Touch ID, and we’d happily have given it up in exchange for something more useful, like optical stabilization in the camera module.”
Hmm.
Other than the Fingerprint sensor, the phone is said to be, well, eh. Eh-y. It has a huge screen at 5.9 inches diagonally, but doesn’t have the fastest Snapdragon 800 processor. The thickness of the device and the camera are also not as great as expected.
If you think about it, it’s a wonderful thing for people to have great expectations for your company’s products, as many people do for HTC. Missing the mark one time? Not so bad. But we might wait for the next HTC phone.
Think it’s for you? The HTC Mac one will be available on Sprint and Verizon later in October.
Did you purchase a new iOS device after September 1st, but just before Tim Cook announced that all new iOS devices purchased would come with iWork and iLife apps for free?
Did you buy apps from iLife or iWork and then kicked an Apple voodoo doll cos you felt ripped off?
Were you perhaps confused about it all and bought the apps anyway not thinking they were actually going to be given out for free?
GOOD NEWS!
Apple have begun to send out emails to eligible users that did any of the above letting them know not to worry kiddies, their iTunes accounts will be credited for the money they spent on the apps that were supposed to be free!
If you think that you should have received an email and you haven’t yet, you get right on that phone and call Apple! 800-275-2273
Here’s the official email from Apple.
Dear iTunes Customer,
On September 10, 2013, Apple announced that iPhoto, iMovie, Keynote, Pages, and Numbers iOS apps are now available as a free download on the App Store for qualifying iOS 7 compatible devices activated on or after September 1, 2013.
Our records indicate that you purchased one or more of these apps on or after September 1, 2013 so we have provided you with the iTunes code below in the amount of $5.34.
This credit can be used towards the purchase of any content on the iTunes Store, App Store, or iBooks Store. Detailed instructions for redeeming the code can be found at http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1574.
Code: [redacted]
Thank you and we hope you enjoy using this credit towards your next purchase on iTunes.
Regards, iTunes Customer Support
For full iTunes Terms and Conditions click here:http://www.apple.com/legal/itunes/ww/
Apple courtesy of Macrumors. Image courtesy of Appleinsider.
Are you a cool teenager? Do you have an iPhone? Well, uh, sorry, cos we’re sure this might not be what you want to hear and all…. but you’re now in the majority!
According to a survey administered by Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster, 55% of teenagers now use an iPhone. This is up compared to 48% in an April survey and 40% this time last year.
“Our most recent semi-annual Teen survey demonstrates that Apple remains the most popular tech brand amongst teens. As of Fall 2013, the iPhone represented nearly 55% all phones used by teens and the iPad family remained at close to 70% share of tablet ownership.
We believe that while Samsung seemingly had some momentum with teens over the past year, Apple’s brand and product quality has enabled it to remain the top choice for teen consumer electronics.”
Here’s the table of results straight from the sauce!
Mmmmm… sauce.
We mean… yay Apple! Way to keep ahead in one of the most important demographics!
And take THAT other smartphone companies for suggesting, like we know you have, that Apple products are for uncool parent type people!
Hey! Everyone’s cool in our books! As long as everyone accepts Bill Murray as their cool King. K? K.
Well, we might not make it rain, but we’ll… stop the rainclouds? Something witty like that.
Here’s our deals of the day!
These ones come all the way from that place where you think you can spend lots of money but then you realize you don’t have that much money, so you should really sell that stinky old iPhone in the drawer so you can get CASHMONEY and you can buy tickets to that sumo & sushi night AND buy these awesome accessories.
These two deals are all about keeping your device going and going and going and going! Battery power! Yeah!
You can get an Enerpak Tube 5000 mAh external battery pack for $29 here! You will need to bring your own USB cable to the table, but for $29, some extra battery you can carry around in your pocket is not too shabby of a deal.
ANNND you can get a Purgoodies solar paneled charger for your device for $29.00 here. USB cable is included in this deal, sahweet! Extra good for camping or electricity blackouts, or hanging out kickin it at the park for a really long time.
These are both offered at pretty excellent prices – so go check ’em out!
Apple, Apps, Cool Features, iPhone, iPhone 5, New Releases, Savings, Upgrades | iPhone-Antidote | 
December 9, 2013 3:04 pm | 
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