Today we have some pretty decent sales going on in the App Store in time for some last minute holiday shopping!

First up we have TomTom North America U.S.A. [iTunes Link], which if you don’t mind dropping Canada from your drive can save you some cash — $49.99. Not too shabby! Again, if you don’t care about Canada, grab the US-only version quick as the reduced app is only available until December 31st.

This next one will be painful for some of you as the game was recently released for $10, a whopping $5 higher than it currently is being offered… Super Monkey Ball 2 [iTunes Link] is now on sale for only $4.99 – this weekend only!

Finally we have one for all of you math lovers out there, Wolfram Alpha [iTunes Link] is on sale for $19.99. So if you are in need of carrying around an all-in-one math tool in your pocket and don’t want to spend 50 bucks for it’s regular price, grab this before the sale ends on December 31st.

If you know of any good deals going on this holiday season be sure mention it in the comments or feel free contact us directly!

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Apps for Less: TomTom Navigation USA, Super Monkey Ball 2, Wolfram Alpha

Google has issued a statement on the supposed “Google Phone”:

We recently came up with the concept of a mobile lab, which is a device that combines innovative hardware from a partner with software that runs on Android to experiment with new mobile features and capabilities, and we shared this device with Google employees across the globe. This means they get to test out a new technology and help improve it.

Unfortunately, because dogfooding is a process exclusively for Google employees, we cannot share specific product details. We hope to share more after our dogfood diet.

And TechCrunch is back again with a roundup of the details: think Google branded HTC HD2-style slab form factor, 1Ghz Snapdragon CPU, unlocked, virtual keyboard with voice-to-text dictation/transcription, likely T-Mo and maybe AT&T.

Original commentary after the break…

Before I quote AndroidCentral’s Phil Nickinson, who nailed the intro to the latest Google Phone rumors the way nailing’s meant to be done, let me just ask (again) how giving employees HTC phones running Android 2.1 has anything to do with Google making their own hardware or learning Kung-Fu. Sigh. Take it away, Phil:

Looks like Twitter asploded overnight regarding the fabled Google phone. TechCrunch’s Mike Arrington stopped crying JooJoo tears long enough to cull some of the Tweets, and here’s what he found:

• Google program manager Leslie Hawthorne kicked things off with: “Stuck in mass of traffic leaving work post last all hands of 2009. ZOMG we had fireworks and we all got the new Google phone. It’s beautiful.”
• CNET’s Jason Howell says he saw it, HTC did the hardware, it’s unlocked and a buttload of Google employees got them this week.
• And from Great White Snark: A friend from Google showed me the new Android 2.1 phone from HTC coming out in Jan. A sexy beast. Like an iPhone on beautifying steroids.

To be clear, Google hardware would mean a Google design handed off to a manufacturer to build, much like Apple and Jony Ive do with the iPhone and Foxconn. Rebranding a Passion (or variant device) just ain’t what we consider building one’s own hardware hereabouts.

That said, HTC makes great gear, and Android 2.1 (tasty pastry codename please?) will no doubt be very cool, so we’d like to see the latest Android phone, even if it isn’t (yet) “THE Google Phone“.

Competition will be a great motivator for Apple, maybe help them find our still missing iPhone 3.2 update, never mind the likely iPhone 4.0 Sneak Preview event in March, if they stick to their cycles…

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

UPDATED: The Competition: Google Phone Commeth? (Not Really)

Chad and Phil spotted this in the wee hours, and it being no more believable than many of the so-called analyst predictions about the when’s and how-muches involving Apple’s still unannounced iTablet, we figured it might be a fun, fakety fake fake sort way to start off the real weekend.

And if Apple by chance does make something close-ish to this, would you want?

[No Where Else via Gizmodo]

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Saturday Fake Video: Apple iTablet

Apple has begun rolling out an update to the way the iTunes (on Windows or Mac) shows the App Store, including fewer words and more screenshots. Rather than the lengthy app descriptions of old, iTunes now shows only the first two lines, with a “more…” tag that needs to be clicked to reveal the rest (time to tighten up that text, developers!). Instead of one screenshot at a time, iTunes also now shows a series of scrollable screenshots, similar to how the on-device App Store began showing them with iPhone 3.0.

iTunes 9 gave media a makeover, so it’s nice to see Apps get the same treatment. iTunes 9, also like iPhone iTunes and App Store, transitioned to WebKit and HTML, CSS, and JavaScript for the UI. So, Apple can update it at any time without needed to provide a new version for users to download. This is exactly the reason they’re promoting WebKit UI for apps in general (when and where they make sense) during their Tech Talk World Tour.

Again, it’s rolling out, so a lot of apps still show the old pages. If you can find the new look, however, let us know what you think. Better for buyers? How about developers?

(via TechCrunch)

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Apple Updates App Store — Less Words, More Screenshots

Some of our readers are reporting trouble with AT&T’s network in San Francisco. If you’re in the area, let us know how your connection is working. Is it fine (by that we mean as fine as in usual) or are you having trouble? And if it was down but came back up for you, let us know that as well. Location and time for other readers always appreciated.

UPDATE: Engadget got a statement from AT&T:

“We are seeing a hardware issue in downtown San Francisco that is causing some degradation in service. GSM and EDGE voice and data services are still accessible. Our experts are aware and working to resolve as quickly as possible. Further resolution is expected this evening.”

[Thanks everyone who sent this in!]

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Updated: AT&T Outage in San Francisco