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News - page 1056

Amazon Echo adds Spotify to its musical repertoire

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amazon-echo-adds-spotify-to-its-musical-repertoire-image-cultofandroidcomwp-contentuploads201602amazon-echo-jpg
Amazon Echo adds Spotify to its bag of tricks.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Amazon’s Echo smart speaker just upped its music game, adding Spotify streaming to its ever-growing list of skills. Now playing your favorite artists and playlists is just a voice command away — at least if you’re a Spotify Premium subscriber.

Intense new DOOM trailer unleashes the power of Hell

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DOOM is back!
DOOM is back!
Photo: Bethesda Softworks

The demons are back. The first trailer for DOOM‘s campaign mode was revealed this morning by Bethesda, and it’s way more intense than the original version you fought through on your Mac back in the 90’s.

The game puts you in the boots of the iconic DOOM Marine who wakes up to find out the Union Aerospace Corporation’s facility on Mars has been decimated by Hell’s worst demons. You are humanity’s last hope armed with an array of unbelievably awesome weapons, but based on the new trailer humanity is, well, doomed.

Watch the gory action below:

Website lets you be a bigger blowhard than Donald Trump

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Trump did not win Iowa. Sound the horns!
Trump did not win Iowa. Sound the horns!
Photo: trumpdonald.org

The headlines that once elevated Donald Trump now predict his fall from presidential politics. If his second-place showing in the Iowa caucuses is an indication, the comedy will soon turn toward Ted Cruz.

Variety even magazine headlined one story: “Donald Trump: Is the Joke Over?” It doesn’t have to be, thanks to a website that lets you blow a loud trumpet in his face and send his much-talked-about combover flying in the breeze.

Emoji becomes art in ‘Tiny Gallery’ on Twitter

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Gallery by Ryan McGuire - Pixabay tiny gallery
Tiny Gallery is like this but, like, way smaller.
Photo: Ryan McGuire/Pixabay

A new Twitter account called Tiny Gallery will fill your feed with cute scenes from the world’s smallest art space. But it doesn’t use photographs to take you there.

Instead, the creator uses a combination of punctuation marks and emojis to build and paint walls, hang pieces, and populate the little place with visitors. And it’s exactly as cute as it sounds.

Poros backpack lets you commute with style and a little extra power

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The Tetra by Poros greatly reduces low-battery anxiety.
The Tetra by Poros greatly reduces low-battery anxiety.
Photo: Poros

You could say John Borofka has put a handle on power.

He founded Poros, a company that designs travel and accessories bags with built-in battery system to charge your devices. The company’s fourth bag is a stylish backpack called the Tetra.

The Tetra carries a 10,000 mAh lithium ion battery, enough juice to fully charge a MacBook Retina or an iPhone 6s four and a half times. It can be ordered with a dedicated Apple Lightning Connector and is ready for the future with USB-C compatibility.

Sony says ‘major smartphone players’ will use dual-lens cameras in 2016

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iPhone Camera
You could grab your DSLR. Nah, the iPhone will do the job.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple’s favorite camera sensor maker may have just dropped a big hint that a dual-lens camera is coming to the iPhone 7 later this year.

Sony CFO Kenichiro Yoshida revealed yesterday during the company’s Q3 FY15 earnings call that its dual-lens camera platform will be featured in a range of products from “major smartphone players” over the next year.

Could he possibly be talking about the iPhone?

Alto’s Adventure goes free on Android, stays premium on iOS

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altos-adventure-goes-free-on-android-stays-premium-on-ios-image-cultofmaccomwp-contentuploads201511Altos-Adventure-png
Altos-Adventure
Delightful and relaxing, Alto’s Adventure is coming to Android for free. Photo: Snowman Games

Alto’s Adventure, the hit snowboarding game on iOS and Apple TV, is headed to the Android platform February 11.

Android gamers will, by and large, have the same gaming experience as their iOS brethren with one significant difference: this new release will be free on Android while it remains $2.99 on iOS.

Classic Mac gets saved from dumpster only to become a trash bin

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Excuse me, where's the trash?
Excuse me, where's the trash?
Photo: HahaBird/Imgur

We’ve seen old busted Macs get transformed into everything from aquariums to planters, but have you ever seen a Mac go from the dumpster to a trash can you can toss all your rubbish in?

One Redditor has created a trash can fit for Steve Jobs by taking a Macintosh that had been sitting in his attic for 15 years and giving it a second life as a receptacle for all his garbage, complete with a swinging door that looks just like a Mac display.

Square’s Apple Pay reader lands on Apple Store shelves

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Square's contactless payments reader is here.
Square's contactless payments reader is here.
Photo: Square

Businesses across the US are pretty much out of excuses for not accepting Apple Pay now that Square’s wireless card reader is ready for prime time.

Starting today, every Apple Store in the US is now selling the new Square card readers that bring Apple Pay support as well as the ability to accept new chip-and-pin cards for transactions.

An exoskeleton named Phoenix removes cost as a barrier to walking

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an-exoskeleton-named-phoenix-removes-cost-as-a-barrier-to-walking-image-cultofandroidcomwp-contentuploads201602Phoenix001-jpg
Steve Sanchez says the Phoenix is a breakthrough in exoskeleton comfort. “This is the first suit I’ve tried where I don’t feel like I am riding a robot," he said.
Photo: SuitX
Steve Sanchez says the Phoenix  is a breakthrough in exoskeleton comfort. “This is the first suit I’ve tried where I don’t feel like I am riding a robot," he said. Photo: SuitX
Steve Sanchez says the Phoenix is a breakthrough in exoskeleton comfort. “This is the first suit I’ve tried where I don’t feel like I am riding a robot,” he said. Photo: SuitX

Dr. Homayoon Kazerooni has created bionic machinery that can help a person rise out of a wheelchair and walk. Yet, there’s one barrier preventing some people from walking – cost.

This week, Kazerooni’s work takes an important step forward. His company, SuitX debuted a lightweight exoskeleton, dubbed Phoenix, for people with mobility disorders at an initial price of $40,000, about two to four times cheaper than other devices.

Microsoft is acquiring SwiftKey for rumored $250 million

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Microsoft snaps up another hot app.
Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac
Microsoft snaps up another hot app. Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Android
Microsoft snaps up another hot app. Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Android

Microsoft is acquiring SwiftKey, London-based makers of the popular virtual keyboard for Android and iOS, in a deal rumored to be worth $250 million.

SwiftKey insists it will continue to develop its keyboard for both platforms going forward — and it will remain free.

Apple is spending lots of time at Stanford’s VR lab

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VR may be happening soon, and Apple might want to jump in.
VR may be happening soon, and Apple might want to jump in.
Photo: Sergey Galyonkin/Wikipedia CC

Apple may not have shown much interest in diving into virtual reality over the past few years, but the director of Stanford’s Virtual Human Interaction Lab says the company has shown some intense interest in the space recently.

Speaking at a technology conference this week, Jeremy Bailenson revealed that Apple employees have become regulars in his lab recently — and they won’t say why.

DJ Khaled is getting his own Apple Music show

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khaled

Photo: DJ Khaled/Instagram

One of the biggest producers in hip hop (and Snapchat) is coming to Beats 1 Radio.

DJ Khaled revealed on Instagram that he has signed a deal to produce a weekly show for Apple Music called ‘We The Best’ that will broadcast every Friday night. To kick things off, Khaled is going big by exclusively debuting Future’s entire new album Purple Reign.

Check out the trailer below:

Uber’s new logo sure is a bit bizarre

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uber-new-logo-app-icon
Uber's new app icon is already getting insults.
Photo: Uber

Uber dropped a surprise announcement today that it has completely changed its logo and branding. The new logo is only slightly modified, featuring an altered font with letters that are closer together. The bigger news is the new app icon reflecting a total branding change. People already aren’t thrilled with it.

The picture you see above is indeed using the new Uber icon. It’s supposed to represent very small, simple forms of matter and technology coming together: atoms and bits.

Badgers and bats halt Apple’s Irish data center plans

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Not an Irish bat, but cute anyway.
Not an Irish bat, but cute anyway.
Photo: Anton Croos / CC Wikimedia

Apple’s plans for a new €850 million data center in Ireland have been put on hold after nearby residents appealed the recent decision to grant Apple rights to build there.

The complaint cites increased traffic and noise due to construction, but also claims that nearby bats and badgers, protected species that live in the nearby forest, will be significantly impacted.

The planning appeals board hopes to have a decision on the objections and make a final call sometime this month.

Apple Watch may get an ‘S’ upgrade in March

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Apple Watch
Get your Apple Watch ready for your new iPhone.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

The iPhone might not be the only device getting an incremental upgrade at Apple’s next keynote, which is rumored to take place March 15.

In a note to investors this morning, Apple analyst Gene Munster claims Apple Watch may get a slight hardware upgrade this spring that will include a better processor, improved battery life and other new internal components.

Apple Watch credited for explosive growth in wearable market

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Chances are you'll see quite a few more of these in the coming years.
Chances are you'll see quite a few more of these in the coming years.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Makers of wearable electronics need to thank the Apple Watch for the rapidly growing wearable market, itself poised to see even more stunning gains in the coming year.

“From 2015 through 2017, smartwatch adoption will have 48 percent growth largely due to Apple popularizing wearables as a lifestyle trend,” said Angela McIntyre, director at research firm, Gartner.

Apple is finally giving iPhone users a taste of VR

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The iPhone looks good inside the View-Master VR headset.
The iPhone looks good inside the View-Master VR headset.
Photo: Apple

Apple is supposedly working furiously on product ideas to enter the Virtual Reality market. There have even been reports of several prototypes of VR headsets created by a secret research team said to be comprised of hundreds of engineers.

If Apple has been mind-bogglingly quiet about VR, it did offer a sign of interest recently when the View-Master VR headset appeared for sale on Apple’s website.

Google wants its Nexus phones to be more like the iPhone

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The official Google phone is coming.
The official Google phone is coming.
Photo: Google
Google could make its own iPhone rivals. Photo: Google
Google could make its own iPhone rivals. Photo: Google

Google’s flagship Nexus 6P delivered significant design improvements last year, putting its hardware on par with the best devices from rival manufacturers. But Google wants the Nexus lineup to be even more like the iPhone.

To make that happen, the company will reduce its reliance on third-party manufacturing partners like Huawei and LG and assume greater control over Nexus hardware, according to one report.

Apple has reached testing phase of dual-lens camera samples

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Apple is reportedly testing dual-lens cameras from three different companies.
Apple is reportedly testing dual-lens cameras from three different companies.
Photo: Computerbild.de

Apple is apparently reviewing samples of dual-lens cameras that may go into a version of the iPhone 7.

A tech website based in Taiwan reported Tuesday that Largan Technology, which currently supplies Apple with the bulk of its smartphone cameras, is one of three companies to submit samples.