Ever since the first Angry Bird flapped its wings back in 2009, Rovio has been only too happy to churn out sequel after sequel with slight variations on flinging birds with slingshots, but for its next act the video game studio is introducing a turn-based roleplaying game for the Angry Birds world.
Apple’s five day music festival is set to start today at SXSW in Austin Texas, but rather than making content available only on iTunes or Apple TV, the company has partnered with Vevo to help stream the event live.
Music fans can plug into the event live on Vevo’s website, but you’ll have to use a Safari browser. Shows will also be viewable on iTunes, Apple TV, and the iTunes Festival app for iOS.
The free concert series kicks off tonight with Coldplay, and features acts like Kendrick Lamar, Imagine Dragons, Schoolboy Q, Soundgarden, Pit Bull, Keith Urban, Willie Nelson and others throughout the week.
Grabbing an Apple exec for your board of directors has become somewhat of trend lately among prominent companies. Nike, Ferrari, Goldman Sachs, and even Vail Ski Resorts have done it, and now GoDaddy is the latest to join the ranks.
iTunes Radio has barely been around for six months but after launching alongside iOS 7 in the U.S., Apple’s music streaming service has already knocked Spotify off the #3 spot among the most popular music streaming services in the country.
Along with releasing iOS 7.1 to the public, Apple also pushed out a firmware update for the Apple TV this morning. The update, labeled Apple TV 6.1, doesn’t bring any radically new features but it does make it easier than ever to hide your unwanted Apple TV channels.
After months of building and testing, Apple has finally taken the wraps off iOS 7’s biggest update ever, so to celebrate they’ve add a new iOS 7.1 section to homepage touting the update.
iOS 7.1 update https://t.co/0IJFsNWa8Z
— Philip Schiller (@pschiller) March 10, 2014
The long awaited update introduces CarPlay to the iPhone along with improved Siri controls, HDR Auto, an improved calendar, and lots of bug fixes
The new promo page gives an overview of some of the changes, but for a deeper look at all the design tweaks, check out our gallery of iOS 7.1’s new features.
Source: Apple
Months of beta testing has finally culminated with the official release of iOS 7.1 to the public, Apple’s biggest update to iOS 7 since its launch last September.
The update doesn’t come with big new features, but Jony Ive and the software team have made a ton of small design tweaks, most notably in areas like the Phone app, shutdown interface, calendar, as well as a number of Accessibility options that tweak the UI further with Button Shapes and darker colors and improved contrast.
Here’s a rundown of all the design tweaks you’ll be getting on your iPhone today:
If living next door to Tim Cook is on your bucket list you just missed the narrow window to scoop up the condo next door to the Apple CEO.
After being put on the market just a few weeks ago the four bedroom condo owned by Google Ventures co-founder, Bill Marris has been bought for a little under $3 million.
Apple Fanboy One Percenters (if such a thing exists) looking for new real estate might be tempted to scoop up the open condo next to Tim Cook, but if you’re looking for something more high-tech, with a bigger price tag, this iPad-controlled mansion in Newport Beach, California just came on the market, and it’ll only set you back $22 million.
It’s a mansion worthy of Fortune Cookie himself thanks to incredible beachfront views. And it fits in with Apple’s push for green renewable energy as 95% of its electricity is supplied by a gigantic solar panel in the backyard.
Check it out:
The House That Mario Built isn’t any closer to bringing Zelda, Mario, Donkey Kong, and the others to iOS anytime soon, but what would Nintendo’s classic games look like if they were originally built for iOS?
Rather than waiting for Flappy Mario to hit the App Store, Red Bull decided to re imagine some of our favorite Nintendo games with a iOS twist that mashes up the likes of Donkey Kong with Angry Birds, Candy Crush Saga with Dr. Mario, and Nintendo’s own Temple Run knock-off starring Link.
Take a look:
We’ve seen so many iWatch concepts that at this point we really just wish would Apple to show their cards, but here’s a concept of a traditional wristwatch we wouldn’t mind them aping a few features from.
Gábor Balogh says he was tired of all the super geeky looking iWatch concepts, so he whipped up this clever beauty that features modern smartwatch features re imagined in a classic, traditional analog watch way.
Check it out:
After four years of strong growth thanks to the introduction of the iPad, tablet sales are already expected to start leveling off over the next year, according to the latest estimates from IDC.
Slowing consumer purchases is mostly to blame, says IDC, as tablet owners aren’t keen to purchase new devices as frequently anymore, but are opting for higher quality devices to be used longer term.
Rather than slogging through a lake of reviews to find something you’re just going to put down after 10 minutes, Cult of Mac has once again waded through the iTunes store to compile a list of the best new albums, books and movies to come out this week.
Enjoy!
Rick Ross – Mastermind
It’s hard to believe that the Teflon Don is already onto his sixth album, but here it is, Mastermind, and it’s Rick Ross at his best. The rap version of the Wolf of Wall Street embodies excess thanks to his obsession with wealth, and while there’s nothing truly groundbreaking about the production of Mastermind, tracks like Devil Is A Lie, Sanctified and Thug Cry feature brutal beats and the albums carries enough starpower to take out Alderaan with guest appearances from Jay-Z, Kanye West, Lil Wayne, 2 Chainz and Jeezy.
iTunes – $13.99
Eagulls – Eagulls
I’d love to recommend Pharrell’s new album G I R L, but it’s not as stellar as I was hoping – and this is coming from a dude who danced his butt off to Happy, alone, more times than should be legal. However, Eagulls’ debut self-titled album is a spectacular cacophony of punky post-rock tunes that will get you moving just as much as Pharrell’s beats.
iTunes – $8.99
Real Estate – Atlas
While the Eagulls are full of energy, Real Estate’s third full album Atlas features delicate guitar melodies and swaying vocals. Real Estate borrows sounds from The Shins and Yo La Tengo while still maintaining their unique sonic footprint full of songs the capture feelings of separation, uncertainty, but most importantly, exploration.
iTunes – $13.99
The Enchanted
by Rene Denfeld
For her debut novel journalist, Rene Denfeld channels her experience as a death penalty case investigator into a gut-wrenching, spelling binding debut novel. Set deep inside a decaying prison, The Enchanted features the story of York, a death row inmate on the verge of execution and “The Lady,” an investigator who dives into his history in an attempt to get his sentence reduces, but what she finds is an ugly past with parallels to her own awful history.
iTunes – $10.99
Redeployment
by Phil Klay
Many Americans find it hard to connect with the wars half a world away in Afghanistan and Iraq, so Phil Klay’s book of short stories grabs readers into the frontlines of the wars, asking us to understand what happened there, and what happened to the soldiers who returned. The short stories are interwoven with themes of brutality and faith, guilt and fear, helplessness and survival as the characters struggling to make meaning out of chaos.
iTunes – $10.99
Quantum Mechanics: The Theoretical Minimum
by Leonard Susskind & Art Friedman
Learning quantum mechanics doesn’t register high on most people’s to-do list, but if you’re ever been curious to learn the behavior of subatomic objects through mathematical abstractions, Leonard Susskind’s new book provides a great introduction to the difficult field. Other writers shy away from quantum mechanics’ weirdness, but Susskind and Friedman embrace the utter strangeness of quantum logic but present their understandings in crystal-clear explanations that let you sink into the field at your own pace.
iTunes – $9.99
Short Term 12
Written and directed with undeniable vitality by Destin Cretton, Short Term 12 depicts the lively yet wounded intersection of messy, broken humanity at a foster-care facility for at-risk teens. Brie Larson stars alongside John Gallagher JR from The Newsroom as a boyfriend-girlfriend duo working at the center, who are tested by two troubled yet fitted residents as the struggle to contemplate their future together.
iTunes – $12.99
Oldboy
After being held captive in solitary confinement for 20 years, former advertising executive Josh Brolin is inexplicably released one day without ever getting a glimpse of his captors or their motives. With his newfound freedom, he sets off on a mission to figure out who kidnapped him and how to find salvation.
iTunes – $14.99
Genius On Hold
Steve Jobs and Woz got their start in consumer electronics by hacking together Blue Boxes for cheap, but if it weren’t for Walter Shaw the two might have never gotten the business bug. Who’s Shaw? Genius On Hold tells the story of Shaw, a telecommunications inventor who invented features like call-forwarding, touchtone dialing, speakerphone, voice recognition and many other creations we still use to this day, but he was held back by corporate greed and government monopolies and ended up working for the mob to create the infamous black box.
iTunes – $19.99
Google released a new update for its Gmail iOS that makes it getting email faster than ever thanks to a new background refresh feature.
The Gmail 3.0 update will now retrieve your mail while the app is not open so you don’t have to keep refreshing to see if your boss finally replied to that important email in the last 5 minutes.
Also included in the update is a new simplified sign-in feature that automatically signs you into all of your Google apps once your login to just one. The free update requires iOS 7.0 or greater and is available now in the App Store.
Here are the release notes:
Apple finally revealed its CarPlay system yesterday that brings iOS access to your car’s dashboard. Some suburbanites rejoiced at a new rush-hour-infotainment center – especially those who can afford a Ferrari or Benz — but if you’re a car-less city slicker iOS in the elevator would be a hell of a lot more useful.
This ‘iOS in the Lift’ mockup was created as a joke by a Behance user, but after thinking about it, a dash of iOS would go great in tons of other things too, like showers, the subway, a hotdog stand, you name it.
Here’s a closer look at the interface:
Months of iOS in the Car leaks finally culminated this morning with Apple revealing its new CarPlay system. It’s not quite the name we were expecting, but automakers like Ferrari, Volvo and Mercedes have already integrated Apple’s system into future cars.
Volvo showcased CarPlay in its new XC90 SUV this morning, but here’s what CarPlay will like like for those rolling in a Benz:
Peter Oppenheimer doesn’t get a lot of the spotlight at Apple – unless you’re tuning into a quarterly earnings report – but the Apple CFO plays a huge role in Apple’s profitability and now he’ll be lending his talents to Wall Street by joining Goldman Sachs Board of Directors. If you’d like to know more about his career and impact at Apple, check out this article.
Goldman Sachs announced this morning that Oppenheimer will join the board immediately as an independent director of the firm:
Apple just set a record for the most iPhones sold in a quarter, but while the new iPhone 5ses and Cs are flying off shelves, a new scam is booming in China where broken old iPhones are cannibalized for parts to build complete units sold with a full retail price tag.
Rather than slogging through a lake of reviews to find something you’re just going to put down after 30 minutes, Cult of Mac has once again waded through the iTunes store to compile a list of the best new movies, albums and books to come out this week.
Enjoy!
St. Vincent – St. Vincent
Singer/songwriter/guitar-shredder Annie Clark’s fourth studio album as St. Vincent is full of twists and turns, sonic textures, and balladry, making St. Vincent her best album ever. Beyonce and Gaga may reign supreme among female entertainers, but St. Vincent asserts herself as a pyrotechnic guitarist laying down rhythmic somersaults. Lorde be damned, there’s nothing quite like her mix of vocal range and captivating balance of experimental leanings and pop sensations.
iTunes – $7.99
SchoolBoy Q – Oxymoron
Everyone’s talking about Beck this week and the new album he released after six years of silence, but while Morning Phase is great and definitely worth a listen, I’ve been addicted to SchoolBoy Q’s Oxymoron. The front five tracks are especially hard to escape from a repeat loop. It’s the best rap album so far this year and enlists collaborators such as Kendrick Lamar, 2 Chainz, ASAP Rocky, Jay Rock, Tyler the Creator and Kurupt, among others.
iTunes – $12.99
Wild Beasts – Present Tense
Present Tense, Wild Beasts’, fourth LP, is simply brilliant. After taking a full year off to recoup from a two-year tour for their last album, the band presents their most human musical portrait, even if its a bit less accessible than their other albums.
iTunes – $9.99
The Future of the Mind
by Michio Kaku
Not a week passes where we don’t hear of scientist making an incredible new discovery about how the brain works but where is all that info leading us? In his book The Future of the Mind, Michio Kaku surveys the latest findings by scientists to give readers a better idea of how the brain works as well as dancing with future ideas like smart pills to enhance cognition; downloading brains neuron by neuron, or even sending our emotions and consciousness out into space.
iTunes – $11.99
Neanderthal Man: In Search of Lost Genomes
by Svante Pääbo
As fun as it is to celebrate just how damn smart humans have become, it’s also good to see where we’ve come from. Geneticist Svante Pääbo’s book Neanderthal Man analyzes what we can learn from the genomes of our closest evolutionary relatives as he searches for the mysterious answer as to why humans survived while Neanderthals went kaput.
iTunes – $19.99
The Wives of Los Alamos
by TaraShea Nesbit
Growing up in New Mexico, I was always aware that the genius scientists who researched energy sources at Los Alamos National Lab were a main fount of state pride. This is where we first built and detonated The Bomb, after all. It’s one of only two laboratories in the U.S. where research is done on nuclear weapons, but Tarashea Nesbit’s book The Wives of Los Alamos focuses on the town’s softer side. As the bomb was being invented, babies were born, friendships were forged, children grew up and Los Alamos gradually transformed from an abandoned school on a hill into a real community.
iTunes – $11.99
The Book Thief
Based on the novel of the same name by Markus Zusak, Emily Watson and Geoffrey Rush star in this inspirational film about a girl named Leslie, whose adoptive German parents hide a Jew from Hitler’s army. As the war effort deepens, Leslie becomes obsessed with books and the escape they provide from the brutal backdrop of World War II.
iTunes – $14.99
Frozen
Indie Oscar flicks get all the attention this time of year, but for kids no movie was bigger this winter than Frozen, Disney’s latest animated journey. This epic ice capade pits Anna, a fearless optimist, against mountain man Kristoff and his loyal reindeer Sven. Of course, things go wrong after Anna’s sister is missing, so the crew sets off on an journey that’s full of mystical trolls, weird-talking snowman and enough snow to keep you cold through the summer.
iTunes – $19.99
The Great Beauty
If you don’t mind reading subtitles, Great Beauty was one of the best films to polish your eyeballs with in 2013 and now it’s finally on iTunes. The movie follows an aging socialite, Jep Gambardella, who wrote a famous novel in his 20s, only to retire into a comfortable life writing cultural columns and throwing parties in Rome. After his 65th birthday party, where he is feted at a disco party straight out of Fellini, he walks through the ruins and city streets, encountering the various characters, reflecting on his life, his first love, and sense of unfulfillment.
iTunes – $19.99
Thanks to the Illumanati-like secrecy established by El Jobso, getting a real answer from anyone at Apple is as rare as a rainbow jellybean unicorn.
Even simple questions like “are other customers having this issue?” get averted, dodged and deflected ad nauseum, so six months ago we created the Ask A Genius Anything column to get some real answers for fans on what happens at Apple.
Unfortunately, our brave Genius is hanging up his Apple lanyard for a new career opportunities. Over the past six months he’s dished on everything from Apple policy, to how to fix hardware issues, while also dispensing tips on how to ask a Genius out and whether drinking on the job is a no-no.
We’re still looking for a new secret Genius to fill his shoes (if you’re interested, send us an email), but in the meantime, here are our five favorite answers from Cult of Mac’s Secret Genius #1:
Q: What are you *never* allowed to say to customers?
Employees are taught not to use certain words that might tarnish the image of the brand. We are constantly in a struggle to portray Apple as positively as possible so that our customers return to buy from us again.
Here’s an idea of some of guidance I received when going through training:
Q: Have you ever worked drunk?
The job can be pretty stressful sometimes. Occasionally, I’ll have a drink before work or on a lunch break. It’s not a bad way to relax and most of the managers at the store don’t care unless you’re always coming in sloppy drunk.
There are always a few situations throughout the day where it’d be great to take a short drink break after helping out a particularly horrible customer, but I don’t make it a habit. Fixing people’s iPhones really isn’t any easier after a few drinks, so there are few benefits to being hammered on the job. As for what happens after work, it isn’t uncommon for employees and managers to meet up and toss back a few.
Q: Can you date customers? Any tips on how to ask a Genius out?
Dating customers is against Apple policy. The policy protects both the employee as well as the customer. I have seen customers who come in consistently to get “help” from the same employee multiple times who are definitely interested, but this only makes the employee less likely to actually pursue something.
If you are love struck by your technician at the Genius Bar, I suggest the straightforward approach. Ask for a card and give them your number maybe or ask them if you can have their number. Don’t be surprised if they say they can’t contact you, but tell them to call you outside of work. Don’t let a little Apple policy keep you from your love connection, but don’t make them completely say no by coming on to someone while they are at work.
Q: How much do you get paid, what hours do you work and how much continual study is required?
I get paid about $14 an hour. Pay ranges anywhere from $10-$20 an hour in the retail stores depending on position, hours, and performance. I work about 30 hours a week because I am part-time, usually on the shy side so I can keep my part-time status. My hours vary but they always fit my personal schedule because each employee submits their hours of availability and is scheduled accordingly, after approval.
As far as training goes, Apple actively trains its workforce. We are trained before we begin the job to deliver superior service and we are trained on new systems, products and software as they become available. If you are looking to advance, Apple will help train you to be ready for any future positions. I was surprised by the non-technical nature of training when I started at Apple. Most of the training I received was customer-service oriented and the technical training I needed for the job was either previous experience or was gained as I encountered issues and sought out a solution.
Q: What’s the most common lie you hear at the Genius Bar?
Geniuses and Family Room Specialists alike have to come up with a fair amount of excuses to explain to customers what’s wrong with their device. The worst excuse and the most commonly told lie at the Genius Bar is for known issues to be called “rare.”
I can’t stand it when a Genius tells a customer that a sleep/wake button failing on an iPhone is rare or that a battery needing service before being completely consumed is uncommon. I don’t know any statistics on failure rates, but I know I handle a fair number of these “rare” issues enough to say that they aren’t rare.
It’s a sort of white lie that reassures customers that the problem was a fluke and that they can trust in Apple’s products in the future. I think it’s better to explain common issues as known issues and just to provide the solution rather than lie about it. The lie gets harder to tell to a customer should the replacement product or repaired device have the same issue down the road.
Today, Apple designer Jony Ive turns 47. One of the threads of his incredible career has been a passion for hot wheels. Before going on to become one of the world’s most famous designers, Jony Ive went to London’s Central Saint Martins Art School fueled by an early passion to design cars. Eventually, though, he took a detour that led him to revolutionize design in personal technology.
Apple hasn’t gotten around to making an iCar yet, but Jony’s passion for automobiles is still revved up and cruising for thrills. The famed designer hasn’t been afraid to fork over some fat stacks for a nice car on a whim – even if one of his brutal beauties almost cost him his life – and has gathered a nice little collection of luxury cars over the years.
Here’s a look at some of the fabulous cars that have puttered their way into Jony’s garage, with insider information about each one pulled from the pages of Leander Kahney’s new book, “Jony Ive: The Genius Behind Apple’s Greatest Products.”
Automatic is one of our favorite iOS car accessories and while we’ve been blown away how easily it can future-proof your dumb car, the smart dongle just got a lot more intelligent thanks to an update that brings IFTTT integration into the car for the first time.
Automatic can already track your trips and tell you where you parked, but with IFTTT recipes you can now let your car Tweet, post to Facebook, or send an email to your mechanic based on a set of triggers Automatic has created.
The new Automatic Channel on IFTTT exposes some powerful triggers, including the following:
The OS X app Most Likely to Induce the Beach Ball of Death, aka iTunes, was updated this afternoon to be slightly more crash-friendly.
iTunes version 11.1.5 was released by Apple as a minor update aimed at putting an end to iTunes quitting unexpectedly. The tiny update also comes with compatibility improvements for iBooks for Mac on OS X Mavericks.
Here are the skimpy release notes:
Those hoping for a little more rock and roll at SXSW will be amped to hear Apple just added Soundgarden to the lineup of bands schedule to perform at iTunes Festival during SXSW this year.
Apple just finished patching the nasty goto fail bug in iOS 7 and OS X, but a report shows another vulnerability in iOS has been discovered that gives attackers access to every single touch you make, including your keystrokes.