Thanks to its arrival at major retailers like Target and Best Buy, the Apple Watch is going (more) mainstream — and Apple wants potential customers to know exactly what they’ll be able to do with their new wearable devices.
In six cool new ads, Apple shows off nifty Watch features like Apple Pay, Siri, Maps, voice messaging, fitness tracking, and more.
Check them out below.
Apple is beefing up its Artificial Intelligence tech with the purchase of Perceptio, a small startup that worked on creating advanced AI systems on smartphones.
Perceptio’s specialization was figuring out how to run complex neural network algorithms without needing to share as much user data. That would seem to fall in line with Apple’s goal of providing more robust features for Siri without compromising users’ privacy in the process.
I wonder how many actual hours I’ve wasted sitting on hold, navigating audio phone menus and arguing with cable company representatives over why I want to cancel my service. I’m betting it’s a lot, and I’m betting that you have been victim to this ridiculous gate-keeping system, too.
AirPaper, a new internet service out of the San Francisco Bay Area, will cancel your Comcast cable subscription — one of the hardest plans to cancel — for just five bucks.
When work takes you to the lunar surface, even the smallest detail should have a Plan B.
Apollo 15 commander David Scott donned his personal Bulova watch for his final moonwalk in July 1971 after the crystal on his NASA-issued timepiece fell off during a previous walk. As an idea, it proved priceless. As a piece of history, it’s worth is expected to exceed $50,000.
Today is the fourth anniversary of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs’ passing, and as has become tradition on October 4, some of his closest co-workers are sharing their fondest memories of what it was like working alongside him.
Tim Cook, Phil Schiller, Eddy Cue, Andrea Jung and Bud Tribble all shared short essays with Apple employees this morning on the company’s intranet. To commemorate Jobs’ legacy, Tim Cook told employees in an email to stop older executives today and ask what Jobs was really like.
With controversial movie Steve Jobs set for release later this month, Jobs’ co-workers’ essays provide a look at aspects of the visionary Apple CEO’s personality that those who only knew him through the public eye probably missed.
Here’s what Jobs’ friends had to say about working with him:
It looks like Apple hated Microsoft’s new Windows logo so much that it got redesigned for an iCloud support page.
Apple updated its article on how to get help using iCloud Calendar recently and added a custom Windows logo that looks like a literal window with a little windowsill underneath. It’s more like clip art than something master designer Jony Ive would approve of, which makes it kind of mysterious why it’s there when the official logo would suffice.
Here’s the official logo for comparison:
Few things could excuse a kid from skipping his middle school graduation. Connor Chung had a note from Apple.
It explained he would be needed in San Francisco for the WWDC. Once there, he would meet important people like Tim Cook, take part in brainstorming sessions with developers and engineers and lay the groundwork for an Apple Watch app that would be among the first in iTunes on the day OS 2 launched.
Apple today launched its ultra-chic Apple Watch Hermès product line, as announced at the company’s media event last month.
Combining the existing Apple Watch hardware (only with the addition of a Hermès logo) with luxury leather straps from the Parisian fashion brand, the result is quite possibly the most stunning range of Apple Watches yet. They even come with unique Hermès watch faces.
Prices range from $1,100-$1,500.
Samsung’s super-sized iPad Pro competitor will come packing painfully disappointing specifications, according to the latest leak.
The slate’s 18.5-inch display is to be accompanied by a speedy octa-core Exynos processor — but it’s lacking in RAM, cameras, and motion sensors.
Is there a single company existence which manages to get more publicity from third parties than Apple?
Universal Pictures has just released its first image for the upcoming Renee Zellweger movie Bridget Jones’ Baby, and… frankly, it looks a whole lot like an advert for the iPad Air 2.
It may not seem like it, but Steve Jobs passed away four whole years ago today — leading to his colleagues paying tribute to the late Apple CEO.
In an email sent out to employees, Tim Cook praised Jobs as a “visionary,” reminding people that Jobs’ office remains untouched at Apple, and encouraging people to post their own memories to Apple’s internal AppleWeb intranet and messaging system.
Check out Cook’s complete message below:
Apple has praised the iPhone 6s for selling a record-shattering 13 million units in its first three days. However, a new report suggests that in Japan the 6s and 6s Plus actually sold 10-15 percent fewer units than last year’s iPhone 6.
How can both of these reported facts (record-breaking sales figures and lower demand) be true at the same time? There is an answer — and, no, it’s not Schrödinger’s iPhone.
Over the weekend, Tim Cook received the Human Rights Campaign Visibility Award in Washington D.C. for his work as an outspoken voice in support of the LGBT community.
Cook — who came out as gay last year — delivered a great acceptance speech in which he talked about his decision to publicly reveal his sexuality as well as talking about the numerous advances LGBT rights have made within his lifetime.
Check it out below.
Could the story behind the upcoming Steve Jobs movie be even more exciting than the movie itself?
Having seen the movie dropped by its original backers, experienced damaging leaks as a result of the Sony hack, and topped off by a recent war of words between Tim Cook and writer Aaron Sorkin, now a new report claims that Jobs’ widow, Laurene Powell Jobs, tried to block the film’s release altogether.
I’m super-excited to announce that Cult of Mac is launching a gadget buyback program that promises to pay more for used and broken Apple devices than Gazelle, Walmart and even Apple itself.
As we enter the annual upgrade season, we’ve teamed up with a U.S. recycling company to offer what we believe is the highest-paying buyback program right here at buyback.cultofmac.com.
We pay cash for old iPhones, iPads, iPods and MacBooks. We accept both used and broken devices — even dead iPhones that have fallen in the toilet.
Somehow it’s the weekend again already, and to help you celebrate we’ve combed through the week’s best apps to help you sort the wheat from the chaff.
Whether it’s a great retro-style iOS action game or a superb Twitter client, we’re confident we’ve got what you’re looking for.
Check out our list below.
This week: we’ve spent seven full days with iPhone 6s and we’re ready to report what we love and what we don’t. Plus: El Capitan just made your Mac a lot better! We’ll cover the cool tricks your Mac just learned. And then, how does $9 for an Apple Watch Sport band sound? How about $28 for a Leather Loop? Sure, the fake Apple Watch bands are 1/5 the price of genuine bands, but are they any good? We’ve been testing two fakes to find out, and the results might surprise you.
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.
WatchOS 2 offers cool new features for third-party fitness apps. But a week after its launch, most leading fitness apps have yet to go native and take advantage of the Apple Watch update.
So what’s up? The answer may lie in Apple’s new workout API, which does not provide the GPS coordinates required for apps to map your run or cycle ride.
Apple’s list of HomeKit-compatible devices is finally starting to look impressive.
The company’s smarthome framework has been off to a bit of a slow start since Apple first unveiled it at its Worldwide Developers Conference last year, but this fall might be when it actually hits its stride. The list of available compatible devices is growing, according to an update on Apple’s website.
A new wearable is set to make devices like the Apple Watch and the LG Urbane look like old-fashioned junk.
Wove might cause a twinge of nostalgia among children of the ’90s who grew up with slap bracelets on everyone’s wrists, but it’s way more impressive than those (which, let’s face it, most things are). It’s a wonder of technology that wraps a full-featured, customizable, multi-touch screen completely around your arm on a flexible display.
Android Authority got its first look at the upcoming gizmo, and you can see it in action in their video below.
The iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus came out last week, and it’s been a fun ride getting to know what makes these sexy beasts tick.
Check out this week’s Cult of Mac Magazine for all the tips, tricks, reviews, news, and just plain great content with yet another digital issue of your favorite magazine.
Download the brand new Cult of Mac Magazine app from iTunes right now, and you’ll get all this, and more, absolutely free.
If you’re looking for an app to wow you with the revolutionary powers of 3D Touch, look no further than Instagram. The photo sharing app has already created some great new interactions with 3D Touch by letting users peek at photos and profile info using three new APIs provided by Apple.
We’ve only had 3D Touch iPhones for a week, but Instagram’s engineers have already managed to set a high bar for other apps to aspire to. In a new engineering blog post, the company gives developers a peek at how they implemented the new 3D Touch APIs so seamlessly, and show how other apps can make 3D Touch much more powerful than just a 2015 version of the right click.
Here’s some of the pointers they collected:
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?
Does 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!
Do you know the difference between a tablet and a tile? If so, then there’s a good chance that you wouldn’t be the target of a scammer in Victorville, California, who this week duped an unsuspecting woman out of $80 by selling her what she thought to be an iPad mini 3.
In the worst plot twist this side of a modern M. Night Shyamalan movie, the “iPad” turned out not to be an iPad at all, but rather a piece of tile in an iPad box.
Android users are into some pretty weird… stuff. I know you’re probably denying that now — I tried, too — but you can’t, because Pornhub has its eye on us all. Sort of.
According to the website’s latest browsing statistics, the list of things Android users are into makes for a much more intriguing reading that that for iOS users. Mobile devices are also crushing the desktop when it comes to overall traffic, and Android has the edge.
Yay?