After working with third-party smartphone vendors on the Nexus lineup for years, Google is finally toying with the idea of building its own handset, according to some employees. It’s thought the search giant is keen to have a stab at taking on the iPhone all by itself.
We fit all the music in the world in our pocket; if only we could also carry around a great way to listen to it. Enter the Soundfreaq Pocket Kick Bluetooth Speaker, a pocket-size brick that brings the beat and fits anywhere you can keep your wallet. And you won’t have to empty your wallet to get one, either: Right now you can get a Pocket Kick for just $59.99.
Apple Music for Android has finally arrived on the Google Play Store today after being publicly demoed at WWDC in June.
The new app brings Android users over 30 million songs from the Apple Music catalog, Beats 1 Radio, Playlists, Connect, and more. Apple’s offering users a 3-month trial, just like iOS. Pricing starts at $9.99 for a single plan, but Apple says your’ll need a Mac or iOS to sign-up for a $14.99 family plan.
Apple VP Eddy Cue says the launch is part of Apple’s plan to do things in music for everyone:
What happens when a rose gold iPhone 6s undergoes a bizarre “burnout” stress test beneath the wheels of an Italian Ducati pocket bike? A completely implausible scenario that would never in a million years happen to a handset in the real world, that’s what!
But, hey, if seeing brand new iPhones destroyed in bizarre ways is what gets your engines revving, click below for the oddly-compelling video.
There’s being careful about iPhone security and then there’s…. this.
Over the weekend, Japanese Twitter user yossy1999116 posted a video clip shot on the subway, showing a user with an historically long and complex passcode unlocking their iPhone. If you’ve ever wanted an advert for how Touch ID can improve your life, this is almost certainly it.
TAG Heuer is ready to take on the Apple Watch.
Its first smartwatch, powered by Android Wear and called the Carrera Connected, is set to make its debut later this week, and it will retail for $1,500.
When charging your phone or transferring data between devices, it’s only a matter of time before the soft white plastic of the stock Lightning cable frays and breaks. Given how much we use and rely on our devices, that’s just got to stop, which is why Titan’s MFi-certified Lightning cable is a must-have. It’s built tough enough to outlast us all, so you can take the worry of a busted cable out of your mind by putting one of these in your bag for $27.95.
Titan’s cable is wrapped twice in flexible industrial-grade steel, with its USB and Lightning connectors sealed and protected from fray. The MFi rating means Apple vouches for it to keep your devices safe, and it’s even backed by a limited lifetime warranty. Rough handling and time itself are no match for this Terminator-grade charging cable.
Get a Titan MFi-Certified Lightning Cable for just $27.95 at Cult of Mac Deals.
Runkeeper is one of the first big-name running apps to offer full watchOS 2 support, which means you can log a run on your Apple Watch even if you leave your iPhone behind.
The Apple Watch’s built-in Workout app has always offered this feature, but it is new for third-party apps. I had never tried it before, but Runkeeper got me curious. So I left my iPhone charging at home, put on a pair of Nikes and went out for a run.
The billboards and ads featuring beautiful photographs shot with an iPhone 6 are nearly gone. Apple is now promoting a new iPhone. But that does not mean Apple has forgotten the photographers whose work helped sell phones and treat the world to art in public spaces.
Photographers from the “Shot on iPhone 6” campaign have been getting packages in the mail, a pair of cloth-covered coffee table books featuring their work. The books were apparently a surprise and included a pair of white gloves for handling with care.
It’s time to dust off that virtual reality headset that you’ve hardly used since the day it arrived, because the biggest video platform on the planet now supports VR video. Google CEO Sundar Pichai today announced that YouTube has begun offering its first VR video, which can be enjoyed with Google Cardboard.
Before he made The Martian, Ridley Scott directed the most iconic Apple ad in history with the classic 1984 Macintosh commercial.
So what better way to set yourself apart from Apple as a rival smartphone maker than to… completely rip off ideas Apple was circulating thirty-odd years ago? Yeah, we don’t get it either.
Check out HTC’s new One A9 ad below to make your own mind up.
If you upgraded to an iPhone 6s, chances are the case on your old 6 fits just fine. But if the old case is waterproof, don’t go dropping that 6s in a puddle.
The iPhone 6s is taller, wider and thicker by 1/100th of an inch in either direction, hardly noticeable in hand but enough to compromise the protection on a waterproof case.
Catalyst, an accessories company favored by Apple users unafraid of a little water on their devices, has rolled out a new waterproof case for the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus.
China’s legendary black markets have goods and services for every need, from organs to counterfeit designer handbags. For cashed-strapped Apple fans in this communist country, there’s also a thriving market around iPhone upgrades.
For as little as $100 U.S. dollars, the 16GB iPhone can get upgraded to 126GB. That’s a big deal to Chinese consumers, who have trouble affording the 16GB iPhone 6 at just over $700, let alone any models with more capacity.
Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales has branded a new proposed law banning encrypted communications in the U.K. as “stupid,” and says that if it is passed, Apple should stop selling iPhones in the country out of principle.
“I would like to see Apple refuse to sell iPhone in UK if government bans end-to-end encryption,” Wales posted on Twitter. “Does Parliament dare be that stupid?”
Facebook has a problem of iPhone love: too many of its employees prefer Apple’s device when given the chance between an iPhone and Android smartphone. This means that up until now, far less workers have been able to truly live in an Android environment where they can identify bugs within Facebook and fix them. Now, the chief product officer is changing that by ordering some employees to switch to Android.
All of us iPhone users know the feeling of having to pull the plug and get out the door before the battery’s done charging. The sleek white charging block that comes with our phone channels the charge but can’t carry it, but with the NomadPlus it can. Designed to snugly fit Apple’s USB hub, it’s a great way to turn your average wall charger into a portable battery for just $24.99.
There are plenty of iPhone cases on the market to protect and/or decorate your beloved device, but very few come close to being Apple-worthy.
This one is.
Maybe you know this sickening feeling: Your smartphone slips from your hand and starts its descent toward the ground. If you’re standing in an asphalt parking lot or walking down a city sidewalk — and you don’t have your phone protected in a life-preserving case — you know what happens next.
Time seems to stand still as the phone falls toward earth. Then … Impact. Shattering glass. And a horrifying glimpse at the damage done.
Samsung is supplying Apple with OLED displays for the Apple Watch, and is trying to sell Cupertino on using its panels in other devices as well.
Could future iPhones come with an OLED-based curved screen? Depends on how the tests go.
I’m a big fan of getting instructions off the internet: recipes, directions on car maintenance, or video game walkthroughs, for example. The problem is that you need to be online to view them.
Now in iOS 9, however, there’s a way to save web pages to a handy, offline-friendly PDF file. The next time you’re flying on an airplane and trying to get through Broken Age with a walkthrough, you’ll be in luck.
Here’s how to convert any webpage in iOS 9’s mobile Safari to a PDF and then read it in (or send it from) iBooks.
Although Apple hasn’t confirmed it, there have been rumblings that the new iPhone 6s is more water-resistant than its predecessors. So what better way to make a viral stress test video than to strap every iPhone ever made on a board, lower them into a tray of water, and observe the order in which they stop working?
Done properly, such a concept should let its creator sit back and watch the retirement fund ad revenue roll in. Well, done properly it might. Done incredibly haphazardly, on what looks like the world’s most buoyant piece of wood, it’s not quite such a winner.
Check it out below.
Microsoft infamously invested $150 million in archenemy Apple in 1997 as the company was facing bankruptcy right after the return of Steve Jobs, and according to former CEO Steve Ballmer, it was the craziest thing the Windows-maker ever did.
Ballmer spends more of his time on the basketball court now than working on the next big tech ideas, but in an interview with Bloomberg this morning, Ballmer was brought on to talk about the Microsoft’s battle with Amazon. After saying Amazon is not a great place to work, the conversation drifted to Apple and Ballmer actually admitted that “they’ve done a great job.”
Coming from the guy who laughed off the iPhone because he thought the Zune was killer, that’s a hell of a compliment. Watch what Ballmer had to say about Microsoft’s rivalry with Apple below:
iPhones are pretty tough things, but despite all the Gorilla Glass and engineering magic Apple can throw at them, they’re still susceptible to broken screens when dropped.
That could change in future iPhone models, with a newly-published patent application describing an automated mechanism for protecting the iPhone display with a method straight out of James Bond.
One of Apple’s supply chain iPhone manufacturers is under fire for unsafe and illegal labor practices — and for once it’s not Foxconn.
This time the company is Pegatron, which worker rights group China Labor Watch says has not cleaned up its act, despite Apple claiming that it would investigate it back in 2013 after 86 labour rights violations were identified at three of its factories.
Jony Ive sure hates rival companies ripping off the iPhone for their latest flagship handset design. Which is why we’d respectfully suggest that Jony doesn’t click the link below, unless he wants to ruin his Wednesday before it even starts.
From the curved edges and color options to the prominent antenna lines, all that’s missing is the Apple stamp of quality. And Jony’s permission, of course.