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Luke Dormehl - page 224

Apple will create 1,000 new jobs at its Irish HQ

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Irish flag
Apple is living up to its promise to expand Irish operations.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple has announced that it will create an extra 1,000 jobs to its Hollyhill site in County Cork, Ireland over the next 18 months — substantially increasing on the 5,000 employees the company currently has in Ireland.

The move is broadly in line with Apple’s overall workforce expansion, which has increased 25 percent over the past year.

Barbra Streisand once called Steve Jobs for tech support

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Barbra Streisand
Singer Barbra Streisand and husband James Brolin.
Photo: Wikicommons

In an interview for Good Morning Britain, global diva Barbra Streisand has revealed how she once called up Steve Jobs to ask him for computer advice.

“I couldn’t figure out something on my computer and nobody could figure it out, no IT guy, so I said, ‘Can you get Steve Jobs on the phone?’” she recalled. As it turns out, she could. But even Jobs was unable to offer a solution.

How to use iCloud Drive to share your Desktop & Documents folder in macOS Sierra

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iCloud
Sharing is caring. And easier than ever.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

iCloud Drive previously worked a bit like Dropbox, asking users to drag and drop files into a special folder in order to access them across multiple devices. That changes in macOS Sierra, which allows you to enjoy the benefits of iCloud with the added bonus that your files can stay exactly where they are.

Here’s how to use this useful new feature in Apple’s new Mac operating system, which is currently in public beta and will be released this fall.

Touch ID could record prints to catch iPhone thieves

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Touch ID
Sorry, crooks!
Photo: Apple

Everyone points and laughs when dimwitted thieves got caught after taking identifying selfies with stolen iPhones or iPads.

However, in its quest to help crack down on Apple-related crime, Apple may go even further by using its Touch ID fingerprint sensor to record the fingerprints of would-be iOS thieves — at least according to a newly-published patent application update.

Britney Spears, Alicia Keys and Robbie Williams headline Apple Music Festival

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As far as star power goes, Apple Music Festival doesn't disappoint.
Photo: Britney Spears

Apple has released the headliners for this year’s Apple Music festival, and as far as big names go, it doesn’t disappoint.

Top acts include (deep breath) Britney Spears, Sir Elton John, Alicia Keys, Calvin Harris, Robbie Williams, The 1975, OneRepublic, Bastille, Michael Buble and Chance the Rapper — all of whom will appear at London’s Roundhouse next month.

How AI is secretly transforming everything Apple does

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Robot
Apple is investing heavily in machine learning.
Photo: Scott Schaut/Mansfield Memorial Museum

When it comes to the incredibly hot field of AI, Apple has been racing to catch up with Google and Facebook. A new article reveals exactly when Apple’s interest in this area began paying off: July 30, 2014, a.k.a. the date Siri switched over to deep learning.

A type of machine learning built around brain-like “neural networks,” the switch drastically improved on Siri’s accuracy. However, as is typical for ultra-secretive Apple, the company didn’t boast about — or even publicize — its success.

Report card: How has Tim Cook fared after five years as CEO?

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Tim Cook
Tim Cook has now been officially running Apple for half a decade.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

The flip side to the news that today marks five years since Steve Jobs resigned as Apple CEO is the fact that it also marks Tim Cook’s ascendance to Apple’s top position.

So how has Cook done at the seemingly impossible task of following one of the most-revered business executives in history? Putting on our teacher hats and picking up our best red marking pens, here’s how Tim Cook’s report card reads so far.

Keep Siri results where you can find them in macOS Sierra

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macOS Siri search pin
Siri just got more useful!
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Siri’s arrival on macOS Sierra opens up some great new features and possibilities. One of our favorites? The ability to “pin” Siri results inside Notification Center — making it easier to keep track of whatever game times, trending topics or important documents Apple’s virtual assistant helps you to find.

Here’s how to use the feature when running Apple’s next-gen macOS, which is currently in public beta and will be released this fall.

iPhone 7 dual-lens supplier is making serious bank

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dual-camera iphone 7 render
Companies are already getting rich from the iPhone 7's camera upgrade.
Photo: feldvolk.com

The iPhone 7 Plus isn’t even out yet, and already Chinese Apple supplier Primax Electronics is reportedly expecting to hit a new August revenue high as a result — partially due to its orders for the plus-size iPhone’s dual-camera components.

Apple Maps could help you find your way around unfamiliar buildings

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It might not quite be Harry Potter's Marauder's Map, but it's getting there.
Photo: Universal Studios Orlando

Could a Harry Potter-style “Marauder’s Map” help give Apple a leg up on rival mapping services by offering indoor directions as well as outside ones?

That’s the working theory behind a new U.S. patent published today, which describes a “Visual-Based Inertial Navigation” system, explaining how accurate indoor directions could given on a smartphone or VR headset down to an accuracy of centimeters.

Amazon could beat Apple to $5 per month streaming music

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amazon-echo-keeps-you-up-on-the-times-while-spitting-mad-rhymes-image-cultofandroidcomwp-contentuploads201411Screen-Shot-2014-11-06-at-173652-png
Cheap streaming music could be another selling point for Amazon Echo.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Amazon is looking to launch its own Amazon Echo-exclusive streaming music service, and according to a new report the company might beat Apple to the much-sought-after $5 per month subscription price point.

For those who don’t remember, one of the big rumors about Apple Music was that the company wanted to charge users five bucks a month, based on the idea that the average iTunes user spends $60 per year on downloaded music, which translates to $5 per month.

Today in Apple history: OS X Jaguar roars onto Mac

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osxjaguar
How did that cat print pattern ever make it past Steve Jobs?
Photo: Apple

Aug23 August 23, 2002: Apple ships Mac OS X Jaguar, the third major release of OS X and the first to publicly adopt the cat-themed code name it had been known by inside the company.

The $129 operating system is well-received by Mac users, who correctly view it as the most stable version of OS X yet — and with a few neat features, to boot.

Apple Music Festival 2016 kicks off September 18

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Apple promises "10 exhilarating nights of live music."
Photo: Apple

The Apple Music Festival will return to the U.K. this September for “10 exhilarating nights of live music,” according to Apple.

No musical acts have been revealed yet for the festival, which will run from September 18 to September 30. But if previous years are anything to go by, 2016 promises to deliver a star-studded lineup — and Apple Music subscribers get to watch the whole thing for free online.

Bids for Apple-1 computer built by Steve Jobs pass $500,000

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Could this become the most expensive Apple-1 to ever sell at auction?
Photo: Charitybuzz

Online bids for an original Apple-1 computer, reportedly built by Steve Jobs, have passed $500,000.

The so-called “Celebration” Apple-1 comes with period correct power supply, original Apple-1 ACI cassette board, Apple-1 BASIC cassettes, original marketing material, and the most complete documentation set of the known Apple-1 boards. Only around 60 Apple-1 units are thought to still exist today.

Apple increases health focus by buying medical AI startup

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Gliimpse is a machine learning health platform.
Photo: Gliimpse

In keeping with its mobile health ambitions, Apple has snapped up Gliimpse, a personal health data startup which uses machine learning technology to help users make sense of their medical records.

The company was founded in 2013 by former Apple employee-turned-serial-entrepeneur Anil Sethi. Apple reportedly acquired it earlier this year, although (no surprises here) it hasn’t publicly announced what it plans to do with it yet.

Birdman’s label takes flight in first trailer for Cash Money doc

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Screen Shot 2016-08-17 at 11.54.04
Cash Money co-founder Birdman confirmed the deal this week.
Photo: Birdman/Instagram

Apple has released a trailer for its upcoming documentary The Cash Money Story about popular hip hop record label Cash Money Records, which will be available exclusively on Apple Music.

The story of the label which introduced hip hop fans to Lil Wayne, Nicki Minaj, Young Money and Birdman, the documentary was teased earlier this week by Cash Money co-founder Birdman, who said he had struck a “power move” deal with Apple.

Frank Ocean debuts Endless visual album on Apple Music

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Frank Ocean Endless
45-minute 'visual album' now available on Apple Music.
Photo: Apple Music

Apple Music added to its impressive string of exclusives by releasing Endless, a 45-minute “visual album” by Frank Ocean.

The film, which is available now to subscribers of Apple’s streaming music service, is thought to be a tease for an upcoming album by the Grammy-winning singer that could be released this weekend.

Apple’s cost-cutting strategy draws ire of Chinese supply chain

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Foxconn employees accused of $43 million iPhone scam
Tim Cook meeting an iPhone manufacturer in China.
Photo: Apple

With iPhone demand slowing down, one of the ways in which Apple is hoping to increase earnings is by pushing its suppliers to work for less money — but it doesn’t seem to be going entirely to plan.

According to a new report, Apple is meeting resistance from manufacturers in its Taiwan-based supply chain as it requests that they lower quotes for iPhone 7 components by as much as 20 percent.

How to use Universal Clipboard to copy on one device, paste on another

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macOS
Your iPhone and Mac now talk to each other even more closely.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

The ability to seamlessly hand off web pages or emails from your Mac to your iPhone (or vice versa) has been around for a couple of years now. However, in macOS Sierra and iOS 10 it’s taken to the next level — courtesy of a Universal Clipboard feature which lets you easily copy and paste content between your Mac and iOS devices.

Here’s how to use the feature when running Apple’s next-gen iOS and macOS, which are currently in public beta and will be released this fall.

T-Mobile is killing data plans to go ‘unlimited’

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t-mobile
Say goodbye to data plans. (With a couple of provisos.)
Photo: T-Mobile

T-Mobile has declared “the era of the data plan is over,” and that it is offering all users unlimited data from this point on.

Called T-Mobile ONE, the new setup announced by CEO John Legere offers customers a way to get rid of pesky data plans — with unlimited talk, text and 4G LTE smartphone data, all for the impressively low cost of $40 per line if you’re a family of (at least) four.

iOS falls as Android’s market share skyrockets

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Your next iPhone may be powered by Intel.
iPhone sales are slowing, but it's not just about market share.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple may have fared better in its recent quarterly earnings than some were predicting, but iOS is still being obliterated by Android in overall marketshare worldwide.

How much so? According to new figures published by Gartner, Android is currently the mobile operating system found on a whopping 86.2 percent of handsets worldwide. In other words, based on this single metric, it’s not even close!