When Steve Jobs announced the MacBook Air a couple of years ago, I thought it was an incredibly sleek device with some great ideas about the coming age of cloud computing. Though the specs for the device weren't up to today's standards (they change so fast!), my main take away was that the MacBook Air was a great computer, but was just a few years before its time.

Just today Erika Ogg wrote that someone familiar with Apple's plans says we're going to see a slimmed-down, cheaper MacBook Air at next Wednesday's Apple event. Erika goes on to talk about possible specs and pricing, wondering where a new MacBook Air will fit in Apple's laptop lineup.

My question to readers is, what would you be willing to pay for a slimmer (and probably more powerful) MacBook Air? Certainly you'll still likely be able to get a Windows laptop that's cheaper, but considering current prices for Apple computers, what is a fair price for a sleeker, more cloud-based Mac laptop?

Let's make it a contest. Here's my guess for the actual price of the Macbook Air that might be announced on Wednesday: $999. Give me your best guess in the comments and on Wednesday we can come back to see who's closest. Winner gets bragging rights!

This week's apps include a ringtone creator that uses MP3s from your library and an exciting puzzle game for wannabe train conductors.

Ringtone Maker Pro (99 cents) lets you make ringtones with clips from your MP3 library, but it's not anywhere near as simple as it should be. To be fair, the developer made Ringtone Maker Pro to work within the confines of how ringtones work on the iPhone and iTunes, so while the process is not ideal, it does the job and adds a few extras.

The interface is fairly intuitive when picking your songs. You simply touch a button, select a song from your library, and Ringtone Maker Pro gives you options for how you want to edit the clip. You can use a slider to set start and end points for your clip so you don't have to worry about tracks that are slow to get going. You have options to add fade-in and -out effects and there are also silly effects you can add, like pitch shifting and changing the playback speed. A number of presets are included, which show up as cartoony icons in the interface, that will do things like make the vocalist in your track sound like a chipmunk or give a female vocalist a low voice, for example. You also have the option to manually adjust pitch and track speed, often with funny results.

The only problem with Ringtone Maker Pro is the rather complex dance you'll need to do with iTunes and your iPhone to make your new ringtones work. You start by syncing your iPhone with iTunes, saving your created audio files to your desktop, then dragging them back into iTunes so they show up under custom ringtones. If this sounds confusing, that's because it is. Fortunately, Ringtone Maker Pro offers both a text and image help file, along with a short Youtube tutorial, to get you started.

Overall, in spite of the complicated process to get the ringtones onto your iPhone, Ringtone Maker Pro works as advertised and adds in some silly extras to boot. Anyone who doesn't mind putting in a little work will appreciate the ability to customize their ringtones.

Trainyard ($1.99) is a well-designed, though graphically simple, puzzle game in which you try to get trains from point A to point B by drawing tracks for them to travel on. The game starts off slow with very simple puzzles to help you get used to the controls. As you progress through the levels, new rules are added to make the challenges more difficult, but fortunately the game offers quick and clear tutorials before dropping you into the fray.

A typical level will have a starting point and an end point and your challenge is to draw a track between them before sending the train on its way. But later levels will have several starting and ending points or special rules that add to the challenge. In one level, you need to use color theory to combine two different-colored trains to match the color of the end point. Another level challenges you to create switcher tracks in order to distribute trains to multiple end points. The way the game gently introduces you to each new challenge is excellent and some levels will have you staring at the screen for minutes on end trying to figure out the best way to get your trains to their collective stations.

Trainyard is quickly becoming one of my favorite puzzle games on the iPhone, because it's so easy to pick up and play during those brief moments I'm waiting in line at the bank, or for the bus during my commute. Anyone who likes puzzle games will enjoy Trainyard's twist on an old game mechanic.

What's your favorite iPhone app? Is Ringtone Maker Pro too complicated or do you have a better app for the job? What do you think of Trainyard? Let me know in the comments!

SugarSync, a cloud computing service that allows for immediate file syncing between various desktop and mobile devices, must have decided that all of that airborne data was getting a bit lonely. Today, the company gathered a few lucky members of the press (myself included) to hear a brief presentation on what its projections are for the future of cloud-based storage services (in short: things are looking good, business-wise), and then we moved on to the real treat of the day: a ride in a Zeppelin.

SugarSync commissioned the Zeppelin NT ("Neue Technologie", German for new technology) from Airship Ventures, which owns and operates one of only two of these airships in the entire world (the other is in Germany). The company took us on a stunning tour of the San Francisco Bay at heights that didn't quite get to cloud level, but did have us cruising easily above the steady onslaught of fog.

I'm not sure if I felt any closer to the data, but I did get to see San Francisco like never before. To see for yourself, check out my Twitter feed.

Let's say I own the box set of TV's most criminally canceled show, "Firefly." Now let's say I want to watch some episodes on my iPhone. Or iPad. Or even just my laptop. Do I really have to spend more money to buy or rent them from Amazon or iTunes?

Not if I have a good DVD ripper, which copies movies and TV shows from the discs I already own and converts them to other formats (like, say, iPhone-friendly MP4).

Rippers often sell for $30, $40, or even more--but I have a pair you can have absolutely free, no strings attached.

The first is Digiarty MacX DVD Ripper Pro, which, its name not withstanding, is also available for Windows. If you go for the Mac version, you'll need an activation code (BD-TGTXUVYO-OONQRP). The Windows version's activation code can be found in a text file included with the download.

The second is iToolSoft DVD Ripper, also available for both Windows and Mac. The required registration names and codes appear right on the download page; make sure you enter the latter exactly as they're shown, dashes and all.

Update: Several readers have reported problems getting the Mac code to work. While I had no problem with the Windows version, I wasn't able to try its Mac counterpart. I've contacted the developer and will post an update if and when I get a response.

These are full versions, the only limitation being that they don't qualify for updates or technical support. (Before you start griping about that, let me remind you that they're free.) I downloaded, installed, and ran both without any problems to speak of.

Which one is better? I think the iToolSoft product has the prettier interface, but Digiarty's ripper supports more device-specific output formats (including the iPhone 4, iPad, and Zune). My advice: grab 'em both and decide for yourself.

The Digiarty and iToolSoft freebies are available until October 28 and October 31, respectively.

Originally posted at iPhone Atlas