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News - page 1185

Apple takes a hands-off approach to streaming for new TV service

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Apple's forthcoming service would unify top TV networks into one package. Photo: Alex Heath/ Cult of Mac
Apple's forthcoming service would unify top TV networks into one package. Photo: Alex Heath/ Cult of Mac

More details surrounding Apple’s unreleased TV streaming service are leaking out as its Worldwide Developer Conference approaches in June.

There’s still a lot we don’t know for sure, but a new report sheds light on how Apple is proposing to handle the actual streaming of live TV to its millions of users.

Enterprise-ing 3D artist honors Leonard Nimoy with Mr. Spock bust

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Phi Vu, a 3D artist in the film, television and video game industry, recently made a 3D-printed bust of Star Trek's Mr. Spock. Photo: Phi Vu
Phi Vu, a 3D artist in the film, television and video game industry, recently made a 3D-printed bust of Star Trek's Mr. Spock. Photo: Phi Vu

To best honor the man beloved for playing Mr. Spock, Phi Vu did what comes most logical to him. He used his talents as a 3D artist to create a bust of the late Leonard Nimoy.

The result is a bronze-colored likeness of the regal Starfleet first officer that rivals anything that could be created on the Enterprise’s holodeck.

The 1/3 scale bust has the high cheekbones, a brow lifted by severely angled eyebrows, and those signature Vulcan ears.

HBO coming soon to Sling TV

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sling on iPhone
Sling's television interface. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Dish has reached a new agreement with Turner Broadcasting to keep TBS, TNT, and CNN on its Sling TV service. That’s great news for cord-cutters, but what’s even better is that HBO is coming aboard too — and in time for the new season of Game of Thrones!

Stolen iPhone leads blogger to China, stardom and unlikely bromance

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Brother Orange is huge in China. Photo: Matt Stopera/Buzzfeed
Brother Orange is huge in China. Photo: Matt Stopera/Buzzfeed

Matt Stopera had his iPhone stolen last February from his favorite bar in New York City. Like most of us, he was upset, but not overly so. Matt got a new phone and went about his life.

A year later, odd pictures of a Chinese man standing in front of an orange tree started appearing on his new iPhone, via iCloud.

Unlike most of us, Matt is a blogger on Buzzfeed. He wrote up a quick post on the site about the photos appearing on his iOS device, and got some attention for it. What happened next is nothing short of amazing.

Meet the 8 new Apple + IBM enterprise apps introduced today

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IBM
Photo: Apple
Photo: Apple

Apple’s partnership with IBM has birthed eight new enterprise apps that the companies announced today on Apple’s Business apps page. The new MobileFirst apps focus mostly on healthcare by providing hospital techs and nurses new methods to access patients records, log data and track progress.

Along with the four new healthcare apps, IBM and Apple also created apps for insurance agents, flight attendants, retailers and industrial production.

Take a quick tour of the new apps below.

Apple’s gorgeous new MacBook gets unboxed early

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Light as a bubble, thin as a paper. Photo: Apple
Light as a bubble, thin as a sheet of paper. Photo: Apple

Apple’s new MacBook won’t go on sale for another week-and-a-half. But if you want to get an advance glimpse of the next-gen notebook, you can check out a new unboxing video, which shows off the device’s ultra-thin form factor for the first time in all its glory.

The video’s in Vietnamese, but if you’ve been keeping up with our coverage here on Cult of Mac, you should know what to expect — from the edge-to-edge keyboard to the minimalist USB-C port. Did I mention how much I want one?

The best and worst April Fools’ Day jokes of 2015

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Find out who killed Khaleesi in the throne room. Photo: ThinkGeek
Find out who killed Khaleesi in the throne room. Photo: ThinkGeek

There’s not a more annoying day of the year to get on the Internet than April Fools’ Day. Ready or not, it’s here, and companies are spewing out a wave of fake product announcements, some of which we actually wish were real.

Don’t get pranked by this year’s jokes. We’ve rounded up the best and the worst of this year’s Internet jokes so you can laugh along, rather than being that embarrassing friend on Facebook peddling news that Tupac has come out of hiding.

Factory-worker-turned-Apple-supplier is named China’s richest woman

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Foxconn employees accused of $43 million iPhone scam
Tim Cook meets a worker at the Foxconn factory during a recent trip. Photo: Apple
Photo: Apple

Here’s a pretty incredible story: The CEO of Apple touchscreen glass supplier Lens Technology has been named China’s richest woman, after demand for her company’s output saw shares climb 10 percent in a single day.

What’s impressive isn’t just that an Apple supplier rakes in enough cash to accumulate a $7.1 billion fortune, however, but rather the journey that 44-year-old Zhou Qunfei has taken to get there. Prior to getting into the glass manufacturing business as an executive in 2004, Qunfei worked on the factory line for another glass-maker in tech manufacturing hub Shenzhen.

Why withholding Apple Watch from U.K.’s biggest mobile retailer is a brilliant move

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Don't expect to see the Apple Watch at the Carphone Warehouse. Photo: Flickr/Jose and Roxanne CC
Don't expect to see the Apple Watch at the Carphone Warehouse. Photo: Flickr/Jose and Roxanne CC

The Apple Watch could be Apple’s next mass-market iPod-like product, but the company’s not quite ready to see it popping up everywhere yet.

With the Apple Watch launch just 24 days away, Apple has reportedly declined to supply the U.K.’s largest mobile phone retailer, Carphone Warehouse, with its debut wearable device.

“We would love to be able to stock the Apple Watch,” Carphone’s chief executive Graham Stapleton told The Telegraph newspaper. “I’ve got to be careful what I say but I think they are just going another way with it. We have not been given the opportunity.”

Second Mad Max trailer is even more unhinged than the flaming guitar in it

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I can hear the power chords now. Photo: Village Roadshow Pictures
I can hear the power chords now. Photo: Village Roadshow Pictures

The world has gone mad again, and Max is there to witness. We’ve got a whole new trailer for the Mad Max: Fury Road reboot, and it’s full of insane-looking characters, viciously modded cars and a simply deranged flaming electric guitar that shows up a little over halfway through the trailer.

“In this wasteland, I am the one who runs from both the living and the dead,” says (presumedly) Tom Hardy’s Mad Max in a voiceover. “A man reduced to a single instinct: survive.”

An extra bonus — besides a shaved-headed Charlize Theron looking like a totally sane badass — is that bizarre-looking long-haired dude with the Bane-like dentistry mask who seems to be glaring at everyone and everything in several of these short, action-packed scenes.

Gamify your commute: Waze drops Easter eggs all over the road

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Need to gamify your ride? Waze has you covered. Photo remix: Stephen Smith/Cult of Mac
Need to gamify your ride? Waze has you covered. Photo remix: Stephen Smith/Cult of Mac

Crowd-sourced navigation app Waze has got a neat little idea for this coming Easter: little eggs you can drive over while using the app for points (three per egg!) and bragging rights.

So, as you drive down the street, headed to the grocery or picking up the kids, you can maximize your route to get as many egg points as possible.

This fun little promotion is happening now (it started last week) and will last through April 5.

NASA’s new Mars mission technology looks like a flying saucer

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NASA is testing a saucer-like space craft that could bring heavy payloads to Mars. Photo illustration: NASA/JPL-Caltech
NASA is testing a saucer-like spacecraft that could bring heavy payloads to Mars. Photo illustration: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Flying saucers from Mars is the stuff of science fiction. But a flying saucer from Earth is part of the mission to get astronauts to the Martian surface.

NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory completed a successful spin test of a saucer-shaped experimental craft in front of a live web audience Tuesday. The saucer will next lift off by balloon from Hawaii, where from 120,000 feet it will be dropped to test a new kind of parachute and an inflatable Kevlar ring to add drag for a slower descent.

Apple patent puts a twist on facial recognition unlocking

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Photo: David Schiersner
You selfies may soon unlock (and lock) your iPhone. Photo: David Schiersner

Apple is looking to up its selfie game in a new patent awarded to the company by the United States Patent and Trademark Offices today. The new patent would allow iPhone and iPad users to unlock their devices by simply taking a selfie, rather than using Touch ID or a passcode.

Android phones have had facial unlocking features for year, and there have been iOS jailbreak hacks as well, but Apple’s patent comes with a twist – devices will also automatically lock when they don’t recognize your face.

Apple is officially ready to accept your Watch app

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Apple Watch did some monster pre-orders in its first day on sale. Photo: Leander Kahney
It's time to submit your Apple Watch app. Photo: Leander Kahney

Apple today announced that all members of its Developer Program can now officially submit Watch apps to the App Store; potentially triggering a gold rush similar to that seen when devs were first able to create iPhone apps early on its lifecycle.

Developers are encouraged to submit their WatchKit app, icon, screenshots, and description for review by Apple’s testers.

iPad comes under fire from Surface 3 running full Windows 8.1

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Photo: Microsoft
Photo: Microsoft

Microsoft’s early attempts to the tablet crown from Apple hasn’t really gone according to plan. All the Surfaces from the original to the Pro 2 were flops, but Microsoft seems to have hit its stride with the Surface Pro 3. Now it’s ready to take on the iPad with an even cheaper tablet.

Today, Microsoft unveiled its thinnest and lightest tablet ever, the Surface 3. At 1.37 pounds it’s just a little bit heavier than the iPad Air 2, but boasts a bigger screen and price tag that starts at $499.

Chinese smartphone maker apologizes for likening Apple to Hitler

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Yep, they went there. Photo:
Yep, they went there. Photo: Letv

A Chinese smartphone maker has apologized for an ad comparing Apple to mass-murdering Nazi leader, Adolf Hitler.

The ad depicted a cartoon Hitler performing the Nazi salute, with his red armband showing the Apple logo instead of a swastika.

Text on the advert read, “Under the arrogant regime of iOS domination that developers around the world love yet hate, we are always carefully asking, ‘is this kind of innovation okay?'” It went on to describe Apple as a “dusk empire,” suggesting that it’s on the wane as a company.

Check out the CEO’s grovelling apology below.

Amazon wants to turn your house into a shopping cart

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Oh wait, this wasn't a joke?
Photo: Amazon
Photo: Amazon

Amazon has made ordering stuff online ridiculously easy with its huge warehouses shipping online orders to Prime members in an instant. Apparently ordering stuff online is just too damn hard though, so today Amazon announced it’s newest creation: Dash buttons.

The new Wi-Fi connected buttons can be placed throughout your home, allowing you to replenish supplies of your favorite products with just the push of a button. Once pressed, Amazon creates an order and sends an alert to your phone so you can cancel if the kids are spamming for more mac and cheese.

Lethal chameleon tongue does not disappoint in slow-mo

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BBC Earth Unplugged/YouTube
Meet the world's most deadly tongue. Photo: BBC

Gene Simmons has a show-stopping demonic tongue wag. But it’s nothing compared to the tongue action of a panther chameleon.

BBC Earth’s web series Earth Unplugged put the quirky chameleon in its slow-motion studio, shooting him at meal time at 1,500 frames per second, then playing it back 60 times slower than real time.

This chameleon’s tongue can shoot out of its mouth at a speed that’s four times faster than the highest acceleration of a fighter jet. The slow-mo treatment allows the viewer to appreciate the artistry of both the filmmakers and their hungry star.

Watch the best Apple Campus 2 drone video we’ve seen yet

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apple-campus-2
Check out Apple Campus 2 in 4k. Photo: Dane's Drone

 

Tim Cook makes frequent visits to Apple Campus 2 – which is still without an official name. It seems like drone enthusiasts visit the site more than Apple’s CEO. Search YouTube for ‘Apple Campus 2′ and you’ll get over 192,000 results, but this latest video is the best yet.

You can see the top floors of Steve Jobs’ spaceship start to take shape in Dane’s video that was shot on a DJI Inspire 1 drone with built-in 4K video. Dane told Cult of Mac he was in the Bay Area shooting a wedding and decided to get a view of the new campus. He setup in a nearby neighborhood and flew over the site.

Shot by starting off on the other side of the road from Apple Campus 2, the super-high resolution video really captures how massive the new campus will be once it’s finished in 2016.

Watch the full video below:

Apple faces investigation by International Trade Commission

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Ericsson wants to stop Apple selling iPhones in the United States. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Ericsson wants to stop Apple selling iPhones in the United States. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

The Apple-Ericsson confrontation continues to heat up. The U.S. International Trade Commission says it will investigate Apple, based on two complaints alleging that Cupertino illegally infringed on Ericsson patents.

Ericsson previously asked the ITC to block Apple products, such as the iPhone, from selling in the United States while the case is being investigated.