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Black Friday apps for the big screen

Black Friday is almost here, and if you're the type who likes to avoid the shopping rush like the plague, I may have the perfect collection of iPad apps for you.

Instead of getting up early and waiting in crowded lines for the doors to open, how about sitting on your couch with an iPad and a cup of coffee, and getting your holiday shopping done in peace? It's true that you probably won't get the super mega deals found by doing the leg work at your local retail outlet, but you'll also run zero risk of being trampled by overexcited shoppers.

While this collection is focused on the iPad (simply because it's easier to see the items you're buying), you could just as easily get any of these apps for smaller iOS devices.… Read more

The 404 952: Where time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana (podcast)

Leaked from today's episode of The 404 Podcast:

HTC and Facebook pair up for the HTC Buffy phone, a Facebook-powered smartphone modified to use HTML5 as an app platform. The ESRB and CTIA will soon unwrap a cross-platform rating system for mobile applications. Science has spoken: sarcasm is for smarties, according to the neuropsychologists at USF. With Final Fantasy XIII-2 only a few months away, Square Enix proposes to release a new Final Fantasy game every year.… Read more

Facebook's Buffy: The Smartphone Slayer

Amazon is selling many smartphones for just a penny through Cyber Monday, Microsoft uses bacon to entice potential employees to its Kinect for Windows group, and Facebook may be working on a smartphone with HTC codenamed Buffy after the TV show.

Links from Tuesday's episode of Loaded:

Facebook's Buffy: The Smartphone Slayer Mobile app content ratings Bacon bonuses for Microsoft employees Adobe's new pricing scheme Amazon sells 1-cent non-iPhone smartphones Subscribe:  iTunes (MP3) |  iTunes (320x180) |  iTunes (HD) |  RSS (MP3) |  RSS (320x180) |  RSS HD

Apple teases Black Friday deals, but what about the iPhone?

Apple is planning Black Friday discounts again this year.

The company today put a teaser on its site, saying that it will be holding a "special one-day Apple shopping event" on Friday. Reading between the lines, we take that to mean discounts. Apple lists the iPad, iPod, and Mac as gift ideas. It made no mention of the iPhone.

As MacStories points out, it appears Apple will be offering the deals worldwide. As of this writing, the Black Friday deal teaser is being displayed on Apple's Australia, Italy, and U.K. online stores.

There are a few … Read more

Black Friday deal-hunting apps for Android

As you can imagine, there are tons of Black Friday apps in the Android Market, most of which do the same thing--aggregate holiday sale items.

Sure, you can download them all to make sure you've got your bases covered, but we're thinking you probably don't want to be fumbling through an unwieldy app drawer while throwing elbows in department store aisles. So, we've taken the time to highlight just the essential Android apps for hunting down all the hottest deals come Black Friday.

TGI Black Friday We're listing this app first because it should be … Read more

How to use Yipit on your iPhone

Just in time for Black Friday and the holiday-shopping season to follow, Yipit has released an iOS app that aggregates offers from Groupon, Living Social, and over 800 other daily deals sites. Like most daily deals sites, the Yipit app works best if you live in a major metro area. The app is free, however, and lets you select categories so that you get a manageable list of deals to sift through.

After you launch the app, it'll ask you to allow it to know your location. If you allow it, you won't have to then select your city (or the nearest large city) from the list. In my case, I'm located in Concord, NH, and the closest city to me that Yipit listed was Boston. (One reason I signed up for Living Social is that it has a Southern New Hampshire category, which will occasionally surface a deal in my town or the surrounding area.)… Read more

BlackBerry PlayBook dropping to $199 in time for holidays

It's official--the price of BlackBerry's PlayBook tablet will soon be dropping into the Kindle Fire range at a number of big-time retailers... for a limited time.

When it launched earlier this year, the slate from Research In Motion started at $499. A few months ago, the price dropped as low as $299 through a combination of credits and rebates from retailers like Best Buy.

Today, RIM announced via Twitter that the rumored $199 price drop is for real "for a limited time only."

The PlayBook Web site lists Best Buy, Wireless Giant, Staples, OfficeMax, Office Depot, Radio Shack and Wal-Mart as participating retailers. RIM has offered no confirmation of when the price cut will go into effect, but current prices have remained in place on the retailers' sites this morning, and previous reports suggest that the $199 price may be a Black Friday deal.… Read more

Simplify your Black Friday shopping

The TGI Black Friday app doesn't just provide you with a comprehensive listing of Black Friday deals, it also gives you some nifty tools to make sure your shopping experience goes smoothly.

The most important part of the TGI Black Friday app is, of course, the coupons. The app, along with its sister site tgiblackfriday.com, aggregates an enormous number of Black Friday advertisements, many of which are leaked up to a month ahead of time. The coupons from these ads are then listed in the app, and can be browsed by date added, store name, or category. Don'… Read more

Shopkick gets you discounts and rewards at the same time

To use Shopkick, simply download the app, and fire it up whenever you're out shopping. Then, just by making supported purchases, scanning items, or even walking into featured retailers, you'll start earning "kickbucks," which can be redeemed for gift cards, free merchandise, and more. You can also earn kickbucks by "checking in" to specific commercials you're watching, or by sharing the app with friends.

The other half of Shopkick is the deals. Whenever you're in a featured store, be sure to check the app to see if any coupons are available. If … Read more