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News - page 1009

Canada’s top banks jump on Apple Pay

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Apple in talks to bring Apple Pay to Israel
Hockey, maple syrup, and now Apple Pay, too!
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Apple Pay’s availability in Canada has taken a giant step forward with two major Canadian banks starting to offer the service starting today.

Beginning Tuesday, Royal Bank of Canada and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce will support Apple’s NFC payment technology, along with ATB Financial and Canadian Tire Financial Services — while three other banks out of Canada’s Big Five are set to hop on the bandwagon over the coming months.

Comparison video drives home why iPhone 6s is Apple’s best ever phone

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Screen Shot 2016-05-10 at 11.25.06
That's quite the iPhone collection.
Photo: EveryApplePro

Particularly for those of us who have always used iPhones, it’s fascinating to be reminded of how far the technology has come in under a decade.

With that in mind, a recent video by YouTube channel EveryApplePro puts every iPhone model Apple has ever put out (with the exception, unfortunately, of the new iPhone SE) through a battery of tests to check everything from startup time to speaker output to, yes, even their heat signatures.

Check it out below.

Why Apple stock is far from dead

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iphone stocks app
Apple shares have been taking a beating!
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

AAPL stock fell to a new 52-week low last week, signaling its longest loss streak in 18 years, but portfolio managers aren’t close to throwing in the towel on Apple just yet. In fact, this could turn out to be the equivalent of a Black Friday sale for anyone wanting to get their hands on some massively undervalued stock!

“Things aren’t as bad as everybody thinks,” said Dan Morgan, senior portfolio manager at Synovus Trust, speaking on CNBC‘s “Squawk on the Street.” “[Apple has] a tremendous amount of room to grow.”

Steve Jobs may have influenced Apple Watch more than you know

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Why Salesforce chief gave up AppStore.com for Apple
What would Steve do? The Apple Watch, apparently.
Photo: Ben Stanfield/Flickr CC

The Apple Watch is the first major new Apple product line to be launched under Tim Cook, but according to Apple analyst Tim Bajarin (who, unlike many Apple commentators, actually knows a lot of the people he writes about), it’s a product which owes a tremendous amount to Steve Jobs and his experiences.

Here’s how Bajarin explains it:

Apple’s changing auto design without even having a car out

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Apple car truck
We're pretty sure the Apple Car won't look like this. Not a chamfer in sight.
Photo: devastatormonstertruck.com

We haven’t even gotten an official announcement of the Apple Car yet, but it looks like the company is still working its way into the automotive industry.

That’s according to the staff at car news site The Drive, which placed Apple’s chief design officer Jony Ive and CEO Tim Cook on its list of “The 10 Most Influential People in Automotive Technology.” They didn’t top the list, however; that would be crazy. But they did place higher than some people who are actually in charge of real vehicles that people are driving around right now.

But The Drive backs its decisions up pretty well.

Apple Music is somehow helping Spotify grow

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Spotify
Spotify now boasts 100 million users worldwide.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Spotify might have been more than a little worried when Apple Music launched last June, but the rivalry has so far been beneficial for the streaming music pioneer. Spotify revealed today that it has grown even faster over the past year.

Microsoft can’t even give away Windows 10

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Microsoft-Surface
Windows 10 is almost a year old, and Windows 7 still rules.
Photo: Microsoft

I like Windows 10. There, I said it. But unfortunately for Microsoft, millions of others have no interest in it.

Despite being free for almost a year, the company’s latest upgrade hasn’t been able to put any significant dent in Windows 7’s user base. It has only just overtaken the universally despised Windows 8.1 release.

Siri’s latest shortcoming: Public speaking

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NPH iPhone 6s ad
Oh, you.
Photo: Apple

A new iPhone 6s ad features actor Neil Patrick Harris, the Internet’s boyfriend, practicing an acceptance speech with digital assistant Siri.

The spot shows off the latest device’s hands-free feature, which lets you activate the helper with voice commands without the phone having to be plugged in. But mostly it’s just a fun little promo.

Check it out below.

Siri’s sequel beats the heck out of Apple’s AI assistant

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Viv
Viv is going to blow you away!
Photo: Viv

Dag Kittlaus and Adam Cheyer, creators of the artificial intelligence technology that brought Siri to the iPhone, today showcased a new virtual assistant that’s even more amazing.

Viv, which has been secretly in development for the past four years, is a much more open platform that works closely with a whole bunch of different services to be even more powerful than its predecessor, and to take AI to a whole new level.

iPhone 7 might kill two of iPhone 6s’ worst design flaws

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iPhone-7-dummy-2
It's convincing, but is it real?
Photo: MacRumors

This year’s iPhone upgrade probably won’t be a spectacular one, but it could kill two of our biggest design complaints with the latest models.

An iPhone 7 dummy unit promises more discreet antenna bands that are nowhere near as ugly, and a flush camera lens. It also reignites hopes of a Smart Connector.

Periscope takes to the skies with live drone streaming

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Broadcast from your GoPro, iPhone, or DJI drone with Periscope.
Broadcast from your GoPro, iPhone, or DJI drone with Periscope.
Photo: Periscope

Now you can stream live from your drone when you take to the skies with Periscope, Twitter’s service that lets you broadcast live video, provided you have the app on iOS and a DJI drone.

In addition to live drone streaming, Periscope is also rolling out a new search function that will let you look for specific live streams and saved broadcasts. You’ll be able to search for topics or hashtags with the new system.

A save function, currently in beta, is also expected to arrive in a few weeks.

Microsoft more profitable than Apple at $1 trillion milestone

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Windows 10 Mobile
Lumia's failure hasn't hit Microsoft too hard... yet.
Photo: Microsoft

Apple may have quaffed all the champagne at the $1 trillion in revenue party before Microsoft even got its invite, but the Windows maker rocked up in a bigger limo.

Last quarter, Microsoft finally reached the major milestone that Apple celebrated back in 2015, and it currently boasts even more profit.

Coffee table book is self-taught photographer’s valentine to Apple design

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Jonathan Zufi's book ICONIC has been popular with Apple fans.
Jonathan Zufi's book ICONIC has been popular with Apple fans.
Photo: David Pierini/Cult of Mac

Cult of Mac 2.0 bugThe fun Jonathan Zufi had playing RobotWar on his high school’s lone Apple II in the early 1980s re-emerged one day. He just had to play it again.

The lark that led Zufi to an online search for an Apple II to play the game grew into the acquisition of more than 500 vintage Apple items, which he lovingly photographed, but then sold to fund production of a coffee table book that has sold more than 15,000 copies.

Apple remains No. 1 PC maker, despite falling sales

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Sell your MacBook to us, even if it's busted.
Apple reigns as the top PC maker, but it's a crumbling market.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple has once again been named the No. 1 seller of PCs, based on shipments of just over 14 million units in the first three months of 2016.

The study comes courtesy of independent analysts Canalys, which claim that worldwide PC shipments — which it defines as being desktops, notebooks, two-in-ones and tablets — totaled 101 million units this quarter. That means that, broadly speaking, seven out of every 50 PCs sold bore the Apple brand.

Apple may have to fight China for iPhone graphics chip maker

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Loads of people love the iPhone SE's smaller form factor.
China just made a big investment in the company which makes PowerVR graphics chips for iPhones.
Photo: Sam Mills/Cult of Mac

Right now it seems like Apple is set for a collision of sorts with the Chinese government — and things may not be helped by the fact that a state-owned Chinese company just bought a stake in Imagination Technologies, a British chip design company Apple was previously reported as being in “advanced talks” to acquire.

Apple Maps adds Transit directions for Sacramento

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Tower_Bridge_Sacramento_edit
Sacramento in all its glory!
Photo: Wikipedia CC

After Apple Maps got off to a rocky start, it is continuing its quest to become the go-to maps service on mobile by adding transit information for yet another city — meaning that the app will provide detailed information on transportation options ranging from buses to railway lines.

The latest city to get the Transit treatment? Sacramento, CA.

iPhone 7 likely to boast same height and width as last year’s iPhone 6s

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Keep your Amazon details safe with two-step verification.
Would Apple stick with the same design three years in a row?
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

In another piece of evidence that September’s iPhone 7 may not offer a radical redesign of the curvaceous iPhone 6 or 6s, a newly-released schematic suggests that the next-gen iPhone 7 will boast an identical height and width to last year’s 2015-era iPhone refresh.

Good thing or not? Either way, check out the picture below.

Opera brings free and unlimited VPN to iPhone and iPad

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Opera-VPN
Browse the web anonymously and without restrictions.
Photo: Opera

Paying for VPN services for your iPhone and iPad just became a thing of the past, thanks to Opera.

The company is today launching the first free and unlimited VPN for iOS, allowing you to browse the web anonymously, access content that’s blocked in your country, and more — without coughing up a single penny.

Apple is working to sort out its podcast issues

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Overcast is the best podcast app for iOS.
Apple has met with leading podcasters to improve its service.
Photo: Buster Hein/Cult of Mac

Apple reportedly hosted a meeting between Eddy Cue and seven leading podcasters last month in Cupertino, in which the company listened to the concerns they had for Apple’s podcast services going forward.

Some of the most pressing issues are said to involve the ease of sharing podcasts on social media, the possibility of offering paid podcasts, and providing podcasters with data about their audience which could then be used to help generate more money.