General Motors has announced that its upcoming Chevrolets will be the world’s first cars to offer “Eyes Free” Siri integration, allowing drivers to use the voice control capabilities of their iPhone without taking their hands off the wheel. The feature will be integrated into GM’s MyLink infotainment system.
Black Friday was just the beginning. Now that Cyber Monday has arrived, there’s plenty to offer our readers here at Cult of Mac. Most notably, we’ve got a pair of killer Cult of Mac Deals offers lined up for you that will net you a whole slew of value for under $100!
To celebrate Cyber Monday, we’re offering two great bundles – The iStack Mac Bundle and The Mac Utility Bundle – that on their own are standout sales – but together they are perhaps the best deal we’ve ever offered.
The original Air Display is a great way to add a temporary second screen to any laptop or desktop Macintosh. It’s also super easy to set up and use, as we told you in an iOS tip a while back.
Unfortunately, it’s also a bit on the spendy side. While $10 really isn’t that much to spend for quality software that lets your Mac use an iPad as a second monitor, some folks might not want to spend that much without giving it a good try first.
Even though Android leads in terms of marketshare, iPhone and iPad owners use more data than Android users. It also appears that iOS users are also more comfortable with shopping online via their mobile device than Android users.
IBM released their Holiday Benchmark Report and found that among U.S. consumers shopping for Thanksgiving and Black Friday deals from their mobile device, a strong majority were using iPhones or iPads and about 77% of all mobile purchases originated from an iOS device.
Mall of America happens to have both an Apple Store and a Microsoft Store under one roof. In fact, they’re right across the hall from each other, so it’s a great place to gauge how enthusiastic people are for both brands.
On Black Friday, Gene Munster and his team of analyst from Piper Jaffray spend eight hours counting heads at the Apple Store. They also spend two hours monitoring the Microsoft Store and found that Microsoft didn’t sell a single Microsoft Surface tablet.
Here are some other facts that Munster observed:
Apple’s decision to give Samsung Display the boot over the iPad mini may be one that comes back to haunt the Cupertino company. Its tiny tablet is expected to be a smash hit this Christmas, but Apple is said to be battling with supply constraints as one of its two display manufacturers struggles to meet the demand.
Sonic Jump, Sega’s latest iOS game, has received a great new update that’s now available to download from the App Store. In addition to 12 brand new levels, this release brings new characters and new enemies.
We’re a few weeks away from the start of a new year, which means the time to adopt new habits is fast approaching. Rather than adopt a new habit, some people learn a new skill – and building apps for the iPhone and iPad is very much in fashion these days. This soon-to-end Cult of Mac Deals offer aims to help you build those apps with the most in-depth and comprehensive Xcode course for complete beginners.
And you can get this course for just $79 — but do it before it’s gone for good!
Kicking off this week’s must-have apps roundup is Nokia’s great new mapping app called HERE Maps. It’s accompanied by an awesome App.net client called Stream, a great new app that tracks who stopped following you on Twitter, and more.
The iPad has become one of the premier video consumption devices on the planet. having access to videos in the palm of your hands anytime, anywhere is a huge bonus. But getting some videos to your iPad isn’t a slam dunk. You have to change formats for some of them – and that can be a pain.
But this freebie that we’re delivering today at Cult of Mac Deals will change all that.
For a limited time you can get MacX iPad Video Converter, the best iPad video converter on the market free of charge!
I hope you have some cash left after Black Friday, because we have some awesome iOS games for you in this week’s roundup. Kicking us off is Vengeance: Woz With A Coz, the first video game to feature Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak. We also have Meganoid 2, and awesome new platform game; the best boxing game you’ll find on iOS, and more.
There’s a good chance you can think of someone who plans on giving an Apple product this holiday season. Apple has rolled out its own Holiday Gift Guide and has its own gifting information page, which details the basics about gifting Apple products. If you’re looking for a little more assistance when shopping for Apple products then this guide is for you. Here we offer some simple tips to help the average holiday shopper save time and money when gifting Apple products.
Apple has reportedly further distanced itself from rival Samsung by switching its suppliers for iPad and MacBook batteries. The Cupertino company has been seemingly working to avoid Samsung’s components since the companies became embroiled in various legal battles all over the world.
Siri, Apple’s voice-based virtual assistant is a mixed bag of good things and bad. And Siri faces an increasing competition in the market, especially from Google.
I believe Siri is probably the single most important feature Apple offers for three future Apple devices. In fact, I think Apple is betting the entire company on Siri. However, many users often wonder why is Siri so bad compared to its competitors, raising concerns about its limitations.
And that’s why they’ve got to fix it.
Danny Trejo’s Vengeance: Woz With A Coz, the new iOS game featuring Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak that we told you about earlier this month, is now available to download from the App Store for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. Priced at just $0.99, the 8-bit retro platformer sees Woz teaming up with Danny Trejo in an effort to save Woz’s wife, “J-Woz,” who has been kidnapped.
Apple’s Black Friday sale is now live at Apple.com. As expected, the Cupertino company has reduced the price tags of several Macs, the iPad and iPad mini, and the iPod nano and iPod touch. A lot of its own accessories, such as iPad Smart Covers and the Magic Mouse, are also included in the sale.
Readdle, the developer behind some of the most popular productivity apps for iOS, has discounted a few of its best offerings for Black Friday. Some of which are down by as much as 80%, while PDF Expert for iPhone is now completely free. We’ve got a complete list of the reductions below, but remember: they’re only for a limited time, so grab the while you can.
Happy Thanksgiving! This year to observe the holiday we asked each of our writers to tell us a bit about the things they are most thankful for in 2012: specifically, the Apple product, app, service, third-party accessory and person they most relied upon and were grateful for this year. All through the rest of the day, we’ll be posting these thanksgiving observances. Here’s Cult of Mac Reviews Editor Charlie Sorrel’s list of the things he’s most thankful for this year. You can find the rest of our Thanksgiving Smorgasbord entries here.
This kind of giveaway is just too good to ignore. In a nutshell, two lucky winners will walk away with an iPad Mini. That’s just…awesome.
So if you’ve ever hoped, wished, dreamed, or thought about getting an iPad Mini this iPad Mini Giveaway is right up your alley.
Samsung successfully had the iPhone 5 added to its patent infringement complaint against Apple earlier this month, but the Korean electronics giant hasn’t quite finished there. It’s now going after Apple’s latest iOS devices, and has requested that the iPad mini, the new fourth-generation iPad, and Apple’s latest iPod touch are also brought into the case.
Happy Thanksgiving! This year to observe the holiday we asked each of our writers to tell us a bit about the things they are most thankful for in 2012: specifically, the Apple product, app, service, third-party accessory and person they most relied upon and were grateful for this year. All through the rest of the day, we’ll be posting these thanksgiving observances. Here’s Cult of Mac Social Media Editor Buster Heine’s list of the things he’s most thankful for this year. You can find the rest of our Thanksgiving Smorgasbord entries here.
After announcing back in October that it will bring Grand Theft Auto: Vice City to Android and iOS to celebrate the game’s 10th anniversary, Rockstar Games went quiet on the release, leaving us all to wonder when it would finally arrive. It even had me searching the App Store for ‘Vice City’ on a daily basis in the hope that it would suddenly appear.
The company has now confirmed, however, that Vice City will hit the App Store and Google Play on December 6, priced at $4.99.
Check this video out – it’s a developer who’s used a Siri development plugin to control his Phillips Hue IP-controllable light bulbs. While the video is short, the guy who did it, Brandon Evans, has posted the code and instructions needed to make it happen on your own iPad, assuming you know what he’s talking about.
Evan has this to say about the project:
The Philips Hue hardware was first intriguing to me because they explicitly mention that it’s a ZigBee certified product on the packaging and labels. ZigBee is a wireless technology that is different from WiFi in a few important ways: Low power, equivalent range and intended for light data mesh networks. It’s popular with DIY hardware makers (think Arduinos) for this reason, as well as that it’s much cheaper than WiFi modules. It seems like it may be the wireless standards of choice for consumer home automation systems that are coming to market. As an example, the Nest thermostat was also found to have ZigBee hardware inside, although it isn’t supported in software yet. Because of all this I wanted to see exactly what hardware Philips was using, and if it would be possible to replicate the Hue system.
Looks like a great first step to using off-the-shelf technology to control home systems. Bravo, Mr. Evans!
Source: Brandon Evans
Via: Loop Insight
Black Friday isn’t for a few more days, but that isn’t stopping Cult of Mac Deals from kicking things off early. First up is a utility bundle packaged to “supercharge” your Mac.
Parallels 8 was recently revamped to not only be faster and more powerful, but more importantly, now it plays nice with both Mountain Lion and Windows 8. If you’ve ever wanted to run Windows on your Mac, this is the way to go.
Apple Stores usually have some pretty neat display art at the front of all their stores, but this year’s holiday display is probably one of their coolest ever. We’re calling it the iWreath (for obvious reasons). It’s a holiday wreath comprised of iPod touches, Smart Covers, and an iPhone.
Okay, so they didn’t use real Apple products to form the iWreath, but it’s still pretty amazing even if it’s just a cardboard printout. If you head over to your local Apple Store sometime between now and Christmas you’ll be able to see the wonder of the iWreath for yourself.
Source: Twitter