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Even though it hasn't even launched yet, Hackulous has announced today that they have already cracked the Apple Mac App Store.

Hackulous is a community known for cracking Apple DRM and indexing cracked iOS applications.

The community has long said they only do what they do because Apple does not offer trials or refunds on apps in the iOS App Store. Hackulous offers two products, Apptrakr, an index of cracked apps, and Installous, an app for jailbroken devices that allows the installation of the cracked software.

Before Apple has a chance to launch the Mac App Store on January 6th, Hackulous has already found a way to remove the DRM that comes with the applications, using a new software dubbed Kickback.

Despite having the software available already, Hackulous admin "Dissident" says they will not release it yet:

We don’t want to release kickback as soon as the [Mac App] Store gets released. I have a few reasons for that...Most of the applications that go on the Mac App Store [in the first instance] will be decent, they’ll be pretty good. Apple isn’t going to put crap on the App Store as soon as it gets released. It’ll probably take months for the App Store to actually have a bunch of crappy applications and when we feel that it has a lot of crap in it, we’ll probably release Kickback.

Although there are little details known so far, it appears the 6th generation iPod Nano has been hacked.

Developer James Whelton has "managed to bypass the device’s cache comparison," explains MacStories and install a very basic Springboard hack, allowing for blank space creation and app removal.

Whelton makes it clear that the device has not been jailbroken by any means, but the hack should be the start of something larger. He encourages other devs to begin looking for ways to install bootloaders on the tiny gadget.

Says Whelton:

Next is the discovery in some of the device’s plists of reference to support of Movies, TV Shows, Apps, Games, vCards, Calender events and so on, with a few other cool things like a passcode lock. With the bypass I figured out, I hope to enable these pretty soon. It seems like the OS is a rehashed version of the previous Nano’s OS.

You can follow his updates here: Nanohack.me

Apple has upped its iPhone sales projections for the Q1 2011 from 19 million to 21 million, says DigiTimes.

The company had expected to ship 19 million units, but they have upped production of WCDMA models, from 13 million to 15 million.

Interestingly, Digi says Apple expects to ship 6 million Verizon CDMA iPhone 4s in the quarter even though neither company has confirmed such a device even exists.

Apple has shipped an estimated 15.5 million iPhones in the Q4 2010, for a total of 47 million for the year.

The company's quarterly earnings are expected on January 24th.

Techcrunch had a very interesting article today about those annoying AOL installation discs that every American received in the mail, usually once per month.

On the popular Q&A site Quora, the question was recently asked: "How much did it cost AOL to distribute all those CDs back in the 1990′s?"

Former AOL CEO Steve Case joined the site to answer the question, responding:

A lot. As we were able to lower the cost of disks/trial/etc we were able to ramp up marketing. (Plus, we knew Microsoft was coming and it was never going to be easier or cheaper to get market share.) When we went public in 1992 we had less than 200,000 subscribers; a decade later the number was in the 25 million range.

Case noted that the goal of AOL was to spend 10 percent of lifetime revenue on acquiring a new subscriber, and because average subscriber life was 25 months, the company likely spent $35 per user (on discs, other marketing.)

Jan Brandt, AOL’s former CMO, gave more specific numbers:

Over $300 million :-) At one point, 50% of the CD’s produced worldwide had an AOL logo on it. We were logging in new subscribers at the rate of one every six seconds.

Last week we reported that Logitech was reportedly ordering a production freeze on its Google TV set-top box, the Revue, following a request from the search giant itself.

The reports had said that the company was ordering component maker Gigabyte Technology to freeze production until at least January, when Google is expected to upgrade the firmware for Google TV.

Logitech has denied those reports today, making it clear that since the device can receive OTA updates, there is no need to freeze production on current devices.

Reads Logitech's PR:

Logitech does not discuss the specific production plans for any of its products. As high-volume manufacturer of electronic products, Logitech’s use of its own factories as well as those of its manufacturing partners, provides the company with flexibility in how and when it produces products to accommodate customer demand.

Amazon has said today that the latest Kindle has become the best-selling item on the site, ever.

Without disclosing numbers, Amazon says the 3rd generation Kindle has just outsold "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," the final book in the epic franchise.

Amazon also offered an interesting tidbit, saying "many" of those buying a Kindle also owned a tablet, with those consumers preferring to use the tablet for gaming, Internet browsing and media playback, while using their Kindle for reading.

The e-tailer also noted that many iPad purchasers were also buyers of the Wi-Fi Kindle, which retails for $139.

Although the iPad also has e-reading functions and the Apple iBookStore, battery life is significantly shorter than a Kindle, or other e-readers. iPads can handle only up to 8 hours of playback, while the latest Kindle can go for a month without charging.

The Kindle currently has 47 percent of the e-reader market, down from its peak of over 80 percent before the iPad and Nook launched.

It appears that the much-anticipated open-source media player VLC is just about ready to hit Android devices, with a January launch date expected.

Lead VLC developer Jean-Baptiste Kempf tells GigaOM the app should be available within "a matter of weeks," and available in the Android Market for free.

VLC just made its way to iOS devices in September, and Kempf says an Android version has been in the works for "months."

Because Android’s multimedia output libraries are in Java, the project was stalled but since Google's latest Android NDK made it simpler to use native code, the project has really picked up steam.

While most of the "VLC libraries have already been ported to Android," Kempf warns that some specific devices may prove troublesome.

Streaming and rental giant Netflix has said the same thing about their lack of Android apps, as fragmentation of the operating system makes it hard to release an application that will work across all devices.

Samsung will launch its first true rival to the market leading iPod Touch at the CES event next month, dubbing the device the Galaxy Player.

Just like the iPod Touch is almost identical to the iPhone (without the phone and 3G capabilities), the Galaxy Player will be based on the popular Galaxy S smartphone.

The Galaxy Player will run on Android 2.2, come in 8, 16 and 32GB models, and include a standard 3.2MP camera and a 1.3MP front-side camera.

There are no current media players running Android, so the Samsung player should have an advantage over those competitors right out of the gate, due to the Android Market and its 100,000 apps. Apple, on the other hand, will be no pushover.

Samsung lacks retail presence like Apple has, as well as a brand-loyal fanbase. Furthermore, Samsung lacks a music/movie store like iTunes so it is unclear what store will come built-in.

Dell has slashed the price of the Adamo 13 ultraportable this week, also adding more powerful specs.

The aluminum 0.65-inch thick notebook is now selling for $900, giving it a strong price advantage over the new 13-inch MacBook Air, which sells for $1300.

Your $900 now gets you an Adamo 13 with a 2.13GHz Core 2 Duo SL9600 Intel processor, 4GB RAM, a 128GB SSD and 64-bit Windows 7.

A 3G modem is optional as is a larger battery than the 6-cell.

An Adamo 13 has USB, USB/e-SATA and Ethernet ports.

Jerome Taylor, of Connecticut, walked into the Northern Indian restaurant on State Street earlier this week, put on a mask and pulled an item from his pocket while demanding money.

The cooks each pulled out a knife and told Taylor they were not giving him anything.

Taylor then apologized, said he needed the money to feed his kid and proceeded to leave.

When police officers eventually caught him, he confessed but showed them that he had used an Apple iPhone and not a gun, or any other deadly weapon.

The restaurant cooks told the police afterwards that they felt sorry for Taylor and would not pursue charges, but the police have charged the would-be criminal with attempted robbery anyways.

Taylor added that his child was staying with a relative.

A Game Stop employee on Neogaf has posted that the giant retailer is taking pre-orders for the upcoming Nintendo 3DS handheld, but only in brick-and-mortar locations.

Says the post:

Ok well I got the OK to tell people about this from my work, but we officially got word in that all US based Game Stop stores will be taking reserves on the 3DS starting on the 26th. Depending on the place holder price you will be required to drop a minimum of $25 on a reserve.

If your GS can't find it in their system the SKU is 020132

Nintendo has still not priced the device, but most believe a company event in mid-January will reveal the price for North American and European devices.

The 3DS will hit Japanese stores on February 26th, 2011, and then the US/European markets one month later.

In Japan the handheld will retail for ¥25,000 (about $300 USD).

The first 10 launch games for the system are: Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D, Nintendogs + Cats, Pilotwings Resort, Pro Baseball Spirits, Professor Layton and the Mask of Miracle, Ridge Racer 3D, Samurai Warriors Chronicle, Steel Diver, Super Monkey Ball, and Super Street Fighter IV: 3D Edition.

Rovi has announced its acquisition of Sonic Solutions this week, taking over the company known for its DVD editing and burning software, digital movie downloads and for DivX, the digital video software and codec.

The company will pay $720 million in cash and stock just six months after Sonic purchased DivX for $323 million.

Rovi says the merger will help "Hollywood studio clients sell content in a fast-growing digital entertainment market."

Because the content will be more centralized, consumers may be willing to pay a premium for it, adds the company.

The deal should close in the first half of 2011 and consolidation should help save them $15 million in expenses per year.

Social gaming company Zynga's latest hit "CityVille" is now the most popular social game in the world, with 67.4 million active users.

That figure far surpasses FarmVille, also by Zynga, which was formerly in the top spot at 57 million.

Stat-tracker AppData has been following the launch of CityVille, which Zynga released in early December.

The company says the game had 300,000 users in just its first 24 hours.

Overall, including FrontierVille, MafiaWars, FarmVille and others, Zynga now has 269 million active users playing their games on Facebook.

Zynga has 6 of the top 10 most used apps on Facebook.

Amazon has said this weekend that Microsoft will end sales of the 3-license Windows 7 'Family Packs' at the end of the year.

Microsoft began offering the packs in October, saying it was for a "limited-time only."

Amazon's Family Pack page now says: "Available to purchase until December 31, or while supplies last."

Microsoft priced the 3-license pack at $150, but Amazon is selling it for $125.

In 2009, after the launch of Windows 7, Microsoft offered the Family Pack for 6 weeks before taking it off the market. Because it was pulled just before the holidays, angry potential buyers began calling the software giant "Scrooge."

Consumers buying a Family Pack save $235 off Microsoft's list price for three individual Windows 7 Home Premium licenses.

A district judge has cleared a class action lawsuit against Electronic Arts this week, which means it should eventually become a jury trial.

The class action suit claims EA illegally increased the price of the Madden NFL series after it won exclusive rights to the NFL license, in 2005.

Any purchaser of a Madden game from 2005 until now is eligible to register as a plaintiff in the wide-ranging suit.

In 2004, Take-Two released NFL2K5 for just $19.95, taking on the behemoth Madden, which was forced to drop its prices to $29.95, down from the standard $49.99.

EA won the exclusive NFL license the next season and returned Madden prices to $50, and eventually $60 when the Xbox 360 and PS3 were launched.

Says plaintiff lawyer Steve Berman (via GI):

"Consumers now have a legal standing to demand that EA refund consumers millions of dollars it made from Madden NFL and other sports titles through what we contend was an illegal price-gouging scheme.

"We believe EA forced consumers to pay an artificial premium on Madden NFL videogames. We intend to prove that EA could inflate prices on their sports titles because these exclusive licenses restrained trade and competition for interactive sports software."