Katy McCaffrey had her iPhone stolen on a cruise ship last month. She had lost hope in recovering her smartphone, but then photos started showing up in her Photo Stream. The handy iCloud service automatically uploads photos taken on an iOS device to a feed that can be viewed on other authenticated devices.
Thanks to Photo Stream, McCaffrey got a look into the world of the man who stole her iPhone.
Apple’s World Wide Developer Conference is right around the corner, and on our latest CultCast, we’ll tell you why you need to hold off on your Macbook or iMac purchase for just a little longer — it’s going to be worth the wait!
And then, we answer all our your queries on our brand new listener questions segment.
All that and more on The CultCast! Subscribe now on iTunes and read on for our show notes.
In yesterday’s minor bugfix update, Instapaper developer Marco Arment posted this fantastic personal note, thanking users for allowing him to work from home and spend time with his wife and newborn baby. Could there be a better reason to subscribe to Instapaper, or for that matter, support your favorite app developers?
May is Mobile Management Month at Cult of Mac, where we will be profiling a different mobile management company every weekday. You can find all previous entries here and read our Mobile Management manifesto here.
Zenprise focuses on the complete lifecycle management of mobile devices in enterprise environments. The company provides the core set of device and app management needs and offers integration with enterprise systems. Zenprise puts a particular emphasis mobile device inventory for both company-owned and BYOD devices.
The “most delicious social network app” DishPal, is celebrating this Memorial Day by giving away a $100 Crate and Barrel gift card to three lucky users who upload and share their favorite Memorial Day dish. To be entered for your chance to win, all you have to do is:
Today, independent video chat provider ooVoo, announced a significant update across multiple platforms as well as adding a new Facebook application. ooVoo allows users to HD video chat, text, or make phone calls with up to 12 friends across Android, iPhone, PC, Mac and now also on Facebook. According to Yuval Baharav, Chief Executive Officer, today’s release was a direct result of their over 46 million users:
We told you over the weekend that the untethered jailbreak for iOS devices running iOS 5.1.1 is dropping this week. The hacker who’s been spearheading the upcoming jailbreak, pod2g of the Chronic Dev Team, confirmed that the jailbreak was nearly done and arriving in a “matter of days.”
Coincidentally, the Chronic Dev Team will be presenting at the annual Hack in the Box (HITB) conference this week in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Since the 5.1.1. jailbreak is expected to drop this week, we’re placing bets on a release this Friday during the team’s keynote.
If you’re looking for another alternative to sharing media content and making free phone calls over WiFi, you might want to check out Sidecar for Android and iOS. The recently released app allows users a plethora of sharing options as long as all recepients have the app installed. If you try to make a call to someone who doesn’t yet have the app, it will send them a text message asking them to check out the app. Features of Sidecar include
Apple has been a major force in the BYOD movement. You can even argue that Apple ignited the BYOD flame with the release of the iPhone and iPad. While there have a number of studies looking at how companies in the U.S. are reacting to the trend, numbers haven’t readily been available from other markets.
That changed today with a new study that looks at BYOD in EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa) business and institutions. The results show Apple devices as a clear preference in these markets, somewhat more limited BYOD adoption, and many of the same security concerns discussed by U.S. firms.
Apple’s retail stores are among the most profitable in the world, and their success is largely due to the former head of Apple retail, Ron Johnson. Steve Jobs hired Johnson a decade ago to help get the company’s retail division off the ground, and Johnson turned Apple retail into a wildly successful division before leaving to become CEO of JC Penny last year.
Many have heard stories of Johnson and his responsibility in creating the Apple Stores we know and love today. There was, however, another person at Apple who made a profound impact in the early days of the Apple Store.
Zipcar was one of the first companies to showcase the potential of iOS apps using location services. The company’s demo during Apple’s 2009 WWDC keynote was one of early harbingers of the ways that mobile devices and data have become integrated with our daily lives. Zipcar continues to have its finger on the pulse of what’s possible when local services are transformed by iOS and other mobile platforms.
Speaking today at the MIT Sloan CIO Symposium, Zipcar CEO Scott Griffith spoke about how quickly smartphone apps revolutionized Zipcar and the ways it interacts with its customers and offered insights into the company’s success.
Do you know how much sweat, blood, and tears went into making your beautiful aluminum iMac? Trust us, it wasn’t easy. Five tiny construction workers risked life and limb in some Foxconn factory far away to assemble your sweet little machine, just so you could watch cute cat videos on that gorgeous 27inch screen.
Ok, maybe that’s not how it really got assembled, but we love these images from Mathieu Schatzler, who imagines what it would be like if Liliputian men constructed each iMac individually. I wonder if they fight over who has to clean the display.
Have you ever wondered how your iPhone knows up from down, or when you’re shaking it? It’s all because of the tiny accelerometer chip inside the device, but how does it work? It’s not like the iPhone’s got a metal ball bearing rolling between two points in there, so what gives?
As it turns out, there’s actually a lot of crazy cool tech in there.
Pentax new K30 SLR might be just the camera for you if you a) have a collection of K-mount lenses knocking around and b) you like to knock your camera around. The headlines: The K30 is a tough, weatherproof DSLR with a 16MP APS-C sensor, a top shutter speed of 1/6000sec, 1080p video (at 24p and 30p) and a maximum ISO of 25,600.
Recently, we’ve done a couple of features on the core tools and skills needed by IT professionals who support and manage Macs and iOS devices in business environments. Knowing what those tools and skills you need is a step in the direction to becoming a killer Mac tech or multi-platform sysadmin, but to really succeed, you need to acquire those skills and learn how to use the appropriate tools.
There are a range of training options available with price points ranging from free online resources to professional IT training companies and Apple-authorized training centers. Which options (or mix of options) are best for you will vary depending on your learning style, the skills and experience that you already possess, and your budget.
In this feature, we’re going to focus on some of the best low-cost (and no-cost) options out there.
The Rockstar Consortium made headlines when the group won a bidding war for the patent portfolio of one-time communications giant Nortel. Aside from getting a green light for the purchase from the Department of Justice, Rockstar hasn’t really made headlines since it won the patents.
Rockstar may be keeping a low profile right now, but the company is well armed and will play a massive role in the mobile technology patent battles echoing around the world. In fact, the company may very well have been a secret weapon in Steve Jobs’ plan to “go thermonuclear” in Apple’s battle against Android.
It’s looking increasingly likely that when Tim Cook takes the stage at the annual WWDC keynote on June 11th, Apple will announce new MacBook Pros and possibly iMacs, and if the rumor mill is to be believed, these new machines won’t just be slimmer and ditch their optical drives… they’ll be the first Macs with Retina displays.
What everyone widely expects from Retina display Macs is an iPhone or iPad-style resolution doubling. So if the current 15-inch MacBook Pro has a 1,440 x 900 display, the Retina 15-inch MBP would have a 2,880 x 1800 display.
What the rumor mill is missing is that there’s no benefit to Apple handling a jump to Retina display Macs this way. The reason the iPad and iPhone going Retina was such a big deal was because they had really pixellated displays. Before the iPhone 4, the iPhone had a display that was only 53% close to being Retina. The iPad was slightly better, at 61%. Roughly, both the iPad and iPhone were only about halfway there, which made the easiest fix to just double the amount of pixels per inch.
But Apple doesn’t need to do this with its line of Macs. In fact, it’s likely that most “Retina Quality” Macs will have fewer pixels than your new iPad. Here’s why.
Sprint has nixed its 5GB/$29.99 mobile hotspot add-on for mobile phones and tablets in favor of a two-tier system. Sprint customers will now have a choice between a 2GB/$19.99 a month plan or 6GB/$49.99 a month plan. These new offerings should give customers more choice to better fit their mobile hotspot needs. Customers can also enroll in Sprint’s MHS notification program to be notified when they reach 75, 90 and 100 percent of their on-network monthly data limit.
There’s no denying that Apple’s App Store is the best source for smartphone and tablet apps, and it’s one of the biggest reasons why users continue to purchase iOS devices. But it does have its flaws, among them the select few developers who find it much easier to shamelessly clone existing apps rather than creating their own.
The latest is a word processor called Writing, which is identical to the wonderful iA Writer.
One thing that frequently keeps me awake at night is the worry that my digital devices won’t survive the next ice age. But the guys over at ZooGue have proven that Apple’s latest iPad can be frozen deep within a block of ice without losing any of its functionality. Just be sure you wrap a sandwich bag around it first.
Proview’s legal battle against Apple over the use of the “iPad” trademark continues to drag on, but things haven’t quite gone to plan for the Chinese company. A Hong Kong court has sided with Apple and agreed that some of Proview’s evidence should be excluded from the case after it failed to comply with the court’s instructions.
With Apple’s sixth-generation iPhone set to make its debut this year, there’s no doubt the company has a number of prototype devices — all with different designs and specifications — in testing within its Cupertino headquarters. One of those handsets is said to feature a 3.95-inch widescreen display with a 640 x 1136 resolution that’s taller than all the existing 3.5-inch iPhone displays we’ve seen to date.
Using your iPad on a plane or a train can be a frustrating experience, especially if you’re attempting to use a wireless keyboard at the same time. But the Arctic Flight is a new Kickstarter project that hopes to change that. It’s a lightweight case and stand that’s fully adjustable and designed specifically for use in flight.
It fits perfectly onto those tiny pull-down trays, and it has one novel feature than means you’ll never have to hold onto your iPad through a whole movie again.
Tired of connecting and disconnecting a ton of cords and peripherals to and from your MacBook Pro? Product developer Veritas Forge certainly was, but unlike me (or you, most likely), these guys actually went ahead and invented something to solve their issues.
Elgato has announced Game Capture HD, a USB device that will record gameplay from a Microsoft Xbox 360 or Sony PlayStation 3 and send it to a Mac or PC. The little dongle requires no power supply, and it uses HDMI to record HD footage from a Xbox 360 and AV to record from a PlayStation 3. Elgato uses H.264 video compression to capture 480i, 576p, 720p or 1080i video. Theoretically, Game Capture HD will also work to capture most signals from other HDMI/component-enabled devices.
When capturing gameplay footage with the new device, you can still keep playing on a regular TV via HDMI. The desktop software allows you to edit and timeshift footage before saving it or sharing the video on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.