We think this is pretty cool — the iHome iDM15 ($99) is a set of Bluetooth-equipped stereo speakers that include a microphone so they can be used as a speakerphone.
We’re big fans of Belkin’s products, especially the fantastic N750 Dual-Band N+ Router and the Conserve Insight energy meter.
Now you can get these gadgets, and everything else Belkin makes, for 50% off using a simple coupon code.
Google has updated Google Chrome for Mac with support for features in OS X Lion, like full-screen mode and disappearing scrollbars. This specific release has been available to members of the browser’s developer channel since August, but Google has just now released it as a stable upgrade for everyone.
If you keep up to date on your Apple news, then you hear the numbers. Market share, market share, market share. It’s always about comparing Apple and Android’s dominance.
We’re all familiar with how the big players are doing in terms of market share. Companies like Google, Apple, Samsung, RIM, Nokia and HTC make the headlines every day. But what about the 36% of the mobile market that doesn’t get mentioned? That chunk of the cell phone space usually gets dubbed as the “other” part of your typical analyst graph. The graphs basically say, “Nothing to see here, move on.”
Just who are these no-name phone makers that are outselling all of the industry’s ‘top dogs’?
Well, that’s certainly interesting. Target has just declared the iPad 2 in its end-of-life. Interesting, because it implies that Apple’s about to release the iPad 3, but ultimately, more likely some database enterers wishful thinking or a screw up than anything else.
When the Mac App Store first came out, any app that you already had downloaded onto your machine outside of the App Store was reported as “Installed.”
Apple’s made a new change to the way the MAS handled things. Now, instead of previous apps being unavailable to purchase because they are already installed, you get a warning that asks you if you want to buy the software all over again.
I still wish Apple would figure out a way to at least give devs the option of porting over their existing customer bases to the Mac App Store, but I guess this is nice: at least it warns me if I’m about to buy the same app twice.
[via MacWorld]
One of the cool things about Apple’s new Thunderbolt I/O standard is its daisy chaining abilities. You can string one Thunderbolt device through another one to a single Thunderbolt port with no degradation in speed or quality.
So let’s say you’ve got Apple’s old 27-inch Cinema Display, the one that connects through Mini DisplayPort. You may have gotten the notion in your head when Apple started shipping out Thunderbolt versions of the Cinema Display of daisy chaining them together. After all, why not? Other Thunderbolt peripherals can handle a Mini DisplayPort monitor. 54 horizontal inches of muilti-display splendor should easily be at your fingertips!
Think again.
Cult of Mac Presents… “Jonny Ive And The Vinyl Wood Sticker.” A humorous play in one part by Mr. Giles Turnbull.
INT.DAY.
(Jonathan Ive’s secret underground lair. Prototype Apple products litter the desks – an iPhone 5, an iPhone 6, and an iPhone 7. Versions 3, 4 and 5 of the iPad. An iPad mini. An iPhone Pro. A MacPro nano. An AppleTV that’s actually a TV. A bunch of other things that don’t even have names yet. Most of these products are partly disassembled, with wires and circuit boards hanging out at odd angles. Between them are soldering irons, bits of wire, aluminum and duct tape.)
(Standing amid all the chaos, with shirtsleeves rolled up, a pencil behind his ear, and eye protectors pushed up on top of his head, is Jonathan Ive. He’s peering at the screen of a MacBook Air and frowning. He picks up the phone.)
IVE: Get me the Design Abuse Team. Now!
Too often, the image of older people and technology comes with seniors using bowling with the Wii, fumbling with web cams or being ripped off by Facebook scams. A new book about learning the iPad appears to feed into that misconception: use small words and speak very, very slowly.
Apple is trying to fast track the training of retail employees in the proper use of iOS 5 and iCloud ahead of their early October debuts, Cult of Mac has learned.
I liked this photo, which Sameli Kujala posted to the Cult of Mac Flickr pool.
On the right, Mac OS 8 on CD-ROM, packaged in its huge cardboard box. Vintage 1997 stuff. In the centre, today’s diminutive Lion USB stick – which you don’t even have to use if you download direct from the Mac App Store. And on the left, a bottle of champagne, adding suitably classy balance to the whole scene.
If you have a great photo of your smart Apple stuff – retro or modern or both together – and you’d like to share it with your fellow Cult of Mac readers, do send it in: [email protected]
(Photo used with permission. Thanks Sameli!)
The fallout from Apple’s lengthy battles with Samsung has started. The tech giant has inked a contract with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) to produce the A6 and successors. The move ends an exclusive deal with the Korean Samsung to produce chips for Apple’s iOS devices, according to a Friday report.
Developer Moritz Haarmann put together this neat experimental “fluid layout” concept for retail on the iPad.
The introduction of the Mac App Store earlier this year has seen a boost in big-name games coming to our Macs. Rockstar Games has re-released its awesome Grand Theft Auto titles, Aspyr brought us (but we didn’t want it!) Duke Nukem Forever, and now Feral Interactive is set to release Batman: Arkham Asylum on October 13.
The news just never seems to be good for RIM. Thursday, the Canadian company announced it sold just 200,000 PlayBook tablets during the last quarter. Today, an analyst predicts the iPhone 5 will “steamroll” RIM’s upcoming BlackBerry 7 smartphones.
If you’re unhappy that Apple is quashing your favorite MobileMe feature in the move over to iCloud, now is the time to do something about it. The Cupertino company has already stated that it will consider bringing features back to iCloud if enough people ask for them, and to help things along, Command Guru has started an iCloud Petition that allows you to vote to save your favorite MobileMe feature.
Apple fans hoping for an iPad 3 this year should just cool their jets, one analyst advises. There’s “no rush” to unveil a new version as rival devices stumble left and right. As Simon & Garfunkel might say: Slow down, you move too fast.
iPhone 4 bumpers. Sure, they look nice, but they don’t really protect your iPhone from damage and after the whole Antennagate, they’re cynically looked upon as bandaids for the antenna attenuation problem. Worse, at $29, they’re overpriced.
Well, say goodbye to bumpers comer the iPhone 5.
Apple’s recent firmware updates were famous for preparing the company’s latest Thunderbolt-equipped Macs for the upcoming Thunderbolt Display. However, they also enabled one feature than Apple didn’t tell you: SATA 6Gbps support.
Is RIM’s PlayBook the next HP TouchPad? That’s the thinking of some reading the BlackBerry maker’s news that it shipped just 200,000 of its tablets last quarter, less than half that shipped the previous financial three-month period. What’s worse: there are also PlayBooks unsold at retailers. Can anyone say price cuts are on the way?
Many of you will have a number of Apple IDs, especially if you’re a MobileMe subscriber. So when you login to iCloud, or Game Center, or the iTunes Store, or FaceTime, or iMessage… how do you know which one to use? Well, thankfully, Apple is working on Apple ID account merging that will turn all of your 30 Apple IDs into just one.
Sources have reportedly confirmed that there are indeed two new models of Apple’s iPhone on their way: one of which will be a cheaper version of the iPhone 4, and the other a fancy new iPhone 5. However, thanks to production delays with at least one assembler, the best one may not arrive until 2012.
I was just speaking with another reviewer here about how surprisingly common it is for manufacturers to copy each other’s designs. To ‘port an entire line of products, though, is a little more unusual: iHealth has just announced an app-enhanced digital scale, blood pressure monitor and baby monitor that mirrors Withings‘ entire lineup, gadget for gadget.
There’s no space the iPad hasn’t invaded — the kitchen in particular seems a favorite for me place for me to plop it down in. I’ll look up recipes, stream live TV news in the background while I’m cooking or kick back with the Grey Lady over breakfast.
But Apple’s probably going to void your warranty if they find egg yolk in the iPad’s innards. Never fear — Belkin has just announced a whole aisle’s worth of iPad accessories for the kitchen that’ll keep the iPad mess-free.
With rumor after rumor claiming that Sprint will carry Apple’s iPhone next month, many are wondering if the carrier can handle the expected influx of iPhone customers.
Without blatantly stating that it will carry the iPhone, Sprint has reaffirmed that it can in fact handle the traffic associated with iPhone users.