According to TUAW, "Apple has given developers a taste of the new iPhone firmware, version 2.2 beta 2, and it includes a host of spiffy new features that are making the rounds online," but that's not something boiling hot, since we talked about the iPhone 2.2 beta here, on BindApple, just a few days ago. Back then, we were talking about the new Google Street View feature, and now we're going to move one step further - today, it's all about podcasting!

Since last month Apple stopped an app called Podcaster from entering the App Store, it seems now things are becoming a bit cleared. TUAW's Robert Palmer continued by writing that "A tipster shared with us some screenshots of the new firmware, including what appears to be the ability to download podcasts directly to your iPhone (and presumably your iPod touch). <-180x150 Small Rectangle - right->This could tidily explain why Apple rejected the Podcaster app last month."

While the iPhone 3G proves to be a really useful blogging tool for those crazy enough to use it for such a purpose(excuse me, but I would rather write a 10,000 words article using my computer's keyboard, instead of a 150 words one, using the iPhone; I am sure I'm not the only one who's feeling this way about it).

Now, podcasting makes things even more interesting - if the iPhone 2.2 will come with support for line-in audio, as it goes the rumor right now, you can even start your own radio station, with the iPhone 3G and a mike. That's great, but I really want to see the iPhone 6.6.6 update coming up, with support for making pancakes. There's no rumor about that, yet, but this is one of my secret iPhone desires...

Today, I will make another confession - I am crazy about grabbing the best deal in town, no matter if we're talking about a car, or a chocolate. That doesn't mean I spend a lot of time shopping, and when it comes to online shopping, it's pretty much the same. Why spend 1 minute buying something, when I can spare some 10-15 extra minutes, and save some money? In the end, it may be possible that the time I waste is not worth the bargain, and to help you avoid such a situation, I have to share with you some of the best deals you can get when looking for cheap MacBooks.

Since talking won't get us anywhere, let's go right to the sweet spot - today's cheap MacBooks! While the best deals can be had by grabbing one of the 13-inch MacBooks, having a MacBook Pro or the Air for less than the usual pricing isn't that bad, either. Less money for the notebook, more for beer. Hooray!<-336x280 Large Rectangle - right->(No, I don't have a drinking problem - I drink, fall down, get up, drink some more, fall down, get up - no problem, you see?)

For starters, Amazon is offering $50 rebates, bringing the 13-inch MacBooks down to the following prices:

13-inch MacBook 2.1GHz (white): $944.00
13-inch MacBook 2.0GHz (unibody): $1244.00
13-inch MacBook 2.4GHz (unibody): $1544.00

While MacMall offers the cheap MacBooks above for exactly the same price, if you don't have any problems with pre-October white MacBooks, you can get one for only $868.99.

Moving up, we find that Amazon can get even more generous, with no less than $100 rebate on the new MacBook Pro, so you can get the 15-inch MacBook Pro for $1864.97(the 2.4GHz unibody) or $2394.00(the 2.53GHz unibody version).

At last, we have the heavyweight models - the Air and the 17-inch Pro, with the first one going as low as $1744.00, for the 1.6GHz model, and $2444.00,  the 1.86GHz one.

At last, while MacMall has the Air models priced just as Amazon, they are also offering the new 17-inch MacBook Pro for $2694.00, after the $100 rebate.

These being said, I hope you have the money to grab one of these beauties, especially if your current Mac lineup doesn't include a notebook, or the one you have begs you with every key pressed to be retired...

When can you call the iPhone "a deal," huh? At $199? Considering the current subscription plans available, not quite. What about a $120 cheap iPhone you can use on any network you want, just like the one pictured below? Well, that's one of the (probably) thousands "iPhone inspired" phones and media players that are flooding the market as we speak, and since Apple's original thing is doin' so well, it seems the Cupertino-based company may (finally!) slash the prices once again!



In a investment note from Needham Research made public yesterday, Charlie Wolf reiterates his belief that the doubled revenue Apple had in the past year leaves them ""considerable flexibility" in dropping the prices of the already cheap iPhone(at least to some - if you don't take the subscription plan pricing into account).

Going one step further, Wolf estimates a selling price of $666 in average(ehem...but isn't that a bit strange? exactly "the number of the beast?" come on!), giving about 50 percent more than the current cost of manufacturing and selling one unit. <-250x250 Square - right->Considering this, if Apple decides to cut the price to only $99, the margin goes down to an extremely comfortable 42.3 percent.

To close this cheap iPhone predictions chapter with the most interesting part, Needham Research went as far as claiming that, if such a price drop happens, "the iPhone... could figuratively take over the smartphone market leaving only niche players like BlackBerry."

If only would AT&T come up with some low-end plans, and those international iPhone carriers who still offer insanely expensive plans would follow their example, then we could really see the cheap iPhone conquering the smartphone market, but until then, the battle is still undecided.

When it comes to cheap MP3 players, Apple and Microsoft are both out of the question. When talking about cheap computers, Microsoft is clearly leading the way, since Windows-based computers are always cheaper than the Macs, but we should also keep in mind Microsoft is not manufacturing any computers by itself. Anyway, I am sure that driver certifications and others similar things bring a lot of money for the Redmond giant, but today we're going to talk about a more interesting part of the Apple vs Microsoft battle...

In most cases, when you hear about Apple vs Microsoft, you think about computers or media players, especially since the popular belief is that Apple is much smaller than Microsoft. No, it's not the truth, although Microsoft's big ones like to talk about the Cupertino-based company vs themselves like General Motors would compare itself to a small grocery. Unfortunately for them, things look quite different, as we're going to see next.

Before moving on, just a reminder - if you think the new Apple ads are not telling the truth, <-250x250 Square - right->then you'd better stop reading this. I am not against Microsoft, and I always said Apple has its good parts, as well as bad ones, and no matter how much I like(or not) the way this battle is being fought, I must confess I admire Apple, and here's why:

- Microsoft claims Apple has less than 5% of the worldwide computer market, but...

- Apple now has more cash than Microsoft

- Apple earns half of Microsoft's profits, and 3/4 of its revenues!

- Apple also reported a cash position of $24.5 billion!

In the last quarter, Microsoft released revenues of $15.06 billion, net profits of $4.37 billion, and a reserve of cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments that added up to $20.7 billion, while Apple reported $7.9 billion in revenues and $1.14 billion in net profit, but this leaves most of the iPhone business out of the equation, since that is hidden away in subscription accounting under GAAP rules. Once the iPhone numbers are added, the previous reported sums go up to $11.68 billion in revenue, and $2.44 billion in net profits.

At last, it should be noted that, when it comes to growth rates, the Apple vs Microsoft fight has a clear winner, since Apple's non-GAAP revenue increase of 75.1% year over year, while Microsoft only had a quarterly revenues growth of 9%.

I don't know what's going to happen in the long run, but if things continue to move in this direction, Microsoft may become a memory sooner than expected...

With good and bad, hopefully with a lot of good things and the bad ones just to remind you what's the difference between the two, you arrived at the end of the week. Obviously, the week doesn't end on Friday, but every day is a new beginning, and this one is the beginning of the end for those tiresome working days, and the dawn of the best days of the week - the weekend... Those working during these weekend, please excuse me for that, but don't go away - this contest starting today is for everyone, as long as you like trying new programs and doing something useful, like synchronizing your data from the Pocket PC or smartphone with your Mac!

If there's something I like more than writing, enjoying my favorite music or surfing the Web, that's playing. Not necessarily games, since I enjoy playing with various software applications and discovering programs I never heard of more than smokin' tires in Project Torque or fighting my way to the final credits in some shooter or role playing game. That's exactly what you'll have to do for this SyncMate contest, but before I give you the details on what you need to do, let me tell you a few things about the prizes...

...since we're not talking about little things here. Just hear this: 3 for free, and 3 for half the price, how's that? I am talking about SyncMate licenses, of course!<-336x280 Large Rectangle - right-> These being said, let's see what needs to be done so that you can have SyncMate before Halloween, shall we?

First, you need to fire up your Mac(that's available for those few of you reading us on the iPhone, or maybe even using a Windows PC), and download SyncMate.

Use the program to do what it was built for(if you ask me, you can even try to download Weird Al Yancovic's discography for free, but I don't think that's going to work), and think about what you'd like to see added in future versions, what should be changed...and maybe you can even find some bugs! You have a full weekend ahead, so don't rush things - take your time to check every little feature and if you have more devices that SyncMate supports, "play" with each one of them.

At last, clear your thoughts, and write them down in an email to send here, and remember to put "SyncMate Contest" in the subject line. That's all you have to do, and if you show that you really know how to write a feedback letter, you can be one of the lucky winners.

Before leaving you to download and enjoy SyncMate, just a brief reminder: 3 free licenses, and 3 with 50% discount, these are the prizes, and all you have to do is write what you like, what you have, and what you would like to be added in future SyncMate versions. Just be sure to send your email before the 30th of the month!

With this, I declare the SyncMate contest officially open, and if you're crazy about freebies, contests, and so on, you may also want to check our Shades iPhone 3G cases giveaway, and your chances of visiting BindApple and grabbing something to remind you of us will increase exponentially. Good luck!