A Siri hack to start your car
Today’s edition of “1,001 amazing things you can do with Siri” comes courtesy of our sister blog TechCrunch. In a post this morning, TechCruncher Chris Velazco tells the story of hacker Brandon Fiquett, who has figured out a way to use Siri to control a Viper SmartStart system and start up his Acura TL.
Remember the story about “@plamoni’s” Siri proxy server that allowed him to control a thermostat with Siri? Brandon used the same proxy server, then whipped up a delicious plugin to interact with a PHP script running on his own web server. The script can send commands to any registered car with a Viper SmartStart system. The nice thing? You can leave the clunky blue Viper control dongle at home.
Not only can Brandon start his Acura, but he has the system set to lock and unlock doors, pop the trunk, and enable or disable the security system. If you have a Viper SmartStart system or have plans on buying one this Cyber Monday, Brandon has made his Siri proxy plugin and the PHP script available on GitHub.
Check out the video below to see the system in action, or visit Brandon’s site to see more cool demos.
A Siri hack to start your car originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 28 Nov 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
A Siri hack to start your car originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 28 Nov 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Insanely Great launches made-in-USA iPhone accessories with Cyber Monday deal
Whether your iPhone has been with you for years or you just picked one up this weekend during the holiday shopping rush, you’re facing the same problem either way: getting it to stay where you put it, in the car or on your desk. Scores of companies offer lots of different “stick it and forget it” solutions to this challenge, but one newcomer is putting together some innovative and attractive products for iPhone car/counter mounting — and doing it entirely in the USA, from design to hands-on manufacturing.
Insanely Great Products’ launch line includes six different mounting/stand solutions, all but one involving a powerful suction cup to attach the iPhone (or other flat-back device) to the mount. The Jack (image, right) and the Scooter are designed for desktop use, while the Willy (top image) and the Traveler can serve either in the car or in stationary settings.
The light and flexible Clip-n-Go combines the suction cup with a customized binder clip for easy air vent attachment of a cased or naked phone, while the anodized aluminum Norm uses the same binder clip with side arms to hold a case-free phone to the dashboard vent.
While the products are affordable (most of the line costs between US$10 and $20, with the aluminium Norm coming in at $35) they’re set apart from most of the accessory market by their made-in-the-USA pedigree. IGP was founded with the intention of doing all manufacturing domestically; currently, all the products are assembled by hand (from US-sourced materials) in the company’s Menlo Park facility.
In fact, every IGP employee spends at least part of every day filling customer orders by making products themselves. This agile/all-hands manufacturing process is intended to help keep the entire team connected to the products; IG is also able to create customized or branded versions of all the items in the line, on request.
It might seem a bit presumptuous for any new enterprise to call itself Insanely Great, but in this case the company at least comes by it honestly. IGP’s marketing lead/co-founder Richard Ford spent several years at Apple in leadership roles on the product teams that built most of the Internet underpinnings in Mac OS 9. The other co-founder, company president Jeff Osborn, was formerly a VP at mega-ISP UUnet.
For today, Cyber Monday, the company is offering 50% off three of its products — the Jack, the Scooter and the Willy — as long as you buy them in blue (the Monday blues, so clever) rather than the full line of colors shown above.
Insanely Great launches made-in-USA iPhone accessories with Cyber Monday deal originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 28 Nov 2011 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Insanely Great launches made-in-USA iPhone accessories with Cyber Monday deal originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 28 Nov 2011 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Siri / Wolfram Alpha trick lets you know what is flying overhead
I’m a bit of an airliner freak, so I love looking up at the contrails of jets flying overhead and wondering where a plane might be going. I recently found out that Wolfram Alpha has the ability to tell you what airplanes are cruising around above you based on your position and its knowledge of where various airline and charter flights are located at any point in time. Since Siri has the built-in ability to work with Wolfram Alpha, I thought I’d see if I could just ask Siri to tell me about those flights overhead.
It took a few tries and some thought about what to ask Siri, but I finally got it to work. Telling Siri to “Ask Wolfram what flights are overhead” produces the correct results. That query displays a Wolfram Alpha printout showing the flight or aircraft registration number of flights that are currently visible from where you’re standing, their altitude, and the angle above the horizon. You also get information on what type of aircraft each is, how far away it is, and what direction to look, as well as a sky map showing where the planes are.
I then made an attempt to coax details out of Siri about individual flights. I thought I’d need to use the brains of Wolfram Alpha again, but found that by simply saying “Tell me about [name of airline] Flight [flight number]” prompted Siri to display a web page showing the departure airport and time of the flight along with the expected arrival airport, time and gate.
The search isn’t perfect. I often had flights between the West coast and Asia showing up on the search despite the fact that there was no way that the flights were going to be flying over Colorado. But as with many of the tricks we’ve demonstrated here at TUAW, this shows the surprising depth of knowledge that you have access to by asking Siri.
TUAW editor Steve Sande is the co-author and publisher of “Talking to Siri: Learning the Language of Apple’s Intelligent Assistant,” found on the iBookstore and Amazon Kindle Bookstore.
Siri / Wolfram Alpha trick lets you know what is flying overhead originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sat, 26 Nov 2011 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Siri / Wolfram Alpha trick lets you know what is flying overhead originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sat, 26 Nov 2011 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Microsoft Doesn’t Get It, Episode 65,536: TellMe versus Siri
As with all new technologies developed by or associated with Apple, competitors are stumbling over one another to dismiss Siri. Google has already played the “yawn” card, and now Microsoft’s Craig Mundie has joined the fray during an interview with Forbes. Here are Mundie’s remarks when asked about Siri, proving for the 65,536th time that Microsoft Doesn’t Get It:
“TellMe facility’s been in the Windows 7 Phone (sic) for more than a year! I just think that people are infatuated with Apple announcing it… it’s good marketing. At least as a technological capability, you could argue that Microsoft has had a similar capability in Windows phones for more than a year. You could take these Windows phones and pick them up and say, ‘Text Eric,’ and it’ll say, ‘What do you want to say?’ and it transcribes it… You can query anything through Bing by just saying the words. I mean, all that’s already there. Completely functional, been there for a year.”
Can you really just pick up one of these Windows phones and use it right out of the box in the way Mundie claims? Not if the results of a video comparing TellMe versus Siri are any indication. Using Siri and TellMe simultaneously, an Australian user tries to create a meeting, send a text, check the time in Perth, and play songs by a certain artist. Siri doesn’t miss a beat, while TellMe fails every time, often with hilarious results.
Let’s issue some apologetics for TellMe: maybe it’s tripping over the Aussie accent. Maybe it needs to “learn” the speaker’s voice over time to deliver better results. Maybe the handset’s microphone wasn’t picking up his voice well enough to decipher his commands accurately. But the side-by-side comparison doesn’t lie; Siri kicked TellMe’s butt up and down the block.
The comparison video even handicapped Siri by using the sort of stilted, standardized voice commands that Android and Windows Phone 7 have indeed “already had for over a year.” But the thing that Siri’s detractors must keep in mind is that Siri is not just speech recognition. In fact, if you’re one of Apple’s competitors, and you’re going to try talking about Siri intelligently, I’d say the first step is writing “Siri is not just speech recognition” on a chalkboard 100 times.
Certainly Android and Windows Phone 7 have had basic speech recognition functions before Siri’s debut, but can you have a conversation with those implementations, or do you have to stick to a strict set of commands that the OS can interpret? You’re certainly going to have a hard time convincing me that I can have this sort of interaction with TellMe on Windows Phone 7:
“I’m in Chicago. I want pizza.” (I’m actually over 13,000 kilometers from Chicago, but never mind that.)
“I found a number of pizza restaurants in Chicago, IL, US.”
“How about New York City?”
“I found a number of pizza restaurants in New York City, NY, US.”
“Maybe hamburgers in Miami instead.”
“I found a number of burger restaurants in Miami, FL, US.”
“How windy is it?”
“The wind speed is currently 26 kph (ENE) in Miami, FL, US.”
“No, how windy is it here?”
“Wind speed is currently 21 kph.”
“Is it shorts weather?”
“Here’s the forecast for today through this Thursday.”
What makes Siri a revolutionary voice-controlled interface is the fact that you don’t have to stick to the standard “Search for pizza restaurants in Chicago” or “What is the current wind speed in Palmerston North, New Zealand” language that other interfaces require. Even more than that, Siri understands conversational context in a way that competing voice interfaces don’t.
Fine, Android and Windows Phone 7 beat Siri to market by being able to ask your phone questions, but that’s like the difference between issuing commands to your dog versus talking to a three-year-old human being. My greyhound is pretty much a canine genius, but once you stray from the hundred or so commands and concepts I’ve programmed into her doggy brain, she’s every bit as lost as TellMe would be if I asked it “Is it shorts weather?”
Siri is far closer to being able to understand natural speech the way a human would; it’s not quite there yet, but it’s often amazing how close it gets. On my first day with the iPhone 4S, I set a half-hour timer and later asked Siri “How’s that timer doing?” fully expecting it to choke. Instead, it showed me the timer immediately. I was startled that it worked at all, and worked well, and moments like this prove that Siri isn’t the also-ran that people like Microsoft’s Mundie are trying to claim it is.
Here’s the funniest part: just like Multi-Touch, I suspect Apple’s competitors are only being dismissive about Siri for as long as it takes for them to copy it… badly. Meanwhile, Siri and I will be over here waiting for you to catch up.
“Play some Led Zeppelin.”
“Here’s your Led Zeppelin.”
And of all things, what plays? “Communication Breakdown.” Siri, you so crazy.
Microsoft Doesn’t Get It, Episode 65,536: TellMe versus Siri originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 25 Nov 2011 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Microsoft Doesn’t Get It, Episode 65,536: TellMe versus Siri originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 25 Nov 2011 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Black Friday app sales: Dragon Fantasy, Gem Keeper, lots more
Hope you had a great holiday yesterday! As expected, the App Sales are continuing through the weekend, and in addition to what we’ve already spotlighted, here are a few more.
- Steam is continuing its daily sales on all kinds of titles, Mac and PC alike, but Flight Control HD is the standout for iOS fans today.
- Space Ship Ion has gone free.
- Rolocule’s games are all on sale, including Flick Tennis: College Wars for just a buck.
- The 7th Guest is just $1.99.
- Retro arcade game StarDash is down to 99 cents today.
- Dark Nebula: Episode One is available for free.
- 8-bit RPG throwback Dragon Fantasy is only 99 cents — that’s the lowest I’ve seen it, which makes this a must-grab for old-school NES fans.
- The very popular astronomy app Star Walk is a dollar off right now, down to $1.99 on iPhone and $3.99 on iPad.
- iSequence HD is down to just $2.99 from $15.
- Algoriddim’s djay app for iPad is $9.99, half off.
- In my opinion, Gem Keeper is the best tower defense game on the App Store, and it’s only 99 cents. I would say this is another must-get today.
- Worms Crazy Golf is 99 cents on iPhone and $2.99 on iPad.
- Disney is having a 99 cent sale, with many of their apps on sale for just a buck, including the iPad version of Split/Second.
- MumboJumbo also has a 99 cent sale on, including Luxor and some other great puzzle games.
- GTA Chinatown Wars is down to $2.99.
Whew! The App Sales will all continue through the weekend, so we’ll likely have even more posts with dropped prices in them to come. Next week on Cyber Monday there will be yet another round of deals, but you can expect the sales waves to continue through the holidays until all those new iPhones and iPads get unwrapped. Stay tuned!
Black Friday app sales: Dragon Fantasy, Gem Keeper, lots more originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 25 Nov 2011 14:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Black Friday app sales: Dragon Fantasy, Gem Keeper, lots more originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 25 Nov 2011 14:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Tascam debuts iM2 stereo condesor mic for iPhone
Around this time last year, Tascam introduced the Portastudio app, a 4-track recorder modeled after the legendary Portastudio 144 4-track recorder of some 30 years ago. Now, Tascam has debuted the iM2, a stereo recorder with two condenser mics and a built-in pre-amp that’s based on Tascam’s well known DR series of portable recorders.
The iM2 simply plugs directly into the dock connector of your iPhone or iPad, overriding your devices built-in mic to provide you with high quality recordings. The two mics are adjustable over 180 degrees for uni-directional recording, perfect for capturing a live recording as well as the ambience of the room you’re recording in.
The iM2’s built-in preamp can also handle 125 dbs of noise, so you could theoretically record a jet plane taking off without having to worry about any distortion to the recording, even if your own ears may suffer.
The iM2 is priced at around US$80 and is available for pre-order. For all the details, check out Tascam’s website.
[Via Engadget]
Tascam debuts iM2 stereo condesor mic for iPhone originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 25 Nov 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Tascam debuts iM2 stereo condesor mic for iPhone originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 25 Nov 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Daily iPhone App: Battle Nations
You may have played Z2Live’s first big freemium iOS game, Trade Nations, and the recently released Battle Nations is a sort of spiritual sequel to that one. It features the same kind of Farmville-style gameplay, so if that turns you off, you should probably just go ahead and move on (Happy Thanksgiving!). But I do have a place in my life for about one of these games at a time, and Battle Nations is a really well-done version of this kind of game, complete with a pretty interesting turn-based combat twist.
The idea is that you’re running a growing encampment of soldiers in an empire, so you need to first lay out housing and workplaces for the soldiers, and then work to make your technology better and your army bigger. The core loop of the game is earning gold and XP with farms and businesses, and then you use those resources to make your troops, which can then carry out missions and win fights for you. There’s a single-player “storyline” to play through (though you can’t really “lose” fights — you just try again until you win), and then the game is also very social, so you can start fights with friends, or give them some counterattack help if they’re getting attacked by someone else.
Battle Nations has pretty much everything you want in a casual game like this — solid graphics and sound, and a pretty strong backbone (though loading up the game when it starts can be slow, and unfortunately Z2Live uses their own sign in service rather than Game Center, which doesn’t help). My one problem with the game is that it’s a little slow: There’s a long tutorial sequence in which you’re taught how everything works, and your various tools and mechanics unlock as you level up. I also hope that there’s a market system like the one in Trade Nations that allows for trading and selling resources between friends, but if there is a market to unlock, I haven’t gotten there yet.
Still, for the low, low price of free, Battle Nations is a solid freemium empire building game that will keep you coming back at least as long as it takes to build up your camp to where you want it. It’s free on the App Store, in a universal version, right now.
Daily iPhone App: Battle Nations originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 24 Nov 2011 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Daily iPhone App: Battle Nations originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 24 Nov 2011 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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AT&T withdrawing merger application with the FCC while pursuing win with the Justice Department
AT&T apparently believes its idea to merge with T-Mobile is headed for trouble, and today the telecommunication giant announced it has withdrawn its joint application for FCC approval ahead of what was going to be a US
$39 billion dollar deal. The two companies say they are going to focus efforts on getting approval from the Justice Department for the merger, but that seems a stretch since last August the Department of Justice sued AT&T claiming the merger was anti-competitive and in violation of antitrust laws.
AT&T said it plans to book a $4 billion dollar charge in the 4th quarter in preparation for the deal failing and it having to make a large payment of up to $6 billion dollars to T-Mobile which was guaranteed to the German owned company as a break-up fee.
It’s likely that AT&T auditors are wanting AT&T to take the financial hit now, and the action that AT&T announced today is a sign the company has low confidence it can convince the FCC or the Justice Department that the deal is good for consumers. AT&T claimed the merger would create many new US jobs, while the US government claims the merger would result in a massive job loss and higher prices for cellular service.
AT&T was the first company to offer the Apple Phone. T-Mobile is now the only US carrier that does not sell it. Earlier this year both Verizon and Sprint have been able to offer the popular smartphone.
AT&T withdrawing merger application with the FCC while pursuing win with the Justice Department originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 24 Nov 2011 10:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
AT&T withdrawing merger application with the FCC while pursuing win with the Justice Department originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 24 Nov 2011 10:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Thanksgiving app sales: More Gameloft titles, Dark Meadow, and Steam sale underway
Here are even more Thanksgiving/Black Friday app sales popping up on the App Store:
- Gameloft has a few more titles on sale than I mentioned yesterday — here’s the full list.
- Retro RPG Companions for iPad is down to $3.99.
- The official Peterson Birds of North America app is down to 30% off, at $9.99.
- Steam has started up its official holiday sale, featuring huge discounts on all kinds of downloadable games for the Mac. Portal 2 for just over $10 is a great place to start (if you don’t have it already), but there will be great games in there all week long.
- Boy, if you’ve ever wanted an EA Mobile game, now’s the time to buy it — almost all of the company’s games are down to 99 cents. Reckless Racing, Simcity Deluxe, and Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit are standouts, but there’s a lot of good choices in there.
- Pangea Software is having a Black Friday 99 cents sale as well, with Enigmo 2 and Nanosaur 2 as two to check out.
- Tactical Soldier: Undead Rising is down to $1.99, and Heroes of Kalevala is that same price on iPad, only 99 cents on iPhone.
- Wayforward’s great Shantae: Risky’s Revenge is usually $4.99 with an in-app purchase, but this week it’s only a buck.
- Firemint’s titles are on sale, but I think we all already own those.
- Playfirst’s Hotel, Wedding, and Parking Dash titles are lowered to 99 cents on iPhone and $2.99 on the iPad.
- Dark Meadow is just a buck — highly recommended if you don’t have it yet and don’t mind some scares.
- Kairosoft’s Hot Springs Story and Pocket Academy are both down to just $1.99.
- Telltale has a whole bunch of iOS games on sale, including Puzzle Agent 1 and 2, and all of the Back to the Future, Hector: Badge of Carnage, and Tales of Monkey Island games for iPad. Each episode is $2.99, which could make for a fun Thanksgiving weekend if you buy the whole set.
- Spinlight Studio has a whole line of colorful childrens’ education apps, and all of them are on sale this weekend.
- All of the Sage Board games apps, including Tigris and Euphrates, Ra, and Puerto Rico, are on sale, from $1.99 to $4.99.
- Flickr HD is just 99 cents, which is the cheapest price the app has ever been.
- DebtMinder is half off at $.99.
And I think that’s all … for today (isn’t that enough?!). There’s really no need to fight store lines for video games when you can get all these great titles for pennies each on the App Store. Be sure to keep an eye on our Deals category for even more deals all weekend and holiday season long!
Thanksgiving app sales: More Gameloft titles, Dark Meadow, and Steam sale underway originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 23 Nov 2011 23:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Thanksgiving app sales: More Gameloft titles, Dark Meadow, and Steam sale underway originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 23 Nov 2011 23:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Holiday Gift Guide: Accessories for all
Welcome to TUAW’s 2011 Holiday Gift Guide! We’re here to help you choose the best gifts this holiday season, and once you’ve received your gifts we’ll tell you what apps and accessories we think are best for your new Apple gear. Stay tuned every weekday from now until the end of the year for our picks and helpful guides and check our Gift Guide hub to see our guides as they become available. For even more holiday fun, check out sister site Engadget’s gift guide.
Let’s be honest — while you might plunk down the cash for a MacBook Air or iPad for your loved ones, you’re probably not going to go all out on a brand new device for your co-workers and acquaintances. But that doesn’t mean you can’t still support the various Macheads in your life — no matter how many Apple devices someone might have, there are many more accessories for those various devices lining the shelves at Best Buy.
Cases, plug-ins, covers, and stick-ons, oh my! Let us take you on a quick tour through the Mac accessory landscape, and help you find some really great recommendations of all different prices for all of the Apple devices in your life. Even if there isn’t a Mac fanatic around you who needs some of this stuff, no worries. Just bookmark this page, and come back after the holidays, whenever you yourself have unwrapped that big package “designed in California” that’s sitting underneath your tree this year.
The PlugBug
Perhaps the hottest Mac-cessory this year, the PlugBug turned all kinds of heads when TwelveSouth finally released it earlier this month. Yes, it’s just a charger, but no, it’s not just a charger — it’s a super useful and well-designed accessory that already works with those cords you got in the Apple box. You can charge both a MacBook (or Air or Pro) and a USB device like an iPhone or iPad from just one outlet, and all you need to pack in your bag is the usual cords and this little red adapter. It’s a great, smart device that adds just a little bit of color to an already very Apple way of thinking. ($34.99 from TwelveSouth)
The iCade
There were a few arcade cabinets for the iPad out this year, but the original iCade by ThinkGeek and Ion Audio. It originally started up as an April Fool’s joke, and then was made real: An actual miniature arcade cabinet, complete with buttons and a joystick, that you can plug your iPad in to play arcade games on. The list of compatible titles is long and growing, so anyone in the house who loves playing old-school games on the iPad will really enjoy this one.($79.99 by ThinkGeek)
TenOne’s Fling and Fling mini for iPad and iPhone
Again, there have been some very similar competitors pop up in this space, but when it comes to attaching a physical joystick to Apple’s touch screens, the Fling is the original and the best. It’s suprisingly simple, but feels and works great, especially on games where you’d normally use a virtual joystick, but it provides the tactile feedback that Apple’s no buttons policy just can’t match. Go ahead and buy a two-pack — you’ll need them both. (Two-pack is $29.95 for the iPad, $24.95 for the iPhone at TenOne Design)
Keyboard covers by KB Covers
Whether you’re typing on a MacBook or a wireless Apple keyboard, a good keyboard cover can keep things clean and make your keyboard last longer and work better, no matter what your fingers have been touching lately. And KB Covers are the best we’ve seen — not only are they made of a nice tough, stretchy plastic, but they’re extremely useful, providing easy visual access to custom shortcuts for almost any app or International keyboard layout you’d ever want. No matter what Mac or keyboard model you have, or what you’re doing with it (from editing in Avid to playing World of Warcraft), there’s a KB Cover for you or your gift-getter. (Various prices, at KB Covers)
The Peel
The Peel system can be complicated, so it’s not necessarily for everybody. But for just the right person on your gift list, it might be perfect. The Peel consists of both a “fruit” unit that sits on your home entertainment system and plugs into your television, and then an app that runs on your iOS device, and can be used to not only control your A/V setup, but also find various shows and things to watch according to your tastes. We didn’t think the Peel would work as your usual remote, unfortunately, but for the right gadgethead interested in using an iOS device to make their TV watching experience a little better, it would be a great gift. ($99 at Peel)
A case!
Yes, there will undoubtedly be a lot of iPhones and iPads sold this year, and odds are that everyone who gets a new one under their tree will also need to find an excellent case for it. Many times, this tends to be a very personal choice, so you might want to think twice about getting a case for some one, or at least remember to be gracious when you find out it’s not exactly what they wanted. But still, there are plenty of great cases out there, from cases that make your device look like a book, to something you can use with a little more functionality as an actual wallet. Cases can be as individual as the people who buy them, so be a little careful as to which one you pick out, but the right choice for the right person can be a terrific and memorable gift. (Various)
Remote-controlled fun
Sure, functionality can be important, but sometimes you just want to have a little bit of remote fun with your Mac. How about a remote-controlled USB missle launcher that can even be activated over the Internet? One of those Ar.Drone quadricopters that can be controlled with your iOS device? Or you can even be the first to nab a Sphero, a little remote-controlled ball that’s arriving just in time for Christmas later on this year. There’s lots of kooky fun to be had with your Apple devices — sure, it may not be too practical, but if you’ve already got all of the power Apple has put into these machines, why not put a little bit of it to work in real life? (Various)
A hard drive
Finally, we’ll leave you with a choice that’s a little more practical than those toys: Even with the advent of iCloud, the one thing any Mac user will always love getting is more hard drive space. With all of the apps coming out all of the time, and lots and lots of content being made and edited, anyone with a Mac or even an iPhone or iPad could probably use a few more gigabytes (or even terabytes) in their lives. Western Digital has released a few excellent standalone hard drives meant for Mac this year, but especially during Black Friday and the holiday season afterwards, Best Buy or any of the other big box electronics stores are usually running some great deals on external hard drives, so you can easily pick one up for around $50 or even under that some times. If you want to go a little more fancy, you can check out the Iomega Mac Companion, meant specifically to work with a Mac as a high-capacity backup drive. But whatever kind of storage you choose, there’s no question that the Mac fan in your life will appreciate the extra digital storage space.
Happy holidays! Here’s hoping you find just the right gift for the Mac lover in your life this year!
Holiday Gift Guide: Accessories for all originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 23 Nov 2011 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Holiday Gift Guide: Accessories for all originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 23 Nov 2011 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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