This week’s free app from Apple is Brushstroke. Designed to transform your photos into “paintings in one touch,” you can download the app for free on iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. Releasing back in March of this year for $2.99, the lowest we had seen the app go previously was $1 for about a week in April.
Head below for more details on what Brushstroke can do:
Gameloft’s latest mobile military shooter, Modern Combat 5: Blackout, is getting a substantial update today along with a nice price drop. Regularly listed at $6.99, the highly rated FPS can be had for just $3.99 right now, matching the lowest we’ve seen it go for.
Already listed in “App Store’s Best of 2014” in 28 countries, MC5: Blackout received a number of new additions to its multiplayer suite along with a host of other goodies to keep players locked and loaded over the holiday season. Expect to see two new multiplayer maps (Scramble and Overtime), new level-120 cap limit, new class skills, weapons, masks and kill signs. Gameloft has added in vote and rematch systems for multiplayer maps and specific match-ups along with some holiday themed music, skins and more.
Head below for details on the update:
Along with this morning’s usual batch of discounted apps, FDG Entertainment’s gorgeous iOS game Oceanhorn is seeing its first price drop today since release. Regularly listed at $8.99, those ready to “Explore the islands of Uncharted Seas” can pickup the Zelda-like adventure game for just $4.99 today. Along with critical praise upon release, the game has so far received a 4.5 star rating from over 3,100 reviewers.
Oceanhorn features 10+ hours of story driven gameplay in “a world filled with many dangers, puzzles and secrets. Fight monsters, learn to use magic and discover ancient treasures which will help you on your quest.” Recently upgraded with “Ultra Quality Graphics” for iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus and iPad Air 2, it also features an original soundtrack from well known composers Nobuo Uematsu (Final Fantasy*) and Kenji Ito (Seiken Densetsu*).
Head below for more details and to see the games “breathtaking 3D visuals” in action:
Update (12/16 9:05am): Looks like these price drops are part of this years App Santa Promotion. Head to 9to5mac for the full list.
We’ve just spotted a number of notable discounts on the App Store. The popular Day One journal/notes app has dropped to $1 (Reg. $5) and Clear – Tasks, Reminders & To-Do Lists is now $3 (Reg. $5).
You can now pickup Tweetbot 3 for iPhone and iPod touch for $2.99. Regularly listed at $4.99, this is the first price drop we’ve seen on this highly rated and rarely discounted iOS Twitter app in nearly a year.
iPhone: Tweetbot 3 for iPhone: $3 (Reg. $5)
iOS Universal: Day One: $1 (Reg. $5) – 4.5 stars from 14,701 Ratings
Mac: Day One: $8 (Reg. $10)
iOS Universal: Deliveries: $3 (Reg. $5) – 4 stars from 3,988 Ratings
Mac: Deliveries: $4 (Reg. $5)
iOS Universal: Clear: $3 (Reg. $5) – 4 stars from 6,437 Ratings
Mac: Clear: $6 (Reg. $10)
iOS Universal: Printer Pro – print documents, photos, web pages and email attachments: $1 (Reg. $5) – 4.5 stars from 11,146 Ratings
iOS Universal: Calendars 5 – Smart Calendar and Task Manager with Google Calendar Sync: $3 (Reg. $7) – 4 stars from 1,251 Ratings
iOS Universal: Launch Center Pro: $1 (Reg. $5) – 4.5 stars from 5,450 Ratings
iOS Universal: PDF Expert 5: $7 (Reg. $10) – 4 stars from 4,028 Ratings
We expect to see many more top iOS apps go on sale for the holidays, so keep an eye on our daily game roundups to get all the best deals in one place.
You love games, but your girlfriend or wife doesn’t. My goal is to change that. This week, 9to5Toys is debuting Gaming For Couples, a new weekly column looking at great games for couples to play together. We’re not necessarily going to pick the newest or hottest games for this column — instead, we’re going to suggest titles that are reasonably priced, made for both girls and guys, and widely available.
Our first edition looks at two picks just in time for the holidays: the Peggle franchise and The Beatles: Rock Band, both from Electronic Arts.
Update 2-12-14 12:00PM: We’ve updated the Amiibo list to flag the seven Wave 3B Amiibos that are hitting stores on February 13. Also, we added Wave 4 (Super Mario Bros.) series Amiibos arriving March 20, 2015, along with the Wave 5 Super Smash Bros. characters coming in Spring 2015!
Nintendo’s interactive Amiibo figurines have rapidly become the surprise hit toys of the 2014 holiday season. Cool on their own, they can also use NFC wireless to interact with select Wii U (and future Nintendo 3DS) games, storing their own experience points, leveling up over time, and unlocking in-game bonuses. Unusual defects in some of the original “Wave 1” figures – notably including a super-rare two-cannoned Samus – are leading to crazy high eBay prices for certain characters, and prices are starting to go up for Wave 2 and Wave 3 Amiibos. Six of the Wave 3 figures are just hitting stores now, and Wave 4 preorders have opened for mid-March debuts of new Super Mario Bros. series characters.
As part of a game sale running now through December 20th, Amazon has a number of games at prices either beating, matching or nearing the lowest we’ve seen. Some of our top picks include Wolfenstein: The New Order on PS4 for $14.99 with free Prime shipping (free trial) or on orders of $35 or more. This is $10 under the lowest price we’ve seen the game go for on PS4. Two other standouts are Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor on Xbox One for $27.99 Prime shipped (Reg. $48+), which is within $3 of the lowest price we saw during Black Friday week, and the four-game Xbox One bundle Halo: The Master Chief Collection for $44.99, a rare drop of $15 off of the normal $60 price.
More notable game deals on Amazon:
Head over to today’s game roundup for more deals including Dragon Age: Inquisition for $40 shipped on all consoles, Best Buy’s Buy 2 Get 1 Free game sale, iOS price drops and more.
Early adopters get bragging points for being first to own new game consoles, but they’re only a small fraction of the consoles’ eventual user bases. That’s why game developers save their biggest titles until consoles’ second or third years – there are a lot more potential customers to buy their games. But there are always a few “killer” or “almost killer” games that show up just a little too early, only to get forgotten when the consoles hit their stride. There are also great games that get released with major, show-stopping bugs, then fixed and discounted heavily to bring gamers back. Since the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Wii U consoles all had pretty incredible uptake due to Black Friday sales, we’re looking at some of their best forgotten or fixed games today. And they’re all being discounted, some enough to be impulse purchases.
This week’s free iOS app courtesy of Apple is Space Qube. The blocky shoot’em up is regularly priced at $2.99 and can now be downloaded for free on all your iOS devices. This is the second time we have seen the game go free since release in late 2013.
Along with a custom, voxel-based ship editor that allows you to “create anything and take it for a spin” in space, Space Qube a series of unique enemies and boss battles to take on as well. Head below for more details…
Mobile developer Kabam is known for its licensed iOS/Android titles like The Hobbit and the Fast and the Furious 6. But now the company has set its sights on the Marvel universe.
Debuting yesterday as a free-to-play game for both Apple and Google’s platforms, Marvel Contest of Champions is described as the “ultimate” fighting game for mobile devices.
Head below for more details and some gameplay footage from the launch trailer…
(12/17 5:00pm): Thanks to everyone who entered the giveaway! The winner is @RDustinB.
Since we’ve been so busy with Black Friday and Cyber Monday it hardly feels like the holidays around here, so we’re going to get in the Christmas spirit by giving away an iDevices iGrill Mini.
Use this Bluetooth grilling thermometer to check on your barbecue up to 150 feet away on your iPhone, or up close via the magnetic mountable base. A smart LED ring on the face of the iGrill Mini changes color as the temperature rises serving as a temperature progression gauge. The probe attached to the iGrill Mini continually monitors the internal temperature of your meat of choice. The iOS/Android app includes custom and preset temperature alarms, min/max temperature range, graphing, social sharing, recipes, and more.
Continue on to learn how you can win an iGrill Mini:
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Pocket Gamer has kicked off its Advent Calendar of free iOS games. Everyday (other than weekends), the outlet will offer one free iOS app for 24 hours for a total of 10. Today’s freebie app is the tactical strategy game Hoplite (Reg. $2). You can find that and a whole lot more in this morning’s games/app roundup.
As you know we here at 9to5Toys will be tracking all the best online deals right through to the new year. Everyday we post the day’s best iOS (console, Android, Mac) price drops, and will continue to do so through the holiday season. While there are a number of outlets including Apple, IGN, Pocket Gamer and others running free app sales during this time of year, be sure to follow 9to5Toys as we will be rounding up the best of the best every single day in one convenient place.
Along with this morning’s list of highly rated iOS price drops, developer Djinnworks is now offering a number of its popular Stickman games for free. With 4+ star ratings from well over 50,000 reviewers combined, you’ll find titles like Stickman Cliff Diving, Line Runner, Stickman Soccer, Stickman Tennis and more for free on iPhone, iPad and iPod touch right now. All regularly listed at $1, you’ll also find newer (2014) Stickman titles like Stickman Downhill – Motocross, Stickman Basketball and Stickman Soccer 2014:
The 2014 sequel to the world hit Stickman Soccer with more than 10 million players. Experience pure soccer fun with fast paced gameplay, an astonishing atmosphere, stunning smooth animations, simple controls, insane action and tons of replay value.
Full list of Stickman freebies below:
You can check out more top iOS and console deals in our daily roundups
Update (12/8 5:35pm): Amazon has the Borderlands 2 Limited Edition PlayStation Vita Bundle for $169.99 shipped (Reg. $200, matched at GameStop, current lowest price).
In today’s best game/apps deals, Amazon has Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel on Xbox 360 and PS3 for $29.99 Prime shipped (Reg. $60) today. That’s matching the lowest we’ve seen outside of very limited Black Friday sales and the current best price around.
While we saw a number of amazing console deals throughout Black Friday weekend, Walmart is still offering the PlayStation 4 bundled with a $50 Walmart gift card and one game of your choice for $399.99 shipped. Game choices include downloads of Destiny, NBA 2K15, LittleBigPlanet 3, or Far Cry 4. You’ll find similar console deals elsewhere, but not with the $50 GC attached. You can also still pick up the PlayStation 4 Camera for $39.99 shipped (Reg. $60) at Amazon right now.
Next up, we are also seeing a number $39.99 Xbox One games with a $25 Dell gift card attached including Sunset Overdrive, Forza Horizon 2, Dead Rising 3 Apocalypse Edition and more. At $40 with a $25 GC attached, these are effectively the lowest price we’ve seen on many of the most popular titles in the sale.
Apple has also dropped its best of iTunes 2014 list including apps, games, movies, music and more. For all the details head over to our full announcement post. Head below for today’s best iOS price drops including NOTE’d for FREE (Reg. $1), Sticky Notes HD for FREE (Reg. $1), Orbsorb for FREE (Reg. $1), The Tiny Bang Story HD for $1 (Reg. $3) and more.
Head below for the rest of today’s best gaming deals, as well as a brief list of some of the best still alive:
There are so many products out there on the market that are vying for your attention during the holiday season. My focus has always been on the ones that will make my life easier. The reality is, finding products that both look good and function well is not always the easiest. Below you’ll find some of my favorite gear that help my day go a little better but also have a great style about them:
IGN has chosen Kingdom Rush Frontiers as its Free Game of the Month. While the highly rated tower defense game is regularly listed at $2.99 and does tend to go sale for $1 from time to time, we are yet to see it go free on the App Store. It has 4.5 stars from 5,038 ratings.
Building off of the basics that made the original Kingdom Rush a hit among mobile gamers, developer Ironhide has added all new towers (18 new abilities), heroes, environments, 40 enemies with “unique abilities” and more. Players “defend exotic lands from dragons, man-eating plants, and ghastly denizens of the underworld.” Head below for more details:
Known for its consumer networking gear, TRENDnet is announcing the latest addition to its lineup of home WiFi devices. The new THA-101 Home Smart Switch is a hybrid network extender and basic smart electrical outlet that looks to offer the best of both worlds in one small package…
We’ve all done it, found ourselves in a panic about 10 miles down the road, wondering if we have left that little space heater on in our bedroom. Today, WeMo is teaming up with Holmes to bring its own solution to this moment of fear. The Holmes WiFi-enabled Smart Heater connects the popular home company with Belkin’s WeMo ecosystem. This adds another piece to the puzzle of WeMo’s expansive line of home automation products.
Holmes is also introducing a new Smart WiFi-enabled air purifier, which puts the focus on consistantly monitoring the air quality in your home and adjusting as needed.
We’ve got full details below on pricing and Holmes new Frost Protect feature on these heaters.
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Logitech is the go-to brand for most gamers when it comes to headsets, keyboards, mice, and other peripherals. They are well-rated and stylish, but the only problem is they don’t come cheap. However, we’ve noticed that Amazon has started to discount a wide variety of Logitech accessories. Not all are gaming related, but most are.
Here are the top deals we sniffed out for you:
Spotify is offering three months of its Premium service for $.99, which will last you well through the holiday season and most of winter! This is deal is specifically for United States users that have not subscribed to the Premium service in the past, at any point. Premium service would usually run $30 for three months, to redeem simply visit Spotify’s homepage and follow the instructions to pick up this deal.
Despite its recent struggles with some artists, Spotify is still at the top when it comes to streaming the largest library of music across multiple devices and platforms. Students can still pick up a pretty nice deal on Spotify, as well.
Today, Valve has announced Steam Broadcasting as part of its beta client. Mac/PC Steam users (anyone who has purchased a game from the service) can now opt in to Steam’s new integrated broadcasting beta, which essentially allows gamers to get full Twitch-like streaming functionality directly inside of the Steam ecosystem.
With the rising popularity of Twitch’s live broadcasting service among gamers (they just sold to Amazon for nearly $1 billion), not to mention its adoption by Sony and Microsoft for their new boxes, it’s not surprising the PC gaming juggernaut would introduce similar functionality. Even better, the new service will come at no additional fee and require no additional software…
Google is starting out Cyber Monday with up to 50% off “top titles” including apps, games, music, movies, books, and more on the Play Store. Deals include a wide range of content like movies including The Amazing Spider-Man 2 in HD for $9.99 down from the regular $17.99 price and Fight Club for $4.99 down from $9.99.
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Black Friday game deals across all retailers are now in full swing, with deep discounts on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo 3DS and games across all platforms. For a complete rundown, head over to our Black Friday Game roundup and head below for today’s iOS price drops and more.
In today’s best iOS price drops we have the highly rated Kingdom Rush HD for $1 (Reg. $3), Kingdom Rush Frontiers HD for $3 (Reg. $5), iStudiez Pro for $1 (Reg. $3), Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP for $2 (Reg. $5) and many more below:
Ongoing game deals:
Amazon has the Anki Drive Starter Kit for $99 with free shipping. That’s $51 below list/our previous mention and the best price we have ever seen. It’s rated 4.4 out of 5 stars from nearly 100 Amazon reviewers. Features include:
Best Buy offers a $100 iTunes gift card for $85 shipped, which is a savings of 15%. Grab one as a stocking stuffer gift or to save a few bucks on your next app, movie, or music purchases.
With so many Black Friday deals popping up this week, we thought it would be helpful to organize a list of the most popular iOS game/app discounts into one place. Most of the discounts below will be available through Cyber Monday and into next week, but be sure to check back as we will be adding more notable price drops as they happen.
And remember, you can save 15% on future app purchases with these discounted iTunes gift cards from Staples (use code: 35458 in the cart).
iOS Universal: The Dark Knight Rises: $1 (Reg. $7) – 4 stars from 6,490 Ratings
iOS Universal: Infinity Blade Trilogy Sale: $10 (Reg. $20) – 4+ stars from around 500K Ratings
iOS Universal: MEGA MAN X: $1 (Reg. $5) – 4.5 stars from 2,127 Ratings
iOS Universal: Plex: $2 (Reg. $5) – 4.5 stars 11,497 Ratings
iOS Universal: Rayman Jungle Run: $1 (Reg. $3) – 4.5 stars from 24,539 Ratings
iOS Universal: Gangstar Vegas: $1 (Reg. $3) – 4 stars from 6,589 Ratings
iOS Universal: Deemo: $1 (Reg. $2) – 4.5 stars from 8,816 Ratings
iOS Universal: BADLAND: $1 (Reg. $4) – 4.5 stars from 18,904 Ratings
iOS Universal: 9mm: $1 (Reg. $7) – 4.5 stars from 4,228 Ratings
iOS Universal: République: $2 (Reg. $5) – 4.5 stars from 6,194 Ratings
iOS Universal: Clear Day – Weather HD (formerly): $2 (Reg. $4) – 4 stars from 20,619 Ratings
iOS Universal: Calendars 5: $3 (Reg. $7) – 4.5 stars from 5,307 Ratings
iOS Universal: Printer Pro: $5 (Reg. $7) – 4.5 stars from 11,068 Ratings
iOS Universal: Ultimate Productivity Bundle by Readdle: $12 (Reg. $32)
iOS Universal: W.E.L.D.E.R.: FREE (Reg. $3) – 4.5 stars from 18,408 Ratings
iOS Universal: Over: FREE (Reg. $2) – 4.5 stars from 6,346 Ratings
iOS Universal: Assassin’s Creed Pirates: FREE (Reg. $5) – 4.5 stars from 9869 Ratings
iPhone: Toy Defense 2: FREE (Reg. $2) – 4.5 stars from 3,283 Ratings
iPhone: Toy Defense: FREE (Reg. $2) – 4.5 stars from 34,364 Ratings
iPhone: TurboScan: FREE (Reg. $3) –5 stars from 16,134 Ratings
iPhone: Real Racing 2: $1 (Reg. $5) – 4.5 stars from 18,783 Ratings
iPhone: Blek: $1 (Reg. $3) – 4.5 stars from 13,353 Ratings
iPhone: Doodle God™: $1 (Reg. $2) – 4.5 stars from 35,077 Ratings
iPhone: Blek: $1 (Reg. $3) – 4.5 stars from 13,353 Ratings
iPhone: Animoog for iPhone: $2 (Reg. $5) – 4.5 stars from 13,353 Ratings
iPad: Toy Defense HD: FREE (Reg. $5) – 4.5 stars from 12,253 Ratings
iPad: Toy Defense 2 HD: FREE (Reg. $5) – 4.5 stars from 2,596 Ratings
iPhone: Star Walk – 5 Stars Astronomy Guide: $1 (Reg. $3) – 4.5 stars from 8,606 Ratings
iPhone: FX Photo Studio – photo editor, filters, effects, …: $1 (Reg. $3) – 4 stars from 12,107 Ratings
iPad: Real Racing 2 HD: $1 (Reg. $7) – 4.5 stars from 15,228 Ratings
iPad: Blueprint 3D HD: $1 (Reg. $2) – 4.5 stars from 9,031 Ratings
iPad: Osmos for iPad: $1 (Reg. $5) – 4.5 stars from 23,956 Ratings
iPad: Animoog: $5 (Reg. $30) – 4.5 stars from 1,666 Ratings
Stay locked to our Black Friday coverage all week long and head over to our daily roundups for all the best game/app deals.
Infinity Blade developer, Chair Entertainment, is having a holiday sale on the entire trilogy starting today. You can grab Infinity Blade (Reg. $5.99), Infinity Blade 2 (Reg. $6.99) and Infinity Blade 3 (Reg. $6.99) for $9.99 as a specially priced iOS bundle. Individually these titles would cost you up to $20, bringing you 50% in savings today. If you happen to be noticing anything different in terms of pricing it is likely due to the way iOS 8 app bundles work, but you can’t find out everything you need to know in this handy post.
Together these games have received 4+ star ratings from around half a million reviewers. You’ll find more details below and be sure to head over to our daily roundup for more game/app deals across all platforms.
Following an announcement last month that the latest entry in the popular Civilization strategy game series would hit Mac sometime this holiday season, today Civilization: Beyond Earth has officially arrived for Mac users. The game, developed by Firaxis and brought to Mac users by Aspyr, first hit PC on October 24th.
Beyond Earth offers a fresh take on the traditional strategy gameplay of previous entries with a new sci-fi theme that lets users explore deep space and other futuristic settings.
As part of an expedition sent to find a home beyond Earth, you will write the next chapter for humanity as you lead your people into a new frontier and create a new civilization in space. Explore and colonize an alien planet, research new technologies, amass mighty armies, build incredible Wonders and shape the face of your new world. As you embark on your journey you must make critical decisions. From your choice of sponsor and the make-up of your colony, to the ultimate path you choose for your civilization, every decision opens up new possibilities.
The Mac version arrives today with all of the features included in the PC counterpart including cross platform multiplayer and save syncing between all platforms.
The game is available today through all of the usual suspects including Steam, the Mac App Store, and developer Aspyr’s own GameAgent store. It cost $49.99, but the $41 preorder deal is still live through Cyber Monday from Aspyr and Steam has it for $35 right now.
Features:
- Seed the Adventure: Establish your cultural identity by choosing one of eight different expedition sponsors, each with its own leader and unique gameplay benefits. Assemble your spacecraft, cargo & colonists through a series of choices that directly seed the starting conditions when arriving at the new planet.
- Colonize an Alien World: Explore the dangers and benefits of a new planet filled with dangerous terrain, mystical resources, and hostile life forms unlike those of Earth. Build outposts, unearth ancient alien relics, tame new forms of life, develop flourishing cities and establish trade routes to create prosperity for your people.
- Technology Web: To reflect progress forward into an uncertain future, technology advancement occurs through a series of nonlinear choices that affect the development of mankind. The technology web is organized around three broad themes, each with a distinct victory condition.
- Orbital Layer: Build and deploy advanced military, economic and scientific satellites that provide strategic offensive, defensive and support capabilities from orbit.
- Unit Customization: Unlock different upgrades through the tech web and customize your units to reflect your play style.
- Multiplayer: Up to 8 players can compete for dominance of a new alien world.
Gameplay trailer below:
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfQyG885arY]
Amazon has the Livescribe smartpens on sale today for as much as 53% off the original listings. You’ll find the 2GB WiFi model for $79.99 shipped (orig. $170), the 4GB WiFi model for $99.99 shipped (orig. $200) and the 8GB WiFi Propack for $119.99 shipped (orig. $250). All of which are the lowest prices we can find (model options found on the listing pages above).
Livescribe pens offer up hundreds of hours of audio recording and note taking capabilities as well as deep integration with Evernote and iOS:
Now, all your important notes, graphs and diagrams are at the tip of your fingers, so you can review, search and organize your notes from Evernote on any of the devices you use including PC, Mac, iOS and Android devices…It syncs all your handwritten notes and any recorded audio to your free Evernote account, allowing you to have quick and easy access to the information that matters to you…
The Livescribe smartpens have received a 3.4/5 star rating from over 840 Amazon customers. Head below for more details on each model:
Livescribe 2GB Sky Wi-Fi Smartpen:
What’s in the Box
2GB Sky wifi smartpen, free Livescribe plan for Evernote, Sky wifi smartpen Basics guide, starter dot paper notebook (50 sheets), micro-USB cable, 2 ink cartridges, 2 smartpen caps.
Livescribe 4GB Sky Wi-Fi Smartpen:
What’s in the Box
4GB Sky wifi smartpen, free Livescribe plan for Evernote, Sky wifi smartpen Basics guide, starter dot paper notebook (50 sheets), micro-USB cable, 2 ink cartridges, 2 smartpen caps.
Livescribe 8GB Sky Wi-Fi Propack:
What’s in the Box:
8GB Sky wifi smartpen, Smartpen Portfolio, one-year subscription to Evernote Premium, free Livescribe plan for Evernote, Sky wifi smartpen Basics guide, starter dot paper notebook (50 sheets), micro-USB cable, 2 ink cartridges, 2 smartpen caps.
Flexibits, known for it popular calendar and reminders app, is putting its flagship software on sale up to 65% off across all platforms for Black Friday. You can pick up Fantastical 2 on iPhone for $1.99 (Reg. $3), on iPad for $4.99 (Reg. $10) and the Mac version for $9.99 (Reg. $20). This is matching the lowest price we’ve seen on all three versions of the 4+ star rated apps, at one time the iPhone and iPad versions costed $10 and $20 respectively.
The award-winning, best-selling calendar app has been redesigned and reimagined for your iPad with iOS 7. With the convenient Fantastical Dashboard, you’ll add, view, and interact with your events and reminders with ease.
More from Flexibits:
Description
** HOLIDAY SALE – 65% OFF FOR A LIMITED TIME **
The award-winning, best-selling calendar app has been redesigned and reimagined for your iPad with iOS 8. With the convenient Fantastical Dashboard, you’ll add, view, and interact with your events and reminders with ease.
“For those who just want to get in, get out, and get stuff done, I strongly recommend Fantastical 2 for iPad.” – iMore
“Fantastical works better than Apple’s Calendar and Reminders apps…” – MacStories
“…Fantastical is an app I can recommend to anyone who wants to leverage their iPad as a better calendar.” – 9to5Mac
“All the beauty of Fantastical, but now for the iPad. I use it for the Mac and iOS—I […] love it.” – Jim Dalrymple (The Loop)
“… Fantastical 2 for iPad … refuses to abide by conventional notions of how a calendar should look.” – The Verge
“It’s very nice to see the iPad get in on the action, especially with such a nice iteration of the app.” – TUAWJust enter “Lunch with Elon in Palo Alto on Friday” and Fantastical 2 will schedule it! Or type in “todo buy milk at 5pm” and a reminder will alert you at 5PM! With dictation*, you can even speak the details for your event or reminder and Fantastical 2 will take care of it.
ONE APP, MANY FEATURES
• The Fantastical Dashboard
– Multiple views let you view your events and reminders just the way you want
– DayTicker, week view, or full-screen week view present your events and reminders with clarity
– Customize your Fantastical Dashboard with a simple gesture• Reminders!
– See your events and dated reminders together in the main list
– Add reminders directly from the Reminders list or new event screen – just flip the switch to toggle between events and reminders
– Set dates, times, and geofences (when I arrive/when I leave)• Powerful parser features, including:
– Create reminders by starting your sentence with “reminder”, “todo”, “task”, or “remind me to”
– Expanded, expressive repeating events such as third Thursday of every month, every weekend, last weekday of the month, and more
– Create alerts with phrases such as “remind me tomorrow at 3PM”, “alert 1 hour before”, or “alarm 3PM”• Informational event details, including a map to show your event’s locations and flexible repeating options
• Background app updating allows events, reminders, and alerts to be pushed to Fantastical 2 even if you don’t launch the app very often
• An extended keyboard when creating new events or reminders, providing instant access to numbers and symbols for dates and times
• Birthday options – tap on a birthday to see contact information or send a quick greeting
• TextExpander supportADDING NEW EVENTS OR REMINDERS IS FUN
• The easiest and fastest way to add new events or reminders
• Just type in your details or use dictation* and watch your words magically turn into an actual event or reminder!THE FUTURE LOOKS BRIGHT
• Tap an event or reminder to show and edit its details
• Tap and hold an event to duplicate, move, or share
• Use search to instantly locate specific events or reminders
• View your Facebook eventsFAST, FRIENDLY, AND FLEXIBLE
• Supports the same calendar services as the built-in Calendar app, including iCloud, Google Calendar, Exchange, and more!
• Fantastical 2 is fully localized in English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish
• Just type or speak* your event or reminder in any of these languages and Fantastical will automatically understand
• Full Accessibility support* Dictation not supported on iPad 2
Apogee, well known for its studio quality audio interfaces and converters, has kicked of its Black Friday 2014 sale today. Running from now through December 2nd, you’ll find as much 60% off its factory refurbished iOS/Mac interfaces and multi-channel flagship options.
Due to how rare it is for these interfaces to go on sale from any retailer, all of the deals are quite notable. Some standout options are the JAM studio quality guitar input interface for iPad, Mac and iPhone is available for $69 (Reg. $99), and the Duet USB interface for Mac and iPad for $475 (Reg. $595). Both are matching or beating the previous Apogee sale, between $30 and $100 under Amazon and other retailers and are the lowest prices available.
You can see more of what Apogee’s Black Friday sale has to offer below, and be sure to head over to Amazon’s pre-Black Friday Musical Instruments Store for ongoing discounts and lightning deals from now through Black Friday.
Apogee is offering incredible, limited-time deals on their award-winning products for recording and listening to music on iPad, iPhone and Mac. Starting on Wednesday, November 2014, save up to 60% on select products exclusively through Apogee’s US webstore. The sale continues through Black Friday and Cyber Monday, ending on Tuesday December 2. Supplies are limited so act fast!
Amazon offers the 94Fifty Smart Sensor Basketball for $174.99 shipped. That’s $75 below list and the lowest price that we have ever seen. It is rated 4.3/5 stars by 34 Amazon customers.
When paired with the iOS app you’ll be able to track all kinds of data related to shot angle, backspin, arch and more.
Other features include wireless battery charging, auto sleep mode, and up to 8 hours of battery life.
It’s fast – about 100 millisecond speed from action to visual display. The ball measures any forces applied to it – spin, acceleration, you name it. A full 360 degree view of the ball – and the player that moves it. The ball is going to give you data and feedback about your game that is smart, precise, and freakishly accurate. Yeah, it’s that good.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hf7sFnuKehw?rel=0]
Macphun, known for its photo editing and manipulation apps, is offering over 40% in savings on its pro software with a $25 iTunes or Amazon gift card attached as part of its early Black Friday sale. The bundle includes Focus Pro, Tonality Pro, Snapheal Pro and Intensify Pro with a free $25 iTunes or Amazon gift card attached for $129.99. Those four apps typically sell for $210 individually without the added GC.
While the bundled software price is available in a wide number of countries, the gift cards are only valid in the US. More details on each each app below.
Additionally, for more casual users, the company has dropped the Mac App Store version of its apps up to 50% right now including FX Photo Studio Pro for $15 (Reg. $23), Snapheal for $13 (Reg. $20), Intensify for $15 (Reg. $25) and more.
Small States features small companies that design and manufacture within the United States.
Update (11/29 11:00am): Adam Scheidegger is our winner – thanks for following along and entering this Small States contest!
There is a lot of pride that comes with manufacturing in the United States, and we’ve enjoyed sharing the stories behind that pride with you. Before we head into the holiday season, there is one more company that we wanted to make sure you knew about.
JDS Labs out of Collinsville, IL is responsible for one of the coolest products that I have ever used. They take very sophisticated technology and squeeze it into everyday products that make your music sound exquisite. We’ve covered the importance of digital-to-analog converters (DAC) and headphone amplifiers before, but never have we seen them in such a cool package like this.
Let’s learn a little more about JDS Labs.
Update (11/22 10:40am): There appears to be some confusion surrounding this deal: You must download the Apple Store app for iPhone only to redeem the freebie. Head down to the comments section below for more clarification
The free Apple Store iOS app is now offering The Whole Pantry for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch as a free download. Regularly listed at $2.99, this marks only the second time we have seen the app go free since release. Note: once the free Apple Store app is installed on your device, simply go to the Store tab at the bottom, and scroll down to the free offer.
Previous Apple Store freebies were limited to those in the US, but user reports suggested that by disabling location services the download became available.
BuyDig offers the Audio-Technica ATH-CKM55BK Solid Bass Noise Isolation In-Ear Headphones for $33 shipped. That’s a savings of $46 off the original price, $15 better than Amazon and the lowest that we could currently find them.
The ATH-CKM55BK feature a built-in stabilizer, 12.5mm drivers, two feet of cable length and a storage pouch. Also included are interchangeable ear tips for a customized fit and a three foot extension cable.
They received positive reviews on Amazon, Best Buy and Newegg.
Products like the Livescribe smartpens, Pencil by FiftyThree and other digital notebook products help artists and designers get their ideas from the real world into a virtual one. Moleskin, a company who has been dabbling in digital notebook technology for a while now, is introducing a new smart notebook system in collaboration with Adobe to help users digitize their ideas to the cloud.
While there are a few products already available in this space as mentioned, its direct integration with Adobe’s popular suite of design apps allows the new Moleskine Smart Notebook differentiate itself:
Hotel Tonight, the popular day-of reservation app for iOS and Android will be offering hotel deals in both the US and UK starting at $7 on Black Friday. Hotel Tonight says that these deals will be strategically located next to major shopping centers and outlet malls, so that shoppers can “grab a quick nap” between hitting stores.
They also promise hotel room deals starting at $70 for the rest of the weekend, including Cyber Monday.
If you are interested in checking out these deals, all you’ll have to do is download the Hotel Tonight app (iOS/Android) and open it on Black Friday. These specific deals will be listed under the “Black Friday Blowout” header within the app.
Head over to our daily roundup for more iOS and Android deals.
Full details from Hotel Tonight:
We’ve got a sweet deal for you this Black Friday!
Starting at 7am on Black Friday (November 28), we’ll be featuring $7 rooms in destinations across the US and UK. To score one of these doorbuster deals, just look for hotels in the app marked “Black Friday Blowout.” We’ll also have deals starting at just $70 all weekend long, including Cyber Monday.
Most of these hotel deals will be right near major malls and outlets – perfect for grabbing a quick power nap between marathon shopping sessions.
But act fast! These deals will go faster than that coveted last slice of Mom’s pumpkin pie. If you see one you like, snag it… before someone else does.
Update (11/20 4:00pm): Apple has now officially named Things for iPhone and iPad the Free App of the Week on the App Store.
Popular task manger app Things has gone free for the very first time on iOS. Both the iPhone version (Reg. $10) and Things for iPad (Reg. $20) are available as free downloads starting now, and you’ll find Things for Mac for $34.99 (Reg. $49.99). All three versions combined have received 4 star ratings from over 20,000 reviewers.
Head below for more details:
After sitting idly while its biggest competitors released Black Friday Ads and announced Pre-Black Friday Sales, Amazon has finally detailed its Black Friday 2014 plans.
Here’s how it shakes out:
Amazon will offer eight days of Black Friday deals, with new deals being added “as often as every ten minutes.” Additionally, Amazon will offer three Gold Box Deals of the Day on Thanksgiving and Black Friday.
Remember, Amazon Prime members will continue to have early access to select Lightning deals. If you aren’t a member than I recommend signing up for the free 30-day trial right now to lock in free 2-day shipping and exclusive offers throughout the holiday shopping season.
Continue on for the full press release and Amazon’s Black Friday prices for a range of HDTVs, Nest Learning Thermostat, Fitbit Aria Wi-Fi Smart Scale, and many home items:
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Rakuten.com offers the Plantronics BackBeat GO 2 Bluetooth wireless stereo earbuds for $42.99 shipped. That’s a savings of nearly 50% off the original list price, $24 better than Amazon and the lowest that we can currently find.
The Plantronics BackBeat GO 2 features wireless audio via Bluetooth, in-line mic controls, a 4.5 hour battery life and have “military grade moisture resistance”.
Over 750 Amazon customers rate these Bluetooth headphones 3.5/5 stars.
Update (11/21 10:45am) Amazon is now offering the Sling Media SlingBox live TV streamer $82.19 shipped.
Digjungle via Amazon offers the Sling Media SlingBox 350 live TV streamer for 84.99 shipped. The 350 is also available direct from Amazon for $89.73. That’s a savings of up to $95 off the original list price and the lowest that we have ever seen. Currently, 410 Amazon users rate this product 4/5 stars.
The SlingBox sends your existing cable TV at your home to your laptop, smartphone (iPhone, iPad or Android), or tablet in full 1080p HD. Any Apple TV, Roku Player or Chromecast can play live video directly from the SlingBox 350. SlingBoxes are a great way to watch your favorite sports or television show while you are out on the road. Wirecutters may find it useful to put in a relative’s home that subscribes to cable as well. It is important to note that this model only supports ethernet connectivity.
The SlingBox M1 has replaced the 350 in Sling Media’s product line-up, although it will run you $142 from Amazon.
Griffin has announced a new line of iPad stands that have a unique history to the materials that they are made from. The new Rail Yard Studios collection takes pieces from old railroads (rails, ties, spikes and plates) and includes a certificate of authenticity detailing the location the materials came from as well as some other details.
Head below for more details, pricing, a coupon code to save 15% and a free case of your choice…
There is a new Bluetooth LE, iOS-enabled device on the market today that’s designed for high school basketball players, rec leaguers, LeBron James and everyone in between. Whether you are just beginning your career or in the fading glory of your YMCA runs, the ShotTracker wants to help you improve your game.
Home automation possibilities are endless and what our homes will be like in the coming 5, 10 or 15 years is truly unknown. It is a constantly evolving sector of the technology scene that continues to grow each day with every new product announcement. From WeMo to SmartThings, Z-Wave to ZigBee, someone somewhere has something that will satisfy your home automation needs.
The reality is that we are in a time of great change, with internet-connected offerings in nearly every product category, even coffee makers. It’s an industrial revolution happening in your home and with that comes a lot of trial and naturally, error. So how does one choose?
There seems to be two options, one for the basic consumer, which includes your WeMo outlets, Philips Hue, etc. On the flip side you’ve got the open source crowd that wants to tinker and tweak and create their own system, and this is where littleBits comes in. While most of the aforementioned products have structured ecosystems and physical designs, with the ability to communicate via If This Then That (IFTTT) or the like, littleBits has gone to the complete opposite end of the spectrum.
As industry “leaders” in connected play products, Sphero is a company that aims to create fun and intuitive smartphone/tablet connected devices. Initially starting with the Sphero, a small smartphone controlled robotic ball, the company is now ready to ship its latest gadget. The new black on black Darkside is an updated version of the cylindrical shaped remote control Ollie. It brings the same feature set as its predecessor but in a shiny new bundle.
Head below for details and pricing on the new Darkside Ollie as well as a discount on the Sphero 2.0 robotic ball:
After its initial release on the Amiga in the mid 90’s and now after nearly two decades of artillery blasting fun, the Worms game franchise is celebrating its 19th birthday with up to 75% off many of its iOS titles. Together, the mobile Worms games have received 4 star ratings from thousands of reviewers in almost every case. Regularly listed at $4.99, you’ll find Worms 1 through 3 as well as some of the spin-off titles for as low as $1.
Head below for a complete list:
SanDisk is today launching a new Made-for-iPhone/iPad product called iXpand that integrates a Lightning connector into a traditional USB Flash Drive device. Like similar products that have recently started hitting the market, the iXpand makes it easier to transfer content between iOS devices and computers with standard USB ports by including Apple’s proprietary Lightning connector in addition to a traditional USB plug.
Head below for more details:
