Apple AirPods: a Strategy of Ambience and Scarcity

UBS financial analyst Steve Milunovich has presented an interesting theory about Apple’s Ambient strategy: “…different input/output methods that can be flexibly utilized depending on the situation (sitting, walking, running, driving). Collectively these devices offer the capability of earlier products … delivered as a seamless user experience.” In addition, the notion of created and evolving scarcity punctuates the Apple strategy. Apple AirPods: a Strategy of Ambience and Scarcity explains it.

Keyboard Maestro: $19.99

Keyboard Maestro is one of our own Dr. Mac’s favorite Mac utilities, and we have a deal on it for you. With Keyboard Maestro, you can create macros and trigger them with keyboard shortcuts to help automate regular activities. You can get it through our deal for $19.99.

Roxio Toast 15 Titanium: $49

Toast 15 Titanium is a powerhouse for creating CDs and DVDs, including the ability to copy CDs, DVDs, and Blu-ray Discs. You can convert web-based videos for watching on your devices, share to the usual social networking suspects, and capture video directly from your screen, portable devices, or the web. We have a deal on Toast 15 Titanium for $49, half off retail.

1Voice Bluetooth 100% Wirefree Earbuds: $52.99

Check out the 1Voice Bluetooth 100% Wirefree Earbuds. They include a speaker, Bluetooth chip, battery, and microphone in each earbud, and they work both independently or when paired. Batteries last for up to four hours of play time between charges. You can get them for $52.99 through our deal.

ibVPN Standard 3-Year Subscription: $39

We have a deal for you today on a three-year subscription to ibVPN, With this subscription, you get access to 90 servers in 41 countries, and you can browse with unlimited bandwidth, data transfer, and speed. It’s $39 through our deal.

The New Apple Echo Chamber Arriving Soon

Mark Gurman at Bloomberg is reporting that Apple is working on a smart home device, similar to the Amazon Echo, using the Siri voice assistant. Apple doesn’t have a vast product inventory to leverage from like Amazon, and other kinds of assistance depend on considerable, often creepy, personal information. So home automation seems to be Apple’s angle. Will that approach work? Page 2 of Friday’s Particle Debris explores.

10' Lightning-to-USB Cable: 3-Pack: $22

We have a deal on three 10-foot Lightning-USB cables for just $22. If you’re the type who likes to have lots of Lightning cables lying around because you go through them too fast, this is the deal for you. They are MFi-certified and available now.

Get 8 Mac Utilities for Free

Our friends at Stack Commerce have put together a collection of eight Mac utilities, including: CommandQ, Export for iTunes, UnDistracted, SuperTab SE 1.4, Screenie, Total Video Player for Mac, iFotosoft Photo Viewer, and SQLPro for Postgres. And they’re all free. The details are on the deal listing, but grab them while they’re hot.

Smartphone Photo and Video Certification Bundle: $29

We have a training bundle for you today designed to teach you how to use mobile devices to take better photographs, and modern video gear (including your mobile device) to make better videos. Both courses last one month, with 8 lessons and 12 hours of content each. You can get this package through our deal for $29.

iOS 10 and Swift 3 Starter Bundle: $45

We have a tutorial bundle for developers today, called the iOS 10 and Swift 3 Starter Bundle. It includes five video tutorials designed to teach you Apple’s Swift 3 programming language and iOS 10 development. That’s more than 82 hours of video content and hundreds of lectures, and you can get it through our deal for $45.

Pay What You Want for The Award-Winning Mac Bundle

We have a new Pay What You Want deal called The Award-Winning Mac Bundle. It’s 13 Mac apps, including Drive Genius 4, The Hit List, DeltaWalker 2 Pro, Nisus Writer Pro, Aurora HDR, WinZip 5 Mac, VPN Forever: 3-Yr Subscription, Project Planning Pro, Letter Opener for macOS Mail, Duplicate Photos Fixer Pro, Screen Grabber Pro, eXtra Voice Recorder, and PhotoStitcher. That’s a quality list of apps (and services). Pay anything, even a penny, and you get three of them. Beat the average price—$11.12 and rising as of this writing—and get all 13. Beat the leader’s price, and you’ll earn an entry in an iPhone 7 giveaway. You can read all the details on the deal listing.

Apple's iPhone 7 Invitation Refused by Bloggers

Apple engages in relentless technical progress. But when the iPhone 7 design was leaked, many bloggers blinked, then seized the opportunity for rabble-rousing. It’s turning into a rinse-repeat cycle by the pundit sheep. Particle Debris page 2 takes a look at analysis by Jean-Louis Gassée who properly sizes up Apple’s invitation: “We’re going wireless, please join us.

AceVPN 3-Year Subscription: $45

Check out this deal on a three year subscription to AceVPN. It features 20 gateways in the U.S., UK, and France. The service doesn’t meter your bandwidth and doesn’t retain logs. You can find more details in the deal listing.

Uiee Portable Battery and Wall Charger: $21.99

Check out this handy little gadget called the Uiee Portable Battery and Wall Charger. It has a retractable Lightning cable and two foldable plugs on the back so you can plug it directly into the wall and use it as a charger. But it also has an internal 1050mAh battery, which means you can take it with you as a portable charger, too. You can get this device for $21.99 through our deal.

FRANKLIN Bluetooth Headphones: $39.99

We have a deal for you today on a pair of FRANKLIN Bluetooth headphones. They last between 8-10 hours on a charge, report their current charge to your iPhone, and it has a built-in microphone and basic control buttons. You can get these headphones through our deal for $39.99

Passwork 5-Year Subscription: $27

We have a deal for you today on a 5-year subscription to Passwork, a cloud-based password manager service. Passwork uses AES-256 encryption, and is designed with group and corporate management in mind. You can get this 5-year subscription for $27 through our deal.

The Complete Guide to a Clean Install of macOS Sierra

Apple’s macOS Sierra launches on September 20th. Last year. John wrote a detailed article on how to do a clean install of OS X El Capitan. That is, if one were highly motivated to do an awful lot of work. The article applies equally to a clean install of macOS Sierra this year. If John couldn’t talk you out of it and a clean install is what you really want to do with Sierra, here’s a link to his 2015 tutorial so you can make a decision.

Mobility is Driving Computational Evolution of Apple Products

The computational demands placed on a mobile device, like an iPhone, are staggering. The iPhone 7 camera system performs 100 billion operations on each photo in 25 milliseconds. Plus, strong, fast encryption, facial recognition and fingerprint recognition, to name a few, are technologies that haven’t been paramount on the desktop or notebook. Could it be that Apple’s extreme focus on mobile computation is causing traditional products to take more of a back seat? John ponders onMobility is Driving Computational Evolution of Apple Products.

Stellar Data Utility Bundle for Mac: $49.99

We have a bundle for you today on four Mac utilities from Stellar: Stellar Phoenix Photo Recovery, Stellar Phoenix JPEG Repair, Stellar Audio Video Converter, and Stellar Speedup. Combined, they retail for $153.97, but they’re $49.99 through our deal. You can find details on each app in the deal listing.

Uiee Portable Battery & Wall Charger for iPhone: $21

If you’re on the hunt for a portable iPhone charger and on-the-go battery pack, why not combine the two? That’s what Uiee did with its MFi certified Lightning Portable Battery & Wall Charger. The all-in-one includes a retractable Lightning cable, fold away outlet prong, and a 1050 mAh battery so you can juice up your iPhone with or without a power outlet nearby. Uiee’s Portable Battery & Wall Charger is regularly priced at US$29.99, but you can get one for $21.99 (that’s 26% off) with today’s TMO Deal.

Mili iData Pro 64GB Lightning & Micro USB Storage Drive: $74

Mili’s iData Pro makes it easy to boost your iPhone or iPad’s storage, and it keeps your data secure, too. It connects to your iOS device’s Lightning port and can hold 64GB worth of movies, music, and photos so you don’t have to pack as much into your built-in memory. The iData Pro also sports Touch ID security to keep your files safe from prying eyes. It’s usually priced at US$99.99, but you can grab one for $74.99 (that’s 24% off) with today’s TMO deal.

FRESHeBUDS Pro Magnetic Bluetooth Earbuds: $39

With the iPhone 7 shipping this Friday without a 3.5mm headphone jack, Bluetooth earbuds suddenly look a lot more compelling. If you’re in the market, check out today’s TMO deal: FRESHeBUDS Pro Magnetic Bluetooth Earbuds. They turn off automatically when you click the built-in magnets together and turn on when you pull them apart, are water and sweat resistant, run for 10 hours on a charge and recharge in 90 minutes, and include a built-in microphone for answering calls on the go. The FRESHeBUDS Pro normally cost US$119.95, but are 66% off right now, so you’ll pay only $39.95.