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Apple still hasn’t opened an official store in the Middle East, but its about to make a huge retail splash by building its largest store ever amid the futuristic skyscrapers of Dubai.
Job listings posted to Apple’s career’s site last week indicated that Apple is interested in pursuing retail operations inside the UAE, but according to EdgarDaily, the company isn’t looking to build just a regular store in Dubai.

Apple’s iTunes store has increasingly become the place where today’s top blockbusters make their home debut, premiering on your iPhone, Mac, or Apple TV as much as a week before their DVD releases.

But with Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Apple is getting one of its biggest jumps on the competition yet. The comic book political thriller is debuting on the iTunes Store three whole weeks before its Blu-Ray or DVD debut.

Simple is the bank that refuses to be just a bank. Existing entirely online through its web and mobile apps, Simple offers slick budgeting tools, instant money transfers between accounts, and a great design.

Today Simple 2.0 for iOS and Android was released with a beautiful, iOS 7-inspired redesign and a couple other features.

Tired of just tapping your way through The Simpsons mobile game, creating your own private Springfield, waiting for your energy donuts to replenish?

It appears that publisher Electronic Arts has heard your “Doh!” and has added a new bit of gameplay to The Simpsons: Tapped Out that is not-so-sneakily just like that of hit free-to-play game Clash of Clans.

Check out the video below to see what we mean.

AAPL shares have finally completed the long climb back to 2012 levels today, closing at an all-time high of $100.53 per share.

The stock’s 1.4 percent rise today was aided by bullish reports from both RBC and Morgan Stanley claiming Apple’s Fall lineup is going to be more extraordinary than ever this year as Apple puts the final preparations on the iPhone 6.

Despite a planned October unveiling, Apple may still not release the iWatch until next year. That’s the latest from Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities, an unusually reliable Apple analyst.

Re/code reported two months ago that Apple’s first “foray into wearable devices” was planned for October. Kuo, on the other hand, has repeatedly thrown shade on the idea of a 2014 iWatch launch. Citing production difficulties this time, he still seems unsure.

At this point we’ve seen pretty much every nook and cranny of the 4.7-inch iPhone 6, but a new leak gives us the best look at the device yet.

Luxury accessory maker Feld & Volk has shared images of what appears to be an assembled front panel and rear shell for the iPhone 6. While plenty of these parts have already leaked independently, this is the first time we’ve seen them together.

Steve Jobs and his reality distortion field are no longer with us for epic keynotes and marketing blitzes, but an Apple reseller in China has come up with the next best thing: an Steve Jobs wax statue touting the iPhone 5s and Beats headphones.

The Jobs statue was spotted at an Apple Store on Taiyuan Street in Shenyang, China earlier this week by Xinhuanet, and they’ve got all the details right from the Levi 501’s, New Balance 991’s, and the trademark black turtleneck.

We’ve seen a number of Steve Jobs statues and memorials since his passing in 2011, but this is the first time we’ve seen one luring in potential Apple customers.

Here’s a look at the full display:

Every now and then an Internet craze will spread around the world with everyone trying their hands at it. From the cinnamon challenge to the fire challenge, each one brings its own risks and sometimes even pain.

The latest challenge meme — the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge — has been a force unlike any other, sucking in celebrities like Justin Timberlake, Lady Gaga, Oprah and even a couple of top Apple employees.

In today’s video, we take a look this icy charity dare that’s taking over the world. See Apple executives, actors, athletes and more take part in this chilling experience and find out the reason behind it all.

Subscribe to Cult of Mac TV on YouTube to catch all our latest videos.

Yosemite beta testers got a new treat from Apple yesterday, but Cupertino is continuing to refine its next major release of Mavericks by seeding the fourth beta of OS X 10.9.5 to developers this morning.

OS X Mavericks 10.9.5 build 13F18 is light on new features but heavy on bug fixes. Apple asks developers to focus on Safari, USB, USB Smart Cards, Graphics, Thunderbolt and GateKeeper. Developers can grab the new beta from the Mac Dev Center.

Apple also released the sixth beta of OS X Yosemite yesterday that brought a bunch of new wallpapers to the Mac, new System Preference icons, and Do Not Disturb mode.

Mailbox has quickly become one of the most popular email management apps on iOS, and now the public is about to get its first taste of what it can do on the desktop too. The company announced this morning that the first public beta of Mailbox for Mac is now available, and they’ve added a couple of new features to go with it.

Google has launched an official Photo Sphere app for iPhone that allows users to snap 360° panoramas and then publish them on Google Maps. It’s perfect for capturing all of the amazing places you visit, and it lets your friends share your experiences in a way that regular photos just can’t.

The iPhone 6 will be able to chew threw data plans quicker than any other Apple smartphone, according to the newest leak from GeekBar, which claims the iPhone 6 will be capable of 150Mbps download speeds.

Apple is stuffing the lineup of its 2014 iTunes Festival concert in London next month with the additions of Jenny Lewis, Lenny Kravitz, SOHN, Jessie Ware, Ryan Adams and 16 other artists and bands.

The new acts will join the likes of Pharrell, Beck, David Guetta and Robert Plant at the Roundhouse in London, with the first acts taking the stage on September 1st followed by 29 more days of music. Tickets are free if you live in the U.K., but if you’re stuck in the U.S., all of the concerts will be streamed live to Apple TV and iTunes.

Here’s the full list of artists that were just added:

Apple’s software testing partners have reportedly received a new iOS 8 beta build that fixes a whole bunch of bugs present in beta 5. It seems the Cupertino company won’t be making this release available to registered developers, but sources say a GM seed is right around the corner.

iOS 8 will bring Extensions to your iPhone and iPad. Extensions are essentially miniature versions of apps that can be run inside other apps. For instance, if you have Evernote installed on your iPhone, you could pop up the Evernote Extension when you’re running the Mail app, and save a snippet of that email to your Evernote account.

Clearly this is huge. It’s something that Android and Windows Phone users have enjoyed for a while, but Apple has – typically – taken its time to get it right. In fact, you have probably used Apple’s own “test” Extensions already: Whenever you see the Mail sheet roll down inside another app, or you access the built-in Twitter sharing box, you’re using an Extension.

But what kind of things can Extensions do for us? I’ve been thinking about that, and here’s a wish list of Extensions I’d love to see.

Sprint has seen better days. Now existing as the distant fourth wireless carrier in America, it needs a win to score customers back.

Sprint’s recently announced new “Framily” plans might just be that win. They not only let you feel like you have a speech impediment everytime you say the word ‘Framily’, but they offer twice as much data as the likes of AT&T and Verizon, for about the same price.

First Phil Schiller dumped a bucket of ice cold water on his head, challenging Tim Cook to do the same. Then Tim Cook accepted the challenge, dousing himself at an Apple HQ beer bash to help raise money to fight Lou Gehrig’s disease.

We all thought it was over. But we forgot about Dre.

The TSA has started treating smartphones with dead batteries like potential bombs, but after an iPhone mishap on one plane caused an emergency evacuation, maybe they should be more worried about all the iPhones with a full charge too.

Panic broke out on a flight bound for Prague this weekend after an iPhone 5 caught fire in a passenger’s bag, causing the entire plane to be evacuated back to the main terminal.

By now, it’s obvious that Xiaomi is heavily inspired by Apple’s product design. The Chinese company’s founder even dresses up like Steve Jobs at events and uses the “One More Thing” presentation gimmick.

Now we’ve been given a look at MIUI 6, the software for Xiaomi’s new Mi 4 smartphone. It’s the most blatant ripoff of Apple to date.

Flappy Bird developer Dong Nguyen has a new game coming out this Thursday, and it looks to be as brutally difficult and addictive as his original viral hit.

According to Eli Hodapp over at TouchArcade, Swing Copters contains the same one-tap gameplay as Flappy Bird, only this time you’re guiding a little character up through platforms that have swinging hammers on them, rather than horizontally through Mario-esque pipes.

Here’s a video to give you an idea:

The sixth developer preview of OS X Yosemite is upon us, and like always, Apple has made some noticeable and not-so-noticeable changes. This time around, there are some new wallpapers included alongside general design tweaks.

So in no particular order, here’s what’s new in OS X Yosemite Developer Preview 6:

Not a year goes by without NFC rumors trying to steal the spotlight during iPhone rumor season, and while this year has certainly been no exception, leaked schematic details reveal NFC might actually land on the iPhone 6 this year.

An alleged bare logic board for the iPhone 6 was the first hard evidence that NFC really is coming to the iPhone 6, but now a Chinese repair firm has found what it claims to a wiring schematic specifically for the iPhone 6’s NFC chip.