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Blips sticker turns your iPhone into a microscope

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BLIPS_00_HD
Get closer to your subject with Blips.
Photo: Blips

Place your iPhone’s camera too close to your subject and it loses its ability to focus, but not if you turn it into a microscope. That’s possible with a simple Blips sticker that’s placed over your iPhone’s camera lens — and you can preorder yours right now.

iPhone camera may get a 3D upgrade

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Apple digital viewfinder patent
Apple's dual lens camera could be just the beginning!
Photo: Apple

Everyone might be talking about OLED displays, wireless charging and a new glass enclosure as the big selling points of Apple’s forthcoming iPhone 8, but a new report suggests the camera might be in for a major upgrade as well.

According to a report citing folks in the supply chain, Apple is investigating the possibility of a camera module boasting a 3D array, allowing for possible 3D depth mapping.

The job of a designer is to be a psychologist [Podcast interview]

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Belkin's design director Oliver Seil says designers are basically psychologists.
Belkin's design director Oliver Seil says designers are basically psychologists.
Photo: Oliver Seil/Belkin

In the last decade or so, lots of companies have gotten design religion. Design has been brought in-house, where it can shape products from the very get-go. There’s an obvious source for this idea — Apple.

This week on the Kahney’s Korner podcast, I talked to Oliver Seil, senior design director of Belkin International’s Innovation Design Group. We discussed Belkin’s products and design process; the surprising complexity of USB cables (and why they cost so much); and why Apple has had such an enormous influence on design and manufacturing.

You can listen to the podcast or read a full transcript of the interview below. (Or dive into the show notes.)

Prepare to be disappointed by Apple’s Black Friday event

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Screen Shot 2016-11-24 at 17.35.46
It's another gift card giveaway.
Photo: Apple

Apple is taking part in Black Friday this year, but it looks like it won’t be slashing any prices.

The company’s promotion has already gone live in Australia and New Zealand and it brings free gift cards with eligible purchases rather than tasty discounts. But don’t expect to get those gift cards with the latest Apple products.

Apple’s monstrous Christmas ad will melt your frosty heart

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An unexpected holiday visitor finally receives the warm welcome he’s always yearned for.
An unexpected holiday visitor finally receives the warm welcome he’s always yearned for.
Photo: Apple

Apple is sending a message of unity this Christmas season with a new ad that features an unexpected guest: Frankenstein’s monster.

The heartwarming ad starts with Frankie in his little cabin in the mountains, recording music on his iPhone. Then the misunderstood monster makes his way down to a little village to unleash a surprise none of the locals were expecting.

Check it out:

New York district attorney calls for federal law to unlock seized iPhones

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iPhone 7 back
Law enforcement officials still want Apple to hack the iPhone.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

New York County District Attorney Cyrus Vance wants the Trump administration to help create federal legislation requiring Apple and Google to remove default encryption from their smartphones.

The recommendation comes from the DA office’s second report on Smartphone Encryption and Public Safety, presented by Vance at the opening of the Manhattan DA’s new cyberlab. New York County is currently sitting on 423 iPhones it can’t break into, even with a warrant, so the DA’s office is pushing for change.

World’s first HomeKit community springs up in San Jose

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HomeKit is now getting packaged into new homes.
HomeKit is now getting packaged into new homes.
Photo: KB Home

Apple’s HomeKit platform is set to power an entire community currently under construction in San Jose.

Real estate development firm KB Home revealed today that its new community, Promenade at Communications Hill, will be the first ever in the US to have HomeKit technology built-in, providing a seamless experience from the foundation up.

How industrial design is changing the tech industry [Kahney’s Korner Podcast]

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Belkin's design director Oliver Seil says designers are basically psychologists.
Belkin's design director Oliver Seil says designers are basically psychologists.
Photo: Oliver Seil/Belkin

For many ugly years, manufacturers considered industrial design an afterthought. They would outsource the task to a contractor or neglect it altogether, in an effort to get products out quickly and cheaply.

The result: hideous-looking products that didn’t work well or proved difficult to use.

Nowadays, companies like Apple are changing the game when it comes to incorporating industrial design and user experience into product engineering.

On this episode of Kahney’s Korner, I talk with Oliver Seil, senior design director with Belkin International’s Innovation and Design Group. Seil is Belkin’s Jony Ive, the top designer who overseas the company’s diverse array of products.

Belkin specializes in mobile accessories, from power packs and iPhone cases to WeMo home automation products

iPhone camera is the key to Apple’s AR future

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iPhone 7 iSight camera
The iPhone's camera will be an AR portal.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

A secret team of Apple employees are working on a project that will turn iPhone cameras everywhere into a portal for augmented reality.

Apple CEO Tim Cook has said he’s bullish on the future of AR, and according to a new report the company is working on a total game changer.

Maybe Apple really will make iPhones in USA

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iPhone 7 back
Designed by Apple in California. Assembled by Foxconn in USA?
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

The iPhone may soon be made in the USA.

Donald Trump claimed during his campaign that he would force Apple to move production of its products back to America. According to a new report, Apple has already started looking into whether that would be possible.

iOS bug exposes photos and messages on locked iPhones

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photos in ios 10
It's shockingly easy to get into someone's photos.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Hackers have discovered a new method to unlock photos and messages on any iPhone, thanks to an iOS security flaw that utilizes Siri and VoiceOver.

iPhones running iOS 8 software and newer are vulnerable to the flaw, which was discovered by EverythingApplePro and iDeviceHelp. The group revealed the hack in a new video that shows you don’t need any coding experience or special hardware to pull it off. All you need is a few minutes alone with a victims iPhone and some help from Siri.

24k gold iPhone dock comes with a nice charity donation

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A gold plinth worthy of your iPhone.
Photo: Brikk

From magnetic chargers to levitating ones, one thing we’ve learned in 2016 it’s that apparently nobody likes to just plug their iPhone in and charge it regularly.

If that includes your good self, you may be interested in a new ultra-luxury Lightning Dock, released by Los Angeles-based premium technology products maker, Brikk.

Available in 24k gold yellow gold, 18k rose gold, and 950 platinum, the docks will make any visitors to your house say, “wow, that guy/girl sure has an expensive-looking iPhone dock.”

Hold onto your butts: Apple restores bootylicious peach emoji

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The emoji that also looks like a butt will stay that way.
The emoji that also looks like a butt will stay that way.
Photo: Cult of Mac

Sometimes a peach is just a peach. But when it comes to emoji, it’s also a tush.

Yet, much to the chagrin of those who like to use emoji for more than visual grocery lists, Apple’s first 10.2 developer beta replaced the peach emoji with something that looks less like a posterior, and more like a piece of fruit or something.

Samsung Galaxy S7 explodes in man’s face

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Galaxy Note 7 that exploded while charging.
Galaxy Note 7 that exploded while charging.
Photo: Mr Ni/Baidu

A Canadian man says he’s lucky to still have his eyes after a Samsung Galaxy S7 exploded in his hands.

Amarjit Mann told a local news station that he felt something in his pocket getting warm while he was driving. He pulled out his Galaxy S7 and says it exploded immediately. Sparks from the blast hit him in the cheek.

Jony Ive goes inside Apple’s design lab in new video

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macbook pro
Not a single detail goes unnoticed at Apple.
Photo: Apple

Going inside Apple’s design lab is a rare privilege some Apple execs don’t even get, but Jony Ive is giving the world a glimpse inside his lab to celebrate the company’s new book.

In Apple’s latest video, Jony Ive’s disembodied voice floats through his Industrial Design Studio while describing the processes for making the company’s iconic gadgets. Shots of Apple’s prototyping machines can be seen, as well as the product benches where every single detail of a product is analyzed and reconsidered.

Take a look:

Apple ramps up efforts to remove old apps from the App Store

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You can remove stock apps in iOS 10, but you can't swap them.
Bad apps are getting booted from the App Store.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

The great App Store purge is finally underway.

Apple warned developers in September that it plans to remove apps from its store that don’t meet quality standards of being “functional and up-to-date.” According to a new report, the deadline to meet those standards has passed and thousands of crummy apps are now being removed.

Boost your iPhone storage with Lexar’s tiny devices [Review]

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Lexar makes a microSD reader and JumpDrive that backs up your iPhone data and frees its memory.
Lexar makes a microSD reader and JumpDrive that backs up your iPhone data and frees its memory.
Photo: David Pierini/Cult of Mac

We take for granted how much of our lives are stored on our iPhones until, of course, that day arrives when a notification pops up to say the device’s memory is full.

Lexar has a couple of nifty little devices to quickly store photos, videos, music and documents, and free up the memory on your iPhone.

You can now donate to charities using Apple Pay

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Lululemon and other retailers are offering Apple Pay deals.
Charities can now accept Apple Pay.
Photo: Apple

Donating to your favorite charity or nonprofit organization is now as simple as using Apple Pay.

Apple revealed today that it is lifting the ban that kept iOS apps from collecting funds for charities via the secure payment system. With the change, charities like the Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders can now place “donate” buttons in their apps to make the payment process faster than ever, which will hopefully increase donations.

Apple seeds new betas for iOS, macOS Sierra and tvOS

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iPhone 7
iOS 10.2 brings new wallpapers to iPhone 7.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

The third beta build of iOS 10.2 is now available to developers, just a week after Apple released the last update.

iOS 10.2 beta 3 is accompanied by the third betas for macOS Sierra 10.12.2 and tvOS 10.1. The previous versions of the beta updates added support for dozens of new emoji, an SOS feature and much more.