News - page 605

This week on The CultCast: WWDC 2019 is right around the corner, and a new report sheds light on everything Apple’s prepping to reveal. We discuss! Plus: The magic of Corning glass, and how making your iPhone just slightly thicker would make it indestructible. And we reveal how (and why) Jony Ive created the massive mystery rainbow stage now present at the heart of Apple Park.

Our thanks to Squarespace for supporting this episode. Easily create a beautiful website all by yourself, at Squarespace.com/cultcast. Use offer code CultCast at checkout to get 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain..

A new documentary called Before Macintosh: The Apple Lisa promises to tell the story of one of Apple’s most important flops.

Directed by computer historian (and Apple collector) David Greelish, the movie will feature interviews with key players in the machine’s development. It also will place the Lisa in its proper context — as one of the most influential computers of all time.

Want to own one of the very first computers Apple ever launched? You very well could, thanks to a Christie’s auction selling an Apple-1 personal computer, circa 1976.

This model comes complete with original instruction manuals, supporting hardware, and “additional ephemera.” However, with an asking price of up to $630,000, you may have to get a second mortgage or sell a vital organ to get hold of it!

A phone dropped in the sea is usually gone forever, but not when a friendly whale retrieves from the ocean floor. Video of exactly this happening in Norway has to be seen to be believed.

Even better, the beluga starring in the video is thought by some to be the Russian spy whale who made headlines last week.

Apple’s most affordable 2018 handset is a real hit in N. America. There were more than twice as many iPhone XR units shipped during the first three months of this year in this region as its next nearest competitor.

Even so, Apple and the entire phone business had a very weak first quarter.

The mysterious, rainbow-colored stage erected inside Apple Park bears all the hallmarks of the company’s meticulous design, according to an Apple document provided to Cult of Mac.

It’s the latest creation by Jony Ive’s team — and it’s just as thoughtfully and intricately designed as you might imagine.

An article explaining the project to Apple employees sheds light on just how much thought, time and intense effort went into building the rainbow Apple Stage. And Jony Ive’s ruminations on the project show he and his collaborators put a lot of thought into it.

Samsung says it will begin mass production later this year on a 64-megapixel smartphone camera sensor, the most powerful salvo in the megapixel war among the smartphone companies.

A megapixel-packed half-inch sensor is only as good as the accompanying software and with highly regarded sensors in its current Galaxy smartphones, Samsung’s announcement today makes some rather exciting claims.

China Mobile is blocked from offering phone service in the United States. The Federal Communications Commission just unanimously voted to prevent this company, which is owned by the Chinese government, from expanding to the U.S.

Apple’s newest store is more of a step back in time than the usual step into an all-glass box.

The tech giant proudly gave a sneak peek into its Washington D.C. outlet, a former Carnegie Library where Ive and Beaux-Arts styles blend for a refreshing feel to the Apple retail experience.

Of course, there’s a staircase.

More people play games on their phones than on any other type of computer, according to a new survey. And the number is much higher for women.

The survey breaks out where people prefer to play games by age and gender. And there’s a much wider spread of ages than many might guess.

Apple devices famously hold their value well, and if they’ve never been used, they can fetch a lot more than they originally cost. But would you pay $19,995 for a classic iPod?

That’s exactly how much one eBay seller is asking for a first-generation unit that comes in its “unopened original box.”

Samsung’s boss Koh Dong-jin says that his company will announce its conclusion about the future of the Galaxy Fold this week.

Samsung has reportedly “reviewed the defect” highlighted in early reviews, and will announce its rescheduled launch plan in the U.S “in a couple of days.”

Move over Guinness, hold the Jameson’s, and don’t even think about Kerrygold. When it comes to Ireland’s biggest company, no-one holds a candle to, err, Apple.

You know, that company headquartered in California, which builds products in China, and sells them everywhere on the planet.

Some lucky Apple fans who preordered its new Powerbeats Pro buds are set to enjoy early deliveries.

Apple originally stated a delivery date of May 13 for its latest Beats headphones. However, many customers are now expecting to receive theirs on Friday, May 10.

There’s a bit of myth that’s trotted out every now and then suggesting that gaming hasn’t really taken off in the App Store in the way some people hoped.

A look at the top 10 downloaded iPhone apps worldwide for the month of April tells a different story, however. It shows that seven of the top 10 iPhone apps were games. Altogether, these were downloaded a massive 74 million times in April alone.

Rome: Total War — Barbarian Invasion, a classic PC and Mac game that pits the Roman empire against barbarian hordes, has been tweaked to bring its incredibly immersive gameplay to the iPhone’s small screen.

Players get to experience the final years of the empire as a barbarian commander determined to bring down Rome’s power structure. Alternatively, they can play a Roman general looking to quash the rebellion once and for all. It’s all kinds of awesome!

Update: Corning sent an email to clarify some of the claims made in this post, which I’ve included in the body of the post and at the bottom.

SUNNYVALE, Calif. — Even though the latest iPhones are made from glass front and back, they would be “nearly unbreakable” if just a bit thicker.

That was the message from glass manufacturer Corning during an open house at its Silicon Valley research center Tuesday.

“If the glass on the latest smartphones was just a little bit thicker, it would be nearly unbreakable,” said Dave Young, a Corning marketing communications specialist, at the event.

Case-makers are already preparing themselves for this fall’s big iPhone refresh.

New images show updated case designs for an iPhone XS successor with a larger camera module. They line up with recent rumors that have claimed Apple’s next-generation flagships will have a third rear-facing camera sensor.

Fortnite just kicked off its ninth season of Battle Royale — and there’s lots of new content for fans to enjoy.

The update includes a brand new Battle Pass with over 100 new rewards to unlock, a Slipstream wind transportation system, and brand new locations. There’s also new weapons and more.

We may have reached the end of the line for the LG UltraFine 5K display. According to Apple’s online store, the monitor is officially “sold out.”

This follows Apple’s discontinuation of the LG UltraFine 4K display last month. While there’s a slim chance that stocks will be replenished, it’s likely that Apple is phasing out the monitors altogether. Possibly to get ready for its own upcoming next-gen display.

It’s been a while since we saw drone flyover videos of Apple Park, particularly now that everyone has moved in. But an update by master drone video maker Duncan Sinfield — his first of 2019 — offers a new airborne overview of Apple’s HQ. Complete with a rainbow-colored mystery stage in the centre of Apple Park.

Check it out below.

Some of the methods developers use to get players to pay for “free” games would be outlawed by legislation proposed today in the U.S. Senate.

The act would ban games played by children from offering items only as in-app purchases that are actually required to win.

The Society for Information Display (SID) gave the most recent Apple Watch its highest honor, naming it one of several Displays of the Year.

This award is given to “products with the most significant technological advances and/or outstanding features.”

The official System Status page for all Apple’s services  shows that three of the most important ones are having problems The iOS App Store, the Mac App Store and the iTunes Store are all affected.

Update: Full service has been restored.

Tim Cook is 15 minutes from the start of his Apple keynote and you’ve been invited backstage because he trusts you and your friends can help the big event run without a hitch.

But then comes a crisis. Cook’s clicker is broken — and the new products Apple is set to debut are missing. It’s up to your group to quickly solve the mystery and find the devices on time.

This is not a bad dream, but an actual experience you can have during the Worldwide Developers Conference next month in San Jose, California. The nightmare scenario fuels a pop-up Apple escape room coming to AltConf 2019.