In a “*press release*”:http://www.att.com/gen/press-room?pid=18889&cdvn=news&newsarticleid=31481 yesterday, AT&T announced plans to reduce the subsidized price of the “*8GB iPhone 3GS*”:http://www.apple.com/iphone/iphone-3gs/ from $99 to $49. The offer, which goes into effect today, extends to both new and existing AT&T customers who are eligible for upgrade. Though this may mark the lowest commercially available iPhone price, it does require a new 2-year agreement with the mighty “Ma Bell.”:http://www.privateline.com/archive/MaBell314-0307babin.gif

While the iPhone 4 arguably offers a more enticing feature set, the 3GS makes a great first iPhone, or is an excellent choice for those who don’t need cutting edge tech and are seeking a good deal. Though the model may lack a few of the enhanced components found on the iPhone 4, it is fully capable of running iOS 4 and is an incredibly versatile smartphone. We’re an authorized AT&T retailer, so stop into either of our VT “*retail stores*”:http://www.smalldog.com/retail to learn more about the iPhone.

*Sorry for the terrible title pun. The Grant in question is Ulysses S. “Mr. Fifty” himself! Fellow Small Dogger Mike D. was the first to call me out on it. He writes:

__”I am tempted to Polk fun at your title, but I will refrain. It is great that the iPhone is more a-Ford-able. This price is Taylor made for those on a budget. It should help Small Dog Fillmore orders for these.”__

Perhaps the best aspect of the second generation Apple TV is its ability to instantly stream Netflix content. This feature was highly requested leading up to the device’s release last year, and while its inclusion temporarily placated the demand for greater 3rd party support, users still yearn for a greater selection of apps.

As the Apple TV handles music just as well as it handles video, It is no surprise that Pandora support tops the wish lists of many. Though Apple has not made mention whether they plan to ever enable this functionality, there is an easy work around if you own a device running iOS 4.

Kibbles & Bytes reader Patrick H. clued us into a simple tip that, for all intents and purposes, enables Pandora support on Apple TV. Like many other apps post iOS 4.2 update, Pandora for iPhone/iPod/iPad supports “*AirPlay.*”:http://blog.smalldog.com/article/airplay-review/ Simply launch Pandora on your respective device, tap the AirPlay icon, and you should see the Apple TV in the source list. Tap play, and within a few seconds, music should begin playing over the speakers your Apple TV is paired with.

Though this method will not display a Pandora styled GUI on the Apple TV, it is an effective way to use the service–especially if the Apple TV forms the hub of your entertainment center. As Patrick points out, if you have fast fingers, enabling Pandora via an iOS device might even be quicker than trying to navigate it with an Apple Remote. While this solution is contingent on owning both an Apple TV and a device running iOS 4, it is still a great way to expand the Apple TV’s capabilities.

To download the Pandora App click “*here.*”:http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/stat?id=19XpSnZWhPI&offerid=146261&type=3&subid=0&tmpid=1826&RD_PARM1=http%3A%2F%2Fitunes.apple.com%2Fus%2Fapp%2Fpandora-radio%2Fid284035177%3Fmt%3D8%2526uo%253D6%2526partnerId%253D30

Click “*here*”:http://www.smalldog.com/product/76960/apple-tv-2010/at_kb to learn more about the Apple TV.

__Editor’s note: Due to an error on my part, a photo was omitted from Don’s 2010 Predictions Recap last week… to view the issue with image included, check it out in the Kibbles & Bytes Archives here! Don’t say I didn’t warn you… -KH__

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Yes, it is that time of the year where tradition demands that I look into the old Mac Cube case and make my predictions for the new year.

*SPORTS*

* MLB Baseball: YES, this is the year. Ron Santo, the most famous Cub’s third baseman, who passed away in 2010 would say that every year–well, actually he would shout it! So, once again, I predict that the Chicago Cubs will win the world series.

* NBA Basketball: Celtics in seven in 2011

* NHL Hockey: yawn…

* NFL Football: Bears vs. Patriots in the Super Bowl. Bears win 30-21.

*WEATHER*

* Another mild winter in Vermont. February will be the snowiest month. Early spring once again with early April motorcycling. Summer in Vermont will be perfect once again.

*POLITICS*

* There will be 11 Republicans with their hats in the ring for the Presidential nomination by year’s end.

* Gridlock will be the name of the game in Washington with fewer pieces of legislation passing than in 2010.

* Barack Obama’s approval rating will improve by 10 points to be over 55% by the end of the year.

* Vermont will pass the first in the nation Single Payer health care reform bill.

* US will be out of Iraq and begin to withdraw from Afghanistan.

*ECONOMY*

* Republicans will force a government shutdown which will cause a 500 point drop in the Dow.

* The overall economy will improve with unemployment dipping below 9%.

* Premium gasoline will reach $5/gallon at one point during the year.

*APPLE*

* Apple stock will hit $400/share and a 5 to 1 stock split will occur.

* Apple will introduce a subscription-based media service streaming content from their gigantic server farm in N. Carolina.

* Apple will re-enter the server market by acquisition.

* Apple will spend more than $25 Billion of their $63 Billion cash reserve on acquisitions.

* Apple will sell more than 17 million iPads.

* Apple’s Mac App store will do $1 Billion in sales in the first year.

*SMALL DOG ELECTRONICS*

* Small Dog Electronics will open its 4th store

* Small Dog will have over 67 employees

* Small Dog will be featured in at least one national publication

*MISC.*

* There will be scientifically confirmed evidence of extra-terrestrial life

* The mysterious bird and fish deaths of early 2011 will have an explanation that does not involve fireworks or natural phenomena.

“Image source”:http://www.hotelmarketingstrategies.com/

This past week Kali and I had to swap a number of emails with very large attachments–up to 19MB. That’s at the upper limit of what our mail server can handle. If the attachments were much larger, we’d use our public iDisk folder, included with MobileMe, or “Dropbox”:https://www.dropbox.com to exchange the files. However, time was of the essence and email was the easiest way to exchange and keep track of the files we were working on.

These emails often took 45 seconds and longer to send. It was frustrating not knowing how much longer they’d be sitting in the Outbox. Luckily, Kali reminded me that OS X Mail has an Activity Window that shows the status of incoming and outgoing emails. Instead of simply wondering how much longer it would take to send email, I could now see how far along outgoing email was as a percentage.

To open this Activity window in Mail, simply hold down the *Command* and *0* (zero) keys at the same time. (Mail has to be open and active for this to work.) You can also navigate to the the menu bar in Mail and select Activity.

_Dear Friends,_

Happy New Year! New Year’s weekend was so mild here in Vermont that Prickly Mountain Road and our notorious “Cold Road” were turned to mud. This was a thick, gooey mud that reminded me of the “gumbo coolie” of the midwest. I cringed as I gunned my car and drove through it; slow but steady is the rule, but this was full throttle just to avoid getting stuck.

Of course, that meant that my car got pretty dirty and as I drove to Burlington the next day, it was shaking horribly. I stopped at an automatic carwash, but that just made it worse, so I washed it again with the manual pressure hose. That didn’t do the trick either, so last night I had to take the wheels off one by one and remove mud, rocks and gradoo.

Flying in and out of Vermont is always an adventure this time of the year. If you have the first flight of the day leaving or the last flight coming in, you may find yourself stranded in some airport like Detroit, New York, Philadelphia or Chicago. I do remember the days when the Burlington airport only had one airline and if you were leaving town, you could park in front of the airport and leave your car there for a week.

I am out in Las Vegas at the Consumer Electronics Show where we have a booth for our Chill Pill Audio and Hammerhead products. I also have a lot of meetings scheduled with vendors and customers and will be walking the floor looking for new products and marveling at the new technology. Next week, I’ll have a report from the show.

Apple dominates CES even without being there officially. As you walk around to see the exhibits, there is an abundance of products that are either designed to complement Apple products or are blatant copies of Apple products. It is a huge show, though, and I relish the opportunity to check out all of the new stuff!