Macgasm

If you haven’t jumped on the Sam & Max bandwagon yet, you’re in luck. Telltale Games has announced that they are putting all three seasons of Sam & Max on sale for just $39.95 in total. You’ll get all of the episodes from Sam & Max Save the World, Sam & Max Beyond Space and Time, and Sam & Max: The Devil’s Playhouse for under $40 USD. Huge savings for three great games.

If you’d prefer, you can get all five episodes of Season Three: The Devil’s Playhouse for just $19.95. The first four episodes are available now, and the release date for the finale will be announced very soon. Keep your eyes on Macgasm for an announcement as soon as we get word.

Does this entice you to jump into the world of canines and lagomorphs? Maybe this is cheap enough for you to buy as a gift for your buddies. Let us know what you think about this rock-bottom sale in the comment section of this post.

Image Credit: Telltale Games
Article Via Telltale Games

Twelve South’s Compass is a compact, elegant, and multi-functional stand for the iPad. Made from heavy gauge steel, the Compass provides sturdy support for your iPad while you watch movies, read articles, or type. But, it folds up compactly and fits in an included case, so you can stick it in your backpack or bag and take it with you. At $39.99, it’s not a cheap stand, but it’s certainly not as expensive as the Joule ($129) which we reviewed here.

The Compass arrives neatly packaged in a fairly small box. When you open the box, the Compass sits displayed on a red, velvet like surface. Included in the box is a thank you card and a black soft case for the stand.

The first thing you’ll notice when you take the Compass out of the box is how solid it is. This is not a flimsy piece of equipment. The front legs fold out to the side, and the back leg angles out behind, so essentially, the Compass becomes an easel. Two feet fold forward from the front legs creating a place for the iPad to sit. Although the stand itself is made of steel, any surface your iPad touches is covered in silicone, so you needn’t worry about metal-onmetal scratches. The two front legs where the iPad rests have silicone pads; the circular top of the stand sports a silicone insert (which ingeniously displays Twelve South’s emblem); and the bottoms of all the legs are covered in silicone as well, so the stand will not slide on slippery surfaces. The design of this stand is aesthetically pleasing and utilitarian—beauty and function are seamlessly integrated.

You can position the iPad on the stand in portrait or landscape orientation for viewing pictures, watching movies, or consulting a recipe while cooking. The 60 degree angle of the stand is not adjustable. Although Twelve South states on its website that you can move the back leg forward slightly to create a more upright angle, they do not recommend this because it makes the stand less stable.

The back leg contains a smaller foldaway leg that positions the iPad comfortably for typing. This really adds to the value of the stand, in my view, because not only can I use the stand on my desk to display pictures, I can also take it to meetings to type notes directly on my iPad (no external keyboard necessary).

What’s Macgasmic: The Compass is a must-have accessory for anyone who wants a beautiful and portable stand for their iPad. It folds up into a compact 7 x 1 inch package when it’s not in use. But when you want a solid, unobtrusive easel for your iPad, the Compass unfolds into an elegant, no slip frame. I especially appreciate the fact that the Compass offers a perfect typing configuration, because typing on the iPad when it’s on a flat surface is terribly uncomfortable. Another added benefit to the Compass’s design is that you can use the stand while your iPad is in a case. This is one of my major criticisms of other stands on the market: many don’t accommodate an iPad in its case. So, you either have to ditch your case or not use a stand. The Compass works whether your iPad is sleekly naked or in a comfortable, protective cover.

The easel foot doesn't fold flush

What’s Not: I only have one minor criticism of the Compass iPad Stand. After I un-boxed mine and unfolded all the legs, I noticed that one of the easel feet did not fold back flush into its metal leg. Honestly, this does not affect the function of the stand at all; it’s merely an annoyance. Some readers might not be happy that you cannot adjust the viewing angle of the stand. So, if that’s important to you, you might need to look elsewhere for a stand that offers multiple viewing angles.

If you need a stand for your iPad, you should definitely take a look at Twelve South’s Compass. Like all of Twelve South’s designs, the Compass is elegant, well made, and useful. Plus, it is compact enough to carry with you anywhere.

Up until now, users had to use third party or jailbroken apps to get push notifications for Gmail on their iPhones. Not anymore, though. Google just recently released an update version of their app, with all the features that people have wanted for a long time.

This update, which is free on the iTunes App Store, allows users to sign into one or multiple Google accounts, as well as setting up Gmail and Google Calendar push notifications, which work very well. It is not yet clear how quickly the app alerts you after you receive an email.

Another new feature is the ability to set “quiet times,” which turns off push notifications and sound during the hours of your choosing.

Article via TUAW.

Image via Google Mobile.

Those little moisture sensors are such a pile of crap that it’s surprising anyone can legally refuse a warranty based on them. All of my sensors in my iPhone have turned red, and I’ve never once dropped my phone in any form of water, not in a sink, not in a toilet, and certainly not in a pool or river. God help Apple if I ever have a repair on my iPhone and they deny me because of the red sensors.

The Chinese are learning something that we’ve all known for a while now, humidity can set those little red demon sensors off and void a warranty pretty quickly. The Chinese are having a hard time getting their warranties honoured because of the crazy temperatures and humidity levels in their country.  People are trying to get some kind of recompense for their problems, but if history shows us anything these people are in for a long battle with Apple. We don’t care much for the sensors, obviously, but if Apple insists on using them as an indicator of misuse of their phones then they need to work on ironing out the kinks.  Having your warranty voided because you leave your phone on a counter in your bathroom while you take a shower is a little bit much.  In 2010 is kind of funny that we’re still having this debate and that phones haven’t been waterproofed in any way.

If you’re not sure where your sensors are on your device, here’s an image from Apple’s support document.  Clearly they haven’t updated it yet to include the iPhone 4.

Article Via Cult of Mac

If you don’t think education is going digital, this might be the final piece of evidence you need to change your mind—iTunes U has topped 300 million downloads in just three years. Education is changing, and Apple’s at the front of the line. Helping students with iPads and iPods, and letting them get course materials through iTunes is going to change the way we learn in post secondary institutions. Heck, it’s already happening.

Couple this news with some new and upcoming applications on the iPad that have major textbook publishers hocking their books digitally instead of in traditional student book stores and you’ve got yourself a first look at University 2.0. Sometimes I wish I was entering university today instead of ten years ago. I wonder if I would have been a better student with all these digital devices, probably not, but dare to dream.

Article Via Apple PR

So you and your mates are at the pub one night, and you hatch a brilliant plan to make some cash. You’re going to get some songs onto the iTunes Music Store, and then you’re going to buy your own songs. That way, you’ll get the money from the royalties that they pay out to the artist! Isn’t that brilliant?

I know what you’re thinking. That’s the dumbest idea you’ve ever heard. Well, it would be except if instead of using your own credit cards, you use stolen ones. That’s right. You’re going to steal credit card numbers and use them to buy your own songs on iTunes so that you can get the royalties. Cash back, right?

12 people in the UK have been charged with fraud and money laundering in this case. The group used a US based company to upload their songs to iTunes and Amazon, and using stolen credit cards to buy the tracks, received $300,000 in royalties from the companies. The group is believed to have perpetrated their acts of criminality between September 2008 and January 2009. The suspects range in age from 19 to 41, although most are in their twenties. They include a teacher, a hairdresser, a postal worker, a librarian, and a care worker.

No word yet as to whether this band of fraudsters was able to recoup their recording costs, or if they’ll be singing a different tune now that they’re under arrest.

Article via The Register
Photo via Andrew Rueda

Google Goggles is a visual search technology developed by Google.  So instead of typing in a search query or speaking it, you use the camera on your phone to take a picture of an image or barcode.  It also employs augmented reality.  For instance, you are in front of a business and you would like more information about the business.  You hold your phone over the store, and without snapping a shot, the name of the store appears below the image.  You would then click on the name to read more about it.  This sounds like an excellent iPhone app, right? Well, not exactly.  Currently it is only available for Google’s Android phones, but don’t fret, it’s coming soon to an iPhone near you.

The Register out of the UK is reporting that Google is in fact working on a version of Google Goggles for the iPhone that should be out by the end of the year.  This opens a whole new arena for search.  I thought it was cool to use Google’s voice search on the iPhone.  In fact, the voice recognition was pretty spot on.  Rarely did it misinterpret what I was saying; however, like any other voice recognition application, it fell short in noisy areas.  I digress.  With visual search, the possibilities are as endless as Google’s database.  Basically, if Google has the image in their database, your search results will return fine.  However, if certain things, like food or plant life for example, are not in Google’s database, then your search will return with no results.  As this technology grows, I don’t see this as being an issue.

I am pretty excited that Google Goggles is coming to the iPhone later this year.  How about you? Do you think that Google Goggles is a useful tool, or simply a gimmick for Google to get more search hits or ad revenue?  Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.  I leave you now with a Google video that gives a small overview of what Goggles is capable of doing.

Photo Credit: Google-Goggles

Article Via The Register

Well, I guess it’s officially become a “thing.” iPad and iPhone Moleskin knockoffs are everywhere, and the latest are coming from Pad and Quill. This time around it’s bonded leather and wood, and available for both your iPhone and your iPad. It looks pretty snazzy and it’s going to turn heads no matter where you whip it out (The iPad, geesh).

It comes in a little cheaper than a Dodocase, but it doesn’t seem to be handcrafted like the Dodocase. If you can’t wait for a Dodocase, then you might want to check this new one out. Pretty soon you’ll be able to sit on the bus, listen to music, and have no one be the wiser, unless of course, they’re Macheads and realize that everyone and their brother’s trying to hide their iPads and iPhones in books.

It’s just the price you’re gonna have to pay for sexy.

iPad Edition — $54.99

iPhone Edition — $39.99

Article Via Gadget Lab