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Apple might pull the plug on iTunes music downloads

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Apple might start signing artists to contracts, in order to compete with the likes of Spotify. Photo: iTunes/Apple
Are iTunes Store's days numbered?
Photo: Apple

Update: Apple is denying a report that it plans to stop selling downloads within the next few years. “Not true,” Apple rep Tom Neumayr told Re/code Wednesday afternoon without elaborating.

Apple is planning to give iTunes music downloads the boot in as little as two years, according to sources currently working with the company.

With sales already falling, Apple will instead focus its efforts on persuading fans to stream tracks and albums through Apple Music.

The value of old iPods could be music to your ears

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Tony Hawk, Madonna and No Doubt are just a few of the names whose signatures graced Special Edition models of the iPod Classic.
Tony Hawk, Madonna and No Doubt are just a few of the names whose signatures graced Special Edition models of the iPod Classic.
Photo: Ivan Chernov

Cult of Mac 2.0 bug Nick Wellings listens to music on his iPhone, preferring not to disturb any one of his 108 iPods.

He figures his collection would hold 231,000 songs, but only one has ever been touched or seen the light of day. They remain factory-sealed in their boxes.

The iPod’s status as an icon was brief but seismic, a sleek and at-times-colorful trigger of upheaval to the music industry in the middle of the century’s first decade. Soon the iPhone, which grew more powerful with each generation, relegated the iPod to junk drawers, closets and boxes, next to that cassette-tape-playing Sony Walkman.

Apple reveals you’re saying its product names wrong

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Don't call them 'iPhones'
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple’s VP of Marketing Phil Schiller has revealed that pretty much everyone pronounces Apple’s product names completely wrong — and they don’t even know it.

Saying the plural form of “iPhone” seems like a fairly straightforward deal. It’s “iPhones,” right?

Not so, says Schiller, who unleashed a tweetstorm lecture on the official way to tell your friends that you own lots of Apple smartphones.

The pivotal moments in Apple’s 40-year history, this week on The CultCast

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It's a
It's a "thousand songs in your pocket..."
Photo: Apple

This week on The CultCast: We look into the past at some of the most pivotal moments in Apple’s 40-year history. Plus: Why the iPhone 7 Plus may be your only choice for dual cameras; what it’s like downsizing from the iPhone 6s to the SE; and we pitch our favorite new tech and vote on which is best in an all-new Faves N Raves!

Our thanks to Squarespace for supporting this episode of Cult of Mac’s weekly podcast. It’s simple to build a website that looks beautiful on any device that visits at Squarespace.com. Enter offer code CultCast at checkout to get 10 percent off.

40 moments that have defined Apple over 40 years

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A photo of people looking at the first-gen iPhone inside a glass case on the original iPhone launch date.
Admiring fans check out the first iPhone in its public debut.
Photo: Traci Dauphin/Cult of Mac

Apple turns 40 years old today, and what a journey it’s been: from a promising homebrew startup to an underdog fighting off bankruptcy to an industry-straddling behemoth with $233.7 billion in revenue, all thanks to the vision of the co founder of apple.

It’s impossible to boil down every significant Apple event into one story, but we did our best to pick out the 40 most significant moments in the company’s past.

Check out these key moments in Apple history below.

Jony Ive and Tony Fadell helped design this fancy $700 juicer

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The Juicero is like a Keurig for juicing.
The Juicero is like a Keurig for juicing.
Photo: Juicero

The iPod of juicers won’t be sold by Apple, but Jony Ive and former Apple exec Tony Fadell each helped design what could become the closest thing.

Juicero, a startup backed by Campbell Soup and Google, is launching the world’s first cold-press juicing system today, that takes the hassle out of liquifying raw vegetables by using juice packs to create a clean and simple press.

Basically, it’s like a Keurig, only it spits out delicious juice.

FBI will help unlock another iPhone in Arkansas murder trial

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Seized iPhone and iPod may contain crucial evidence, say prosecutors.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Having reportedly gained access to the iPhone 5c at the center of the San Bernardino shooting case, the FBI has agreed to use its newfound hacking abilities to aid an Arkansas prosecutor unlock an iPhone and iPod belonging to two teenagers who stand accused of murdering a couple.

How Apple’s favorite reviewer convinced Jobs to bring iTunes to PC

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iPod-man
If you used an iPod on PC, you can thank Walt Mossberg.
Photo: Apple

Bringing the iPod to the PC was one of the keys to making Apple’s breakthrough music player the ubiquitous mega-hit that it became. But, as with the decision to allow an App Store on iOS, then-CEO Steve Jobs wasn’t exactly on-board with the idea from the start.

In fact, according to a new interview with Nest CEO (and former Apple executive) Tony Fadell, it virtually turned into a “knock-down, drag-out” battle between the pro-PC camp at Apple and Jobs.

Until Walt Mossberg, of all people, managed to break the deadlock.

What happened to Apple’s marketing magic?

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When will we see another "1984?"
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Chances are you can vaguely remember the last Apple ad you saw, but do you remember it in the same way you remember the company’s “1984” commercial for the original Macintosh, or its wonderful “Think Different” campaign? It’s been a while since we saw anything quite as iconic.

Friday-Night-Fights-bug-2Apple still creates great commercials we can’t help but talk about, but many fans would say those ads aren’t as good as they once were. Has Apple lost its marketing magic, or is it just too difficult to create truly iconic ads in the digital age?

Join us in this week’s Friday Night Fight between Cult of Android and Cult of Mac as we battle it out over these questions and more!

Does Apple Watch really need a ‘killer app’?

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What's wrong with thousands of great apps?
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple Watch is missing a “killer app.”

At least that’s what some say. Apple’s first wearable has been selling well, but its inability to convince everyone they need a smartwatch since it went on sale in late April is being blamed on its lack of stellar software by some analysts. But are they right?

Friday-Night-Fights-bug-2Does Apple Watch really need a killer app to become the next iPod (in sales terms), or will it do perfectly well with thousands of great apps?

Join us as we battle it out over these questions and more in this week’s Friday Night Fight between Cult of Android and Cult of Mac!

Apple vs. Google: Which titan will crumble first?

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Who's your money on?
Who is your money on?
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Like every other company, Apple and Google have had their share of highs and lows in the past — but one thing that’s for sure is that neither of them can keep going from strength-to-strength indefinitely; they’ll both stumble at some point in the future.

Friday-Night-Fights-bug-2But which will be the first to take a tumble?

Join us in this week’s Friday Night Fight between Cult of Android and Cult of Mac as we battle it out over that very question!

Vibrant new iPod colors revealed in iTunes update

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Apple revealed some new iPod colors in the iTunes 12.2 update.
Photo: Apple

You may have written off the iPod as something Apple doesn’t care to breathe new life into by this point, but the iPod is exactly what appears to be getting an update. Alongside the release of iTunes 12.2 to support Apple Music, some users quickly discovered that images of the iPod family within the app feature new, unreleased colors.

14 weirdest speaker docks to ever cradle an iPhone

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futurist

Your iPhone’s speakers suck. No amount of magical design from Jony Ive can change the laws of physics to give those itsy-bitsy tweeters earth-shattering bass, but plenty of acoustic iPhone docks are willing to try.

We’ve seen a menagerie of speaker docks over the years, and while most stick to being practical, we love the weird creations that make you do a double-take. We’ve gathered 14 of the most incredible iPhone docks you’ll ever see in the gallery above.

Got your own favorite bizarre dock for your iDevice? Let us know in the comments below.

Should Apple ditch the iPod?

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For the moment, the Apple doom-mongers have been silenced by another record quarter. But there’s one area where things are down, and still dropping. It’s the iPod division, and it’s the closest thing Apple has to a dead man walking.

Sales of the music player continue to plummet as more people buy iPhones than ever, and listeners move away from music downloads toward streaming services like Spotify, Pandora and iTunes Radio.

Should Apple ditch the iconic product line that first signaled Apple’s expansion beyond computers — or is there some way the business can be turned around?

Read on to find out where things currently stand.

“Jumpy Jack” Adds New Twist To Flappy Bird Formula [Video Review]

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JJ

When going into the App Store it’s inevitable to find clone applications everywhere based off of the late “Flappy Bird”. While many clones can feel exactly like the original experience, the new app Jumpy Jack has taken a new twist on the gameplay genre. Are you up for the challenge in this fast paced game?

Take a look at Jumpy Jack and find out what you think.

This is a Cult Of Mac video review of the multi-platform application Jumpy Jack brought to you by Joshua Smith of “TechBytes W/Jsmith.”

Tap And Swipe Your Way To The Top In The App “Teggle” [Video Review]

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teggle

We use our devices everyday tapping and swiping to perform the actions we need to. Effortlessly doing these things time after time, it’s only natural for us to become quite good at doing them. In the new fast-paced app Teggle you can put your gesture skills to the test. Do you think you have what it takes to get a high score?

Take a look at Teggle and find out what you think.

This is a Cult Of Mac video review of the iOS application Teggle brought to you by Joshua Smith of “TechBytes W/Jsmith.”

Fall In Love With Flappy Again In The App “Flappy Fall” [Video Review]

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ff

App developers everywhere are posting their own clones of the hit app “Flappy Bird” to the App Store. While few have been able to publish their apps with many significant differences, the app developers behind the new app Flappy Fall have incorporated their own twist on the gameplay. Will you too become addicted to Flappy Fall?

Take a look at Flappy Fall and find out what you think.

This is a Cult Of Mac video review of the multi-platform application Flappy Fall brought to you by Joshua Smith of “TechBytes W/Jsmith.”

Fix Your iOS 7 Wallpaper Woes With The App “Wallpaper Fix” [Video Review]

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wallfix

While the iOS 7 software update has brought along a total design revamp, with it has also come irritating wallpaper settings. Not being able to scale your photo to the sizes you’d like and more have been just some of the newly associated issues. The new application Wallpaper Fix claims to be the perfect fix for all of your wallpaper problems. Is Wallpaper Fix the app that will help you get your wallpapers the way you want?

Take a look at Wallpaper Fix and find out what you think.

This is a Cult Of Mac video review of the iOS application Wallpaper Fix brought to you by Joshua Smith of “TechBytes W/Jsmith.”

Access Tons Of Disney Movies Instantly With “Disney Movies Anywhere” [Video Review]

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disney

While movie streaming applications like Netflix and Hulu Plus remain popular for what they have to offer, Disney has just released their own take on the genre. Disney Movies Anywhere is Disney’s latest application, giving users the ability to access an extensive library of Disney movies on the go. With plenty of great options and features available will Disney Movies Anywhere find its way on your devices.

Take a look at Disney Movies Anywhere and find out what you think.

This is a Cult Of Mac video review of the application “Disney Movies Anywhere” brought to you by Joshua Smith of “TechBytes W/Jsmith.”

Jump To New Heights In The Game “Hoppy Frog” [Video Review]

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HoppyF

Retro arcade gaming meets today’s latest hits in the application Hoppy Frog. Enjoy reminiscing the days of Frogger with the memories of Flappy Bird, as you progress your way up the high score charts. Will Hoppy Frog become your latest gaming addiction?

Take a look at Hoppy Frog and find out what you think.

This is a Cult Of Mac video review of the application “Hoppy Frog” brought to you by Joshua Smith of “TechBytes W/Jsmith.”

A Look At Facebook’s 19 Billion Dollar Purchase, “WhatsApp” [Video Review]

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WhatsApp

Keeping themselves in the news, Mark Zuckerberg and the people of Facebook have just recently acquired the hit messaging app WhatsApp for 19 billion dollars. With over 450 million people already using the app each month, they hope to build upon this success. Similar to their purchasing of Instagram in 2012, will you start using WhatsApp for all of your conversations?

Take a look at WhatsApp app and see what you think.

This is a Cult Of Mac video review of the multi-platform application “WhatsApp” brought to you by Joshua Smith of “TechBytes W/Jsmith.”

Hit Play For A New Music Experience With “Beats Music” App [Video Review]

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BeatsMusic

With popular music streaming apps like Spotify and Pandora already popular and on devices all over the world, any newcomers are faced with an immediate challenge. The makers behind the popular headphones and speakers Beats By Dre are taking their crack at the genre, with their new app and service Beats Music.

Take a look at the new Beats Music app and see how it compares to the competitors.

This is a Cult Of Mac video review of the iOS application “Beats Music” brought to you by Joshua Smith of “TechBytes W/Jsmith.”