1. Get the right tunes

Whatever music source you use, get in the groove during your workouts. My favorite right now is Pandora radio, since I find variety an excellent motivator when working out.
A good set of Bluetooth headphones is also probably a wise investment, since they prevent cords from getting caught during activity. My favorite right now is the Jabra Sport. Not only does it do audio and voice, but it also does FM so I can tune into the TV audio at the gym.

I also recommend Yurbuds. You send Yurbuds a picture of your ear and they match a product for a near perfect fit. The plastic molding is grippy and stays in your ears even while sweating. They also channel the sound directly into your ear and block out some of the background noise.

2. Track what you eat

Start with small steps tracking what you eat simply by taking a picture. Mealsnap is great for this. Being aware of what you eat and making it a habit is a great place to start.

When you’ve got that habit and want to start counting calories, the Lose It! app is a good choice. While I’m still a big fan of Livestrong’s calorie tracker, the excessive ads and upsells on their website became a turn off. Lose It! is free and has a clean, simple interface. It also can give you reminders if you don’t log meals.

Another key feature of Lose It! is that it can interact with other devices, such as the Withings WiFi Body scale and the Fitbit (more about that later).

3. Track what you do

Eating is only one side of the weight loss equation. How much you burn (or don’t burn) in a given day is the reason why the person next to you eats so much and stays slim, while you just even look at a bagel and gain three pounds. Both Lose It! and Livestrong Calorie Tracker will allow you to enter exercises, but don’t take into account more passive daily activities. While a pedometer will help, why use analog when digital is more fun?

The FitBit tracker ($99) is at heart a pedometer, but with added features. It tracks how many steps you take and uses your basal metabolic rate to determine how many calories you’re burning. The FitBit also uses gamification techniques, such as badge rewards you can tweet and share on Facebook, to keep you motivated. It can also be used as a clock and a stopwatch to track your workout routines.

I also like the fact you can get instant readouts to check your goals with the Fitbit; when you see you’re a few steps short of your daily goal you might decide to take that far away parking spot, or take the stairs instead of the elevator. Best of all, FitBit integrates with Lose It! so that way your activities and food log are shared between the two programs, giving you much more accurate results.

4. Break through the plateau with monitoring

Often, people attempting weight loss will hit a plateau. I faced that simply because my body adapted to the changes in my routine. The way to break through is not to look simply at your level of activity, but also at how hard your body is working.

The new Garmin ANT+ adapter for the iPhone along with the Garmin Fit App is a great way to do that. ANT+ is a widely adopted standard for monitoring devices, and in particular heart monitors. Some trainers have them, or you can purchase them independently. With a heart monitor you can determine exactly how hard your exercises are, and set accurate goals regarding heart rate and calories burned. That digital readout on the treadmill or elliptical is only an estimate, while a heart monitor combined with data you provide it can give you a much more accurate accounting of how hard you’re working.

The Garmin iPhone app keeps data for each session so you can compare. Some days I focus on distance, or pace on others, and always try to keep my heart rate in the zone. As I became more physically fit, I had to push myself harder to keep the same results. Gamification of weight loss through statistics helped me quickly punch through the plateau by changing my workouts.

5. Get a good night’s sleep

Let’s face it, if you don’t get a good night’s sleep, you don’t feel like tracking your food and you don’t feel like working out. Your Mac can help with that.

The free program F.Lux will dim your Mac’s monitor to match sundown and sunrise, thereby giving you visual clues it’s evening. Bright light says “wake up” while gentle reduction in brightness says “it’s time for bed.” I also wrote about how to use parental controls to keep you on task, and force you to stop working at a specified period of time. If you really want to focus yourself, turn off the Internet on your Mac at a scheduled hour.

For tracking your sleep, you can see my round-up of hardware devices here. The FitBit also tracks sleep. You can then use the sleep data to help you focus on why you had a “good” or a “bad” day.You can then modify your eating habits and workout schedule to achieve better sleep results.

You can also use apps like Pzizz to help you feel mor restful. The software generates unique “sound journeys” to help you transition from hectic day to gentle night.

If your sleeping partner doesn’t want to hear these sounds, there’s a solution. First you need some SleepPhones. This soft headband includes a set of integrated speakers and can plug directly into a headphone jack. Then attach a BlueBridge mini-jack RX to the SleepPhones. Now you’ve got an effective wireless solution for nighttime audio that won’t endanger your partner’s rest or your Apple gear.

Got any tips of your own for using your Apple devices to meet your fitness goals? Let us know in the comments.

Disclaimer: This isn’t medical advice, just one Apple enthusiast’s perspective and vendors mentioned provided items for review. Always check with your medical professional before starting an exercise program.

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This is the ultimate roundup of essential apps for your iPhone from 2009.

Best Game: Rolando 2: Quest for the Golden Orchid

The sequel to 2008′s Rolando expands on the tilt ‘n’ swipe platforming action of the original. This time round, we’re brought an entire troupe of colorful Rolando characters to protect, alongside a tropical island inhabited by new baddies and a lost Rolando tribe. The artwork is gorgeous, the gameplay is excellent and, thanks to NGMoco’s Plus+ awards system, it’s got bags of replay value too.

Runners-Up Best Game: Gangstar: West Coast Hustle, Doodle Jump

Best Social & Communications App: Tweetie 2

Having formed his own development studio after working at the Cupertino campus, Loren Brichter has established himself as one of the premier App Store developers. Brichter’s skill is feeding his experience at Apple into his apps, Twitter client Tweetie 2 is an impressive showcase of his ability to distill a feature-rich experience into an app with a clear user interface. The app also rolls in a few unexpected new features including video tweeting, profile management and improved location-based searches.

Runners-Up Best Social Communications App: Skype, foursquare

Best Use of Push Notifications: Boxcar

Despite the arrival of push notifications on iPhone earlier this year, it’s still taking many developers time to implement these handy pop-up notifiers in their apps. There’s no push for most Twitter clients, no Facebook push and not even native email push from Apple. Boxcar is the missing push notifier for your favorite apps. The app includes push for Twitter, email, Facebook, RSS and even Growl.

Runners-Up Best Use of Push Notifications: NotifyMe, Ping!

Best News App: Byline

Under the hood, the app updates with the latest news in seconds, syncing happily with Google Reader. Unlike other news readers, while Byline is updating with the latest news, you’re able to keep browsing articles without suffering from any lag. It’s certainly not the most feature-rich news reader, but Byline brings together a clean interface with a robust RSS reader.

Runners-Up Best News App: The Guardian, Newstand

Best Use of Content: NFB Films

The National Film Board of Canada have brought a vast quantity of their video content to the iPhone, all of it wrapped in an easy-to-use free app. There are over a thousand videos available to browse, soak up and send to friends: from documentaries and animations to shorts and trailers for forthcoming releases.

Runners-Up Best Use of Content: McSweeney’s, Panelfly

Best Video App: ReelDirector

Apple may be stalling on bringing iMovie to the iPhone, but that’s nothing to worry about thanks to ReelDirector. With it’s powerful features, the app enables you to edit video footage into your own shorts before sending your latest amateur epic to your friends. In particular, the selection of high quality video transitions really add to the wow effect.

Runners-Up Best Video App: UStream Live Broadcaster, iTimeLapse

Best Photography App: Photoforge

Just like ReelDirector brings video editing to the iPhone, PhotoForge does the same for your photography. First-time users will be drawn to the impressive array of filters on offer, including Blur, Tilt Shift, Simulated HDR and Lomo. Once you’ve got to grips with the filters, there’s also a selection of Photoshop-style tools, including smudge, clone and brushes in a variety of shapes.

Runners-Up Best Photography App: Flickr, QuadCamera

Best Sound App: I Am T-Pain

The year’s most over-used and perhaps abused audio-effect, the auto-tune, has landed on iPhone as Smule’s I Am T-Pain. The app essentially makes even the most cat-screechingly awful singer sound as perfectly tuned as Kanye West. Most importantly, you’ll need absolutely no musical ability to have fun with this brilliant sound toy.

Runners-Up Best Sound App: Mujik, Touch DJ

Best Productivity Tool: NotifyMe

If you’re all about organization and productivity, NotifyMe will keep up-to-date with your task list. Thanks to a sleek user interface and ultra-fast startup time, there’s very little friction between you and the app, meaning you can be entering tasks and then getting back to work in moments. When it’s time to get a task done, the app will send you a push notification, plus there’s even a snooze option (perfect for habitual procrastinators).

Runners-Up Best Productivity Tool: Quickoffice, Pastebot

Best Lifestyle App: Jamie Oliver’s 20 Minute Meals

Jamie Oliver brings cooking to the iPhone and true to his style, the entire app is friendly, fun and approachable. There are currently 55 delicious recipes in the app, each one can be whipped up in 20 minutes. To help you along the way, in addition to a range of quick kitchen tutorials recorded by Jamie himself, there’s an interactive shopping list tool and portion calculator.

Runners-Up Best Lifestyle App: Couch to 5K, I Am Safe

Best Utility: Dropbox

The Dropbox service brought off-site backup to the masses. On the desktop, it runs in the background, securing your files and even letting you share them with friends, colleagues and clients with a couple of quick clicks. Although long-awaited, the iPhone app didn’t disappoint. You can browse your Dropbox using the app, plus share files and even save specific content to your iPhone for quick access.

Runners-Up Best Utility: OpenMaps, TimeTuner

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This week’s picks are all about distractions, I’ve selected four apps to take your mind off everything else. My top pick is NFB Films, the National Film Board of Canada’s official iPhone app. Plus I’ve also been looking at Jamie Oliver’s 20 Minute Meals, Rebtel and Mr. Bounce.

NFB Films (Free)

Knowing little about the National Film Board of Canada, I was admittedly drawn to the app for other reasons. You see, I’m a long-time fan of Boards of Canada, a Scottish duo who make crackling, whistful electronic music. The pair are known for borrowing samples — and even their name — from Canada’s NFB.

The app itself has absolutely nothing to do with the musicians. It’s actually a meticulously archived selection of videos plucked from the National Film Board of Canada’s brimming library. There’s both classic and current content, organized into categories such as Classics, Documentaries, Animated Films and Social Issues. It’s worth noting that these aren’t clips — the videos are feature-length presentations.

For such a vast quantity of content, it’s encouraging that the app is focused on usability. Browsing content feels just like Apple’s own iPod app, you can mark videos to be watched later, or send to a friend too. There’s even a button to find out what other nearby users are watching. And all this for free, too. It’s really quite brilliant. It’s a truly wonderful app and the NFB should be commended for allowing us all access to such a fantastic collection.

Jamie Oliver’s 20 Minute Meals ($7.99)

Cooking might not be everyone’s idea of fun but, for the non-believers, I can assure you that once you get started it’s a joy. There’s nothing quite like creating a gorgeous looking plate of food and then, in the process of devouring it, discovering that it’s actually quite tasty too.

The turning point for me came after I attempted Jamie Oliver’s recipe for pan-fried tuna steak with fresh asparagus wrapped in pancetta. Before that, the extent of my cooking ability was scrambled egg. Or omelette if I happened to get distracted and forgot to do the scrambling. For me, Jamie made cooking easy and accessible. A pleasure instead of a complex chore.

The iPhone app is essentially a Jamie Oliver cookbook infused with a dollop of multimedia goodness. There are 50 recipes included, all of which can be thrown together in 20 minutes. Each recipe features mouth-watering step-by-step photos and audio clips from Jamie too. There’s even a range of videos presented by Jamie to help you learn essential kitchen skills. A proper pukka package, as the man himself might say.

Rebtel (Free)

News broke a couple of weeks back that AT&T is finally ready to allow Internet voice calls over its wireless network. What this means for iPhone users in the U.S. is that soon you’ll be able to make calls using the Skype app over 3G.

We’re still waiting for the news to manifest itself in an actual Skype app update, furthermore it’s unclear whether carriers across Europe will follow suit with AT&T. This is where VOIP service Rebtel comes in. The company claim that their new app allows super-cheap VOIP calls on the iPhone today.

Except the app doesn’t quite do that. What it actually does is uses a smart workaround to create a clever compromise. When you call a contact using Rebtel, the app automatically generates a local number which your call is routed through. It’s essentially an automated version of the Skype To Go service.

Mr Bounce (99 cents)

The last of my devastatingly distracting picks this week comes in the form of a game. Mr Bounce gives Atari’s oft-cloned Breakout an intriguing physics-based twist. Rather than just controlling the bat, you also control the ball’s altitude.

Initially it feels complicated. Like a physicists re-imagining of a classic game. Changing the altitude effectively changes the bounciness of the ball. There’s also trajectory projection, so you can see the path that the ball will follow. The game is even rendered with an RGB aesthetic and glowing vector geometry.

Once you’ve traversed the first few levels though, the game clicks and you’ll be guided through 25 excellent levels by the catchy blippy bloppy soundtrack. Great fun and great value too as Mr Bounce is currently only 99 cents.

That’s all the picks for this week. I’ll be back in seven days with a fresh selection of App Store recommendations.

In the meantime, what apps have you been using this week?

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A hand-picked selection of the latest releases for iPhone? Plus, a handy summary of Apple news from the past seven days? We’ve got it all, you lucky person, you.

Despite the deluge of announcements at last week’s WWDC, we’ve had no time to rest this week, either. Indeed, the news hasn’t stopped rolling in, so before we get to the iPhone picks, let’s look at this week’s Apple news.

First up, put on your dancing shoes and shimmy around the room, for it’s time to celebrate: iPhone OS 3.0 has been released. Head on over to iTunes pronto to download and upgrade. Notable new features include copy/paste, Spotlight and shake to undo. For a full feature list, check out this post.

My iPhone Twitter client of choice, Tweetie, met some unexpected competition this week when TweetDeck’s official iPhone app was launched at the App Store. The new app rolls in many of the features from TweetDeck’s big brother on OS X, plus it squeezes in a natty card-swishing interface reminiscent of the Palm Pre.

Our own Tom Reetsman has been playing rebel fanboy this week: In a bid to secure himself an iPhone 3G S on release day, he ordered not one, but two of Apple’s new devices. But before you go placing multiple pre-orders, check out Charles Jade’s excellent piece on selling your old iPhone. He covers all the details to ensure you quickly sell off your stodgy old iPhone 3G.

Before most folk could even get their iPhone 3G S out of the gorgeous recycled eco-friendly packaging and breath in the sweet scent of freshly unboxed Apple hardware, news has already rolled in about the next iPhone to be released. Rumor has it that the device will have a super zippy dual-core processor, meaning that, by the time it gets released, the S on iPhone 3G S will probably stand for slow.

And finally, Apple fired a major warning shot at the Palm Pre, a device that I feel is the iPhone’s most viable competitor. A new technical note was released this week, implying that Apple will soon disable syncing between iTunes and the Palm Pre. For me, the Pre’s tight integration and communication with iTunes was a major advantage for the device; it’ll be interesting to see how Palm responds when Apple pulls the plug.

Moving on to the picks, this week I’ve been looking at Whole Foods Market Recipes, WikiHow, Speed Racer 1, and Bomberman Touch 2.

Whole Foods Market Recipes (Free)
Besides frequently napping and tweeting on my iPhone, eating is one of my favorite ever pursuits. It’s nourishing and fun, plus, if I make the meal myself, it’s oh so satisfying. Which brings me on to cooking, a pursuit which is almost as fun as eating. Back at the start of this year, living in London, I did my weekly shopping over at Whole Foods. Their new app rolls in a Google Maps-powered store finder with an extensive recipe book. And best of all, you can enter in the ingredients you have and it’ll find you something yummy to make. It’s even got options for those on special diets, such as vegan and gluten-free. Budding chefs should definitely download this new release.

wikiHow (Free)
It may have been released back in March, but this app is just so interesting, I had to recommend it to you. Traditional how-to manuals can feel somewhat outdated, so some clever folks have created a massive wiki (à la Wikipedia) containing a guide for how to do just about anything. In the past few minutes I’ve learned how to play Zombie Tag, how to crochet my own leg warmers, and how to make a shelter in the wilderness — all of which, I realize, are essential skills come the inevitable zombie apocalypse. Setting the undead aside for just a moment, if all this DIY stuff sounds like your bag, the iPhone version of wikiHow contains all the how-to goodness of the web site in one free app.

Speed Racer 1 ($1.99)
A few weeks back, I recommended Go! Manga, an app that contained a veritable treasure trove of classic comics, all for free. One thing I did wonder about was the legality of the app and, sure enough, only a few days ago Go! Manga was shut down due to copyright claims. I’m always suspicious of seeing big-name content — videos or comics — available cheap or free on the App Store. However, potential purchasers of this app will be pleased to note that Zoo Vision, the folks behind Speed Racer 1, seem to be doing animé the legit way. The app lets you view a classic episode of Speed Racer — the original 1967 series — although two bucks does seem a little pricey for a single episode.

Bomberman Touch 2 ($2.99)
It’s somewhat strange that, while ngmoco, a relative newcomer to game publishing, has managed to release a steady stream of excellent games, creating new characters and brands in the process, a seriously experienced company such as Hudson Soft has been slow to exploit its classics on the iPhone. Finally, an entire year after the release of the original Bomberman Touch for iPhone, Hudson has squeezed out the sequel. This game includes Bluetooth-enabled multiplayer battle mode, alongside tons of new maps and features. Due to the slightly dodgy controls, this release will be best-suited to fans of the original.

That’s all the picks for this week. I’ll be back in another seven days with more news from the week and picks from the App Store.

In the meantime, what apps have you been using this week?

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Feeling the cash crunch around this particular time? Not to worry, most of the applications mentioned here are free or just a couple bucks. A nice print-out of your gift tucked or wrapped nicely in a festive Father’s Day envelope will more than likely communicate your genuine appreciation for your dad. So since all dads are obviously not the same, breeze through our list and find our top picks for your kind of dad.

The Stay at Home Dad

iHandy Level (Free)
For the Stay-at-Home Handy Dad — utility belts and their attachments are so passé! Consider surprising your stay-at-home Dad this Father’s Day with gadgets that reside in his iPhone.

iHandy Level is a free application brought to you by iHandySoft Inc. This stunning application exploits the iPhone’s Accelerometer and Proximity sensor to bring your stay-at-home Handy Dad a truly unique handyman experience. From balancing and centering picture frames on the wall, to leveling a floor tile — this is definitely one unique application that no handy dad should be without!

If you’re feeling extra generous this Father’s Day, you may consider the iHandy Carpenter which includes five handyman tools in one for the ridiculous price of $1.99!

iHandy Carpenter Notable Features

• iHandy Level
• Plumb Bob – the easy method of verifying the verticality of walls
• Surface Level – the best tool to level any flat surface
• Steel protractor – OK so it’s not made of steel, but it sure is pretty and measures angles beautifully
• Steel Ruler – again, not real steel – but smarter and more compact than any steel ruler you may have come across and it actually measures a few times longer than the iPhone, too

Allrecipes.com Dinner Spinner (Free)
If your stay-at-home Dad isn’t particularly the handyman type, but perhaps more of the kitchen connoisseur, the Allrecipes.com Dinner Spinner app may be more his taste.

He can swipe away at the Spinner sorting by Dish Type, Ingredients, and Prep/Cook time to view recipe matches of his choice — or, if he’s feeling “saucy,” he could simply tap the Spin Categories function for a totally impromptu pick. One thing is for sure, the recipe of choice will definitely be one to delight since all recipes are based on ratings and reviews of millions of home cooks. To top it off, each recipe comes complete with its own Nutritional Information chart to keep a stay-at-home Dad’s family happy and healthy.

Notable Features

• Choose by Dish Type from Appetizers through to Dessert (cocktails included)
• Choose by Ingredient
• Choose by desired Prep/Cook time
• A light shake will present random recipe ideas

The Sports Fan Dad

ESPN ScoreCenter (Free)
Forget about losing your sports fan Dad’s attention to the TV, that’s a worry of the past. A glance is all it will take to get the latest scores, results and stats of his favorite sports team — all from a one-tap access interface. With the recent release of the iPhone and iPod touch 3.0 software update, the new ESPN ScoreCenter will also feature push notifications.

Results are available for:

• Football/Soccer
• Baseball (MLB)
• American Football (NFL)
• Basketball (NBA)
• Ice Hockey (NHL)
• NCAA College Football, Basketball
• NASCAE, Formula 1, Indycar
• Golf
• Tennis
• Cricket & Rugby are both coming soon

Sports Radio (99 cents)
Is your sports fan Dad a multinational sports fan Dad? Place the world of sports radio into the palm of his hand with a single app for the iPhone and iPod touch. Not only can your dad tune in to over 6,400 sports radio stations around the world, but with the newly added Facebook and Twitter integration, he can keep his friends in the know as well.

Notable Features

• Includes users favorite MP3 iTunes stations
• Pick from favorites or recently played stations
• Includes Public Radio streams and over 2,100 MP3 stations from Europe, Australia, and Canada
• Dynamic directory for adding new directories and stations without application updates, 
email links to a station stream to friends using iPhone or iPod touch Mail application,
 Radio for iPhone supports MP3 and AAC stream formats and then some

The Athletic Dad

Yoga STRETCH (99 cents)
Now don’t let the womanly image fool you; these days yoga is a very acceptable, manly athletic activity (and I’m not saying so just because I do it — cough).

Having the mind in tune with the body through yoga has proven to yield many benefits, especially for me. These include lowering blood pressure, weight normalization, and an increase to energy and endurance levels. This progressive app displays traditional yoga poses at individual intervals and comes complete with a personal yoga instructor that walks students through a successful session. Since the application is designed exclusively for the iPhone and iPod touch, your athletic Dad can strike his pose in his office or from the comfort of his own hiding place.

Notable Features

• Consists of traditional yoga poses sequencing with a Vinyasa flow
• Designed to improve strength, balance, posture and flexibility
• A personal yoga instructor walking each through a full session including audio commentary, images and music

iFitness ($1.99)
If your athletic Dad doesn’t happen to be the posing, flexing type, iFitness may just be what he needs for an all-around healthy, accurate and comprehensive workout. Forget about breaking the bank to get your dad a personal trainer for Father’s Day — a single solution has been developed just for the tech- (and financially-) savvy individual and it’s available on none other than the iPhone and iPod touch.

Notable Features

• Over 110 beautifully illustrated exercises with accompanying text
• Favorites option to create your own custom routine
• Preset routines that our experts have made for reaching different goals
• Exercises organized by the muscles they target

The Business Dad

TravelTracker with TripIt ($7.99)
With just one tap you can download all of your trip information into TravelTracker. Not only will it download each of the your critical trip details, such as flights, hotel reservations and car rentals, but it also goes the extra mile to fetch the pertinent details of your trip, such as your meetings, activities, notes and yes — even your restaurant reservations. Yum!

Does your airport lack sufficient mobile coverage and/or is not yet equipped with free Wi-Fi? Never fear! TravelTracker with TripIt works sufficiently offline just as beautifully as it does online. Oh, and if you’re still trying to figure out what exactly TripIt is, check out this amazing free add-on: tripit.com.

TravelTracker is your all-in-one virtual travel assistant and companion. It stores all vital information for your trip and displays it in a convenient optimized itinerary screen that allows you to record all of the key aspects you need before, during and after your trip. This is every business Dad’s winner.

Notable Features

• One-touch flight status
• Customizable packing lists
• Records all details of your travel expenses
• Record-keeping of all of your frequent traveler award programs
• Airplane database with link to seating charts
• Email your itinerary and expenses to contacts
• Download current weather conditions & forecasts for your chosen airport
• Download current exchange rates to determine your trip total in your own currency

Currency (Free)
These days, with business deals flowing like water across oceans, the Internet has skyrocketed business transactions into oblivion and the only way for your business Dad to keep up with the world’s currencies is through a single intuitive application such as Currency. This app provides the latest conversions in every exchange language (18 languages, to be exact) and in every currency (which total 90 currencies for over 100 countries).

Notable Features

• 18 exchange languages
• Up-to-date exchange rate information for over 90 currencies and 100 countries
• Common currencies: Dollar, Pound, Yen, Peso, Dinar, Yuan, Baht, Dirham, Real, Kuna, Riyal, Lira plus many others

The Single Dad

Urban Spoon (Free)
No single Dad will ever be without ideas as to where to take the kids (or a hot date) for the best eats in town! With similar functionality as Allrecipes.com Dinner Spinner, the shake of the iPhone or iPod touch will jolt Urban Spoon into emulating the function of a classic slot machine to present a random restaurant pick in the vicinity. Another shake will simply pull up another selection — and just keep on shaking until satisfied. Arm getting tired yet? Just set a lock on any of the three criteria items (Neighborhood, Cuisine, Price) to narrow the selection.

Notable Features

• Use GPS to find a restaurant nearest you
• Filter by Neighborhood, Cuisine and Price
• Search and browse local restaurant and check out their reviews
• See a list of all nearby restaurants
• Compare restaurant picks with your friends

NYTimes App (Free)
For the single Dads (or really any dad) who are always on the go, they’ll never miss a beat (or an important news update) from the newly polished NYTimes App. No longer is this news application painfully sluggish, as its version 1.0 predecessor was. In fact, NYTimes App zips across the wire to download up-to-the-minute news in a flash and even works just as feverishly offline or in airplane mode (just as long as the app has downloaded the articles previously, which is still quite instant).

Notable Features

• Gorgeous and sophisticated interface
• Access to the latest articles and photos of the day
• Customizable toolbar with favorite sections of NYTimes.com
• Read anywhere – After a quick sync, articles and photos are available offline

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A similar promotion has launched this week, with a few notable differences. Give Good Food to Your Mac (organized by Aquafadas) offers a huge range of different applications, with discounts increasing progressively depending upon the number of applications you purchase.

Claudia Zimmer, Aquafadas’ CEO explains:

We are pleased to introduce the Third Edition of ‘Give Good Food to your Mac’. It’s a chance for us to build a community among developers and together, create opportunities that would not be possible alone. Mac users benefit from it as they can discover our software at great prices.

The Discounts Available

While the promotion doesn’t feature the world’s catchiest name, it does give some great discounts. Buying 3 apps saves you 20%, 4 apps saves 30%, and 5 or more knocks a whopping 50% off the normal retail price. As you add applications to your cart, it’s simple to see how much you stand to save, along with how many more applications you need to reach the next level.

Applications Featured

Rather than the MacHeist route of featuring only a few, large applications, Give Good Food to Your Mac includes a fairly formidable list of developers and apps. Everything from games and fitness apps, through to organization tools and web design software. Several applications which have been featured in bundles previously (such as DEVONthink and Rapidweaver) are present and, while there is some junk in there, the list is fairly impressive:

• AlienConverter from AlienCrypt
• Amigos Number Puzzles from Amigos Software
• Amigos Spanish from Amigos Software
• BannerZest from Aquafadas
• BannerZest Pro from Aquafadas
• Bee Docs’ Timeline 3D edition 2.2 from BeeDocs
• BeFit – Get Fit, Stay Fit, BeFit! from Jon Brown Designs
• Blue Crab from Limit Point Software
• Cheetah 3D from MW 3D-Solutions
• Comic Boom from Toon Boom Animation Inc.
• DejalNarrator 2.0.3 from Dejal
• DEVONagent from DEVONtechnologies, LLC
• DEVONthink Personal from DEVONtechnologies, LLC
• DiscLabel from SmileOnMyMac
• dJay 2.1.3 from Algoriddim GmbH
• Dossier from Vortimac
• Dragoman from Dare to be Creative Ltd.
• FastCut 3.0.6 from TimesForFun
• Flip Boom Classic from Toon Boom Animations Inc.
• Fluffy’s Log 1.1.1 from Shallot Patch
• French Verb Game from Amigos Software
• FunBooth 0.9.3 from SourceBits
• Geoaze Pro from SilverLint Creative Software
• Geoaze Standard from SilverLint Creative Software
• GhostReader English Version from ConvenienceWare
• GhostReader French version from ConvenienceWare
• HoudahGeo from Houdah Software
• HoudahSpot from Houdah Software
• Hydra 1.6 + Aperture plug-in from Creaceed
• iArchiver from Dare to be Creative Ltd.
• iDive from Aquafadas
• iKanji 1.0 from ThinkMac Software
• JABMenu 2.0.1 from JNSoftware
• Kameleon From Option-6 Products
• Librarian Pro from Koingo Software
• MacCleanse from Koingo Software
• MacPilot 3 from Koingo Software
• Mail Attachments iConizer from Lokiware
• Mental Case from MacCoreMac Software
• Money 3 from Jumsoft
• Nutritionist from Dr. Frank Kowalewski
• PearNote 1.0 from UsefulFruit Software
• PulpMotion from Aquafadas
• Pulpmotion Advanced from Aquafadas
• RapidWeaver 4 from Realmac Software
• Relationship from Jumsoft
• Renamer4Mac from Dare to be Creative Ltd.
• ResizeMe 1.2.0 from Dare to be Creative Ltd.
• RubiTrack from Toolsfactory software inc.
• Scorecard 1.4.1 from CynicalPeak Software
• ScreenAudit 1.3 from ArtenScience
• Scribbles from Atebits
• Secret of the Lost Cavern From Coladia
• Share Tool from Yazsoft
• ShoveBox from Wonder Warp Software SP
• Speed Download 5 from Yazsoft
• SplitFuse 1.3 from LikelySoft
• SWF&FLV Player from Eltima Software
• Syncmate from Eltima Software
• Tangerine! from Potion Factory
• Today 1. 3 from Second Gear LLC
• Together from Reinvented Software
• Toon Boom Studio From Toon Boom Animation Inc.
• VideoPier HD from Aquafadas
• Voice Candy from Potion Factory
• VoltaicHD from Systemic pty Ltd. Trading as Shedworx
• You Control: Desktops 1.3 from You Software
• Yummy Soup from HungrySeacow Software

The “kitchen” will remain open between the 17th of November and the 1st of December 2008. It’s worth taking a look at the above list — if any more than 3 applications stand out, you’ll be in for a great discount.

Enjoy the Christmas meal!

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