It's the Monday before Black Friday, which is essentially the calm before the storm as U.S. shoppers prepare to gorge themselves on turkey and stuffing Thursday, then begin a mass exodus to retail stores everywhere in search of a bargain. The retail madness is starting even earlier this year, with some stores opening their doors on Thanksgiving night, so be careful if you're venturing out this week!
Not content to let Verizon have all the fun with LTE announcements, AT&T pushed out a press release of its own on Friday, announcing that the carrier's 4G LTE service now reaches more than 150 million people across the U.S. -- more than double its coverage at the end of 2011. According to 9to5Mac, AT&T rolled out expanded 4G LTE network coverage last week in areas of South Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Texas, Arkansas, Florida, Maine, New York and Indiana, currently reaching 103 markets with even more to come by the end of the year.
Adobe Photoshop users love their creative filter options, and Alien Skin Software has been providing them for longer than many. On Friday, the company announced that a new version of its popular filter collection Eye Candy is right around the corner, with version 7 targeted for an early December release. The plugin now features a completely rewritten UI that appears as a single entry in Photoshop's Filter menu, along with a navigator to make exploring presets quickly. Better yet, Alien Skin has restored the best effects from its discontinued Xenofex plugin and is bringing Lightning, Electrify and Clouds to Eye Candy 7, which will be available for $199 in early December, or as a $99 upgrade for existing users, including those who own the orphaned Xenofex.
One of the few bummers about Spotify has always been the lack of a browser-based version for times when the desktop and mobile apps aren't convenient. According to The Verge, the streaming music service is working on rectifying that, and for a few lucky users, the day has already come. Spotify began rolling out a feature-limited browser app late last week in a number of regions, and is gradually lifting the velvet rope by sending Facebook invitations to its users to join in the fun. The web app isn't intended to replace the desktop app, and there's no word on when the browser version will roll out to everyone.
Mashups are all the rage with the kids these days, which is why djay developer algoriddim has introduced vjay for iPhone, a small-screen version of its previously iPad-only app for mixing video and music into something new. With more than 15 exclusive, free bonus video clips from "electro-pop superstars" Far East Movement, Eclectic Method, Parov Stelar, J-Live and more, vjay puts the mashup right in your pocket -- and best of all, it's on sale for a limited time at the wallet-friendly price of only 99 cents. A great video app at an introductory price? Now that's a mashup we can get excited about.
Very little is known about what The West Wing creator Aaron Sorkin plans to do with Walter Isaacson's official bio on Steve Jobs as it transitions from book to major motion picture, but a Twitter post from The Daily Beast on Friday may provide a clue. "Aaron Sorkin: Each of the 3 :30 min scenes in Steve Jobs movie will take place backstage before a product launch. That's the movie. #hero12," the tweet reads. That juicy detail reveals Sony's plans to take a completely different direction from the other, unofficial Jobs biopic starring Ashton Kutcher, which thus far appears to be a more traditional, by the numbers take on the late Apple co-founder's life. So what are the three keynotes you'd most like to see? We're guessing the original Macintosh and the iPhone for sure, and perhaps Jobs' triumphant return to Apple, although the debut of the iPod would certainly also be fitting.
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