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Luke Dormehl - page 251

Steve Jobs’ response to why Apple didn’t pay its engineers more

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Why Salesforce chief gave up AppStore.com for Apple
Steve Jobs was a one-man quote machine.
Photo: Ben Stanfield/Flickr CC

Pretty much everyone who met or worked with Steve Jobs has some anecdote about Apple’s late CEO that shines a light on an aspect of his personality and/or approach to life.

The latest is Evan Doll, co-founder of news reading app Flipboard, who worked at Apple from 2003 to 2009. In a series of tweets, Doll recalls the time Jobs was asked why Apple didn’t better remunerate its engineers.

Jobs’ response was classic Steve: part obfuscation, part passive-aggressive masterclass, all while subtly (or not-so-subtly) reminding the asker that they were lucky to be at Apple, and that it was their own fault if they weren’t being paid more.

North Korea’s OS X clone is a dictator’s ‘wet dream’

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A North Korean operating system is seen in this screen shot taken in Seoul December 23, 2015.   REUTERS/James Pearson
You can't complain about North Korea's attention to detail. Especially if you live in the country.
Photo: James Pearson/Reuters

User privacy has been a massive focus for Tim Cook during his time as CEO at Apple, but it’s apparently not an area of much concern for North Korea’s OS X ripoff RedStar OS.

The operating system, which borrows Apple’s “look and feel” but little else, is basically the “wet dream of a surveillance state dictator,” according to security researchers who analyzed RedStar OS.

Apple’s A-series chip mastermind gets a happy Christmas bonus

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johny_hero
The man who designs Apple's chips just got a few more of his own.
Photo: Apple

Johny Srouji may only have been an Apple Senior Vice President for a hot minute, but already he’s reaping the benefits of his new position — courtesy of the festive awarding of restricted stock units currently valued at $9.6 million, plus common stock holdings worth $10.9 million.

Insanely crap: Top critic calls Steve Jobs one of 2015’s worst movies

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Aaron Sorkin’s Steve Jobs movie is coming to Netflix
Why do you hate me?
Photo: François Duhamel/©2015 Universal Studios

One of the most surprising movie flops of 2015 was Aaron Sorkin and Danny Boyle’s Steve Jobs: a movie which, miraculously, earned even less for its creators than 2013’s panned Jobs, starring Dude, Where’s My Car‘s Ashton Kutcher.

Now the movie has received another ignominious fate: being singled out by major film critic and former co-host of At the Movies Rex Reed as his pick for no. 1 worst film of the year. Ouch!

Apple looks to Asia to speed Apple Pay growth in 2016

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Apple in talks to bring Apple Pay to Israel
Asia and Europe are Apple Pay's two biggest focuses next year.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Apple watchers should expect the company’s mobile payment service, Apple Pay, to expand to new markets in 2016 — with a heavy emphasis on Asia.

According to a new report, Apple is focusing on Asia and Europe since adoption in the United States has been slower than expected. Regions set to get Apple Pay next year so far include China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Spain.

Police crack massive iPhone black market crime ring

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Apple
I'd be happy with just the one iPhone, to be honest.
Photo: Tigard PD

Police in Tigard, Oregon have cracked an organized retail crime ring which used stolen gift cards worth three-quarters of a million dollars to buy iPhones bound for the Hong Kong black market.

Tigard Detective T.J. Hahn told the local KOIN 6 News that organized retail theft has become a bigger crime than even drug sales.

“This kind of activity makes millions of millions of dollars, into the billions,” he said.

WhatsApp will take on FaceTime with video calling feature

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WhatsApp-Update-iPhone-UK-Version-iPhone-6S-3D-Touch-iPhone-New-Feature-WhatsApp-Update-iPhone-Video-Calls-WhatsApp-Update-Video-421217
You'll now be able to WhatsApp your friends with full motion video.
Photo: Macerkopf.de

Having added voice calling at no extra cost earlier this year, WhatsApp is now reportedly looking to introduce FaceTime-style video calls, according to a new report.

The leaked iOS screenshot shows a full-screen video call, along with a smaller inlaid video preview with the camera view of the call recipient, just like Skype or Apple’s own video calling service.

360-degree videos debut on Apple TV

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appletv
Immersive 360-degree videos are now available to fourth-gen Apple TV owners.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Now you can watch (and explore) 360-degree videos on the new Apple TV, thanks to virtual reality network Littlstar’s free app.

The network’s new tvOS app delivers content from the likes of Showtime, Disney and PBS. It works with Apple TV’s Siri Remote, granting users the ability to control the angle used in the immersive 360-degree videos via the remote’s nifty trackpad.

iRich: Businessman gifts former classmates 39 iPhone 6s handsets

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Iphone_for_free
Well, that's one way to show you remember your classmates.
Photo: Weibo

Christmas came early for schoolfriends of a Chinese businessman when he distributed 39 brand new iPhone 6s handsets during an elementary school reunion (!) over the past weekend.

The rose gold iPhones were engraved with the words, “To commemorate the Beilun Sanshan Primary School Class of 1998.” The generous giver of the gifts, a businessman with the surname Zhang, reportedly handed out the iPhones during a dinner in Ningbo, a city in China’s Zhejiang province.

Dark Fear will scare you to death this Christmas

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darkfear-1024x768
The scariest iOS game of 2015.
Photo: Arif Games

T’was the night(s) before Christmas and all through the App Store, not a creature was moving except… wait, was that? I thought I was alone in here!

Welcome to the world of Dark Fear, a retro-styled pixel horror game that’s creepy and creative enough to keep you tingling throughout the holiday season.

There’s a reason it’s so damn scary: Dark Fear was created by Arif Majothi, a 38-year-old game developer who got his start working on horror movies. He combined his mastery of the horror genre with his love of classic ’80s and ’90s Sierra games like Phantasmagoria (it even starts with an MS-DOS-style floppy disk prompt).

The resulting title pays homage to the past, while being spooky enough to scare the bejesus out of you in the closing days of 2015. What more could you ask for?

Forget breaking the Internet, Kim Kardashian broke the App Store

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Kim Kardashian wants to takeover your keyboard.
The end is nigh.
Photo: Kimoji

Looking forward to Christmas? So am I — unless humanity ignominiously implodes en route to December 25.

What would lead me to raise that possibility? Oh, just the fact that not only did Kim Kardashian’s newly-launched emoji app immediately shoot to the top of the App Store charts, but its popularity even caused sweeping technical difficulties across Apple’s giant app repository.

We brought this on ourselves, didn’t we?

iPad Pro sales may be off to a disappointing start

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iPad Pro
Apple's supersize tablet may not be headed for supersized sales.
Photo: Leander Kahney/Cult of Mac

Apple may be hoping that the iPad Pro can help turn around its flagging tablet sales, but according to a new report sales are off to a somewhat disappointing start — with just 49,000 units selling in the first month in Apple’s much-emphasized China region.

Apple slashes iPhone 6s prices in India after disappointing sales

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Apple is trying to get the iPhone 6s into more people's hands in India.
Photo: Apple

Apple has slashed the price of the iPhone 6s in India, reportedly after lower than expected sales over Diwali.

The handsets are now at least 16 percent cheaper than when they first launched two months ago — with the the basic 16GB iPhone 6s now costing between Rs 52,000 and Rs 55,000 ($785 – $830), down from the Rs 62,000 ($935) launch price. Many retailers are additionally offering other incentives to try and get customers to buy.

Apple Stores to start stocking accessibility products in 2016

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Apple's focus on accessibility isn't going unrecognized.
Apple is stepping up its focus on accessibility.
Photo: Apple

Apple is reportedly set to start selling new accessibility-related peripherals and accessories for both Mac and iOS in its brick-and-mortar Apple Stores as well as online.

The accessories, which are reported to be going on sale in the first quarter of calendar year 2016, are designed to help users with disabilities to better engage with Apple products.

Apple and Ericsson settle patent dispute just in time for Christmas

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Apple raked in the cash last quarter.
Finally Ericsson execs will be able to afford Christmas presents.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

It’s nearly Christmas: the time of mince pies, good cheer, and, apparently, settling patent disputes with the potential to cost you hundreds of millions of dollars each year.

With that in mind, Apple has agreed a patent licensing deal with Swedish telecom company Ericsson, ending a dispute in which Ericsson was accused by Apple of engaging in, “abusive licensing practices.”

10 things we learned from Apple’s 60 Minutes episode

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60 Minutes
Jony Ive shows Charlie Rose the company's secret design studio.
Photo: CBS

60 Minutes host Charlie Rose took a deep dive into all things Apple in an episode that aired Sunday.

Featuring interviews with Tim Cook, Jony Ive, Phil Schiller, Angela Ahrendts and others, the show explored everything from the iPhone’s inner workings and Apple’s manufacturing in China to Cook dancing around the question of whether Apple is building a car.

Check out our 10 takeaways below.

11 awesome TV shows we couldn’t stop watching in 2015

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We couldn't peel our eyes from these shows in 2015.
What we've all been watching in 2015.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Cult of Mac's Best of 2015 2015 brought us a souped-up Apple TV, so it’s great news that the same year yielded plenty of high-quality entertainment to watch on the fourth-generation device.

From tenured favorites like ’60s Madison Avenue masterpiece Mad Men to the arrival of smash hits like Mr. Robot, there was no shortage of great entertainment gracing our screens.

In our humble opinions, these were the best TV shows of 2015.

Get a 16GB iPhone 6s for just $1 at Best Buy

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The iPhone isn't ditching LCD screens.
Just one dollar, people!
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Big savings on Apple products have meant that Best Buy is increasingly living up to its name, but today’s iPhone deal may be one of the best yet for the cash-starved.

The retailer is selling the 16GB iPhone 6s for $1, while also throwing in a $200 gift card if you trade in a working iPhone 5 as part of the deal.

iOS 9 adoption slowing, but still faster than iOS 8

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Here's what time iOS 9 is landing in your area.
More than 7 out of 10 users are running iOS 9.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

71 percent of iOS users are using the latest version of the mobile operating system, according to stats released by Apple. Measured by visits to the App Store this week, the stats also show 21 percent of users are running iOS 8, while 8 percent are running previous versions of iOS.