New Apple retail employee holiday perk: popular paid apps from the App Store for free

This week, Apple will rollout an interesting new perk called “App Discovery” to its retail store employees. According to several sources who participated in quarterly meetings, in which the details were announced, Apple retail employees will have free access to a catalogue of popular paid App Store applications. It is possible that this is a holiday perk for employees that will not remain in place forever. 

For instance, if an Apple retail employee, starting this week, wants to download Fruit Ninja for their own iPhone, they will be able to use an Apple provided redemption code to get the application at no cost. Because Apple has agreements in place with developers who have apps featured on Apple Store iOS device demo units, we assume that same catalogue of apps is the catalogue that will be available to retail employees. With that, we speculate that Apple will use this program to allow Apple Store employees to become more familiar with the apps that they demo to customers in stores.

The program is currently iOS-exclusive, so there is no complementing catalogue for Mac App Store programs. Apple has had a version of this retail perk in place for a couple of years, but it has been exclusive to Apple’s own paid iOS App Store apps like the iLife and iWork software suites.

[Source: 9to5Mac]

Formula 1's on-board cameras may switch to HD next season

As we enjoy our first F1 action in the US since 2007 we're glad that it's in HD this time, however it still falling short in one area -- in-car camera shots. Although the racing series belatedly made the jump to high definition broadcasts last year, protests from the teams over weight and space issues caused it to stick with standard-definition cameras for the on-board shots. Now that a couple of years have passed and presumably the technology has improved, that may be addressed next year, at the same time US broadcasts of the series move from Speed/Fox to NBC Sports. Formula One Supporters Associationcaught up to F1 journalist Christian Sylt who got a peek at future plans that include the possibility of HD in-car cameras, multi-channel formats offering different views of the track and an interactive 3D replay feature. We'll have to wait and see how much -- if any -- of that is actually implemented any time soon, but if you'd like to check out the technology in use today, Speed TV has a live stream from several of the cars currently racing around the Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas.

[Source: Engadget]

Project Inverted turns a gaming PC inside-out with hand-made casing

While we've seen some exotic PC mods in our time, most of those still dutifully stuff all the computer parts into a box, hiding them from the outside world. Martijn Laman isn't one for that kind of traditionalism. His recently completed Project Inverted, just highlighted by ASUS, puts most of the hardware on the outside: the Sabertooth Z77 motherboard, Core i5 processor, fan cooling, memory, Radeon HD 6870 video card and watercooling pipes all sit in plain sight. Everything is joined by a unique, hand-cut case whose backbone and elevated base hide the custom wiring, the watercooling pump, two solid-state drives and controllers for both fans and lighting. And did we mention the 7-inch touchscreen? The result is a truly special gaming rig that's relatively quiet and pristine despite baring its heart and soul for all to see. Building a replica won't be quick, nor will it be cheap at about €1,500 ($1,909), but Laman's detailed assembly process could well be the inspiration for a few more extroverted PCs.

[Source: Engadget]

Motorola's RAZR i MT788 announced with 2GHz Intel chip, heading to China Mobile next month

Motorola created quite some buzz with its first "Intel inside" Android phone, the RAZR i, back in September, so it's only natural to see the company tapping into the Chinese market with a localized variant. Dubbed the RAZR i MT788, this China Mobile device bears much similarity to its Western sibling on paper: 2GHz Intel Atom Z2480, 4.3-inch 960 x 540 AMOLED display (with Gorilla Glass), eight-megapixel camera, microSD expansion (up to 32GB) and Android Ice Cream Sandwich.

The difference? Well, the chassis is the most obvious one: instead of using the same design as the original RAZR i, the new MT788 looks identical to the MSM8625-powered dual-SIM XT788 on China Telecom. On top of that, the battery is rated at just 1,735mAh instead of the RAZR i's 2,000mAh, and there's just 4GB of built-in memory instead 16GB; but the front-facing camera's bumped up from 0.3 megapixels to 1.3. There's no price just yet, but interested buyers can pick one up in China starting in mid-December. Will the world's largest carrier help Intel take a significant bite out of the mobile phone market? Only time will tell.

[Source: Engadget]

Windows 8 PC sales reportedly 'well below Microsoft's internal projections'

It's been three weeks since Windows 8 was released to the masses, but it's still not clear how the new — and polarizing — operating system has been accepted by consumers and businesses alike. However, Microsoft insider Paul Thurrott has now offered just a bit of information on how the Redmond-based company is viewing the OS' first few weeks on market. Citing one of his "most trusted sources at Microsoft," Thurrott reports that sales of Windows 8 PC's are disappointing and "well below Microsoft’s internal projections." The source says that, internally, the blame is being placed on manufacturers' "inability to deliver."

No matter the trustworthiness of Thurrott's source, the report does leave something to be desired when it comes to hard stats. The only number we've received from Microsoft to-date is that it sold four million Windows 8 upgrades in just a few days. It's difficult to know for sure why sales of new PCs are disappointing, but it does mean that consumers and businesses are likely comfortable keeping on with their Windows 7 or earlier hardware — not a wholly unexpected result. Still, we're sure rumors will be flying considering the timing of former Windows head Steven Sinofsky's departure earlier this week.

[Source: The Verge]

Facebook rolls out Gifts to millions of new users, but data shows they aren't buying… yet

At a party last night at FAO Schwarz in New York, Facebook made one thing clear: it's all in on Gifts, a new feature that lets you buy friends chocolates, gift cards, and other stuff right from their Timeline on mobile or desktop. What makes sending Gifts nicer than simply dropping someone an Amazon package is that your friend instantly gets a push notification on their phone when you send one. He or she also gets to choose the size, flavor, or color of the gift if you allow them to. Also, if you don't have somebody's address, the recipient has the option to type it in, which is convenient.

Facebook last night unveiled several new partners for Gifts — which is essentially a catalog of items hand-picked by retailers like Warby Parker, Starbucks, GUND, and as of last night, Dean & DeLuca, Rdio, Lindt Chocolates, Brookstone, Fab, Hulu Plus, and others. Gifts launched in beta late September to a select group of people (like most new Facebook features), and last night rolled out to "tens of millions more," Gifts boss Lee Linden said.

[Source: The Verge]

Fake apps from ‘Apple Inc’ end up on Google Play market for Android

A glass of ice water in hell or just some more fake/malware? Judging by the ratings and screenshots, we’d say the latter. via Reddit. Google has now pulled the apps.

[Source: 9to5Mac]

Android 4.2 bug omits December from the People app, makes end-of-year birthdays even less bearable

The launch of Android 4.2 brought a welcome smattering of extra features to the mobile world, but a recently discovered bug omits something slightly important: namely, the month of December. Dive into the People app on any device using the new OS, and the last 31 days of the year will be unavailable for contacts' anniversaries and similar special occasions. Google is aware of the flaw, although it hasn't yet said when it will have a fix in place. We've reached out to get a more definitive timetable for a solution beyond just what's implied by the Gregorian calendar. In the meantime, don't lean too heavily on that smartphone to remember an imminent birthday; people born in December are stiffed out of enough presents as it is.

[Source: Engadget]

Google Play Store update on Android brings post-install suggestions, translations

Google likes to stealthily roll out Google Play Store updates for Android users on a frequent basis, whether it's to add new sections or to encourage a little more impulse shopping. We'd put a brand new revision in that last camp. The 3.10.9 tweak no longer just leaves us lingering at an app's page during an installation: start the process and the store offers suggestions based on fellow adopters' habits as well as a shortcut back to the main portal. Language mismatches in the store could also be a thing of the past with an option to translate descriptions into the device owner's native tongue. Along with a quicker way to add Google+ friends and get better app recommendations, Google's refresh is clearly built to remove those last points of hesitation before trying something new; if the app drawer is looking a little bare, hit the source link (or wait for an automatic update) to fill up.

[Source: Engadget]

Apple pulling the plug on Messages beta for OS X Lion on December 14th

Apple is notifying OS X Lion users that the platform's preview of Messages will end on December 14th. Originally available as a free beta download for Lion 10.7, Messages went on to become an official feature of Mountain Lion 10.8. Obtained by Cult of Mac, the email from Apple advises that in order to continue using Messages, you'll need to upgrade to Mountain Lion. While it's saddening to have pay for an app that you're accustomed to having for free, keep in mind that this was only a preview. Besides, the upgrade to Mountain Lion is $20 and if you can afford any of Apple's products, we're pretty sure that this expense won't be too much of a stretch. Be sure to take a look at the email in question after the break, because it could be lurking somewhere in your junk mail folder.

[Source: Engadget]

Wii U gets midnight launch at Nintendo World Store on November 18th

Care to be one of the first to buy a Wii U this weekend? Then start layering on the outerwear, swallowing that pride and making your way to Nintendo's flagship Rockefeller Plaza store in New York City. Starting at midnight this Saturday, the company will begin selling its next-gen console along with other "premium items" to the extreme fanpersons in attendance. And as a special treat for whomever's waiting at the front of the line, NOA's prez, Reggie Fils-Aime, will be there to hand over that very first console - effectively doubling your bragging rights. So, if you like your launch day cold and a little bit crazy (yes, there will be folks walking around with Mii heads), November 18th's one to mark down in the calendar.

[Source: Engadget]

Microsoft announces SkyDrive SDKs for .NET and Windows Phone 8, highlights web integration

After the introduction of new APIs last year, Microsoft has released SkyDrive SDKs for almost every major platform including Windows 8, JavaScript Web library, Android and iOS. Now the cloud service has opened its doors to more of Microsoft's own with new SDKs for .NET and of course, Windows Phone 8. To entice even more developers to its side, the team at SkyDrive also integrated with services like IFTTT (If This Then That), which lets you customize action triggers between different web services, DocuSign, an electronic signature site and SoundGecko, a text-to-audio transcription service. It'll likely take a lot of work for SkyDrive to win over fans of Dropbox and Box.net, but opening up its doors to developers is a step in the right direction.

[Source: Engadget]