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News - page 534

Slickwraps Skins bring style to plain AirPods Pro

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Slickwraps Skins for AirPods Pro
Retro, snakeskin and camo are just a few of the Slickwraps Skins available for AirPods Pro.
Photo: Slickwraps

Although AirPods Pro still come only in white, users can add color with Slickwraps Skins. These are thin layers of vinyl that decorate not just the in-ear headphones but also the case, and there are dozens of options.

They’re available now for under $20.

The Morning Show blitzes viewers with Apple product placement

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The Morning Show blitzes viewers with Apple product placement
"How many times do you want us to reference Apple products in the show?" "Yes."
Photo: Apple

It was always going to be difficult for Apple to resist peppering Apple TV+ shows with Apple products. But even with that said, the amount of times Apple product placement pops up on The Morning Show surely sets some kind of record. It’s basically a 10-episode long Apple commercial.

Apple Store employee fired after stealing personal photo from customer’s iPhone

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Apple Store employee fired after stealing personal photo from customers' iPhone
Incident happened at Valley Plaza Mall Apple Store in California.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Apple has fired an Apple Store employee after they stole a personal photo from the iPhone of a customer.

The employee in question worked at the Valley Plaza Mall Apple Store in Bakersfield, CA. Apple has said the employee in question “acted far outside the strict privacy guidelines to which we hold all Apple employees”. They confirmed that the employee is no longer working for Apple.

You can shop inside WhatsApp, just in time for Black Friday

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shop-WhatsApp
Download the latest update to get started.
Photo: WhatsApp

WhatsApp today added the ability to shop without leaving the app — just in time for Black Friday.

Its new Catalogs feature provides virtual storefronts for small businesses. It lets them showcase their latest products, and it’s especially handy for those that don’t run their own websites.

Apple Watch now makes up almost half of all smartwatch shipments

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Apple Watch thieves arrested after owner 'pings' device during police search
Apple Watch has been a massive hit for Apple.
Photo: Lewis Wallace/Cult of Mac

Apple Watch continues to cement its position as the undisputed ruler of the smartwatch industry. According to new research from Strategy Analytics, overall smartwatch shipments grew 42% year-on-year in Q3 2019 to reach 14 million units. Of these, Apple Watch accounted for 6.8 million devices.

That means that approximately one out of every two smartwatches shipped in the quarter was an Apple Watch.

Catch our spoiler-free Apple TV+ show reviews, this week on The CultCast

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CultCast 413
Get our first (spoiler-free) impressions of Apple TV+ shows.
Photo: Apple

This week on The CultCast: We watched See, The Morning Show and For All Mankind — here are our spoiler-free snap reviews of Apple’s new TV shows! Plus: The one part of Apple TV+ that needs a total overhaul; and Apple’s HomePod update includes a new hidden talent.

Our thanks to NETGEAR for supporting this episode. The Orbi WiFi 6 router gives you ultra-fast speeds and wider coverage throughout your home — it’s the biggest revolution in Wi-Fi ever. Check it out today at your local Best Buy and at Netgear.com/bestwifi6.

Apple delves behind the scenes of See in new featurette

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Apple delves behind the scenes of See in new featurette
In a break from his usual casting, Jason Momoa plays a muscular man mountain in See.
Photo: Apple

How do you make something that’s exciting visually when it’s depicting a world populated by people who can’t see? That’s one of the challenges that the creators of Apple TV+ series See faced when developing the Apple Original show.

That question and a few others are answered in a new behind the scenes featurette Apple released Thursday.

T-Mobile makes 5G just $15 a month. Maybe.

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T-Mobile 5G service
T-Mobile 5G hits the airwaves next month, for way less that most people probably expected.
Photo: T-Mobile

When the 5G iPhone launches next year, it’ll be able to connect to the T-Mobile 5G network for as little as $15 a month. That’s half what the carrier currently charges for 4G service.

Dropping prices seems to part of T-Mobile working to convince skeptics that its merger with Sprint will be a big win for consumers. And that’s the ringer here: its new ultra-low cost plan is available only if the merger goes through.

macOS Catalina 10.15.2 goes into beta testing

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macOS Catalina 10.15.2 beta available for developers
Developers get their first taste of macOS Catalina 10.15.2 in beta form.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Testing for the next version of macOS just began. macOS Catalina 10.15.2 will replace a update that came out only a week ago, but Apple never really stops work on any of its operating systems.

All we know at this point is that the initial beta of this upcoming version makes a few tweaks to networking, but more significant changes are possible.

iOS 13.2.2 finally brings big memory bug fix

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iOS Apps Main
You should update your iPhone pronto.
Photo: Cult of Mac

iPhone and iPad owners received a critical software update this morning aimed at fixing one of the most annoying bugs in iOS 13.2.

iOS 13.2.2 and iPadOS 13.2.2 come just over a week after Apple released iOS 13.2, which contains a nasty memory bug that causes apps to quit unexpectedly in the background. The recent iOS 13.3 beta added a fix for the memory bug, but now everyone can enjoy the bug fix without having to install beta software.

EU eyes Apple Pay and its competitive edge

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Apple Pay on iPhone and Apple Watch
Apple Pay is the only NFC payment system allowed on iPhone. Is that anticompetitive, or Apple just being safe?
Screenshot: Apple

In August, EU antitrust investigators sent a questionnaire to banks and developers of rival payment systems about Apple Pay. They’ve gotten an earful, according to Margrethe Vestager, the EU Competition Commissioner.

Adobe chief defends Photoshop for iPad following poor reviews

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Photoshop-iPad
As the great D:Ream once sang, things can only get better.
Photo: Apple

It’s no secret that Photoshop for iPad is unfinished. A lot of fans have accepted that and are enjoying it for what it is. But others are not, and they’ve forced one Adobe chief to defend its current state.

Scott Belsky, the company’s chief product officer, took to Twitter this week to explain Adobe’s process — and to promise that Photoshop for iPad will get better.

Your amazing iPhone photos could win you a bar of gold

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first place, series, ippa
From the first-place winner in portrait series for 2019 on HIV positive youth called Young Survivors. This was shot on iPhone 8 in Kasese, Uganda.
Photo: Carol Allen Storey/iPhone Photography Awards

Do you have iPhone photos you’re proud of? They might be stunning enough to win you some Apple gear or a bar of gold.

The iPhone Photography Awards today announced a call for entries for consideration of its 13th contest.

Apple II screenshots required a whole lot of extra hardware

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Running Apple II programs on a Mac with an Apple IIe Card was pretty darn awesome.
Kids today don't know how lucky they are.
Photo: Microwavemont/YouTube

Taking a full-screen screenshot on a modern Mac or iPhone is just a matter of tapping a couple of buttons. But things used to be a whole lot more challenging, as longstanding Apple employee Chris Espinosa recently shared on Twitter.

Kids (and “how to” article writers) today don’t know how good they’ve got it!

Spanish Siri labels Bolivian president a ‘dictator’

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Spanish Siri labels Bolivian president a ‘dictator’
Siri's getting political. (Until Apple fixed it.)
Photo: Apple/Cult of Mac

Siri is in trouble again — or, at least, Siri’s Spanish-speaking cousin. According to a new report, the Spanish language version of Siri has been criticized for describing long-standing Bolivian president Evo Morales as a “dictator.”

Morales recently won a controversial fourth presidential term in Bolivia. However, thousands of citizens have marched across the country decrying voter fraud. It seems that Spanish language Siri was spiritually among them.

Supercell’s Rush Wars goes to the big App Store in the sky

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Supercell’s Rush Wars has gone to the big App Store in the sky
You really had to rush to play this one.
Photo: Supercell

It’s easy to look at games like Clash of Clans and think that, with the right marketing budget and remorseless pushing of in-app purchases, anyone could create a money-printing mobile game powerhouse. Sadly, that’s not the case — as the sad ballad of Rush Wars makes clear.

Developed by Supercell, the company behind Clash of Clans, the game has already been pulled by its creators. It never even had the chance to exit beta.

Qualcomm may have just hinted that 5G iPhones are coming in 2020

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2020 could be Apple's greatest year so far
Coming soon to a pocket near you. Hopefully.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Qualcomm CEO Steve Mollenkopf predicts 175 million to 225 million 5G handsets will be sold in 2020. The company is also expecting new flagship devices with its 5G chips to be made available for sale next fall.

While that’s far from a guarantee, the comments provide more (possible) clues that 2020 could be when we get the first 5G iPhones.

BritBox steps up fight against Apple TV+ with UK expansion

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BritBox
Enjoy BritBox today on iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV.
Photo: BritBox

BritBox has stepped up its fight against Apple TV+ and other streaming services by expanding its reach to the United Kingdom.

Priced at just £5.99 a month, the service offers an impressive catalog of content from leading British TV channels — including BBC, ITV, Channel 4, and Channel 5.

You can no longer downgrade from iOS 13.2 if you’ve already upgraded

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You can no longer downgrade from iOS 13.2 if you've already upgraded
Apple has stopped signing iOS 13.1.2 and 13.1.3 following the release of iOS 13.2.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

Following the release of iOS 13.2, Apple has stopped signing previous versions iOS 13.1.2 and 13.1.3. That means that it’s no longer possible to downgrade again from the latest version of iOS if you’ve already upgraded.

To paraphrase T-Bird in 1994’s The Crow, “This is the world of iOS 13.2. There ain’t no coming back.”