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Ed Hardy - page 248

iOS 13 will boast great updates for iPad users

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ipad ios 11
Expect iOS 13 to bring significant new features to Apple's tablets, more so than iOS 12.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

iOS 12 is right around the corner, but iPad users should be thinking longer term. It’s iOS 13 “Yukon” in 2019 that’s expected to bring more new features to Apple’s tablet.

At the top of the list of the ability to work with multiple windows from the same application side-by-side. This would allow the user to, for example, have two Pages documents open next to each other.

Lightsaber battles get personal in Jedi Challenges

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It's not your father's lightsaber, but Jedi Challenges lets you battle your megalomaniac dad or whiny son. Virtually, of course.
It's not your father's lightsaber, but Jedi Challenges lets you battle your megalomaniac dad or whiny son. Virtually, of course.
Photo: Lenovo

Just in time for May the Fourth-be-with-you, Star Wars: Jedi Challenges added multiplayer lightsaber battles so you can take on your friends in virtual reality combat. 

Of course, doing so requires a couple of $150 AR helmets and lightsabers. But still. 

Google makes iPhones extremely secure

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Apple requests DMCA removal of iPhone security tweet. Then changes its mind
Apple requests DMCA removal of iPhone security tweet. Then changes its mind
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Google’s service making its accounts uncommonly secure has been extended to iOS native apps. This is only for people who carry around really sensitive information and who therefore expect their iPhone or iPad to come under sophisticated attack.

Starting today, the Advanced Protection Program supports Apple Mail, Calendar, and Contacts. Naturally, this is only for those who connect these iOS apps to Google accounts.

Hogwarts Mystery costs too much, but might become cheaper

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Harry Potter
Considering it's a children's game, many wonder why Hogwarts Mystery cost so much to play.
Photo: Jam City

Reviews of Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery don’t agree whether it’s a good iOS game, but all say it’s vastly too  expensive. It’s actually free to download, but playing the game essentially requires buying expensive power-ups.

But now developer Jam City may have changed course because reports are coming in that the cost of power-ups has dropped by up to 80 percent.

Apple Watch shipments almost double Fitbit’s

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Save big on the Apple Watch Series 3
Apple Watch dominates the global wearables market, solidly beating its arch-rival.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

There’s no doubt who’s top dog in the global wearables market. Just over 4 million Apple Watches shipped during the first quarter of this year. That’s nearly double the number of Fitbits shipped.

The performance of Apple’s wearable was also up dramatically when compared to the same period of last year.

Signups open for free Apple Developer Academy

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Apple Developer Academy
A student at the Apple Developer Academy describes it as both challenging and creative.
Photo: Apple Developer Academy

Apply now for the 2018 class of the Apple Developer Academy to learn to create iOS apps. And did we mention you get to live in Naples? And it’s free?

This isn’t a basic bootcamp. In addition to learning Swift programming and user interface design, students are taught how to be an entrepreneur.

MacBook butterfly keyboard problems spawn recall petition [Update]

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MacBook butterfly keyboard
A new petition calls for Apple to recall the MacBook butterfly keyboard, which can fail when a speck of dust gets in the wrong place.
Photo: Apple

The butterfly keyboard in recent MacBooks draws frequent complaints. And these have now escalated to the point where an online petition is requesting that Apple recall every MacBook Pro released since 2016.

These laptops are super-slim, and so are their keyboards. Reducing the thickness left room for very little key travel, resulting in accusations that even a small speck of dust underneath one of the keys can cause it to stop functioning.

2018 iPhone might come with USB-C fast charge adapter

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apple_power_adapter_recall_2_1200
Say goodbye to the 5W iPhone adapter and hello to much faster charging.
Photo: Apple

iPhone fast charging is possible with the 2017 models, but it’s a seriously underutilized feature because the devices don’t come with the right adapters. But Apple is reportedly going to ship the 2018 iPhone models with the adapter and cable needed to get a 100% charge much quicker.

It’s one of the puzzles of last year’s devices. They support USB-C fast charging, but come with USB-A adapters that take much longer.

iPhone bucks global smartphone market downward trend

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IDC global smartphone market
A sequential chart shows Apple was briefly at the top of the global smartphone market, but not in Q1.
Photo: Cult of Mac/IDC

The total number of smartphones shiped worldwide in the first quarter of the year declined, but Apple was immune, experiencing a small increase. Its share of the global market grew as a result.

Arch-rival Samsung was hit though, seeing a small decrease year over year despite the launch of its new flagship models.

Apple resists government’s proposed iPhone ‘backdoor’

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GrayKey can bypass iPhone security
A computing pioneer suggested a way to make the iPhone safely unlockable by law enforcement. Apple isn't buying it.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Apple and other tech companies are fighting back against a newly proposed method for giving law enforcement access to encrypted smartphones, bypassing users’ passcodes.

The iPhone backdoor proposal comes from Ray Ozzie, who was once chief technical officer at Microsoft, and its chief software architect.

Fitbit and Google work together to beat Apple Watch

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Fitbit Versa
Data from your Fitbit smart watch could be sent straight to your electronic medical record thanks to a collaboration between Fitbit and Google.
Photo: Fitbit

Fitbit wants Google’s help to turn its fitness trackers into health monitors. The wearables maker will use Google’s cloud solutions to tie directly to users’ electronic medical records.

The real goal, of course, is to help Fitbit be more competitive with arch-rival Apple Watch.

Why everyone was so wrong about iPhone X sales

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iPhone X standing
Everything you heard about iPhone X sales was wrong. In fact, it's Apple's most popular model.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Analysts have been extremely pessimistic about the iPhone X, with almost daily predictions that Apple’s top-of-the-line model was a flop. And they were all dead wrong. Tim Cook just said the iPhone X has been Apple’s best-selling model for every week since it launched, and that sales of all the company’s phones grew last quarter.

How did the analysts get it so wrong? Here’s what probably happened.

Optics startup claims Apple stole its design for dual-lens iPhone camera

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iPhone 8 camera
The iPhone dual-lens cameras are the subject of a lawsuit claiming deliberate Apple patent infringement.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

A small company that makes dual cameras for cellphones claims Apple is infringing on several of its patents. The Israeli startup says it showed Apple prototypes for a miniature telephone lens, and Apple used them to create its own.

According to Corephotonics, the iPhone X, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone 7 Plus all use technology for which it holds patents.

AI improves Microsoft Word for Mac in Office 365

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Office for Mac
There are new features for Office for Mac subscribers, and Microsoft demonstrates them in a video.
Photo: Microsoft

Microsoft has good news for users of Mac, iPad, and iPhone: there are improvements in Office 365 for all of you.

Word for Mac now uses neural machine translation to convert text between 11 different languages. This AI system is intended to produce more accurate results.

iPhone sobriety test could tell if you’re too drunk to drive

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AlcoGait
Combining alcohol with your iPhone can be fun. Combining it with driving is often tragic.
Photo: Amazon

You’ve had a couple of cold ones, then head to your car. Suddenly, your iPhone starts shrieking out an alert. It’s telling you that you’re too impaired to get behind the wheel. 

This is the goal of AlcoGait, which uses a smarthone’s built-in sensors to monitor the way the user is walking.  AI is used to detect if the person’s gait indicates they’re not up to driving.

Render shows 2018 iPhone SE in all its budget glory

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2018 iPhone SE render
This might be the 2018 iPhone SE. This image comes from @OnLeaks, who gave us an early look at the iPhone 8.
Photo: @OnLeaks

A couple of new renders and a video from a reliable source show what might be the next-generation iPhone SE. The device shown looks a lot like the earlier version, but updated with some of Apple’s newest tech.

Most notably, the Home button is gone, being replaced by a screen cutout with Face ID sensors.

Apple might make its own ultra-fast iPhone 5G modems

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iPhone 5G
Rather than going with another company, Apple might make its own iPhone 5G modems.
Graphic: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

A job post shows Apple is hiring an engineer to lead a team designing 5G modems.  This may be mean that the company is going to stop outsourcing these wireless chips.

Apple currently sources its LTE modems from Qualcomm, but there have been reports that it’s working with Intel on next-generation modems. Maybe the iPhone maker decided to kick Intel to the curb too.

Sprint and T-Mobile come together in controversial merger

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t-mobile
T-Mobile CEO John Legere will head the merged Sprint and T-Mobile. Assuming the Feds let the deal go through, of course
Photo: T-Mobile

Do you get your iPhone service from Sprint? Not for much longer. The third and fourth largest U.S. carriers just announced they’re merging. But the plan to join Sprint and T-Mobile is already drawing significant criticism.

The combined company will be called T-Mobile, and will be headed by John Legere, T-Mobile’s current CEO. That’s assuming the $59 billion deal gets approved by government regulators.

Take a look at the largest collection of Apple prototypes anywhere

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Apple prototypes
A clear Macintosh SE is among Hap Plains' collection of Apple prototypes.
Photo: CNBC

Just about all of us have a few classic Apple devices we just can’t bear to get rid of.  But Hap Plain takes it to the next level. And beyond. He collects and sells Apple prototypes for top dollar.

He has about 258. And his collection is a more than just a history of the company. It’s a testament all the effort needed to create the great Apple desktops, PDAs, and phones of the past.

iPhone X is the best selling smartphone in the world?

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iphone
According to a market research company, 5.1 percent of all smartphones sold globally in February were the iPhone X.
Photo: Apple

There’s been a lot of pessimism about the iPhone X lately, but a market research firm says that this device was the top selling smartphone in the world by a wide margin in February.

The company also says Apple had all four of the best selling smartphones globally that month. 

iOS 11.3 jailbreak might never go public

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iOS 11.3 jailbreak
An iOS 11.3 jailbreak was created, but probably won't be made public.
Graphic: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

The good news is that someone managed to create an iOS 11.3 jailbreak. The bad news is that the person who managed the trick probably won’t turn it into anything the general public can use.

While this once would have left a significant percentage of the iPhone community tearing its hair out, these days jailbreaking is almost dead.

Microsoft previews best features of Office 2019

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Office 2019
Excel in Office 2019 will get funnel charts and 2D maps.
Photo: Microsoft

Microsoft released Office 2019 Preview today, with the full release expected later this year. This early version is only for Windows, though a macOS edition will be out “in the coming months,” according to the company.

This version of the giant productivity suite is for those who don’t want to pay a monthly fee for Office 365. 

iPhone shipments up significantly in China

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Hong Kong police arrest smugglers with $1 million of iPhones and other devices
Hong Kong police arrest smugglers with $1 million of iPhones and other devices
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Shipments of iPhone in China increased 32 percent in the first quarter of this year. This was during a period when the overall Chinese handset market declined. 

Many Chinese see Apple devices as status symbols and pick them over local brands that cost significantly less.

Death of 3D Touch starts with 2018 iPhone

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3D Touch
The handy but not vital tricks that come with 3D Touch are reportedly going away.
Photo: Apple

Say goodbye to 3D Touch. A very reliable analyst predicts one of the iPhones coming in autumn won’t have this pressure-sensitive technology, and none of the 2019 devices will.

Ming-Chi Kuo says it’s all because Apple is changing the components of its displays to make them lighter and less likely to break.

New Opera Touch browser designed for one-handed use

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Opera Touch
Maciej Kocemba, Opera Touch product manager, demonstrates how easily this mobile browser does a search.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

The Opera Touch web browser tries to solve one problem: people want to use their phone one-handed, but searching the Web takes both hands. The whole focus of this just released app is one-handed searching and browsing.

Also announced today was Opera Flow, a simple method for synchronizing the new mobile browser with this company’s desktop one.