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Filed under: iTS

¡Tunes! Mexico iTunes store now open for shopping

My how you've grown, iTunes! Mexico now has its own iTunes store, giving our neighbors to the south the ability to download their favorite music, videos and iPhone/iPod touch apps.

It seems like it was just yesterday that Dr. Dre, Mick Jagger and Bono welcomed you into this world via iChat with Steve Jobs at an April 2003 special event. Now a little over 6 and a half years old, you've grown from what originally was United States-only operation to now include 77 countries.

You've morphed from what music executives privately said was "an experiment, which could be expanded if [proven] successful," to a juggernaut in the music market; at the time of its launch, music executives felt that Apple's small market share provided them less risk. And expanded it did: the iTunes "music store" is now the "iTunes store," with over 8 billion songs purchased and 1.5 billion apps downloaded.

Most songs in the iTunes Store in Mexico are priced at 12 pesos (a little over 90 U.S. cents as of August 4, 2009), and most albums at 120 pesos ($9.15 as of August 4, 2009).

To our friends to the south, mi iTunes store es su iTunes store!

(Note: the app store has been available in Mexico since its launch in July 2008)

Filed under: Accessories, Hardware

Worldwide Mac: the dos and don'ts of international electricity

Whether you're moving to another country or just visiting, chances are pretty good you're going to be bringing a lot of electronics with you. Chances are also pretty good that whatever country you're going to is going to have an electrical system with a different voltage or frequency than your home country, and probably differently-shaped outlets, too.

When traveling abroad, this vast array of voltages, frequencies, and plug types can be confusing, and whether you're packing a $200 iPod nano or a $2000 MacBook Pro, it can lead to a great deal of trepidation as well. The traveling geek's worst nightmare goes like this: you plug your very expensive, potentially irreplaceable electronics into some weird Romanian outlet, and suddenly sparks start flying. You try to unplug your precious device as quickly as you can, but the damage is done -- with a whiff of ozone, hundreds or thousands of dollars worth of equipment has just become a glorified brick.

Happily, most modern electronics shouldn't experience this issue, and that includes all recent Macs and iPod/iPhone power adapters. Here are a few dos and don'ts when it comes to international electricity.

Continue readingWorldwide Mac: the dos and don'ts of international electricity

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Odds and ends, Internet, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch

Smule's Zephyr sends snowy messages around the world

As much as I hate to do it, I'm always willing to admit when I'm wrong, and I was wrong about Ocarina. Not about the app itself, per se -- I still think it's one of the silliest, most pointless apps I've seen on the App Store. But it has been nothing but popular since its release, so apparently lots of people out there are into it. That's fine -- I'm willing to accept that there are best-selling apps out there that I think are dumb.

And maybe this will be another one: Smule, the company behind Ocarina, has decided to follow up with a new app called Zephyr (not to be confused with the MacBook cooling system) that seems just as silly to me. You can draw out messages with an airy sound-and-snowflake interface, and then send those messages blowing around the world (represented, in the official video above, by Las Vegas) to random people who, if they like your messages, will pass them on around the Internet. "What's the point?" you might say, and in that opinion, I'd agree with you. There are lots of ways to send messages around the world, and more than a few of them are quite free and will let you be clearer than drawing snow with wind sounds in the background.

But then again, I didn't see a point to Ocarina, and that made plenty of money. Zephyr is available on the App Store right now for 99 cents. And if you do jump in and buy it, make sure to tell us exactly why in the comments below.

Filed under: Cult of Mac, iPhone

iPhones from around the world

Where in the world are Apple's missing 1.3 million iPhones? Iran? Holland? South Africa? Yes! Lots of other places too.

We asked for pics and you answered: iPhones from around the world, from countries where the iPhone isn't even sold with service. Canada makes sense, as a quick trip across the border will land you an iPhone. China also makes sense, as it wouldn't be Hong Kong without a gray market plethora of unlocked iPhones, would it? We got reports from almost every part of the globe, and put together a nice little gallery to show just how popular this gadget is -- service or not. Where there's a hack, there's a way...

Filed under: Gaming, Software, Universal Binary

Call of Duty 2 demo released

At long last, Aspyr has released a demo of the hugely popular sequel to Call of Duty, the aptly named Call of Duty 2. No matter how badly I wanted to run to the Apple store and pick up the retail version, I knew I would feel horribly foolish if I got the game home only to find that it wouldn't run on my PowerBook. I knew I had to wait for the demo. MacGameFiles has the 665MB file as either a direct download, or a deliciously communal bittorrent file (doesn't the sharing just make you want to hug someone!?). If you've been waiting to try the game before you buy it, there is no better time than the present to kick some virtual Axis butt.

[Via The MacObserver]

Filed under: Software, Productivity

Automator Action Packs galore

In my newsreader today I saw an 'iPhoto Action Pack' from Automator World that adds a handy action for workflows involving iPhoto: "Find iPhoto Item Path". While debating whether that was TUAW-worthy, my newsreader became bombarded with more headlines like System Action Pack, TextEdit Action Pack, Preview Action Pack... until I finally decided to post a roundup to cover them all in one fell swoop. So here you go kids, a whole batch of Automator Actions that add some missing abilities to everyone's favorite (or the only?) OS automation utiliity:
These actions, to my knowledge, are provided free from Automated Workflows, LLC.

[UPDATE: Automator World's admin stopped by to let us know that some of these action packs are actually demos of retail versions of these products offered by Automated Workflows, LLC.]

Filed under: Gaming, Retail, Software, Universal Binary

Call of Duty 2 Hits Stores

At long last, the long awaited sequel to one of the greatest first person shooters of all time--and 2003 Game of the Year--is available in stores as an OS X compatible Universal Binary. The series, set in World War II, is known for its extensive use of sound and environmental design to make the player really feel like they're in the middle of a war zone. Sporting an all new game engine, COD II officially requires a G5 or Intel Machine, but I've heard reports of it running respectably on even 12 inch PowerBooks.

I can't wait to get my hands on this game, see you on the battlefield!

Tip of the Day

Holding the Command key (aka the Apple key) and pressing Tab will cycle through your open applications. It's easier to Cmd-Tab if you are Copy (Cmd-C) and Pasting (Cmd-V) to and from various applications.


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