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TODAY’S CAN’T MISS DEALS:

The best accessories for Apple’s 12-inch MacBook: USB-C cables, hubs, flash storage, more

Apple drops the price on refurbished 12-inch MacBooks, now start at $929 shipped

Apple iPad Air 16GB Wi-Fi in Space Gray or Silver $249 shipped (Orig. $399)

Daily Deals: Yamaha 7.2-Ch Network AV Receiver w/ AirPlay $297, Samsung Xpress Mono Laser Printer w/ AirPrint $60, more

Review: Are these third-party $11 Apple Watch Sport bands any good? Turns out, they aren’t too bad.

App Store Free App of the Week: Space Marshals goes free for the very first time ($5 value)

Upgrade Your Mac with 3 Great Apps: Scapple $9 (Orig. $15), STAMP Premium $5 (Orig. $10), Ghostnote $7 (Orig. $10)

BADLAND 1 & 2 for iOS now matching lowest prices ever from $1 (Reg. $5)

Apple offers Day One 2 iOS journal app for free ($10 value)

MORE NEW GEAR FROM TODAY:

Audio-Technica ATH-M40X Over-Ear Headphones + FiiO E6 Amp: $82 shipped ($105 value), more

• Smartphone Accessories: Omaker M4 Bluetooth 4.0 Outdoor/Shower Speaker $19, more
• Games/Apps: Borderlands Handsome $20, Turtle Beach headsets from $43, iOS freebies, more
• Internal 2.5″ Solid-State Drives: Mushkin 1TB $205 (Reg. $245), SanDisk 120GB $36 (Reg. $45+)
• Polk Audio MagniFi One 240W Bluetooth Soundbar w/ Wireless Subwoofer: $180 (Reg. $250+)
• Amazon Gold Box – Stührling watches from $60 shipped: Swiss Quartz, Skeletons, more

MORE DEALS STILL ALIVE:

Smartphone Accessories: Pad & Quill Timber Catchall Stand for Apple Watch in cherry wood finish $64 (Reg. $99), more

• Smartphone Accessories: Arc-shaped Apple Watch Charging Stand $21, more
• Sennheiser HD 600 Open-Back Pro Headphones + $150 Amazon gift card: $400 ($550 value)
• PSN Digital Games up to 60% off: GTA Trilogy for PS4 from $19, more
• Harman Kardon 7.1-Ch. 4K A/V Receiver w/ AirPlay: $298 shipped (Orig. $800)
• Green Deals: Philips 100W A21 Dimmable LED Lightbulb $13 Prime shipped (Reg. $22), more
• Fashion: Banana Republic 50% off sale items, more
• Gift Cards up to 20% off: Babies/Toys R Us, Old Navy, Lowe’s, CVS, more
• Displays: Dell 24-inch 4K $361 (Reg. $400+), LG 27-inch 1080p $180 (Reg. $299)
• Samsung 55-inch 4K 120Hz Smart UHDTVs: $1,200 (Reg. $1,500), 3D $1,375 (Reg. $1,800)
• DJI Phantom 3 Standard Quadcopter w/ 2.7K Camera: $399 shipped (Reg. $499)
• GoPro HERO4 Silver Action Camera w/ Accessories Bundle: $280 w/ .edu ($375 value)
• Amazon launches standalone $9/month Prime Video subscription, but it isn’t really a deal
• Grab a $5 Kindle eBook credit at Amazon w/ download of select free Android titles
• Green Deals: Anker’s new PowerHouse 400Wh Inverter $400 (Reg. $500), more
• Slayin endless action RPG for iOS is now available for free (Reg. $1)
• Google Chromebook Pixel Touchscreen 1.8GHz/4GB/32GB: $400 (Reg. 650+)
• LG Music Flow P7 20W 2-Channel Bluetooth Speaker: $43 shipped (Orig. $150)
• Grab this RCA 32-inch 1080p 60Hz LED HDTV for only $150 shipped (Orig. $209)
• Give Google Express a try with this $30 credit for $15 w/ email delivery (50% savings)
• LEGO Star Wars Buildable Figurines from $17 including Luke Skywalker, more
• Google Play MP3 albums for $1: Notorious B.I.G. Life After Death (Remastered), more
• Stay online when the power goes out with the APC Back-UPS Power Supply for $20 (Reg. $30)
• TarDisk Pear solid-state expansion drive for MacBook 15% off
• Free two-month Audible trial for new customers (Reg. $15/mo.), more

NEW PRODUCTS & MORE:

VIZIO introduces the new M-Series with an updated design and 4K HDR displays

• DJI’s new professional-grade drone is incredibly powerful and intelligent
• Samsung goes big with the “world’s first” bezel-less curved 4K Ultra HDTV
• LEGO reveals a massive 1,600 piece Minecraft set loaded with zombies, more
• Improve your kitchen skills with the best under $10 utensils
• Some of the best SNES games of all-time hit Nintendo’s 3DS eShop
• Amazon’s new $290 Kindle Oasis is a slim, luxury e-reader with months of battery life
• The Lycan Powerbox is a robust solar generator with a swappable battery system
• Impossible Project reveals its Polaroid-style analog camera with iOS connectivity
• JBL’s new Reflect Aware C noise cancelling headphones are powered by USB Type-C
• You probably won’t own Lytro’s new 755MP Cinema Camera but you’ll enjoy its benefits
• GoPro’s new Omni Virtual Reality rig leverages six HERO4 Black action cameras
• Epson’s latest ‘Small-in-One’ printer weighs in at a fraction of the competition

Filed under: Tips and Tricks Tagged: 9to5Toys, AirPlay, Amazon, app deals, Apple, Best Buy, Daily Deals, free apps, Gold Box, iPad, MacBook, video games

As someone who uses timeline-based apps such as Logic Pro X and Final Cut Pro X on a regular basis, horizontal display real estate is incredibly important to me. When it comes to editing video and audio, the bigger the monitor the better.

With the recent popularity of extra-wide 21:9 monitors, I’ve come to understand that width can make a major difference in managing timeline-based editing workflows as well. The extra horizontal real estate is also a nice option for watching movies shot with a 2.39:1 aspect ratio.

With this in mind, I’ve been looking forward to going hands-on with a 21:9 display. LG’s 34UC98 UltraWide IPS monitor is not only extremely wide at 3440 x 1440, but it’s curved as well. How does this new display fit into my workflow? Does having a so-called UltraWide display make a difference?  more…

Filed under: Mac, Reviews Tagged: 21:9, Curved monitor, Display, lg, LG UltraWide, Mac, monitor, OS X, Thunderbolt 2, Thunderbolt 2 Dock, UltraWide, video, widescreen

Funding data published by the Federal Elections Commission reveals that the largest donors to Bernie Sanders’ election campaign PACs were employees of tech companies. Employees of Google parent company Alphabet donated the most, at a little over a quarter of a million dollars, while Apple employees collectively donated $85k.

more…

Filed under: AAPL Company Tagged: Bernie Sanders, Election, PAC

Apple has agreed to pay $24.9M to settle a long-running lawsuit alleging that Siri violated a patent owned by a New York institute and exclusively licensed to a company in Dallas. The patent predates the launch of Siri by four years.

The Albany Business Review notes that Apple was sued not by the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, which holds the patent, but by Dallas-based Dynamic Advances, which licensed it. The company reportedly receives $5M now, and the balance after meeting unspecified conditions. In return, Apple gets a license to use the patented technology for three years.

The settlement means that the patent trial, due to take place in New York next month, will no longer proceed. However, that may not be the end of it …

more…

Filed under: iOS Devices Tagged: Dynamic Advances, Lawsuit, Nuance, Nuance Communications, Patent, Rensselaer, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Siri, Siri lawsuit

Just a day after a prominent legal expert described the proposed anti-encryption Burr-Feinstein bill as unconstitutional, unenforceable and harmful, Apple has called the proposal ‘well-intentioned but ultimately unworkable.’

The description is in an open letter from the Reform Government Surveillance coalition, of which Apple is a key member, alongside companies such as Google, Dropbox, Facebook, Microsoft and Twitter. The letter, addressed to the two Senators behind the proposed bill, explains why it would be harmful to the interests of both the U.S. people and American businesses …

more…

Filed under: AAPL Company Tagged: AAPL, Apple, Burr-Feinstein Bill, Congress, Encryption, FBI, Feinstein-Burr Bill, Inc, iPhone, Reform Government Surveillance, Senate

CNN today reports that while the FBI did not find anything new on the San Bernardino iPhone 5c that it unlocked without Apple’s help, it has “produced data the FBI didn’t have before.” Essentially, not finding anything new on the device is what the FBI needed to know in order to answer some of its remaining questions regarding the case.

more…

Filed under: AAPL Company Tagged: Encryption, FBI, iPhone, iPhone 5C, San Bernardino

Earlier today, Apple took wraps off of a refreshed 12-inch MacBook just over a year after the line was first introduced. While Apple is touting that this MacBook is faster and offers longer battery life than last year’s model, the company is notoriously vague when it comes to sharing under-the-hood details on its product pages. We’ve done some digging, however, and will attempt to break down all of the differences between last year’s 12-inch MacBook and this year’s upgraded model.

more…

Filed under: Mac Tagged: Apple, comparison, MacBook

At long last, Apple today has started rolling out web links and iTunes web previews for tvOS apps, similar to how links to iOS/Mac apps and iTunes content has worked for years now. As reported by MacStories, users will now be able to easily share links to fourth-gen Apple TV apps on their computer and subsequently be able to view app details, as well.

more…

Filed under: Apple TV, Apps Tagged: App Store, Apple TV, Apps, iTunes

Apple Pay officially expanded to its sixth country yesterday with Apple adding support for Singapore and today, the company has added support for over 50 new banks and credit unions in the United States. Starting today, customers of the following banks and credit unions can add their debit and credit cards to Apple Pay and use it instead:

more…

Filed under: Apple Pay Tagged: Apple, Apple pay, Apple Pay banks, banks

Stanford has released the latest semester of its iOS development course today. Entitled “Developing Apps for iOS 9 with Swift“, professor Paul Hegarty takes students and iTunes U subscribers through the intricacies of developing for one of the world’s most popular mobile operating systems. The first lecture is available today as an introduction to the course.  more…

Filed under: Developers Tagged: Apple, developers, Stanford