News - page 1262

Was Apple’s livestreamed iPad event really such a big yawn? Search Twitter for “#AppleEvent yawn” or “Apple boring” and you’ll see tweet after tweet bemoaning the boring nature of Thursday’s press conference. It got so tedious for some, there were dozens of photos of napping dogs.

“Most boring Apple event ever,” tweeted one. “Bring back the Chinese translation.”

Maybe some of those folks are being facetious, but there’s a grain of truth in the tweets: Nothing about Thursday’s event, except for maybe Stephen Colbert’s crackup comedy bit with Craig Federighi, was super-compelling on the surface. Many of the specs had been leaked (some even by Apple itself), and the rumor mill proved pretty accurate in the run-up to the presentation.

Still, this was no Phantom Menace. I mean really, what were people expecting? Jetpacks, aliens and electric cars?

This is Apple’s big dilemma right now: How do you top yourself when you make the best products in the world?

Apple product launches generally run like clockwork and, true to form, the moment today’s keynote came to a close, Cupertino’s digital media team sprung into action by uploading three new videos to its YouTube channel showcasing the company’s brand new iPad Air 2 and 27-inch Retina iMac.

After announcing new iPads and Macs today, Apple has unleashed OS X Yosemite on the world as a free download in the Mac App Store. Yosemite is a major upgrade to OS X that’s been in developer and public beta for the past several months.

“OS X Yosemite is the most advanced version of OS X we’ve ever built, with a brand new design, amazing Continuity features and powerful versions of the apps you use every day,” said Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering, in a statement. “OS X Yosemite ushers in the future of computing, where your Apple devices all work together seamlessly and magically. It’s something only Apple can do, and it’s available today.”

Before you install Yosemite, make sure your Mac is supported.

The iPad Air 2 is the best tablet Apple’s ever made. The iPad mini 3 is good, but it’s also a gigantic ripoff.

Phil Schiller gushed over all the new iPad Air 2 upgrades during today’s keynote, reveling in its improved camera, powerful A8X chip, anti-reflective coating and Touch ID. But when it came to the iPad mini 3, Apple tried to slide quickly past it, and for good reason – there weren’t any upgrades to brag about.

Here are the new iPad mini 3 features:

It’s been way too long, joked Apple, since any groundbreaking announcements like the Apple Watch and iPhone 6 Plus. While the product refreshes announced at today’s iPad-centric event aren’t as high on “wow” as the revelations during last month’s big show, these are solid updates to product lines that continue to make Apple great.

Here are the top 12 things you need to know from today’s Apple event.

After two long years sitting on the bench, Apple finally updated the humble Mac mini with faster processors, faster Wi-Fi and much better graphics. It also gets a modest price drop, now starting at a reasonable $499 — although you could probably buy two low-end Windows PCs for the same price.

However, the mini is a Macintosh, running OS X Yosemite, and not stinky Windows. It makes for a great media center PC or a starter machine. In fact, everyone here at the Cult of Mac offices is talking about buying one to put under their TV.

“People love Mac mini,” said Phil Schiller, Apple’s head of marketing said in a statement. “It’s a great first Mac or addition to your home network, and the new Mac mini is a nice upgrade packed into an incredibly compact design.”

There’s a really cool feature in today’s new iPads that got zero stage time during the keynote. Apple has built its own SIM card that allows the user to switch between different carriers and plans right from iOS.

Apple’s iPad Air 2 and Retina iMac keynote this morning was short on surprises, but if you weren’t able to watch the live stream as Tim Cook and Phil Schiller revealed the deets on Apple’s newest products, you can relive it on Apple.com.

The full video of today’s keynote has been posted on Apple’s website, and is also available on the dedicated Apple TV channel that showed up on devices today. The first half was mostly just a recap of Apple’s news from WWDC and last month’s keynote, but now you can just skip straight to Chief Secrecy Officer Stephen Colbert’s hilarious skit with Hair Force One at the 30 minute mark.

Source: Apple

Apple finally unveiled its iMac with Retina 5K display this morning, and while the screen is bigger, brighter and more hi-deffer than ever, Apple still managed to make an incredible machine that’s gorgeous and affordable.

It’s the most incredible iMac Apple’s ever built, thanks to a Retina 5K display that puts high-end 4K displays to shame and upgraded processors and graphics in a package that’s just 5mm thin.

Think your desktop is ready for a Retina upgrade? Here’s what you need to know about Apple’s new desktop beast:

Today Apple announced two new iPads: the iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3. Some pricing adjustments were also made across the entire iPad lineup, with the first-gen iPad mini now costing only $249.

Apple news overload? Fear not. Here’s everything you need to know about today’s new iPads:

Tim Cook and Phil Schiller just got done revealing the new iPad Air 2 and iMac with Retina 5k display, and while you can’t pre-order the new iPads until tomorrow, the new iMac and Mac mini are available now.

The online Apple Store is back up and running with new sections for the iMac with Retina 5k display, and the updated Mac mini that got a price drop. Both items can be ordered right now, with the Retina iMac starting at $2,499, and the Mac mini coming in at $499.

It may be hard to tell from the image above, but that’s a hot-rodding quadcopter speeding through the forest at about 100 miles an hour. The drone is taking part in the first large-scale first-person video drone race ever in the United States, held last week in Los Angeles.

For the operators, staring at video screens or wearing virtual reality goggles while their drones record the high-speed chase via tiny mounted cameras, the experience is not unlike the best part of the prequel Star Wars movies — the podracing scene.

Check out the video below for a better sense of what these guys are doing.

Back when I was in college, I didn’t have a computer and I didn’t have a typewriter. I did, however, need a way to write papers for my classes. While this may date me, my solution was to purchase an electric typewriter that had word-processing capabilities (I think it was a Brother). I could see one line at a time on it, and the only way to see a whole page was to print it out using the typewriter itself.

These days, of course, we all use full-on super computers to write our blog posts, school papers, and reports for work. You can’t get away from them. If you just want to write, you have to discipline yourself to turn off the Wi-Fi and ignore the constant stream of beeps and notifications that make up a typical work or school day.

The Hemingwrite wants to be the answer to the always-on computer writing conundrum. Instead of eschewing all network connectivity, however, the Hemingwrite tries something different.

“It combines the simplicity of a ’90s era word processor with the modern tech we all require,” writes the team on their web page, “like cloud backups and integration into our favorite document editors like Google docs and Evernote.”

Now that’s something I can get behind.

Designed to help friends and family check on their nearest and dearest during natural disasters, Facebook is introducing a new Safety Check feature for its mobile app.

The tool works by sending a push notification to devices that are near to an affected area. Locations are determined by looking at the places listed in profiles, previous locations from the Nearby Friends feature, and the city from which you’re connecting to the Internet.

All a Facebook user needs to do in the event of an emergency is hit an “I’m safe” button and a news notification will be generated automatically on the Timeline.

There’s always that moment when your drummer can’t show up for rehearsal. She’s got some other commitment. He’s got another gig. Her boyfriend needs her to take him to the hospital.

It happens. When it does, you can do what I’ve always done – pound your foot against the floor and try to muddle on through – or you can use a drum machine. The problem with standard drum machines is that they’re made to be used by hands or, in some cases, drum sticks. I’m not a drummer (no sticks) and I need my hands to play my guitar. What I really need is a drum machine I can play from the floor, guitar-pedal style.

That’s what caught my eye about the BeatBuddy – this is a guitar-pedal-style device that lets you use your foot to play back drum beats in a variety of styles, fills and different parts included. This is my new best friend when the drummer can’t make it to practice, and it may become my new stage pal if I take my act solo.

After the disaster that was Apple’s last keynote live stream, it seemed possible that Apple wouldn’t attempt another one for its October 16, where the company is expected to unveil new versions of the iPad, its long-awaited Retina Display iMac, and more.

Fortunately those fears were for nothing, and with just hours to go before the event kicks off, Apple has added its usual “Apple Events” channel to Apple TV.

The channel is represented by an icon, matching the image on the invites sent out for the event, reading “It’s been way too long.”

The start of any innovative business should be identifying a service that the current market leader in the sector is not supplying.

With Apple’s failure to provide sapphire displays for its latest iPhones — thanks to the spectacular collapse of now-bankrupt supplier GT Advanced Technologies — you’d think that other smartphone makers would be climbing over one another to bring sapphire-enhanced smartphones to market; demonstrating that they can do what Tim Cook and his billions of dollars weren’t able to.

Which is why it’s something of a surprise (or perhaps not!) to hear that Apple’s troubles with sapphire displays has pretty much discouraged other companies from trying the same thing.

Right on cue, the Apple Online Store has gone down hours ahead of today’s special event. When it returns later today, we expect to see new iPads, new Macs, and maybe even a new Apple TV.

It’s been way too long since Apple showered us with new products like the iPhone 6, 6 Plus and Apple Watch, but Tim Cook and his crew are ready to go in for round two at a town hall keynote today at Apple HQ. New iPads, a Retina iMac and OS X Yosemite are rumored to be on the menu, but will Apple have one more surprise waiting for us?

Apple’s holiday lineup will be revealed in just a few short hours, and we’ll be here liveblogging all the details as the event unfolds. So bookmark this page, and come back at 10 a.m. Pacific for what will most likely be Apple’s last major announcements of 2014.

Apple is attempting to push its Apple Maps software to the next level, courtesy of indoor mapping capabilities, according to a new patent application uncovered by Cult of Mac today.

Filed in April this year, the application describes a method of seamlessly transitioning from a map displaying exterior elements like roads and buildings to one that shows indoor elements, like stores and restaurants.

This technology is designed to work with iBeacons, Apple’s Bluetooth Low Energy emitters designed to make iDevices location aware indoors.

Black Eyed Peas frontman will.i.am clearly has more money and ideas than he knows what to do with. He also uses words like “screenager” and “fashionology.”

His latest tech product is a smart “cuff” called Puls, and it comes equipped with a 3G cellular radio for making calls and using data. The Puls looks like an early Apple Watch (then dubbed ‘iWatch’) concept gone awry. It features a Siri knockoff called “AneedA.”

What’s most telling is that will.i.am and crew have yet to announce pricing and availability, although it’s supposed to be on sale in select AT&T and O2 stores for the holidays.

Alien Blue, the most popular third-party Reddit client for iOS, has been acquired by Reddit itself. To celebrate, the ‘Pro’ upgrade in-app purchase is available for free instead of $2. The iPad app is also free to download.

Developer Jason Morrissey has joined Reddit, and he will continue to develop Alien Blue and add new features.

Apple’s new headphone company received an official ban from the NFL this season, prohibiting the Beats cans from being worn at games or official press conferences, and Beats co-founder Jimmy Iovine couldn’t feel more lucky.

Iovine was the keynote speaker today at the University of Southern California’s Global Conversation, and according to Business Insider, he told the audience that the NFL’s decision to ban Beats at the behest of Bose was an inept move that’s turned Beats into a superhero.

Find My iPhone has been used hundreds of times to find stolen Apple devices, but police in San Jose found a new use for tracking app yesterday: rescuing a crash victim after her car plunged 500 feet down the side of mountain.

Melissa Vasquez was stranded for over 17 hours after her car flew off the side of Mt. Hamilton, and into a ravine, ejecting her from the vehicle in the process. Police were notified of the crash Monday afternoon, after the car’s OnStar program detected a crash, but when they turned up to the location they saw nothing.

12 hours later, Vasquez’s family reported her missing, but it took a tech savvy officer to figure out he could use her iPad to find her if only he knew her iTunes password.