The MacUpdate Promo Spring Bundle has been revealed, and it is, as the kids say, wicked (or sick, or whatever the kids say). This thing is packed with truly useful applications. If you were considering buying any one of these apps, the $49.99US pricetag makes the rest of them a high-value proposition.

There's been some controversy surrounding bundles of this type, but I believe that it's great exposure for developers, and I'm hoping that everyone's getting a fair cut. MacUpdate is my current favorite source for great software deals and they've been doing a great job of providing really useful, intrinsically valuable apps. This bundle is no exception.

I don't know much about the inner workings of bundle assembly, but I assume the bundle sponsor contacts developers and has some kind of engineered plan, even if it's just an inward bias toward certain genres of applications. Whereas the last MacHeist bundle had a somewhat "creative" bent, this MUpromo bundle has a definite technical angle, with a heavy dose of DVD ripping/remastering/viewing tools.

Read on for the list of included apps...

It's been hinted at for a few days, but Cabel Sasser and the rest of the crew at Panic Software may have accidentally slipped some mind-altering substances into their last batch of Coda Cookies; how else to explain a three-day, 50%-off sale on all of the company's well-designed and well-regarded apps?

The FTP/SFTP client with the often imitated icon, Transmit, is $14.50US; Web authoring jack-of-all-trades Coda is $49.50. Interface tweaker CandyBar 3 and newsreader Unison are also discounted at $14.50 and $12 respectively. The sale page notes that these licenses are also good for discounts on future paid upgrades to the product line, which are expected soon. Sale pricing is in force until 11:59pm PST on May 29.

This might be obvious to most of us, but the WSJ feels it's fit to print: while Steve Jobs' reimbursed budget for his private jet has been fairly considerable over the past year or so -- $580,000 for a six-month period a year ago and $30,000 during a quarter period, the past few reports have seen the budget much, much lower. For the first three months of this year they didn't pay him at all, and for the previous six months before that they've only reimbursed him for $4,000.

What does this mean? Nothing, really -- while the WSJ points to it as evidence Jobs hasn't been traveling overseas to help bring the iPhone to China and carry out other big Apple deals, we've already known that Jobs wasn't involved much in the day-to-day business anyway; besides, it's hard to recuperate at home and fly around the world simultaneously. There are lots of other reasons for the budget to be down -- that $580,000 period would have been right around the manufacturing point of the iPhone 3G, and since most of the focus lately is on software, it's not like Jobs needs to be jetsetting off exotic plants to make sure production is on schedule.

And of course gas prices are back down quite a bit, and companies are under a little more scrutiny and pressure in this economy, so teleconferencing may be just as good as a plane ticket these days. Apple is still saying Jobs is expected back in June, and though these plane figures are interesting, the fact that Apple is still confident of his return says more about the company's future.

Oh, QuarkXPress. My fondest Mac memories are tied in with you. It was one of the first programs I ever learned on the Mac. It was also the most frustrating piece of design software ever -- guaranteed to crash the computer at least once an hour, and don't even think about using the Auto Backup feature on the early versions. I learned Quark back in version 3.1.1 and cursed its existence through the next decade ... until Quark 7. It did something that it had never done before -- not crash on my Mac. It was a stable piece of software and while definitely not my preferred design software, it doesn't make me want to cry in a corner if I have to use it.

Quark Inc. is offering to upgrade any version of QuarkXPress - going back to version 3 - to the latest version (8.0.2) for a single upgrade price of € 399/£ 279/$299.

So what if you don't have a serial number? Let Quark know. They have a database of serial numbers and will do their best to find the missing serial number so you can upgrade. Same if you never registered your license to begin with. Quark will also accept a fax or scan of the original installation CD, disks, or receipts as proof of purchase.

And if you happen to have a licensed copy of Quark for Windows, you can still upgrade to version 8 since the upgrade will let you utilize the software on either Mac or Windows.

QuarkXPress 8.0.2 requires OS X 10.4 or higher, G5 PowerPC or Intel processor, 1GB of RAM and 1GB of hard disk space.

Right around Macworld-time, Zengobi released Curio 5.4, which included a healthy dose of Evernote integration. I had fallen for Evernote before I really figured out Curio, but lately I've found both to be key elements in my organization arsenal. I especially like Evernote's mobile capabilities and cross-platform sync. At home, I organize nearly all of my projects and related materials in Curio. Now, with Curio 5.4 and Evernote's very thorough API, we get the best of both worlds. All of the notes I take on my iPhone by photographing, recording and typing show up automatically -- and with full search capabilities -- when I sit down at my Mac. I also do a lot of research on the web, and this new integration means I can clip web pages to one place -- Evernote -- and have the information immediately available in Curio.

Evernote's various software clients are free, and premium accounts (allowing for any filetype and much more storage) are available for $5/month or $45/year. Curio is more pricey; the standard version is $99, and the pro version is $149 (there are significant academic discounts available). If you're already a Curio user but not an Evernote user, I'd recommend you sign up for a free Evernote account and start enjoying the benefits of the integration. You can always upgrade to a premium account if you find it indispensable (a fairly common occurrence). If you're an Evernote user considering Curio, use the coupon code EVERNOTE at Zengobi's online store (or Academic Store) to get a 20% discount on a Curio purchase. If you use neither, and don't want to, shouldn't you have given up reading this about a paragraph ago? Nah, thanks for sticking around.

Update: most of these deals end soon, so act fast in order to get them!

Some iPhone developers have come together to offer you discounts on their App Store applications, just in time for the New Year. The New Year's App Blowout hopes to spread some "holiday cheer" by offering some discounts on iPhone apps.

Some of the apps being offered up at a discount include:

• ScribBall
• Car Care
• DuckDuckDuck
• Mouse House
• Trivial
• Trivial History
• Trivial Movies
• Pop Culture
• and others

Some apps are being offered completely free, so now is the time to get in on these deals. Visit the New Year's App Blowout website for more information, and a complete list of the apps being offered up.

Thanks to Kyle Richter for the information.

Has your favorite movie gone missing from iTunes or Netflix lately? The reason could be television, says CNET -- apparently a slew of movies on iTunes and Netflix's streaming service have recently fallen prey to television exclusive agreements. With the onset of Apple TV and apps like Boxee making it possible to stream Netflix, TV networks with exclusive showing agreements have made sure that while they've got a lock on a movie, we can't watch it anywhere else.

Of course, as CNET notes, it's about the money (isn't it always?). If studios can make more money from the TV networks than they can from online rentals, then obviously they're going to go with television. The only problem with that, however, is that with an exclusive agreement, they'll never know, will they?

And of course the other issue here is the actual definition of places like iTunes and Netflix -- obviously, retail stores aren't barred from carrying these movies, so does that mean that Netflix and iTunes are actually content channels rather than retailers? Tough issue. You have to think that it'll eventually be settled in favor of digital distribution (what consumer wouldn't want to watch a movie on their own time rather than sticking to a TV network's schedule), but until studios are convinced otherwise, exclusivity agreements will likely be the rule.

[via Apple Insider]

If you've been considering Parallels Desktop for your two computers, they have a great deal for you: buy one for $80 and get one free. The price effectively gets you two copies of Parallels for $40 each. Not bad. Just follow this link here.

Parallels Desktop is virtualization software that allows you to run a variety of PC operating systems from within Mac OS X.

[Via Smoking Apples.]

Just because Apple aficionados have historically been willing to pay a modest premium for the world's best computers, music players and cellphones, that doesn't mean they don't enjoy the occasional bargain as much as their Windows-using, Zune-toting, Blackberry-typing brethren. In the spirit of healthy holiday consumerism, here's our list (far from comprehensive) of a few select deals for the Black Friday sales. You can get full-on shop-till-you-drop coverage at dealmac.com, and quick overviews from Gizmodo and dealNN.

Naturally, Amazon and Newegg both have big discounts on most gear for today -- not all of it is good for Macheads but there are plenty of treats on the hard drive, headphone and camera front. Amazon is selling SwissGear backpacks for $24, which is tempting, and shows the iPod touch 8GB at $209; that's likely to be matched by the Apple Store's one-day discount as it rolls around the globe. Newegg has the usual excellent pricing on hard drives and flash memory, although not much on the 'secret deals page' is overly Apple-oriented; $19 for an 8 GB flash drive might raise some eyebrows and liberate some funds, though.

The heat on hardware is also clearly set to 'high' with the discounts from Best Buy, MacMall and MacConnection. Right now MacConnection is showing the best deal on my benchmark machine (the midrange MacBook unibody), with a selling price of $1149 -- keep an eye on the other sites too, as MacMall is right behind at $1179.

If you love to watch TV on your shiny Mac screen, there's a deal for you too. Elgato is offering $50 off of the $149 EyeTV Hybrid HDTV tuner and DVR software bundle today. This is a particularly good item for anyone who has an older analog TV in a spot where they don't have cable or satellite but they do have a computer -- it's a great way to get through the digital transition in February of 2009, as domestic US television drops its analog signals for good.

Nobody can live by hardware alone, though, and there are plenty of software and accessory vendors who want to grab their fair share of your gift budget. A few of note below...

...for the downtime in the store means that the Black Friday discounts will soon be up in the US. We already know the rough scale of the savings -- modest, not dramatic -- so don't get too excited!

Thanks to everyone who sent this in. Now, go to bed and sleep off that load of turkey.

Agile Web Solutions today offered its customers a Thanksgiving present: a free copy of 1Password. Existing customers are encouraged to give up to three extra licenses to their friends by visiting Agile's website and providing their information.

New customers can also benefit: If you purchase 1Password today, you get two licenses for the price of one. Agile is also offering a discount to new orders, taking 15 percent off your final total.

The promotion ends Sunday.

AppleInsider, MediaBistro and more are all pointing to some sweet Best Buy discounts on Apple products for Black Friday weekend that include laptop and desktop computers. Sale prices are good online and in-store.

Best Buy apparently stocked up on inventory to support the event. Apple employees will also be staffing Best Buy locations to push sales. The four-day sale extends from Sunday until Wednesday. (Thanks, Michel.)

Also of note: Apple retail stores will match other authorized retailers' advertised prices. According to ifoAppleStore, if you supply proof of the competitor's pricing (like Best Buy's circular), Apple retail employees have the authority to approve a discount matching that price.

If that weren't enough, as Cory mentioned earlier, Apple will also be having its own online Black Friday promotion.

After the jump, discounts ahoy!

Last year, the Give Good Food to Your Mac promo offered discounts on apps exclusively from Indie developers in Europe. This year the promo is back, and they've opened the doors to developers from around the world. There are some 60 apps available, and the deal is this: buy 3 apps and get a 20% discount on the total price, buy more apps and the discount increases up to 50% for 5 apps or more. Last year you could get a 70% discount at 10 apps or more, but that doesn't look like it's on the cutting board any more. The application lineup, however, is impressive. All of those Indie apps you were interested in but knew they would be part of a bundle sooner or later ... you'll probably find them here.

The lineup includes apps from Aquafadas, Houdah Software, Devon Technologies and many more. Some of my favorite software is included, such as Reinvented Software's Together (recently mentioned) and ShareTool (a recent Friday Favorite). The Hydra Aperture plugin, which we've also covered before, Cheetah 3D, Voice Candy ... it's quite a list. Stop by the Give Good Food to your Mac page and see if there's not something there to whet your appetite. The promo is running now and goes until December 1st.

This would be an interesting deal -- rumor has it (that crazy rumor always has something, doesn't it?) that Apple may start selling subsidized MacBooks in the UK, with O2 including the notebooks with their wireless plans. Quite a proposal -- the idea, of course, would be for O2 to pick up a subscription by offering a discount on the already (relatively) cheap $999 MacBook. This plan has been rumored for a long time with iPhones (and I still believe it'll happen eventually), but with mobile broadband subscriptions on the rise, O2 and other services might start giving kickbacks on notebooks, too.

Of course, whatever discount you saved early on would cost you in the end with the continued cost of the broadband subscription. Which makes this deal as unlikely for people to buy into it as it does for Apple to agree. But you never know -- analysts especially are leading the call for cheaper and cheaper MacBooks, and a subsidy might be just the thing (even if it isn't actually popular with consumers) to push the MacBook down to around the $800 price where stockholders want it to be.

Now that iPhone developers have started "cashing in," they have also started giving future customers a break on their popular applications. This week, there are many good deals on the App Store. Now comes the hard part: picking which ones you want to purchase.

• Trism (was $4.99 now $2.99)
• Band (was $5.99 now $1.99)
• Pianist (was $5.99 now $1.99)
• Guitarist (was $5.99 now $2.99)

Do you plan to buy any of these apps? Which applications would you like to see on sale in the future? Be sure to let everyone know in the comments!


[via MacRumors]


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