Archive | Cult of Mac

The protest at Apple's San Francisco store, via Cory Moll.

Tourists wandering into Apple Stores in six cities around the globe found themselves in the middle of a media storm about the Cupertino company’s labor policies in China.

Members of two protests groups, who say they represent Apple customers, delivered petitions they claim are 245,000 signatures strong. Change.org and SumOfUs delivered petitions to Apple Stores today in Washington, DC, New York, San Francisco, London, Sydney and Bangalore.

Though the San Francisco protest appears as tiny as the one in New York, it did have one participant of note: Apple retail worker Cory Moll, who works at the downtown store.

Is This USB Vibrator The New iPod? [Interview]

The DUET, photo courtesy CRAVE.

DUET is one of those products designed to elicit “aha” moments: it’s a vibrator that looks like a USB key. Small, slim and discreet, it has no cords, no bulky buttons and requires no batteries.

Despite Steve Jobs’s well-known war on porn, he might have approved of the guiding principles behind its luxe yet functional design.

The San Francisco-based startup behind it, CRAVE, hopes to do what Apple did for MP3 players: create a breakout product that people will want to carry around.

No more hiding your sex toys in a drawer or worrying about airport security sniggers; a soon-to-ship version dubbed DUET LUX packs memory storage like a regular USB key – an enticing twofer if ever there was one.

How The iPad Is Revolutionizing Branding [Exclusive Book Excerpt]

Touchable design and tablet computers like Apple’s iPad are revolutionizing the way companies brand. This new platform demands a new way of thinking and designing and a radical shift in customer experience and understanding.

Cult of Mac got these exclusive excerpts from iPhone photography and design guru Dan Marcolina, also the author of iPhone Obsessed. His thoughts about where the world of iPad design is headed are part of the forthcoming fourth edition of “Designing Brand Identity” by Alina Wheeler. The book will be published in March, 2012.

Republicans Are Voting Via iPads In Florida Primary

The iPad voting system from Everyone Counts.

Some voters in Florida’s Republican primary elections will be choosing the man they want in the White House with the touch of a finger using iPads.

Although Lori Steele, Chairman & CEO of Everyone Counts, the company behind the iPad voting scheme, was tight-lipped on details about how many of Apple’s magical tablets will be ticking boxes in today’s elections, she was quick to say that a similar program in Oregon led to an increase of voter participation by 1,500%.

One thing she’s certain of though: the iPads will ensure there’s no hanging chads or lost votes.

Cult of Mac asked her about the cost, security and software behind it. We’re planning to follow up on how the battle between Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich played out over touchscreens.

Here’s How Apple Controls Its Boardrooms From An iPad [MacWorld / iWorld 2012]

SAN FRANCISCO, MACWORLD / iWORLD 2012 — Those brainstorming sessions that we’d all like to eavesdrop on at Apple are managed using an iPad system.

How The Real CSI Uses Apple For Cold Cases [Macworld / iWorld 2012]

Sacramento County Coroner Gregory Wyatt. @Cultofmac.

SAN FRANCISCO, MACWORLD / iWORLD 2012 — Gregory Wyatt is a fast-talking coroner with a touch of gallows humor and a soft spot for cases involving kids. Wyatt is also the only “official” Mac user out of about 10,000 state workers. As the coroner for Sacramento County, Wyatt heads up a staff of 34 who investigate about 8,000 deaths a year and perform 1,000 autopsies.

“I’m also my own Mac support guy. The only reason I can do that is because they work,” Wyatt said during a talk titled “Apple in Life & Death: The REAL CSI.” Outgoing and confident, he joked he was “not used to speaking to people who speak back.”

How Virtual Reality Can Make Your Building Smarter [Macworld / iWorld 2012]

SAN FRANCISCO, MACWORLD / iWORLD 2012 — Next time you’re nodding off at school or in the office because there’s too much C02 in the room, a sensor can open the window and wake you up.

This is just one of the cool functions that a group of uber-smart high school students and an affable professor have designed through virtual reality in Hawaii.

These Apps Take Your iPhone Photos From Banal To Bliss [Macworld /iWorld 2012]

@Jonathan Marks. The "before" photo is on the right.

SAN FRANCISCO, MACWORLD / iWORLD 2012 — If you want to create great photos from your iPhone, start by shooting everywhere. Including the dentist’s office or out the window of a friend’s bathroom.

Photographer Jonathan Marks has snapped his evocative pics in both those places, plus waiting at a traffic light and at a Whole Foods parking lot. He shoots and processes everything directly on his iPhone, thanks to a handful of key apps.

Check Out The Original iPhone Film Festival Winners [Macworld 2012]

OIFF Founders at MacWorld. @Cultofmac.

SAN FRANCISCO, MACWORLD / iWORLD 2012 — The inaugural edition of the Original iPhone Film Festival (OIFF) gave out awards to small-screen Steven Spielbergs.

OIFF founders Corey Rogers and Matt Dessner were on hand to talk about common iPhone filmmaking problems, like getting release forms and copyright snafus. (If you want to take your iPhone videos from crappy to snappy, check out our exclusive interview with some great tips from Dessner.)

How To Make iPhone Videos That Don’t Suck [Macworld / iWorld 2012]

SAN FRANCISCO, MACWORLD/IWORLD 2012 — If your iPhone videos are so lame that even your loved ones won’t watch them anymore, we’ve got some advice for you.

Cult of Mac talked to Matt Dessner, co-founder of the Original iPhone Film Festival (OIFF), about choosing a subject, keeping it steady, getting enough b-roll and what he calls the Golden Tip of Editing.

The OIFF is about to announce 2012 winners here; with a little practice you might win next year’s competition and a MacBook Air.