This bundle of tech courses can help you launch a lucrative and fulfilling new career. Photo: Cult of Mac Deals
Ready to take your understanding of coding and artificial intelligence to the next level? This programming bundle for ChatGPT and Python shows you how to pull off coding projects big and small, from “beginner to winner.” And you can get all 14 courses, with a total of 86 hours of courses, for only $39.99 (regularly $154).
You get lifetime access to the lesssons, which are a great way to establish a fundamental understanding of impactful technology.
HumanPods earbuds are just the start of Natura Umana's AI plans. Photo: Natura Umana
In a world dominated by screens, where the average person spends more than seven hours a day glued to digital devices, the question arises: Is there a better way to integrate technology into our lives? Swiss company Natura Umana believes there is. Taking inspiration from Spike Jonze’s iconic film Her, the company is developing a revolutionary AI ecosystem that replaces screen dependency with natural, voice-first interaction.
At the heart of Natura Umana’s vision are two pioneering products: HumanPods, the first AI earbuds designed for all-day wear, and NatureOS, a software platform that introduces “AI People” — intelligent agents that feel more like companions than tools. Together, these innovations aim to reduce screen addiction, enhance productivity and foster real-world human connections, all while maintaining a steadfast commitment to privacy.
This AI-powered voice recorder offers a high-tech solution for capturing, transcribing, translating and summaring long calls, meetings and classes. Photo: Cult of Mac Deals
The Focais Meet One is an AI-powered device that elevates note-taking and voice recording to a new level. Designed for convenience and accuracy, the AI voice recorder combines voice recognition with advanced AI features to streamline capturing and organizing essential details from conversations.
Its AI transcription feature supports more than 120 languages. This makes it an ideal tool for multilingual environments and anyone dealing with diverse clients or partners. Whether it’s a meeting, lecture or phone call, the Focais Meet One transcribes conversations accurately.
LightPDF is a good Adobe Acrobat alternative that costs less than an Adobe subscription. Photo: Cult of Mac Deals
Looking for an Adobe Acrobat alternative? LightPDF is a great, feature-rich PDF editor that costs less than half of an annual Adobe subscription. And it works on iPhones, Androids and Windows PCs.
LightPDF not only comes with countless PDF-editing features and OCR tech, but it’s also integrated with AI to summarize lengthy text for you. You can grab it for life for only $79.99 (regularly $109.99) while supplies last.
The writing tools are the most fleshed out Apple Intelligence feature, at least at first. Image: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac
One of the top Apple Intelligence features is a new set of system-wide AI writing tools. You can invoke these intelligent writing helpers anytime, anywhere to help you compose, edit, rewrite, summarize, reformat or proofread text.
In my experience, they can really streamline reformatting a document and can be helpful for making your written communication better. Here’s how to make the most of Apple Intelligence writing tools.
Tap to talk with a variety of "AI people," depending on your needs. Photo: Natura Umana
New open-ear wireless earbuds called HumanPods unveiled at CES 2025 offer voice access to different artificial intelligence personas with a tap, according to startup Natura Umana.
The new earphones, which also play music, of course, promise to deliver what the company calls “the closest experience to a telepathic connection with your technology” by offering direct access to AI assistance through simple touch controls. The company’s CEO provides a little video demo below (complete with a few bugs).
Use this AI tool to write better resumes and land the job you want. Photo: Cult of Mac Deals
Job interviews can prove intimidating, but these days, there’s a much more important interview going on behind the scenes. It happens the moment you upload your resume. And because it’s crucial that you pass this “invisible interview,” AI Resume Builder could be the most essential weapon in your job-hunting arsenal.
It could help you land that coveted real job interview that’s key to getting your dream job. Fortunately, this resume-writing tool is now on sale for only $39 (regularly $468). You won’t find a better deal than this anywhere else online.
Humane's new CosmOS works with AI across platforms. Photo: Humane
After the disappointing launch of its Ai Pin wearable device, San Francisco-based tech company Humane shifts its focus to CosmOS. It’s a new AI-powered operating system that promises to revolutionize how users rely on artificial intelligence to interact with their smart devices, including Apple’s. TheHumane AI Pin struggled to deliver on its promises, prompting the company to pivot toward software-driven innovation.
That might remind folks of Steve Jobs’ long-ago move from Apple to NeXT, which ended up dropping hardware entirely and focusing on software.
Humane demonstrated CosmOS running across multiple platforms including car entertainment systems, smart speakers, TVs and smartphones in a new video Wednesday. The system aims to provide functionality similar to AI assistants like Siri, but appears more advanced, enabling complex, context-aware interactions across various devices.
Tim Cook spoke recently at Apple Park during the "It's Glowtime" event. Photo: Apple
Apple CEO Tim Cook revealed details about the company’s approach to artificial intelligence and defended its Vision Pro headset in an extensive interview Wednesday. In a now-familiar refrain, he discussed the company’s strategic entry into generative AI while addressing criticisms about Apple’s seemingly delayed response to the AI boom.
“We never talked about charging for it,” Cook said of Apple Intelligence. “We view it sort of like multitouch, which enabled the smartphone revolution and the modern tablet.”
Put your best face forward with this easy-to-use AI headshot generator. Photo: Cult of Mac Deals
It’s tough to take a professional-looking headshot, whether for a job application or your LinkedIn profile. But an AI headshot generator can definitely make you shine. InstaGlam.ai taps artificial intelligence to create the glamorous headshots you don’t have the time or expertise to produce, and all it needs are a few selfies.
iPhone and other smartphone shoppers may not have AI at top of mind. Photo: Apple
With Apple Intelligence features coming out to much fanfare, it seems smartphone users don’t actually rank AI very high on their wishlists when considering smartphone upgrades, according to a new survey out Friday. With AI low on smartphone upgrade wishlists, what do they crave? Much higher among their hopes are longer battery life, more storage and better cameras. You know, the “classics.”
Easily create a pitch deck with PitchBob AI, now $49.99 for a lifetime subscription (regularly $99.90). Photo: Cult of Mac Deals
You know Siri, right? While she might be a tremendous help for sending a text while your hands are full, she gets confused when you ask her to do much more than that. Like creating a pitch deck for your startup? Forget it.
You’ll need a much more specialized AI tool for that. PitchBob is like Siri on steroids, helping you create a pitch from a stack of questions — now $49.99 for a lifetime subscription.
California's bill tried to put some teeth into AI safety regulations. It won't be the last try. Photo: Cult of Mac Deals
On Sunday California Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed Senate Bill 1047, a set of controversial artificial intelligence safety regulations with several mandates for companies, objecting to its approach. So the state’s many AI players, including Apple, won’t have to change how they work or face potential penalties because of that particular legislation.
But despite leaving SB 1047 unsigned, Newswom said he does believe in the need for AI safety regulation.
For better or worse, California leads the way on reigning in the potential dangers of powerful AI models. Photo: Pexels-cottonbro
California’s legislature passed a hotly contested AI safety bill Thursday — the groundbreaking Safe and Secure Innovation for Frontier Artificial Intelligence Models Act (SB 1047).
The controversial bill, which awaits Governor Gavin Newsom’s signature before it can become law, introduces the first major AI regulations in the United States. It could have far-reaching implications for tech companies and users alike.
Bot crawlers scraping website content for training AI is more controversial than other uses, like improving search functionality. Photo: Cult of Mac Deals
Many prominent news outlets and social media platforms have opted out of Apple’s AI training data collection via website scraping, according to a new report Thursday.
Apple does it through a new tool called Applebot-Extended, which the iPhone giant introduced less than three months ago. If major content websites opt out of Apple AI scraping, that could have implications for the continuing development of Apple Intelligence.
Apple Intelligence is a powerful LLM that runs both in the cloud and on-device. Image: Apple
Contrary to popular opinion, Apple appears to be ahead in AI — and in some cases seems far in front of the competition. The revelation comes from an Apple white paper that hasn’t gotten much attention, but should.
A white paper on Apple’s Foundation Model, the company’s homegrown LLM (large-language model) that powers Apple Intelligence, reveals two important facts: it’s the safest in design and highly competitive with both Meta’s Llama and OpenAI’s GPT-4. This seems to debunk a big myth about Apple’s AI efforts: that the company’s privacy-first philosophy would hold it back.
The Apple Foundation Model is just as capable in tests of writing and summarization compared to the top LLMs by OpenAI, Meta, Mistral AI and others. And thanks to Apple’s strict guidelines for expunging harmful content, human-evaluated tests repeatedly rank its foundation model as the safest above all the rest — by a wide margin.
It looks like Apple Intelligence could be off to a good start.
Plaud NotePin records and summarizes your life, basically. Get those action items lined up for every possible situation. Photo: Plaud.AI
Powered by artificial intelligence, the tiny new Plaud NotePin wearable records, transcribes and summarizes meetings and events to help you manage tasks at work, school or home, Plaud.AI said Wednesday. The company described the pill-shaped device, which you can wear on a necklace, wristband, clip or pin, as a “memory capsule.”
“Plaud NotePin is more than just an AI device,” said Nathan Hsu, CEO and Co-founder at Plaud.AI. “It’s your always-ready business partner, handling mundane, daily tasks so you can concentrate on what truly drives value in your life and career. This small but powerful device is reshaping the professional landscape, allowing users to optimize their day-to-day workflow and focus on what matters most.”
Get a lifetime license to the AI Articles WordPress plugin for $59.99.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals
Need to quickly generate new content for your website? You can give your blog an AI-powered SEO boost with Mind2Matter’s AI Articles plugin for WordPress. This AI-powered plugin integrates GPT-4o directly into your WordPress installation so you can generate custom blog posts in a matter of moments.
Think of all the time and effort you will save creating SEO-friendly content. You can grab a lifetime license to the AI Articles WordPress plugin for just $59.99 (regularly $229).
The new Opera One on iOS brings a raft of appealing features for iPhone users. Photo: Opera
The Opera browser’s new mobile version for iPhone, dubbed Opera One for iOS, integrates artificial intelligence features like image generation and voice input, a free VPN for private browsing and other elements to offer a fresh alternative to pre-installed browsers on Apple devices like Safari, the company said Tuesday.
“Our research shows mobile phone users are six times more likely to be happy than not, after switching away from their system’s default browser,” said Jona Bolin, product manager at Opera. “So with Opera One for iOS, we want to further raise the bar and deliver a better browsing experience versus what users will find pre-installed.”
Canyon's pro level includes all kinds of tools to help you find, and secure, meaningful employment. Photo: Cult of Mac Deal
You’ve just stumbled upon your dream job listing online. The only problem? The application deadline is tomorrow, and your resume is looking a bit outdated. You could rush through editing all your application materials yourself, or you could save time (and effort) with Canyon’s AI job search tools.
This all-in-one job-hunting companion is your no-stress go-to for completing every stage of the job search, from crafting your resume to filling out applications and rocking the interview. Budgets can get tight when you’re searching for a job, but don’t worry. You can get a lifetime subscription to Canyon’s Pro level for just $69.99.
Three new AI features coming to Chrome desktop focus on improving search history, comparing products and identifying objects in multimedia. Photo: Google
Google rolled out three new artificial intelligence (AI) features for its Chrome browser, including support for Mac users, the company said Thursday. Powered by Google’s latest AI and Gemini models, the new AI features in Chrome aim to make it easier to search visually, compare products and easily return to websites you’ve visited. If you work with colors frequently, tools like the Nix Mini can help you match and identify colors with precision.
“We’re making it even easier to search what you see with the power of Google Lens, compare products across multiple tabs and rediscover sites from your browser history,” wrote Parisa Tabriz, Google vice president, Chrome.
Apple Intelligence is a collection of AI-powered features coming ... soon-ish. Screenshot: Apple
When iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 launch this fall, do not expect Apple Intelligence to be part of the first releases of the operating system upgrades. The company’s cool new AI capabilities reportedly will arrive about a month later. Monday’s release of the first developer beta of iOS 18.1 — which includes some Apple Intelligence features — seems to confirm that release roadmap.
This means Apple Intelligence likely will arrive in October, around the same time as macOS Sequoia. So Mac users might get Apple AI along with their big upgrade.
Apple said it will follow the Biden administration's AI safety guidelines, although there's no penalty for ignoring them. Photo: Apple
Apple agreed to adhere to a set of voluntary artificial intelligence (AI) safeguards proposed by the Biden administration, according to a new report Friday. The move aligns Apple with other major tech companies like Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft and OpenAI. It’s a collective effort to help ensure responsible AI development (although there are, as of yet, no penalties for flouting the firmly worded but fairly vague suggestions).
AI novices can learn the fundamentals in this $30 bundle. Photo: Cult of Mac Deals
Artificial intelligence is a versatile tool, but it takes skills to use ChatGPT and AI services for more than receiving a basic answer to a basic prompt. If you want to study the fundamentals of ChatGPT, review effective AI art tools, learn to use AI to boost your productivity, and find out how it can help you professionally, check out the 2024 ChatGPT and AI Super Bundle.
This pack of four classes includes 4.5 hours of video lectures and study guides that will get you acquainted with common AI tools. Learn AI with this educational bundle while it’s on sale for $29.99, marked down from $341.