If you use Gmail on the desktop, Android or iOS, Google’s about to rock your inbox with new, customizable tabs that let you easily filter between messages from friends, your social notifications, your deals, your receipts, your tracking numbers, and much, much more.
If you’ve got an iPhone, you’re probably glued to it; if you use an Android device, you probably neglect it, at least comparatively. That’s the obvious conclusion to be drawn by new data that shows that iPhone users spend an additional 26 minutes on their smartphone per day than your average Android owner.
Amazon is following in the footsteps of Google, Twitter and Facebook and allowing you to use them to easily and quickly log-in to third-party apps, games and websites through OAuth. How you feel about that will probably depend on whether you value convenience over handing even more data about yourself over to a mega-corporation.
It was just a matter of time before Google Glass got its first porn app, allowing wearers to enjoy hardcore movies more discreetly — yet more openly — than ever before. The first one comes from MiKandi, a leading creator and distributor of adult apps for Android, and it’ll hit the MiKandi app store sometime this week.
In his interview today at the AllThingsD D11 conference, Apple CEO Tim Cook responded to questions from Kara Swisher and Walt Mossberg about Apple taxes. Relating his time with the congressional subcommittee this past week, Cook, said that he felt strongly about how the company was portrayed by lawmakers.
Cook said that he wanted to be a catalyst for a discussion, coming to the hearing with a proposal rather than a defense, one for a revenue-neutral and major overhaul of corporate taxes nationwide.
Cook said that he felt simplicity was good, and how Apple approaches everything. The current tax system, he said, results in a two foot high tax return every year. When asked what he would like to do with it, he replied, “I would suggest we gut it.”
Many of us have old MacBooks and PowerBooks collecting cobwebs and dust bunnies in the back of our closets. It seems an ignominous end to a computer that we not only loved, but probably spent a lot of money on. Did we waste our cash on something little better than a dust collector?
That’s what TNW co-founder Patrick de Laive wanted to know, so he ended up asking himself what would have happened if he’d bought Aple stock back in 2003 instead of spending $3,299 for the 17-inch PowerBook G4 back in April of 2003. The answer is that today, he could buy a starter home with the money he’d have earned on AAPL, while a PowerBook G4 on eBay can be had for under $50. Woof.
Source: The Next Web
Quora is a fantastic site in which members ask questions of experts in various fields, and for the past year or so, there’s an absolute fantastic thread going asking about how Apple keeps its secrets… and it contains not only some fantastic insight there on what lengths Apple will go to be secretive about new products, but about how information on new products leaks… like, say, the time the Pentagon leaked the 1998 iMac to the world.
If you’ve been wishing for an easy way to charge your smartphone when you’re on the go, look no further because now you can with this portable PowerBar smartphone charger offer courtesy of Cult of Mac Deals.
Never have your smartphone die on your again with this powerful little portable charger. When you travel as much as I do, this device can be a real plus – now I don’t have to think about how much juice I’ve got left on my smartphone. I can simply plug the PowerBar into my smartphone and the charging will begin.
This offer from Cult of Mac Deals saves you 44% on this gadget. It’s only $39 – but only for a limited time.
This week on The CultCast: Apple Chief Tim Cook brings his Southern charm to Washington, hints at an iHologram; we break down the Apple tax debacle and say why their overseas billions are too legit to quit; and Xbox One vs. Apple TV, should Apple be worried?
All that and more on this week’s CultCast. Stream or download new and past episodes on your Mac or iDevice by subscribing now on iTunes, or hit play below and let the good times roll.
Show notes up next.
If you own an iPad with a Smart Cover or Case, then you know how much of a pain it is to use it as a stand for your iPad. It literally only has two positions that aren’t ideal for doing what you need to do on your iPad. Thanks to these Smarter Stand Clips your iPad Smart Cover (or Case) can now be transformed into a fully functional stand that creates 4 different stand positions. Moreover, these clips are designed to slide up and down your Smart Cover with ease so you’ll be able to quickly change your stands position in a flash.
And Cult of Mac Deals has the Smarter Stand Clips for just $14.99 for a limited time.
By Silicon Valley standards, Apple doesn’t lobby much in Washington. Last year, they spent a little under $2 million on lobbying, a drop in the bucket to Google’s $18 million spent.
But scrutiny of Apple in Washington is starting to heat up, especially the company’s accounting methods. That’s why Apple is looking to double its lobbying spending this year to close to $4 million.
As originally pitched, iBooks looked as though it was going to dramatically shake up the way we read books: adding multimedia elements that would markedly separate it from the low-fi offering Amazon currently gives. Sadly it seems that iBooks have been somewhat forgotten in recent years. As Amazon moves into more areas that compete with Apple, it would be great to see Apple work to re-imagine a format that has stayed the same for years.
Innocent until proven guilty? Not for Cupertino. Apple’s e-book antitrust trial starts on June 3rd, but the U.S. District Judge in charge of the case is already openly expressing her belief that Apple engaged in a conspiracy.
Music is what started it all for the modern Apple with the iPod back in 2001.
Today, the consumer electronics giant released a new TV ad entitled “Music Every Day.”
After being pulled from the App Store back in April for violating Apple’s latest guidelines, AppGratis has turned to Android to keep its app recommendation service alive. The company has this week launched a new app in Google Play that promises a free app every day, plus discounts of up to 90% on paid Android titles.
Senator John McCain had a lot of fun grilling Tim Cook at yesterday’s Senate Sub-Committee Hearing, but before he was done he couldn’t help but let off one little joke as he asked Tim why he has to keep on updating all the apps on his iPhone manually.
“Can’t you guys fix that already?” McCain asked.
Cook let off a chuckle before stating that Apple is “working on making our products better all the time.” But we know what the southern gent was really thinking.
Source: Reddit
This is interesting: along with their new redesign, in Germany, Apple has made it possible to pay for products ordered from their online store using PayPal.
In Germany, it is very rare for consumers to have credit cards, or even for brick-and-mortar businesses to take credit card orders. Allowing German consumers to pay for purchases with PayPal may make the Apple online store more accessible to them, or it could be the first sign of a global agreement between Apple and PayPal as another available payment option for consumers.
Nice spot by Macerkopf.
Source: Apple Store
Apple began adding the Galaxy S4 to its ongoing patent-infringement case against Samsung last week, and it has now specified five patents which it believes the device is breaching. The Cupertino company has also taken aim at Google Now, which allegedly infringes its unified search patent.
The Apple online store went down for just over four hours earlier today, and it came back with Apple’s new Father’s Day promotion and a few noticeable design changes.
The Cupertino company is again heavily promoting the iPad and the iPad mini, but the iPhone 5 also gets a lot of room on the store’s homepage.
Walmart’s video on demand service, Vudu, just rolled out a new update for its iOS app. Version 2.0 of Vudu now lets you download videos from the service, and then watch them even if you’re offline. The player itself is streamlined, and Closed Captioning–already supported on the iPad version of the Vudu app–is now available on the iPhone, too.
The iPhone has become just as much a camera as a communication device. So if you love using your iPhone and want to take advantage of its ability to take great photos then Cult of Mac has a video course for you – and at the low price of only $19 for a limited time.
U.S. Senator Rob Portman from Ohio has just raised a fascinating point at today’s Senate Sub-Committee Hearing to Examine Offshore Profit Shifting and Tax Avoidance by Apple Inc.
The American corporate tax system is so broken that Apple is at a competitive disadvantage against Samsung when it comes to the taxes it pays globally, and how easily it moves its money around.
John McCain ended his grilling of Apple CEO Tim Cook at today’s Senate Sub-Committee Hearing to Examine Offshore Profit Shifting and Tax Avoidance by Apple Inc. with a nice little joke.
“Sir, there’s only one thing I wanted to ask you today: why do I keep on having to update all the apps on my iPhone? Can’t you guys fix that already?”
“Sir,” Tim cook laughed. “We’re working on making our products better all the time.”
Apple CEO Tim Cook has just started his testimony in front of the Senate Sub-Committee Hearing to Examine Offshore Profit Shifting and Tax Avoidance by Apple Inc. in Washington, D.C.
“I am proud to represent Apple here. With Apple’s international revenues twice as large as domestic revenues, we are often asked ‘Does Apple still consider itself an American company? To that, I answer an emphatic yes. We are proud to be an
American company.”
As part of expert testimony at today’s Senate Sub-Committee Hearing to Examine Offshore Profit Shifting and Tax Avoidance by Apple Inc., Professor J. Richard Harvey has made a compelling case that the tax system Apple is taking advantage of needs to have its loopholes closed.
Harvey — a distinguished Professor of Practice at Villanova University’s School of Law — says that while what Apple has done is acceptable under current International tax law, it still widely uses tax tricks and gimmicks to avoid paying what it fully owes.
Apple executives are testifying before the U.S. Senate Subcommittee today on tax evasion practices, specifically on routing funds offshore to avoid the U.S. government’s 35% corporate tax rate. This is the highest single tax rate in the world, and Apple has avoided paying billions in U.S. taxes by storing more than two thirds of its $100+ billion cash hoard in countries like Ireland.
At the hearing, there are basically two camps: those attacking Apple for using “gimmicks” or loopholes that other multinational corporations take advantage of, and those defending Apple while pointing out the obvious need for reform in the corporate tax code.
While Michigan Senator Carl Levin and Arizona Senator John McCain fall in the first camp, Kentucky Senator Rand Paul is clearly in the second. He said that the Senate should be apologizing to Apple during the hearing today, noting that “the committee needs to look in the mirror and see who created this mess.”
