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There are plenty of iOS devices on holiday wish lists this year. Which means there's bound to be plenty of iOS devices under trees, waiting for anxious kids to unbox and begin using them.

On the other side of those iOS devices are parents, like you, trying to figure out how to limit the amount of spending on games, apps, books music and movies their kids (or perhaps themselves) can do in iTunes.

Today I found a feature in iTunes I didn't know existed; the ability to set up a monthly iTunes allowance for specific Apple IDs. Brilliant! … Read more

Google Maps is back on iOS, but this time as a standalone app. You'll find it doesn't look like it did on iOS 5, due to Google having complete freedom with the user interface and design. As such, using Google Maps on iOS is going to feel a bit familiar, yet like a completely new experience.

To install Google Maps on iOS, you'll need to be using an iPhone (3GS and newer), iPod Touch (fourth and fifth gen) or an iPad running at least iOS 5.1. If you're using one of the above devices, download Google Maps for iOS … Read more

Amazon has finally delivered its Instant Video streaming app to the iPhone and iPod Touch.

The company announced the app's availability today, saying that over 30,000 titles in the Prime Instant Video library will be available for users to stream. In addition, the application allows for access to over 140,000 movies and television shows that can be downloaded for purchase or rental.

Amazon's Prime Instant Video is available only to customers who sign up for the company's $79-a-year Prime membership. With that, customers get free two-day shipping, as well as "free" access to … Read more

An unidentified hacker behind a hack called Dream Jailbreak pulled a fast one on countless iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch owners today with the announcement and heavy teasing of an untethered iOS 6 jailbreak, or software that lets users gain deep access to their device without fear of losing it all after rebooting.

In a proof-of-concept video posted earlier, the unidentified hacker connects his iPhone 5 to a computer via USB; accesses a Web site through Safari (the identity of the site is blurred in the vid); and then runs an application called Dream (coming to Windows and Mac) on his computer. After a few flashes of code, the iPhone 5 reboots with popular third-party app and code installer Cydia in place and a world of third-party software just a tap away.… Read more

For some people, touching a touch screen is difficult, if not impossible.

According to Georgia Tech, more than 200,000 kids in the U.S. public school system have some sort of orthopedic disability that hinders them from experiencing the vast information that awaits them on a tablet or smartphone. Children with neurological disorders -- such as muscular dystrophy, cerebral palsy, and spina bifida -- can also have difficulty using touch-screen devices due to motor skill impairments.

The need to counteract this limitation inspired Ayanna Howard, a Georgia Tech engineering professor, and graduate student Hae Won Park to create Access4Kids, a prototype assistive device that could level the playing field.… Read more

Lenovo said today that it has added a touch-screen ThinkPad X1 Carbon model, as PC vendors continue to ramp up shipments of Windows 8 ultrabooks with tablet-like attributes.

The 14-inch ThinkPad now measures 20.8mm (about 0.8 inches) thick and weighs 3.4 pounds, slightly thicker and heavier than the non-touch model.

The display resolution and internals stay the same, though. That means a pixel-dense 1,600x900 resolution display and Intel Core i5 and Core i7 processors.

And, true to its name, the chassis is made from lightweight carbon fiber, which allows Lenovo to keep the weight of its 14-inch laptop below 3.5 pounds.

Other specifications have not been disclosed yet.

But the price has: $1,499. Some of that extra cost is due to the high-resolution touch display, which comes at a premium. … Read more

If you own an iPad, iPhone, or iPod, you don't have many options for downloading. You can stick with the closed garden of iTunes or jailbreak your phone and risk bricking it. CopyTrans Manager gives you a safer solution to put songs, movies and even third-party apps on your gadget. It gives you a more user-friendly way to have all your favorite stuff on your mobile gadget.

Though the clean interface won't blow you away, it makes it easy to find the syncing options. Since CopyTrans Manager usually finds your gadget automatically, you can start moving and downloading … Read more

This week Hewlett-Packard offered a few good reasons to consider a Windows 8 laptop over a MacBook.

Those arguments are embodied in an upcoming 3-pound HP EliteBook Revolve business ultrabook "convertible" that was announced this week.

The MacBook Air is a fine design (I use one every day) and the new 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro is an even better design. But the Apple way isn't the only way. Here are three features that the MacBook ain't got.

Built-in 4G: The EliteBook Revolve offers built-in 4G LTE or HSPA+. Wi-Fi-only MacBooks are getting a bit stodgy. It'… Read more

Barnes & Noble is dropping the price of its Nook Simple Touch e-reader by about $20 starting tomorrow, with a new price tag of $79, the company said today.

Not a full-blown tablet, the Simple Touch relies on a touch screen for flipping e-ink pages, navigating menus, and so on. CNET Reviews gave it four out of five stars and called it a "major advancement" over its predecessor.… Read more