After four weeks of well-placed headers and acrobatic kicks and whatever was going on with Ronaldo’s hair, the World Cup finally draws to a close today. But while you’re holding your breath during the Germany-Argentina nail-biter, take a moment to appreciate the most astonishing feat that happens during these 90 minutes: How far these guys are running.
T-Mobile is offering a $100 rebate, in the form of a MasterCard pre-paid card, if customers purchase an iPhone and iPad from the wireless carrier on the same day and include a mobile Internet plan with a minimum of 1GB of data.
Here are the exact terms of the deal:
To qualify, you must have both devices on an active account in good standing. Qualifying postpaid plans required; a Mobile Internet plan with a minimum of 1GB of data is required on the iPad. Devices must be purchased on the same day and receipts uploaded to http://www.t-mobile.com/promotions using promo code AppleBundle3Q4 within 30 days of purchase. Rebate cards may not be combined or used with any other rebate card offer, free, or other promotional offers. Reward cards will be mailed to your current T-Mobile billing address. Valid reward card requests take six to eight weeks from receipt to process.
The iPhone-iPad bundle deal won’t last forever; T-Mobile will end this promotion on September 2. What do you think about this latest attempt to offer a stealth price cut on two of Apple’s iOS products?
Every week Apple adds tons of new media content on iTunes — music, books, movies and more. It’s impossible to keep up with all of it, but it’s not impossible to pick out the very best. Here they are! This week we’ve got amazing music from heavy metal royalty, a collection of infections electronic dance grooves, Martin Scorcese’s latest blockbuster and so much more!
Redeemer of Souls (Deluxe Version) – Judas Priest
Judas Priest is, was, and always will be one of the best heavy metal bands ever to exist. And Redeemer of Souls shows that more than 40 years later, the band is still capable of turning out great material. Honestly, it was a question mark about how the band would continue after K.K. Downing retired in 2011, but Richie Faulkner has stepped up to the plate in a huge way, and he and Glenn Tipton play off each other’s solos spectacularly. Ian Hill and Scott Travis serve up thunderous bass and drums respectively. Standouts from the album include Sword of Damocles, March of the Damned, and Halls of Valhalla, which I’ll put up against any of Priest’s earlier works as a guaranteed classic.
Russ Davies comes from rock and roll royalty: His dad is Dave Davies, the lead guitarist and co-founder of The Kinks. He’s an electronic musician, producer and songwriter who works under two principle aliases: Abakus and Cinnamon Chasers. Growing up in London, Russ enjoyed the burgeoning underground electronic music scene, and he’s been making it himself since the late 90s. As Cinnamon Chasers, Davies says he’s trying to evoke the same emotion he felt watching movies like The Neverending Story as a child. It’s uplifting, danceable music with a pop music structure and infectious hooks, influenced by electronic music giants like Giorgio Moroder, Jean Michel Jarre and The KLF.
This week’s 99 cent rental as iTunes’ Movie of the Week, The Wolf of Wall Street teams up Leonard DiCaprio with Martin Scorcese to tell the story of Jordan Belfort, a real-life Manhattan stockbroker who founded Stratton Oakmont — a “boiler room” brokerage firm that focused on duping investors by selling them penny stocks. Scorcese turns his director’s eye on an uncompromising view of Wall Street at its absolute worst: drugs, money, sex and unbridled greed.
If you missed NBC’s Hannibal series when it debuted last year, summer is a great time to catch up. This series is based on Thomas Harris’ charismatic and horrifying doctor/serial killer Hannibal Lecter, with Mads Mikkelsen in the title role. FBI criminal profiler Will Graham is on the hunt for a killer of young girls. The case causes enormous strain on Graham, so his boss elicits the help — and supervision — of psychiatrist Hannibal Lecter. Great direction, scriptwriting and acting make this one of the standouts of last season.
Owen – known to his family as “Little B” – has a rare genetic condition that leaves him largely confined to a wheelchair. Owen found it difficult to make friends, and was very shy and withdrawn. Haatchi was an Anatolian Shepherd puppy, abused and cruelly discarded on railroad tracks, then hit by a train, massively crippling him. When Little B’s parents found Haatchi, they introduced him to Little B. A heartwarming, uplifting and absolutely true story about the bond between a boy and his dog.
This iPhone 5C case is tough. Not just in a protection standpoint, either. We’re talking looks, too. It has reinforced corners with a custom shock dissipation system that absorbs nasty impacts. While the screen is left unprotected, the case’s edges elevate your display so it doesn’t rub against surfaces while faced down.
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, better known as ISIS (or rather ISIL) is currently in the process of tearing Iraq apart from the inside. This is not the sort of brand recognition that Verizon’s fledgling e-wallet service, Isis, is looking for. But why not just think of Sterling Archer’s employer instead?
I would love to use this Jaguar augmented reality windscreen. It’s like turning your entire driving experience into a video game (I don’t know if that is a good idea or not but it sure looks like fun.)
Remember when the EU’s Data Retention Directive, a requirement for all telecoms companies to record everyone’s web and phone activity, was declared illegal by the European Court of Justice? As expected, UK Prime Minister David Cameron has announced…
Why were so many people shot in Chicago last weekend? Does today’s earthquake in Japan mean another Fukushima meltdown? And why does Winnipeg want to fine people $100 for singing in public? These are the questions we address in this week’s edition of What’s Ruining Our Cities.
Say what you want about Apple’s ambitious Your Verse campaign for the iPad Air, but one thing you won’t see in it is any device from any competitor. Like all of Apple’s ads of late, it focuses exclusively on showing us what we can do with the technology in our hands, from the tops of mountains to the bottom of the sea. Samsung, on the other hand… well… where to begin?
I realize rewarding negative attention seeking just reaffirms that kind of marketing model, but I also realize media needs to not just be consumed but digested.
In the first ad, Samsung wants us to believe a baby will stop crying if only it can get a tiny thumbnail of a cartoon, with audio mixed and mashed up against sports commentary, and various widgets and keyboards popping up all over the place, on a Galaxy Tab. (Yes, like an animal.)
There’s no way a real dad, in the real world, wouldn’t just let his crying baby enjoy his entertainment full screen, full sound on the iPad while he catches up on his sports on the iPhone that’s no doubt in his pocket.
Now, I’m not going to argue that multi-windowing isn’t convenient in some use cases — Apple’s rumored to be working on it for a future version of iOS — but torturing a baby certainly isn’t one of them. (Also, according to the fine print, Samsung is only providing multi-windowing on “select apps”, not system wide — the price of not controlling their own software stack.)
The second ad, the one on AMOLED vs. LCD/LED, is even more interesting. Time was AMOLED had tons of compromises, including goofy pentile subpixels on large displays, overblown saturation, and decreased lifespan of blue elements. The technology has come a long way since then. However, Apple obviously doesn’t think it’s come far enough to be deployed at iPad scale yet. Instead, they’re sticking with in-plane switching LCD with LED backlight, a whopping 62% of which were reportedly manufactured by… wait for it…
Samsung.
Yeah. Awkward. But that pretty much sums up several of Samsung’s recent anti-Apple ads. Instead of spending half of these commercials showing me an iPad, spend all of them showing me what a Galaxy Tab can do. Just please, pretty please, hire Pacific Helm or the Iconfactory to fix the interface first. Oh, and on getting better voice actors.
Apple has released iOS 7.1.2. This update contains bug fixes and security updates. These include an update to iBeacon connectivity and stability, data transfers for 3rd party accessories, and data protection class issues with Mail attatchments.
Users can download iOS 7.1.2 over the air by going to Settings > General > Software Update and tapping Download and Install. You can also update your device through iTunes. You can find out more about the contents and security of the 7.1.2 update on Apple’s Support website and security page.
If iOS 7.1.2 fixes a particular issue you’ve been having or if you spot anything new, be sure to drop us a line in the comments below!
Remember when the EU’s Data Retention Directive, a requirement for all telecoms companies to record everyone’s web and phone activity, was declared illegal by the European Court of Justice? As expected, UK Prime Minister David Cameron has announced…
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