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News - page 596

You can now preorder the amazing Dead Cells on iOS

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Dead Cells
Excited yet?
Photo: Motion Twin

Dead Cells, the brutal 2D action-platformer that has been a huge success on consoles and PC, is now available to preorder on iOS.

It’s not a free-to-play game like most of the titles you’ll see in 2019, but it’s well worth its price tag. And if you get your order in early ahead of its launch next month, you’ll save yourself a cool $2.

Cupertino shells out big bucks to stay Apple’s hometown

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Apple Park
Being home to Apple's HQ doesn't come cheap.
Photo: Duncan Sinfield

Apple is synonymous with the city of Cupertino — and vice versa. But Cupertino still has to offer Apple the right tax deal in order to stay the hometown of choice for the city’s biggest taxpayer.

According to a new report, Cupertino has awarded Apple close to $70 million, taken from sales-tax collections in the past 20 years. Public records also show that this amount has increased dramatically in the last few years.

Facebook app banned by Apple pulled private data from 187,000 users

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Facebook owns 4 of the top 10 apps of the past decade
Apple and Facebook have clashed over privacy.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

A Facebook app banned by Apple gathered personal and sensitive data from 187,000 users before it was booted from iOS devices.

According to a letter from Facebook to Senator Richard Blumenthal’s office, the Research app gathered data on 31,000 users in the U.S. The rest of the data came from users in India.

More Apple suppliers looking to manufacture outside China

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Apple display maker exec fired for embezzling millions of dollars
This could be one way around tariffs.
Photo: Kristal Chan/Cult of Mac

Two more manufacturers which regularly do work with Apple are eying up new potential plant locations outside of China. Wistron is reportedly looking to open a factory in the U.S. or, as a backup, Mexico. Chassis maker Catcher is, meanwhile, looking at Southeast Asia or Taiwan as locations.

This comes at a time when fears about a burgeoning trade war between China and the U.S. is making people worried about possible future trade.

Netflix confirms new Stranger Things game, Fortnite crossover

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Stranger-Things-game
We have a lot of Stranger Things to look forward to.
Photo: Netflix

Netflix has confirmed plans to bring a new Stranger Things game to mobile.

Unlike its previous title, this one will be a location-based puzzle RPG that will take fans into the real world much like Pokémon Go. But you’ll have to wait until 2020 to get your hands on it.

In the meantime, fans can look forward to the first Stranger Things x Fortnite crossover.

iOS and Mac apps no longer part of iTunes URL

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Apple pays $467k for doing business with blacklisted app developer
The App Store is striking out on its own!
Photo: Apple

In a subtle, but significant, change, iOS and Mac app listings on the web now direct users to a URL at apps.apple.com, instead of itunes.apple.com.

This follows WWDC, where Apple shared details of a world beyond iTunes. Apple is breaking up the iTunes app into Music, Podcasts, and TV apps. While you don’t need to worry about your iTunes content, this is the latest example of Apple shifting away from that branding.

Galaxy Fold suffers another blow as AT&T finally cancels preorders

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Galaxy Fold front
Are you ready to splash your cash?
Photo: Samsung

AT&T has finally followed Best Buy and Samsung itself in canceling all Galaxy Fold preorders.

The carrier has begun emailing customers to inform them that it is unable to ship their shiny new handset. It promises a prompt refund, and a $100 gift card for the inconvenience.

It is looking increasingly unclear whether the Galaxy Fold will ever make it to market.

Inside Apple’s spectacular new Taipei store, opening Saturday

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Apple Store Taipei
The new store looks spectacular.
Photo: Apple

Apple’s second retail store in Taiwan, located in Taipei, opens this Saturday — and Apple has shared some advance pictures of the new Xinyi A13 store.

The store boasts a glass exterior and roof design reminiscent of Apple’s Chicago flagship store. It consists of two levels, with a pair of marble composite stairs descending to a lower, underground level.

Apple TV’s surging popularity might surprise you

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Apple TV at home
Millions of people sit down in front of an Apple TV every night, and that number is expected to grow and grow.
Photo: Apple

Because Apple TVs aren’t used in public, it’s easy to underestimate how many of them are. A market-analysis firm says that 21 percent of US households regularly use an Apple set-top box.

And the number of households with access to the underlying streaming technology is expected to grow dramatically now that third-party TV makers can integrate it into their products.

Leaked Pixel 4 sports square camera bump like 2019 iPhone

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Pixel 4
Pixel 4 mockup for case makers.
Photo: Unbox Therapy

Square camera bumps are shaping up to be one of the biggest smartphone trends of 2019.

Leaked images of Google’s upcoming Pixel 4 smartphone surfaced online today, revealing some surprising design changes for the handset, including a square in the back that packs multiple cameras. It looks awfully similar to the leaked iPhone 11 renderings we’ve seen so far.

Take a closer took:

Catalyst case makes your 2018 iPad Pro waterproof

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Catalyst-case-2018-iPad-Pro
You can finally swim with iPad Pro. If you really want to.
Photo: Catalyst

Apple made the iPhone water-resistant years ago, but the iPad lineup is yet to get the same treatment. If you have a real urge to take yours swimming despite this, you need the new rugged case from Catalyst.

With an IP68 rating, the Catalyst case protects your iPad Pro in water more than six-feet deep. It also offers military-grade drop protection.

Memos app makes the text in your photo library searchable

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Memos recognizes pretty much everything.
Memos recognizes pretty much everything.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

Memos is a new iOS app that scans your entire photo library, looking for text. That text could be a shop sign in a vacation photo, a paragraph from a magazine page you snapped, or the entirety of a screenshot of a newspaper article. It could be a Wi-Fi password jotted onto a scrap of paper, or a logo on a t-shirt label.

The app is far from perfect, but it’s already amazing.

DJI’s new customizable robot teaches kids to code

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RoboMaster S1
The RoboMaster S1 is ready for battle
Photo: DJI

DJI is unleashing a new drone on the world this week, only instead of taking to the skies, this little robot stays on the ground.

The new RoboMaster S1 is an educational robot designed to teach kids how to code. It packs brushless motors, a gimbal and chassis that can move in all directions. DJI built S1 to be used in interactive modes for programming as well as play. Once you assemble your robot you can battle other S1 owners in Mario Kart style games that look fun as hell.

Take a look at the cool stuff it can do:

Swimmer breaks a record with AirPods in her ears

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Swimmer races with AirPods
Delfina Pignatiello was so pumped up for her race, she forgot to take out her AirPods before the starter's pistol.
Screenshot: Fernando Cicutti/Twitter

Apple recommends keeping AirPods out of the water. But an Argentine swimmer evidently forgot she had them in her ears when she proceeded to break her own record during an international race in France.

Despite finishing second in the 800-meter freestyle, Delfina Pignatiello broke her own national record with a time of 8:24.33. Her AirPods were in her ears tucked under her swim cap the whole way.

iPads help refugee children learn new languages

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Students learn German language on iPad
iPad helps students in Germany learn a new language.
Photo: Apple

Teachers in Europe dealing with a flood of refugees are successfully teaching children new languages with iPads.

After a school in Germany gave every student in its German-as-a-second-language program an Apple tablet, the graduation rate rose to 100 percent.

iPhone XR successor might boast even bigger battery

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iPhone XR successor with big battery
A bigger battery is now on the list of rumored features on the successor to the iPhone XR
Photo: PriceBaba/OnLeaks

One of the iPhone XR’s best features is the battery life. Its successor will reportedly pack a slightly larger battery when its rolled out this fall.

An electronics industry news site out of South Korea says China’s Ameperx Technology Limited recently began mass production of a 3,110mAH battery for the second-generation iPhone XR.

Powerbeats Pro delayed in several countries

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Powerbeats Pro
The wireless earbuds release is delayed in Australia, Japan, and multiple other markets.
Photo: Apple

Apple’s wireless Powerbeats Pro headphones were supposed to launch in Austria, Brazil, Belgium, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, the Netherlands, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, and Taiwan in June. However, that date has now been pushed back to July.

It’s not 100% clear why the release date was pushed back. But it likely has something to do with the popularity of the headphones, with new orders in the U.S. only shipping at the very end of June at the earliest.

Ikea ad teases Apple for Mac Pro cheese grater design

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Mac Pro cheese grater
The new Mac Pro's price tag grates on some people's nerves.
Photo: Apple

The cheese grater jokes will eventually die down, so Ikea’s Bulgaria stores this week quickly joined the fun of teasing Apple for its new Mac Pro.

The Ikea ads feature, of course, a four-sided metal grater against a white backdrop under the headline, “Designed for apples.” But the joke doesn’t stop there.

iPhone shipments suffer shocking decline in Europe

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The iPhone XS Max is 25 percent larger than any previous iOS handset. So how is it as an iPad mini replacement?
There were problems in the Middle East and Africa, too.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

China might be the focus of Apple’s iPhone sales woes, but it’s not the only market where Apple’s smartphones are running into problems.

According to new IDC figures, during the first quarter of 2019 Apple shipped 2.4 million fewer iPhones to Europe, the Middle East, and Africa than it did during the same three-month span in 2018. That’s a decrease of 22.7%.

2019 iPhone could finally take on Google Pixel’s amazing Night Sight

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Pixel 3 Night Sight
The Pixel 3 destroys iPhone in low-light performance.
Photo: Google

Apple is developing its very own Night Sight feature for the next-generation iPhone lineup, according to a new report.

Google’s Pixel handsets have been well and truly beating rivals on low-light camera performance for years now. But it is claimed Apple has a similar feature up its sleeve called “Night Mode” — and we should see it this year.