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Steve Jobs' vintage wardrobe is up for auction
What's an Apple fanboy or fangirl supposed to do once they've filled their basement with vintage Apple hardware? Start filling up the closets with Steve Jobs' old clothes, of course. As TechCrunch reports, a whole wardrobe of the late Apple founder's shirts, bowties, watches, ID badges and other tossed-off goods are currently up for auction.
Iconic NY store's extensive Mac collection is up for auction
Tekserve, a landmark New York City Apple dealer and repair center for 29 years, closed this week and is auctioning off its huge collection of computers and other tech. The centerpiece is a 35-piece (mostly) Macintosh collection from its Mac Museum, which only includes groundbreaking or special models and "consciously omits variants." Highlights include a 128K Macintosh signed by Steve Wozniak, a Lisa and a NeXTcube. So far, the top bid is $31,000.
G2A attempts to appease game publishers with royalty payments
After coming under fire for how it handles sales of illegal video game keys, reselling website G2A has introduced a number of new policies that it hopes will appease developers affected by the practice. The company announced that it will let game makers apply for royalty payments for any titles that appear on its marketplace. It comes after SpeedRunners publisher TinyBuild accused G2A of failing to act on $450,000 in potential lost sales, after scammers used stolen credit cards to buy legitimate keys and auction them off for profit.
Australia to auction off confiscated bitcoins this June
Australia has plans to sell off a considerable amount of bitcoins, the cryptocurrency favored by shady online folk, this June. 24,518 bitcoins confiscated by police will be auctioned off by financial services firm Ernst and Young in 2,000 blocks, an amount that equals just over a million US dollars given the current conversion rate. Australian authorities wouldn't specify where the bitcoins come from other than to say it was in conjunction with a crime. However, as the BBC points out, reports from 2013 indicate a similar quantity of bitcoins were seized in an online drug bust in Victoria. The upcoming auction will be open to bidders worldwide and could help set a precedent legalizing the currency for use in Australia, where it's still undergoing regulatory approval.
Former astronaut auctions Zeiss lens from Apollo 15
Today in oddly specific artifacts of technology: the first telephoto lens used by an astronaut on the surface of the moon is currently on the auction block alongside a payload of other NASA memorabilia. The special 500mm Zeiss lens was an essential part of Commander David Scott's scientific equipment during the Apollo 15 mission to the Hadley rille. Scott's Hasselblad rig took nearly 300 photos during the 12-day mission and the camera's body alone sold for over $900,000 in 2014.
Apple made a one-of-a-kind iPad Pro for a charity auction
Don't think the 12.9-inch iPad Pro is ostentatious enough? You'll want to book a trip to London, then. In support of a Design Museum charity auction on April 28th, Apple's Jony Ive and his team have built a unique version of the larger iPad that's nothing like the models you can find in stores. The audacious-looking yellow aluminum shell is just the start of it. The one-off tablet also comes with accessories that you might wish Apple made for everyone, including a Smart Cover in French leather and an orange Pencil case in Italian leather.
Australian carrier lets customers win prizes with unused data
Unless you roll it over, the unused mobile data you paid so dearly for is lost in time, like tears in ... rain. For a limited time, however, Virgin Mobile customers in Australia can transform those dead digits into phones, drones and other swag. To be sure, the "data auction" is a publicity stunt that mostly benefits Virgin, since there's but a single prize each day over the month-long promo. In addition, you have to bid all your remaining data, so you can only win once.
One of the world's first personal computers is up for sale
Many people don't know the history of the Kenbak-1 Digital Computer, but it's considered to be the world's first commercially available personal computer -- and one is going up for sale in just a few minutes. John Blankenbaker introduced the $750 machine in 1971 -- years ahead of the more well known Altair 8800 and Apple I, but after the Datapoint 2200 -- hoping to sell it to schools as a way to introduce people to computer programming. It didn't have a microprocessor at all, and contained only 256 bytes (you read that correctly) of RAM. No more than 50 units were ever made, although a few have been popping up for sale in the last few years. One recently sold for about $31k, and another model is going on sale via German auctioneer Breker within the hour. It's certainly a piece of history, but if that's a little too rich for your blood, then hide your credit card details and just read our Time Machines article to catch up on the history of this groundbreaking device.
A piece of memory from Gemini 3 spacecraft is up for auction
Do you want a piece of the first computer on a manned spaceflight? Of course you do -- and you're in luck, because a piece of RANAM (Random Access Non-Destructive Readout) from the Gemini 3 spacecraft's computer is up for auction. Heritage Auctions notes that the 4,096-bit memory chip orbited the earth on March 23, 1965 as part of the first manned Gemini flight. The prior Mercury missions didn't require a computer, but Gemini needed both a second astronaut and an on-board computer that aided with six mission phases: prelaunch, ascent backup, insertion, catch-up, rendezvous and re-entry.
Sprint thinks its existing wireless spectrum is enough
Phone carriers usually have a voracious appetite for wireless spectrum, and for good reason: they don't want to lose your business because their networks are overloaded or missing coverage. Sprint isn't in a hurry, however. The provider just announced that it's passing on the FCC's upcoming 600MHz auction after determining that its existing airwaves are "sufficient" for its future needs. The goal right now is to improve service on the frequencies that Sprint already has by adding tons of extra cell sites and aggregating bandwidth.
Bills could rise as Ofcom triples UK carriers' licence fees
After toying with the idea of quadrupling the amount providers must pay for mobile spectrum for almost two years, UK communications regulator Ofcom has finally arrived at a decision. It announced today that the big four -- EE, Vodafone, O2 and Three -- will now pay a total of £199.6 million annually for their allocations of the 900 MHz and 1800 MHz frequency bands, more than triple the £64.4 million they currently have to hand over.
eBay's revamped apps are big for sellers, not just buyers
eBay may like the idea of serving as a storefront, but it knows that this only works if it helps you sell your wares at the same time. That's where the company's reworked, version 4.0 mobile apps come into play -- the version 4.0 update for both Android and iOS gives auctions higher priority than they've had in the past. It gives you more help when you're a first-timer, a dashboard for frequent sellers and an overall simpler, faster interface for selling your goods. It's an acknowledgment that many eBay auction holders might prefer to run most (if not all) of their businesses from their phones. You shouldn't have to retreat to a computer just to sell your old gear, should you?
Rare Enigma machine sells for $233,000
An unnamed buyer has purchased an ultra-rare three-rotor German Enigma machine for the better part of $233,000. It was sold by an equally-secretive "European museum foundation" by the auctioneers Sotheby's in London for almost twice the expected price. During the Second World War, German troops were instructed to destroy their Enigma machines to prevent them falling into enemy hands, with only a handful surviving. While tainted as a piece of Nazi memorabilia, the item is also a valuable artifact in the history of modern computing. The Allied effort to break the code and Alan Turing's involvement would pave the way for the devices we use today and interest has been renewed since the release of The Imitation Game.
eBay's Apple Watch app puts auctions on your wrist
If you're an eBay veteran, you know that every moment of a late-stage auction counts. You don't want to lose because you couldn't grab your phone quickly enough to make a counter-bid, after all. Appropriately, eBay is rolling out an Apple Watch app to go with its Pebble and Samsung Gear efforts. The wearable software both gives you alerts for auctions and lets you make quick bids -- you might prevent someone from sniping that antique auction without even reaching into your pocket. You can also reply to messages with voice dictation, and keep tabs on your top-level buying and selling activity. The update should hit the App Store today, so check it out if you always have to beat other buyers to the punch.
Apple I worth $200,000 gets tossed out for recycling
You're about to get a textbook lesson in why you should always, always check vintage gadgets before you toss them out. A woman discarding her late husband's electronics inadvertently gave a Milpitas recycling firm an ultra-rare Apple I computer that ultimately sold for $200,000. While the recycler's policy is to share half the revenue from these sales, the woman refused to offer her name or get a receipt -- she's missing out on a $100,000 check for trading in a piece of computing history. The company would recognize her on sight, but its only chance of rewarding the mystery donor right now is to get the word out and hope she returns. [Image credit: Emmanuel Dunand /AFP/Getty Images]
Ofcom plans to auction more 4G spectrum later this year
Ofcom is planning a fresh spectrum auction that will improve 4G coverage later this year. The regulator has 190 MHz to allocate to the major mobile networks, and today it's launched a consultation with possible auction formats. The concern is that some of the biggest carriers are undergoing mergers -- BT is buying EE, while the owner of Three UK is trying to acquire O2. if Ofcom awards all of the spectrum now, the balance of power could change unexpectedly if the deals don't proceed as planned. However, it could be six months before they're approved, and even longer before the transactions are completed, and the regulator doesn't want to waste any time putting the spectrum to good use.
The RadioShack brand lives to see another day
RadioShack's brand will live on. According to The Wall Street Journal, the retailer's label assets have been purchased by Standard General LP, a hedge fund, for $26.2 million. Along with the trademark, other undisclosed intellectual property was also included in the bankruptcy auction, which took place Monday in New York. But what exactly is Standard General LP's vision? It plans to rebuild and rebrand. The firm is reportedly looking to overhaul RadioShack's brand around a "streamlined array of necessities," that are going to be sold alongside wireless products from Sprint. The carrier, of course, has kept close tabs on the electronics chain's Chapter 11 woes. Just last month, it opened its own stores inside existing RadioShack locations, which would otherwise now be defunct.
Someone just bought this 'Tron' lightcycle for $77,000
As movie vehicles go, not many rank as high on the cool scale as a Tron lightcycle. So when father and son collectors Paul and Chris Andrews decided to offer up their full-scale replica of the two-wheeler from Tron: Legacy for auction at Sotheby's, we suspected it might sell for a little more than its $25,000 - $40,000 valuation. Turns out that was a bit of an understatement. On May 2nd, the ride, with its 96 volt electric motor with lithium batteries and a computer controlled throttle, fetched a tasty $77,000, almost doubling its projected sale value. The new owner gets a lightcycle that's only been driven around the Andrews museum a few times to ensure it's in full working order. All else that is needed is the Daft Punk soundtrack and they'll be pulling 90-degree corners in style.
Gaming legend Sid Meier auctions his SNES kit for charity (update: not him)
Want a rare piece of video gaming history? We hope you're a quick-draw bidder. Legendary game developer Sid Meier is holding a charity auction for a Super NES developer kit (which is hard to find by itself) used during his MicroProse days. Yes, there's a real chance that you could be using a system that helped build an early console version of Civilization. Don't think that you can just take on some credit card debt to get that nostalgia kick, though. Meier is only selling the kit to trustworthy eBay users with verified PayPal accounts, and bidding starts at $5,999 -- it's worthwhile if you want to help St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, but you're paying for a lot more than someone's second-hand console. Update 5/7: 2K tells us that it's not Meier selling this system. That doesn't mean this is bogus gear, but it certainly loses some of its luster.
You can buy your own 'Tron' lightcycle (if you've got 40 grand)
If you've ever watched Tron: Legacy and wished that you could own your own lightcycle, then May 2nd could be your only chance. Car collectors the Andrews Family is selling the bulk of its vehicle haul that includes a custom replica of the two-wheeler from the film. According to the blurb, the ride was made especially for the Andrews and has a 96 Volt direct-drive electric motor with lithium batteries and a computer controlled throttle. The bike, which has a seat height of 28.5 inches, has only been ridden around the Andrews museum a few times, making it essentially brand new. Now it's going up for auction at Sotheby's on May 2nd, with it expected to fetch a price between $25,000 and $40,000, although we suspect it might go for more. All we're hoping is that Jay "Tron Guy" Maynard is now a millionaire, because that would be a match made in heaven.
