Apple's Back to School promo offers gift cards for Mac, iPad and iPhone purchases

It's that time of the year again when the back to school season means new computers, tablets and smartphones but also a plethora of deals and promos. Apple's giving away a $100 gift card for buyer of new Mac portables or desktops and a $50 card for new iPad or iPhone sales. The uniquely designed cards can be used at the iTunes Store, the iBookstore, and the Mac App Store. 

Since this is an educational promo, to qualify for the App Store Gift Card and get education pricing on a Mac, you must be a postsecondary student, a student accepted to a postsecondary institution, a parent buying for a postsecondary student, or a faculty or staff member from any grade level.

Breaking: BlackBerry considering sale as 'strategic alternative'

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

After some murmurings last week that Waterloo, ON based BlackBerry was looking to go private in order to better restructure the company as it struggles to regain its foothold in mobile smartphone market it once pioneered, news today of more aggressive measures including the sale of the company are being explored.

BlackBerry says its board has launched a formal review of "strategic alternatives" to fix the ailing company and among these alternatives is the sale as a whole or in part of the company. The end result of the review could be BlackBerry forming joint ventures, strategic partnerships or a sale of BlackBerry. In other words, all offers are on the table.

BlackBerry attempted to make a comeback this year with the year-late launch of its BlackBerry OS 10 devices and operating systemr. The company launched three new smartphones but sales haven't been stellar and the company continues to struggle in a highly competitive mobile economy ruled by Apple and Samsung.

“As the Special Committee focuses on exploring alternatives, we will be continuing with our strategy of reducing cost, driving efficiency and accelerating the deployment of BES 10, as well as driving adoption of BlackBerry 10 smartphones, launching the multi-platform BBM social messaging service, and pursuing mobile computing opportunities by leveraging the secure and reliable BlackBerry Global Data Network,” BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins said in a statement.

For Canadians, this news is painfully reminiscent of what happened to Nortel Networks right before that company folded.  BlackBerry, then known as Research In Motion, was the most valuable stock in the Toronto Stock Exchange. Below is the full press release from BlackBerry

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Image leak of the HTC One Max

HTC is set to release a big one and it might be called the HTC One Max—or what evLeaks claims to be the name of the “T6” device they just leaked. It certainly is one big device as it is rumored to carry a 5.9-inch 1080p display with a 2.3GHz Snapdragon 800 processor, 2GB of RAM, 16GB internal storage, UltraPixel camera, dual-front speakers, and a 3300 mAh battery.

Microsoft swaps points for money on the Xbox

It’s almost here. Your transactions on the Xbox will soon make use of your local currency instead of Microsoft Points. After the next Xbox 360 system update arrives and you redeem a Points card or code or initiate a purchase, Microsoft will place into your account the amount of the currency equal to or greater than the marketplace value of your Points. You can then use these funds to make your purchase from your choice Xbox stores or even the Windows Phone Store on Windows Phone 8.

You can check your current Microsoft Points balance here. If you have more questions about this transition, you can check the Points FAQ page.