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News - page 1143

iPhone set to reach record shipments as new models enter production

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iPhone camera
iPhone 6s is on the way.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Apple will ship 50 million iPhone units in the fourth quarter of 2015, according to a new report published today which claims that companies in the iPhone 6s supply chain have started delivering finished components to Foxconn and Pegatron for final assembly.

If accurate, this means that the iPhone 5s, 6, 6 Plus, 6s and 6s Plus will hit combined shipments of 230-240 million units in 2015 — up from the 192 million units Apple shipped last year.

Latest Siri prank has more idiots calling emergency services

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siri exploit
Hey Siri, what shenanigans are you pulling now?
Photo: Apple

Siri has become an accessory to even more bullcrap from the Internet as pranksters have found another way to trick Apple’s digital assistant into contacting emergency services. And it’s only slightly less dumb than you think.

The prank claims that “something funny” will happen if you say “112” to your iPhone. North American users probably don’t know that 112 is the European equivalent to the 911 emergency number, and Siri will respond to the request by placing a call to your local switchboard.

Snohomish County, Washington’s Sheriff has taken to Twitter to put an end to the madness.

Swiss custom Apple Watch offers Edition style at (relatively) low price

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Golden Dreams Apple Watch
Golden Dreams will take your standard Apple Watch to new levels of class.
Photo: Golden Dreams

If you like the look of the high-end Apple Watch Edition, but the $10,000+ price point makes your heart and wallet hurt, a Swiss company might have a nice alternative for you.

Golden Dreams of Geneva specializes in classing up iPhones, cases, and bags, and it’s turned its monocle-rimmed gaze to Apple’s new smartwatch. The company can take a standard version of the wearable and make it fancy at a fraction of the cost of its more precious sibling.

Innovation isn’t dead; people are just slow to catch it

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Setting up
Humans react to innovative things like the Apple Watch fairly predictably.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

If you’re one of the people out there who haven’t taken the plunge on an Apple Watch, you’re not alone. While Apple’s latest wearable has gotten a ton of press and sold really well, a lot of the rank and file out there might think it’s a toy, or only for rich folks.

In fact, says journalist Morgan Housel over at Time, most people throughout history have pretty predictable responses to new things.

He has a list of reactions to new innovative inventions, each of which are reactions we’ve all heard (or had) when the Apple Watch (or the iPad, or the iPhone) was launched.

Apple’s P2P payment patent has a focus on security

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touchid
Touch ID could be a big part of Apple's supposed personal payment plan.
Photo: Apple

In a few years, “Sorry, I don’t have any cash on me” may no longer be a good enough excuse to give that chronically money-strapped friend when they come around asking to borrow a few bucks.

That’s because a newly released Apple patent suggests that the iPhone maker may be getting into the person-to-person payment game in future versions of its hardware.

Kate Winslet says upcoming Steve Jobs biopic ‘like Hamlet’

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Kate Winslet, middle, praises the portrayal of Steve Jobs by Michael Fassbender (right).
Kate Winslet, middle, praised the portrayal of Steve Jobs by Michael Fassbender (right).
Photo: Universal Pictures

Actress and one of the stars in the upcoming biopic aptly named Steve Jobs Kate Winslet, dished about some details of the movie. It seems she’s pretty enthusiastic about it, proudly boasting about how the film was made. She also had kind things to say about co-star Michael Fassbender, who plays Steve Jobs in the movie.

Jimmy Kimmel mocks Apple in ‘Just Give Us Your Money’ ad

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Jimmy Kimmel Live Apple
Apple has a bold new program, according to Jimmy Kimmel Live.
Photo: Jimmy Kimmel Live

Apple has no shortage of products and gadgets to show off lately. The company recently released the Apple Watch, its music streaming platform came out this week, and we’re closing in on the reveal of the next iPhone.

But late-night host Jimmy Kimmel has a line on another daring product from Apple, and he revealed it in a bit on his show on Tuesday. It involves customers just giving Apple money for no real reason.

You can check out the full gag in the video below.

This Blade is a sharp way to keep your MacBook locked down

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The Blade by Maclocks lets you secure your MacBook in place.
The Blade by Maclocks lets you secure your MacBook in place.
Photo: David Pierini/Cult of Mac

For my car, I have an anti-theft device called the Club. It is a telescoping device that hooks on each side of the steering wheel and locks in place with a key. Can it be broken? Probably, but the idea is to present a time-consuming obstacle to the thief who relies on speed.

For my MacBook Pro, I have the Blade by Maclocks. The Blade sits inside a bracket that affixes to the bottom of my computer. The Blade folds out from the bracket, providing a slot in which I can attach a lock tethered to a cable.

It is most secure when you loop the cable through an anchored object, like a pole or, in the case of one coffee shop from which I like to work, a table support that is bolted to the floor.

Want Prince? You’re not getting it from Apple Music — just Tidal

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The Purple One at the Coachella Festival in 2008.
The Purple One at the Coachella Festival in 2008.
Photo: CC Wikipedia

If you were hoping to listen to Prince on Apple Music, thinking that the purple-clad passionate one’s music would be on the service like many other exclusives on Apple’s new streaming service, you’re out of luck.

The artist currently known as Prince has pulled all of his music from streaming services, except for one: Jay Z’s Tidal, which reputedly has the best terms for mega artists like the Purple Rain lead.

Turns out that doves will cry after all, since they can’t listen to Prince on Apple Music or Spotify.

Home Sharing taken out of iOS 8.4, confounding users

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Home Sharing should come back to iOS 9, says Apple's Eddy Cue
Did Apple remove Home Sharing from iOS so you'd have to try Apple Music?
Screen: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac

If you’ve upgraded your iPhone or iPad to iOS 8.4 in order to take advantage of the insanely great Apple Music, you won’t be able to use Home Sharing to play the iTunes music from your Mac via your iOS device any more.

Several fans took to the Apple discussion pages to note that Home Sharing is no longer accessible on their mobile devices, killing their media setups.

“Before today,” writes forum user ddrucker, “I could bring up the entire library on my iPhone/iPad and play it through my earphones.”

The juice you need: last chance to get 80% off the intelligent 3-port car charger [Deals]

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Like our mobile devices, cars have been getting faster and smarter, so it makes sense that the connection between the two should do the same. When charging on the go, it’s a safe bet that you’ll want to be at full power by the time you get where you’re going, without frying the battery in the process. The MPOW 3-Port Intelligent Car Charger has you covered, and for just a few more hours you can get it for a price that’ll keep your wallet charged too.

iPhone 6s likely to receive major camera upgrades both front and back

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Get ready for a major camera upgrade for the iPhone 6s.
Get ready for a major camera upgrade for the iPhone 6s.
Photo: Apple

Rumors that the iPhone 6s will receive a new 12-megapixel camera with 4K video recording got a boost today — thanks to a document allegedly leaked by a Foxconn employee.

The document also suggests that the iPhone 6s’ front-facing camera will receive a massive upgrade from the 1.2-megapixel sensor found in current iPhones thanks to a new 5-megapixel sensor.

The simple patent drawing was once a work of art

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A flying machine from the 1860s drawn with shading, colors and detail not seen in today's patent illustrations.
A flying machine from the 1860s drawn with shading, colors and detail not seen in today's patent illustrations.
Photo: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

The illustration that accompanies a patent application is a first glimpse inside the head of the inventor. Finally, an idea becomes a possibility, and even if an invention later proves to be impractical or an outright failure, the drawing serves as a tangible record of humanity’s quest to solve problems and move forward.
 
But the modern day patent sketches are stark chicken scratches compared to the intricately detailed, da Vinciesque artworks that once accompanied applications to the United States Patent & Trade Office, which first opened in 1790.

Apple Watch 2 will keep same resolution, screen size, get bigger battery

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Apple Watch 2 will focus on battery improvements instead of display.

If for whatever reason you’re unhappy with the image quality, screen size, and square display of the current Apple Watch display, don’t expect any of your quibbles to be fixed with next year’s Apple Watch 2.

According to a new report, the display of the next-gen Apple wearable will remain identical in size, shape and resolution to its predecessor — although the display will be marginally thinner to allow for a larger battery.

What we learned about the new Steve Jobs movie from the trailer

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"If you send me back the iPhone prototype, that'll be the end of it. But if you don't, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you."
Photo: Universal Pictures

Universal dropped its first full-length Steve Jobs trailer yesterday, giving us a closer glimpse than we’ve yet had at the Aaron Sorkin-penned biopic, set to hit theaters this October.

Being the fans that we are, Cult of Mac scoured the 2:40 trailer to pull out the juiciest details. Read on for everything we learned.

If you live in one of these states, Apple may owe you some money

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iBooks
If you've used Apple's iBooks store, you might have a check due to you.
Photo: Apple

This week, Apple lost its appeal on the antitrust case that the federal government and several state attorneys general filed on it concerning price fixing on ebooks. And now that that’s out of the way, it’s time for the company to pay up.

The green states in the map below were listed as plaintiffs on the class-action lawsuit, which means that if you live in one of them and have bought anything from iBooks, you may be entitled to a cut of the settlement.

You won’t find these Apple Music albums on Spotify

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Yes, we know. That one.

Taylor Swift fans aren’t the only ones with reasons to celebrate Apple Music.

Apple’s new streaming service boasts over 30 million songs. That’s according to the company, anyway; we definitely haven’t counted them. And even though it’s only a day old, it’s looking like it could have a chance to cut into the business of rival streamers like Spotify. And part of how it’s doing that is by landing content for its library that the other people don’t have.

Here are five albums Apple Music can brag about. Other than 1989, we mean. Because everyone knows 1989 is on there.

iCloud Music Library adds DRM without buying you dinner first

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icloud-music-library-itunes-match
iCloud Music Library is almost identical to iTunes Match with one glaring issue.
Photo: Apple

Well iCloud Music Library is pissing people off already. The new service almost identical to iTunes Match has a DRM problem. Turned on, iCloud Music Library is taking the music you rightfully own and place in your iTunes library and automatically adding DRM protection to it. In essence, it’s placing a lock on music that’s already yours.

Apple Watch now compatible with select Hyundai cars

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Hyundai Apple Watch
Now Hyundai owners can start their cars while sitting in their cars but using an Apple Watch.
Photo: Hyundai

Hyundai has good news for Apple Watch owners who also drive late-model Sonatas: You can now use your wearable to control parts of your car.

The auto manufacturer has rolled out an update to its Blue Link app, which already creates an interface with an iPhone, to expand the connected-car functionality to Apple’s new smartwatch.

Carry the big glass in comfort with MindShift Gear’s FirstLight backpacks

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The FirstLight series by MindShift Gear helps photographers transport long, heavy telephoto lenses.
The FirstLight series by MindShift Gear helps photographers transport long, heavy telephoto lenses.
Photo: MindShift Gear

The elements and rugged terrain are hard enough for any nature photographer. Add heavy equipment around the neck, shoulders and back and a challenging shoot becomes a grueling journey.

The designers at MindShift Gear, photographers and outdoor adventurers themselves, have three new backpacks designed to carry “Big Glass” lenses with relative comfort.

Apple Music will be super cheap in some countries

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Tim Cook talks Apple Music at WWDC 2015.
Tim Cook talks Apple Music at WWDC 2015.
Photo: Apple

Apple Music, the new song-streaming platform that started rolling out yesterday, is currently free for everyone while the company shows off how cool its new product is. After the three-month trial period that we’re all enjoying, however, using the full set of features will cost you.

But for people in developing countries, the burn won’t be nearly as bad.

Fallout 4′s awesome wearable bonus incompatible with iPhone 6 Plus

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Man, that would have been cool.
Man, that would have been cool.
Photo: Bethesda

If you’ve been itching to put a real-life Pip-Boy on your wrist via the $120 collector’s edition of Bethesda’s highly-anticipated role playing video game, Fallout 4, and you own an iPhone 6 Plus, you may be out of luck.

The larger handset will not be supported for the wristband, but you can still run the companion app when the console and PC game comes out later this year.

Vibrant new iPod colors revealed in iTunes update

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Apple revealed some new iPod colors in the iTunes 12.2 update.
Photo: Apple

You may have written off the iPod as something Apple doesn’t care to breathe new life into by this point, but the iPod is exactly what appears to be getting an update. Alongside the release of iTunes 12.2 to support Apple Music, some users quickly discovered that images of the iPod family within the app feature new, unreleased colors.

Apple hit with slowdowns in iCloud Backup, iMessage, Photos, and more

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There's some slowing down happening here.
There's some slowing down happening here.
Screen: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac

According to Apple’s own Apple Services, Stores, and iCloud status page, several important services are experiencing slow downs and possible outages.

iCloud Backup, Documents in the Cloud, iMessage, and Photos are all showing yellow, as are Mail Drop, iCloud Drive, and iWork for iCloud beta.

If you’re experiencing issues in these areas, it’s not you; it’s Apple.

Satechi external batteries are like lightning in your pocket

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The Satechi SX20 portable power station can charge up to four devices.
The Satechi SX20 portable power station can charge up to four devices.
Photo: Satechi

If your device dies, you can usually find a place to plug in. But that’s only if you carry your charging cord and even if you’re lucky enough to have it on you, you’re stuck at the outlet until you’ve got enough juice to go.

The electronics accessory company Satechi has made it easier to stay charged on the go with three new portable energy stations for pretty much anything with a USB port.