back to school
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Sega puts titles on sale for back-to-school, releases Phantasy Star II on iOS
Just in time for the days of, well, skipping out on video games and getting back to the books, Sega has decided to try and tempt you away from that schoolwork by dropping prices across the board on its iOS games. Golden Axe, Shining Force, Streets of Rage and Ecco the Dolphin are all on sale for just US$0.99, and the Super Monkey Ball and Sonic the Hedgehog games are on sale for just a few bucks as well. Phantasy Star II is worth mentioning on its own. Sega just released the game on iOS today, and for my money (only $2.99 during this sale!), there's no better Genesis-era RPG. Seriously, if you are a fan of the console RPG genre at all, this one's a must buy. The story's fun, the gameplay is excellent, and having the title on the App Store is a real treat. Shining Force is a great game, and Streets of Rage is a fun title to have around for just a buck, but if you buy one game during this sale (which lasts through September 1st -- thanks, Sega!), I'd recommend Phantasy Star II.
Engadget's back to school guide: Fun stuff!
Welcome to Engadget's Back to School guide! We know that this time of year can be pretty annoying and stressful for everyone, so we're here to help out with the heartbreaking process of gadget buying for the school-aged crowd. On the menu today are a handful of fun yet practical gadgets, but feel free to check out our Back to School hub for more recommendations in other categories. It's a tough road ahead for aspiring students like yourself (yes, you!), but that doesn't mean one should abstain from any form of entertainment throughout the course. If anything, you'll be needing a few fun gadgets from our Back to School guide to impress your schoolmates -- it's not like your Facebook page will be automagically adding friends any time soon. But as the old saying goes, "work hard, play hard," so we've also thrown in a few picks that'll aid your study. When you're ready, click along for our latest list of awesomeness.
In brief: Free iPod with Mac purchase offer ends 9/7
As expected, Apple has sent out a quick reminder that the annual discount offer for college students -- buy a new Mac, get a free iPod touch -- is expiring September 7. While this date was expected to coincide with the rock & roll introduction event, we now know that the big shindig will be taking place next Tuesday Wednesday, September 1. Got some money burning a hole in your pocket? Are you, or do you know a college student? Time for that new Mac, but it's running out.
A barrel of free books from Kaplan makes a great back-to-school haul
Kaplan Publishing is offering quite a few free eBooks through the iTunes store, but you can only access them on an iPhone, iPad or iPod touch. It's a great deal if you're heading back to school or just want to stock up on some quality reference material. The books are in the categories of college prep, graduate studies, law, medicine, nursing and education. The book are free from now until August 30. Kaplan first became well known to students preparing for SAT and other exams such as the GRE, GMAT, LSAT and many others. The company then expanded into publishing on many education topics. %Gallery-100381%
iTunes U breaks 300 million downloads
iTunes U lets students (or anyone, really) listen in on lectures, classes and other programs from the world's top educational institutions. In fact, more than 800 universities participate, and this week Apple announced the delivery of 300 million iTunes U downloads. Students can use iTunes U to find lectures and other materials related to their studies, of course, but really anyone with an interest in continued education can browse the store's contents for audio or video that meets their areas of interest. For example, here's a collection from the Stanford Historical Society, and another from Japan's Keio University. All iTunes U content is free. Congratulations to Apple and the participating institutions.
Direct2Drive sympathizes with back-to-school woes, offers $10 discount
Digital retailer Direct2Drive certainly remembers the hardships brought about by the beginning of a new school year -- that's why, in an attempt to help you get your mind off your scholastic troubles, everything over $50 in the store has been temporarily marked down by $10.
Samsung Galaxy Tab gets official teaser video
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/gadgets/Samsung_Galaxy_Tab_gets_official_teaser_video'; Whoa, now we're talking. It's short, sweet, and dramatic, yet the official Samsung Galaxy Tab teaser video still manages to reveal a number of features previously only rumored. We've got Android 2.2 running on a 7-inch display, video calling, Swype, HD movie playback, "Flash support," GPS navigation, an e-reader, and plenty more. Now get ready to be teased mercilessly by the video embedded after the break -- it's as close as you'll get before the official reveal in Berlin (at IFA) on September 2nd. Yeah, we'll be there. Update: here's a few other things we've noticed from the trailer. In addition to the aforementioned details, the floating text also references augmented reality and video calling (perhaps indicating a front-facing camera as well). Speaking of cameras, you'll notice in one shot what appears to be a LED flash bulb next to the camera. Must we really wait another 9 or so days? %Gallery-100264%
Engadget's back to school guide: Laptop bags
Welcome to Engadget's Back to School guide! We know that this time of year can be pretty annoying and stressful for everyone, so we're here to help out with the heartbreaking process of gadget buying for the school-aged crowd. Today, we have laptop bags in our sights -- and you can head to the Back to School hub to see the rest of the product guides as they're added throughout the month. By now you should have had enough time to decide what on our laptop buying guide takes your fancy, but, as Apple will tell you, the protective case is sometimes as important as the precious hardware itself. You'll notice that this year we have a good number of bags that include padded camera sections as well -- to the point of perhaps being described as camera bags with laptop compartments -- but we feel that's justified by the massive proliferation of DSLRs into the mainstream market. Entry-level interchangeable lens shooters have grown cheap enough even for non-photography students to consider owning one, but we can think of no good reason why they should require a separate bag of their own. So, on with the recommendations.
Sharpie Liquid Pencil, the aftermath: it's 'permanent,' not permanent
And so it comes to this, the final bleak chapter of our time with the Sharpie Liquid Pencil. If you'll recall, the Liquid Pencil first increased nerd heartbeats around the world a week and a half ago, when it was launched promising to write like a pen, erase like a pencil, and eventually dry like a Sharpie permanent marker. In fact, those were Sharpie's exact words: "Becomes permanent like a Sharpie marker after three days." The world seemed yet full of wonder; our ambition was limitless. We poured champagne and conducted our first hands-on with great success: indeed, the liquid graphite contained inside wrote like a pen and then erased completely. A simple pencil rising to the pages of Engadget -- could any story be more American? But then... tragedy. A week later, we returned to our Moleskine to test the permanency of our earlier scribbles and found that they still erased completely. Yes, given enough squinting and optimism, the argument could be made that the marks were slightly darker, but we'd been promised "permanent like a Sharpie marker" -- was the Sharpie Liquid Pencil nothing more than an elaborate ruse? Our hopes chastened, we clicked off another few moments of film documenting the fundamental transience of our creations, kept our best stiff upper lip, and dispatched a letter to Sharpie, imploring them to explain. Today, we received a response, which we shall reprint in full after the break.
The iPad Project documents deploying iPads at school
We've been following the folks at D7 Consulting as they roll out a set of iPads that were awarded to them by Box.net (and keep an eye out later this week for an update on that), but that's not the only group of people attempting to use iPads in a collective space. Frasier Speirs (Mac developer at Connected Flow) is implementing iPads at a school that he works at, and he's documenting the whole process on his blog as The iPad Project. It's an interesting read. Even if you're not trying to follow in his footsteps and implement a large number of iPads across a system, it's intriguing to see how he and his co-workers are trying to squeeze a very consumer-targeted product into a more professional space. Concerns range from setting up profiles and activations on each device to more practical issues like labeling them with names and finding a way to charge them all together. Part of the iPad's charm has been how many different places and ways that people have found to use it. At its heart, it's a reasonably powerful touchscreen computer, and that's a device that's got a lot of potential in a lot of fields. We'll look forward to seeing other implementations in various fields and locations. [via Cult of Mac]
Engadget's back to school guide: Mobile phones
Welcome to Engadget's Back to School guide! We know that this time of year can be pretty annoying and stressful for everyone, so we're here to help out with the heartbreaking process of gadget buying for the school-aged crowd. Today, we have mobile phones in our sights -- and you can head to the Back to School hub to see the rest of the product guides as they're added throughout the month. Back in our day, the only "mobile phone" at school was the one that broke off the dorm wall after our roommates got a little too rowdy, but nowadays, a capable, high-power handset is quickly becoming a must-have for students of all ages. Regardless of your budget, your parent's budget, or your little one's budget, we've got options that should help with studying, gaming, music, and maybe even the occasional call home.
Engadget's back to school guide: E-readers
Welcome to Engadget's Back to School guide! We know that this time of year can be pretty annoying and stressful for everyone, so we're here to help out with the heartbreaking process of gadget buying for the school-aged crowd. Today, we have e-readers in our sights -- and you can head to the Back to School hub to see the rest of the product guides as they're added throughout the month. Yes, it's the next round of buying advice for those of you condemned to start hitting the books at the end of the summer. But, with one of these e-readers, you might just have fewer books to hit -- or at least lighter ones. Sadly most schools are still dependent on texts of the pulpy variety, but that doesn't mean an e-reader can't make your life a lot easier at school, and possibly even save you some money if you're reading the classics.
Engadget's back to school guide: docks and alarms
Welcome to Engadget's Back to School guide! We know that this time of year can be pretty annoying and stressful for everyone, so we're here to help out with the heartbreaking process of gadget buying for the school-aged crowd. Today, we've got docks and alarms in our sights -- and you can head to the Back to School hub to see the rest of the product guides as they're added throughout the month. Be sure to keep checking back -- at the end of the month we'll be giving away a ton of the gear featured in our guides. Whether you're simply looking for something to put on your bedside table or considering an iPod dock to replace a bulky stereo, you now have more devices than ever to choose from, which can be a tad overwhelming if you're trying to stay on budget and still get something decent. As usual, however, we're here to help, and have rounded up a range of docks and alarms that should more than satisfy at any price point.
Rumor: iPod event next week
A Brazilian site named MacMagazine claims to have heard from a source within Apple that the company's annual back-to-school iPod press conference might be held as soon as next week. This is simultaneously pretty likely and somewhat hard to believe. On the one hand, MacMagazine isn't really a well-known vanguard of the reporting community -- you have to wonder why they've heard about this event when no one else yet has. But on the other hand, Apple of course runs a back to school program every single year, and considering that it's about that time, and that we've had a year chock full of innovation with the iPad and the iPhone 4, it's probably a pretty good guess that yes, sooner rather than later, Apple will hold an event to show off this year's iPod offerings. And what might those be? Why, we're going with the perpetual rumor of a camera-equipped iPod touch. MacMagazine also suggests a new iPod touch would see other iPhone 4 features, including a gyroscope and possibly a Retina Display. It's gotta be true eventually, right? [via Cult of Mac]
Pear Note 2.0 out now, features web sharing and a revamped UI
Useful Fruit Software has released Pear Note 2.0, a new version of the very powerful note-taking app for the Mac. Sang wrote a great post about the app late last year -- personally, I like just sitting down with a pad of paper and taking notes, but Pear Note helps you capture everything about a presentation, from syncing up slides and audio to your own typed-in notes. It will even keep a "timeline" of what you're noting when, so that you can go back and see where in the audio you typed what, reviewing your notes and the actual lecture audio at the same time. The new version completely revamps the user interface, which allows you to navigate both the app and your lectures more quickly and smoothly. It also brings to the table a web sharing feature, so that anyone online can view your notes and lecture content when shared. And there are a few other improvements as well, including speed playback control, and the ability to bring multiple slide files in on a single note. The app is available for $39.99, and version 2 is a free upgrade for all previous Pear Note users. Especially for students heading back to school in the next few weeks who need a good note-taking workflow, Pear Note seems like a huge help.
Engadget's back to school guide: Digital cameras
Welcome to Engadget's Back to School guide! We know that this time of year can be pretty annoying and stressful for everyone, so we're here to help out with the heartbreaking process of gadget buying for the school-aged crowd. Today, we've got our optical viewfinders set firmly on digital cameras -- and you can head to the Back to School hub to see the rest of the product guides as they're added throughout the month. Be sure to keep checking back -- at the end of the month we'll be giving away a ton of the gear featured in our guides -- and hit up the hub page right here! Time for us to open up chapter two of this year's Back to School advice compendium. Up for discussion today are digital cameras, which have been in the gym all year working on their processing prowess and return today with 720p HD video as an almost standard feature. We've got a good cross-section of young pretenders and finely aged veterans for your perusal, so why not give your mouse a little exercise as well and click past the break?
Engadget's back to school guide: Netbooks and laptops
Welcome to Engadget's Back to School guide! We know that this time of year can be pretty annoying and stressful for everyone, so we're here to help out with the heartbreaking process of gadget buying for the school-aged crowd. Today, we've got laptops and netbooks in our sights -- and you can head to the Back to School hub to see the rest of the product guides as they're added throughout the month. You didn't think we'd let back to school season roll around without rounding up the latest gear, did you? Good, because here at Engadget we understand that not only is heading off to college nerve wracking, but picking out the best gadgets can as equally scary. We couldn't think of kicking off our back to school guide with anything but our top netbook / laptop choices since, you know, a good performing and well-rounded machine is absolutely essential for those hours of Facebook stalking, err of homework and studying. No matter what your budget, we've got you covered with recommendations and loads of mobile computing options. Now, on to the laptops...
Velocity Micro rolls out T30 Italia laptop, Vector Campus Edition desktop
As anyone that's been to a mall recently is no doubt well aware, the back-to-school season is upon us, and so is the usual batch of hardware aimed directly at students (and their parents). Among the latest is a pair of computers from Velocity Micro, including the T30 Italia thin-and-light laptop, and the Vector Campus Edition desktop. Those opting for the$999 laptop will get a 13.3-inch display, a 1.3GHz Pentium SU1400 processor, 3GB of RAM, and 120GB hard drive, all wrapped in a 0.8-inch thick casing "inspired by the rolling curves of fine sports cars." The desktop, on the other hand, is your usual blue LED-lit fare, and starts at $899 for a Core i5-750-based system with NVIDIA GeForce GT 220 graphics, 4GB of RAM, and 1TB hard drive.
Motorola Charm spotted in T-Mobile ad, free on contract for back-to-schoolers?
Advertising a product before it's even official, what could be more patriotic? TmoNews has a convincing (but still unconfirmed) picture of a T-Mobile "Back to School" poster featuring Samsung :), Gravity T, Gravity 3, and... Motorola Charm? Looks like our chubby, Motoblur-equipped candybar has been given an air of legitimacy, even more than the previous leak. What's also interesting is the price -- as part of the promotion, Charm is apparently free on contract (seems to be T-Mo's special of choice, these days). Can't say with any certainty what that means for the cost of the phone after this season's school craze dies down -- the Gravity 3, for example, is usually $80 with a two-year agreement -- but it can't be much longer now before we get the skinny on this square. Hit up the source for full picture.
Apple launches annual Back to School program
Apple has launched its annual Back to School program for the US, enticing buyers with a free 8GB iPod touch after a $199 online rebate (you can also apply the same rebate to larger-capacity iPods). To qualify, you must purchase your new Mac and iPod touch at the same time either through the online Apple Education Store, an Apple Retail Store or authorized campus store. Within 90 days from the purchase, submit the $199 rebate form to get back the cost of the iPod touch. To find out if you're eligible as a buyer, check out Apple's requirements. In short -- if you're a student at a higher education institution, a faculty member at any school (K-12 and university) or a parent buying a machine for your college-bound grad, you're good to go.
