The TUAW gang have been searching for great holiday gift ideas and I think I've found one that's been right under my nose for five years.

When I bought my brand new PowerBook G4 17" in 2004, I splurged and bought a Brenthaven backpack for it. Back then it cost a good deal more than the usual backpack -- around $75 -- but I thought it would be worth it since I lugged around my PowerBook nearly every day and it looked like the Brenthaven provided better padding than the competition.

Since then, the backpack has housed a succession of three 17" PowerBooks and MacBook Pros under very heavy use. The amazing part is that outside of being a bit dusty, it's in just as good shape as the day I bought it. No frayed stitching, no stuck zippers, no torn dividers. There is no sign of wear and/or tear whatsoever. And if there was, or ever will be, all Brenthaven bags come with a lifetime warranty.

Several readers have urged me to try the Gokivo Navigator for the iPhone [iTunes link], so today is the day. The app is U.S. $4.99, but that only provides you with GPS navigation for 30 days. After that, the app costs $4.99 monthly or you can purchase a year of service for $39.99. That's quite a bit less that the AT&T nav solution [iTunes link], and makes the Gokivo app quite competitive. The app includes a Traffic Tracking Center, text to speech so street names are announced as you drive, and it has iPod controls so you don't have to leave the app to change your music.

Like the AT&T app, if you are out of range of the data network, you won't get maps. And like most of the competition, Gokivo gives you an estimated time of arrival, distance to your destination, and your current speed.

The map doesn't work in landscape view, which I consider a strong negative. It's easy to navigate to your addresses in your Contacts app, and the feature is nicely integrated.

As a guy who likes shopping online, but who still appreciates the act of going into a retail store for big purchases, I love this news. Apple has introduced a "Reserve and Pick-up" service for the holiday season.

The name is a little unwieldy, but it gets the point across. You go onto the Apple web site to find what you want, click to reserve the product at a nearby Apple Store, and then go to the store and pick up the goods while you're doing your holiday shopping between December 15 to 24.

For many folks, this might seem awkward -- why not just buy the product online and get it shipped, or just go to the store and buy it? For guys like me, it's perfect -- all of the convenience of choosing a product online, with the added bonus of being able to check out the retail store during the holidays.

iLounge notes that there's no AppleTV on the list, so if you were planning to pick one up as a gift, you'll have to go a more traditional route. There's also no way to actually reserve an iPhone. Instead, you're told to get an iPhone gift card to give to some lucky recipient. Nevertheless, I like the idea of reserve and pick-up, an interesting mix of online shopping and in-store purchasing for the holiday season. It's Apple take-out.

Like many of the others at TUAW who really wanted to see this remote, I got my new Apple Remote a few days ago, and here are some of my impressions.

As Kevin pointed out on Wednesday, MacHeist has a new bundle for us at the moment -- but this one is what they consider a "nanoBundle" and it's free. I can't speak for everyone here at TUAW, but when I see the word "free" next to software, I horde it.

They've decided to just give away this bundle of apps in what appears to be a move to encourage their users to come back for more. 6 great mac apps for zero dollars. That's my kind of deal. There are only 6 more days to download this bundle, so go grab it after checking out the loot:

• Shove Box -- An awesome reminder, organization, gotta-get-it-done application that sits in your menu bar. You can then drag things like text, URLs, images... possibly anything to the menu bar app and it'll save it for later. When you get some free time, you can go back through and see what you have. There's an iPhone companion app as well.
• WriteRoom -- A simple writing application that removes all of the typical distractions from your writing sessions. It makes the text window full screen, completely cutting off the rest of the world from your mind -- if you so choose. It still has simple tools like word count, background/text color adjustments... but definitely keeps you focused. We've covered it quite a bit.
• Twitterrific -- One of my favorite apps on my iPhone as of late. The desktop version is similarly simple. Set up your Twitter account and tweet away with the easiest solution imaginable.
• TinyGrab -- Is a screen capture maniac's dream. It allows you to use the standard command-shift-4 and select part of your screen or hit spacebar to capture a specific window. The kicker: it uploads it directly to your own FTP server and puts the URL in your clipboard so you can paste it in Facebook, Twitter, email, IM... whatever your pleasure.
• Hordes of Orcs -- I'll admit, this is the real reason I'm downloading the bundle. I've heard nothing but great reviews about this game even from our own Mike Schramm. It's one of the most innovative desktop tower defense games I've seen. Everything is in 3D, there are 6 different game variations and let's not forget tower defense.
• Mariner Write -- This is a word processor with features you need but none of the "bloat" found in other applications *cough* Microsoft *cough.* Of course, it will open and save Word documents, as well as other formats.

While I was writing this, the download total went up 5,000 downloads but it'll take 500,000 for all of us to get the full benefit. MacHeist says that Mariner Write is the unlockable application, so I'm hoping to get a serial and really try it out. Head over to Macheist, and download your nanoBundle. For the first time, I'll be using all of the apps in it -- and it's free!

Boy Genius Report is claiming that two separate sources have told them that AT&T is looking to sell an 8GB iPhone 3GS for $99 US before Christmas. While this news wouldn't come as a shock, it would certainly take more than AT&T to make it happen. As most of you know, Apple doesn't make an 8GB iPhone 3GS and it would probably mean the discontinuation of the iPhone 3G in general.

If you think back to the time of the first generation iPhone (it was so long ago now), you'll probably remember that Apple quickly discontinued the 4GB iPhone after realizing that most people were opting for the larger capacity. Not too long after that, Apple introduced the 16GB version and discounted the price of the 8GB. Now that the iPhones themselves are subsidized by the wireless carrier, the game is a little different.

I doubt that we'll see AT&T discount the 16GB iPhone 3GS to $99 US, even though it would be a huge strategic move before the holiday season, but I have a hard time believing that Apple would be willing to manufacture an 8GB iPhone 3GS. It's one thing for them to continue with the 8GB iPhone 3G because they already have the manufacturing in place, but for Apple to start manufacturing another iPhone 3GS at a capacity less than its current models -- that just seems out of place.

I've found it disappointing that the iPhone (a professional device) has had a smaller capacity than that of its sister, the iPod touch. Currently, the iPod touch is shipping at a top capacity of 64GB and the iPhone only 32GB. Here's the point: if AT&T and Apple could work together and release the 16GB iPhone 3GS at $99 then that could potentially allow for the 32GB at $199 and a 64GB model at $299. That would be a killer plan for the two companies just before the holiday season.

While this may be far-fetched, I don't think it's impossible: Apple did release a bump in storage to the 16GB iPhone in early 2008 without any warning. Here's hoping that they do that again.

Just in case you were waiting for the stop-motion app on your hard drive to be compatible before switching to Snow Leopard, you can stop waiting -- even if you're using some other program to do stop motion, iStopMotion is the best and brightest, and with the brand new update to version 2.1, it's completely compatible with the newest version of OS X.

OK, you probably weren't waiting for this upgrade to bring the OS up to date, but hey, Snow Leopard compatibility is a nice selling point with any app. This upgrade also includes the ability to put markers (with their own name, color, and description) in the timeline of your video, as well as a full Japanese localization, to go along with the English, German, and French already in there. It's a free update for all current users, and considering that iStopMotion has made quite a few appearances in various Mac software bundles, odds are you've already got it anyway.

Holiday time is drawing near, with Black Friday just over the horizon. So have you started thinking about what to get your favorite gal? You might want to subscribe to a Monoprice e-mail alert to catch the latest restocks for your beloved's iPhone or iPod touch. Last night, they sold out of their 2200 mAh charge boosters within minutes. I snagged mine just in time.

Because, gentlemen, you need to face it: cables, remotes, and batteries are made of holiday win. Why not consider a miniDisplay cable to give your lady that second Mac mini monitor she's been dreaming about? Those redesigned Apple remotes make the perfect accompaniment to the treadmill, when watching "The View." Or, for that matter, when watching the morning financial news. Whatever floats your boat.

One of my female TUAW colleagues writes, "Last year I got earrings and returned them for a MacBook. My husband also knows that on Black Friday morning, in the dark, I will be at Radio Shack or MicroCenter -- elbows out to fend off other customers -- hissing at the sunlight and hoarding hard drives, enclosures, and spindles of DVDs."

Face it: Chicks love technology. Trust me. I'm a woman.

Results are not typical or representative of all real women's buying habits. Please check with a lawyer before deciding whether purchasing Mac peripherals are right for you. Side effects, including being kicked out of your home and/or marriage, may occur. Peripherals are not a substitute for fine jewelry. Do not attempt to offer technology when the spouse is pregnant or nursing. Consult a physician should a piece of technology make an accelerated impact with your head. In case of technology overdose, seek professional assistance, or contact a family counselor immediately.

In a limited run of 30,000 units, Apple Corps Ltd. will be releasing the Beatles' remastered catalog for your consumption in a green apple USB device. Unfortunately, I didn't say anything about iTunes in that sentence... It looks like the Apples still can't play nice together, so we're left to dream that one day the Beatles collection will make it to the big download cloud in the sky.

Our sister site, Engadget, reports that these drives are available for pre-order now but will not ship until December 7th in the UK and December 8th in the US for $279.99. The 16GB USB drive will include the Beatles' 14 stereo tracks in FLAC (for the audiophiles in the audience) as well as the rest of their collection in 320 Kbps MP3s. The drive will also include 13 documentaries about the studio albums, expanded liner notes, re-touched album art, and several rare photos.

What does all of this mean? The Beatles' record company basically created a massive iTunes LP without iTunes. According to The Beatles' website, there's a special Flash interface for consumer interaction with the extra content. Some would say that this is just another stepping stone in the road to online distribution... while that may be true, I'm getting tired of all the back-and-forth. I own a good majority of the Beatles albums on CD and have already ripped them into iTunes. I expect that most anyone who really wants these in their iTunes library has already gone through the motions to accomplish that. I could pay the $280 for a USB drive, or buy all of the CDs from Amazon.com for half that price and spend several hours putting them on my computer. Sure, sure, I'm not getting the officially remastered files from the Beatles themselves... but I'm willing to make that sacrifice. Even still, this may be the perfect Holiday gift for the Beatles fanatic in your household. (Honey, I don't want one.)

When we first heard about the Kanex HDMI + digital audio converter a few weeks ago, I was eager to give it a trial run and see if it managed to deliver on the promise of integrated audio with HDMI video. I've been playing with the $70 unit for a few days now, and the answer is a qualified yes: it does the job, but depending on your home theater setup you may be able to get by with a less expensive option.

The digital-audio Kanex unit ships without a manual and is largely self-explanatory (although the company has now posted a basic user guide and FAQ) -- a female HDMI port on one side of the roughly iPod-sized unit, and three male cables coming out the other side. The cables connect to the mini DisplayPort, optical audio out, and USB port of your Mac; while Kanex does sell a $60 unit that handles audio over USB, this version only uses that connection to power the adapter and does not provide a USB audio interface. If you're running short of open powered USB ports you might opt to plug it into a USB power adapter instead.

In operation, there's not much to worry about: I plugged in all three ports to a unibody MacBook Pro and connected an HDMI display, then went to the normal Mac OS X Displays preference pane, where I found a full assortment of resolutions for my enjoyment. The top few 'television' options may vary with your connected gear; on my test set (a Vizio 42" 720p display) I was able to choose 720p and, oddly enough, 1080i and 1080p. Below that you have resolutions ranging from 640x480 up into the 1600x1000 range.

I've become very accustomed to remote-controlling my computers for a while, but nothing ever seemed to get it right. Apple's Remote for iTunes is great, of course, but what about all my other stuff on my Mac, like Boxee or VLC? Yeah, you can get some specific remotes for those apps (frankly the VLC remotes I've used were terrible and would just quit working sometimes). But what you really want is a master remote that'll take all those tasks over for you. Enter Hippo Remote [iTunes Link], a wonderful, simple, brilliant little remote app for your iPhone or iPod touch and Mac -- or PC.

Hippo Remote starts off as a trackpad, and supports gestures, multi-touch (like scrolling and zooming) and even replicates circular scrolling. There's a keyboard with F-keys, a history and navigation keys. There are app profiles for Powerpoint, Boxee, VLC, even Gmail and Windows Media Center. There's also a login manager for stuff like Gmail or Twitter, so it's very, very fast at getting you to where you need to be all via iPhone screen.

Hippo Remote's response is like butter. Scrolling, swiping, tracking are all wonderful, even on my congested network. I can even use wake-on-LAN or wake-on-wireless to zap those computers alive from anywhere in my house.

All this and the only setup was to add a password for VNC connections in my System Preferences on my Mac. There is a HippoVNC application which enables a few other features, but I don't use it. Instead, I have a saved profile for the Mac I have hooked to my HDTV, and with one tap I'm controlling that Mac via iPhone. It just doesn't get any easier.

Now you can win a copy of Hippo Remote for your own iPhone or iPod touch. Just leave a comment on this post and you're entered. Promo codes are only available for the US, sorry.

• Open to legal US residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia who are 18 and older.
• To enter leave a comment on this post.
• The comment must be left before Saturday, November 7, 2009, 11:59PM Eastern Time.
• You may enter only once.
• Five winners will be selected in a random drawing.
• Prize: One promo code for Hippo Remote (Value: US$4.99)
• Click Here for complete Official Rules.

I have to admit, when I park in a big lot, I often forget where old Betsy is. There have been more than a few iPhone apps to help you find your car, but Car Finder [iTunes link] uses augmented reality to get you pointed in the right direction.

Here's how it works: you get out of your car and mark your position, making sure you have a good GPS fix. If you don't have one, you'll be told that and see the accuracy of your fix in plus or minus meters.

You can give your location a name, and if your parking space is numbered, you can add that in. I guess that is helpful if you are parking where there is no GPS signal, but then this app won't be of much help.

You're then free to go your merry way, until it's time to find your car again. When you bring up the app, your iPhone camera is activated, and a red arrow points to your car. Swing the camera around until an icon for your car appears and start walking. You'll get a constant read-out of your distance.

In my tests, just after sunset, the app worked very well, although when I got right next to the car the arrow was pointing elsewhere. That's not surprising given the imperfect accuracy of GPS, but by the time I got the error I could see the car less than 25 feet away.

Car Finder is U.S. $0.99, so it's not over priced, and pretty much in line with other similar apps in terms of cost. The augmented reality is a nice touch, as it floats your car icon over the real world. You do get a legal warning from the app about using due caution, I guess so you won't step into a manhole or off a cliff while following the camera scene. What a litigious society we live in!

So, Car Finder works, isn't over priced, uses augmented reality which has a high 'buzz word quotient,' and should impress your non-iPhone using friends, if you have any.

You'll need an iPhone 3GS to make this work, because the compass and GPS do the heavy lifting.

In preparation for the holiday rush, Apple has stepped up iPhone production, according to ITProPortal. Specifically, Apple has supposedly increased orders to both Primax Electronics and Foxconn Electronics (both companies manufacture iPhone components) from 17% to 20%.

In a recent quarterly earnings call, Apple COO Tim Cook noted that iPhone 3GS supplies were short in September, but noted that supply lines have been restored and he expects Apple to meet the demand of this year's shopping season.

In other words, If you're hoping to receive an iPhone this year, know that Apple has done its part. Now it's up to you to badger your gift-giving loved ones.

[Via Macsimum News]

Gift image: stock.xchng

'Tis the season to be buying. But what do you get for that special geek in your life?

I can't speak for your geek, but I know what I'm asking Santa for this year – I just hope he's a TUAW reader. Whether he is or not, maybe going through my list will give you an idea on how to max out your credit card spread some holiday cheer this year.


Dear Santa,

I've been a good boy this year. I've cut back on the booze, and they don't greet me by name at the strip club anymore. So instead of a stocking full of coal, could you find it in your heart to bring me one or more of the following items on the night before Christmas? I know it's a long flight to New Zealand from the North Pole, but you've got to admit, at least the weather down here is waaaay better than in Cleveland this time of year.

First of all, I'd like a shiny new 802.11n Airport Express. I like my Time Capsule (when it's not being a recalcitrant piece of junk), but the 5GHz wireless signal doesn't reach from my living room all the way back to my office. With an Airport Express, I'd be able to extend the wireless signal from my Time Capsule to the other side of the house and geek away in privacy. That way my wife won't have to grit her teeth every five minutes when the theme from Metroid goes off at 80 decibels and tells me I got a new e-mail. And since the Airport Express is 802.11n-enabled, I'd still be able to back up my data to the Time Capsule at a brisk pace.

I'd also like these Shure SE115m+ earphones. I've been using a set of Shure E2cs for about three years now, and I love them, but the one big advantage the SE115m+ has is the controls built into the cord that would allow me to pause, play, and skip through tracks on my iPhone. I'd also be able to take calls, and it even has a built-in microphone. Santa, if I had these earphones I'd be able to put those white earbuds that came with my iPhone into a drawer and never look at them again, and that would make me a very happy boy indeed.

You know how I like to shoot HD video, right Santa? But not those kinds of videos, because that would get me on the naughty list. My MacBook Pro does a good job of encoding video – it works pretty close to real-time – but if I had an Elgato Turbo.264 HD Video Encoder, it would go so much faster. Like 3-4 times faster. That way I could spend less time waiting for videos to encode and more time drinking helping old ladies across the street.

If I'd been a really good boy this year, like if I'd won the Nobel Peace Prize or employee of the month at TUAW, I'd ask for a bona fide guitar amplifier. But since I haven't been that good, I'd settle for a Zoom G2.1U Guitar Effects Pedal with USB interface. This thing will simulate all kinds of guitar effects for me, and it'll plug right into my MacBook Pro. So far playing my guitar through Garageband has been an acceptable substitute for a real, live amplifier, but the one thing I definitely miss is all my effects pedals. Garageband includes lots of neat software effects that simulate pedals, but you can't stomp on them to switch them on and off. I know – I've tried.

Last thing, Santa: if none of those other things will fit in your bag, could you just get me a big, fat iTunes gift card? I've got nearly US$120 worth of songs I want to upgrade to iTunes Plus so I can stop worrying about DRM nonsense on my previous purchases and get higher-quality music in the process.

Thanks Santa. Next year I promise to be more helpful and honest and say fewer naughty words about New Zealand's telecommunications companies.

It's now safe to shop for Apple products without fear of getting burned by a last-minute release, at least for the next few months. Apple's senior VP of Worldwide Product Marketing, Phil Schiller, told Gizmodo today that "... the holiday lineup is set." Apple typically does this in late autumn to simply let customers know that it's safe to start spending money.

Gizmodo notes that they originally stated, "No more Apple products this year," but they subsequently received a call from Apple asking (by "asking" we mean "telling" ) them to use the language, "The holiday lineup is set." Conspiracy theorists will say that means there could be new stuff still in the pipe, but we think it's just meant to get people in a shopping mood.

[Via The Loop]