Macgasm

Today, Telltale Games has released season two of Sam & Max for Mac OS X. Previously available only for Windows, Wii, and Xbox 360, this five-episode season can now be downloaded at no additional cost for owners of the Windows version. If you haven’t picked up season two yet, you can buy it for only $29.95.

In addition, season three is in the process of being released on Mac OS X, Windows, iPad, and PS3. You can buy it for $34.95 here, or head over to the app store for your iPad version.

If you’re up for a big adventure, you can drop $49.95 for all three seasons of Sam & Max. The first season hasn’t been ported to the Mac yet, but you’ll be able to download it at no additional cost once you purchased the Windows version.

Photo Credit: Telltale Games

Finally, with everyone watching, Twitter is releasing an official iPhone app.

This has been expected since their purchase of Atebits, developers of Tweetie and Tweetie 2.  In fact, Tweetie 2 users should see the new Twitter app as a “free update” for the Tweetie 2 app in iTunes (even though, as of this writing, the link is not yet live).

Yes, I tried the US App Store too.

As a Twitter user since August of 2007, Tweetie 2 (and before that, Tweetie) has been my Twitter app of choice on the iPhone for a long time.  The user interface, reliability, and support for multiple accounts are key factors in that decision (although lately I’ve been flirting with the TweetDeck app).  In my opinion, Twitter got it right when they acquired Atebits.  Twitter aficionados on the iPhone will have a robust, full-featured app, unlike the official Twitter for BlackBerry app.  No need for beta testing; the app has been tested on the open market for well over a year.  You could say that Twitter, true to Twitter philosophy, “crowdsourced” their app.

Tweetie 2 cost $2.99 when it was available; the Twitter app will be free.

Some questions remain to be answered: Will there be a significant difference from Tweetie 2?  Does this app signal the impending appearance of Twitter ads?  Will an official Twitter app kill competing apps like Echofon?  Most importantly, will there still be amusing sound effects?

As soon as it’s installed, I’ll be test-driving Twitter for the iPhone, and I’ll let you know.

Looking for a way to introduce your kids to the internet? It’s time for you to take a look at Giddy Up. The team over at App4Mac have created it as an easy interface to the web for your little kids.

Based off of WebKit, this has the power of Safari and Chrome, but with smooth edges for the kiddies. Instead of having a URL bar, your kids just have their predetermined bookmarks and a search button.

Like Apple’s built-in parental controls, this app gives you control over what websites your kids can visit, and it logs every site they go to. If you don’t want them stumbling on your blog, just block your URL or keywords.

There is a free limited-feature trial, but the app costs 29.00€. Once you pay for a license, you get updates for the life of the product at no additional cost. If you want a hard copy, that will be an additional nineteen euros. One year of support will cost you 49.00€, but unlimited support is 99.00€.

Apple has very quietly upgraded the white unibody polycarbonate MacBooks to more closely match the shiny aluminum MacBook Pro line. This update was so quiet that it does not even warrant a ‘new’ tag on the front page of the Apple Store; however, there is a ‘new’ tag on the product page.

The outside of the MacBook has not been altered in any way. The processor has been upgraded to the same 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo as the 13″ MacBook Pro. Although the processor has been upgraded, you do not receive a choice in terms of processor speed. There is only the 2.4GHz processor option, but this is an upgrade from the older 2.26GHz processor on the previous generation.

The base RAM is still the same 1066MHz speed. The memory is still using the older DDR2 memory instead of the DDR3 seen in the MacBook Pro. They’ve even upgraded to DDR3, which was long overdue.  The maximum supported is limited to 4GB. Despite this limitation, the base memory is 2GB. To upgrade to the maximum is still the same $100 price.

The biggest improvement is in the graphics. The old NVidia GeForce 9400M has been replaced by the NVidia 320M graphics chipset. This chipset is the same one found in the 13″ MacBook Pros. The graphics memory is still limited to 256MB and this is still shared with the main system memory.

The most notable change is the battery. The battery life is now a whopping 10 hours. This is achieved by using a 63.5-watt-hour battery instead of the older 60-watt-hour battery. My guess is that this battery is the same as the one in the 13″ MacBook Pros as well.

This upgrade, although quiet, is a significant improvement for those looking for an entry level portable Mac system. This upgrade is also good for those who want to purchase a system with all-day battery power.

The DigiTimes is reporting some unsettling news that Wintek, one of the key suppliers to Apple, has reports of employees in their Chinese facilities suffering from exposure to poisonous chemicals.

Wintek is a Taiwan-based LCD and touch panel manufacturer with subsidiary locations across the globe made the announcement May 17th through a statement on the Taiwan Stock Exchange. In that statement Wintek also stated that they have already taken proper measures, including medical treament for the affected employees and had also stopped using the chemical in question, n-hexane.

N-hexane is no joke; this stuff is known to cause nerve damage and paralysis in humans if handled inappropriately.

Last week, it was revealed that 44 workers of Wintek’s plant in Suzhou, China plan to sue the company. It was also reported that atleast 62 workers were hospitalized since August of 2009 after exposure to n-hexane.

In question, and what’s being alleged, is that the workers were forced to use n-hexane instead of alcohol to clean display panels because the chemical dries faster and leaves fewer streaks on glass. The factory manager who allegedly forced the workers to use n-hexane has since been fired (imagine that…).

What really brings this to the forefront of conversation for us here at Macgasm is that Wintek was recently awarded a contract to produce new iPad screens to help offset reported shortages. It is also rumored that Wintek is responsible for approximately 40 percent of the touch panels in the forthcoming iPhone 4G.

To read the statement directly from the Wintek Corporation click here.

As more details are clarified and made public we will pass the information on.

Based on reports from DigiTimes and AppleInsider.

For a while there we were worried that the iPad would start to cannibalize the sales of MacBooks, but the earliest indicators are in, and Piper Jaffrey’s Gene Munster is telling us that the iPod seems to be taking the brunt of the beating.  With sales down 17 percent this month, the iPod seems to be the product directly competing with the iPad—for now.

It makes sense to me, when you sit back and think about it; people aren’t ready to retire their traditional computers just yet, but the old iPods could easily be shuffled to the periphery as consumers are looking to pick up something bigger and better. Holding on to an older iPod for another year is a little easier to do when you have a shiny new iPad on your lap. After all, the iPod stays in your pocket, so no one’s going to be able to see that you still have the “fat” iPod Nano.

But I have to say, as someone who’s used an iPad for over a week, the device has certainly redefined how I use my MacBook Pro. Sure, the iPad may have taken a rather large bite out of iPod sales now, but down the road, once consumers have gotten iPads into their hands, MacBooks may still feel the brunt of the bite.

What do you think? Is there room in the Apple lineup for the iPad, or is another product going to find itself left out in the dark as consumers clamour for the new device?

Article Via ZDNet

Image Credit Baltimore Sun

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In this episode, we talk about streaming games to the iPad.

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Are you a fan of Batman? How about Joker? Love them so much that you’d like to pimp your iPad with a decal of them? Etsy has you covered. You can now get the Joker holding onto the Apple logo with a menacing grin on his face. The decal comes in at 17.00USD and costs 4.00USD to ship.

Show the world you’re a little bit different by personalizing your iPad.