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Mirabile dictu! There's quite a bit of la francaise in this week's price drops, so if you're planning a trip to the Left Bank be sure to load these apps. And for the rest of you, let's just have a look at what we've got cooking in this week's Price Drop.

Paris Multimedia Travel Guide in English

Enchante! Over 700 points of interest and 60 videos of places to visit, this currently free app will take you places in Paris you want to go and places off the beaten path you might never have seen.

Paris: Travel Guide

The price is right to get both these Francophile tour guides. Don't miss a thing and do it for free with twice the app power. 

Louvre The Messenger HD

Sure, it's a long flight to Paris, so what can you do on the flight except play fun games and sip champagne? Grab this limited time sale app for just $0.99 and learn something while you're at it.

Versailles 2

You are Charles Louis de Faverolles, a dreamy, starry-eyed young man and you're going to need your wits about you to navigate the treacheries in the court of the Sun King. Part 1 has sat at $0.99 for a while, while Part 2 and Part 3 are both rocking it out for free. 

Audubon Reptiles and Amphibians

Audubon has certainly been rocking the price cut world lately with their bird and butterfly app making the list last week and now their more scaly creatures getting their time in the sun at a mere $0.99.

miCal HD

Sometimes the default Apple product that comes in iOS doesn't quite cut the mustard. The third party developer of miCal HD certainly seems to feel that way. Give it a whirl and save $2 as this baby's down to $0.99.

Order & Chaos© Online

Limited time only so don't delay and don't complain to us if you miss it! Customize your player and travel through a true real-time, full-3D MMORPG in this universal app going for one buck. Again, hurry!

Blast Ball

Get retro styled graphic action with this intense arcade style where you'll be screaming GOOOOOAAAALLLL every time you lay one in. Save a buck and get it for free while you still can.

Paladog!

In a future where the human race has died out, only pure animals remain, and you are Paladog! Battle forces of darkness that seek to undermine you and do it bravely for a treat called one bone.

Snark Busters - All Revved Up HD 

As Jack Blair, a world famous race car driver, you'll puts your career on hold to catch the Snark. You'll be led on quite the merry chase as you work your way through this fun and colorful world. Save $3 and pick this up for just $1.99.

Textastic Code Editor

With support for over 80 programming and markup languages, Textastic is your code and markdown miracle. And it's half off down to $4.99 from $9.99. 

ContactsXL 5 + Facebook Sync

If you're a major Facebook user, ContactsXL gives you easy access to contact data and profile info and it's free for a limited time, so get your social life into your phone and do it on the cheap. 

PaperDesk

Gizmodo liked this notebook for the iPad whose goal is to best emulate a real paper notebook, which seems a reasonable goal. $3 off the price gives it to you for a buck.

Another weekend is here, and it’s sure starting to feel like summer. After delaying a new iPhone until October of last year, Apple is surprising us again by shifting its annual iTunes Festival music event in the U.K. from July to September, but don’t worry: There should be plenty of summer fun coming from Cupertino, most likely in the form of OS X Mountain Lion and new Macs. In the meantime, keep up with all of the day’s highlights for this Friday, May 18, 2012.

Report: Nokia Burning Through Cash at “Unsustainable Rate”

Reuters is reporting that Finnish cell phone giant Nokia could burn through its existing stockpile of cash in two years at the rate it’s currently spending, assuming its recent gamble with Windows Phone doesn’t pay off. “Over the past five quarters, the onetime darling of mobile telecoms has eroded its cash pile by 2.1 billion euros ($2.7 billion),” the report reveals -- and with only 4.9 billion euros in reserve, the clock appears to be ticking for Nokia. Analysts now expect the company to burn through an additional two billion euros in the next three quarters, while the most pessimistic analysts believe it could happen as early as next year. Back in 2007, Nokia had more than 10 billion euros on hand -- ironically, the same year that Apple unleashed its game-changing iPhone, which has disrupted the business models of old-school companies like Nokia and Research in Motion. While Nokia’s new Lumia handsets have garnered praise from customers and critics alike, analysts consider them “too little, too late” to stop the bleeding -- and many believe Microsoft could be the company’s “white knight,” should the worst come to pass.

T-Mobile: Just Say No to Family Data Sharing Plans

Family data plans may be forthcoming from AT&T and Verizon Wireless this summer, but T-Mobile seems to have a completely different attitude about them. The T-Mobile Issues & Insights Blog today announced that the fourth-place U.S. carrier has no plans to offer shared data plans for families, questioning the overall value of such a move. “But would this approach actually deliver a better value to consumers?” the company asks. “Do families really want to keep track of each others’ data consumption? We don’t think so. Just imagine mom’s email is suddenly unavailable because her teenage son watched an HD movie on his phone, consuming the family’s data allotment.” Not a bad point, and T-Mo goes on to point out that their data plans are more “flexible and affordable” than the competition, while unlimited data plans take the surprise out of consumers’ bills. It will be interesting to see if the Magenta Network has a change of heart, depending on how these plans pan out for the big boys first.

iTunes Festival Kicks Off 30 Nights of Free Music September 1

Apple has announced its iTunes Festival plans for 2012, and while the month-long free concert event remains in the United Kingdom, the calendar has shifted from July to September. This year’s event will be held at The Roundhouse in London, with five acts confirmed thus far, including Usher (who kicks things off on September 1), Jack White (Sept. 8) and Norah Jones (Sept. 10). While the tickets are free, they’re dispersed through a lottery system and only available to residents of the U.K., Ireland, France, Germany and the Netherlands. However, video of the performances will be streamed live to iTunes on the desktop or though a free iTunes Festival app -- which is currently U.K. only, but other streaming options are promised for August.

Samsung Racks Up 9 Million Galaxy S III Preorders, But Not from Users

Reuters filed an interesting report this morning which claimed that Samsung had racked up “some nine million preorders for its third-generation Galaxy S smartphone from more than 100 global carriers.” Did you catch that last part? As noted by The Loop, that impressive figure is not units actually sold to consumers, but rather devices being shipped to carriers, many of which could wind up sitting in a warehouse somewhere while they wait to find a home. Now before you accuse us of Android bashing here, we’re sure plenty of those Galaxy S III handsets will find loving homes eventually, but it’s kind of a cheat for Samsung to tout such huge numbers this early in the game, don’t you think?

PDF Expert 3 for iPhone Adds Audio Notes, Embedded Video

Readdle announced the availability of PDF Expert 3.0 for iPhone this week, a significant update to the handheld version of the $9.99 professional PDF document reader. The latest version for iPhone and iPod touch adds the ability to sign documents, create audio notes and attach them to documents, play embedded video from inside a PDF, revise and stamp documents using stamps and seals, preview files using a “shelf view” mode and even organize or find documents instantly with the new sorting panel. If all of that isn’t enough, Microsoft SkyDrive users can access their files right from the app as well. PDF Expert for iPhone 3.0 is available now and as always, a free update for existing owners.

Follow this article’s author, J.R. Bookwalter on Twitter

Sony KDL-46HX853 review

This is the best LCD TV we've ever tested. Sony has had a tough ride in the last few years but after a catalogue of mistakes, it's finally come good in the most spectacular of ways. The KDL-46HX853 takes LCD picture quality to a whole new level, particularly where contrast and motion handling are concerned. The set looks gorgeous too, and features what's for our money the best - or at least the most sensibly focussed - online service around. This all adds up to an achievement made all the more remarkable when you consider that this outstanding TV is being delivered at a more aggressive price than the usually ultra-competitive Korean brands are offering on their range equivalents. To sum all this up, with the KDL-46HX853 Sony isn't just back, it's back with a vengeance.

Toshiba BDX3300 review

The way the Toshiba BDX3300 doesn't bother to disguise its BBC iPlayer, Acetrax, YouTube and Picasa services as apps is somewhat refreshing, since the functionality is identical to much more expensive - and certainly more polished, usability-wise - smart TVs and Blu-ray players. When it comes to pure Full HD picture quality, the Toshiba BDX3300 delivers, and we also like the fact that it can support an awful lot of digital files via USB and over a network. It may lack finesse and at times appears a tad archaic, but we can't find it within us to criticise anything on a super-slim Blu-ray player that combines the best of the smart TV landscape with a price that hovers under £80/£120. For a simple 2D Blu-ray upgrade with some YouTube goodness, we can't recommend the Toshiba BDX3300 highly enough.

Asus Transformer Pad 300 review

You can't release a £399, 10.1-inch tablet and not expect comparisons with the iPad, so we'll cut to the chase. The Asus Transformer Pad TF300 is currently one of the best 10-inch Android tablets you can buy, and represents better value with equivalent performance than the Asus Transformer Prime. The top-notch benchmark scores, wonderful use of the keyboard docking station, excellent battery life and superb usability make it a top recommendation in our eyes. If you're platform agnostic and are tossing up between this and the iPad, things get trickier. The Transformer is better value, has double the storage, a fantastic keyboard dock which makes it much more versatile, and Ice Cream Sandwich closes the gap hugely. Individual needs and budget will determine if the Asus Transformer Pad TF300 is right for you, but we applaud Asus for marrying value and performance, and the TF300 comes highly recommended.

Panasonic TX-L42DT50B review

The TX-L42DT50B is a relatively high-end TV - that much is obvious from its slim depth and metallic bezel, the latter of which is some achievement considering Panasonic's rather lacklustre history in this department. Feature-packed inside, we're able to detect that this isn't the brand's flagship set, but there's really no major flaws aside from a stubborn refusal to include 3D specs. It's a decision which rather underlines why most brands - including Panasonic, to some extent - is quickly turning to passive 3D system with its 99p 3D glasses.

Toshiba 55ZL2 review

Toshiba's 55ZL2 is designed to get any tech obsessive's pulse racing. After all, it breaks new ground in not one but two huge areas. First it can genuinely produce a watchable 3D picture without you having to wear glasses. And second, to help it achieve its first innovation, it employs a native 4K or Quad HD pixel resolution for the first time on a domestic TV.

Amplifiers

Fatman Mi-Tube review

Blu-ray players

Toshiba BDX5300 review

Cameras

Ricoh CX6 review

Hands on: Leica M Monochrom review

Desktops

CyberPower Infinity Achilles review

Gaming accessories

PS Vita Starter Kit review

Graphics cards

Sapphire HD 7870 OC Edition review

Gigabyte HD 7850 Overclock review

Headphones

Sennheiser RS 220 review

Incase Sonic Over Ear Headphones review

Plantronics BackBeat Go review

Laptops

Toshiba Satellite Pro C660-2F7 review

Asus X53E review

Hands on: Sony Vaio T13 review

Mobile phones

LG Optimus L3 review

Motorola Defy Mini review

ZTE Tania review

BlackBerry Curve 9320 review

Printers

Kodak ESP 3.2 review

Kodak ESP 1.2 review

Processors

AMD A10-4600M review

Routers

Asus EA-N66 Ethernet Adaptor review

You wouldn’t think so much drama and hand-wringing goes into the creation of something as simple as a SIM card, but where international standards are concerned, compromises must be made. Research in Motion and Motorola have done just that with Apple’s proposed nano-SIM design, which appears to have the majority of votes already.

The Verge has filed an update on the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) search for a new nano-SIM standard to replace the current micro-SIM used in Apple’s iPhone 4 and 4S, as well as other popular handsets such as the Nokia Lumia 900.

While ETSI members have already been quietly voting on the future of the SIM card this month, a competing standard proposed by Nokia, Research in Motion and Motorola persists. That is causing some concern among members that two different standards could emerge, much like the VHS and Betamax situation during the heyday of home video.

To appease ETSI members, Motorola and RIM have gone back to the drawing board to find a compromise “by merging the two proposals into one, a notion supported by Samsung.” While Apple seems to feel it’s not possible given the more radical approach used by the competing standard, the iPhone maker appears open to adoption of both standards, given Cupertino already has the support it needs for its own nano-SIM.

“At that point in the meeting, Apple already knew that it had somewhere around 80 percent of the voting body behind its standard from the chairman's previous show of hands.” the report reveals. “And realistically, how many carriers would stop carrying the iPhone over its SIM design anyway? Apple's pioneering move with the micro-SIM in 2010 ultimately led to broad-scale adoption -- presumably, it has no reason to think it can't push nano-SIM with even more force than it could two years ago.”

ETSI members won’t meet again until May 31 in Japan, when we should have some idea of whether or not Apple will accept the proposed compromise.

Follow this article’s author, J.R. Bookwalter on Twitter

(Image courtesy of The Verge)

Ever wonder how far in advance Apple works on their products? According to a new report, the 2012 iPhone was in progress even before co-founder Steve Jobs’ death last year, which he reportedly worked closely on.

Bloomberg is reporting that Apple plans an “overhaul” of the iPhone design for this year, confirmed by “three people with knowledge of the plans.” Rumors have ramped up in the last week that Apple will introduce a new iPhone with a larger display, which “could be released by October.”

This latest report is noteworthy because one source has revealed that late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs “had worked closely on the redesigned phone before his death in October,” which nearly coincided with the launch of the current iPhone 4S.

“The design change will be Apple’s first for the iPhone since 2010, when it introduced the iPhone 4,” the report reveals. “Electronics makers, led by Samsung, are moving toward bigger screens, as consumers use handheld devices for a broader array of tasks, including watching video, playing games and browsing the Web.”

Another of Bloomberg’s sources appear to have confirmed that Apple “has placed orders from suppliers in Asia for screens that are bigger than the 3.5-inch size now on the smartphone,” although as usual, the name of the source was not revealed since these plans have not been made public.

“Apple has been working on the new device since before the current iPhone 4S model was introduced last October, said one person with knowledge of the project,” the report concludes. “Jobs, who had gone on medical leave from Apple starting last January, played a key role in developing the phone, this person said.”

Follow this article’s author, J.R. Bookwalter on Twitter

With not one but two movies currently in production about the life of Steve Jobs, Apple fans are rightfully wringing their hands wondering if the iconic co-founder’s life will be told properly. We’d place our bets on Sony’s version, which now carries the distinction of having Apple’s other co-founder as a consultant.

Reuters is reporting that screenwriter Aaron Sorkin is hard at work adapting Walter Isaacson’s bestselling biography on the life of Steve Jobs into a major motion picture for Sony, and now he has a little help from an old friend: Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak.

Even though Woz (as he’s known to Apple devotees) hasn’t worked for the company since 1987, he remained in contact with Jobs until his death last year. Between this and his intimate knowledge of Apple’s products, he makes a perfect candidate to act as a “tutor” for the film and its creators.

Sorkin, whose adaptation of the Facebook story The Social Network earned him an Oscar, hasn’t quite figured out the key “element of tension” that will be at the center of the new film, but told reporters this week that it won’t be a straight biography.

"I know so little about what I am going to write,” Sorkin confessed. “I know what I am not going to write. It can't be a straight ahead biography because it's very difficult to shake the cradle-to-grave structure of a biography.”

Sorkin points to his adaptation of the book The Accidental Billionaires, which recounted the lawsuit against Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg against his Harvard friends after the social network launched.

"Drama is tension versus obstacle,” Sorkin explains. “Someone wants something, something is standing in their way of getting it. They want the money, they want the girl, they want to get to Philadelphia -- doesn't matter... And I need to find that event and I will. I just don't know what it is.”

The screenwriter is busy at the moment launching his new HBO show The Newsroom, but plans to “turn his full attention” to Jobs in late June.

Follow this article’s author, J.R. Bookwalter on Twitter

Who knew “jailbreak” could be considered a dirty word? Apparently someone at Apple thought so, which is why the word was censored from the iTunes Store for the better part of Wednesday night and Thursday. Everything is back to normal now, but the hacker community sure got a kick out of it while the fun lasted. So what else is making news today? Glad you asked. Read on for everything else this Thursday, May 17, 2012 has to offer.

Apple Briefly Considers “Jailbreak” a Dirty Word in U.S. iTunes Store

One can only imagine that the word “jailbreak” is spoken in hushed tones up in Cupertino, given that Apple has made it clear it doesn’t appreciate users hacking their iOS devices. But would they go so far as to censor the word from iTunes? According to MacRumors, that’s exactly what happened earlier today, at least in the U.S. iTunes Store. Everywhere the word “jailbreak” appeared -- whether it was in songs or TV shows or apps -- Apple replaced with “j*******k” instead. While the censoring appears to have kicked in late Wednesday and persisted throughout much of the day, Apple appears to have finally caught on and has since corrected the gaffe, much to the glee of Thin Lizzy fans everywhere, we’re sure.

Plastic Logic Throws in Tablet Towel, Closes U.S. Offices

There’s little doubt that the iPad is a formidable opponent, but most of its competitors on the Android have pockets deep enough to keep fighting the uphill battle. The same cannot be said for Plastic Logic, the U.K. company infamous for ditching its QUE proReader tablet before it even shipped to stores. According to Engadget, the whole dream has now died, with the company closing its U.S. office in Mountain View, California and axing around 40 jobs there, while also pruning staff at offices in merry old England, Germany and Russia. While Plastic Logic has killed its hopes of launching tablets and e-readers of its own, the company appears to be ready to continue supplying screens to other companies, including their new flexible color e-reader display that sounds awfully cool.

T-Mobile Announces No-Contract Mobile Broadband

It’s kind of sad that in 2012, contract-free mobile broadband still seems so hard to come by. The big U.S. carriers would rather bait you with cheap hardware and a two-year commitment, but leave it to T-Mobile to mix things up a bit. The fourth-placed U.S. carrier announced today four new “No Annual Contract” mobile broadband passes which offer “a pay-in-advance, overage-free solution” with an allotment of data to fit most every user. For the occasional user, $15 will buy you a one-week pass with up to 300MB, while one-month passes are available in $25, $35 and $50 amounts which nets you 1.5GB, 3.5GB and 5GB, respectively. The new plans roll out Sunday, May 20 at T-Mobile retail stores, select dealers, national retailers and online, but you’ll need to grab your own device to take advantage of it -- which includes a variety of 4G Mobile Hotspots, laptop sticks and connected tablets such as the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1.

Huge Layoffs Incoming at HP

According to Business Insider, Hewlett-Packard appears ready to jettison up to 32,000 employees from its workforce next week in what one source calls a “massive” layoff. The news isn’t exactly a secret, with CEO Meg Whitman having already gone on record that such layoffs were under consideration. A source claims the HP cuts could trim between 10 to 15 percent of its workforce, which currently stands at 320,000 strong worldwide. At the lower end of that spectrum, 10 percent would amount to 32,000 jobs lost, although it’s unlikely that HP would make such a huge cut in one fell swoop, but rather make smaller cuts to bleed out over time. Employees in manufacturing appear to have less to worry about than their co-workers, but any way you slice, this could be quite ugly for the tech world.

Verizon: Grandfathered Unlimited Data Plans Will Take Time to Kill

Speaking of getting the axe, Verizon Wireless issued a statement to The New York Times on yesterday’s story about grandfathered unlimited data plans going away this summer. Seems as if there’s a bit more to it than that: “Customers will not be automatically moved to new shared data plans,” the carrier notes. “If a 3G or 4G smartphone customer is on an unlimited plan now and they do not want to change their plan, they will not have to do so.” That said, when the new shared data plans arrive, “Unlimited Data will no longer be available to customers when purchasing handsets at discounted pricing” -- although customers who purchase phones at full retail price and “are on an unlimited smartphone data plan will be able to keep that plan.” Translation: Unlimited data is still going to die, but it’s going to take some time for Verizon to cleanse its junkies of that bad habit.

Follow this article’s author, J.R. Bookwalter on Twitter

Apple users know what it’s like to buy a product for its potential rather than its current value. New Mac owners waited nearly a year to see a significant number of products make use of the speedy Thunderbolt ports built into their hardware. Now the waiting game has begun with next-generation wireless networking.

Buffalo’s 802.11ac AirStation WZR-D1800H router, which shipped this week to retailers across the country, is so bleeding edge that no products can yet take advantage of its theoretical max transfer speed of 1.3 Gbps. Most of your Wi-Fi-enabled gadgets--including your MacBook and iPad--top out at 802.11n, which is currently the fastest Wi-Fi bandwidth available. The IEEE is still ratifying the 11ac standard, and we won’t start to see compatible devices until it's legitimized.  We expect the rollout of 11ac to gain momentum after Cisco and Netgear release competing routers later this year, but until then you might be wondering if it’s worthwhile to invest in the technology early.

To answer that question, let’s look at what the AirStation offers. It's a gigabit dual band wireless router that supports up to four ethernet-connected devices, as well as one USB device for network sharing. It's also backwards compatible with previous Wi-Fi standards, though you won't see high speeds if you're on a device that tops out at the low end of the spectrum (an older laptop, for instance, may only be 802.11g-capable).

Although 802.11ac boasts a maximum speed of 1,750 Mbps, the current standard supports just half that. However, Buffalo has future-proofed the AirStation by packing in both 802.11ac and 802.11n technologies. So for now you can enjoy the benefits of the current Wi-Fi standard while preparing for the 11ac-compatible devices that will emerge in several months.

So, should you consider buying Buffalo's 802.11ac router now, even though nothing currently takes advantage of its higher speeds? Yes. You'll be ready for what's to come, and it couldn't hurt for AirPlay streaming either. We can’t fully endorse this particular 11ac router until we get the chance to test it here at Mac|Life HQ, but you can bet that we'll have a thorough review for you soon.

All we need to say can be summed up in the words Superpig Speaker Docking System. After that, all these other deals are gravy on top of our favorite deal we've ever offered. I mean, just look at that adorable thing. Impulse buys like these you never regret.

Mac

15.4" MacBook Pro quad-core Intel Core i7 2.2GHz

With $427 coming off the ticket, at $1,772 that's nearly 20% savings, plus free overnight shipping, this is a deal you'll be wanting to jump on, kids.

17" MacBook Pro quad-core Intel Core i7 2.3GHz

Or run it a little bigger with this 17" number with a $459 savings and only drop $2,190 for this hot blowout deal.

Porthole

Decable your living room and the rest of your house with Porthole, now on sale for $9.51 (33% off). Stream Pandora, Spotify, or any other music to Airplay Speakers, Airport Express, or your Apple TV and do it on the cheap.

5 Fonts Plus

Wow, 95% off means you're getting a $285 value for a fraction of that at $12.99. Five fonts, two brushes, and 6-7 paper textures. Designers, start your engines.

Photoshop Elements 10 Course

Learn how to put your face on Brad Pitt's body and make all your avatar dreams come true. Or learn something actually useful with this course going for $19, down from $49.

iOS Accessories

1000mAh External Backup Battery

With our phones consuming more data and delivering greater pixel density, it only makes sense to pack some battery backup action and for $4.11 with free shipping, this is a deal you can't miss.

Griffin PowerJolt SE for iPod & iPhone

Stay wired to your power with a car power cord from a trusted name in iPhone accessorizing. This Griffin cord is only $5.99 and features a stretchy cord and all the recharging your device can take.

Incipio iPhone 4/4S Stowaway Credit Card Hard Shell Case

Sometimes when you want to go out, you want to travel light. With this case, you can tuck a few credit cards and a little cash inside the back compartment and be jetting. The price is light too: $17.99 with free shipping.

Retro CellPhone Handset

These are fun for you older readers who still remember rotary dialing. Get funky with this handset just right for making calls the old fashioned way. $8 with free shipping. Call me?

SUPERPIG Speaker Docking System

Sorry, but if you're saving $51 and picking up a Superpig for $79, then it's a deal you'll kick yourself for missing out on.

Pretty Darn Cheap

Stylus with Anti-dust Plug

We're not entirely sure how well this little stylus nub will feel held in your grip, but they've cleverly solved the problem of how to store it. And at $1.29, maybe this turns out to be your best little purchase ever.

Capacitive Touchscreen Stylus 3-Pack

And in a special tie PDC, we have this 3-pack o' styli hitting you for $1.75 and free shipping. You literally can't lose out.