Not quite the formative years, but what better time to get people hooked on Apple products than while they’re in college? Besides, you need something to do while you’re sitting through those two-hour lectures right? Apple is currently running a slightly-early back to school promo for college kids looking to get their Mac on and truth be told, it’s a pretty good deal. Nuts and bolts: Buy a Mac, get a free iPod. The deal isn’t just for students either. Any student, faculty or staff member can purchase a qualifying Mac computer and get an 8 GB iPod Touch or 8 GB iPod Nano for free after a $299 rebate. Considering the MacBook starts at $1,000 now, and that’s before any student discount, this deal really is pretty solid. Don’t worry though, you have plenty of time to think about it as the offer is good from now through September 15th. Qualifying Macs include any MacBook, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro or iMac model.

[Via gadget lab]

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We hate bringing attention to Handango aka The "Dear developer, the mobile software industry is booming but we’re still upping our take to 50%" Software Shop. But alas, we still have a job to do. According to the secret mailer that isn’t so secret anymore, Handango is offering 15% off all software site-wide from now through May 5. Coupon code = SECRETSALE. If you need some new apps and you don’t care that Handango rapes its suppliers just because it can, now’s your time to shine.

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They don’t call it "the best radio on radio" for nothing. In an age where terrestrial radio is far and away at its worst in decades, alternative options continue to gain ground. If you do manage to find actual music or talk radio between all of the commercials on regular radio, it’s a safe bet that it will hardly be entertaining thanks to a remarkable lack of talent and an ever-restrictive FCC stronghold. But with technology comes options. Internet radio, custom streaming solutions like Last.fm and Pandora, podcasts and satellite radio give us unrestricted choices that have managed to bring entertainment back to broadcast audio. If for one reason or another you haven’t yet sampled satellite radio, you’re really running out of excuses. Beyond a wide range of content that is free from the FCC’s tyrannical reign you’ll find amazing talent, any sporting even you want and a huge amount of 100% commercial-free music. In lieu of the fact that the merger is still being stifled, the only real question becomes "Sirius or XM"? Sirius is doing its part to make the decision as easy as possible for you with a $100 discount on the sleek portable Stiletto 100 receiver. For one week only, you can snag the 2 GB model of Sirius’ flagship radio for a cool $150 with the purchase at least 3 months of service ($38.85 for new accounts, $20.97 for current subscribers). Some key features of the Stiletto include the ability to record up to 100 hours of radio, pause and rewind live radio, stream at home via WiFi and store / playback MP3s from your personal collection. You’ve got until Monday to take advantage of the discount and we really can’t urge you enough to check it out. After all, an aging Howard Stern is still a hundred times more entertaining than anything on FCC-stunted terrestrial radio.

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Market trends as far as displays are concerned continue to go in the proper direction; quality and size go up, price comes down. If only every industry would follow the same progression. Those in the market for a new display should make note; love them or hate them Dell is probably your spot. Take its new 2009W for example. The UltraSharp 20-inch widescreen just issued by the Texas-based hardware manufacturer is a good step up from the E207WFP it replaces, but it maintains the exact same price point of $289. Solid.

• 20-inch WSXGA 1680 x 1050 HD Display
• 102% Color Gamut
• 2000:1 Dynamic Contrast Ratio
• 5-Millisecond Response Time
• Fully-adjustable Stand
• 4 integrated USB 2.0 Hi-Speed Ports

It’s certainly not the ultimate gaming display but the 2009W also won’t cost you an arm, a leg and an eviction notice. Respectable performance, UltraSharp quality and 20-inches of pixels for $389? Sign us up. Granted the only available connections are DVI with HDCP and VGA, but you can’t win them all.

[Via Engadget]

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In light of the recent proposed settlement of a class-action suit, Palm has announced that it will be pulling the plug on 34 retail locations in the US. Eight Palm-branded stores and 26 airport kiosks will be closed down as Palm prepares to begin issuing pay-outs. The class-action suit filed in 2005 was just settled at no small cost the the mobile manufacturer, and the final hearing is scheduled for May 2 of this year. In accordance with the proposed settlement, Palm will be required to issue a $75 reimbursement to Treo 600 owners who purchased a new smartphone between September 30, 2005 and six months after the pending settlement is finalized. In addition, those who purchased a Treo 650 will be eligible for a $50 rebate on any new Palm smartphone purchased within six months of settlement finalization. The class-action suit was filed as a result of defective handsets and any customer who had a US-purchased handset requiring two or more repairs or replacements is eligible for compensation. Note that if you intend to make a claim as a result of the class-action settlement, your submission to Palm must be post marked no later than July 28th, 2008. Also, free out-of-warranty repairs will only be covered up to 120 days from the settlement finalization. Go here for further details on eligibility and instructions on how to file a claim once the settlement goes into effect.

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Ever wanted to get a behind-the-scenes look at carrier’s sales figures? This is your chance, folks! Regarding enterprise sales, this is how it breaks down. The BlackBerry Pearl is tied with the BlackBerry 8700 for the #1 spot on Vodafone’s sales list. The BlackBerry Curve 8310 has an impressive 15% of the sales, and we’re guessing that since the 8700 and 8100 have been out for so long, they’re lower priced which should account for the Curve coming in behind them. After the Curve, it’s the BlackBerry 8800 with 12%, and the Nokia E50 (non camera version) with 7%. How do you like them apples? If you want to check it for yourself, you can check it after the jump!

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Women spend countless hours and days and most of your money hunting for deals on designer-brand clothing and accessories. The odds are pretty good that you’ve been driven over the edge on several occasions thanks to day-long trips to the local mall. What if there was a way that your girl could easily get the best deals on the hottest apparel and accessories without wearing your patience and wallet thin? Ideeli is just that. In a nutshell, Ideeli provides web and SMS alerts notifying lucky ladies of high-end designer products or lines as they go on sale on the site. The date and time of each sale is withheld until just before it starts and sales are first come, first serve a la woot.com. Premium members are given a one-hour head start as a thank you for their $8/month membership fee. Standard membership is free. Ideeli’s web service launched earlier this year and is currently invite only, too. With the recent completion of a funding round the service may become more accessible in the near future, but for the time being, you’ll have to find a current member to get your hands on an invite.

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Wal-Mart, everyone’s favorite mega-retailer, has done the unthinkable, pulling one of the year’s most popular DVDs from its shelves. They made the decision to remove Superbad from its stores in Hawaii due to the item’s promotional packaging that includes a novelty fake ID from the state of Hawaii. The move comes after Honolulu’s Mayor, Mufi Hannemann, made a public statement in expressing his unhappiness with the fake IDs. Apparently he lacks faith in the ability of local merchants to distinguish between a fake ID sporting a hologram that changes the name from "McLovin’" to "Fogell" depending on the viewing angle. Whatevz. No word on whether the studio plans to release a special "Hawaii" edition package sans driver’s license, but in the mean time we smell a burgeoning black market opportunity in the South Pacific…

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And the battle for console dominance continues. A new report from Game News identifies some pretty staggering sales numbers for the Playstation 3 over the past year. Black Friday was particularly kind to the Sony console, with sales up 245 percent over the same time last year. That’s great news for Sony’s sales department, but it’s just a small piece of a larger picture of victory. The company has seen unit sales increase by 178 percent, and overall sales $’s increase by 154 percent over the course of the past week, entering the holiday season with bang. This is due, in large part, to the recent price drop for the 80GB model, combined with the introduction of the 40GB model. Not bad at all, huh?

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OK, so…we went on a little mission trying to find the LG Voyager this morning. It is practically sold out everywhere, and believe us when we mean everywhere! We literally called over 100 + Verizon Corporate stores looking for the phone just to see how it was selling, and if you’re still looking for one, here are the stores that we found that still have some stock as of 12:00PM ET:

• Burlington, VT
• Hunting Station, NY
• Bridgewater Communications, Bridgewater, NJ
• Upper East Side, NY
• Circuit City Mid-town, NY
• Circuit City Union Square, NY
• Massapequa, NY
• Commack, NY
• Patchogue, NY
• Meriden Mall, CT

That’s about it! Let us know if you manage to grab one!

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The not-very-secret secret out of the Wal-Mart camp isn’t exactly a discount on its PS3 offering this holiday season, but it’s still pretty significant. Snag an 80GB PS3 during the event, and you’ll be able to pick up 10 free Blu-Ray movies while you’re there. Not crummy, we-choose-them-for-you discs. Instead, you simply grab any 10 titles under $30, and the register will do the rest. This is on top of the 5 free movies you can get by mail. All this fun starts November 24th at 8:00 AM. Enjoy the chaos!

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Sony has done the impossible, pushing Playstation 3 sales to a point that might almost be described as…impressive. The newly released 40GB PS3 model seems to have caused a surge in unit sales, shoving the PS3 into competitive territory with Microsoft and Nintendo. Prior to the appearance of the 40GB version, the Playstation 3 was consistently moving around or under 30,000 units every week. Not great. The first week numbers for the 40GB model are in, however, and they’re a bit staggering. During the first week that the 40GB PS3 was available, there were 100,000 total units moved. Yikes. Whether this is a fluke, or signals a turning point along the rocky road towards console sales security remains to be seen, but whatever the outcome it’s clear that Sony is moving in the right direction.

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The Friday after Thanksgiving is, without question, the craziest shopping day of the year. Companies go all out with promos, deals, and sales trying to lure customers and earn a significant percentage of their yearly income in the process. There’s often a bit of mystique that goes along with the actual deals, and stores are notoriously closed-lipped about just what they plan on offering. Best Buy’s ad has hit the streets a bit early this year, and it looks like consumers are in for a bit of a treat. The deals for this year include:

• eMachines Desktop computer with 17" LCD for $200
• Canon Digital Rebel DSLR bundled with a 75-300mm zoom lens for $549.99
• Philips Blu-Ray player for $399.99
• 47" Westinghouse LCD HDTV for $1299.99
• Xbox 360 bundled with Guitar Hero II and controller for $349.99

Not bad at all!

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