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Buster Hein - page 136

As Apple Watch soars, Pebble is dropping like a rock

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Investors and consumers alike are skipping Pebble
Investors and consumers alike are skipping Pebble
Photo: Pebble

Apple Watch hasn’t even been out for a month yet but it may have already claimed its first victim in the war for your wrist.

Smartwatch maker Pebble is in big trouble and has applied for a $5 million loan from a Silicon Valley bank to stay afloat, according to a new report that claims the company is having a hard time maintaining growth.

Spotify adds tunes that match your running pace, and more

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Spotify wants to make you a harder, better, faster, stronger runner.
Spotify wants to make you a harder, better, faster, stronger runner.
Photo: Spotify

Apple is expected to unveil its huge overhaul of Beats Music in just a few weeks at WWDC but Spotify is firing shots first in the battle for music streaming dominance with a huge update for its iPhone app.

Spotify took the wraps off its new music experience at a keynote this morning, revealing a new Now start page for music discovery to go along with additions such as podcasts, video clips, original content, and an awesome new feature for joggers that matches songs to your running tempo.

Here’s a rundown of the new features:

Apple Watch’s biggest problem: Women don’t dig it

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Is Apple Watch mostly for men?
Is Apple Watch mostly for men?
Photo: Beyonce/Twitter

The only Apple Watches I’ve seen in the wild so far have been strapped to men’s wrists, and according to one of the world’s top Apple analysts, that could be a bad indicator for the digital timepieces’ popularity.

In a new note to investors, KGI analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has cut his 2015 expectations for Apple Watch sales from 30 million down to just 15 million after research found that Apple Watch has attracted mostly men.

Apple considers massive office expansion in San Jose

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Apple employees can make thousands selling their login info.
Apple's spaceship campus isn't big enough for all its Silicon Valley employees.
Photo: Apple

The biggest city in Silicon Valley is about to land the world’s biggest tech company.

Apple is considering expanding into north San Jose to lease more office space, even though the company’s gigantic space ship campus is scheduled to be completed next year and house more than 13,00 employees.

How Apple inspired the design of Force Awakens’ new stormtroopers

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stormtroopers
When designing stormtrooper armor, ask 'What would Apple do?'
Photo: Walt Disney Pictures

Apple’s influence on the upcoming Star Wars: The Force Awakens extends far beyond Kylo Ren’s ugly crossguard lightsaber.

The Force Awakens costume designer Michael Kaplan has designed costumes on movies like Blade Runner and Fight Club, but when it came time to redesign the new stormtrooper armor for director J.J. Abrams, Kaplan said he looked to Apple as his biggest inspiration on how to perfect the stormtrooper’s white, plastic-y armor.

Carl Icahn makes $3.4 billion from two-year investment in Apple

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Carl Icahn is coo-coo for AAPL.
Carl Icahn is cuckoo for AAPL.
Photo: Forbes

Carl Icahn’s big bet on Apple is paying off huge.

During an interview today defending his belief that Apple will make a 65-inch UltraHD TV, the billionaire revealed his investment in Apple starting in 2013 has been one of the greatest trades of all time, netting about $3.4 billion.

Icahn owns more than 52 million shares and stands to make even more if Apple shares reach his current estimated value of $240 (shares closed today at 129.989). Watch what Icahn had to say about his mega-investment below:

Apple to hire 500 extra workers for mysterious Arizona command center

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GT Advanced
Back entrance to Apple's sapphire plant in Mesa, Arizona.
Photo: Buster Hein/Cult of Mac

Apple’s first efforts to do major business in Arizona crashed and burned with the spectacular failure of GT Advanced Technologies’ sapphire plant, but the company’s second effort is going much better than expected.

More than 500 jobs are being added to Apple’s command center in Mesa that will require a small contingent of top Apple executives from Silicon Valley to move to Arizona to oversee operations, while other positions will be filled by local hires.

The iPod’s godfather is still waiting for his Apple Watch

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Fadell
From the sound of things, Nest CEO Tony Fadell learned quite a bit from working with Steve Jobs.
Photo: Nest

Before creating the home automation company Nest, Tony Fadell cut his teeth at Apple by creating revolutionary products like the iPod. You’d think being one of the key guys behind Apple’s resurgence in the early aughts means you get hooked up with Apple products for life, but according to Fadell, he had to pre-order the Apple Watch like the rest of us peasants. And he’s still waiting for it to arrive.

The first Apple Watch software update is here

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Apple Watch
It's time for an Apple Watch software update
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Apple Watch has barely been available to the public for a month now but Apple is already sending out its first software update this morning that includes new emojis as well as fixes for Siri, measuring stand activity, and third party apps.

iPhone 6s might launch as soon as August

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iPhone 6
The iPhone 6s may arrive sooner than expected.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Ever since the release of the iPhone 4s Apple has launched its annual smartphone updates in September, but according to supply chain sources, the production of iPhone 6s components is going so well, Apple might be able to launch the device sooner than expected.

Doom teaser is too damn short

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The demons are coming.
The demons are coming.
Photo: Bethesda/YouTube

I’m not much of a video gamer, but Doom holds a special place in my heart. It’s the first game I can remember playing on a Mac, and while the next game in the sequel has been in the works forever (see: 2008), we finally got our first look at the gristly game today.

Publisher Bethesda will show off more of Doom at E3 next month, but for now the company released a super short teaser that has everything you could wish for: shotguns, and demons with monster guns.
Check it out below:

Barack Obama writes his first tweet from an iPhone

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Barry sending his first tweet from an iPhone.
President Obama sending his first tweet.
Photo: White House

  President Barack Obama is finally ready to enter the age of social media. After sitting behind the Resolute desk for six years, the president finally opened his own Twitter account today, but rather than using his hacker-proof BlackBerry to send his first message, POTUS turned to an Apple product.

Here’s his first tweet, sent from an iPhone:

Carl Icahn thinks Apple is about to launch an UltraHD TV

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Carl Icahn is coo-coo for AAPL.
Carl Icahn is coo-coo for AAPL. Photo: Forbes
Photo: Forbes

In an open letter to Tim Cook, billionaire investor Carl Icahn says Apple’s stock is still incredibly undervalued, and that now is the time for a much larger stock buyback.

Icahn’s firm believes that Apple shares are really worth $240 today, despite trading around $130.26 this morning, an increase over his previous estimate of $216. According to his letter, Icahn believes Apple is poised to dominate two new markets – television and the automobile.

China goes wild during Tim Cook’s week-long Apple Store tour

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Tim Cook and Apple might be moving into San Francisco.
Tim Cook and Apple might be moving into San Francisco.
Photo: Apple

Tim Cook just finished a week-long tour of China, complete with stops at new Apple Stores across the country, as well as a visit to the elementary school at Communication University of China, and a meeting with China’s Vice Premier.

Cook created a Weibo account earlier this week to announce Apple’s new green initiatives in China, but the Apple CEO didn’t stop there. Rather than posting to Twitter, Cook stayed active on the Chinese microblogging all week, posting his interactions with customers and colleagues. In just five days, Tim has amassed over half a million Weibo followers (he’s got 1.3 million on Twitter) by keeping Chinese fans updated with seven posts during the trip.

Take a look at Tim’s awesome Weibo travelogue:

Wiz Khalifa rocks Apple Watch in new music video

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Wiz loves two things: Apple Watch and weed. But mostly weed. Photo:
Wiz loves Apple Watch almost as much as weed.
Photo: Wiz Khalifa/YouTube

Drake and Kanye West have both shown their love for Apple Watch with their custom gold Edition models. Now rapper Wiz Khalifa is getting in the Apple Watch game by rocking one throughout his entire new music video.

Wiz Khalifa’s latest surprise video, “The Play,” features three of Wiz’s greatest loves: his son Bash, weed, and Apple Watch. The video focuses on father-son moments between the rapper and Bash, but his stainless steel Apple Watch Sport with a white sport bands steals the show between blasts of lyrics talking about real guys making it off the streets without help.

Watch the heartwarming video below:

Oculus Rift won’t be launching on Mac

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Oculus Rift
Rift won't be launching on Mac anytime soon.
Photo: Oculus

Oculus finally revealed the recommend specs for the Rift system scheduled to launch in early 2016. The good news is that minimum hardware specs will only cost you about $800. The bad news is the company has decided to stop developing for the Mac and focus entirely on PC for the launch.

Apple says HomeKit is on track for June launch

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Apple announced HomeKit to developers at WWDC last year.
Apple announced HomeKit to developers at WWDC last year. Photo: Apple
Photo: Apple

It’s been nearly a year since Apple unveiled the HomeKit platform, and we’re still waiting on an official launch. A report earlier today claimed that Apple is delaying the launch of its home-automation platform until August or September, but an Apple spokesperson has refuted the report, saying everything is ontrack for the June launch.

Jeb Bush thinks Apple Watch can replace Obamacare

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IMG_0472.JPG
Jeb Bush is in love with Apple Watch

Presidential hopeful Jeb Bush hasn’t officially announced that he’s running for office, but he’s already hitting the campaign trail and he’s brining his Apple Watch with him.

In Tempe Arizona today, Jeb held a town hall meeting at the Chamber of Commerce and stopped to rave about his Apple Watch. It’s so amazing, he says he even thinks it should replace Obamacare.

Software problems may push back HomeKit launch to fall

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HomeKit
HomeKit is all about letting your things talk to your other things.
Photo: Apple

Apple announced its HomeKit platform at last year’s WWDC, but fans hoping to get a closer glimpse of Apple’s home automation platform will have to keep on waiting, as a new report claims Apple is delaying the launch of HomeKit until August or September.

How to control third-party camera apps with Apple Watch

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You can use the music glance to snap pics.
You can use the music glance to snap pics.
Photo: Buster Hein/Cult of Mac

The remote camera shutter and viewfinder is one of the most useful Apple Watch features, but there’s just one problem: It only works with the default camera app.

Apple hasn’t opened up the remote shutter API to developers yet, however, there’s still a way to turn your Apple Watch into a remote shutter for apps like Snapchat and Camera+. Instead of using the remote shutter app, you can actually use the volume slider in Music glance to snap pictures with your iPhone.

It’s super easy. Just follow these steps:

Video shows how Disney animators recycled footage from older films

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Will the real Baloo please stand up? Photo: Movie Munchies
Will the real Baloo please stand up? Photo: Movie Munchies

Drawing an entire new movie by hand is a long, hard, tedious process, but the animators at Disney have a hidden trick up their sleeves: they recycle footage from older animated films into new ones.

In a new video showing how Disney’s team of animators remixed old animations for newer films, the team at Movie Munchies have mashed up some of Disney’s most classic movies. Did you know Sleeping Beauty and Beauty and the Beast have the exact same dance scenes? Or that animators drew over scenes from Snow White  to create footage for Robin Hood, all with the same characters and movements.

Watch the video below to have your childhood ruined:

Apple reaches agreement for poaching battery engineers

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Apple car concept art shows what Cupertino might put on the road.
Apple car concept art shows what kind of vehicle Cupertino might roll out.
Photo: Aristomenis Tsirbas/Freelancer

Apple and electric car battery maker A123 Systems have nearly reached a settlement, after A123 filed a federal lawsuit accusing Apple of poaching its top engineers and scientists to build its own battery division.

Court filings from A123 this week revealed the company asked a federal judge to grant it more time to finalize the settlement now that the two sides have “reached an agreement, signed a term sheet, and are in the process of drafting a final settlement agreement.”