Ed Hardy has been writing full-time about tech for 25 years, and using it for much longer than that. His intro to Apple was a Macintosh Classic II (which he still has), but now he uses a 13-inch iPad Pro as his primary computer. He’s written for NotebookReview, TabletPCReview, and Brighthand, as well as other sites.
iPad handwriting recognition is reportedly coming soon, allowing users to write words into any text box with an Apple Pencil. Screenshot: Apple
iPad users will be able to use an Apple Pencil to write words into any text box, if an unconfirmed report is correct. Handwriting recognition will allegedly be built into iPadOS 14.
This would bring real changes to the way many interact with their tablet.
Every iOS 14 iPad and iPhone could come with an augmented reality viewer. Photo: Adobe
An augmented reality application could reportedly become one of the default apps in iOS14. This would allow any iPhone user to view their location with AR at any time.
This is apparently part of Apple’s embrace of augmented reality this year, with the company reportedly building 3D scanners into the next-generation iPhone and iPad.
Apple Union Square won‘t be holding “Today at Apple” classes for weeks. Photo: Apple
Apple cancelled classes in its retail stores in two cities in California and Washington where the novel coronavirus is spreading. A check of the calendar for “Today at Apple” in both Seattle and San Francisco finds nothing scheduled.
However, this doesn’t seem to be a first step toward closing the Apple Stores in these cities. Even temporarily.
Got an Apple Watch face you really like? Soon you might be able to easily share it with a friend. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
A leak from inside Apple indicates the next watchOS version will allow users to share Watch faces. In addition, parents allegedly will be able to set “Schooltime” limits, restricting what a child’s Apple Watch can do during certain hours.
Other changes coming in watchOS 7 have come to light as well.
Apple Park is likely to be a ghost town this week. Photo: Duncan Sinfield
CEO Tim Cook told Apple employees at company headquarters and other locations around the world to “please feel free to work remotely if your job allows” this week.
This guidance came in response to the COVID-19 disease that’s spreading across the United States.
Apple Watch is much more useful that I had thought. Photo: Ian Fuchs/Cult of Mac
I never had an interest in Apple Watch. I didn’t see the point of carrying around yet another computer when my iPhone goes with me everywhere. Then I got one, and now that I’ve used Apple’s wearable, I see all the ways it makes my life easier.
Oppo Watch, shown here at its announcement today, has a higher screen-to-body ratio than Apple Watch. Photo: Oppo
The newly-unveiled Oppo Watch borrows heavily from the Apple Watch. But this China-based company nevertheless built in some features that fans of Apple’s wearable can appreciate.
Drop the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra a few times and it’s junk. The iPhone 11 Pro Max survived much better. Photo: PhoneBuff
Samsung’s new flagship phone came out slightly ahead in a smash-off between with Apple’s top-tier model. The Galaxy S20 Ultra survived the early rounds of drop tests better than the iPhone 11 Pro Max.
However, at the end of multiple drops, the iPhone was still almost completely functional while the Android was utterly destroyed.
Home Before Dark is a murder mystery with a girl detective. Photo: Apple
Home Before Dark is a mystery/drama on the real-life adventures of a nine-year-old girl who solved a murder. It’s coming to Apple TV+ this spring, and a new trailer gives the first look at it.
After a few years, it’s hardly worth the hassle of reselling an Android. Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
There’s an area where Android is much faster than any iPhone: losing value. A gadget trade-in service tracked the depreciation of Apple and Android handsets and found that after a year the iPhone had held on to far more of its resale value.
WWDC 2020 is in jeopardy as Apple’s local health department asks large gatherings be cancelled. Photo: Apple
The pressure on Apple to cancel its yearly developers conference and possibly a planned March product keynote has gotten a little tougher.
The Public Health Department of Santa Clara County, where Apple’s headquarters is located, recommended Thursday the postponing or canceling of mass gatherings to prevent the further spread of the coronavirus. That calls into question whether Apple will hold its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in June, as it traditionally does.
Nicholas Hoult, Samuel L. Jackson and Anthony Mackie often drew praise for their work in The Banker. Photo: Apple
Reviews for Apple’s The Banker are generally positive, but some critics had some harsher comments about this portrayal of black entrepreneurs tricking racist white businessmen during the Jim Crow era.
This movie will hit the Apple TV+ service later this month.
AirPods Pro Lite might look like Apple’s high-end wireless earbuds, or the basic AirPods. Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac
Apple’s next AirPods go into production very soon, according to an unconfirmed report coming out of Asia. These are the wireless headphones that are typically referred to as AirPods Pro Lite, though they are unlikely to have that name when released.
Dark Mode is one of many features made possible by the iOS 13 SDK. Photo: Apple
Apple warned developers today that it’ll soon automatically reject any iPhone or iPad software submitted to the App Store if it wasn’t written with the iOS 13 SDK.
It’s a good thing that the Mophie Powerstation Plus XL Wireless is useful, because it’s sure not very attractive. Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
The Mophie Powerstation Plus XL doesn’t just extend the battery life of your iPhone, it also makes recharging your handset a snap. The 8000mAh power bank has an integrated Lightning cable, plus it offers wireless charging.
Mophie has a long history of producing top-tier external batteries. That’s why this one is available from the Apple Store. I test this accessory to see if it lives up to its maker’s reputation for dependability.
Missile Command: Recharged updates a fast-paced 1980s classic. Photo: Atari
An updated version of the arcade classic Missile Command is headed for phones and tablets.. Kids of the 1980s grew up defending cities from incoming nuclear missiles, and soon they’ll be able to relive the action in a new release from Atari.
For real nostalgia, an augmented reality mode will project your gameplay to a virtual arcade cabinet.
This amazing foldable iPhone concept is everything that first-gen flexible handsets aren‘t. Screenshots: Iskander Utebayev
A concept design for a folding iPhone has none of the drawbacks of the handsets with flexible screens released so far. It shows what an iOS device using this tech might look like some time in the future.
Take a look at a short video of the folding iPhone concept in action:
Steve Wozniak might, or might not, have helped introduce the coronavirus into the US. Photo: The DEMO Conference/Flickr CC
Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak suggested in a tweet Monday that he or his wife might be “patient zero” for the COVID-19 virus currently spreading in the United States. Wozniak said he and Janet Hill came home from China early this year, as the novel coronavirus began to wreak havoc in Wuhan.
Update: Wozniak’s wife says she has an ordinary sinus infection.
Apple celebrates International Women’s Day with a special Today at Apple Series in its retail stores. Photo: Apple/Cult of Mac
Throughout March, select Apple Stores will host “She Creates” sessions led by women from across industries and mediums. This includes co-chair of the Women’s March Linda Sarsour, musicians Meghan Trainor and Victoria Monét, designer Carla Fernández, and many more.
FlashDock is small in size but big in storage capacity. And look at all those ports. Photo: Commotron
FlashDock solves two limitations in Apple’s MacBooks. Not only does it bring an array of legacy ports to Apple laptops, this very portable USB-C hub includes up to 2TB of storage.
And it does so for less than the cost of building additional storage capacity into a macOS laptop.
Care packages sent to Apple employees stuck in China include cookies and chocolate. Oh yeah, and a free iPad. Photo: Weibo
Apple reportedly is sending care packages to its employees who are stranded in China by the COVID-19 coronavirus. And among the face masks, hand sanitizer and cookies is a slightly more expensive item: an iPad.
Apple deliberately broke a facial-recognition iPhone app from Clearview AI. Photo: Clearview AI/Cult of Mac
A facial-recognition application that has been the source of recent controversy has been taken offline by Apple. This came after a published report accused Clearview AI of evading the App Store by distributing its iPhone software to customers via tools that are only supposed to be used inside companies.