Lewis Wallace - page 21

HomePod smart speaker will totally rock (and control) your house

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Apple's new HomePod smart speaker is ready to rock your house.
HomePod will launch in December, but supplies will be constrained.
Photo: Apple

Apple’s upcoming HomePod smart speaker will “reinvent the way we enjoy music in the home,” says Apple exec Phil Schiller, who offered a sneak peek at the product today.

Calling it a “breakthrough home speaker,” he outlined how the 7-inch wireless speaker will work seamlessly with Apple Music — and totally rock the house, while also giving you a way to control your house.

Enter to win a Vader-worthy black AmpliFi HD Mesh Router [Giveaway]

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Winning a limited-edition black AmpliFi HD Mesh Router on Star Wars Day is easier than a trench run.
Winning a black AmpliFi HD Mesh Router on Star Wars Day is easier than a trench run.
Photo: Ubiquiti Networks

If the Death Star had Wi-Fi, it would run on something as powerful (and ominous-looking!) as this limited-edition black AmpliFi HD Mesh Router from Ubiquiti Networks.

Assuming you’re ready to surf like a stormtrooper, you’re in luck. Cult of Mac and Ubiquiti are giving away three of these amazing mesh routers in honor of Star Wars Day. How can you win? Glad you asked, buckethead!

Belkin’s new DuraTek USB-C cable looks tough as nails

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Belkin Mixit DuraTek USB-C cable exploded view
Belkin used Kevlar to make the new DuraTek USB-C cable practically bulletproof.
Image: Belkin

Tired of fraying and failing cables? Belkin just launched the Mixit DuraTek USB-C cable, a brawny cord built with Kevlar and a special strain-reducing design that should put an end to premature cable death.

Measuring 4 feet long with USB-C connections on each end, the new DuraTek cable sounds perfect for the latest MacBooks and MacBook Pros.

Adorable but durable, UE Wonderboom plays the cute card

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The UE Wonderboom is totally ready to party.
The UE Wonderboom is totally ready to party.
Photo: Ultimate Ears

The world’s most lovable little Bluetooth speaker just got some cute competition. It’s a case of sibling rivalry, too: The new Wonderboom from Ultimate Ears splashes onto the scene next month just in time to challenge its “big” brother, the UE Roll 2, for the title of ultimate summer speaker.

While the UE Roll looks like a flying saucer, the Wonderboom more closely resembles a hedge apple. About the size of a softball, it will make you want to pick it up and toss it around. In fact, it’s hard to keep your hands off the cute little bugger.

Oddly shaped Apple Watch charger brings joy of … video? [Reviews]

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Ugreen's magnetic charging station for the Apple Watch.
Ugreen's magnetic charging station for the Apple Watch.
Photo: Lyle Kahney/Cult of Mac

Let’s get the obvious out of the way first: When it’s standing there all by itself, the Ugreen Apple Watch Charger Stand looks like a giant joystick. For me, it triggered an instant flashback to the ’80s and the golden years of gaming.

That nostalgic blast wasn’t necessarily a positive, though: I didn’t find the Ugreen Apple Watch charger’s design instantly appealing. In fact, it was almost game over before I even gave it a try. I’m glad I did, because it’s ultimately a handy little charging hub.

Belkin Car Vent Mount is a smart, sturdy way to go hands-free [Reviews]

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Belkin Car Vent Mount
You really shouldn't be holding your smartphone while you're driving. The Belkin Car Vent Mount is here to help.
Photo: Lyle Kahney/Cult of Mac

You’ve got your car. You’ve got your iPhone. You want to use your iPhone in your car, but driving with a smartphone in your hand is supposedly dangerous — and can get pretty pricey if you get caught doing it in California and other states that mandate hands-free driving.

The Belkin Car Vent Mount is a low-cost, low-profile way to keep your phone within reach (and you on the right side of the law, depending on where you drive).

Skip the gym: Get in shape with the complete CultFit Home Workout

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Complete CultFit Home Workout
Devote 10 minutes a day to the CultFIt Home Workout, and you'll be in shape in no time.
Image: Graham Bower/Cult of Mac

CultFit Home Workout You don’t need a pricey gym membership to get in shape. With the CultFit Home Workout routine, you’ll use simple exercises, common household items and your iPhone (and Apple Watch if you’ve got one) to build muscle and increase flexibility.

It’s free, it’s easy and it takes only about 10 minutes a day. So what are you waiting for? Get started with the complete CultFit Home Workout using the four lessons below.

Tim Cook is living in the future (and you can too)

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This is not Tim Cook's actual home.
This is not Tim Cook's actual home.
Photo: Samuel Zeller/Unsplash CC

Tim Cook is living the Jetsons lifestyle — minus the jetpack and flying car — thanks to Siri and the growing number of HomeKit devices on the market.

The Apple CEO offered a rare glimpse into his private life Tuesday during Apple’s quarterly financial report, painting a picture of techno-utopian comfort and ease. It was Cook’s most personal world-beating earnings call ever, and it sent a message: Apple is serious about home automation.

AmpliFi HD’s blazing-fast Wi-Fi will spoil you rotten [Reviews]

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AmpliFi HD router
This is not your typical ugly router.
Photo: Lyle Kahney/Cult of Mac

For years, “the last mile” earned the title of broadband’s biggest boogeyman. Now that most of us benefit from having a fairly fat pipe to our houses, it’s more like the last 10 feet — Wi-Fi dead spots can drive you crazy.

The AmpliFi HD System, one of a new pack of mesh systems that pave the way to our trouble-free Wi-Fi future, solves the problem. With a charming little router and a couple of mesh points, AmpliFi HD makes it possible to get a strong Wi-Fi signal to your basement, your attic or that awkward back bedroom where you can never stream anything. It also eliminates the sort of nerdy pain points typically associated with setting up and managing a home Wi-Fi network.

Will Trump be good for Apple? [Friday Night Fights]

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How will Apple fare in the Trump era?
How will Apple fare in the Trump era?
Image: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac. Original photo: Michael Vadon/Flickr CC

In case you hadn’t noticed, the United States has a new leader — and President Donald Trump has a bone to pick with Apple. Several, actually.

Will Trump’s “America first” stance and pro-business policies help Apple or give Tim Cook a series of premium headaches? Cult of Mac editors Leander Kahney and Lewis Wallace come out swinging in this week’s edition of “Friday Night Fights.”

These smart wireless earbuds make AirPods look dumb

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Nuheara IQbuds work like regular wireless earbuds, but add
Nuheara IQbuds work like regular wireless earbuds, but add "augmented hearing" to the mix so you can focus on a conversation.
Photo: Lewis Wallace/Cult of Mac

CES2017 SAN FRANCISCO — Apple packed some amazing tech into its weird-looking AirPods. But to Nuheara co-founder David Cannington, Apple’s white-hot wireless earphones are just “dumb wireless.”

Sure, AirPods let you listen to music, take phone calls and tap into Siri, but they represent a missed opportunity because they don’t solve a crucial problem faced by many people in the modern world: hearing what’s going on around them.

As you might have guessed, Cannington’s company tackled this problem with a new product that launched at CES this week. Nuheara’s IQbuds are smart, truly wireless earbuds that do more than just make calls and deliver high-fidelity audio to your ears. They make it possible to carry on conversations in noisy environments like restaurants, bars and even massive Las Vegas trade shows.

Apple’s smartest moves of 2016

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2016 wasn't all missed deadlines and mysterious battery problems for Apple.
2016 wasn't all missed deadlines and mysterious battery problems for Apple.
Image: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

2016 Year in Review Cult of Mac Apple pissed off a lot of people in 2016. In hindsight, some of Cupertino’s moves look clumsy, and others seem truly clueless, but Tim Cook and Co. also made some brilliant moves during this turbulent year.

Let’s go to our happy place and relive the smartest moves made by Apple in 2016.

Consumer Reports slams new MacBook Pros’ terrible battery life

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2016 MacBook Pro
The MacBook Pro's battery life problems drag the laptop down.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Consumer Reports just unloaded a mighty smackdown on the new MacBook Pro lineup, citing “highly inconsistent” battery life as the reason the latest Apple laptops failed to earn a coveted recommendation.

It’s the first time the well-regarded reviews organization flunked an Apple laptop. And the test results should give serious pause to anybody who is considering buying a new MacBook Pro.

Pokémon GO finally gets an Apple Watch app

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News of an Apple partnership with Nintendo and Pokémon Go for the Apple Watch seemed to draw the most excitement from Apple fans on Twitter.
We got a glimpse of Pokémon GO for the Apple Watch during the iPhone 7 event.
Photo: Apple

Pokémon GO is finally ready for Apple Watch. The iOS game, one of 2016’s biggest breakout hits, got an update today that includes the long-awaited Apple Watch app.

According to the game’s maker, Pokémon GO is a perfect match for Apple’s wearable.

This tiny USB-C charger will juice up your MacBook Pro

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FINsix DART-C USB-C laptop charger
The DART-C is a USB-C travel charger that's as thin and light as the new MacBook Pro.
Photo: FINsix

Apple’s “thin and light” approach for its latest laptops totally breaks down when it comes to charging, due to the sizable power adapter that ships with the computers. Luckily, a tiny new USB-C charger will let you leave Apple’s ungainly charging brick at home.

Take your wired headphones wireless with this Bluetooth adapter

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AirMode Bluetooth headphone adapter
The AirMode Bluetooth headphone adapter lets you cut the cord on your wired headphones.
Photo: Audio Nation

If you’ve got high-end wired headphones and want to make them wireless, AirMode might do the trick. The short cable comes with standard audio connectors on either end that replace the detachable cords found on many headphones.

Packed with features and reasonably priced, AirMode could be the perfect Bluetooth dongle for retrofitting your gear for Apple’s wireless future.

LeEco Le Pro3 looks pretty good for a dirt-cheap Android

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The LePro3 comes packs powerhouse features into a brushed-aluminum body.
Get your LeEco Le Pro3 cheap today!
Photo: LeEco

With a sharp screen, a fast processor and 4GB of RAM, the new LeEco Le Pro3 is a bold shot across the bow of Apple and other premium smartphone makers.

While the hardware nudges the phone toward the high end of the spectrum, the rock-bottom pricing should send shivers through Cupertino. At just $399 — or $299 if you get in on LeEco’s generous instant rebate, which starts today — the Le Pro3 is a steal when compared to the iPhone 7 Plus.

Valet Charger power pack lets you leave your Apple Watch cable at home

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The Valet Charger solves a first-world problem: How to keep your Apple Watch charged on the go.
The Valet Charger solves a first-world problem: Keeping your Apple Watch elegantly charged on the go.
Photo: Belkin

If you’re traveling with your Apple Watch and desperately want to eliminate a cable from your bag, Belkin’s new Valet Charger power pack could do the trick.

With its built-in round magnetic charging module, this 6,700mAh battery pack lets you jettison the single-use cable that comes with every Apple Watch.

Everything we wanted from Apple’s MacBook Pro event but got denied

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You wanted the best, you got the best. The hottest laptop in the world ... MacBook Pro!
You wanted the best, you got the best. The hottest laptop in the world ... MacBook Pro!
Photo: Apple

Anybody watching Apple’s “Hello Again” event probably suspected we’d get “one more thing” in addition to the long-rumored Touch Bar and the recently leaked TV app. Or maybe a couple more things.

Instead we got … a Final Cut Pro update and a new accessibility website?

Underwhelming! And cruelly disappointing to all the Apple faithful hoping against hope for new hardware. Here are all the other things we wanted — but got so viciously denied — during Apple’s MacBook Pro event today.

Jaybird X3 Bluetooth headphones give AirPods a run for their money

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Jaybird X3 wireless earbuds
Jaybird's X3 wireless earbuds sing like two birdies in your ears.
Photo: Leander Kahney/Cult of Mac

SAN FRANCISCO — Rene Oehlerking is positively stoked that Apple killed the headphone jack on the iPhone 7.

That’s because, as chief marketing officer of Jaybird, he’s been touting the winning combo of killer audio and wireless freedom for years. With its controversial move, Apple made Bluetooth headphones the new normal virtually overnight.

“We’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time,” Oehlerking said during a demo of his company’s latest headphones, the Jaybird X3. “It puts pressure on everyone to just buck up.”

Say goodbye to cable hell with PowerHouse charging dock for Apple Watch and iPhone [Reviews]

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PowerHouse Charge Dock for Apple Watch and iPhone includes a built-in Magnetic Charging Module for Apple Watch.
PowerHouse Charge Dock for Apple Watch and iPhone includes a built-in Magnetic Charging Module for Apple Watch.
Photo: Lyle Kahney/Cult of Mac

If you’re an Apple Watch and iPhone owner, there’s a good chance you suffer from cluttered-nightstand syndrome. There’s only so much surface space on your standard bedside table, and plugging in multiple devices for overnight charging can mean a tangle of wires and general disarray.

The Belkin PowerHouse charging dock, which juices up an iPhone and an Apple Watch at the same time, will cure you instantly of this 21st-century malady.

7 ways LeEco is the Anti-Apple (and why Cupertino should be paying attention)

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LeEco's Lei Ding shows off the LeSEE Pro, LeEco's autonomous electric concept car, in San Francisco.
Another Chinese tech company, LeEco, shows off its autonomous electric concept car in San Francisco.
Photo: Lewis Wallace/Cult of Mac

SAN FRANCISCO — Apple does things one way. LeEco chooses a radically different path — in fact, you might call it the Anti-Apple.

What, you’ve never heard of LeEco, the Chinese company with the French-sounding name that’s gunning for American millenials?

After a big, splashy press conference on Wednesday that unveiled a raft of Android-based products, you’re about to hear a lot about LeEco, which calls itself “the best-kept secret in tech.” And if you’re working for Cupertino, you might be getting a little bit anxious as LeEco storms into the U.S. market.

How to set up a blog in 20 minutes or less

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With these tips, you can be running your own blog in no time.
With these tips, you can be running your own blog in no time.
Photo: Mila Supinskaya Glashchenko/Shutterstock

This post is brought to you by Websitesetup.org.

They say we’ve all got a book in us. And while not all of us will write that whole book, the internet makes it exceedingly simple for anybody with something to say to self-publish. Start a blog and you can say as much or as little as you like, at whatever pace suits you.

Blogging obviously isn’t new, but it hasn’t gone away either. And the tools for creating your own platform of online expression have never been easier to get hold of and use.