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Luke Dormehl - page 193

Drone flyover video shows Apple Park is all work, little play

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drone
Latest drone flyover video showcases Apple Park in all its glory.
Photo: Matthew Roberts

Apple Park is really coming together, and a new drone flyover video by Matthew Roberts shows it.

The video showcases not just the circular “spaceship” HQ, but also the visitor’s center, Steve Jobs Theater, landscaping, and more. It’s impressive stuff, and definitely worth checking it out. Watch the video below.

Verdict on Google’s E.U. tax bill could have big implications for Apple

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encryption
Giant tax bill against Google has been overturned by a French court.
Photo: orangesparrow/Flickr CC

A Paris court has thrown out the 1.11 billion euros ($1.27 billion) tax bill that France’s tax authorities were demanding from Google — although the French government has said it will appeal the decision.

The verdict could potentially have implications for Apple, which has also found itself on the receiving end of a costly tax bill in the E.U.

Street Fighter IV: Champion Edition hadokens its way into the App Store

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Street Fighter
Ryu going to download this later today?
Photo: Capcom

Enjoy Street Fighter games? If you’re even the slightest fan of the fighting game genre, then the answer is that of course you do!

With that in mind, you’ll want to check out Capcom’s Street Fighter IV: Champion Edition, a mobile port of the well-received 2011 game for Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. And you know what? It’s pretty darn great!

If you can make a good coffee, you could have a job at Apple

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coffee
Apple is looking for a new barista. Could it be you?
Photo: Mark/Flickr CC

Always dreamed of working for Apple, but lacking the necessary electrical engineering qualification or MBA to get a look in? Don’t worry: there’s a new job you can apply for to get your foot in the door.

Apple is currently searching for a Barista at its Visitor Center in the Bay Area, for a role that will fit anyone looking for a “unique role blending culinary arts with exceptional service.”

Spotify negotiates lower royalty rate with major music label

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Spotify
Spotify is currently leading the streaming music battle.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Spotfiy has managed to negotiate a reduced royalty rate with Sony Music Entertainment, and is also in talks with Warner Music Group, claims a new report.

In return, Spotify will reportedly hold back albums to paying subscribers for two weeks before making them available to customers on Spotify’s free tier. A similar multi-year deal was agreed with Vivendi’s Universal Music Group earlier this year.

Apple’s new data center will comply with strict Chinese laws

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China iPhone sales
Tim Cook meeting with Apple store employees in China on a previous visit.
Photo: Apple

Apple is setting up a new data center in China, in partnership with local data management firm Guizhou-Cloud Big Data Industry (GCDB), in order to meet new cybersecurity rules.

The new tougher cybersecurity laws were introduced in China last month, requiring cloud services in the country to be operated by Chinese companies.

Siri sheds users as AI assistants struggle to take over

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Sorry, Alexa: Siri still the most widespread AI assistant
Siri's popular, but getting less so.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Siri remains the most widely used virtual assistant but is losing popularity, according to a new report.

What does this mean for HomePod, Apple’s upcoming smart speaker? And what type of person is an AI assistant “superuser”? The study offers some surprising insights.

Train passenger using an iMac clearly hasn’t heard of MacBooks

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train
Well, that's one way to get your work done.
Photo: Twitter

There’s dedication to Apple computers and … well, taking your iMac on the train with you.

While riding the rails in the U.K. recently, a passenger spotted a woman using a full-size Apple desktop in the first-class carriage of a Virgin train — alongside a mechanical keyboard. We’re betting her fellow passengers were pleased!

Not everyone thinks iPhone 8 will spawn the ‘supercycle’ Apple needs

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iPhone8
The iPhone 8 may struggle to beat the iPhone 6.
Photo: Imran Taylor

Pretty much everyone thinks the iPhone 8 is going to be Apple’s biggest hit to date, with some Wall Street pundits even claiming its success will transform Apple into a trillion-dollar company.

Some analysts at Deutsche Bank don’t agree, however. In a note to investors, analysts Sherri Scribner, Adrienne Colby and Jeffrey Rand write that they think “investors will be disappointed by iPhone growth in FY-18 and FY-19.” Here’s why.

New iPhone 8 image casts more doubt over Touch ID’s future

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Touch ID
'Leaked' iPhone 8 image shows no rear Touch ID
Photo: Weibo

An image which has shown up on the Chinese microblogging service Weibo depicts what is claimed to be an authentic backplate for the iPhone 8 — complete with missing rear-mounted Touch ID sensor.

Earlier this year, reports circulated that Apple was considering moving the Touch ID sensor to the rear of its next-gen iPhone, much as Android device makers have been doing. Provided that this image is authentic, it suggests that this is not the case.

Your chance to lunch with Eddy Cue at Apple Park

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Eddy Cue
Eddy Cue is auctioning off another charity lunch.
Photo: CNBC

Eddy Cue really likes helping out charities. Either that or he really enjoys lunches with fans.

That’s based on the fact that, just weeks after his last charity auction offering lunch to one lucky Apple fan ended, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services is auctioning off yet another charity lunch date — this time to benefit the charity Autism Movement Therapy.

Apple’s new GPU lab rubs salt into Imagination’s wound

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Apple patches things up with mobile GPU maker Imagination
Imagination first started building GPUs for Apple with the iPod.
Photo: Apple

Apple is upping the ante in its battle with British iOS chipmaker Imagination Technologies by opening a new office “a stone’s throw” from Imagination’s headquarters in St Albans, in the U.K.

This comes days after Apple attacked Imagination for its “inaccurate and misleading” claims. Earlier this year, it was revealed that Apple will be ditching Imagination to develop its own mobile GPUs in-house. Imagination has made clear its belief that Apple can’t design its own GPUs without copying Imagination’s technologies.

iPhone 8 color options to include mirror-like finish

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chrome iPhone
A possible new iPhone
Photo: Benjamin Geskin‏

The new OLED iPhone 8 will come in four different color options including a new mirror-like reflective version, claims Twitter designer and leaker Benjamin Geskin.

Geskin shared an image of an existing iPhone in a mirror case with his post, although he suggests that the iPhone 8 will look very similar.

Comcast and Amazon Video are putting the hurt on iTunes movies

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iTunes movie
iTunes movie downloads suffering thanks to the rise of rival services.
Photo: Apple

It’s not just music downloads where iTunes is struggling. According to a new report, Apple’s share of the digital home video movie market has also been falling precariously in recent years — largely thanks to the rise of companies like Comcast, Amazon Video and Netflix.

From a high of over 50 percent in 2012, market share has now fallen to between 20-35 percent, with various Hollywood studios reporting a decline in iTunes’ leadership position.

Sticky AI, Battlezone 98, and other awesome apps of the week

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Awesome Apps
'Appy weekend everyone!
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Want to impress the kids by sending them animated stickers of yourself against a funky background, courtesy of the latest AI image recognition breakthroughs?

That’s just one of the picks we’ve highlighted for this week’s “Awesome Apps” roundup. We’ve also got a great note-taking app for Apple Pencil users, a revisited classic tank blaster newly arrived on iOS and Mac, and an update to the massively popular Instagram Stories.

Check out our choices below.

How Apple Park is like Steve Jobs’ ill-fated NeXT Computer

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Apple Park
Both examples of hubris on their creator's part?
Photo: Igor America

Apple Park is a physical manifestation of Steve Jobs’ undying hubris, a monument to fussy perfectionism that’s as crazy as his NeXT Computer, the not-entirely-successful computer he launched after being booted from Apple in 1985.

That’s the premise of a new Bloomberg op-ed, which draws parallels between the new Apple campus and one of Jobs’ most notorious tech launches. It’s interesting, but ultimately wrong. Here’s why.

Wall Street analyst thinks Apple will hit trillion-dollar valuation next year

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France fines Apple $27 million for intention iPhone 'throttling' controversy
The iPhone 8 may drive Apple stock prices to new heights.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple stock might be down slightly from its crazy record-breaking high earlier this year, but that’s not dampening Wall Street analyst Brian White’s belief that it’s just 12 months away from becoming the world’s first ever trillion dollar company.

In a research note to clients, White refers to Apple stock as one of the “most underappreciated stocks in the world.” We’re pretty certain that’s an invitation for people to buy!

Former Apple Watch rival Jawbone is entering liquidation

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Jawbone
Were you a Jawbone user?
Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac

Electronics company Jawbone is reportedly closing shop after years of financial pressures.

Having started life in 1998, Jawbone initially made Bluetooth-equipped earpieces and wireless speaker, before transitioning into wearable devices for use in fitness tracking. It was best known for the UP series of wearable devices, and at its height was valued at a whopping $3 billion.

Alas, no more!

Samsung likely to smash previous records with Q2 profits

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Samsung
...and Apple may have helped.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Samsung’s Q2 operating profit rose 72 percent from this time last year, setting a new record for the South Korean tech giant in the process.

Operating profit likely sits around the 14 trillion won ($12.1 billion) mark, according to the company. Revenue meanwhile increased 18 percent from a year earlier to 60 trillion won — beating analyst forecasts in the process.

Battlezone 98 Redux blasts its way onto iPad and Mac

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Battlezone 98
This takes us back!
Photo: Rebellion

Sure, there are a ton of great new games available for both macOS and iOS, but sometimes it pays to revisit the classics. That’s what users get with Battlezone 98 Redux, a remastered version of one of the best sci-fi strategy first-person shooter games of all time.

This was hot stuff back in the halcyon days of 1998, back when the iMac G3 was the hottest computer going. And now that it’s landed on both Mac and iPad, it remains pretty darn good!

The magic behind HomePod gets revealed in new patent

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Apple's new HomePod smart speaker is ready to rock your house.
Apple's smart tech will let the HomePod smart speaker perfectly rock your house.
Photo: Apple

According to Apple, its upcoming HomePod smart speaker will “reinvent the way we enjoy music” thanks to its seven-tweeter array, 4-inch woofer, and smart “spatial awareness” technology that lets it “read” its environment.

If you want to find out more about how Apple’s smart speaker works, check out this new patent application. It describes an Apple speaker that uses digital signal processing, microphones and algorithms to play perfectly equalized music.

Apple recruits Samsung to resolve iPhone chip problems

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Samsung
Apple is leaning more heavily on Samsung.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Apple is turning to Samsung to resolve some of the yield issues it is having with its NAND flash storage chips for the upcoming iPhone, claims a new report.

Existing suppliers SK Hynix and Toshiba have reportedly both experienced lower-than-expected yield rates for the next-gen iPhone chips. As a result, the overall supply of NAND flash chips bound for Cupertino has fallen short of demand by as much as 30 percent.

Jay Z’s new album goes platinum without Apple Music’s help

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Jay Z 4:44
No Apple Music, no problem. Apparently.
Photo: Jay Z

It’s only been out since last week, but Jay Z’s 4:44 album has already gone platinum, according to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

The feat is all the more miraculous considering that Jay’s album has thus far been available only in a select few places. As we’ve noted, it was nearly impossible to stream through legal methods, with the only two ways to access it either being a Tidal subscription or listening on the 160 iHeartRadio stations across the country.

Kickstarter documentary unpacks Steve Jobs’ original Apple downfall

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Jobs
Documentary will tell the story of Jobs' 1985 Apple firing and the immediate aftermath.
Photo: Esther Dyson/Flickr CC

Given that he was, you know, Steve Jobs, it’s still pretty crazy to think that there was a time in Apple history when Jobs was pretty much forced out of the company he helped found.

A new documentary, currently raising funds on Kickstarter, aims to tell the story of Jobs’ attempted boardroom coup and 1985 ouster from Apple with insights from the people who were actually there.

In related news, Apple’s latest innovations continue to push the boundaries of design, including the world’s smallest iPhone—discover more in the latest predictions here.