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Luke Dormehl - page 253

Mark Cuban wants Apple to boot Twitter out of the App Store

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Twitter
#getridoftwitter?
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

When there are complaints about censorship in the App Store, it’s usually developers arguing that Apple shouldn’t have removed a particular app for infringing on its often-vague user guidelines.

Billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban had something else in mind, however, when he sent a series of tweets claiming that Apple should boot Twitter off the App Store — until the social networking company finds a way of better removing “objectionable” material from its service.

Apple to take GPU design into its own hands

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A9xchip
Apple's GPU is still a few years away, however.
Photo: Chipworks

Apple is reportedly working to create its own mobile GPU, a new report claims.

The report suggests that Apple has been working for several years to create an in-house graphics chip, using its chip design talent — shown previously when the company announced its first Apple-developed ARM-based CPU cores.

Apple makes a splash with new waterproof iPhone patent

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Water way to test your iPhone!
Water way to improve the iPhone.
Photo: LifeProof

Apple today published an intriguing patent application with a unique method for waterproofing future devices — by covering ports, like those for USB or headphones, with self-healing seals.

Described as an, “electronic device with hidden connector,” the invention describes how self-healing elastomeric material could seal each of the ports, which would then be opened by puncturing them with external connectors, such as power or audio feeds, in the event that they needed to be used.

iPad Pro will touch down in India next week

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iPad Pro
The iPad Pro could be a valuable tool for helping grow Apple's enterprise business in India.
Photo: Leander Kahney / Cult of Mac

The iPad Pro is set to launch in India next week, amidst a massive push on Apple’s part to grow its enterprise business in the populous country — with plans for this to eventually account for 15-20 percent of Apple revenue.

Pricing for Apple’s super-sized tablet will begin at Rs 67,990 ($1,018), compared with $799 in the United States.

Apple reveals its ‘best of 2015’ picks for iTunes and App Store

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IMG_2959
What did Apple pick this year?
Photo: Apple

2015 is almost over, and Apple has released its list of its favorite apps, games, and pop culture artefacts which landed in the App Store and on iTunes over the past twelve months.

Alongside expected categories like best iPhone and iPad app, the list also includes newer categories including best apps for iPad Pro, watchOS and tvOS — and even a few (slightly suspect) picks for best movie, album and the like.

Apple now sells Lightning headphones that are super-expensive

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Screen Shot 2015-12-09 at 14.03.01
The Audeze EL-8 Titanium headphones are great quality. But they'll cost ya!
Photo: Apple

For a company which keeps its future plans on the down-low, Apple sure is serious about getting us to believe the rumors that it’s ditching the 3.5mm headphone jack for future generations of iPhone.

At least, that’s going by the fact that Apple has just started selling $800 Audeze EL-8 Titanium headphones — at both its online Apple Store and select brick-and-mortar retail outlets in the U.S. and Canada.

5 Apple accessories every bit as crappy as the iPhone battery case

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Smart case
Help! My iPhone 6s has eaten my iPhone 4.
Photo: Apple

The consensus view of Apple’s newly launched hunchback iPhone battery case is that it should ideally be hidden from human view, spending its life in isolation ringing bells in Notre Dame.

Immediately upon release, the Internet filled with loud, angry protesters saying this kind of thing would never have happened in Steve Jobs’ day (and accusing Jony Ive of snoozing on the job). While I’m definitely no fan of Apple’s $99 Smart Battery Case, this isn’t the first time the company has released a less-than-stellar piece of design work amidst its usually gorgeous offerings.

Check out the list below for five of the worst pieces of design to come out of Cupertino since … well, yesterday, actually.

Apple’s plan to deliver live TV service is ‘on hold’

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tvOS just got another new update.
Apple TV won't quite be living up to its true potential just yet.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Apple has reportedly suspended plans to add an Internet-based live television service for Apple TV, maintaining its focus on providing media from other companies.

A person familiar with negotiations claims that Apple’s plan to sell a $30-$40 monthly package of exclusive television stations has run into problems — based on the amount of money content creators are asking for for programming.

Steve Jobs team won’t let bad box office kill Oscar campaign

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Aaron Sorkin’s Steve Jobs movie is coming to Netflix
Universal is chasing an award for their efforts.
Photo: François Duhamel/©2015 Universal Studios

Steve Jobs may have flopped at the box office, but the team responsible for it are still confident that they can make up for the dismal lack of earnings with an Oscar.

According to a new report, Aaron Sorkin, Jeff Daniels (who plays John Sculley) and director Danny Boyle recently attended an “intimate brunch and Q&A” with a roomful of Academy voters at the St. Regis hotel.

Apple just released an iPhone battery case, and it’s butt-ugly

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Screen Shot 2015-12-08 at 10.21.39
Apple's new smart case will keep your iPhone running for up to 25 hours. But at what cost?
Photo: Apple

Apple today unveiled a surprise new $99 iPhone “Smart Battery Case,” available in white and charcoal gray — designed to not only protect your iPhone 6s or iPhone 6, but also to give it considerably longer battery life.

While Apple does not give specific battery capacity details, it notes that the battery case offers increased talk time up to 25 hours, Internet use up to 18 hours on LTE, and video playback up to 20 hours.

The downside? Well, it’s not exactly a “looker.”

Siri teams with Cerebral Palsy Foundation to teach you to ‘just say hi’

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Someday soon, this might be on your Mac.
Siri is loaded with good advice.
Photo: Apple/Cerebral Palsy Foundation

Siri is loaded with fun Easter eggs. However, its latest addition — created in collaboration with the Cerebral Palsy Foundation — isn’t flippant or sarcastic like some of the AI assistant’s other one-liners; it’s just good advice.

Ask Siri how to start a conversation with someone with a disability, and she’ll answer, “It’s easy. Just say, ‘Hi.’”

Forget productivity, councillors caught using iPad to watch soccer

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Get one of these bad boys, and then some free gift card money to boot!
Despite the advances of iOS 9, these iPad users were no multitaskers.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

U.K. councillors in Croydon have been named and shamed for using an iPad during a council meeting to keep track of the score in a soccer game.

And — wouldn’t you know it — as with every other time something like this happens, senior Labour councillors John Wentworth and Pat Ryan claim that they were just “momentarily” taking a break from the important meeting they were in.

Apple pours $13 million into overhauling Elk Grove campus

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Yep, Apple's pretty darn valuable.
Apple's throwing money at its Sacramento County campus.
Photo: Cult of Mac

Apple is spending “at least $13 million” expanding its Elk Grove, Sacramento county campus, says a new report — in a move which could translate into thousands of new jobs being created.

Apple is reportedly converting a 134,000-square-foot warehouse into a new logistics operation. It has also added 1,450 additional parking spaces, medical and dental facilities, a massage room, exercise room, and even a yoga studio.

Apple Maps now dominates Google Maps on iOS devices

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Apple Maps instructions might get a lot more 'human' soon.
Apple Maps has turned over a new leaf.
Photo: Apple

It’s hard to think of too many Apple-related bombs bigger than Apple Maps, the disastrous mapping service introduced in 2012, which resulted in widespread ridicule, at least one major executive leaving the company, and Tim Cook himself recommending that customers use rival services.

But just a few years later a new report suggests that Apple Maps is used “three times as often” as Google Maps on iOS devices, with “more than five billion map-related requests each week.”

How’s that for a turnaround?

Apple in talks to secure OLED panels for iPhone 8

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3D Touch provides super useful home screen shortcuts.
OLED iPhone displays are coming.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

It’s hardly speculation to suggest that, as soon as Apple is rumored to be entering a new area of production, every manufacturer with capacity wants to get in on the new opportunities.

The latest example of this is Japan Display, which is reportedly in the early stages of converting one of its factories in Ishikawa factory into an test production line to try and win iPhone orders when Apple switches to using OLED displays in the near future.

iPad was 2015’s most popular Twitter tech hashtag

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iPad mini 4
We're talking about iPads more than ever.
Photo: Buster Hein/Cult of Mac

Given its slowing sales and the continued record smashing of its iPhone brethren, it’s easy to think of the iPad as the “also ran” of Apple’s iOS devices.

In fact, people continue to talk about the iPad an enormous amount — more than any other topic in tech, if you believe Twitter’s freshly-released list of 2015’s top trending topics.

Reports of slowing iPhone production may be greatly exaggerated

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iPhone camera
The makers of the iPhone 6s' metal casing are reporting big earnings.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Reports that iPhone 6s production may be slower than expected may be plain wrong, if you go by the record earnings one iPhone supplier recorded last month.

Catcher Technologies supplies the metal casings for the iPhone 6s. In November it recorded sales on $254 million — representing an increase of 1.4 percent from the previous month, and a massive 50.3 percent increase from this time last year.

Find my iPhone hunt ends with family being assaulted

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iPhone 6s
This Find my iPhone story did not end well.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

There’s no doubting that Apple’s “Find my iPhone” feature can be pretty useful at times. But a recent story highlights the feature’s potential dark side — as a family was attacked after a group of people knocked on their door, erroneously claiming their lost handset was inside the family’s home.

Top Apple analyst believes a 4-inch iPhone isn’t worth Apple’s time

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Will the iPhone 6c be a flop like the 5c?
Would the 4-inch iPhone be a waste of time?
Photo: Gadgetmac/Flickr

We’ve heard plenty of conflicting reports about when we should expect a new smaller, 4-inch iPhone “c” from Apple, but Piper Jaffray’s resident Apple analyst Gene Munster suggests that Cupertino would be wasting its time by releasing a sequel to 2013’s iPhone 5c.

Why? Because, Munster claims, customers don’t really want smaller handsets at all.

PhotoPanda, Groove Planet and other awesome apps of the week

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If you're appy and you know it, check our list!
If you're appy and you know it, check our list!
Photo: Cult of Mac

From a photography app with a difference to a math training app with human curation and a fantastic classic iOS puzzle game going free, we’ve sifted through this week’s most exciting apps to bring you the ones you absolutely need to download now.

Check out our picks below. Trust us, this is the way you want to spend Sunday!

Trump’s dream: Bring Apple manufacturing back to U.S.

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20724666936_32e70d7b9a_k
Trump would love to see Apple move operations back to the U.S.
Photo: Michael Vadon/Flickr CC

Donald Trump has said that his “real dream” is for Apple, along with other U.S. companies, to bring their manufacturing back to the United States.

Trump made the comments during an interview to promote his new book, Crippled America. “We think of Apple as an American company,” Trump said. “But they make their product in China. And they have offices here, but China makes more money with Apple than we do, if you think about it.”