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Two Dollar Tuesday features indie apps on the Mac App Store
Two Dollar Tuesday is another indie app sale that started up just recently, but while a lot of the sales we've seen are targeted at the iOS App Store, this sale focuses on what's available in the Mac App Store instead.The idea is that every Tuesday, a few Mac App Store titles will drop down to just $2.00 and for this week, WriteRoom, Chronicle, and CodeBox have all gotten the discount. Developer Mike Dattolo is behind the sale, and he says the goal is to highlight some of the best apps on the store with a price drop, both helping them with publicity and showing off some of the Mac App Store's finest. The sale doesn't take a portion of money out of developers' pockets (of course, they have to sell for less than usual, but already, the spike in attention has proven fairly profitable). Two Dollar Tuesday makes its money by providing an affiliate link to the apps on sale, but the deal is obviously good for anyone coming along to buy the apps from anywhere. Dattolo says he hopes the sale will help get the word out about some of the best apps in the store, and show off to both customers and even Apple employees great apps that might have been passed over before.
OS X Mountain Lion to be download-only, USB stick going the way of the dodo
Last time around, Apple was cognizant not everyone has broadband to download a 4GB OS, offering solace to those with slow internet with a (pricey $69) USB stick alternative. Times change though, as Cupertino's confirmed to Pocket-lint that the recently unveiled OS X Mountain Lion won't be offered with a physical counterpart. Apple's reasoning? "It was an interesting test, but it turns out the App Store was just fine for getting the new OS." So there's that. High time you took the plunge and upgraded to broadband apparently, or contemplated moving within the vicinity of an Apple Retail Store's willing WiFi. That or you could just buy a new machine. Your call.
Spirits out on Mac App Store now
Spirits is a really amazing title that original came out on iOS last year: It's sort of a Lemmings clone, though the art style and the game's floaty physics mechanics really add a lot of great new elements to that old classic. Now, Spaces of Play has brought the game to the Mac App Store, so if you haven't gotten to play it yet, you can see it on the big screen with full audio running. Unfortunately, there's no new content available, but Spaces of Play has of course tweaked the game's graphics and interface to work on the desktop rather than on a touchscreen. And given how good this game looks, this might be the ideal version to play with -- obviously, it lacks the tactile input of a touchscreen, but here the game's aesthetic can really stretch out across the screen, and your fingers can get out of the way. Spirits for Mac is available now for an introductory sale price of $7.99 -- if you haven't played it yet, now's your chance.
iPhoto, GarageBand & iMovie updated in Mac App Store (Updated)
A brief moment of confusion overtook us this morning as we got reports of new versions of GarageBand (6.0.4), iMovie (9.0.4) and iPhoto (9.1.5), with minor bug fixes plus tweaks to iMovie's ability to import projects from the iOS editions of the app. When several of us fired up Software Update to grab the new builds, the updates were nowhere to be seen -- yet our tipster was insistent that the new updates were there. Our friends at MacUpdate also had them listed... and that's where we figured out the mystery. So far, only the Mac App Store versions of the apps have been revised; the conventionally-installed iLife versions have not yet been released. While we're sure the 'classic' updates will be forthcoming momentarily, this split-update did give us a moment's pause. As far as we can recall, this is the first time any of Apple's products have been available in newer versions on the MAS than via Software Update. Times, they are a-changin'. Thanks, Jason! Update: iMovie, GarageBand, and iPhoto updates are now showing up in Software Update. Update 2: iWeb 3.0.4 and iDVD 7.1.2 are also available in Software Update.
Amazon says 'no MAS' with Mac Download Store
In the next effort to go toe-to-toe with Apple, Amazon took a swing at the Mac App Store and launched the Mac Download Store today. While its offerings aren't as robust as the Mac App Store, Amazon scored some big points by offering Mac software for download that Apple doesn't have -- namely Microsoft Office, QuickBooks and Roxio's Toast. In a battle that has thus far involved Amazon launching a cloud music service first and pending court discussions over the question of what exactly is an "app store," Amazon is doing its best to wrestle a piece of the Mac-user pie for itself. The Amazon downloads require OS X 10.5 and higher. Purchases can be downloaded an unlimited number of times and are stored in Amazon's Games and Software library. [Via The Loop]
Mac App Store bargains: Plants vs. Zombies and more
The Mac App Store has been a great place to find bargains, and today brings another one that I'm pretty excited about: Plants vs. Zombies is available for US$10, instead of the $20 that PopCap has charged on its website. I've seen several apps that have offered significant discounts in the Mac App Store, such as Little Snapper, Pixelmator, Aperture (which sells for $80 despite the fact that Apple still offers to preinstall it on Macs for $200!) and more. Have you found any great discounts in the Mac App Store versus previous prices? If so, let us know in the comments.
