Stare deeply into the crystal ball ...
We get slammed 24/7 with new Apple rumors. Some are accurate, most are not. To give you a clue about what’s really coming out of Cupertino in the future, we’re busting out our rumor debunker each week to blow up the nonsense.
As another week passes your host Joshua Smith is here to give you a wrap-up on some of the latest and biggest news features. The return of cassettes, iPhone 6 release dates and Flappy Bird 2 are among just some of the featured stories in today’s rundown. Take a look at the video and be sure to return next week for another.
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From 1993 until 1997, Apple’s rainbow logo smiled down from the east-facing side of Infinite Loop’s Building 3 as drivers sped north on Highway 280.
Now these Styrofoam and fiberglass signs are treated like fine art being peddled by one of the world’s oldest and most prestigious auctioneers.
Two rainbow Apple logos from the company’s original offices will be put up for auction next month at Bonhams and even though they come with some wear and tear, these Apple logos will cost you more than all your previous Apple purchases combined.
Apple and Google are bringing out the white flags. A landmark decision has been reached between the two Silicon Valley giants to drop their patent lawsuits against each other, specifically with regards to Google’s Motorola Mobility.
Google has bought Quest Visual, the company behind the popular Word Lens translation app.
Apple’s most recent iPhone 5s ad featured Word Lens, and rightfully so; it’s one of the most magical tools you’ll ever use on a smartphone. The app works by instantly translating text in different languages seen through the iPhone’s camera. It’s an astounding piece of technology, and it will now be incorporated into Google Translate.
The good news is that now is the best time to download Word Lens, because its creators have made all of its language packs free for a limited time.
Beats Electronics’ co-founders are preparing to dive headfirst into a pool of cool Apple cash but before Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre collect their check from Cupertino, a former employee is already preparing to sue Beats for upwards of $20 million.
David Hyman, co-founder of the music subscription service MOG, has filed a lawsuit against Beats claiming he was hired and then deliberately fired before he could cash in on the equity grant he was promised.
Which ones made the grade? Check put the gallery above to find out.
The majority of people who upgraded to OS X 10.9.3 yesterday noticed what seemed to be a strange glitch, in the form of their /Users and /Users/Shared folders disappearing. In fact, the fault doesn’t have to do with 10.9.3 at all, but rather occurs if you’ve updated to iTunes 11.2 and also have Find My Mac enabled.
Fortunately, there’s a workaround.
A former iPhone owner is suing Apple in San Jose court over Apple’s Message app not delivering texts to Android phones. The issue has plagued iMessage since its inception, but it is just recently starting to get attention.
This video by game video YouTube user NicksplosionFX is perhaps the most awesome thing you’re going to see all day.
It’s a shot by shot recreation of the stunningly fantastic Game of Thrones television show introduction sequence done in the style of Nintendo’s classic Super Mario Brothers video game.
Whether your a Game of Thrones fan, a classic Nintendo nerd, or a combination of the two, you’ll love that the video maker also has a side by side comparison of the two videos (below) so you can critique his recreation with all your righteous nerd fervor.
Dr. Dre has been busy celebrating the Beats acquisition with fountains of Hennessy but the world’s favorite hip-hop producer isn’t the only musician who stands to make a fortune off Apple’s big purchase.
Enter William Adams. You probably know him by his stage name, Will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas. He’s been pimping the Beats brand since day one and for his loyalty he’s been blessed with founding shares in the company that stand to make him more money than he ever saw from his Grammy-winning song, “I Gotta Feeling.”
Someone in global ad agency Oglivy & Mather is clearly thinking different (read: not really thinking at all) because they’ve featured Steve Jobs as one of the historical figures in a bizarre, and bafflingly offensive, ad campaign for Indian mattress company Kurl-On.
The theme of the ads is the idea of bouncing back (because, you know, mattresses have bounce in them) with famous people shown recovering from low points in their life to “bounce back” to greater levels of success. Jobs’ own advert shows him being booted out of Apple in 1985, only to return to glory as the creator of the iPad.
The rumor: Images of an alleged "iPad Pro" rear shell land on Chinese website Weibo, adding to speculation that Apple is prepping a 12.9-inch slate.
The verdict: There's no way the Weibo image is a genuine Apple product. At best it's a dummy part based on assumed specs; at worst it's just a Photoshop job.
A metallic back for what appears to be a larger ‘iPad Pro’ has been posted on the Chinese forum Weibo. The part looks to be for an unreleased 12.9-inch model, and the same person has also shared images of an iPhone 6 dummy that matches previous leaks.
Apple manufacturing partner Foxconn has shut down its operations in Vietnam for three days as a result of anti-China protests over oil drilling.
China recently began drilling for oil near to the Paracel Islands in the South China Sea. The problem? While the islands are controlled by the People’s Republic of China, they’re claimed by both Vietnam and Taiwan. The disputed ownership has prompted protesters in Vietnam to ransack factories near to Ho Chi Minh City.
I have a personal Instagram filter that protects my eyes from all the cute pet pictures. But now and then, a dog or cat slips through. One pretty pooch in particular — an Alaskan husky with arresting, ice-blue eyes — has me looking forward to her daily adventures in rural New Hampshire.
Stare into the eyes of Bella, and you’ll get a glimpse into the heart of her owner, photojournalist Cheryl Senter.
“There is total love in every image that I take of her,” Senter told Cult of Mac.
Designer Chris Weir is dismissive of products that take a Swiss Army knife approach to features. He thinks a speaker should be a speaker — and nothing else.
“It’s a speaker, not a speakerphone,” he says.
He’s talking about his Packable Wireless Speaker System, a diminutive Bluetooth speaker he designed for Grain Audio, a hot audio startup. Weir resisted all temptation to add a microphone (for phone calls) or the ability to charge phones from its internal battery. It’s just a speaker, and a surprisingly good one at that.
In a market crowded with dozens of unexceptional, me-too products, Grain Audio stands out. Not only are all of its products made of wood (solid walnut, not wood veneer), Grain’s products do one thing, and one thing well: Pump out sound.
With summer coming up, it’s the perfect time to start planning your vacation. As a result it’s also the perfect time to download Kayak Pro, the smart hotel, flight, and car search and booking app.
This iOS app makes everything from booking flights to accommodation a straightforward, hassle-free task, with hundreds of available options and a ton of smart in-app features. These include a fight tracker to check that your flight is on time, price alerts regarding cheap destination tickets, and even maps to help you find your way around airport terminals.
Bullish billionaire activist-investor Carl Icahn recently ramped up his stake in Apple to the tune of 2.8 million shares — bringing his total stake in the company to a little over $4.4 billion.
Icahn’s position was revealed in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing on Thursday, showing how Icahn now owns more than 7.5 million AAPL shares. The buy took place during the March period, which preceded Apple’s announcement of the 7-to-1 stock split and share repurchase program.
iOS devices have made tools like video editing more accessible for the general public, but they’re increasingly being used by the pros too.
Car maker Bentley’s latest ad, called “Intelligent Details,” was shot and edited using only an iPhone 5s (for filming), iPad Air (for stitching it all together) and handheld of accessories — including iPhones lenses and mounts.
The use of the iMovie iOS software meant that filmmakers were able to carry out the majority of the editing work from the back seat of their car.
If you’re anything like me, you’re constantly shuffling around town (or around the country) with bits. No, not those bits; you know the ones I’m talking about: pens, cables, more pens, headphones, USB sticks, pocket knives and pens. They get shoved into a small pocket in a bag, where they sit, unharmonious and disorganized, until I fumble around for them.
David and Calvin Laituri of design outfit Onehundred have a better way. The father-son team have come up with Ledr, a leather strip that organizes all that stuff and rolls it up into a compact toolkit.
You’ve probably noticed Booq’s odd penchant for naming their strange, sophisticated baggage after snakes. And if you’ve really been paying attention, you’ll have noticed variations on one species crop up over and over again: The Booq Boa.
The Boa’s DNA has mutated into a variety of different forms, all with the purpose of carrying a MacBook and associated equipment. But the newest iteration, the Boa Flow Graphite, may be the most perfect yet — especially for those of us who lug a MacBook and DSLR on adventures.
Barry Allen, also known as The Flash, gets his own TV show this fall on the CW, the network that brought you Smallville for ten years.
In this extended trailer (below), we get to see the fastest man alive’s origin, which in this version seems to be a combination of getting hit by lightning and being doused in some weird green chemicals.
While the exciting superhero scenes in the trailer below are probably culled from the best bits of the show, which will may more likely consist of mostly long, lingering looks and beautiful people in soft lighting, we have to say we’re pretty excited to see the return of the DC speedster to the small screen, even if his costume looks a bit silly.
There are few companies you can trust with your private data ever since the revelations leaked by Edward Snowden shook the tech world last year, but according to the latest report from the Electronic Frontier Foundation, our iPhone-making friends in Cupertino have gone from being a privacy chump to the people’s champ in just a year.
Dong Nguygen struck App Store gold when Flappy Bird became the viral video game hit of the year in early 2014, but after seeing the addicting affects of flapping it first hand, Nguyen says he’s working on a new game that doesn’t involve feathery friends, green pipes or repetitive deaths.
Nguygen took to Twitter this afternoon to give fans a preview of his next his next addicting game by posting a screenshot showing a small helmeted man jumping between two buildings; simple, clean, and probably just as addictive as his original hit.
The FIFA World Cup 2014 is set to get underway in Brazil in less than a month which will bring four years worth of soccer football promotions packed into a month of kicking, grass stains and sweat to your TV.
Giraffas, a one of the largest restaurant chains in Brazil, may have already scored the coolest cross promotion with their clever iOS app that turns your greasy tray of fastfood into a tiny soccer shootout game.
Check out how it works in the video below:
Along with the OS X Mavericks update it released this morning, Apple also published a new version of iTunes that will make sure you never miss an episode of your favorite podcast again.
iTunes 11.2 adds a couple of improvements to the Podcast section of iTunes that make browsing between subscribed podcasts easier by showing you which episodes you haven’t listened to, thanks to a new Unplayed tab.