News - page 1333

When it comes to all the elite conferences Silicon Valley is so well known for, Apple executives rarely make appearances. Apple’s shortlist includes the annual Code Conference and Allen & Co.’s business conference in Sun Valley, Idaho. The second kicks off next week.

Like last year, Tim Cook and Eddy Cue have been invited to hobnob with the tech and media world’s most powerful players. Both execs attended last year, and if they choose to do so again this year, there will undoubtedly be many interesting conversions had behind closed doors with competitors and potential partners.

For many people, Siri has been more of a nuisance than an empowering personal assistant since debuting on the iPhone 4s in 2011. Sure, she’s received some upgrades and is getting even more in iOS 8, but fancy new features mean nothing if she can’t understand what you’re saying.

Siri’s favoriting line, “Sorry I didn’t get that,” might soon be a thing of the past though as a report from Wired says the time is ripe for Apple to unleash a neural-net-boosted Siri.

Back in the heady days of the early 2000s, early social networking services like Tribe.net, Friendster, MySpace and (yep) Facebook all offered similar features: connecting with other folks via the world wide web. Orkut, founded in 2008 and owned by Google, is named after the engineer who created the service as a 20 percent project.

Of course, once Facebook became the de-facto social network in the US, services like Orkut all but disappeared here. Even so, Orkut was huge in Brazil, and even migrated to servers based there in 2008. Heck, there was even an Android and iOS app.

Unfortunately for Brazilians and other hold-outs, Orkut is shutting down in September of 2014. As of July 30, new users won’t be able to create new accounts on the service, either.

Right on the heels of iOS 7.1.2, Apple has released an update to OS X Mavericks in the Mac App Store. Version 10.9.4 of Mavericks features a fix for a bug many have been experiencing related to Wi-Fi connectivity.

There has been a known problem in OS X that keeps some Macs from automatically connecting to Wi-Fi after being woken up from sleep. Apple has addressed the issue in 10.9.4 along with general reliability improvements for waking from sleep. Safari 7.0.5 is also included.

The iPhone 6 will be the thinnest phone Apple’s every created, but it may come at big price for suppliers.

In order to save up space on the iPhone 6, supply chain sources at China Times say Apple is only using one brightness enhancement film (BEF) for the backlit LCD display. Apple used two films in previous iPhones. Reducing it to just one will allow Jony Ive to make a super thin iPhone, but getting the supplies will be tough.

Today Apple released iOS 7.1.2, a small update that includes several bug fixes, including enhanced “iBeacon connectivity and stability.” The update is available through Software Update on iPhones, iPads, and iPod touches running iOS 7.

Here are the changes in the update, as noted by Apple:

Apple has announced that it’s updating its iTunes U app with new iPad-friendly features designed to make it easier for teachers and students to use tablets for their online courses. The new features will roll out starting July 8.

“Education is at the core of Apple’s DNA and iTunes U is an incredibly valuable resource for teachers and students,” says Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services. “iTunes U features an amazing selection of academic materials for everyone around the world. Now, with the ability to better manage and discuss educational content, learning becomes even more personalized on iPad.”

The app’s update will let teachers create full courses entirely on their iPad by importing content from iWork, iBooks Author and other educational apps in the iOS App Store. Teachers will also be able to use the iPad’s in-built camera to incorporate photos and videos into the course material.

Siri. You love her or hate her. For many of us, Siri is a novelty at best, and an inconvenience at worst: the annoying voice who starts asking you what you want from your back pocket when you accidentally sit on your iPhone. But for those who love Siri, she can be a lifesaver … literally. Because Siri may have just helped a 2-year-old save her mother’s life.

Back in January, a Seattle-based Etsy seller started mocking up iPad cases designed to look like Trapper Keepers, Mead’s line of brightly colored, wonderfully designed 80’s folders and binders for students. We promptly declared it the best idea in the frickin’ universe, and lamented that you couldn’t actually buy them, due to licensing issues.

Well, good news, fans. Official Trapper Keeper iPad cases are now here. But they’re honestly a little less cool than the mock-ups we saw before.

If the idea of using your iOS device to help track your fitness appeals to you, it’s worth checking out the newly-updated Fitlist app.

Since one of the best things about the new wave of fitness trackers is the ability to see how you progress over time, the most useful new feature of the popular workout log is the addition of new progress graphs. These allow you to view your cardio and strength exercise history in the form of attractive, easy-to-read charts. (This feature is available to premium users only.)

Since it was first released as part of iOS 6, Apple Maps has gotten a partially deserved bad rap. Although nowhere near as bad as it was at release, Apple Maps has a reputation for being unreliable compared to options like Google Maps.

One thing that was particularly frustrating about Apple Maps at release was the fact that while the app invited users to report incorrect locations and results, nothing ever seemed to happen with those reports. So if Apple gave you incorrect directions, it might take months for the error to be fixed.

But a thread on Reddit offers what appears to be conclusive proof that Apple has gotten its act together about Maps. According to the thread, Apple is now pushing through error corrections in Apple Maps on a daily basis.

Cult of Mac’s top news stories and features to peruse on your iPad or iPhone. This week, our early-early adopter Charlie Sorrel weighs in once more on the iPad vs. desktop debate, plus how to fix your iPhone camera and hide those compromising shots from your mom, and we take a test drive of outlawed parking apps.

Cult of Mac Magazine June 30 Edition, Free on iTunes

With iOS 7, Apple already has the best anti-theft software protection of any smartphone in the business. If you lose your iPhone, or it’s stolen, you can easily use Find My iPhone to see where it’s last reported coordinates are, and send a beep and a message to the device. And thanks to Activation Lock, unless someone knows your pin, they can’t even wipe the phone, effectively meaning that thieves who steal iPhones can’t do anything with it except strip it for parts.

But while iOS gives great protection to owners from thieves, it also inadvertently “protects” them from the good Samaritans who might want to return a lost or stolen device to its proper owner. That’s not the way it has to be, though, as this excellent ‘Good Samaritan’ concept proves.

Agree? Disagree?

Did we miss out your favorite hidden TV gem, that was taken from us before it had the chance to find its audience? Or did we want to send a show you love off to the Sarlacc pit that is TV hell? If you have strong thoughts on this topic let us know what they are in the comments below.

Many users were surprised when the expected Surface Mini tablet didn’t arrive alongside the Surface Pro 3 back in May. A new report, however, sheds a bit of light on the issue.

According to upstream supply chain sources who spoke with DigiTimes, Microsoft ditched plans for a small-size tablet due to fierce competition in the marketplace, along with negative responses from brand vendor clients.

With nothing standout about the Surface Mini’s tech spec (it was reportedly set to sport a 7.5- to 8-inch display, ARM processors, and OneNote and Windows RT 8.1 operating system) Microsoft feared the device’s success would be severely hampered by the arrival of the upcoming 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch iPhone 6, which is expected to have a major impact on the demand for 7-inch tablets.

Every kid who has ever gone to high school knows the social anxiety that deciding where to sit in the school lunchroom can cause. Do you sit with the jocks? The preps? The dweebs? Or will no one let you sit at their table at all, forcing you to do the worst thing possible: Sit all by yourself, alone?

Most of us leave this problem behind us in high school, but not Steve Jobs. During his lifetime, Jobs was a visionary, a guru, a genius and a mentor to thousands of Apple employees. But in the Apple cafeteria, he was the guy that no one wanted to sit with. But it wasn’t because people thought he was a loser: They just didn’t want to get fired.

In the production cycle leading up to every new iPhone release, leaked iPhone casings give us a very good idea of the size and ergonomics of the new device months ahead of time. But one thing we don’t often get a look at before a new iPhone is released is what it looks like doing what it’s actually supposed to do: run the latest version of iOS.

With the iPhone 6, Apple is making the most radical change to the physical size of the device ever. To figure out what this means for the look and feel of iOS 8 when it is blown up to the size of the iPhone 6’s 4.7-inch display, YouTube video maestro Tom Rich has created a video that shows exactly that.

Thanks to abundant casing leaks, we all think we know what the iPhone 6 will look like when it’s released this summer: a 4.7-inch slab of aluminum with stripes on the back denoting where the antenna goes. But do we really? A new report out of Asia says the iPhone 6 could look very different than the leaks we’ve seen so far.

Before anyone ever uttered the word “selfie,” Meags Fitzgerald had accumulated thousands of photos of herself taken in photo booths in the malls and train stations near her home.

She produced strips of four one-of-a-kind poses almost daily, sometimes hiding in a mall photo booth until after close. High-school friends dubbed her “the Photo Booth Girl.” Today, when the Montreal artist pulls the curtain in a booth, the flashes sometimes don’t stop until she has enough photos to produce a movie.

“It’s very much an obscure labor of love,” said Fitzgerald, a freelance illustrator who has produced six film shorts, all in photo booths. “There are certainly people who have used photo booths in their mediums but I’m the only one I know who has used them in this way, in this length or with the narrative purpose I’ve tried.”

Tim Cook has been an ardent supporter of LGBT rights while leading the ship at Apple. That continued this weekend, as Apple (in a display known as “Apple Pride”) participated in the San Francisco Pride Celebration & Parade, one of the many gay pride parades held Sunday across the United States.

Apple gave out $1 iTunes gift cards to onlookers at the parade, allowing them to download free songs from the iTunes Store. It also celebrated the event by including an “LGBT Gay Pride” station on iTunes Radio.

iPad screenmaker Sharp is allocating a major chunk of its LCD production facilities to Apple — but doesn’t seem all that happy about it.

According to an interview published Monday with Sharp Senior Executive Managing Officer Norikazu Hoshi, the company worries about what it means for the entire output of the Japanese display maker’s Kameyama No. 1 plant to go “to just one company (Apple).”

The iPhone is the perfect tool to make you a better, hipper parent, or at least that’s what Apple wants you to believe in its newest TV ad. Entitled “Parenthood,” the minute-long spot is the latest in a string of ads for the iPhone 5s.

The song is “Life of Dreams” by Julie Doiron, and apps shown include Withings Withbaby, Nike+ Running, and Parrot Flower Power.

There’s definitely a connected-home vibe throughout the ad, especially when a dad uses his iPhone to turn the lights off. Apple just announced its HomeKit platform for developers to integrate with smart home gadgets, and the company is even rumored to be working on its own hardware for the home.

Lots going on in this week’s episode of HBO’s vampire-romance television show, including answers on Eric’s whereabouts, more info on the infected, zombie-like Hep-V vampires, and a whole bunch of callbacks to the first season of the show.

If you missed last week’s recap, head on over and read up on the first episode of the seventh and final season of this HBO cult-hit, or read our massive recap of the first six seasons to catch up on the whole story, loosely based on Charlaine Harris’ bestselling novels, so far.

Be warned – there be spoilers ahead, so if you don’t want to know what’s going on in the world of Sookie Stackhouse, keep moving, folks.

If you’ve been looking to jailbreak iOS 7.1.1 and you have a Mac, then check out the new version of Pangu released today.

The Chinese team of hackers behind the tool dropped their jailbreak for iOS 7.1.x out of the blue last week, but until today it could only be used on Windows. Not only is there now an OS X version, but the interface has been rewritten in English.

Unless someone’s *ahem* Putin us on, this 18-carat gold plated iPhone 5s featuring the visage of Russia’s controversial president is currently selling for around $4,363.

Called the Caviar iPhone 5s Supremo Putin, it is the work of luxury jewellery house Perla Penna, and is available only in Russia.

In addition to an etching of Vladimir Putin, the phone case is accompanied by the Russian coat of arms, along with the first two lines of the Russian national anthem.