Apple Mac HQ

The folks behind MacHeist, the spy themed software bundle, are getting ready to kick off another event. Details are sparse right now, except the fact that the software bundle sale begins on March 2nd, 2010. The updated website does provides a few clues about what applications might be included with the bundle. The boxes moving across the screen contain application icons for RipIt, Flow, and several other icons for applications I’m not familiar with.

If you visit the MacHeist website right now, you’ll be able to grab a free copy of the Snow Leopard only application Squeeze. From the Squeeze website: “Squeeze is a background file compressor, which uses the new HFS-compression technology in Snow Leopard to transparently compress the folders you configure it to process. Mac OS will read those files normally, they will just take less disk space.”

If you aren’t familiar with MacHeist, you can see our previous coverage of it HERE.

It must be nearing the holiday season because the software bundles are coming. This time however, the bundle is totally free. The folks at MacHeist are giving away a “nanoBundle” for absolutely nothing. So what are they giving away?

• ShoveBox
• WriteRoom
• Twitterrific
• TinyGrab
• Hordes of Orcs
• Mariner Write

The first 5 applications are available free of charge right now. Mariner Write will be unlocked when 500,000 nanoBundles are downloaded. If share a quick status update on Facebook, you can also get VirusBarrier X5 for free.

The free nanoBundle ends in just 1 day, so get your free applications quickly. Visit MacHeist for more information.

If you’re familiar with MacHeist, you probably know that the whole point of the event is to sell lots and lots of software bundles for an insanely low price. Each bundle as a few killer applications that for most people, make the decision to purchase the bundle a no brainier. Oh wait, you don’t know what MacHeist is? Visit the MacHeist website for details.

Without further waiting, here are the contents of the MacHeist 3 bundle:

• iSale
• Picturesque
• SousChef
• World of Goo
• PhoneView
• LittleSnapper
• Acorn
• Kinemac
• WireTap Studio – Unlocked after $100,000 is raised for charity
• BoinxTV – Unlocked after $100,000 is raised for charity
• The Hit List – Unlocked after an unspecified goal is hit
• Espresso – Unlocked after an unspecified goal is hit
• Big Bang Board Games – For the first 25,000 buyers only

The bundle is cheaper this year, only $39 USD. The entire bundle retails for over $550 so if you find one or two applications you want, the bundle is probably worth it. Me? I’m not sure yet. I have many applications that are similar to those offered in the bundle. For the time being I’m going to wait and see if anything is added to sweeten the deal.

The crew behind MacHeist are at it again. This time, the Mac Giving Tree is giving away free Mac applications. Just visit the Mac Giving Tree and sign in if you’re an existing MacHeist user, or register if you’re not. Once you sign in, you’ll get Enigmo 2 and Synergy for free. Come back on Christmas Day and you’ll get some more free goodies.

If you stay on the Mac Giving Tree website, you may notice that iPhone App icons are growing out of the tree. When they start to wiggle, just click the wiggling icon for a chance to win the application. This giveaway uses App Store promo codes, so the free iPhone Apps are US only. I’ve clicked on about 10 iPhone App icons and I haven’t won yet. Good luck to all and thanks to MacHeist for the free goodies.

It seems like every other week when a large Mac software bundle/deal comes along. I’ve participated in one of those deals, and wouldn’t hesitate to again if the right software was involved. I recently found out about yet another Mac software deal.

Mac Mix is a tiered discount promo. The website is very clean and has some nice JavaScript touches. Browsing the website is easy. Buying between one and twelve applications will net you a discount of between 10% – 75% off. The more you buy the more you save.

Here is a sampling of applications included in this promo:

• Parallels
• MacGourmet
• Yep
• iBank
• ForkliftTextExpander
• And more

Checkout the Mac Mix website for more details about the applications available and the discount amounts. I’ve been thinking about buying at least one or two of these applications so I might stop by the website and do some shopping.

[Via TUAW]

If you’ve been reading the blog for more than a few months, no doubt you heard me talk about MacHeist before. The folks behind MacHeist released a boxless “retail bundle” recently. Basically it’s like the other MacHeist software bundles but without the hoopla involved; missions, locked applications, etc.

The bundle includes 12 applications and will set you back $49 USD. The bundle will be on sale for a “limited time”, but no word on exactly how long it will last. Here’s a list of the applications included:

Awaken
Cha-Ching
CoverSutra
DEVONthink Personal
iClip
Overflow
Wallet
WriteRoom
XSlimmer
Enigmo
Bugdom 2
Nanosaur 2

I purchased the last MacHeist bundle but I’m going to skip this one. While there is no denying the value of the bundle, there just doesn’t seem to be that “must have” or killer app to take it over the top. Both the previous MacHeist bundle contained that one applications that pretty much sealed the deal to purchase it. While that killer application will vary from user to user, an application like TextMate or Pixelmator can really bring in the buyers.

The bundle is on sale now and you can buy it HERE.

One category of software that I’ve come to rely on recently is money management software. A few years ago I was single and had to keep track of only one bank account, one credit card, one checkbook, and one person. Since I’ve gotten married, I found a definite need to keep track not only of how much money we have, but where it’s going, and when it’s leaving our bank account. I’m going to review two popular Mac money management applications and hopefully this review will help you decide which is right for you. Throughout this review if you see a picture that appears small, clicking on the picture will bring up a larger one.

For the last half of 2007, I used a product called iBank. As I came to rely on iBank more and more, I also began to notice its strengths and weaknesses. I relied on iBank so much, that I named it one of the applications I couldn’t live without in 2007. iBank was missing one feature that would make it complete (more on that later), and because of that I decided to look at another application.

Included in the MacHeist bundle was an application that initially I didn’t think much about, Cha-Ching. Cha-Ching is billed as a “fun and easy to use money manager with a slick interface”. Since I was using iBank, I didn’t really have a need for Cha-Ching. As I began to make a budget for 2008 however, I decided to give Cha-Ching a try.

Application Information
In this comparison I’m using Cha-Ching 1.2.2 and iBank 2.3.12. Pricing for Cha-Ching is $40, while iBank will set you back $50. You can download a transaction limited demo of each application from the developers websites. In addition to the current release, each developer is working on a beta version of the next version of their software.

Supported Accounts
Both Cha-Ching and iBank support checking, savings, credit card accounts. In addition to those, iBank also supports an investment account and even liability and asset accounts. Each program uses a simple add account dialog box to setup a new account. Edge: iBank

Read the rest of this entry »