iBeacons are pushing to become the big new retail trend of 2014. The tech debuted last year with a demo by the MLB, before launching in Apple Stores nationwide as well as some Macys stores. You can add American Outfitters to the list too as ShopKick announced this morning that its partnered with the clothing company to bring iBeacons to 100 locations.
I hate voicemail, I truly do. It’s like a fax machine: outdated and unnecessarily complicated. The introduction of visual voicemail in iOS was a good step toward updating the technology, but I’d still much rather get an email or text message than sit through someone’s verbal ramblings just to hear them say, “call me back.”
Unfortunately, there are still plenty of people who insist on leaving auditory messages for me on my iPhone. Apple has also given us quite a few ways to delete them, and then to clear out the deleted messages (yes, even deleted voicemails stick around). They must hate voicemail as much as I do.
Let’s admit it. You’re the best goddamn drummer your bus stop has ever seen. When “Hot For Teacher” rounds the corner on your iPhone, you transform into a radiant drumming beast. Sadly, all of your gut-busting drum sessions take place right there in your lap. Nobody can hear the majesty of your air drum solo, but thanks to the latest advances in drumming technology, now they can!
That’s pretty much the pitch for DrumPants, a set of Bluetooth LE-enabled sensors that capture triumphant thigh thumping to play more than 100 different sounds controlled by your iPhone or iPad. They’re kind of like those ridiculous Keyboard Jeans, except the sensors aren’t a part of your clothing, allowing you to attach DrumPants to anything you’re wearing. They come as both drum pads and foot pedals, so you can take your customized instrument wherever you go.
Check out the promo video below:
While Microsoft and BlackBerry are still trying to piece together a decent mobile user base in the U.S., Apple and Samsung managed to widen their lead against the competition in terms of smartphone marketshare in the U.S. Both companies experienced a significant bump in 2013, but Apple claimed the largest increase despite murmurs that the company is getting out innovated by Google.
Ahh, iOS 7, you are so beautiful. Yet you are also confusing, especially to old-timers like myself who wonder where certain features have moved to.
I recently created two new albums in my Photos app, one for each of my kids. When I created each album, I was able to add as many photos as I wanted to, and then save the album.
Later, I wanted to go back and add more pictures of each child to each new album. But I realized I had no idea how to do so. I tried tapping the Share button, but found no “Add to Album” option. I was super sad.
Luckily, Apple has provided a way to add photos to existing albums, and, while it’s not as intuitive as I’d like, it’s not too difficult.
The iPhone 5c isn’t a failure by any means, but even so, it’s not selling as well as most people would have expected, with sales of the iPhone 5s believed to outpace its plastic midrange sibling by as much as three to one. And while it’s true that the iPhone 5c is still selling well enough to make it the second- or third-best-selling smartphone at every carrier, it’s still a middling success compared to the iPhone 5s.
Yet maybe that’s what Apple wants. In fact, maybe Apple realized that by selling the previous year’s phone for $100 less, they were cutting into their own margins by selling what was, in design, a luxury phone at a mid-tier cost. If so, the iPhone 5c is working exactly as designed.
I’m a great example of why backup iPhone batteries don’t really work. I have a stack of the things in all shapes and sizes, and yet where are they when I need them? At home in a gray felt cat house (don’t ask). I just never remember to take the things with me.
Photojojo’s new Power Boost Keychain aims to change that, putting a smallish battery pack and charing cable on a keychain. Now you’ll never leave the thing at home. Or if you do, you’ll be locked out, and you won’t be able to call a locksmith.
According to Tim Cook there is good reason to feel excited about the possibilities offered by Apple’s deal with China Mobile.
Cook — who is currently in Beijing ahead of the iPhone going on sale on the China Mobile network this Friday — said he is “incredibly optimistic” about Apple’s partnership with the world’s largest mobile carrier.
Samsung wants all the beautiful people to use its phones (and, probably more importantly, to be photographed using them). So how does the South Korean company get its latest, greatest smartphones into the hands of celebrities hooked on iPhones?
One method for getting Samsung gear into the manicured hands of Hollywood’s biggest stars is the company’s White Glove program, which smooths the way for the rich and powerful to make the big switch away from Apple’s shiny gadgets.
We’ve been waiting for years for Apple to start using Liquidmetal in its products. The company has an exclusive licensing agreement to use the space-age alloy in its products, but until now, the only thing made by Apple of Liquidmetal is the SIM Ejector tool for the iPhone.
That’s not stopping Apple from dreaming about exciting new uses for their T-1000 alloy,, though. New patents from Apple published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office suggest that future pressure sensors, like the home button, could be made of Liquidmetal.
A new feature in iOS 7.1 beta 3 is the ability to delete iOS installation files that have been automatically downloaded over-the-air.
Until now, iDevice users who chose not to install a particular update to iOS would find that their iPad or iPhone would nonetheless download the install file and store it locally — the only way to remove it being to update your device’s firmware.
Ylvis’s song “The Fox (What Does the Fox Say?)” quickly became one of the most popular internet memes of 2013 thanks to its crazy weird but uncontrollably catchy video.
Just how popular has the meme become? So damn popular that Apple decided to add it as a Siri easter egg.
You can now cackle “What does the fox say?” to Siri and she will answer back with one of four secret sounds of the fox hiding somewhere deep in the woods – ‘Wa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pow!’ or “Fraka-kaka-kaka-kaka-kow!” or “Chacha-chacha-chacha-chow!” or “Ring-ding-ding-dingeringeding.”
Via: BI
After coming under fire over the holidays for being the victim of a massive hack that leaked phone numbers and Snapchat usernames of over 4.6million of its users, Snapchat is back in the hot seat as many of its users are complaining of a being suddenly assaulted by Snap Spam.
Snapchat has been quick to put out the flames by publishing an open letter on its blog, claiming that the wave of spam is totally unrelated to the holiday hack that exposed users’ info. Instead, Snapchat blames the Snap Spam on the rising popularity of the service.
Here’s the full apology:
It’s already received a soft launch in New Zealand, but future Mega Jump 2 gamers elsewhere will have to make do with this trailer, ahead of the iOS game sequel’s official launch this Thursday.
As large cities go, the Big Apple is a pretty safe place to live these days — unless, ironically enough, you’re the owner of an Apple iDevice.
According to new data released by the New York Police Department, while New York has seen dramatic decreases in the majority of major crimes in recent times, the theft of cellphone and other electronic devices has meant that the category of grand larcenies remains almost unchanged.
Days is a free iPhone app that uses your photos to create a journal of your adventures. The twist is that it takes your pictures and turns them into animated GIFs.
A new Kickstarter project aims to solve the annoying problem of running out of smartphone charge. The solution? A pocket-size USB charger called the Popcord.
Have you decided that 2014 is the year in which you finally quit the job you hate and move on to greener pastures? Well, as with so many other things, it seems that there’s an app designed to help with just that.
Recently launched in the App Store, the Quit Your Job app takes users through a series of questions to determine why they are thinking of quitting, before crafting a bespoke text message to be sent directly to their boss.
What if your iPhone charging cable could charge your phone even when it wasn’t plugged into a charger? It’d be pretty neat, right? Well, that’s what Native Union’s Jump does, and it does it all while being the best-looking Lightning cable yet.
Have too much stuff on your computer and don’t know what to do with all of it? Now you can backup 100GB of your files for one year in a secure online backup application so you can share, access, and maintain all of your important files right in one place.
SOS Online Backup is an award-winning automatic backup web application that will have you covered on an unlimited number of PCs, Macs, Android devices, iPhones, and iPads. And Cult of Mac Deals has one year of 100GB storage on SOS Online Backup for only $19.99 – a savings of 80%!
If you’re an iPhone convert and have ever complained about your iPhone’s touchscreen keyboard not being “user-friendly” enough, are tired of fighting with autocorrect, or simply think the lack of physical keys are seriously hindering your cellular typing skills – then this Cult of Mac Deals offer is going to be right up your alley.
This sleek iPhone 5 Keyboard Case is available for a limited time for just $39 – a savings of 43%!
Apple products are usually over-hyped. But there’s one that’s radically under-hyped: Apple’s iBeacon positioning system.
So I’m here to turn up the noise on this quiet revolution. You really need to know more about this, because it’s going to change everything.
This time on The CultCast: we’re live from Las Vegas and ready to report the best and worst tech from the 2014 Consumer Electronics Show! We’ll call out some of our favorite Apple accessories too, and some will surprise you. Plus, did you hear about the Michael Bay meltdown at the Samsung keynote? Well we were in the room when things got weird… let us regale you with the whole story.
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Enjoy a few laughs whilst getting caught up on each week’s best Apple stories! Stream or download new and past episodes of The CultCast now on your Mac or iDevice by subscribing on iTunes, or hit play below and let the audio adventure begin.
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Siri has a dark side. Try to send a text in a movie theater, and you might feel the life-destroying wrath of Apple’s perky AI helper.
That’s the message delivered in a new PSA-style video that’s the Alamo Drafthouse‘s latest salvo in the war on rude moviegoers. The creative clip, which will be shown ahead of screenings of Spike Jonze’s Her at the indie tastemaker’s theaters, uses the voice of Siri to send an anti-texting message.