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New Apple Pay video reveals your new corporate masters

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There's got to be more to life than this.
There's got to be more to life than this.
Photo: Apple

Call me cynical, but when I saw the latest ad in the “If it’s not an iPhone, it’s not an iPhone” series Thursday afternoon, I felt a little uneasy.

Sure, there’s over a million stores you can use Apple Pay in, but if this ad is to be believed, they’re all the same corporate-owned stores you’ll see in every mall across the US.

Ugh.

Check out the Apple Pay video below.

Marc Newson designs the Apple Watch of fountain pens

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Marc Newson's Montblanc M pen is sleek as can be.
Meaning it's really expensive and does one thing really well.
Photo: Montblanc

Apple’s Marc Newson is one of the best designers in the industry. His plane-inspired Lockheed Lounge chair was reflective, smooth and looked incredibly uncomfortable. And we’re still enjoying the look and feel of our Apple Watches, even if the other night a drunk girl at a bar made fun of me for wearing mine in public. And that was hurtful.

But Newson isn’t just about shiny devices and even shinier chairs. He’s recently teamed up with luxury accessory designer Montblanc to create the Montblanc M, a classic fountain pen that looks like it came from the future.

Forget app circles: Apple Watch hack lets teen run iOS 4.2.1

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Developer Billy Ellis's Apple Watch hack lets it run the preferred operating system of the iPhone 4.
I don't know; did we really miss it?
Photo: Beau Giles/Flickr. Licensed through CC BY-ND 2.0.

A 14-year-old modder has apparently managed to replace his Apple Watch’s bubbly default home screen with something a little boxier and more classic: iOS 4.2.1, which launched all the way back in 2010.

Billy Ellis, a self-described “iOS app and tweak developer,” posted a video of his project on YouTube. Check it out below:

Apple Watch blasts historic London shopping center with giant flowers

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Apple tookover Selfridges' 24 displays.
Apple tookover Selfridges' 24 displays.
Photo: Wallpapers

In support of the Apple Watch’s increased availability in the U.K., Apple has taken over all 24 windows at the iconic Selfridges’ shopping center in London to promote the new timepiece.

Apple opened a store within a store concept a Selfridges’ earlier this year. The gigantic new displays mimics the Apple Watch’s floral clock faces, with some flowers reaching up to 1.8 meters in height.

Here’s another look:

Flipboard adds rating system to head off Apple News

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Get more of what you like and less of what you don't with Flipboard's new rating system.
Get more of what you like and less of what you don't with Flipboard's new rating system.
Photo: Flipboard

Seminal magazine-style news aggregation app Flipboard is aiming to compete with Apple News by introducing a system that lets users rate stories and ultimately adjust the mix of their home feed.

“No matter where you are on Flipboard, if you see something you like and want to get more of it in your Cover Stories, tap ‘More like this,'” says the Flipboard website, “If you’d rather see less of something, tap ‘Less like this.’”

Say VH-yes to this cheesy ’80s video app

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Set your iPhone video camera on 1985 with the VHS Camcorder app.
Set your iPhone video camera on 1985 with the VHS Camcorder app.
Photo: Rarevision

Dust off your father’s Miami Vice suit and start growing a mullet. (Get it permed in back, too.) A new app turns your iPhone’s camera into a 1985-style VHS camcorder, complete with terrible quality and a date stamp.

Chrome for Mac is about to get a lot faster

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Chrome for iOS  just got faster.
Chrome for iOS just got faster.
Photo: Google

If you’ve been using Google’s Chrome browser on Mac, you’ve been missing out on some serious performance gains made by Apple with its Safari browser: Not only is Cupertino’s favorite browser faster than Chrome, it also saves battery power.

But Chrome is looking to catch up with a coming update that some Mac users are raving about.

Sony’s new SmartBand 2 keeps an eye on stress and excitement

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sonys-new-smartband-2-keeps-an-eye-on-stress-and-excitement-image-cultofandroidcomwp-contentuploads201508SmartBand-2-jpg
Sony's SmartBand just got more intelligent.
Photo: Sony
Sony's SmartBand just got more intelligent. Photo: Sony
Sony’s SmartBand just got more intelligent. Photo: Sony

Sony’s second-generation SmartBand 2 is here, and it’s a big improvement over its predecessor. The wearable’s new design packs an intelligent heart rate monitor that constantly measures your excitement and stress levels throughout the day.

iPhone 6c may be with you in time for Thanksgiving

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An iPhone 6c concept.
iPhone 6c is coming in November. Maybe.
Photo: iPhonesoft

Apple could release its 4-inch iPhone 6c in November, according to a new rumor coming out of the supply chain in China.

The report claims that the handset is being assembled by regular Apple manufacturing partner Foxconn, which has started “mass-increasing” its workforce to deal with the task of building not one, not two, but three different iPhone models.

Swiss watchmaker hits back at Apple by trademarking ‘One more thing’

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“One more thing” returned at this year's iPhone keynote. Photo: Apple.
One more thing...
Photo: Apple

Sometimes trademarks are about defending brand names you’ve spent years and millions of dollars building up. Other times they’re meant as jealous, petty ways of striking back at people who are doing better than you.

Guess which category Swatch’s decision to trademark Steve Jobs’ iconic “One more thing” signature phrase falls under.

The No. 1 single on iTunes is a minute of silence

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itunes
Shhhhh...
Photo: Apple

In a world filled with frothy pop songs and multimillionaire musicians, it’s not often that a song goes to the top of the iTunes chart based purely on ethical reasons.

That’s exactly what’s happened in Austria, however, where a recorded minute of silence in honor of asylum-seekers trying to escape from countries of conflict has shot to No. 1 on the iTunes music chart — with the money raised going to a local refugee project.

With Geronimo, loving email again may not be such a leap

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Geronimo lets you quickly identify and organize important emails.
Geronimo lets you quickly identify and organize important emails.
Photo: David Pierini/Cult of Mac

While some are writing the eulogy for email, Erik Lukas has worked for the last two years trying to make it relevant again.

His mobile app, Geronimo, takes its first public leap Aug. 27 for iPhone and the Apple Watch with an interface that involves gestures and uses the four corners of an iPhone screen for quick and easy management of your email.

Rhapsody fights for relevance in streaming world it helped create

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After 14 years, what's next in Rhapsody's queue as it attempts to take on the biggest competition yet?
After 14 years, what's next in Rhapsody's queue as it attempts to take on the biggest competition yet?
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Apple Music cranked up the volume on music streaming, turning an insider topic into water-cooler fodder as musicians, industry bigwigs and tech analysts weighed in with questions about the future of the music industry.

Seemingly everybody is suddenly talking about Apple Music subscription numbers and the chances of competitors like Spotify and Pandora. But in all the media buzz about who’s winning and who’s losing, almost everyone is disregarding another major player — Rhapsody, the streaming music service that just happened to spark the streaming revolution.

Geekin Radio adds social sauce to music streaming

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The Geekin Radio app lets users listen to music together in real time.
The Geekin Radio app lets users listen to music together in real time.
Photo: Geekin Radio/Vimeo

The confetti from Apple’s splashy launch of its music streaming service has barely finished falling. Now comes startup Geekin Radio, with a streaming service that debuts today. It seems like odd timing.

How will it ever emerge from the shadows of Apple Music? CEO Gavin McCulley is aware of his timing and likes his company’s chances because Geekin Radio’s mobile app is the only streaming service that is an actual social network, offering a shared listening experience, perfectly synced, with back-and-forth chatting in real time.

Apple bucks the trend as global smartphone market declines

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Gene testing, coming soon to an iPhone near you. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
What can we say? People just love their iPhones.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Smartphone sales may be slowing down worldwide, but try telling that to Apple!

According to a new report by research firm Gartner, iPhones sales increased by an impressive 36 percent in the June quarter this year — representing a 2.4 percent increase in total market share.

Apple leans on Sharp for its super-sharp iPad Pro displays

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The iPad Pro could delay the iPad Air, cancel the iPad mini.
The iPad Pro is on its way.
Photo: CURVED

Apple is turning to Sharp to provide the displays for its upcoming 12.9-inch iPad Pro, according to a new report, claiming that the device will go into production by the end of this year’s third quarter — with mass production following shortly thereafter.

Sharp is said to be providing Open Cell LCD displays, while GIS will be responsible for the super-sized tablets’ touch modules, lamination and LCM assembly.

Apple Watch’s disappearing logo is tiniest mystery ever

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Some users are reporting a problem with the back of their Apple Watch.
Some users are reporting a problem with the back of their Apple Watch.
Photo: dougie70w/Apple Discussions

Looks like we’ve got some wear issues on the Apple Watch, especially the Space Gray ones. There are posts on Reddit and the Apple Discussion Forums that show both the Apple logo and actual text etched into the back of the watches peeling off.

Apple Discussions user dougie70w says that he bought his Apple Watch at the beginning of June “and the band started to peel part so bad that I replaced it with an after market metal band that I purchaced on Amazon.”

He’s got an appointment at a local Apple Store today and hopes that having Apple Care will let him get a replacement.

El Capitan beta 7 is now ready for testing

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Hair Force One rocking the El Capitan reveal.
Hair Force One rocking the El Capitan reveal.
Photo: Apple

Apple’s fifth El Capitan public beta was quickly pulled yesterday after its release, but the company is ready to give developers a taste of the newest fixes in its upcoming operating system with the release of El Capitan beta 7.

Twitter for Mac’s anemic update is a total slap in the face

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twitter-for-mac
Twitter for Mac got an update no one asked for.
Photo: Twitter

Good news: the official Twitter app for Mac finally got some attention today for the first time in almost a year. It now supports direct messages without the 140-character limit. Bad news: that’s the only feature added in the update, rendering it so totally insignificant you’re probably considering donating a new coffee machine to the Twitter for Mac team.

MLB tried to ban coach from wearing the Apple Watch it gave him

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MLB Coach Ned Yost at a game in 2012 against the Orioles.
Kansas City Royal's manager Ned Yost during a game at the Orioles.
Photo: Keith Allison/Flickr

Kansas City Royals coach, Ned Yost was been slapped on the wrist by the MLB for wearing his Apple Watch during games, even though they’re the ones that gave it to him.

Yost received the watch as a gift from the MLB for serving as the American League manager in the All-Star Game, but after the manager was repeatedly seen wearing the device in the dugout, the MLB decided to step in and try to stop him from using it in games.