News - page 1844

Valve co-founder Gabe Newell recently addressed the rumor that Apple CEO Tim Cook visited his company last week in an interview with Seven Day Cooldown. Newell flat out denied the rumor, originally published by AppleInsider, that Tim Cook visited Valve HQ.

Cult of Mac originally added to the rumor by saying that Apple could have been meeting with Valve because Apple is working on its own type of gaming console for the living room, and was potentially looking for partnering with Valve.

While it’s been revealed that Cook did not in fact visit Valve, our sources have again reiterated that Apple is absolutely continuing with its plans for a living room gaming presence regardless of Valve involvement.

Many have speculated that Apple’s next iPhone will have lightning fast LTE ‘4G’ networking speeds. Chipset maker Qualcomm has been experiencing incredible demand for its next generation  28-nanometer LTE chips, and industry watchers are saying that device markers are having to adjust their LTE product roadmaps accordingly for 2012.

This news could be a factor in why Apple’s sixth-gen iPhone probably won’t hit the shelves this summer if it does indeed come with LTE. Instead, analysts are predicting an October rollout, mimicking the iPhone 4S launch just last year.

Puerto Rico based iGenApps showed off its signature service at the DEMO Spring event in silicon valley this week. iGenApps offers the ability to create iOS and other mobile apps with no programming knowledge and just a basic working knowledge of HTML. The service is centered around web app development, but the company claims a premium service will turn web apps into native apps for a price.

We’ve already told you about JailbreakCon, the world’s first jailbreak convention. The event will be held in the United States this September in sunny San Francisco, California. Tickets are on sale now, and we hope to see many Cult of Mac readers there this fall.

Holy crap. Check out this amazing custom iPad cover Redditor 44 Oz. had made for him by Australian-based leatherworking firm High On Glue, made with premium leather, suede lining, a kangaroo leather spine and embossed with the original Apple logo designed by Ron Wayne back in 1976, featuring Sir Isaac Newton resting under an Apple tree.

I don’t usually like folio-style cases, but I’m sliming myself with thick ropes of drool here. Covetous ropes of drool. This is a thing of beauty. Beat the rush and go give High On Glue your business, they’re going to be backed-up for months after this case goes viral.

More images below.

It’s been a busy day for photo sharing community 500px. They managed to launch a major update to their iPad app as well as release their first ever Android app. While Instagram is all the rage these days and has amateur mobile photographers giddy inside, 500px is a photo community built around passionate photographers and enthusiasts who discover, publish, share, buy and sell thousands of photographs every day. You won’t be snapping pictures with this app but you have the opportunity to:

When people ask why Apple doesn’t make its iPads in America, the usual explanation is that labor costs are so high, there’s no way an iPad could be made in the country for less than $1000. That answer has always lacked weight, as the manual labor of constructing an iPad is actually a very small portion of its overall build cost: building an iPad in America would cut down margins, but not double the price.

No, there’s a better reason why every iPad gets made in China, and you can find it on your local periodic table. Every iPad is made with a sizable number of rare earth metals… all of which can only be mined in China.

Mobile app management company Apperian announced two new features for companies looking to expand the use of iOS, Android, and BlackBerry apps as part of an overall mobile strategy. One feature aims to connect end  users within a company with IT staff and developers for collaboration on new and existing apps. The other is designed to give employees an easy way to rate and comment on apps already in use.

Apperian provides app management and deployment services for business and enterprise customers. The company’s EASE platform allows IT to create internal app stores showcasing both internal apps and public apps that are available through the iOS App Store. The company also provides a range of related services including the ability to push out apps and updates to devices over the air.

The iPhone and iPad are great mobile work solutions for many professions and IT is no exception. With the right collection of apps, virtually every IT job role can become mobile. Systems administrators, user interface designers, and even help desk agents can use their iOS devices to keep tabs on the technologies that they manage and resolve problem at any time from almost anyplace.

IT tools for iOS cover a wide range of ground from basic remote access to network diagramming. Here are a set of tools that no IT department should be without.

Continuing with their 12 city rollout, AT&T has added three new cities to the LTE club today. Those living in Akron, Ohio; Canton, Ohio; and Lafayette, Ind will now be able to take advantage of the fantastic speeds LTE has to offer. While AT&T doesn’t come close to having the LTE coverage that Verizon does, they certainly have the speed — as shown by PC World’s independent testing.

There are few photo editing apps on for the iPad that are as versitle and easy to use as Snapseed while also giving users some great tools to make photos look better. It’s the best photo editting app on the iPad, but earlier today Snapseed released a new update for the app that makes it even better.

The Flashback trojan has been making the news after it was discovered that 600,000 Macs had been infected with the malware. Apple released security patches to combat the update, and a recent update from Norton Symantec indicated that the number of infected Macs dropped to 140,000 4 days later.

Now another statement from Russian security firm Kaspersky reveals that the number of infected Macs has plummeted to 30,000. According to Kaspersky, Mac users should start being more wary of malware when surfing the web.

When traveling, I achieve tangle-free gadget nirvana with Griffin’s stubby little USB cables, a set of short, stiff connectors which are impossible to tie a knot in, let alone get twisted up with each other. But Aviiq’s new Ready Clips (slogan: “They bend over backwards for you”) go one better. Not only are they stiff yet pliable, they also have a built-in clip for securing them into a pocket.

Apple’s operating systems and its software are generally believed to be the best available in terms of security and stability, but a new report from Trend Micro reveals that’s a huge misconception… at least in recent months. In fact, the Cupertino company suffered more vulnerabilities during the last quarter than rivals like Oracle, Google, Adobe, and even Microsoft.

This is the default signature on AT&T’s new Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket. Sorry. Rather, what I meant to say was, this is the default signature on the Samsung Galaxy SS™ II Skyrocket™, an AT&T^:P 4G^ℌ LTE^℞ smartphone^℃!!!!!!

[via Daring Fireball and Jason Prell]

Even though I’m on a computer like 10 hours a day, I still suck at a lot of computer things. Like making a resume that looks worthy of distribution. Apple’s Pages app is one of the best word-processing tools available, but people like me need some extra help to make high quality documents without the fuss of complicated interfaces. The guys at Emendo Media saw that problem and have come out with an awesome new app to help iOS users create gorgeous, well designed documents through Pages using their iOS app Templates For Pages Pro.

Templates for Pages Pro is the best way to create professional looking, high quality and polished documents with Apple’s Pages application on your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch. With more than 222 different templates divided into 20 different categories, the app significantly expands the possibilities of Pages creating all kinds of trendy, functional, and time-saving documents. The app makes it super easy to create letterheads, invoices, resumes, coupons, newsletters, flyers, and so much more that look like they were touched by a professional designer.

Today, we’ve partnered up with Emendo Media to give 10 free copies of their amazing app to our readers. Even if you don’t use Pages a ton, you’ll want to keep this app in your back pocket for those times that you do. Entering the contest is easy, but you have to play to win.

Here’s How To Enter:

Recosoft announced today the latest version of its PDF2Office Professional tool. The software, which allows users to convert PDF files into Microsoft Office documents while maintaining the layout and formatting or the original non-editable file.

PDF2Office Professional is one of several file conversion tools that the company offers. The lineup also includes tools for converting PDF files into iWork documents or Adobe In Design files as well as a tool for converting In Design projects into Office documents.

Alfred users, the time to customize your digital assistant has finally come, with the launch of the web-based Alfred Theme Builder.

During its quarterly earnings call today, Verizon CFO Andrew Davies revealed to investors that the carrier will be introducing data sharing plans this summer, allowing your whole family to share one data plan for all of the devices in your home.

Gone are the days of walking into a bank with your passbook and having your deposit stamped and recorded. Technology and the advent of online banking has eliminated the need to shuffle through the mouse maze line of your local banking institution and has replaced our favorite smiling teller with bright LED screens and Helvetica font. Online banking is a major convenience that saves us time and allows us to stay in our pajamas that much longer.

There have been rumors circulating for some time about Google releasing its own cloud storage service. According to reports, the service is on the verge of release a launch expected next week. Google’s service will enter a crowded market of cloud providers that includes Apple’s iCloud, Box with its new OneCloud feature, and the popular Dropbox.

Public cloud services like these tend to concern business and IT leaders because of the ease with which data migrates out of the office when they’re widely used. A Google service is likely to engender even more privacy and confidentiality issues on the part of businesses – and for good reasons that should concern anyone considering using it.

Speaking of Wi-Fi connected cameras, Samsung’s entire new range of NX mirrorless cameras has Wi-Fi inside. This is an improvement on Nikon’s new D3200 – also announced today – which requires an awkward dongle to do the same trick.

There are three new models, the NX20 and NX210, which replace last-year’s NX10 and NX200. There is also the brand-new entry level NX1000. All share the same 20MP sensor as the old NX200.

A Steve Jobs tribute image that rapidly went viral shortly after Jobs passed away last October has earned one 20-year-old student a job with Coca-Cola. Jonathan Mak, who lives in Hong Kong, was recruited by the beverage giant to design posters for its latest advertising campaign.

One of the challenges when traveling internationally with iPhone or iPad is handling data roaming. There are two reasons that it’s incredibly easy to end up with a large bill when traveling for work or vacation.

One reason is that iOS features and apps can use data without you realizing it (iCloud’s Photostream feature being a great example) – to avoid such issues, you can disable data roaming in the iOS Settings app. The second reason is that the costs associated with international data roaming are rarely spelled out well by carriers.

At least one carrier is hoping to change that. This week Verizon announced that it will be offering customers a new set of international data plans intended to make managing data roaming easier to understand and track.

Rush Limbaugh’s iPhone 4S has been hacked. Maybe it’s Obama, maybe it’s those pesky Anonymous guys, or even that teenager down the street who just wants the lulz, but one thing for certain is that Rush Limbaugh, one of America’s most polarizing political figures, had some crazy stuff happen to him while using Siri on his drive to work this week, and he thinks the main culprit is Obama’s minions trying to give him the spooks.

I wish we were creative enough to make this up, but it’s a “true” story…. if by true, you mean that Rush Limbaugh actually said something this wacky. On his show earlier this week Rush told his listeners how he was using Siri on his way to work, per usual, when he started getting some crazy replies from Apple’s virtual assistant, including this winner: “Obama’s minions are taking over and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

The entire story is pretty hilarious well worth the read, and we got the full transcript after the break.