Apple Mac HQ

My wife and I enjoy eating out a few times a week. We aren’t crazy spenders when it comes to eating out, but during a typical week we eat out between 1-3 times. We have a handful of restaurants we visit and rotate visits between those choices. After a while though, it’s easy to get stuck in a rut of visiting the same places. Scoutmob allows us to try new restaurants and save a little cash in the process.

Scoutmob is similar to Groupon in form, but functions a little different. Both Groupon and Scoutmob allow you to experience local restaurants and businesses at a discount, but unlike Groupon, Scoutmob is completely free to use.

Each day, Scoutmob has a different daily deal. You can visit the Scoutmob website and enter your mobile phone number and you’ll receive a text message with the deal information. The deal is good for about 3-4 months, after which it will expire and you cannot use it. You can only claim the deal if you visit the website and enter your mobile number during the time the deal is being offered; unless you have an iPhone. If you have an iPhone, you can download the Scoutmob iPhone App and you can see all current deals (ones that have yet to expire) and there is no need to “claim” the deal.

Using the deal is simple. If you have the text message, just show the text message when you pay and your discount will be applied to your bill. I’ve never used the text message method, but I imagine you have to delete the text message on the spot to prevent reuse. If you have the iPhone App, just open the App, select the deal, and click the “Use This Deal” link. The App will verify your location and then just show the screen to the server.

I’ve used the Scoutmob iPhone App about 3-4 times and have never had a problem getting the discount. The first couple version of the App were horrendously slow, but those problems were fixed some time ago. My only wish for the App would be a way to hide deals I know I’ll never use. Scrolling through the deals can take a while, and having the ability to hide unwanted deals would be a time saver. A simple hide flag would be fairly simple to implement, and a button to removed the “hidden flags” would be a great way to get any accidentally hidden deals back.

Scoutmob is currently offering deals only in Atlanta and New York, but are looking to expand to other cities. The handful of cities they are expanding to next are listed on the Scoutmob homepage. Sign up to be notified if you want to know when they launch in your city. Scountmob is completely free to use, and I highly recommend it.

Popularity: 3%

For a few months now, I’ve been wishing for a Groupon iPhone app. Recently, the folks behind Groupon have granted my wish. The free Groupon iPhone app (iTunes link) is now available.

If you’re not familiar with Groupon, it’s essentially a group coupon purchasing website. Each day in a number of large cities across the United States, there is a daily deal. The deal is essentially a gift certificate/coupon to the location featured that day. You have the remainder of the day to purchase the deal before it changes, but enough people need to purchase the deal before the coupon is issued. If the required number of people don’t purchase the deal, you aren’t charged and the coupon is not issued. I’ve never seen a deal not purchased by enough people to trigger the deal however. The deals vary by city, as does the cost, value, and expiration date of the deal.

Up until now, you had to login to the website to purchase the Groupon. Once you purchased the Groupon, you had to print it and present it to your server/cashier. With the release of the iPhone app, you can now purchase and redeem the Groupon right on your phone!

After opening the app, you select your city and the daily deal will be shown. You can sign in with your existing Groupon login, create a new login, or sign in with Facebook Connect. Once signed in, you can see your existing Groupons and purchase new ones. When using a Groupon, your iPhone displays the same code that the printed out Groupon displays. The retailer just needs to verify your code and then you receive the value of the coupon.

I enjoy Groupon as it gives my wife and I a chance to visit different restaurants and save some cash. We don’t eat out a lot, but Groupon has provided good motivation for getting us to try different places. If you live in one of the cities with a Groupon site, I highly suggest you check them out.

Popularity: 5%

Sophiestication Software is celebrating the 3rd anniversary of its terrific iTunes companion application, CoverSutra, with a sale. Through January 27th you can get CoverSutra for $5, which is 75% off the regular price.

CoverSutra has many great features, including Last.fm scrobbling, spotlight-esque searching of your iTunes library from the toolbar, cover displaying on the desktop and the dock, and much more.

I finally made the plunge and purchased CoverSutra and am not disappointed. The sale price is valid for all versions of CoverSutra, including 1.2 for Tiger and 2.22 for Leopard and Snow Leopard. Free upgrades are available until version 3.0 is released.

Popularity: 2%

If there is one thing us Mac users can count on, it is that every couple months there will be some kind of software bundle/deal offered. The deals vary in applications and methods. Some deals are a flat fee and you get the entire lot of applications. Other deals give a sliding discount based on how many applications you buy, the more applications you buy the bigger the discount.

The Mac Bundle Box is the former type of deal. For $49 you get 13 applications. The entire bundle is valued at over $300 and includes:

• Relationship
• Code Collector Pro
• DrawIt
• Espionage
• Cover Stream
• DEVONnote
• QuickScale
• Project Calculator
• Transcriva
• Magnet
• Involver
• Stuf
• Blog Assist

If you in the market for a few of these applications, it makes the price of the bundle very attractive. I don’t need any of the applications myself so I’ll pass on this particular bundle. The folks behind Mac Bundle Box are donating %5 of each sale to charity: water. charity: water is a non-profit devoted to bringing clean water to people in developing nations.

The bundle will run for 11 days according to the website, but I don’t see a mention on when that “timer” started.  If you’re interested in a few of the applications, it’s probably better to buy early than later.

Popularity: 23%

1Password is perhaps the most frequently used application on my Mac. What is 1Password? 1Password is the ultimate password manager for Mac. You’re able to manage all your web passwords across every browser on your Mac. There is even a free 1Password iPhone/iPod touch application that syncs your 1Password logins and passwords.

1Password is currently offering a buy one get one free license sale. In addition to that, 1Password is also 15% off (use this link) the $39.95 regular price.

For the readers of Apple Mac HQ, I’ve got a deal for you too. Just leave a comment on this post with a reason why you want a copy of 1Password. I’ll draw a winner randomly from the comments and send you a free 1Password license. The deadline for your comments are tomorrow (Sunday Nov 30th) at 6PM EST.

Popularity: 17%

Today only, save 25% off Remote Buddy, the application that turns your Apple Remote (and Wiimote) into the ultimate universal remote for your Mac. With Remote Buddy, you can use the Apple Remote to control a huge list of Mac applications like Aperture, Camino, Delicious Library, iCal, Keynote, Last.fm, Lightroom, NetNewsWire, Voodoo Pad, and many more! Remote Buddy also includes a cool AJAX remote application for your iPhone or iPod touch.

This offer is available for one day only, so hurry up if you’re interested in purchasing Remote Buddy. The sale price is about 15€ which is around $19 USD.

Popularity: 12%

Tomorrow (November 28th) is probably the busiest shopping day of the year. Retailers look forward to the beginning of the holiday shopping season, and that season begins tomorrow with Black Friday.

Like every other retailer, Apple will be offering some deals tomorrow. Since it’s already Friday in Australia, TUAW is reporting that the best offer in the Australian online store is a discount on the new unibody Macbook. It’s likely Apple will run the same deals across all countries they do business in.

The discounts in the AU store include:

• Macbook
• iMac
• 8GB Nano
• iPod Classic
• 8GB iPod touch
• Apple TV
• Time Capsule
• iPod and iPhone cases
• Other Mac accessories

If you need to shop for the Apple fan in your life this holiday season, tomorrow is likely the best day to do so!

Update 11/28/08: Here’s the link for the Black Friday deals page on the US Apple website.  Just replace the two character country code with your country to see the deals listed for your country.

Popularity: 16%