When you open up the app, you have the ability to register for an eBay account by either filling in a bunch of text boxes, or you can simply scan your driver’s license to have the app do most of the filling out for you, such as your name, city, state, etc. Of course, privacy might be a big issue for some users, and while you’re already submitting personal information their way, scanning your driver’s license makes room for unnecessary information to get through.

UPDATE: We’ve received more info from eBay about its driver’s license scanning feature regarding privacy, and they say that “only the name and address are pulled to complete the initial registration form. eBay does not send or store any other driver’s license information.”

As for the new UI, it’s looks relatively the same from past iterations, but boxes and text are a lot smoother now and it looks a lot cleaner overall. And while Android users have been enjoying the new shopping cart where you can check out multiple items at once, that feature is now available to iPhone and iPad users, so they no longer have to deal with a mess of a shopping cart that past versions were plagued with.

The app also now comes with the ability to view larger photos, which have always been a bit cumbersome in the past when browsing through the app on a mobile device, and since photos are crucial in an eBay listing, it seems the company is finally giving them more attention. Other than that, you can expect the usual bug fixes and overall performance improvements to the app. Both the iPhone and iPad versions are available now in the iTunes App Store.

The auction listed an estimated value of $50,000 for an hour-long coffee session with the Apple big wig, but it seems many fans thought it would be worth way more than that to hang out with the man. What’s perhaps even more impressive, is that all the funds are going to charity. Specifically, Cook is sending the money to the RFK Center for Justice and Human Rights.

The auction first went live last month, and the highest bid almost immediately skyrocketed to over its estimated value of $50,000, prompting many people to rethink just how high the auction would go. At the pace that the auction kept early on, we almost thought that it could exceed seven digits, but once the auction surpassed $500,000, bids started to slow down tremendously, with the final price landing on just over $600,000. That is still mighty impressive, however, and it makes the auction the highest-priced auction ever on CharityBuzz.

According to the auction details, the highest bidder will be able to bring one guest, both of which will go through background checks before meeting up, and each meeting will last between 30 minutes to one hour, although we’re not sure what factors will lead to a shorter or longer meeting with the Apple CEO. The auction listing also says that “polite manners and respect for the generous donor and adherence to any rules or parameters are a must,” so it seems like you won’t be able to give Cook a hard time over when the iWatch or iTV will launch.

VIA: The Next Web

Eventually, rather than facing an embarrassing legal row with action against the people who made NASA famous, the space agency relented and space related memorabilia owned by astronauts again hit the auction block. One of the strangest items to ever hit the auction block from these early Apollo missions will be put up by an auction company called RR Auction in New Hampshire.

The items up for auction are EKGs, or electrocardiograms, taken of astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin during their descent to the moon. The auction house believes that the EKGs will fetch more than $10,000. The EKG recordings span the final minutes as the two astronauts prepared to land their lunar lander on the surface of the moon for the first time in human history.

The company also has other space memorabilia that will be included in the auction, which will be held through May 23. The other items include the joystick used to control the lunar modules descent to the moon’s surface and 85 other items. The EKGs reportedly show “Aldrin’s blood pressure increase” as fuel began to run short on the lander. Since EKGs don’t show blood pressure, I can only assume they mean his heart rate increased.

[via The Space Reporter]

Another of these working machines is set to hit the auction block in Germany with Breker. This particular example is in working order and is expected to fetch somewhere between $260,000 and $400,000. This example appears to be missing its wooden case, but does include a monitor, keyboard, processor board, and the tape player. The auction will also have the Apple Lisa-1 computer from 1983.

This machine was the world’s first computer controlled using a mouse and was only produced in 1983. This particular machine is expected to bring somewhere around $20,000 and $40,000. The auction will also have a computer that’s even older than that original Apple I computer. This particular computer was built by Nat Wadsworth in 1973 and is called the Scelbi-8H. It was built around Intel’s first eight-bit microprocessor.

Only 200 of those devices were produced and only three have survived, it is expected to bring as much is $25,000. An Altair 8800 is also on the on the auction block and is expected to fetch as much as $5000. The auction will also have some older technology, much older in fact with the world’s first mechanical calculator with digital carryover on the auction block built by Blaise Pascal. This mechanical calculator is from 1642 and is known as the Pascaline. Only about 20 of those were constructed and 10 still exist. It’s expected to fetch as much as $260,000 at auction.

[via Breker]

At the time of this writing, the auction has received 78 bids, with the highest bid being a whopping $560,000, which is more than our own Don Reisinger’s fake bid for a coffee meeting with Steve Jobs. This shatters the previous record for the highest-priced auction on CharityBuzz, which was spending a day with Bill Clinton, which reached $255,000. Tim Cook’s auction shows no sign of stopping at this point.

At the rate that the auction is going now, it could easily surpass $1 million, and possibly even a couple million. Of course, that sounds completely absurd now, but we thought $500,000 was pretty crazy at the beginning. The coffee meeting with Tim Cook is said to last between 30 minutes and an hour long.

The money that is raised during this auction will be given to the RFK Center for Justice and Human Rights, so they should be expecting a hefty check very soon. The highest bidder will have to pay for travel costs, but we’re guessing that shouldn’t be too much of an issue, especially since you’ll already be spending your life savings on the meeting itself.

Cook is using Charitybuzz to host the auction, which is a website that gives celebrities the chance to auction off experiences with all the money going to charity. Cook’s charity of choice will see the funds from his auction go to the RFK Center for Justice and Human Rights. The highest bid at the time of this writing? $10,500.

The auction page lists an estimated value of the coffee meeting with Tim Cook at $50,000, which is quite an expensive cup of coffee, but perhaps Starbucks is catering? According to the auction details, it seems that the highest bidder will be able to bring one guest, both of which will go through background checks before meeting up, and each meeting will last between 30 minutes to one hour.

However, the highest bidder will also have to pay for travel costs, but we’re guessing that shouldn’t be too much of an issue, considering that you’re already paying a few thousand dollars to meet up with the Apple head. The auction listing also says that “polite manners and respect for the generous donor and adherence to any rules or parameters are a must,” so it looks like you won’t be able to give him a hard time over when the iWatch and iTV will come out.

[via The Next Web]

The company behind the game says that each planet offers a wide variety of entertainment and people can travel the planets and socialize with people from all over the real world. The game doesn’t cost anything to join and charges no subscription fees. Money for the developers is made off of an advanced micro-payment system.

The developers of the virtual universe have announced that they are in the process of auctioning off a newly discovered moon starting on March 21. When they say newly discovered, what developers mean is newly designed. The auction combines the Entropia Universe Partner and Marketing Partner programs. The winner of the virtual auction will be able to operate an estate on the newly discovered moon.

The auction winner will be able to work closely with the MindArk development team during the estate development process with direct input on important design decisions. The auction winner will also be able to share revenue with the developers that results from all activity conducted on the moon. The winning bidder will also be able to recruit new participants through marketing and receive a share of the revenue from activity generated from those new contestants anywhere in the game universe. The auction will end on April 4, 2013 and the starting bid is $150,000.

[via Entropia Universe]

Among the props are a bunch of rare items from the classic Steven Spielberg movie Jaws. Among the Jaws artifacts up for auction include Quint’s machete, Hooper’s dive mask, a section of the orca, a shark tail section, and the original Jaws tooth mold and teeth samples. These items will go for auction on March 9.

If Jaws isn’t one of your favorite films, the company is also auctioning off a number of props used in science fiction films and other action flicks. One of the coolest is a Facehugger puppet from AVP: Alien Vs. Predator. Another of the more interesting items is the Blade Runner Blaster and Deckerd’s Shirt that Harrison Ford wore in the science fiction classic.

Fans of more recent films can also bid on props from The Dark Knight, specifically the Glock Pistol and knife that the Joker played by Heath ledger used in the film. There are also various props from other classic movies such as Rambo, Serenity, Star Trek IV, Terminator 2, Troy, and other films. Trekkies will want to get their wallets out, because the props from Star Trek IV include a Klingon costume and mask.

[via ScreenUsed]

An eBay listing for a pair of Google Glasses was pulled earlier today after eBay noticed that the auction was pretty much fake since the seller didn’t even have the glasses in hand. The seller claimed that we would be picking up his pair of Google Glasses during “Google’s Project Glass launch event, which will take place some time after Feburary 27th.”

However, Google hasn’t yet begun selecting those who would receive Google Glasses, so while the seller may have submitted an application to be an early tester, there’s no guarantee that he’ll receive a pair anyway. Then again, once the glasses actually do start rolling out to developers, it’s possible we may see legit eBay auctions go up soon.

Those who end up being selected by Google to get a pair of Google Glasses will be notified sometime mid-March, where at that point, we could definitely see some eBay auctions. Plus, Google’s terms don’t necessarily that you can’t resell the pair of glasses, so be prepared to save up some cash if you’re interested in a pair.

[via The Atlantic Wire]

According to the letter, Sega has bought Relic Entertainment (makers of the Company of Heroes series) for $26.6 million, THQ Montreal was bought by Ubisoft for $2.5 million, Evolve (a game currently in development at Turtle Rock Studios) was bought for $10.89 million by Take-Two Interactive, and Volition, Inc. (makers of the Saints Row series), as well as Metro, was bought by Koch Media for $22.31 million and $5.88 million, respectively.

Furthermore, Homefront (which is planned to get a sequel) was bought by Crytek for $544,000, and a South Park license was sold to Ubisoft for $3.27 million. Some THQ assets, however, including their publishing businesses and some other intellectual properties will be held onto for a while as a part of the company’s Chapter 11 case, but they plan to find buyers eventually.

So, what does this mean to all of the THQ employees? Most of the employees of the divisions that were bought out will most likely be offered employment by the new owners. Then again, it’s very possible that the new owners will make some changes, and it may turn out that they don’t need all of the workers, but employees should find out in a couple of weeks whether they have jobs or not.

Unfortunately, employees of divisions that were not included in the auction sale will lose their positions, and it turns out that many of them are taking to Twitter to express their grief, but to also think back on the time they spent with THQ, while others are begging for a job over the social network. It’s certainly a sad day for THQ, as well as gaming as a whole. THQ has been a big part of the gaming industry, and while many of its studios and games will continue on, we’ll miss seeing the THQ branding on all our video games.

[via Kotaku]

The winning bidder, Rick Champagne, ended up paying $4.6 million for the classic car, with a $4.2 million bid, while the remaining $400,000 was in fees. Champagne is a businessman and car collector from the Phoenix area who has been attending Barrett-Jackson auctions for the last 15 years.

George Barris constructed the Batmobile in just 15 days in 1966, and was built for $15,000 using a 1955 Ford Futura concept car as the base model, which was purchased for just $1. The car has been in Barris’ personal car collection ever since, and unlike the Tumbler from the Dark Knight series, the original Batmobile is road legal.

The video above is fairly long, and the auction takes a good 15 minutes to get through, but it’s great to see the enthusiasm from all the folks in the auction room, and Barris himself was there to see the car be auctioned off. The auctioneers were even having a blast (as they always do), but it was great to see one of them hum the movie’s theme song as the price grew higher and higher.

[via Jalopnik]

Valve signed a replica Portal gun for the Games Art And Music charity event in Florida, and now that the show is over, GAAM is auctioning it off on eBay, with all of the money benefiting Child’s Play, a charity that provides children in hospitals with video games and toys — the same charity that benefits from the popular Humble Bundle.

If you feel like giving to those who are less fortunate and you happen to have an empty space on your shelf, there’s no reason not to join in. You’ll have to hurry, though. The auction ends today at 1:37 PM ET. At the time of this writing, the replica gun is at $650 with a total of 42 bids — not a bad price to pay for some classic video game memorabilia.

The replica gun is about as lifelike as it gets. It doesn’t shoot actual portals, but it does features orange and blue LED lights, unique sounds that correspond to each color, 3-way switch between blue, orange, and off, sound effects that let you hear the infamous portal blast when you pull the trigger, and extendable and posable claws at the front.

[via Joystiq]

This vehicle was originally purchased from the Ford Motor Company back in 1959 by legendary car customizer George Barris, his collection being from whens this vehicle is being sold now – customizations and all. It was Barris who customized the vehicle for the original Batman television series and whose collection it never left – even while it was being filmed for the show. Now that it’s just completed its final on-screen showing in the Batmobile documentary filmed for The Dark Knight Rises super special edition DVD, it’s time to head out.

The birth of the vehicle happened not here in the USA, but over the pond in Italy. At Ghia Body Works in Turin, the Ford Motor Company had what was called the “Lincoln Futura” created in 1954. This vehicle was used by Ford as a show-off vehicle for technology for futuristic vehicles galore, having made its debut at the 1955 Chicago Auto Show. This vehicle made one short appearance on-screen in the film It Started with a Kiss with Debbie Reynolds and Glenn Ford, then was purchased from the motor company by Barris for one dollar.

It would seem that the dollar was only a formality as Ford certainly must have recognized the man as a legend even in his own day. He’s also responsible for such masterpiece vehicles as the Torino Green Hornet, the General Lee, and the Beverly Hillbillies truck. Now that he had his hands on the one and only Lincoln Futura, he’d had another fabulous marvel in his garage. But it wasn’t until 20th Century Fox asked him to create a custom car for the then-new Batman TV series that he began work on the most fabulous vehicle of all.

Images above and below via the George Barris collection.

He was given 15 days and a $15,000 USD budget to create the Batmobile. Instead of starting from scratch, he used the already unique Lincoln Futura as a base. From there he made it ring true. According to the official release from the Barrett Jackson auction house, the vehicle features a fabulous assortment of Bat-Features, too!

“The car features a 390-in 1956 Lincoln V-8 engine and a B&M Hydro Automatic transmission. Gadgets include a nose-mounted aluminum Cable Cutter Blade, Bat Ray Projector, Anti-Theft Device, Detect-a-scope, Batscope, Bat Eye Switch, Antenna Activator, Police Band Cut-In Switch, Automatic Tire Inflation Device, Remote Batcomputer, the Batphone, Emergency Bat Turn Lever, Anti-Fire Activator, Bat Smoke, Bat Photoscope, and many other Bat gadgets. If needed, the Batmobile was capable of a quick 180° “bat-turn” thanks to two rear-mounted ten-foot Deist parachutes.”

This beast will be up for auction in January and is sure to fetch a mint. Stay tuned to see how this masterpiece fares in 2013 – and to whom it will be sent! You can keep up to date on all Batmobile dealings by hitting the Bat-Search here on SlashGear!

A clapperboard is also known as a camera slate, and the actual item from the auction is pictured above if you still aren’t sure what I’m talking about. The coolest thing about this particular clapperboard was that it still had the date written on it in marker, and you can see the remnants of erased scene numbers and take counts.

ScreenUsed says that it set a record for sales price for a clapperboard during its November 3 online auction when The Empire Strikes Back clapperboard sold for $38,350. Anotherbig-ticket item purchased during this auction included the Rocketeer helmet worn in the movie The Rocketeer, which sold for $29,500.

The actual Mattel Hoverboard used in Back to the Future sold for $22,420. Christopher Reeve’s Superman Bodysuit worn in Superman III went for $23,600. There’s no mention of exactly how much the Ricky Bobby Racing Suit worn in the Will Ferrell film Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby sold for.

The auction has a huge number of items that were used on the screen in some of the most popular movies and television shows out there. If you ever want to own Jayne Cobb’s Vera machine gun from the series Firefly, here is your chance. The auction in November has a lot of other cool stuff as well.

Other interesting items that will be on auction include a Wink costume from the flick Hellboy II: The Golden Army, Neo’s coat from The Matrix Revolutions, and an even a production used clapperboard from Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. While all that stuff is cool, those aren’t the most interesting items to me.

One of the most interesting items in the auction is the full racing suit worn by Will Ferrell in Talladega Nights. The racing suit is a customized Sparco racing suit worn by Ferrell along with the Wonder Bread hat and puma shoes. Another of the supremely cool items on display is a full endoskeleton chest from Terminator 2: Judgment Day. There are also multiple Star Trek uniforms and props as well as the Superman bodysuit worn by Christopher Reeve in Superman III.

The design of the Apple, for those of you that don’t remember all the way back to last year, comes from designer Jonathan Mak – or at least is based upon that design per their press release. This set of three notebooks is all the same, each model coming with 2.7GHz configurations, 16GB memory, and a 750GB solid state drive inside. Each model is made with essentially the same components as the normal MacBook Pro with Retina display, but the Apple logo on the top cover is laser-cut to create the face of Jobs.

The proceeds will be split between the charity Get It Done and another group by the name of SellanApp where it’ll be working with developers working on iOS apps that specifically “don’t have a direct business model, but have a clear societal value.” The bottom of the notebook will also include the following inscription laser-cut into the metal:

“When you grow up you, tend to get told that the world is the way it is and your life is just to live your life inside the world, try not to bash into the walls too much, try to have a nice family, have fun, save a little money. That’s a very limited life. Life can be much broader, once you discover one simple fact, and that is that everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you. And you can change it, you can influence it, you can build your own things that other people can use. Once you learn that, you’ll never be the same again.” – Steve Jobs

This is just one of a vast collection of tributes that have been made to Jobs over the past year, with today’s one-year anniversary of his passing making the world once again remember his impact. Of course according to Apple, his influence doesn’t just stop at the idea that everything from his design knowledge to his leadership skills are still being studied today. His design influence in each of the major products in the field being released even today had Jobs hand in them well before they came to fruition.

Have a peek at the small timeline below for more Steve Jobs tributes and memories from the past year, and let us know if you feel that a MacBook Pro with Retina Display is a fabulous way to remember the man’s visage. Also let us know if you plan on picking up one of these three 12 thousand dollar notebooks.

As you can see, the new logo keeps the same colors we’re used to seeing (though they seem a little toned down in this new iteration), but switches out the bouncy appearance of the text for something that’s a little more straightforward. We’ve included the original logo below so you can compare the two side-by-side.

At the moment, the old logo still graces eBay’s page. It won’t be swapped out for the new one until sometime in October, so the old logo we all know and love will hang around for a while yet. In a statement posted to the site, eBay president Devin Wenig discussed the decision to change the company’s famous logo, saying that it was a switch that eBay took seriously:

The eBay logo is known the world over, so changing it was not a decision made lightly. The time felt right. We’re incredibly proud of how eBay started and quickly grew into the world’s largest online marketplace. Auction-style listings, used goods, vintage items and quirky, one-of-a-kind finds are still a big part of what makes buying and selling on eBay special. We hope that’s always true. But we’ve evolved a lot in the past few years, and eBay is much more than auction-style listings today.

Wenig went on to point out that these days, most of the listings on eBay aren’t straight up auctions, but rather come with a fixed “Buy It Now” price. Indeed, this logo swap seems intended to reflect the recent shift in the way eBay users are buying and selling items, so with that being said, it does seem appropriate that eBay is getting a new logo. Still, it’ll be sad to see the old one go, if only because it’s what we’ve known for the past 17 years. What do you think of eBay’s new logo – is it a winner or a loser?

Kodak has now announced that it intends to sell its consumer film, photo kiosks, and commercial scanner businesses. Kodak will get assistance from Lazard Ltd as it tries to sell the units with the hope of completing the sales in the first half of 2013. Once the sale of Kodak’s personal imaging and document imaging units are complete Kodak will only have inkjet printers and commercial film units left.

Kodak’s commercial film unit sells film stock to the movie industry. Kodak is working on an extended patent auction as it attempts to raise money and interest in two different patent portfolios. So far, courts have prevented Apple from filing suit against Kodak over some of the patents Kodak wants to sell. Apple alleges that it owns some of the Kodak patents after it and Kodak worked together on a digital camera in the 90s.

The court previously ruled against Apple on two of the patents in question saying that Apple had waited too long to assert its ownership claim. The court has also previously denied Kodak a summary judgment on eight other patents stating that Kodak could renew its request with more details. Kodak says that 20 parties have signed agreements to view confidential information ahead of offering bids on the patent portfolios. Kodak and its creditors have agreed to extend the patent auction deadline beyond August 13. Apple expected the two patent portfolios to sell for around $2.6 billion. Sources claim that bids submitted so far have only been around $150 million-$250 million.

[via Bloomberg]

Metaphysical covers many items and basically includes anything such as advice, spells, curses, magic, blessing services, healing sessions, work from home businesses, and a number of informational lists. The items will be banned starting on August 30 of this year. The ban will affect people who sell services and items that have to do with psychics such as tarot cards and other items.

Some people are unhappy about the new rules that seek to ban intangible items and items of an occult nature. Some believe that eBay is banning items based on witchcraft or pagan beliefs. These people point out that eBay is still allowing products such as rosaries, crucifixes, and religious medals to be sold along with items like crystals and magnetic therapy jewelry.

Some users who don’t agree with eBay’s new bans have started a petition called “Don’t ban our psychics on eBay.” So far, the petition has 1009 signatures and seeks to challenge eBay’s perceptions of what makes an item intangible. What do you think about this ban?

[via Wired]

One of McQueen’s most popular films was called Le Mans, and the auction being conducted by RM Auctions has several vehicles that are classics in their own right and also happen to be used in the film. One of the cars going up for auction is a 1968 Ford GT40 Gulf/Mirage Lightweight Racing Car. This car was leased by the McQueen’s production company Solar Productions in 1970.

The GT40 race car was used as the camera car in Steve McQueen’s racing film Le Mans. Another vehicle used in that film is also up for auction and is an 1956 Fiat Series 306/s Grand Prix Transporter. The vehicle was originally commissioned by the Maserati Grand Prix team and was used by two famous race teams during its functional life, including Carol Shelby and Lance Reventlow’s teams.

That particular car hauler was used in the film as the team transporter for Ferrari, Renault/Mirage, and Porsche. Other cars in the auction tied to Steve McQueen included 1961 Cooper T-56 Mark II Formula Junior Racing Car owned and raced by the Mc in California in 1962. Another McQueen vehicle is an unrestored, and well-documented, 1953 Hudson Hornet Sedan. Another movie car included the auction is an exceptionally rare 1956 Ferrari 250 GT LWB Berlinetta 14-louver ‘Tour de France’ used in the 1966 movie The Love Bug. That particular car is the first Tour de France out of nine built. The auction will also include a 1965 Shelby 427 Competition Cobra that appeared in the film Grand Prix with James Garner.

It isn’t much to look at, but the seller says that it still works and still even saves – not bad for a cartridge that is apparently dated February 23, 1987. If the cartridge was indeed made around that date, that means this copy of The Legend of Zelda was making its way around Nintendo of America’s offices six months before the retail version released. For those doubting the cartridge’s authenticity (or the claim that it’s still in working order), the seller made a YouTube video demonstrating that the cartridge boots up just fine when popped into an NES. Check it out below.

Sadly, there don’t seem to be any differences between this prototype and the retail version that hit shelves in August of 1987. The seller does point out that he hasn’t played through it all the way yet, so there could very well be some differences which remain undiscovered, but if you’re planning on buying, you should probably keep that little caveat in mind. If it isn’t different from its retail cousin, you’re buying the prototype because it’s a prototype, and not because it provides an ultra-rare glimpse at gameplay elements that were left on the cutting room floor.

So far there have been 37 offers made on the prototype, and while a few are currently pending, most have been declined. That means there’s still time to secure this bad boy, but the seller obviously won’t abide low-ball offers. $150,000 is a lot to pay for a cartridge, and with this supposedly being the only one in the world, it’s difficult to put a value on the prototype. We’ve got some pretty serious game collectors walking this planet, however, so the seller may just make his sale by the time everything is said and done.

Capone purchased the 1928 Cadillac V8 Town Sedan and had it painted green to mimic the look of police cars used at time. As soon as Capone purchased the Cadillac, he took it to a body shop and had 3000 pounds of steel armor, and 1-inch thick bulletproof glass added to the vehicle. The car has been restored since Capone owned it and most of the armor has been removed, and the glass has been replaced.

The vehicle has a 5.5L V8 engine producing all of 90 hp and a three speed manual transmission. I can only imagine as large as the 1928 Cadillac was, hauling around 3000 extra pounds of armor must’ve made it insanely slow. I wonder how Capone was able to make a speedy getaway with such an underpowered car. The car is estimated to bring between $300,000 and $500,000 at auction.

[via Leftlane News]

The big auction here included a circuit board containing A-D rows as well as columns 1-18, a full board working with a a MOS Technologies 6502 microprocessor and labeled MCS 6502 3776. This set of parts included a video terminal and keyboard interface as well, these sitting near 8K bytes of RAM distributed amongst 16-pin 4K memory chips. You’ve got the original cassette board connector, low-profile sockets, breadboard, heatsink, and a lovely set of original manuals as well.

This whole auction was described as having “a bit of wear and tear” but were touted as being a supremely rare item nonetheless:

“An exceptionally rare, working example with original Apple cassette interface, operation manuals and a rare BASIC Users’ Manual. It is thought that fewer than 50 Apple I Computers survive, with only six known to be in working conditions.” – Sotheby’s

The most recent example of an auction containing an Apple 1 was back in November of 2010 where the hardware sold for $213,600 USD. The Apple 1 was only known to have been sold to one distributor, that being Paul Terrell – he selling the one run of 50 devices at his Byte Shop chain of computer stores in the USA. This set of 50 came as pre-assembled kits where otherwise Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak would sell their Apple computers as DIY sets.

Have a peek below at a set of recent Apple announcements from WWDC to see how far Apple has come from back when an Apple 1 cost right around $500 USD.

[via PCMag]

The memo is addressed to Jobs’ supervisor at the time, Stephen Bristow, who would later work on the Atari 2600. It describes how Atari could make changes to its World Cup Soccer arcade game for improved fun and functionality. The memo is titled All-One Farm Design, a name associated with a commune that Jobs frequented, and the address of Jobs’ parents in Palo Alto.

Working at Atari is where Jobs employed Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak to help develop the hardware for a prototype single-player version of Pong that would become Breakout. Jobs left Atari that summer for a trip to India, after which he returned to live in a commune.

With Jobs’ passing last October, items associated with the life of the Apple visionary are sure to be highly valued. The memo is expected to fetch between $10,000 to $15,000.

[via CNET]

The online auction business eBay reported this week that their first-quarter profit rose an impressive 20% on continued strength in its payments business – this not including PayPal. At the same time, their smaller online-payments segment which does include PayPal had revenue growth of 32% – an impressive jump indeed. Revenue growth in eBay’s marketplaces segment – also known as their largest division, was found to have 11% growth this quarter. Gross merchandise volume grew 12%, this excluding the vehicle piece of the equation in eBay’s report for one reason or another.

In the end, eBay’s total profit grew to $570 million this quarter, this up from $476 million last year at this same time. While these numbers might have nothing on a company so massive as Google with their $10.56 billion in earnings for Q1, eBay certainly isn’t going anywhere when it comes to the business they do, and do well.

How often do you use eBay? How about PayPal?

What VIP Deals did was to take a $60 case for a tablet, reduce the price down to $10 USD, then include in the box in which it was shipped a slip of paper. This slip of paper noted how the person receiving the item might get a $10 refund (the entire list price) if they simply leave a review on the site they purchased it from. The note read thusly:

“In return for writing the review, we will refund your order so you will have received the product for free. … We strive to earn 100 percent perfect ‘FIVE-STAR’ scores from you!”

So 4,945 reviews later and VIP Deals is a powerhouse, able to sell a bridge to you in Brooklyn if you don’t head into their reviews and notice how insane they are. Thats why Bing Liu, also a computer science professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, is currently in the process of devising a mathematical model (or set of models) that’ll systematically take apart scams such as this in the future.

“More people are depending on reviews for what to buy and where to go, so the incentives for faking are getting bigger. It’s a very cheap way of marketing.” – Liu

Too cheap, we’re thinking, and so thinks Liu and the law. Take them apart Liu, we’d much rather have the reality of good or bad product reviews than a few bucks off a case we do not need in the first place.

[via NYTimes]

The car that filled that need is a one-of-a-kind GT500 test car that was constructed to be rung out at the Sebring International Raceway by the Ford SVT development Team and Carroll Shelby himself. The car used already had a long history with Ford and had started as one of the first 2007 GT500′s built; the body was later updated to the new 2010 body style.

The test car was put up for auction with the proceeds being donated to the JDRF, which is a research firm that seeks a cure for type 1 juvenile diabetes. The car was run through the auction at Barrett-Jackson last weekend, and the winning bidder paid $350,000 for the car. This special test car has a full roll cage, six-point harnesses, and Recaro racing seats inside.

“I raced on the Sebring International racetrack for many years, but my ambition was always to build my own car,” said Carroll Shelby. “It was exciting to be back to collaborate on this GT500 durability car with the SVT guys. I’m really proud to have my name on this car. They took my dreams of what a car should be and made it a reality.”

That estimate was very low compared to what the docs actually went for at the auction. The buyer of the documents was Eduardo Cisneros, CEO of Cisneros corporation. He plunked down $1,594,500 for the documents, roughly ten times the price that was expected. Cisneros was very happy with his purchase as well and tweeting that he was happy to own a part of American and world history.

Among the documents that the purchase included was the document outlining perhaps the worst business decision in the tech world. The documents including the filing where Wayne pulled out of Apple for only $800 is part of the collection of documents.

[via Mashable]

The auction is now over and when listed it had a buy it now price of $999. No one wanted the smartphone enough to end the auction early and pony up nearly a grand for the G2x. The final price the smartphone got up to was $799.

I can’t image wanting a new phone so bad that you were willing to pay so much more than the retail price just to get it a few weeks early. I wonder if the smartphone was purchased by someone that wants to tear it down online.

[via PhoneArena]

The Peel system uses an IR dongle – called the Peel Fruit – which hooks up via a ZigBee connection to an ethernet dongle – called the Peel Cable – on your router, and controls your A/V equipment via a custom app on the iPhone. By using the network rather than some sort of plug-in wireless dongle that attaches to the smartphone itself, you can be in a different room and still control your kit.

It’s certainly more complex than rival systems from Griffin and Gear4, but the question remains whether would-be users will pay a premium for Peel’s setup. The company hints that comparable universal remotes range from $250 to $350, though the Griffin and Gear4 systems will be $80 and $100 respectively. The auction process ends January 31, with regular ordering apparently beginning sometime shortly after that.

The coolest of the items in my book is the sweet mini flag pictured here. This flag went with Apollo 11 to the moon and is on a card that is autographed by the astronauts on the mission including Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins.

Armstrong autographed the flag card to Rooster Andrews, who apparently owned a sports shop in Texas. There are all sorts of other items in the auction too from playboy centerfold pics to the headset that was used to talk to the astronauts on the moon. You can even pick up some freeze dried food.

Via TG Daily

Included in this auction are some massively excellent items, most of the Star Wars items being listed right here:

1191 Tauntaun armature heads and sculpts from Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back
1182 Space Slug teeth from Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back
1184 Darth Vader belt buckle from Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back
1188 Joe Johnston leg design for creation of AT-AT from Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back
1178 M’iiyoom Onith cantina creature head from Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope
644 Natalie Portman “Padme” costume from Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace
642 Rebel guard jacket from Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope
1183 Emperor Palpatine head appliance from Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back
639 Darth Vader underrobe from Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back
1180 Dice Ibegon cantina creature puppet from Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope
1189 General Ackbar eye from Star Wars: Episode VI –Return of the Jedi*
631 X-Wing study model for visual effects shots of Death Star trench run from Star Wars: Episode IV
645 Collection of Death Star surface elements from Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi
643 Rancor puppet animation handle from Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi
641 Rebel guard jacket from Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope
632 Yoda hero pendant from The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi*
1192 Front of Rancor head master production model from Star Wars: Episode VI –Return of the Jedi
1190 Huge archive of storyboards and production files from Star Wars ESB and ROTJ
638 Collection of Industrial Light and Magic employee Star Wars patches and car window sticker
647 Original production made Darth Vader helmet from Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope
1187 Background AT-AT from Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back
1186 Tauntaun test stop-motion armature from Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back
1179 Ellorrs Madak cantina creature mask and hands from Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope*
1185 Han Solo stop-motion puppet costume and Han Solo master from Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back*
1194 Jabba the Hutt and throne approved prototype maquette from Star Wars: Episode VI –Return of the Jedi
640 Death Star gun tower from Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope
1181 Trash Compactor Creature puppet from Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope*

*Pictured in gallery below.

To check out all auction items, head on over to icollector.com and bid live! Otherwise see the posting on Profiles in History or download the entire catalog [here] – Happy bidding!

[Via StarWarsBlog]

The final bid was made by Italian businessman Marco Bodlione, a man who fancies himself a private collector and his brother (who was at the auction) “The first time I had heard of the idea of a personal computer, it was from Marco,” Macro’s brother Boglione said. He bought it “because he loves computers.”

Also present at the auction was none other than Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple Computer. He was kind enough to add an autographed letter to the lot (though it’s unclear whether his letter went into this box or the greater lot of technology-related goods available at the auction.)

“Today my heart went out as I got to see things auctioned off like the Turing documents and the Enigma machine and the Apple I,” Woz told journalists right after the auction. “It really was an important step – I didn’t feel that way when I designed it. … I’m very delighted for the gentleman who purchased it.” The Turing documents he speaks of are writings by British mathematician Alan Turing, and the Enigma is a historic German code-making machine.

[Via AP on Yahoo!]

The folks living inside the Harmonix bubble probably saw this coming for quite some time now as they’ve been “on the bottom line” for more than a few of the past business quarters, however, they wont simply curl up and die. Viacom is expected to sell Harmonix by auction, with a reported number of around four videogame and/or private-equity firms coming to see if they’d like to be the one to bid the most. The year 2006 was the last time the Harmonix group was purchased (by Viacom) for around $175 million plus one payment of $150 million in 2008. Cheep!

[Via AllThingsDigital]

One of the props being auctioned off that might be of interest to geeks is the Apple-II Plus computer and its Apple-III monitor and Disk-II floppy drive. You might recall the computer and the system that Desmond and the others had to use to enter the numbers every 108 minutes.

Desmond’s failure to enter these numbers on time is what caused the flight all the survivors were on to crash. The prop computer was used at both the Swan and Pearl station sets. It’s not clear if the machine is working or not. Who knows how much the thing will go for.