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Pricey AT&T TV service rolls out nationwide

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att
AT&T TV can be streamed from your iPhone.
Photo: AT&T

AT&T’s latest cable replacement for cord-cutters, AT&T TV, launched nationwide today, replacing the streaming service DirecTV Now.

The carrier is offering big discounts to customers that sign a 24-month contract for AT&T TV which allows you to stream live sports, news, shows, and on-demand titles for a monthly fee. The only problem is it might not be much cheaper than your old cable bill.

Apple spotlights female artists with 5,000 creative sessions

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Apple celebrates International Women’s Day
Apple celebrates International Women’s Day with a special Today at Apple Series in its retail stores.
Photo: Apple/Cult of Mac

Throughout March, select Apple Stores will host “She Creates” sessions led by women from across industries and mediums. This includes co-chair of the Women’s March Linda Sarsour, musicians Meghan Trainor and Victoria Monét, designer Carla Fernández, and many more.

Spotify wants labels to pay for playlist promos

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Spotify Premium update October 2018
Labels might start shelling out big bucks for more visibility on Spotify.
Photo: Spotify

Spotify is reportedly making a big push to get record labels to pay to promote artists’ music in its service as a new way to generate revenue.

Despite having nearly double the number of paid subscribers as Apple Music, Spotify still isn’t a profitable company and is looking to the music industry to help it create new revenue streams. Although the talks are still ongoing, you could soon see sponsored songs in your playlists and other areas of the app.

Apple may owe you $25 for throttling your iPhone

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jet black iphone 7 plus
The iPhone 7 is one of the device listed in the settlement.
Photo: Apple

Apple has reportedly reached an agreement to pay up to $500 million to settle a class-action lawsuit in which it was accused of secretly throttling iPhone CPU speeds.

According to Reuters Apple reached a preliminary agreement for the lawsuit on Friday night. U.S. District Judge Edward Davila still has to approve it, but if the settlement goes through, some U.S. iPhone owners could get paid $25 per iPhone that Apple throttle.

If you owned one of these iPhones covered in the lawsuit, a check might be coming your way:

Forget anagrams, Sticky Terms is a word puzzle game with a twist

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Word puzzle game
You're not just rearranging the letters here.
Photo: Sticky Terms

Want a text-based puzzle game that will stretch your brain, help you relax and, heck, maybe even teach you some new words? Sticky Terms is the game you’ve been searching for.

Created by 28-year-old iOS game developer Philipp Stollenmayer, it’s a playable head-scratching lexicon of words covering a wide array of languages. The game presents each word as a puzzle, torn into between two and five pieces. It’s up to you, the player, to arrange them into a completed word. No timers, failures or high scores apply.

And you know what? It’s kind of addictive.

Coronavirus could cause mobile device shipments to ‘plunge’ in Q1 2020

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16-MacBook-Pro
Notebook shipments could fall by as much as 36%.
Photo: Apple

Coronavirus will cause mobile device shipments to plummet during the first quarter of 2020, according to a new report.

Production at major manufacturing plants throughout China is said to be at “way below normal levels” this week after workers returned to their posts last month. Smartphone shipments could slip below 1.3 billion units for the year.

2 Apple suppliers allegedly used Uighur Muslim forced labor in China

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China’s population of 1.4 billion makes it a huge potential market for Apple.
Both companies have factories in China.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Two suppliers that make components for Apple in China employ forced labor, according to a report published Sunday. The Washington Post says BOE Technology Group, which supplies screens to Apple, and O-Film, which makes iPhone cameras, both use Uighur labor, either directly or through contractors. Apple lists both companies on its latest supplier list.

The report describes how the Chinese government detained more than 1 million ethnic Uighurs from China’s western Xinjiang region in reeducation camps. And it says evidence indicates that authorities “are moving Uighurs into government-directed labour around the country as part of the central government’s Xinjiang Aid initiative.”

Flagship iPhones get more expensive in Apple’s biggest untapped market

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Slickwrap iPhone 11Pro
Apple has ramped up prices of the iPhone in India. For some devices, at least.
Photo: Ian Fuchs/Cult of Mac

Apple has raised the price of several iPhone models — including the top-tier iPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max — yet again in India, risking denting sales in the country that were just starting to take off.

The price hike is just under 2%, making it smaller than the sizable iPhone price increase Apple introduced in India in 2018. It follows increased import duties announced during India’s Union Budget 2020.

iPhone camera module plant in South Korea closes due to coronavirus

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iPhone-11-Pro-cameras
LG Innotek makes camera modules for iPhones.
Photo: Apple

iPhone camera module supplier LG Innotek closed one of its South Korean factories over the weekend after a worker tested positive for coronavirus.

LG Innotek has long been part of Apple’s supply chain, supplying camera components for iPhones. This year, it is also expected to manufacture 3D Time of Flight (ToF) modules for Apple’s next generation iPads and iPhones.

FlashDock multiport hub also adds 2TB of MacBook storage

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Commotron FlashDock is on Kickstarter
FlashDock is small in size but big in storage capacity. And look at all those ports.
Photo: Commotron

FlashDock solves two limitations in Apple’s MacBooks. Not only does it bring an array of legacy ports to Apple laptops, this very portable USB-C hub includes up to 2TB of storage.

And it does so for less than the cost of building additional storage capacity into a macOS laptop.

Controversial Clearview AI iPhone app disabled for breaking App Store rules

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Clearview AI violated Apple’s terms of service.
Apple deliberately broke a facial-recognition iPhone app from Clearview AI.
Photo: Clearview AI/Cult of Mac

A facial-recognition application that has been the source of recent controversy has been taken offline by Apple. This came after a published report accused Clearview AI of evading the App Store by distributing its iPhone software to customers via tools that are only supposed to be used inside companies.

iPad trivia: 10 things you (probably) didn’t know [Cult of Mac Magazine 338]

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iPad trivia: 10 things you didn't know.
You think you know iPad?
Cover: Leander Kahney/Cult of Mac

It’s been a wild decade for the “Jesus tablet.” From colorful anecdotes to surprising stats, these 10 fast facts will cast the iPad in new light.

You can read our latest #10things list, “10 things you (probably) don’t know about the iPad,” in this week’s free Cult of Mac Magazine. It’s loaded with the latest Apple news stories, plus plenty of Mac and iOS how-tos and product reviews.

Finally, don’t miss your chance to get a limited-edition Cult of Mac Apple Watch band. They’re brand-new in the Cult of Mac Store, and they won’t last long.

Apple dives into ‘The Baker’ in latest Little America featurette

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Little-america
If you haven't watched Little America yet, you should.
Photo: Apple

Apple is back with another behind-the-scenes look at one of the episodes of its critically acclaimed show, Little America.

The iPhone-maker’s latest featurette focuses on the sixth episode in the series, “The Baker.” Interviews with show co-creator Lee Eisenberg, director Chioke Nassor and the episode’s lead actress Kemiyondo Coutinho are combined with shots of the production and other characters to add more context to one of the most intriguing episodes of the show.

Take a look:

10 things you (probably) don’t know about the iPad

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iPad trivia: 10 things you didn't know about iPad
You might think you know a lot about the iPad, but ...
Photo: Malvern Graphics/Cult of Mac

#10things bug While the iPad was arguably the purest distillation of Steve Jobs’ computing philosophy, even dyed-in-the-wool Apple fans don’t know everything about the revolutionary tablet.

Whether you’re an Apple newbie who’s just learning the differences between the iPad Air and the iPad Pro or a longtime fan who calls Cupertino products by their code names, there’s always a bit more to find out.

Here are 10 things you (probably) don’t know about the iPad.

Tim Cook takes wait-and-see attitude toward constantly changing coronavirus; ā€˜reason for optimism, but we’ll see’

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Apple CEO Tim Cook is optimistic about Apple’s future
CEO Tim Cook says ā€œApple is fundamentally strong.ā€
Photo: Fox Business

CEO Tim Cook promises Apple is fundamentally strong and will weather the problems resulting from the coronavirus spreading around the world. He says his focus isn’t on short-term changes in Apple’s share price, despite a recent significant drop.

In a wide-ranging interview with Fox Business recorded Thursday in Birmingham, Alabama, Cook also discussed whether his company will move more device production out of China, and his relationship with President Donald Trump.

Laurene Powell Jobs plans to give away her massive fortune

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Laurene Powell Jobs (center) at the Female Founders Conference 2016 in San Francisco.
Laurene Powell Jobs (center) at the Female Founders Conference 2016 in San Francisco.
Photo: Y Combinator/Flickr CC

Laurene Powell Jobs, the wife of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, sat down for an interview with the New York Times this week giving rare glimpses into the mind of the world’s 35th-richest person.

In the interview, Powell Jobs discusses her childhood in New Jersey as well as how her 22-years of marriage to Steve Jobs influenced her views. Perhaps the most interesting bit of the interview comes though when Powell Jobs hates on massively rich people, saying it’s dangerous for society.

Cops seize $80,000 in stolen iPhones during traffic stop in Illinois

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police lights for crime stories
A routine speeding stop led to a trove of hot iPhones.
Photo: Matty Ring/Wikimedia CC

Sheriff’s deputies in Illinois arrested four men after they found 55 stolen iPhones during a traffic stop near Galesburg.

The Knox County Sheriff’s Department later determined the phones were fraudulently purchased around the U.S. using stolen identities. Deputies estimated the value of the phones at $80.000.

Apple woos new generation of storytellers with anime ad for Japan

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anime
"Hey Siri, WTF are they saying?"
Photo: Apple

Apple created a special new ad for customers in Japan that highlights the different ways the Mac has been showcased on some of the most popular anime shows in the country.

Cut together with scenes from shows like Mr. Osomatsu, NEW GAME!!, your name., Weathering with You and more, the brilliant ad encourages anime fans to embrace their creativity and create a new generation of anime stories.

You’ve never seen an Apple ad like this:

Coronavirus fears erase 20% of Apple’s market cap

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Apple iMac showing the Apple logo.
Apple heavily relies on China where coronavirus has been most prevalent.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Coronavirus has hit Apple shares hard. Despite initially shrugging off the disruption of the outbreak, Apple is currently trading down more than 20% from its record record high.

That makes it one of the hardest hit stocks on the Dow Jones Industrial Average thanks to coronavirus.

Long-awaited Crossy Road follow-up comes to Apple Arcade

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Long-awaited Crossy Road sequel coming to Apple Arcade
It's like Frogger but set in a castle. And without the cars or frogs.
Photo: Hipster Whale

Crossy Road Castle, the long-awaited follow-up to Hipster Whale’s 2014 game Crossy Road, landed on Apple Arcade on Thursday.

The game takes the same updated Frogger concept that made the original such a hit, but swaps out the roads and cars for a procedurally generated endless castle tower the player must climb. Check out the trailer below:

Apple Music finally available inside Shazam on Android

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Apple-Music-Shazam-Android
Grab the latest update to get started.
Photo: Android Police

Shazam is finally offering Apple Music integration on Android, almost two years after the music identification service was acquired by Apple.

Users have the ability to identify songs and enjoy full versions of them using their Apple Music subscription. The feature comes with a beta tag for now, but works just as you would expect.