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Filed under: Odds and ends, iPhone, App Store

Dinner and a movie or... an iPhone?

It was inevitable. One day the iPhone was going to turn into an impulse purchase. In two short years we've gone from the iPhone as a serious $500 commitment to a grab no more expensive than dinner and a movie. The AT&T store now has a refurbished 8GB iPhone 3G for $79, with free two-day shipping, a $20 savings over the cost of a factory-new iPhone 3G. (You'll have to enter your zip code on that landing page to click through and see the refurbished unit's price.)

Of course, your dinner doesn't make you return every month for two years, for a total outlay well over $2000. However, most people now consider cell phone plans -- even their associated data plans -- to be as utilitarian as the electric bill. So scoring a small hand held computer with a phone function on a whim just seems... as benignly impulsive as going out to dinner and a movie.

Ahh, the good ol' days. When people stood in lines to spend $499 (or, in my case, $599) just for the chance, nay, privilege of owning one of these. And back then it didn't even have iFart applications on it.

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Gaming, Software, Freeware, Developer, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch

Kaloki Adventure and Peggle on sale, plus free music

If you didn't jump to pick up Kaloki Adventure [App Store link] after our first look last week, now's your chance: the game is on sale today (not tomorrow, apparently -- you've got under 24 hours) for just $1.99, a buck cheaper than the usual $2.99 price. The game offers some fun but casual real-time strategy business simulation, so if your dream has ever been to own a burgeoning spaceport, they don't come cheaper than that.

And as an added bonus, NinjaBee is also offering a catchy tune from the game's soundtrack on their website for the low, low price of completely free. It's the jumpy, swingin' background music to the main gameplay, composed by Eric Nunamaker, who's apparently been working on video game music for quite a while.

Oh, and finally, while we're talking about awesome iPhone games on sale, Peggle is only a buck. 'Nuff said.

Filed under: Accessories, Humor, Peripherals, Odds and ends, iPhone

Give your iPhone 3G a telephoto lens

From the "really strange looking iPhone accessories" department, we present for your inspection the mobile.brando.com.hk Apple iPhone 3G Mobile Phone Telescope. Dave mentioned this in passing a few days ago, but since Engadget noted it today we went back and took a closer look. This product definitely wins the TUAW award for the longest name for an iPhone add-on. In case you're wondering what the function of this device is, the website says it all -- "Overcome the short coming of camera cellphone that can only near-sighted, it also makes distant view for you at the moment."

The idea is to take this plastic "crystal" case, put it on your iPhone 3G, and then put the telescope onto the case. This gives your iPhone a 6X telephoto lens. But it does more! Once again, from the website -- "The new design to run of rays can effectively avoid the contortion of image, and makes the super wide angle, the larger luminous flux, the higher visual acuteness, good for color reduction, which makes the high quality of photography."

Huh?

If you really need a telephoto lens for your iPhone 3G and don't mind the abuse from friends, you can order one for the bargain price of US$19 plus shipping. For more mind-boggling details or to order the telescope, click the Read link below.

Filed under: iPod Family

Wired finds bargain Nano Knockoff

For about $100 (£50), Wired has found a Nano clone that appears to offer more features than the $250 (£129) real thing. Your money buys you a 4GB player with video support, an FM tuner, and a built-in voice recorder. Wired's Charlie Sorrel describes the sales presentation as cheeky (don't you love that?) and full of lawyer-bait, quoting from the sales page: "The groundbreaking new MP4 players have a similar look and feel to a Nano, but that's where the similarity ends".

Filed under: Hardware, Odds and ends, iMac

Lucky LEM writer finds a $25 iMac at a thrift store

Some people have all the luck. In this case, it's Adam Robert Guha over at LowEndMac who found a $25 Snow iMac at a thrift store. The store (obviously) didn't know much about it, so when he got the machine home he found that it had a 500 MHz PPC CPU, 30GB hard drive and 384 MB of RAM.

Adam went for the gold and found that it ran Mac OS X 10.4.7 surprisingly well, and he was able to get online with Safari. So what's a guy to do with a $25 iMac that can live and play in this modern Mac OS X world? Why, give it to his grandparents, of course! He installed Firefox, a couple of games and AOL in the hopes that this 'no cables needed' machine would inspire his grandparents to toss the Performa 630 and start blazing up the interwebs. Not a bad move for such a lucky find. Time for me to go see if my local thrift store mis-priced a PowerMac G5 as a broken air conditioner.

Filed under: Portables, Macbook Pro, MacBook

Cheap laptop shade



This laptop shade isn't going to win any beauty contests (though I bet it will garner so comments), but it is cheap and easy. So if you're worried about the MacBook's glossy screen worry not, as long as you have access to a cardboard box that is.

[via Make]

Filed under: iPod Family, Odds and ends

iPods spotted at Sam's Club


I don't know how long this has been going on, but Sam's Club apparently carries the iPod. I spotted it at my neighborhood Club this weekend at the lowest price I've seen so far: $289.98 for a 5G 30 GB black model. Maybe they didn't want to let Cosco have all the fun in selling iMacs?

No word on whether Apple Stores will match this price, nor when the 24 iPod bulk pack will be available.

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