Super Mario Run launches next week on December 15, but you can try it out in Apple’s retail stores now. A demo version is running on iPhones and iPads in the stores starting Thursday morning so you can get a sneak peek before it hits the App Store. Nintendo made the announcement on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, and he got to play a level on the show. Super Mario Run is the first mobile game to feature Mario. It’ll cost US$9.99 and you can sign up on the App Store to be notified when it’s available.
SKEYE Nano 2 First-Person View (FPV) Drone: $99
I love drones—we have a deal on a tiny one for you today, the SKEYE Nano 2 First-Person View Drone. It has adjustable gyro sensitivity and 6-axis flight control system, making it easy to control. You can use a controller or your iPhone (or Android device) to control it. It will also record real-time, first-person view video in HD. It’s $99 through our deal. Check out the details on the deal listing.
Oral History of 'Get a Mac' with Justin Long, John Hodgman, and Creative Team
Campaign US has put together a wonderful oral history of Apple’s “Get a Mac” ad campaign. Listen, it’s delightful. It’s wonderful. Justin Long (Mac) and John Hodgman (PC) talk about their roles, and the creative team from TBWA\Chiat\Day talk about putting it together. Bryan Chaffin explains.
Living with Apple's Touch Bar, the Reverse Toaster Fridge - ACM 388
Bryan Chaffin quizzes Jeff Gamet about living with Apple’s new TouchBar on his MacBook Pro. They also discuss whether or not the so-called Reverse ToasterFridge could be the future of Apple’s hardware. Listener comments have been pouring in, too.
GoPower Plus Battery Space Gray Has Built-in Charging Cable
The Kanex GoPower Plus Batter Space portable battery. What I like about it is that it has a built-in charging cable. The main cable is a microUSB cable for Android users. But it comes with a Lightning adapter that slips over that microUSB plug, and both just tuck away in the body of the battery. It comes in Space Gray or Gold and has a capacity of 8,000mAh. It’s $59.95.
Nomad Leather MFi-Certified Charging Wallet: $49.95
Check out the Nomad Leather MFi-Certifified Charging Wallet. It’s a wallet. A billfold, if you will. But in addition to holding credit cards and money, it has a built-in 2,400mAh battery in it for recharging your iPhone. It even has an integrated Lightning cable. Check the deal listing for more info and more pictures.
Setapp Brings Netflix-style Downloads to Mac Apps
Paying a monthly subscription to watch as many TV shows and movies as you want is a pretty good business model for Netflix, and MacPaw thinks it’ll work for software, too. The company’s trying that out with its new Setapp service where subscribers pay a monthly fee to get access to a growing list of apps from several developers.
MacBook Pro USB-C Donglegate - TMO Daily Observations 2016-12-07
People seem pretty uptight about Apple’s transition to dongle adapters for peripherals on our Macs, so Kelly Guimont and John Martellaro join Jeff Gamet to share their thoughts on whether or not it’s a big deal. Spoiler: They can’t agree.
Apple Music tops 20 Million Users
Apple Music just topped 20 million subscribers, only three months after hitting the 17 million mark. That’s a 15% increase, but Apple wants to see even more growth.
For Geeks Only: Hey Alexa, Tell Sonos to Play Stevie Wonder in the Kitchen
Sonos and Amazon jointly announced their Alexa integration earlier this year and the world rejoiced. Voice control of your Sonos system is one of those holy grails. The integration is expected to be available at some point in 2017. But I’m an impatient geek so, while I’m waiting for official support to be available, I spent an hour yesterday getting this working using freely-available open-source tools. You can do this, too, and I’ll walk you through what you’re doing and how to get started.