freebies

iPhone Deal of the Day: Five App Store freebies

I love free stuff, and it seems like each day brings a wealth of new free goodies to the iPhone App Store. Here's a look at five notable apps that won't cost you a cent (at least for now--some are free only temporarily, so get 'em while you can).

20! Top Man Things Men Must Know If you can excuse the sexist, unwieldy title, you'll find some undeniably useful information here: how to bandage a wound, perform basic CPR, fix a flat, and so on. (Note to developer: Why not call it 20 Top Things Everyone Should … Read more

Win (and promote) iPhone apps at AppGiveaway

If you're an iPhone/iPod Touch user who likes to win free stuff or an iPhone developer who wants to generate some buzz about your product(s), look no further than AppGiveaway.

True to its name, AppGiveaway lets developers give away promo codes--and lets users register to win them. It's like eHarmony meets the App Store meets, um, some site that holds contests. Thankfully, there's no cost for either party.

The site offers new giveaways every day. And not just one measly app: there were seven added today alone.

To throw your name into the virtual drop-entry-form-here … Read more

Five free iPhone apps that can improve your life

Apps like Evernote, Shazam, and Mint get all the glory, but there are plenty of other productivity-boosting, life-improving apps out there. Here's a roundup of five I'm loving right now--and because I'm a cheapskate (as well as The Cheapskate), they're all freebies.

6500+ Cool Facts Whether you're a trivia buff or just looking to learn more about the world, this nifty little app delivers. Read a fact, then tap the screen to move on to the next one. That's the entire interface--you can't save favorites or return to previous facts--but so what? Knowledge … Read more

Score the best deals on iPhone e-books

I love reading books on my iPhone, but I don't love e-book prices. I mean, digital content requires no printing, binding, shipping, storage, or heavy lifting--so why does Amazon charge the same price for the Kindle edition of "The Kite Runner" as for the paperback?

That's a debate for another day (though let me go on record saying I'd buy a lot more e-books if they were priced in the $1 to $4 range). For now, let's look at ways you can read on the cheap--or, at least, the cheaper--on your iPhone.

Look for freebies Stanza, one of my favorite e-book viewers ( just acquired by Amazon, incidentally), connects you with thousands of freebies. For example, check out the Random House Free Library, which currently stocks 10 mainstream e-books. (Best bet: Charlie Huston's superb crime-noir series, which starts with "Caught Stealing.") Meanwhile, there's Google Book Search, a browser-based solution that connects you to a whopping 1.5 million public-domain books. Point Safari to http://books.google.com/m. Look for deals E-bookseller Fictionwise already discounts its e-books, but you can stretch your dollar even further by setting up a "Micropay" account (i.e., a debit account). Most books come with a Micropay rebate, meaning you get 10 percent to 15 percent of the purchase price added back to your account. But sometimes Fictionwise runs rebate specials, as it's doing right now with J.R.R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" series: Buy any/all of the books and you get back 100 percent. You can read Fictionwise e-books using eReader or Stanza. (Just make sure to choose titles that are available in the Secure eReader format.) Try before you buy Amazon's Kindle app lets you read free of charge the entire first chapter of any book in the Kindle Store. That's a great way to see if you like a book before plunking down your $10. However, you can't browse the store from within the app: You have to queue up your sample chapters from your browser. Not so with Shortcovers, an e-book viewer with a built-in bookstore that offers sample chapters for many titles (but only forewords for others).… Read more

Six killer iPhone freebies

NPR, e-books, and auto-repair, oh my! The fantastic iPhone (and iPod Touch) freebies just keep on coming. Here's a look at six apps that have earned a permanent home on my handset. (Note: All links go directly to the iTunes Store.)

Kindle for iPhone Though not perfect in its 1.0 release, the Kindle app brings Amazon's 240,000-strong e-book library to your iPhone--and that alone is reason to celebrate. Don't knock it till you've tried it. Lose It! Trying to lose weight? Forget the diet du jour: It all boils down to math. If you … Read more

Six must-have iPhone freebies

How do I love thee, iPhone (and iPod Touch)? Let me count the ways. Hmmm. Well, space doesn't permit me to list all 12,503, so I'll settle for six. As in, six free apps you absolutely positively gotta get. (Note: as with my previous batch of iPhone freebies, all links go straight to iTunes.)

Mancala FS5 I love the Mancala board game, and this iPhone edition is even better. It teaches beginners the basics, automatically moves your beads, and supports Internet multiplayer! (You can even play against your AIM buddies.) Consider splurging on the $1.99 full version to enjoy ad-free play. NPR Mobile Though not an official NPR app, it lets you browse broadcasts by topic, series, and even commentator, then stream to your heart's content. It can also do a location search, great for when you're traveling and want to tune the car radio to the nearest NPR station. Slacker Radio Best. Streaming music app. Ever. I know some folks prefer Pandora, but I've always loved the Web-based Slacker and its robust custom-station building. The new iPhone app (pictured) is just plain fantastic. Read my full review here. Sportacular At the risk of ruining my geek cred, I do follow (and even play) some sports. Sportacular gives you scores, standings, schedules, stats, and more. It also lets you designate favorite teams so you can track them more easily.… Read more

Seven awesome iPhone freebies

As a mostly ecstatic new iPhone owner, I've spent considerable time checking out--you guessed it--the hundreds of freebie apps available from iTunes. Here's a list of seven I'm loving right now. (Note: all links are for iTunes.)

AroundMe Instantly find nearby banks, gas stations, coffee shops, and other businesses and services. Dashbuster Manage your Blockbuster or Netflix queue anytime, anywhere. Great for those times when a friend recommends a movie and you think, "Yeah, I gotta rent that." Movies This Flixster-powered app finds cineplexes near you, then serves up show times, trailers, and even upcoming … Read more

Matrix fans wait all night for the red HD pill

LONDON--Last week, we mentioned that HMV Oxford Street was the place to go this morning if you were a Matrix fan and wanted to pick up a free HD DVD player (the Toshiba HD-E1) with your purchase of the box set.

We were expecting this to be a popular promotion, but we were blown away by exactly how many people were prepared to queue all night in a filthy alley just off Oxford Street in order to snag a free player.

The queue was full at 5 a.m., and then it was just a matter of the fans standing … Read more