iPhone - page 264

There’s been a lot of buzzing lately about Samsung’s hot new Galaxy S4 phone and its gimmicky cutting-edge new features. But bizarre air gestures aside, we’ll tell you which of its features we’d love to see Apple “borrow” for iPhone 6 on our all-new CultCast.

Plus, a new Steve Jobs movie you’ll actually want to see; and, is it possible for Apple for make a device more perfect than the iPad mini?

All that and more on this episode of the CultCast! Subscribe nowon iTunes to download our new episodes, or easily stream new and previous episodes via Apple’s newly updated Podcasts App.

Or, you know, just hit play below.

HBO Go is one of the best TV apps for the iPad. You can stream episodes of shows like Girls and Game of Thrones to your iPad whenever you’re craving some drama. The only problem is you have a cable subscription with HBO to access the app.

While HBO isn’t ready to ditch the subscription model altogether just yet, but the company’s CEO indicated this week that they might make the app available to cord cutters that pay for broadband Internet.

There are some people in China that will do almost anything to get their hands on a new Apple product. One guy even sold his kidney. But if you don’t want to sell a body part, Chinese students have decided to accept some truly horrific loan terms just to buy an iPhone.

The Bikespike is a GPS-enabled cellular device which lets you track your bike. And while you can use it as an iPhone-connected bike computer, complete with speed, calorie and location stats, its main purpose is as a security device.

Apple’s getting a lot more aggressive with its marketing campaign against Android. After debuting its “Why iPhone” webpage last Saturday, Apple has a snarky little update for all the iPhone haters.

Apple just sent out an email bragging about the 9th consecutive J.D. Power and Associates award the iPhone received yesterday. They even updated the website too by crossing out the ‘eight’ and writing a ‘nine’ above it. Very minimalist. Sir Jony Ive will be pleased.

Source: Apple

Ever since the iPhone was released in 2007 it has slowly made a slew of other devices and accessories obsolete. At the very least, you probably have a bit less clutter in your life thanks to it.

To celebrate the utilitarian powers of the iPhone, for our latest contest we asked readers to Instagram the things their iPhone has made obsolete. Watches, camera, Gameboys, and even graphing calculators made the list. After some deliberation, we chose five winners who will get a free InstaThis 10-inch printing of their choice.

Here are all the winning entries for things your iPhone replaces:

Back in February, the Australian parliament demanded explanations from Apple, Adobe, and Microsoft over the prices charged for their products down under, with some goods costing as much as 70% more than they do in the United States. Apple has today responded to the inquiry, but don’t expect the Cupertino company to be reducing its prices anytime soon.

Call it the Dracula of iPhone chargers: the ChargeBite doesn’t charge your iPhone by juicing it up from an inclosed battery pack, but by sucking precious electricity from a friend’s iPhone and siphoning it into your own.

Nokia CEO Stephen Elop made his feelings about Apple’s popular smartphone clear on a Finnish TV show this week when he threw the presenter’s iPhone across the studio. Elop promised to provide him with a new Nokia handset, but he refused to answer questions about the rumored Lumia 928.

The Google Glass project has been in the news a fair bit in recent months, but it seems Google may have another wearable gadget in development that’s been flying under the radar. The Financial Times reports that just like Apple and Samsung, the search giant is working on its own smartwatch that will act as an extension to the smartphone.

The Speedtest.net app is undoubtedly the quickest and easiest way to test your broadband and data speeds on your iOS devices — and it’s completely free. And thanks to its latest update, it’s better than ever before. The app now has a brand new look which supports the iPhone 5’s larger display (finally!) and a number of new features.

Update: A Department of Defense spokesperson emailed us today to set the record straight. Here’s what he had to say:

The department is aware of recent reporting that asserts it is ‘dropping’ BlackBerry. This reporting is in error. The department recently released its mobility strategy and supporting implementation plan, which clarifies we are moving towards a mobile management capability that supports a variety of devices, to include BlackBerry. As clarified in the recent release of our Commercial Mobile Device Implementation Plan, we are working towards establishing a multi-vendor environment in support of the DoD mobility strategy.

The Commercial Mobile Device Implementation Plan updates the June 2012 Mobile Strategy with specific objectives and puts the strategy into action. A key objective of the plan is to establish a department-wide mobile enterprise solution that permits the use of the latest commercial technology such as smart phones and tablets, and the development of an enterprise mobile device management capability and application store to support approximately 100,000 multivendor devices by February 2014. DoD currently has more than 600,000 Commercial Mobile Devices in operational and pilot use, including 470,000 Blackberries, 41,000 Apple Operating Systems and 8,700 Android Systems.

The original article continues below.

Dropbox’s recent acquisition, Mailbox, has already updated, bringing a new shake to undo function, some user interface enhancements, and the requisite “bug fixes and performance optimizations.”

Mailbox garnered internet-wide attention for its approach to email, with a light, fast, mobile-friendly interface. Cult of Mac’s own John Brownlee called it the best email app he’s ever used. Messages are archived or trashed with a swipe, and entire email exchanges are presented in a threaded, conversational style. You can even snooze your emails to check them out later, an essential component to an on-the-go email client, right? Mailbox also lets you get push notifications for new messages.

It’s only for GMail accounts at this point, with other email platforms coming soon. To reserver your spot, simply download the app from the app store, and check your spot in line at https://mailboxapp.com/reservations, and then read this to figure out how long you’re gonna have to wait.

What’s New in Version 1.1.0
– Shake to undo!
– UI enhancements
– Bug fixes and performance optimizations

Source: App Store
Via: App Shopper

Apparently, the folks who star in HBO’s hit drama, Game of Thrones, are pretty smart, as five of the six castmembers interviewed before the premiere of the first episode of the upcoming third season admit to using an iPhone over an Android. Of course, Rose Leslie, who plays the part of savage wildling beyond the wall, Ygritte, uses an Android device. Figures.

After a slew of complaints from users, Apple has just updated the Podcasts app for iOS. Gone away are the skeuomorphic UI elements that were prominent during the app’s original release. Instead, Apple has trimmed the UI down to its more essential elements.

Podcasts 1.2 is available in the App Store for free right now. The update includes some new features, such as On-The-Go playlists, Custom Stations, iCloud synchronization and more.

Here are the full notes:

This is actually my favorite tip ever, and it’s usually the one I share with any new iOS owners I come across.

When you’re tapping away on the keyboard on your iPhone, there are bound to be times when you miss the right key. It happens, right? So, the options are to tap the delete button, and deal with all the auto-correct stuff, or just do this one little thing and make it all better.

Rego is an app that answers the question “How do I remember this place?” It’s a question partially addressed by Foursquare’s check-ins, and also by Evernote’s location-aware notes. But Rego goes further than both, letting you save places you’ve been to, places you find, and places you have never even seen.

Following heavy complaints from activist groups like Greenpeace, Apple announced last year that all of its data centers would be powered by 100% renewable energy by 2013.

Apple just updated their Environmental Policies webpage to report that as of now, all its data centers are running on 100% renewable energy.

We don’t often think of Apple as a cloud services company because so much emphasis is placed on hardware, but for many consumers, Apple’s iCloud is their first experience using cloud storage.

Over this past fall, Strategy Analytics conducted a study on which cloud services are the most popular in the U.S. right now, and iCloud grabbed the top spot with 27% usage.

Apple is set to deal Samsung yet another blow by snubbing its displays for all future iOS devices. According to a new report from the Korea Economic Daily, the Cupertino company will purchase panels from Sharp, LG Display, Japan Display, and AU Optronics instead.

This Cult of Mac Deals offer will rock your world…quite literally.

That’s because we’re offering the BodyBuradz Bumps (with mic) – a tiny device that pumps out incredibly crisp sound, fantastic treble, and deep bass. The price is pretty rockin’ as well – only $19 — and that includes shipping — for a limited time!

Spotify has updated its iOS app with the ability to view artist biographies and images. The new artist view will be displayed when you tap on an artist’s name for a currently playing track. There’s a cover image you can tap to view the full biography. This feature has been available on the desktop for some time.

Ever since the iPhone was released in 2007 it has slowly made a slew of other devices and accessories obsolete. At the very least, you probably have a bit less clutter in your life thanks to it.

To celebrate the utilitarian powers of the iPhone, we’re having an Instagram contest this week, and we’re giving out free stuff. All you have to do is take a picture of stuff your iPhone has replaced, post it on Instagram with “#cultofmac” and you’ll be entered to win.

What should you Instagram? Anything that you think your iPhone has replaced. Whether that be your Xbox, or even your ex-girlfriend. We don’t care, it’s up to you. We’ll choose five winners who will get a free 10-inch print from InstaThis. You’ll be judged on creativity and composition, so make your photos count.

Here’s How To Enter:

I only really use Facebook for its messaging features; the last time I actually updated my status was February 2012. But the company is testing an annoying new feature which could persuade users like me to turn their back on it altogether. It wants to send you a push notification on your iOS devices that bugs you to post a new status update if you haven’t done so in a while.

J.D. Power & Associates has released its latest semi-annual smartphone customer satisfaction survey, and Apple once again sits at the very top of the list.

Apple has won the industry survey 9 times in a row now, and J.D. Power notes that Apple continues to do “particularly well in physical design and ease of operation.”