Apple

The short month of February is here, and just because it's a mere 29 days long doesn't mean it's any less chock full of deals. Check out the list of the best and worst things to buy in February, which the dealnews editors compiled after poring over their extensive archives of sales, coupons, and individual products from years past. If you're curious about Presidents' Day sales, gifts for Valentine's Day, or prices on electronics, outerwear, and more, then read on.

Valentine's Day Deals Are Predictably Not Great
Since this is the time of year in which jewelry, flowers, and perfume are in their highest in demand, it shouldn't surprise anyone that you probably won't get the best price possible on these items; perfumes, for example, generally see better discounts in late February after Valentine's Day and March. That's because there's less incentive for retailers to offer truly great deals on these items when they're selling so well due to circumstance. Try buying your sweetheart a less routine Valentine's Day gift in a category that's more likely to see a fair discount.Read more

January 31, 2012--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Apple® today released Final Cut Pro® X v10.0.3, a significant update to its revolutionary professional video editing application, which introduces multicam editing that automatically syncs up to 64 angles of video and photos; advanced chroma keying for handling complex adjustments right in the app; and enhanced XML for a richer interchange with third party apps and plug-ins that support the fast growing Final Cut Pro X ecosystem. Available today as a free update from the Mac® App Store™, Final Cut Pro X v10.0.3 also includes a beta of broadcast monitoring that supports Thunderbolt devices as well as PCIe cards.

Final Cut Pro X v10.0.3 includes a collection of groundbreaking new tools for editing multicam projects. Final Cut Pro X automatically syncs clips from your shoot using audio waveforms, time and date, or timecode to create a Multicam Clip with up to 64 angles of video, which can include mixed formats, frame sizes and frame rates. The powerful Angle Editor allows you to dive into your Multicam Clip to make precise adjustments, and the Angle Viewer lets you play back multiple angles at the same time and seamlessly cut between them.

Final Cut Pro X builds upon its robust, one-step chroma key with the addition of advanced controls including color sampling, edge adjustment and light wrap. You can tackle complex keying challenges right in Final Cut Pro X, without having to export to a motion graphics application, and view your results instantly with realtime playback.Read more

New iBooks Author Lets Anyone Create Stunning iBooks Textbooks

January 19, 2012—Apple today announced iBooks 2 for iPad, featuring iBooks textbooks, an entirely new kind of textbook that’s dynamic, engaging and truly interactive. iBooks textbooks offer iPad users gorgeous, fullscreen textbooks with interactive animations, diagrams, photos, videos, unrivaled navigation and much more. iBooks textbooks can be kept up to date, don't weigh down a backpack and never have to be returned. Leading education services companies including Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, McGraw-Hill and Pearson will deliver educational titles on the iBookstore℠ with most priced at $14.99 or less, and with the new iBooks Author, a free authoring tool available today, anyone with a Mac® can create stunning iBooks textbooks.

"Education is deep in Apple’s DNA and iPad may be our most exciting education product yet. With 1.5 million iPads already in use in education institutions, including over 1,000 one-to-one deployments, iPad is rapidly being adopted by schools across the US and around the world," said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. "Now with iBooks 2 for iPad, students have a more dynamic, engaging and truly interactive way to read and learn, using the device they already love."Read more

Open the Gates – With more than 31 football fields of show space, CES attendees have to crowd in opening day and walk themselves ragged in hopes of not just seeing all the show but seeing what will win/fail big in the coming year.

While a few folks have said CES is on its last leg, we wonder if they were at the same show we were this month.

More than 3,100 exhibitors squeezed into a mere 1.861 million net square feet (31+ football fields) of exhibit space and the show drew more than 153,000 attendees.

There was the urban sprawl of the big boys trying to out-glitz each other (even as they experienced record losses or marginal profits).

Microsoft announced that this was their last keynote, last time of exhibiting; and folks immediately said, "See the show is losing its relevance in a real-time world."

These same folks probably said Ballmer couldn't get out of his own way.

Suddenly he's brilliant?

Folks pointed out that really big things in the past have gone on to bomb, die.

You know Palm/WebOS, netbooks, 3D TV, etc.Read more

This year's CES should bring out the latest HDTV sets from all the big names including Samsung, Sony, LG, Panasonic, Sharp, Toshiba and more. We expect to see more connected TVs with more iPads and other tablets controlling them. A challenge they will all be facing is how to make their TVs stand out from the pack. With little differentiation between one, high refresh rate, LED backlit big screen HDTV set, and another, TV manufacturers are going to have to differentiate in order to make their TVs more appealing than others. One differentiation we may see is added TV "smarts" either built into the TV itself or provided in a companion device like a tablet. TVs with more smarts will help but with rumors of an Apple TV coming in 2012, we wonder if any of the major TV brands will be able to compete with Apple in the battle for the living room.

TV Brands Used to Be Enough of a Differentiator
Unfortunately, throwing pixels on a screen is not enough to sustain a TV manufacturer's market share. HDTVs like laptop computers are becoming something of a commodity; there is little to differentiate one brand from another. Even Sony who has been able to command a price premium in the past now has TVs that are priced similarly to Vizio TVs. Of course there will always be new technology advances like Ultra High Definition (UHDTV), quantum dots, and big screen AMOLED TVs but these won't come for some time and once one vendor gets one of these features, they all will.Read more

How does Christmas creep up so quickly? It seems like just yesterday our shopping concerns were stocking up on stuffing and turkey for a Thanksgiving feast. Now parking lots are full and checkout lines stretch around the store. Many online merchants have already ceased their holiday shipping, leaving shoppers to fight through the last-minute masses.

Luckily, there are still a few stores that can help alleviate your stress. FreeShipping.org has compiled a comprehensive list of holiday delivery deadlines for over 100 stores, and the following merchants offer expedited shipping for free or with a minimum order.

1. Apple Store
Place your order by Dec. 21 to receive free Next Day Shipping on most items, excluding custom or engraved products.

2. Roxy
Any orders received by 10 pm EST on Dec. 21 will include free 2-Day Shipping.

3. Neiman Marcus
To get free rush delivery on orders of any amount, use code NMQUICK and choose "promotional shipping" as your shipping method. This offer is valid until 11:59 am CST on Dec. 22.

4. Under Armour
Enjoy free two-day shipping on any order using promo code FREESHIP.Read more

October 4, 2011--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Apple today announced great new features and more affordable pricing for both iPod touch and iPod nano. iPod touch will be available in new black and white models starting at just $199, including Apple’s new iOS 5 and iCloud services. The new iPod nano is available today starting at just $129 and features a redesigned user interface, 16 new digital clock faces and improved built-in fitness features.

"iPod has revolutionized the way we listen to music and with over 320 million sold is the world’s most popular music player," said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. "iPod touch, now available in both black and white, is the best selling iPod ever, and with iOS 5 and iCloud it is better than ever."

The new iPod touch includes iOS 5, the world’s most advanced mobile operating system, which includes over 200 new features including iMessage, Game Center, Notifications and Wi-Fi Syncing to iTunes. iMessage brings the functionality of iPhone messaging to your iPod touch, so you can easily send text messages, photos, videos and contact information to an individual or group on other iOS 5 devices. It also allows you to easily maintain one conversation across all your iOS devices—for free—with notifications, read receipts and typing indication.* Game Center enhancements include the ability to add photos to your profile, purchase new games from within the Game Center app, and even easier ways to find friends and new games.

iPod touch also works with iCloud, Apple’s breakthrough set of free cloud services, including iTunes in the Cloud, Photo Stream and Documents in the Cloud, that work seamlessly with your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac or PC to automatically and wirelessly store your content and push it to your devices. When content changes on one device, all your other devices are updated automatically and wirelessly.Read more

Breakthrough Set of Free Cloud Services Includes iTunes in the Cloud, Photo Stream & Documents in the Cloud

October 4, 2011―Apple today announced that iCloud, a breakthrough set of free cloud services, including iTunes in the Cloud, Photo Stream and Documents in the Cloud, that work seamlessly with your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac or PC to automatically and wirelessly store your content in iCloud and push it to all your devices, will be available on October 12. iCloud stores your music, photos, apps, contacts, calendars, documents and more, keeping them up to date across all your devices. When content changes on one device, all your other devices are updated automatically and wirelessly.

"iCloud is the easiest way to manage your content, because iCloud does it all for you and goes far beyond anything available today," said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services. "You don't have to think about syncing your devices, because it happens automatically, and it is free."

iTunes in the Cloud lets you automatically download new music purchases to all your devices, so you can buy a song on your iPad and find it waiting for you on your iPhone―no syncing required. iTunes in the Cloud also lets you download your previously purchased iTunes content, including music and TV shows to your devices at no additional cost.* Since iCloud stores your previously purchased iTunes history, you can see what you’ve bought no matter which device you bought it on, and since you already own the content, you can play it on your devices or simply tap the iCloud icon to download it to store and play later.Read more