Sound Off Challenge Back in April, we gave the Zeppelin Mini from Bowers & Wilkins ($399.95) four stars and a Great rating … and now we’re giving away our test unit to one lucky reader. Use it to pump out the jams from your iPod or iPhone—the Mini sounds as good as it looks. All you have to do to win is fire up iTunes and look up your top five most-played tracks in iTunes. Leave a comment below with the Title, Artist, and Play Count for each song, and we’ll choose a winner at random. Deadline for entry is July 31, 2010. Winner will be announced in the Oct/10 issue of Mac|Life.     The fine print: Mac|Life “Sound Off Challenge” Contest rules: The winner will be chosen at random from qualified entries. All entries must be received no later than July 31, 2010, with the winner announced in the Oct/10 issue. By entering this contest, you agree that Future US, Inc. may use your name, likeness, and website for promotional purposes without further payment. Employees of Sponsor, its respective parent, subsidiaries, affiliated companies, and agents, and foregoing employees¹ household or immediate family members (defined as parent, spouse, child, sibling, or grandparent) are NOT eligible to enter Contest. All prizes will be awarded, and no minimum number of entries is required. If two or more people enter identical designs and that entry is selected as the winner, the entry received first will be awarded the contest prize. Prizes won by minors will be awarded to their parents or legal guardians.

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Win: July 2010

According to a recent post on Gizmodo , the Germans are going verrückt for the iPad, but the question is – where does Gizmodo get this information? The story goes on to say that "Apple Germany had ordered only 75,000 iPads. Against all their predictions, they got 250,000 orders." Verdammt , that’s a lot of iPads! While we have no way of checking the rumor, a quick trip to the German Apple site backs up what many of the commenters are saying below. Right now, there is no way to pre-order the iPad if you live in Germany. There is only a sign up for the newsletter/email that will inform you of when the iPad is available there. As to be expected, Gizmodo’s story contains no links and all suppositions are based on the ever popular "reliable source." Image Source: Gizmodo Gizmodo goes on to point out that Germany is the second largest European market for Apple, after Britain, and high iPad demand there could be a nice gauge of market popularity across the Continent. Whether or not Gizmodo’s "reliable source" turns out to be someone confusing how many people signed up for the email with how many pre-ordered, chances are if their informant is even a little connected, there’ll be a press release from Cupertino sooner or later trumpeting the news of high expected demand.

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German iPad Demand High – Or Gizmodo Is

Section: iPhone / iPod touch / iPad , iPad , iPhone , iPod touch , iDevice Apps , iDevice Accessories , Mac Software Macintosh and iPhone/iPod/iPad product updates and announcements for March 19, 2010: Macintosh iPod Macintosh myTracks 2.2 has been released. The main new features of this GPS and geotagging application are a free iPhone App for synchronizing tracks and photos between iPhone and Mac, and an Aperture Plug-In for an effective way to use Aperture’s Places feature. Macgamestore.com has announced it it is now accepting pre-orders for UbiSoft’s upcoming strategy game, The Settlers 7: Paths to a Kingdom . Embark on an exciting quest to create, build and manage your kingdom in the most innovative, customizable and re-playable version ever. Combat enemies all across the land in a quest to conquer a formidable kingdom. Defeat ruthless kings, forbidding lords and dark knights on your quest for victory. Uncover undisclosed traitors along your path and more.

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Mac, iPhone, iPod and iPad product news – March 19, 2010

We’re not sure what exactly is going on in this photo (below), so we’re asking you to tell us. It’s one of our favorite shots captured at the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Show us how funny and clever you can be by writing a caption for this image (keep it clean, please!). As usual, the Mac|Life editors will pick our favorite and send the winner the excellent prize pictured below. Good luck! (Your caption here!)   WIN THIS! Elgato EyeTV One ($119.95, www.elgato.com ) delivers digital over-the-air TV channels straight from your antenna to your Mac.   Include your full name, email and mailing addresses, and phone number with your entry. Send us your best caption in the body of an email to contest@maclife.com with the subject line “Panda Says… Challenge.” Deadline for entry: March 31, 2010. Contest results will appear in the Jun/10 issue.  

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Got Something To Say? Enter this Month’s Contest! [March]

We’re not sure what exactly is going on in this photo (below), so we’re asking you to tell us. It’s one of our favorite shots captured at the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Show us how funny and clever you can be by writing a caption for this image (keep it clean, please!). As usual, the Mac|Life editors will pick our favorite and send the winner the excellent prize pictured below. Good luck! (Your caption here!)   WIN THIS! Elgato EyeTV One ($119.95, www.elgato.com ) delivers digital over-the-air TV channels straight from your antenna to your Mac.   Include your full name, email and mailing addresses, and phone number with your entry. Send us your best caption in the body of an email to contest@maclife.com with the subject line “Panda Says… Challenge.” Deadline for entry: March 31, 2010

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Got Something To Say? Enter this Month’s Contest! [March]

Illustration by Pasquale D’Silva   We’re giving away a ton of cool stuff on Twitter! Follow us and watch for Twitter Giveaway posts, then reply to @MacLife to be entered to win. Check out the prizes: Urbanears Plattan Headphones   http://www.urbanears.com/press.html   Joby Gorillamobile   http://joby.com/gorillamobile/3gs/   Ten One Design Pogo Stylus   http://www.tenonedesign.com/stylus.php   iBend stand for iPhone/iPod touch   http://www.myibend.com/   iSkin ( @iSkininc ) ProTouch keyboard cover for MacBook   http://www.iskin.com/protouch_macbook/common_features.html   iSkin iPhone cases (solo, solo FX, revo2, Fuze) http://www.iskin.com/products_iphone.tpl To find out more about the contest and have a chance to win, you HAVE to be following us on Twitter. ( http://www.twitter.com/maclife )     RULES! 
Twitter Giveaway rules: The sponsor of the contest is Future US, Inc., 4000 Shoreline Court, Suite 400, South San Francisco, CA 94080 (“Sponsor”). Winners will be determined by a single random drawing of all valid entries posted to Twitter.com and referencing @MacLife by followers of @MacLife after we tweet that each giveaway has started. The decision of Sponsor shall be final and binding and within its sole discretion. Winners will be notified by Twitter private message within ten (10) days of the drawing. The winners will be required to sign an affidavit of eligibility/release of liability/prize acceptance within seven days of receipt; failure to do so upon request will result in forfeiture of the prize. By acceptance of the prize, the winner agrees to the use of their name and/or likeness for purposes of advertising, trade, or promotion without further compensation, unless  prohibited by law. Employees of Sponsor, its respective parent, subsidiaries, affiliated companies, and agents, and foregoing employees’ household or immediate family members (defined as parent, spouse, child, sibling, or grandparent) are NOT eligible to enter Contest. By their submission of entry, participants warrant they are legally entitled and authorized to make such submission. In the event of a dispute as to the winner’s identity, entries will be deemed made by the holder of the Twitter account associated with the entry. All prizes will be awarded. Prizes won by minors will be awarded to their parents or legal guardians.

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Mac|Life Twitter Giveaway!

You know who’s been naughty (your friends) and who’s been nice (you, naturally), but you’re still gonna have to get ‘em presents — maybe even eight days’ worth. We’ve got a few great recommendations, as well as some contests, and, as always, the best links of the past week, all in one handy dandy place. Features: – 10 Gifts for MacBook-Packin’ Road Warriors – Sure, you have to get gifts for the people in your life, but let’s not forget a little something for you. We’ve put together an awesome list of travel durables that can make your MacBook feel like your home base. – 10 Essential Gifts to Keep Your Mac Happy – Mac nerds need more than just their machines. They need cords and cords and a real mouse and data storage and did we mention cords? These little numbers will help solve most your troubles. – 10 Perfect Gifts for iPhone Users – Yes, the iPhone is a little slice of heaven you get to carry around with you every day, the kind of tech that makes everyone else a nice holiday shade of green-with-envy. Treat your baby right with speakers, cases, slick headphones and more. – Gear of the Year – This was the year for awesome cameras, LCD screens, headphones, and even a pen that remembers your notes for you. And, ahem, of course, awesome Macs and Apple products too. – Did We Miss Something? – You’ve got our list of essential gear; now’s your chance to tell us what your absolute essential products and gadgets are. Let us know and you’ll be entered in a contest to win the HyperMac MBP-150, an external battery that can keep your MacBook powered for up to 25 hours, plus, you can USB port into it for juice for your iPhone, iPod, or other portable gear. How Tos: – Build an OS X Friendly Linux Media Server From Your Old PC – What good are old Windows PCs except for laughing at

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In Case You Missed It: Dec. 5 – Dec. 12

Now that you’ve seen our picks for Gear of the Year , we’re curious to find out what your essential gear is. Tell us what your three favorite pieces of Mac-related hardware were in 2009. And remember, they don’t necessarily have to be Apple products. So if you’ve got a favorite mouse, iPhone case, or laptop bag that the world needs to hear about, let us know. Send the name of your three favorite hardware products, along with a brief description of what you do with them, and why they’re so awesome. The most interesting and enthusiastic response will score an excellent prize.   WIN THIS! The winner will receive this HyperMac MBP-150 ($399.99, www.hypermac.com ), an external battery that will keep any MacBook juiced for up to 25 hours. It also features a USB port for charging your iPhone, iPod, or other portable gear.   Include your full name, email and mailing addresses, and phone number with your entry. Send us a list of your three favorite Mac-related hardware items, and a description of what you do with them (75 words, max) in the body of an email to contest@maclife.com with the subject line "Gear of The Year Challenge".

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Did We Miss Something? Enter This Month’s Contest!

Last month, I reported the results of a study detailing notebook reliability numbers . Many commenters disagreed with the results of the study by U.S. warranty company SquareTrade, and provided excellent reasons for doing so. Today, another study reinforces the opinion unsurprisingly shared by many of our readers; namely, that Apple is indeed the top computer maker when it comes to reliability. The new study, by Rescuecom, which is a U.S. firm specializing in computer repair, puts Apple at the top of the list when ranking computer makers. Previous studies by the repair franchise had seen Asus take the top spot, in keeping with the results of the SquareTrade study, but the most recent numbers (Q3 2009) show Apple with a commanding lead, according to Electronista . Apple scored 374, which is more than double Asus’ 166. The PC maker scored third. Rescuecom’s rankings are based on the numbers of machines that it sees come in for repairs, as measured against the number of computers each company ships

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New Study Says Apple is Most Reliable, Not Asus

So like I told you in the Week 4 Update post, HP decided to chip in big-time in this year’s DonorsChoose Social Media Challenge. They wound up giving even more than their original pledge of $200,000, I believe in the neighborhood of $250,000. Yeah, a nice chunk of change. A whole ocean’s worth of clams. More dough than a Wonderbread factory. You get the idea. And our share of that HP money, based on our own donations, came to (drum roll!!!), $1,821. That money has been added to our Giving Page’s total , which is one reason that total is so very awe-inducing. The other reason, being, of course that YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME. But the HP money hasn’t actually been distributed to the projects yet. That’s where you come in. At some point, people who donated to our Giving Page will receive electronic DonorsChoose gift cards in their email

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DonorsChoose ’09, Week 5 Update!