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How Apple out-innovates the competition, this week on The CultCast

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Just how did those Apple whiz kids get so darn creative?
Just how did those Apple whiz kids get so darn creative?
Photo: Library of Congress

Though Apple spends far less on research and development than the competition, they out-innovate them all. How? Catch the discussion on this episode of The CultCast. Plus: iPhone 7 may ditch the beloved headphone jack; Amazon Video is coming to Apple TV; the holiday accessory that could be eroding your WiFi signal; and with the year drawing to a close, we choose we our favorite Apple device of 2015!

Our thanks to Lynda for supporting this episode. Lynda is like the Apple Music of online education, with over 3000 expert-taught video courses you can stream straight to computer or mobile device. Learn how to use Logic’s new super powerful Alchemy synth, or develop Mac apps for OS X—learn all you want for free for 10 days at lynda.com/cultcast.

Beats Music subscriber, your time is almost up

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apple-is-killing-beats-music-this-month-image-cultofandroidcomwp-contentuploads201511beatsmusic_ios_combo-jpg
Apple is getting rid of your data next month.
Photo: Apple

If you’re still subscribed to Beats Music instead of Apple Music, your days are numbered. Until January 19, you have the opportunity to save all of your playlists and migrate your account data over to Apple Music if you wish to do so. But after that, Apple will discard of your current data.

Apple Campus 2 drone video reveals underground auditorium

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This is where future Apple products will be revealed.
This is where future Apple products will be revealed.
Photo: Duncan Sinfield/Youtube

Drone footage of the progress being made on Apple Campus 2 has given us our first look at the underground auditorium where Apple will unveil all of its magical new products in the future.

The new auditorium won’t be visible once construction is complete, but thanks to Duncan Sinfield’s latest 4K aerial footage of the project, we can see how huge the new auditorium will be once Apple finally moves in.

Check it out:

Will Apple alienate iPhone fans by ditching the headphone jack?

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FNF2
Apple could be about to kill another technology.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple has famously killed popular technologies when it believes they’re past their best — and it could be gearing up to kill one more. According to recent rumors, next year’s iPhone 7 will ship without the 3.5mm headphone jack in favor of a thinner form factor.

Friday-Night-Fights-bug-2Understandably, a lot of fans are unhappy about that prospect, which would mean all our existing headphones wouldn’t be compatible with the next iPhone — at least not without a (pricey) adapter. But could it be a move that pays off in the long run? Are there pros that outweigh the cons?

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!

Affordable camera might bring virtual reality to the masses

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LucidCam hopes to turn the novelty of Virtual Reality into an affordable reality for the average consumer.
LucidCam hopes to turn the novelty of Virtual Reality into an affordable reality for the average consumer.
Photo: LucidCam

Han Jin was looking through the eyes of the robot and could see the future. But the story doesn’t end well for the robot.

Jin’s view, with his colleagues’ support, put robot building on hold. The team changed direction, using the robot’s seeing mechanism to develop a Virtual Reality camera that could be put in the hands of regular folks.

Trump’s dream: Bring Apple manufacturing back to U.S.

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Trump would love to see Apple move operations back to the U.S.
Photo: Michael Vadon/Flickr CC

Donald Trump has said that his “real dream” is for Apple, along with other U.S. companies, to bring their manufacturing back to the United States.

Trump made the comments during an interview to promote his new book, Crippled America. “We think of Apple as an American company,” Trump said. “But they make their product in China. And they have offices here, but China makes more money with Apple than we do, if you think about it.”

Apple Watch goes from strength to strength, while Samsung falls

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apple-watch-goes-from-strength-to-strength-while-samsung-falls-image-cultofandroidcomwp-contentuploads201503Apple-Watch-options-jpg
Apple Watch continues to grow, while Samsung drops off the top five list.
Photo: Apple
Apple Watch continues to grow, while Samsung drops off the top five list. Photo: Apple
Apple Watch continues to grow, while Samsung drops off the top five list. Photo: Apple

The Apple Watch continues to go from strength to strength, while Samsung’s own wearable devices are eclipsed by new arrivals, according to new figures released by International Data Corporation (IDC).

Browse the old web on a vintage Mac with this online emulator

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Cult of Mac as it appeared on IE for Mac 5.1.7 in 2007. Look at how cute Leander was back then!
Cult of Mac as it appeared on IE for Mac 5.1.7 in 2007. Look at how cute Leander was back then!
Photo: Cult of Mac

Does your browser feel slow? Hate modern web design? Boy, have you got it lucky. Web browsers used to be infinitely worse. And so did web pages.

Don’t believe me? Here’s an emulator that allows you to surf websites from up to a couple decades ago, using old browsers like Safari 3.2.3 on Windows, IE 4.0.1 on Mac, or Netscape Navigator 3.0.4, also on Mac.

Man claims his iPhone caught fire in his pants

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A look at Rocky's ruined iPhone 6 Plus.
Photo: Channel Two Action News

A man in Atlanta claims he was forced to strip in public after his iPhone 6 Plus caught fire while in the front pocket of his jeans.

“I mean, it was pretty humiliating having to take your pants off in a parking lot,” he told the local Channel Two Action News, asking them to withhold his identity, other than his first name of Rocky.

Samsung will finally pay Apple the patent infringement damages it owes

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samsung-will-finally-pay-apple-the-patent-infringement-damages-it-owes-image-cultofandroidcomwp-contentuploads201305Screen-Shot-2013-05-09-at-164754-jpg
Apple will finally get its hands on Samsung's sweet, sweet cash.
Photo: Cult of Mac
Apple will finally get its hands on this sweet, sweet cash. Photo: Cult of Mac
Apple will finally get its hands on this sweet, sweet cash. Photo: Cult of Mac

Following quite literally years of appeals and retrials, Samsung is finally paying Apple the $548,176,477 it owes for infringing on patents owned by the Cupertino company.

Four months before the fifth anniversary of the original complaint, Apple will receive the money from Samsung by December 14 — with Apple and Samsung filing a joint case management statement with the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, stating that Samsung, “has made arrangements to complete payment to Apple.”

Apple is already making the next Apple TV in small numbers

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Apple TV
The countdown to the next Apple TV has already begun.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

The new, fourth generation Apple TV is still settling into its home next to our television sets, but already Apple is hard at work on its successor, according to a new report.

Apple’s suppliers are said to be putting a limited number of the new Apple TV into limited, small-scale “trial” production, ahead of volume production beginning early in 2016.

Jon Favreau gets a little squirrelly in new iPhone 6s ad

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John Favreau iPhone 6s ad
"Hey, Siri: Erase Iron Man 2 from existence."
Photo: Apple

In a brand-new iPhone 6s ad, director Jon Favreau (Iron Man) looks to Siri for help in his directorial duties.

The spot, called “iPhone 6s – On the Set,” has the director trying to explain to some actors (presumably on his upcoming live action-ish adaptation of The Jungle Book) the finer points of playing flying squirrels.

Check it out below:

Google’s new app transforms phones into VR cameras

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googles-new-app-transforms-phones-into-vr-cameras-image-cultofandroidcomwp-contentuploads201512Google-Cardboard-Camera-simulation-gif
Google Cardboard Camera simulation
Like this, but you’re wearing a big thing on your face.

Google has unleashed a free app that will let anyone with an Android phone take panoramic videos and record sound. Later, you’ll be able to use your virtual-reality headset of choice to relive those moments in 3-D.

The app is called Cardboard Camera, after Google’s own build-it-yourself VR goggles, and it’s available now in the Google Play app store.

Embedded iPad helps artist really get into his work

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Skype for iPad
Above: art supplies.
Photo: Skype

A painting by artist Jorge Pardo is taking work away from bull-slinging gallery explainers.

The piece, which is currently showing at Art Basel in Miami, depicts an impressionist version of the artist on a slide at a water park. It comes from a photograph his daughter took and looks really cool, but that’s not the most interesting part of the work.

That honor belongs to the iPad set into the lower-right corner of the piece that can let anyone who walks by connect to Pardo via Skype.

New magnetic charger lets you juice up iPhone wirelessly

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The STACK PACK takes the cord out of charging your iPhone.
The STACK PACK takes the cord out of charging your iPhone.
Photo: STACKED

We are wireless, but not quite wire-free. One company wants to help iPhone users cut a couple of cords with a magnetic charging solution called the STACK PACK.

It’s all capital letters for a product that sounds more like workout vitamins. The STACK PACK promises to pack just as much power as that soon-to-be obsolete charging cord — except with shorter charging times and a satisfying feeling as your iPhone magnetically clicks onto a battery or charger.

This cheap hack puts a glowing Apple logo on your iPhone 6

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Get ready to illuminate your Apple logo.
Get ready to illuminate your Apple logo.
Photo: David Cogen

We love seeing Apple’s glowing logo every time a MacBook lid opens, so wouldn’t it be awesome to have the same feature on your iPhone?

Making your iPhone 6 stand out in a sea of other iPhones is now a whole lot easier, thanks to an inexpensive new LED logo kit that brings an illuminated Apple logo to the back of your device. The hack is reversible and supposedly won’t drain your battery — but it might void your warranty.

Here’s how to do it:

4-inch iPhone 6c may pack Apple Pay and powerful A9 chip

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Will the iPhone 6c be a flop like the 5c?
Will the iPhone 6c be a flop like the 5c?
Photo: Gadgetmac/Flickr

The upcoming 4-inch iPhone that has been picking up steam in the rumor mill the last few weeks won’t be a weakling when it comes to processing power, according to a new report that claims Apple’s new A9 chip will power the device.

Apple expert Ming-Chi Kuo at KGI Securities told investors today that his sources indicate the iPhone 6c is definitely real, and that it will look more like the iPhone 5s than an iPhone 6.

iPhone light meter will make your photos shine

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Turn your iPhone into a trusted lighting assistant on photo shoots with the Luma Power.
Turn your iPhone into a trusted lighting assistant on photo shoots with the Luma Power.
Photo: Lumu Labs

A good photographer doesn’t say, I’ll fix it later in Photoshop. Lumu Labs understood this when they developed an accessory in 2013 that turns the iPhone into a light meter.

Though heralded by working photographers and tech journalists at the time, Lumu Labs wasn’t satisfied with the bulbous little device that hooks into the headphone jack. They continued to tinker and came up with the next generation of light meter that is like having a knowledgeable photo assistant in the palm of your hand.

Apple’s Swift programming language goes open source

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Apple's Swift language is now open source.
Apple's Swift language is now open source.
Photo: Apple

Swift, the fast growing computer programming language created by Apple, is officially going open source starting today.

Apple unveiled Swift at WWDC in 2014 with a promise to make it open source in the future. Now that the language has become one of the fastest adopted languages in history, the company announced this morning that the time is right to open up access.

Ford adds Siri Eyes Free functionality to 5 million of its cars

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Siri Eyes Free is coming to 2011 model Fords and earlier.
It's not quite CarPlay, but it's close.
Photo: Ford

The Apple Car may be a few years off, but a new deal signed between Ford and Apple is bringing Siri to 5 million more cars.

According to a new report, a software update available today means that any Ford owners who bought a Ford car with SYNC functionality after 2011 can take advantage of Siri Eyes Free by initiating a long press of the voice recognition button on their steering wheel.

iPhone is most popular camera among Flickr’s 112 million photographers

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Canon cameras
The iPhone has been the top choice among Flickr photographers beginning in 2015.
Photo: Flickr

The longtime Kings of the Camera must know their kingdoms are shrinking. If Canon or Nikon need further evidence, Flickr’s 2015 Year in Review shows the popular tool of choice for an engaged and global photography community is not a dedicated camera. It’s first and foremost a phone.

Apple’s iPhone was the popular device used by the Flickr community, according to an analysis of the EXIF data on pictures uploaded to the site. iPhone cameras accounted for 42 percent of the photos on the site, compared to the DSLRs of Canon, 27 percent, and the Nikon, 16 percent.