Buster Hein - page 176

From 1993 until 1997, Apple’s rainbow logo smiled down from the east-facing side of Infinite Loop’s Building 3 as drivers sped north on Highway 280.

Now these Styrofoam and fiberglass signs are treated like fine art being peddled by one of the world’s oldest and most prestigious auctioneers.

Two rainbow Apple logos from the company’s original offices will be put up for auction next month at Bonhams and even though they come with some wear and tear, these Apple logos will cost you more than all your previous Apple purchases combined.

Beats Electronics’ co-founders are preparing to dive headfirst into a pool of cool Apple cash but before Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre collect their check from Cupertino, a former employee is already preparing to sue Beats for upwards of $20 million.

David Hyman, co-founder of the music subscription service MOG, has filed a lawsuit against Beats claiming he was hired and then deliberately fired before he could cash in on the equity grant he was promised.

Dr. Dre has been busy celebrating the Beats acquisition with fountains of Hennessy but the world’s favorite hip-hop producer isn’t the only musician who stands to make a fortune off Apple’s big purchase.

Enter William Adams. You probably know him by his stage name, Will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas. He’s been pimping the Beats brand since day one and for his loyalty he’s been blessed with founding shares in the company that stand to make him more money than he ever saw from his Grammy-winning song, “I Gotta Feeling.”

There are few companies you can trust with your private data ever since the revelations leaked by Edward Snowden shook the tech world last year, but according to the latest report from the Electronic Frontier Foundation, our iPhone-making friends in Cupertino have gone from being a privacy chump to the people’s champ in just a year.

Dong Nguygen struck App Store gold when Flappy Bird became the viral video game hit of the year in early 2014, but after seeing the addicting affects of flapping it first hand, Nguyen says he’s working on a new game that doesn’t involve feathery friends, green pipes or repetitive deaths.

Nguygen took to Twitter this afternoon to give fans a preview of his next his next addicting game by posting a screenshot showing a small helmeted man jumping between two buildings; simple, clean, and probably just as addictive as his original hit.

The FIFA World Cup 2014 is set to get underway in Brazil in less than a month which will bring four years worth of soccer football promotions packed into a month of kicking, grass stains and sweat to your TV.

Giraffas, a one of the largest restaurant chains in Brazil, may have already scored the coolest cross promotion with their clever iOS app that turns your greasy tray of fastfood into a tiny soccer shootout game.

Check out how it works in the video below:

Along with the OS X Mavericks update it released this morning, Apple also published a new version of iTunes that will make sure you never miss an episode of your favorite podcast again.

iTunes 11.2 adds a couple of improvements to the Podcast section of iTunes that make browsing between subscribed podcasts easier by showing you which episodes you haven’t listened to, thanks to a new Unplayed tab.

After months of beta testing Apple has finally made OS X 10.9.3 available for public release.

The update is light on new features but does pave the way for 4K to come to the iMac in the future thanks to new support for a full range of Retina scaling modes for 4K monitors, allowing users to juice their extra pixels to make things crisper instead of just smaller.

iPhone 6 case leaks have been sprouting up like spring flowers this May, and while we still have a long wait until Apple reveals the date of its iPhone 6 event, its retail stores might already be prepping for a Fall launch.

Apple retail stores have started blacking out vacation dates for employees in September, pointing to a probable September launch for Apple’s bigger screened iPhone.

As the nation grows more obese yet car culture still rules, here’s the nudge of the hour: your car and your fitness app talking to each other, reminding you that you’re not moving enough.

Automatic’s smart driving assistant can turn your old hunk of junk into a smart car, but the company announced today that it’s teamed up with Jawbone to whip your belly rolls into shape by giving drivers more insight into how your physical activity and driving patterns are connected.

Your iPhone’s speakers suck. No amount of magical design from Jony Ive can change the laws of physics to give those itsy-bitsy tweeters earth-shattering bass, but plenty of acoustic iPhone docks are willing to try.

We’ve seen a menagerie of speaker docks over the years, and while most stick to being practical, we love the weird creations that make you do a double-take. We’ve gathered 14 of the most incredible iPhone docks you’ll ever see in the gallery above.

Got your own favorite bizarre dock for your iDevice? Let us know in the comments below.

Critics slammed Steve Jobs when he opened the first Apple Store nearly 13 years ago, but now that Apple’s retail space makes more money per square foot than Tiffany’s, everyone from Samsung to Microsoft has been trying to duplicate Apple’s success.

To see just how quickly Apple Stores have invaded the U.S., Retale created an interactive map that plots each new store opening since 2001. Each blue dot in the GIF above represents a new store opening, starting with the original Apple Store in Tysons Corner, Virginia.

254 Apple Stores now dot the country with an additional 170 outlets open internationally, but six sad states in U.S. are still waiting for their first Apple shrines to open. Check out Retale’s site for a full breakdown on when each store opened and the flagship products that brought customers into Steve’s aluminum and glass utopias.

At a price of $3.2 billion, Beats Audio is the most Apple has ever paid to acquire a company in its 38 year history, but even after writing that fat check Apple will have nearly $148 billion in cash burning a hole in its pocket.

Tim Cook says he’s not afraid to go on a shopping spree, so what else should he buy while he’s tossing around mountains of cash at companies? The folks at Funny or Die have a few ideas of their own, including a $13 billion acquisition that could finally bring the iToilet to your bathroom in classic Apple white.

Check it out:

Apple’s rumored iWatch could give the watch industry a much needed shot in the wrist once its finally revealed, but what if Apple decided to make iWatch a platform like CarPlay instead of an actual product?

It sounds crazy but putting Apple’s tech in the hands of the world’s classiest watchmakers could yield better results than if Cupertino dives into the fashion world alone. In its newest concept, Curved imagined what Rolex could do with the iWatch and the result is the manliest smart chronometer a non-geek could want.

Checkout the full concept video below:

When it comes to getting sued over U.S. patent infringements, no one gets targeted more than Apple.

A new study from legal analytics firm Lex Machina found that in 2013 Apple was the most frequent target of patent lawsuits, followed by Amazon at No. 2, as both companies came under heavy fire from a group of 10 “patent monetization entities” that were responsible for a staggering 13 percent of the 6,092 patent-infringement suits filed last year.

Here’s a breakdown of the top 10 most-sued companies:

The icon-tiled interface of iOS could use more than just a flat facelift from Jony Ive to feel more modern and even though jailbreakers have enjoyed widgets for years, maybe it’s time Apple added them in Control Center.

This iOS 8 concept from Ryan Gilsdorf envisions widgets coming to iOS 8 through Control Center where users can swipe between music, calendar, weather and third-party widgets to control apps from the homescreen.

Take a look at the full concept video below:

If silence is golden then Twitter’s new mute feature is like King Midas, turning every annoying miscreant and troll in your feed into an unseeable nothing.

The new mute feature is rolling out today for people who use Twitter on iPhone, Android, and Twitter.com. Mute let’s you take more control of the content in your feed by completely banning some users from showing up in your timeline.

Apple is planning to rollout a new 8GB iPhone 5c in India starting this June in hopes to turn the country into it’s next booming market.

India was one of the few places you could still buy an iPhone 4 until last week when Apple pulled phone from the country. A cheaper iPhone 5c will aim to boost Apple’s marketshare in a smartphone market dominated by Sony and Samsung.

Apple is making it quicker than ever to return unwanted iPhones and other gadgets purchased online with a new policy that gives customers refunds twice as fast.

In an effort to boost direct sales from its website, Apple has decided to take a big upfront cost on returns, according to Reuters, but the small move could give it the boost it needs to compete with Amazon and Best Buy online.

Notorious vegetarian Steve Jobs had few weakness. Black turtlenecks were one. The other was an extreme love of sushi.

Some of the West Coast’s best sushi places dotted Steve’s backyard, but Kaygetsu, a small sushi spot in Menlo Park, held the key to Steve’s heart stomach so tightly that Silicon Valley’s most impatient CEO could be spotted waiting up to 30 minutes like a normal pauper just to get his tongue on some hamachi.

Jobs loved the place so much he had a surprise birthday party for his wife there and even crammed Apple’s board of directors into the tiny restaurant for board meetings.

Apple is reportedly gearing up to buy Beats Electronics, the headphone manufacturer co-founded by Dr. Dre and music producer Jimmy Iovine that has also spun off a streaming-music service.

The deal could cost $3.2 billion, according to The Financial Times, and would give Apple full control of the brand that’s made gigantic flashy headphones the trendiest thing to hit kids’ heads since backward baseball caps.

Does this mean Dr. Dre is about to become the newest Apple employee?

The smartphone wars are two company race and it’s not even close.

Apple and Samsung are dominating the competition so badly that a new report from Canaccord Genuity claims the two tech giants account for 106% of global smartphone profits.

Take a look at this chart:

Sir Jonathan Ive’s list of accolades is already longer than any other contemporary designer, but he’ll be adding a new award to his mantle this fall with a lifetime achievement award coming from the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

The museum is in the midst of a massive Snøhetta-designed expansion but the absence of an HQ won’t stop it from honoring Jony’s work at the intersection of technology and liberal arts with the the 2014 Bay Area Treasure Award, says SFMOMA director Neal Benezra.

Apple has regained its crown as J.D. Power’s top tablet maker in the world, according to the company’s latest U.S. Tablet Satisfaction survey.

Samsung knocked the iPad off the top post last year, but after surveying 2,513 tablet owners Apple came out on top in 2014 with a score of 830, dominating in every category except cheapness.

Upcoming.org – the artsy-fartsy, Apple-loving community Yahoo tried to kill – has pulled itself out of the cold clutches of death with its own Kickstarter project.

And it only took 90 minutes.