News - page 1397

It’s the 30th anniversary of the launch of the Macintosh, and we wondered at Cult of Mac what can we do to celebrate? Then we thought, let’s dissect an original Macintosh and see what made it tick! There’s nothing like destruction in the persuit of knowledge.

In full retro spirit, we asked our friends at iFixit if they would help perform a special anniversary teardown of the 128k Mac. How does our silicon hero compare to modern Macs in terms of components, assembly and ease of repair? Of course being true geeks themselves, they jumped at the chance.

There was only one problem: where to find an original 128k Mac.

Called 5by, StumbleUpon’s new iOS app is designed to let users, well, stumble upon videos that might be of interest to them.

5by is basically a video concierge service that sifts through the mountains of videos available online, and creates custom playlists based not just on your mood and interests, but also the time of day and the length of time you have available for viewing.

Whether you’re at work and want to watch videos on your lunch break, or looking for a dinner recipe while waiting for the bus, 5by can pull up relevant content.

The KLOQE is billed as “the iPhone case for those who don’t like iPhone cases.” As a vocal member of that group, I feel qualified to judge this case. But that;s not it. The KLOQE also promises to be the only aluminum iPhone case without reception issues. So let’s get that part out of the way first.

Love chess, but don’t have the time or the sticking power to play a whole game? Then you should probably take a look at the $1 Mate in 1 Puzzle app, newly updated for iOS 7 and ready to puzzle your brain with something a little more satisfying that an other round of QuizUp.

Audio accessory maker Zoom launched its iQ5 microphone this week — providing a nifty, Lightning-connected solution for users looking to record high quality audio with their iOS devices.

You know how you really, really love your significant other? And how you like to remind him/her of just how important they are to you by sending sweet little messages to them every day? Well, now there’s an app for that, letting even the most forgetful, self-centered idiot make himself look like the most romantic person in the world. Behold, Romantimatic, probably the first app ever to combine pink and cogs into a single logo.

Popular free iOS news app Newsy has gone universal.

The app — which delivers news through engaging video bites — first launched for iPhone and iPod touch in September 2009, with Newsy for iPad following in April the next year.

The Macintosh may be celebrating its thirtieth birthday today, but three decades on it’s no longer Apple’s flagship device — coming a distant third to the iPhone and iPad (although still ahead of iTunes — for now.)

But just how many Macs did Apple sell last year?

Combing through the data, Fortune created the above infographic, which shows the Mac’s fluctuating sales throughout 2013: starting off weakly in Q1 when a missed iMac deadline signaled the end of a 26-quarter streak in which Mac sales outpaced those of the PC industry. In all, Macs generated $21.5 billion for Apple in fiscal 2013 — representing one eighth of the company’s total revenue.

Dispatch is one of the greatest email apps for the iPhone (but sadly still not the iPad). It’s purpose is to let you power through your emails and whittle down your inbox in double-quick time. And the latest update adds some welcome streamlining.

I probably wouldn’t written anything about the new Netatmo Weather Station Channel on IFTTT, but then I saw one of the sample automatic actions that it can trigger, and figured I had to show you. Once set up, you can have IFTTT send a Twitter DM to your roommate when his music is too loud. Amazing.

Most of use post our crap onto Twitter, Flickr, Instagram or – ugh – the Facebook. But creative pros have their own social network. Behance is more than just a place to hang your latest photos, motion-graphics, fashion or branding design, though. It’s kind of a mix between an online resume and and portfolio, with plenty of concept ideas thrown in for good measure. And it’s also built into some Adobe apps: Lightroom lets you publish straight to Behance, for example.

Which is a long way of getting to the point. Behance v3.0 for iOS just launched, and it brings an updated look and new features.

Thirty years ago today — January 24, 1984 — the Apple Macintosh went on sale for the first time.

Arriving in stores two days after the SuperBowl airing of the famous “1984” television commercial directed by Ridley Scott, the Macintosh 128K forever changed the way people look at personal computers. It wasn’t Apple’s first mass market computer (that would have been the Apple II), it wasn’t the company’s first machine to use a WIMP interface (windows, icons, mouse pointer), and it was pretty underpowered in its first iteration — but this was the computer that brought everything that was good and innovative about the Apple brand together: the ease of use, the focus on personal creativity, and the idea that there was something better going on in computing than the green-text-on-black-screens that were more or less ubiquitous everywhere else.

Today Apple released a slew of updates to its iWork productivity suite. On the web, iWork for iCloud has received an iOS 7-like makeover in every aspect except the editing interface. Browsing for documents on iCloud.com now looks more like it does on iOS.

An emphasis has been placed on document sharing with a new “Shared with Me” menu in each app’s toolbar. You can also share password-protected documents, presentations, and spreadsheets.

Apple didn’t just update iWork’s web apps today. Several updates have been released on iOS and OS X as well.

Microsoft announced $24.52 billion in revenue the second quarter this year, showing gains across all segments of its consumer technology business, including Surface, Xbox, and Bing search.

As a previous heavy competitor and sometime collaborator with Apple, Microsoft hasn’t been doing as well in the post-PC era. It’s interesting that the company is defying expectations on the eve of CEO Steve Ballmer’s run at the company, with growth across the board, except in PC sales, of course.

We’ve gone on and on about the merits of Flowboard, a web-based platform that lets users easily create  media-rich stories or presentations and publish them onto its servers. Until now, the service has only been available as an iOS app — but that’s about to change, as a Flowboard authoring app hits the Mac this spring.

Thirty years ago, Apple Computer introduced Macintosh.

The computing universe was far different back then, and this groundbreaking little computer represented a major change from the status quo. Appealing to creativity and emotion, the Mac introduced the world at large to the Graphical User Interface, the mouse, and a computer that was friendly and non-intimidating. Many of those ideas became new industry paradigms and survive with us to this day.

Computers come and go, it’s a fast changing industry and the pace accelerates every year. But the Mac as a brand has survived 3 decades. This is notable for any product and unheard of for computers! Why, what’s so special? What’s the meaning of the Macintosh turning 30?

Hot Rod Hustle wants to bring bitcoin wagering to the Mac and PC, with real money betting available on iOS and Android. This is the first time we’ve heard of a racing game with available real-world money rewards on any platform.

All versions of Hot Rod Hustle will use the same servers, letting those on iOS play with those on Mac, for example. The Mac and PC version of Hot Rod Hustle will allow for Bitcoin wagering, while the mobile versions will use Skillz.com, an online wagering system, which is limited to 37 states as well as the UK and Scandanavia. The cross-platform compatibility means that you can build up your hot rod on your iPhone, then log in on your Mac and race for Bitcoins. Exciting!

It has been nearly two years since Apple has released a major update to its set-top box. And now a fourth-gen Apple TV could be announced as soon as March. Today a pair of reports from iLounge and 9to5Mac claim that a new Apple TV will be unveiled within the next couple months.

While the hardware probably won’t be that exciting, Apple is rumored to finally give the product’s software the overhaul it so desperately needs. Some kind of dedicated gaming experience may even be in the cards.

The iPhone 5c’s lifespan will be short-lived, according to a new report from The Wall Street Journal. Apple will reportedly discontinue the 5c this year and release two larger iPhone models.

The initial success of the iPhone 5c has been questioned amidst reports that Apple cut orders by as much as 35% shortly after releasing the phone last fall.

Rumors of larger iPhone designs have been swirling for months now, and the Journal is saying to expect screens larger than 4½ inches and 5 inches.

Update: A SteelSeries representative sent us the following in an email asking why the price had been reduced so soon after the initial release.

“The response of this product coming out of CES was incredibly positive, [but] the largest concern was with the price set at $99.99 MSRP. Our goal with the Stratus goes beyond just selling a controller; it’s really about helping to define a new platform. We want to see that succeed and took initiative immediately after CES to find ways where we could improve the odds of that success by lower[ing] the price. The outcome is that our team was able to work with our partners to bring the cost for the consumer down to $79.99.”

Original Post: Well, it looks like the price wars have begun in earnest. SteelSeries’ Stratus is now $79.99, instead of the $99.99 it launched for at CES. If you pre-ordered this at the older price, you’re in luck: SteelSeries will honor the new, lower cost for all pre-orders.

SwiftKey, the most popular third-party keyboard on Android, is coming to iOS through a new note-taking app called SwiftKey Note. A leaked promotional image for the app has been leaked on Twitter today, but it’s not yet clear when it will be available to download from the App Store.

External USB battery packs are a dime a dozen, and most of them look pretty similar. Why bother with one of those, though, when you can power your iPhone with Darth Vader’s fricking lightsaber?

What’s in an app name? That’s the question an developer had to ask himself after accidentally naming his app that was sexually suggestive enough that no one actually wanted to use it.

A new Apple patent application published today relates to iAd technology that will allow Apple to target users with specific content based on a person’s predicted mood, their likely interest level, other content they are currently interacting with, their current geographic location, and the time of day.

In some applications, mood would be gauged using a camera which, equipped with facial recognition algorithms, would be able to measure specific expressions.

One month after its launch in the App Store, Codeacademy: Hour of Code has gone universal — being optimized for iPad and iPad mini, as well as iPhone and iPod touch.