U.S. Cellular now accepting pre-orders for Samsung Galaxy S III

As expected, today is the day that U.S. Cellular starts accepting pre-orders for the Samsung Galaxy S III. The device is expected to start shipping sometime next month (more on that later). The carrier is offering the same Marble White and Pebble Blue variants of the eagerly awaited smartphone that all four major U.S. carriers have been taking pre-orders for. It is asking $299.99 for the 16GB model and $349.99 for the 32GB model. While that is $100 more than the other U.S. carriers are charging for each version of the Samsung Galaxy S III (minus AT&T which is not offering a 32GB unit) that extra C-note is coming back to the buyer in the form of a $100 mail-in-rebate. According to U.S. Cellular's website, the Samsung Galaxy S III will ship sometime four to six weeks from today. That would mean that those ordering the phone should expect to receive it anytime between July 12th and July 26th. Those mailing in rebate forms need to have them get to U.S. Cellular before December 18th. We would suggest taking care of the rebate immediately after receiving the phone. Otherwise, it just might slip your mind as you put it off week after week and before you know it, the rebate is over. That's exactly the thinking that U.S. Cellular is counting on.

We could tell you that all U.S. carriers offering the Samsung Galaxy S III have now started accepting pre-orders. We could say that, but we'd be wrong because earlier on Tuesday we told you that another regional carrier, C-Spire, will also be adding the handset to its roster. The mundane details like pricing, available versions, pre-order date and arrival date have not yet been released.

source: U.S.Cellular via AndroidCentral

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The Mac Stack Bundle [Deals]

My favorite deals are the app bundles. A bunch of great apps for a sweet price. Today we have a great mini bundle for you that gives you eye candy (10,000 HD wallpapers!), security (lock down apps on your Mac—great for shared machines!), cleaning (uninstall apps so they are really all gone), entertainment (convert videos to watch on the go), and some back talk (voice narration software) for one low price.

The Mac Stack Bundle give you a nice, inexpensive pack of useful tools for $20. Simple, easy, and done.

Get over 100,000 HD wallpapers with Wallpaper Wizard.Protect your apps from unwanted usage with Mac App Blocker.Uninstall applications, widgets and more with AppDelete.Convert videos the easy way with VidConvert.And get the ultimate voice synthesis with Narrator.

No more surfing the web to find a nice wallpaper that fits your screen – you’ll now have Wallpaper Wizard and its access to a private collection of MORE than 100,000 HD and top quality wallpapers!

With Mac App Blocker, you can password-protect EACH application on your Mac. It keeps your apps and your Mac safe from the many silent but deadly threats out there. Set a timeout value to automatically exit the protected application so even when you leave your computer unattended, you’re still protected.

AppDelete is an uninstaller for Macs that will remove not only Applications but also Widgets, Preference Panes, Plugins and Screensavers along with their associated files. Without AppDelete these associated items will be left behind to take up space and potentially cause issues.

VidConvert is a video converter designed to make converting your videos SIMPLE and EASY. It will convert just about any type of video into one of the many popular formats of today. Creating videos for your iPhone or iPad, for your Mac or TV, or formats such as DivX and MPEG are just a click away with VidConvert!

Narrator brings text to life by reading it to you using voice synthesis – your letter, an ebook, emails, online news – or any text. You can choose different voices, rates, pitches, inflections and volumes for each character you assign, giving your text a wide range of expressiveness.

Take a moment from all the iOS 6 excitement and grab something for your Mac…

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Amazon may soon offer iCloud-like music matching

Amazon may have just launched their cloud-based music app for iOS yesterday, but they aren’t resting on their laurels. CNET is reporting that Amazon is hoping to level the playing field with Apple’s iTunes Match service, and is at an advanced stage of negotiation with the music labels. According to “numerous industry sources” Amazon has already inked agreements with Universal Music Group, EMI, and Sony Music Entertainment. They are reportedly in advanced stages of negotiation with Warner Music Group as well.

Signing deals with the music labels would allow Amazon to instantly match the music on your computer with already existing files in the cloud – letting you skip the current process of uploading your files. The deal is said to be far enough along that Amazon may be able to announce it “in a matter of weeks”. That would certainly make their service more compelling to iOS users, who already have access to Apple’s file-matching implementation, and it might also help Amazon gain traction on Android, where Google Music, which also has to upload users’ music collections, has so far proven to be more popular.

Of course Amazon ships its own tablets based on a forked version of Android, and new (and potentially larger) Kindle Fire models are expected later this year. While we’re sure that Amazon would like to see their music service expand in popularity on other platforms, their biggest goal may be to improve their own mobile computing platform. On that note it will be interesting to see if Amazon’s agreements with the music labels are simply bringing them to parity with Apple’s iCloud, or if Amazon will have some differentiating service to offer its users.

source: CNET via Engadget

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Music App Revamped in iOS 6; Adjusts Reflection on Slider’s Virtual Knob When You Tilt Your iPhone

Apple seems to have revamped quite a few apps in iOS 6 that come bundled with iOS devices. We've already covered the revamped App Store and iTunes Store app, Phone app and the new features and improvements in mobile Safari.

In this article, we take a look at the changes made to the Music app. 

Here are the list of changes:

Just like the iTunes Store and App Store apps, the Music app in iOS 6 also gets the slick new look with the new silver grey theme instead of the traditional blue bar at the top and the black bar at the bottom.The "Now Playing" section gets a black theme.Apple has also tweaked the look and feel of the music buttons.Apple has replaced the the Shuffle icon and text with just the icon in iOS 6, which turns orange when you enable it instead of blue.Here's a change that will blow you away. It was first spotted by a reddit user - streborhcaz who writes:

Launch the iPod app, slightly tilt your phone from side to side (don't rotate) and look at the new metallic sliders. Apple is now using the gyroscope/accelerometer to change the reflection on the slider buttons.

Check the slight change in the reflection on the virtual knob of the slider

Check it out in the video embedded below:

We must admit that it is quite a small change, which most users may not even notice, but we've fallen in love Apple's attention to detail all over again. Kudos to the reddit user for discovering it.

Here're some screenshots of the revamped Music app in iOS 6:

Artists tab

Songs tab

Albums tab

Now Playing

Let us know what you think of the new changes in the Music App especially the effect on the virtual knob on the slider.

Image Credit: iDownloadBlog, CultofMac

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Our Best of Windows Software Page Gets an Update

Recently, we revisited our most popular Best Of page, the Best of Windows Software page (of course) and sifted through your comments with a fine-tooth comb. There were definitely some great suggestions so we decided that it was time to update the page and include your recommendations. We’ve also linked to relevant reviews, making it easier for you to gauge how the particular application works.

The update is now complete! Here’s a list of new apps which are now featured on our Best of Windows Software page:

Lavasoft Ad-Aware+ FreeCalibreCamStudioCobian BackupConnectifyDaemonTools LiteDVDFab HD DecrypterFilezillaFlashGetf.luxGoogle TalkInkscapeWindows Live MeshWindows Live WriterMiPONYMultiCommanderPandora RecoveryPeerblockPlexRainmeterRaptrRIOT – Radical Image Optimization ToolRocketdockSecunia Personal Software InspectorSugarSyncTunnelBearUMPlayerVirtualBoxWunderlistXAMPPXBMCXnViewzeZebra

Read more about these useful applications on our Best of Windows Software page and explore over 166 apps which we deemed to be the best for your Windows PC.

Questions, suggestions, recommendations, and corrections are appreciated. We hope you enjoy browsing through our Best Of pages.

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How Do You Deal With Windows PC Crapware? [You Told Us]

We may be entering the post-PC era, if Apple is to be believed, but many of us still use computers and still choose Windows as our operating system of choice. Whether that will still be the case after the release of Windows 8 remains to be seen, but for now Windows it is.

The problem with buying a new Windows PC from a big manufacturer such as HP, Lenovo, Dell, or Acer is the amount of pre-installed software bundled on the machines. Most of it is useless, and none of it was requested by the buyer, hence why we refer to it as crapware. Thankfully there are solutions to the problem of crapware.

We asked you, How Do You Deal With Windows PC Crapware? The response was brilliant, with dozens of people weighing in with their opinions and suggestions for how to deal with crapware. We thank each and every one of you, as would everybody who is able to make use of the software and other methods for dealing with crapware if they had a platform to show their appreciation.

What follows is the list of programs our readers suggested for cleaning a new PC of the crapware, vendors insist on forcing down our throats. And with no need to pay Microsoft $99 for the privilege:

Suggestions other than using software included building your own PC from scratch, installing Linux instead of Windows, uninstalling unwanted programs manually, and using the publicly available ISOs which give you a fresh install of Windows without any of the various add-ons.

Comment of the week goes to LigJuryJr, who gets nothing but my admiration and respect (which is surely more than anyone needs) for:

Although Windows 7 came installed on my Asus laptop, I re-installed it from one of the publicly available ISOs Microsoft made available. (I’ve heard this doesn’t work for all brands, such as HP.)

Zero crapware!

This was the first comment to mention the publicly available ISOs, and it started a discussion during which they were linked to. This method is the best bet for people serious about starting out with clean machines free of extraneous programs. However, I would urge caution to those who aren’t fully computer-literate. They may find some of the crapware they’re deleting useful and may run into difficulties heading down this route.

We will be asking a new question tomorrow, so please join us then. ‘We Ask You’ is a weekly column dedicated to finding out the opinions of MakeUseOf readers. We ask you a question and you tell us what you think. The question is open-ended and is usually open to debate. Some questions will be purely opinion-based, while others will see you sharing tips and advice, or advocating tools and apps for your fellow MakeUseOf readers. This column is nothing without you, as MakeUseOf is nothing without you.

Image Credit: Florian

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Get Inspired With These 6 Pinterest Contests And Craft Your Own

Utter the word contest and you will immediately get some perked up ears even in a fish market. It’s probably one of the more sweet sounding words next to others like ‘free’ (of course) and ‘giveaways’ (don’t we have so many for you here!). Thanks to Pinterest and the social web of today, you can easily carry along the ‘free’ word with you wherever you plan to launch a contest. Pinterest is the latest playground for playing a few rounds of branding target practice.

The best thing about Pinterest contests is that the social network itself is so visually attractive. The second best thing is that lots of famous brands are hopping on the Pinterest wagon.

The third good thing is that you can easily follow the ones that have come before you, or take a pinprick of inspiration and craft your own Pinterest contest.

The airline company (now with the International Airline Group, who also run British Airways) used the concept of random numbers and a lottery to kick off their Pinterest based branding campaign. At stake is a chance to win free flights to your dream destinations…at least those covered by the airline. The BMI Pinterest page lists number marked pictures from travel spots. You have to pick any and re-pin them onto your image boards. There are no limits on the images you can re-pin, but only the first six will count when BMI picks a number at random (each week) and matches it with the participant who has re-pinned the image that corresponds to that number. The BMI Pinterest contest is still on and it looks like a sweet deal if you are anywhere in the United Kingdom.

One of the more creative Pinterest campaigns I have seen, the carmaker’s board is an eyeful. Peugeot uses the format of a puzzle to cleverly weave in its branding. Different car models are pinned with some parts missing. You have to scour the Peugeot.com site or their Facebook page for the missing (four) pieces. Then you have to create a board and individually pin the images (and arrange them) to complete the jigsaw puzzle. The first five people to complete their boards win prizes. The very arrangement of the different pins and boards is an innovative use of Pinterest.

AMC Theaters are the second largest movie theater chain in North America. I may not be able to take advantage of their services yet, but as I love movies, I love their Pinterest boards. They also keep generating interest with their Pinterest contests. A recent once was around Oscar time when users were asked to ‘pin’ the photo of each of their personal favorites to a board called ‘My Oscar Picks’. The ones whose predictions hit the mark won tickets to the AMC Best Picture Showcase. Their Pinterest account has a board titled – Repin and Win! which is a collection of Giveaways that are on. From a director’s chair autographed by Riley Scott to your favorite Avenger print, there’s a lot you can lay your hands on.

TeachHUB is a  K12 resource site for teachers. Their Pin It To Win It Giveaway was an example of a very simple Pinterest contest – simple in idea and simple in execution. The contest involved re-pinning a specific “Pin It To Win It” image to a new board created by the pinner and named as TeachHUB. The contestant had to fill out a simple form and also follow TeachHUB on Pinterest. Anyone who contributed by recommending teacher websites, apps, or resources on their board ramped up their chances of walking away with the iTunes Gift Cards on offer. The contest is closed.

The Pin Your Inbox contest is one for the newsletter marketers themselves. Marketers are given a URL field on the Pin Your Inbox site where they can give the URL of their email creative to Pin Your Inbox. Pinterest viewers (and the EmailVision community) can view and ‘like’ the ones showcased. The email design with the most gets the prize and its designer gets free creative work from EmailVision.

Yes, Windows did it to. Though the contest is now closed. It was open to U.S. residents only and was all about Windows hardware. The contest involved pinning eligible Microsoft hardware (mouse) images to a created Pinterest board. Minimum pins had to be ten and the winner was picked through a random selection. The winner’s prize was a Microsoft hardware prize package that included the mouse pinned to the board, a LifeCam Studio and an Arc Keyboard. There was also a Nokia Lumia contest on Pinterest which ended in April and followed a similar theme.

The explosion of this new social media tool and its visual scrapbooking style has opened up a new frontier away from Facebook and Twitter. It is visual, so brands are applying some of advertising’s most creative design concepts to capture mind space as these six different examples show. Heck even the Queen’s Golden Jubilee has been turned into a Pinterest contest. This one is over too, but lots more are in the offing.

Keep an eye on these too:

It is difficult to examine the scope of Pinterest’s success yet when it comes to contests, giveaways, and scavenger hunts. That’s for another article. But tell me here; what is your take on Pinterest contests? Do you see a social media phenomenon in the making or are they just cool contests that will just be another set of bookmarks? Also mention any Pinterest contest that you have been a part of or an example of one you would like to craft on Pinterest.

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