“A million dollars isn’t cool,” says Justin Timberlake’s Sean Parker during one scene in The Social Network. “You know what’s cool? A billion dollars.”
If that’s the case, then people are going to need to come up with new words to describe Apple, because according to some of Wall Street’s best and brightest, the company could hit a trillion dollar valuation as early as next year.
Pulling up apps and finding files is super easy on OS X Yosemite thanks to the new Spotlight feature, and thanks to GitHub user slong1987, you can now use Spotlight shortcuts to shutdown, restart, logout and put your Mac to sleep.
The clever workaround uses four small apps that you can download from GitHub and then add to your Applications folder. Once installed, all you have to do is pull up Spotlight (CMD+SPACE) type in Restart, hit Enter and you Mac will reboot.
I’ve found the Sleep shortcut especially useful at coffee shops when you have to step away for quick second. Slong1987 says shortcuts for Empty Trash and Securely Empty Trash are also in the works.
Intel is losing against ARM when it comes to mobile. This is incontrovertible. In smartphones and tablets, Intel’s chips just haven’t been able to compete with the likes of Apple, Samsung, Qualcomm, and Nvidia…. despite the billions of dollars Intel has spent trying to heavily subsidize things like Atom-powered Android phones.
Not so surprisingly, Intel’s mobile and tablet business isn’t profitable. But Intel’s about to do a little bit of creative accounting to make it’s mobile and tablet divisions profitable: merge them into the PC division.
Every once in a while an anecdote comes along that so perfectly describes the late Steve Jobs’ vision, that it’s a perfect metaphor for Apple as a whole. This might be my favorite of those anecdotes.
The Mac Pro is one of the most beautiful and powerful computers ever created, but it remains beyond the reach of many small developers due to a price tag that’s bigger than a car down payment.
That could change this week when MacStadium brings the world’s first Mac Pro data center online, giving anyone the ability to rent server time on the high-performance Apple computers for just a few bucks a month.
MacStadium CEO Greg McGraw said the company originally set out to address the needs of small developers with Mac mini hosting. “We had great success with the Mac mini and we’ll continue to use it,” McGraw told Cult of Mac. “But the Mac Pro is an enterprise-class data center appliance. It’s going to open up a whole new market.”
A new Apple Store opening up is always something of an event. But over the weekend, a one-of-a-kind Apple Store opened in London, and I guarantee you’ve never been to one quite like it.
It looks like an Apple Store. It even sells various Apple products. But not the kind you’re thinking of: not Macs, but Macintosh apples.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wc-OQQBkbeE
If you’ve ever used Tinder, the swipe-to-reject dating app for iPhone, you know there can be a lot of a creeps on the service, especially if you’re a woman. The Grade is a new Tinder-like app that aims to change all that by booting the creeps off the service by examining their behavior in real time, and grading it.
Cupertino has its chic Apple Watch, Redmond has its Microsoft Band, and now Intel has unveiled its own female-friendly take on the wearable phenomenon with a $495 smart bracelet — which will allow users to receive and respond to text messages, emails and other notifications.
Called the MICA, the fashion-conscious bracelet boasts a sapphire 1.6-inch, 256 x 160 OLED curved screen on the inside of the wrist. As with the Apple Watch there are multiple styles available — ranging from black and white water snake skin, Chinese pearls, Madagascan lapis stones, South African tiger’s eye, and Russian obsidian.
The only time Apple publicly acknowledges the jailbreak community is when, semi-tauntingly, it lists the people responsible for finding and exploiting vulnerabilities in iOS that have now been patched.
In the aftermath of its just-released iOS 8.1.1 update, Apple adds a mention to its security logs of the China-based PanguTeam, who discovered three vulnerabilities fixed in the latest update of Apple’s mobile OS.
Although tech watchers have known about Apple Pay for some time now, for a large percentage of the general public the concept of NFC transactions is still new — and potentially scary.
Hoping to change that perception, Eddy Cue made an appearance on KTLA’s Tech Report yesterday, where he took host Rich DeMuro on a “shopping spree” to show off Apple’s “new way to pay.”
Want to see one of Apple’s top executives buy oatmeal and Frozen toys using his iPhone? Well, now you can.
One way you can tell a technology is becoming mainstream is when it starts to have brushes with the law. We saw it in the 1980s with the first computer hacker trials, more recently with the appearance of Google Glass, and now with fitness trackers — courtesy of a personal injury suit taking place in Canada.
In what is thought to be the first ever case of data from a wearable device being used in court, a female Calgary plaintiff is using information gathered by her Fitbit device to demonstrate that her activity levels have dropped dramatically following an accident.
The data is being analyzed by a third-party analytics firm called Vivametrica, which will make its findings known to the court.
The iPad is great for making music, but the lack of physical keys can be a drag for keyboardists. That shortcoming prompted Adam Kumpf to hack together a miniature piano attachment for the tablet using nothing more than wooden clothespins, aluminum foil, a few pieces of stiff cardboard and some rubber bands
Total cost? Less than $5.
Despite his creation’s humble DIY origins, Kumpf thinks the idea of iPad add-ons has the potential to take touchscreens to the next level.
“There’s an innate desire that users have to go beyond what the screen can usually do,” the 31-year-old MIT graduate tells Cult of Mac. “I strongly believe that there’s a world of accessories relating to capacitive touchscreens that’s just waiting to be explored.”
Apple didn’t give the iPhone 6 camera a big update this cycle, but next year could be a revolutionary leap forward for iPhotographers if Apple upgrades to the new sensor its camera supplier just unveiled.
Sony announced today that its Exmor RS IMX230 camera sensor will be ready to ship in April 2015, and along with packing a 21MP CMOS sensor, it could bring DSLR-quality auto-focusing and 4K video recording to your next iPhone.
Take a look at this crazy comparison image:
Snapchat has become the go-to method for sending naughty nudes to your friends, but with a big update released today, the app is hoping you’ll start using it to send something a little more valueable: money.
Snapchat announced today that it’s partnering with Square to bring Snapcash to its ephemeral messaging platform, giving the ability to wirelessly transfer money directly from a bank account. And all it takes is a single snap.
The company even made a whacky 60’s style commercial to promote the new feature:
Have you been plagued with intermittent Wi-Fi dropping issues ever since you upgraded to OS X Yosemite? Have no fear, Apple’s fix is finally here to get your Mac back on track, with the official OS X 10.10.1 update.
Apple released OS X 10.10.1 to the public today with a couple of bug fixes, one of which will hopefully cure the Wi-Fi connectivity woes many users have reported on Apple’s support forums.
The Yosemite update comes after Apple also released iOS 8.1.1 today, to fix bugs on the iPhone 4s and iPad 2. Apple’s OS X 10.10.1 release also improves Microsoft Exchange server reliability, as well as Back to My Mac connections between two remove computers. The free update is available now in the Mac App Store.
Apple has released iOS 8.1.1 to the general public today after weeks of beta testing the update for its mobile. The update is the first software release since iOS 8.1 last month, and brings some minor tweaks to the Health app, as well as bug fixes for the iPad and iPhone 4s.
iOS 8.1.1 is available as an over-the-air update or via iTunes, and while it doesn’t contain any major new features, a number of performance enhancements have been added. Apple has also released an update for Apple TV 3 version 7.0.2. Major features aren’t included in the update, but
Here are the download links:
Super Evil Megacorp stole the show during Apple’s iPhone 6 keynote in September thanks to ‘Scarf Guy’ and the kick-ass MOBA he was demoing called Vainglory. Now they’re ready to steal your afternoon by making their highly anticipated game available in the U.S.
We’ve been dying to enter the battle of Vainglory ever since we got our first look behind the scenes of the game, and now after months of waiting, the online battle that’s designed to push your iPhone 6 to its graphical limit is finally ready for all the destruction you and your foes can handle.
Apple has apparently put its faith in Samsung to build the A-series application processors for its next generation iPhones and iPads, according to a new report coming out of Korea.
As of recently, Samsung was competing with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) to build the chips, which carry a contract said to be worth “billions of dollars.”
Unlike conventional memory chips, application processors reportedly count as logic chips and are said to carry much higher margins. From 2016, Samsung will supply 80% of the APs used in Apple devices, while TSMC will provide the remaining 20%.
Many would-be game designers never make their games a reality because they don’t possess the artistic chops to create the graphics their game depends upon. But not being able to draw didn’t stop Ivan Grachyov, a computer science student at Moscow State University, and the resulting game might just be the next Flappy Bird.
The Russian designer’s creation? Emoji Cosmos, a game made of nothing but emoji!
Making neon signs is a sadly dying craft, but there’s no better way to learn about the beauty of the art than this video, showing a master neon craftsman create a replica of our favorite shape on Earth: the Apple logo!
Update: Uber and Spotify have confirmed a partnership that will let Spotify Premium subscribers become backseat DJs in Uber cars in 10 cities. The service starts Friday in London, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Nashville, New York, San Francisco, Singapore, Stockholm, Sydney and Toronto.
“The integration couldn’t be easier,” the companies said in a press release. “Simply connect your Spotify account via the Uber app, request a ride, and when you get matched up with a Spotify-enabled Uber, select music that suits your mood. Your tunes will be playing when your Uber arrives, and you can change it up at any time.”
Ever since Apple bought Beats for $3 billion back in May, Cupertino has slowly but surely been integrating the headphone maker’s products and services into the official Apple portfolio. It’s added Beats Music to the Apple TV, officially listed it as an Apple app on the App Store, and rolled out a Beats by Dre section at Apple Stores.
Now it looks like Beats by Dre headphones will officially be an Apple product in the biggest way that counts: You’ll soon be able to get them repaired or replaced at your local Genius Bar.
Apple has announced that its China App Store, the second biggest in the world, is now accepting UnionPay as a payment option for customers.
As the most popular payment card in China — with over 4.5 billion cards issued to date — the move will make it simpler and more convenient for Apple users in China to purchase apps, since customers can now easily link their Apple ID with a UnionPay debit or credit card.
“The ability to buy apps and make purchases using UnionPay cards has been one of the most requested features from our customers in China,” Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services, is quoted as saying in Apple’s statement. “China is already our second largest market for app downloads, and now we’re providing users with an incredibly convenient way to purchase their favorite apps with just one-tap.”
With a cutesy, one-eyed protagonist named Zak and colorful graphics aplenty, upcoming game Flyhunter Origins looks like it could be a big-screen animated movie.
That’s not too shocking, since the game was developed by Steel Wool Games, a San Francisco Bay Area-based startup composed of Pixar employees past and present. But while the story of a space janitor who becomes wrapped up in an intergalactic insect-catching adventure sounds like it could come from the next Brad Bird movie, what the team has crafted is a compelling 2-D platformer that owes as much to Super Mario Bros. as it does to Toy Story.
“What we admired about those early games is what they did with very limited technology,” says Andrew Dayton, a 20-year veteran of computer visual effects, whose day job sees him working as senior technical director at Pixar. “Back then you couldn’t hide bad gameplay with pretty pictures. Playability was everything for us.”
Although it’s never been in either Apple or Nintendo’s graces, GBA4iOS has long been one of our favorite apps on iOS. An excellent Gameboy Color and Gameboy Advance emulator for the iPhone and iPad, GBA4iOS was long available to install on iOS 7 and above, no jailbreak required.
That all changed with iOS 8.1, though. To install itself without going through the App Store, GBA4iOS required users to set back their date by at least one day, but Apple patched it out. It was a huge bummer, but guess what? GBA4iOS is back, it works on iOS 8.1, and there’s still no jailbreak required!