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News - page 618

Apple will open up iPhone’s NFC tech for Brexit app

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Square Terminal could help more businesses accept Apple Pay.
NFC tech hasn't previously been opened up to developers.
Photo: Square

Apple has reportedly agreed to open up its NFC capabilities on the iPhone for a U.K. government app. This Brexit app will help EU citizens apply for residency in the U.K. after it leaves the European Union.

The EU Exit app allows users to scan the chip inside their passports with their smartphone’s NFC reader. While this has been possible to do on Android phones, Apple has not previously allowed developer access to its NFC reading tech.

Fortnite 8.30 brings new Reboot Van, still disappoints

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Fortnite Reboot Van
You can now bring eliminated teammates back to the action.
Photo: Epic Games

Fortnite just returned from downtime as Epic Games rolled out its latest update. Version 8.30 introduces the new Reboot Van for the first time, alongside a long list of bug fixes and improvements.

The update is a disappointment to almost all Battle Royale fans, who were hoping a controversial change made in the version 8.20 release would be reverted this week.

Latest Apple Watch ad focuses on colorful swappable bands

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Apple Watch 1
Which Apple Watch do you use?
Photo: Apple

Several generations down the line, the Apple Watch has seemingly found its chief selling point as a life-saving health-focused wearable. But that doesn’t mean that there’s not room for a bit of fun, too.

While Apple has seemingly moved away from branding the Apple Watch as a fashion item, its latest ad focuses on aesthetics. Specifically, it highlights how easy it is to switch bands. Check it out below.

Apple Music in China caught censoring songs about Tiananmen Massacre

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iPhone sales are finally rebounding in China
iPhone sales were starting to pickup in China.
Photo: Tim Cook/Weibo

The 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre is coming up this June, but you won’t hear anything about it on Apple Music.

Chinese journalists recently discovered that Apple Music’s Chinese service censored a song that mentions the 1989 pro-democracy protests where thousands of people were killed. The topic is extremely controversial for the Chinese Communist Party and it appears that Apple is just fine with blotting it out if that’s the price of doing business in China.

Flaunt your MacBook Air in UAG’s translucent case

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You don’t have to hide your MacBook Air to protect it with the UAG Plyo.
You don’t have to hide your MacBook Air to protect it with the UAG Plyo.
Photo: Urban Armor Gear

Part of the appeal of owning a MacBook is showing it off, especially if you’ve personalized it. The Urban Armor Gear Plyo is a protective case made of translucent plastic so the exterior of this svelte notebook can still be seen.

Scosche’s new USB-C to Lightning cable packs fast 1-2 punch

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Scosche StrikeLine
The Strike Line charging cable delivers power quickly.
Photo: Scosche

Scosche Industries unfurled its first line of USB-C to Lightning power cables, which will bring a 1-2 data-power punch to iPhones and iPads.

Pair the new StrikeLine cable with Scosche’s USB-C PowerVolt charger and get a fully charged iOS device three times faster than a regular charger.

iPhone users have some terrible driving habits

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distracted driving iPhone
Put the phone down and nobody gets hurt.
Photo: D'Vaughn Bell/Pexels

The iPhone user behind the wheel is twice as likely to post, chat and stream than those with an Android device, according to a website that compares car insurance quotes.

The Zebra surveyed more than 2,100 drivers about driving distractions, including device engagement, and broke down the numbers by operating system.

iOS 12.3 beta 2 enhances Apple TV app

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The Apple TV app gets a raft of new features in iOS 12.3.
The Apple TV app gets a raft of new features in iOS 12.3.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Both the general public and developers can now download the second beta of iOS 12.3. When the final version is available, it will bring significant improvements to the Apple TV app. The latest beta continues to add features.

A second public beta of macOS Mojave 10.14.5 also just debuted. This is a bug-fix release.

Apple drops $99 fee for Data Migration on new Macs

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iMac
It’s crazy that Apple had this fee in the first place.
Photo: Apple

One of Apple’s most expensive services for Macs is finally getting cheaper. In fact, in a rare move, Apple actually decided to give something out for free.

The company has dropped the price of its Data Migration fee to zero dollars after charging a $99 fee for year to customers that purchased a new Mac and needed help moving data over from their old Mac.

iPhone sales finally show signs of life in China

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China iPhone sales
Apple CEO Tim Cook meets with Apple Store employees in China.
Photo: Apple

The latest round of iPhone price cuts on China have accomplished their goal, according to an analyst with Wedbush. Demand for Apple handsets has increased in that country.

That’s very good news for the company, as CEO TIm Cook said early this year that slow sales in China were the entire reason Apple saw a revenue decease at the end of 2018.

Spotify’s fight against increased rates is good for Apple Music

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Apple Music
The #CancelSpotify movement is a win for Apple.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Spotify’s efforts to avoid paying higher rates is giving Apple Music a big advantage, according to a new report.

Apple is the only major music streaming company that isn’t appealing a decision to increase the rate paid to songwriters. As a result, Apple Music is getting all the love on social media.

How Apple’s Operations department works [Cook book outtakes]

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Two Apple operations workers in a factory
Apple's operations, which Tim Cook headed up, is one of the company's secret weapons.
Photo: Apple

Tim Cook book outtakes: How Apple's Operations department works This post was going to be part of my new book, Tim Cook: The Genius Who Took Apple to the Next Level, but was cut for length or continuity. Over the next week or so, we will be publishing several more sections that were cut, focusing mostly on geeky details of Apple’s manufacturing operations.

Apple is famous for design and marketing, but a large part of the company’s success is due to the incredibly complex and efficient manufacturing organization Tim Cook masterminded with Steve Jobs.

No matter how beautiful its products are, the company would go nowhere without a world-class manufacturing and distribution operation that can make millions of devices in the utmost secrecy, to the highest possible standards, and deliver them efficiently all over the globe.

It’s an operation unprecedented in the history of industry. When Jobs and Cook started in 1998, Apple was doing $6 billion in business annually. It now does that every 10 days.

Apple will soon require all macOS apps to be notarized

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iMac
Apple wants to make macOS as safe as possible.
Photo: Apple

Apple has confirmed that all macOS apps will need to be notarized to be accepted by Gatekeeper after its Mojave 10.14.5 update.

The requirement applies to new and updated apps and all software from developers who are new to distributing with Developer ID. In a future version of macOS, notarization will be required by default.

AirPods might not like busy city streets

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Earphones
Just don't blame Apple for it!
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

AirPods are great. But that doesn’t mean that they’re without their problems as a replacement for your traditional wired headphones.

Some users on Twitter have been observing that their AirPods can be prone to cutting in and out, or occasionally producing static sounds. The reason? Bluetooth interference. This can come from having the signal blocked by physical barriers. It could also be due to using a frequency that’s too overcrowded.

Apple stock could do something it’s not managed for 8 years

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apple stock price
Apple stock has had a whirlwind year!
Photo: Buster Hein/Cult of Mac

It can’t be said that Apple stock has had a boring last year. In twelve months, we’ve seen Apple hit $1 trillion in value. Then the stock tanked and AAPL entered the sinister-sounding “death cross.”

Now it’s rebounded and, if things continue to go well through today, it will achieve a feat it hasn’t managed since October 2010. That’s back when Steve Jobs was running Apple.

Classic Marathon trilogy gets updated for iOS 12

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First-person shooter Marathon gave Mac gamers something to be proud of.
First-person shooter Marathon gave Mac gamers something to be proud of.
Photo: Bungie

Marathon is a game which will be as familiar to long-time Mac owners as Doom. A sci-fi first-person shooter from the 1990s, it was a Macintosh exclusive which introduced numerous important FPS features. Bungie, the team which developed it, later went onto create the Halo series.

While Marathon has been available on iOS for several years, it hadn’t been updated in half a decade. Fortunately, that all changed recently.

Image shot on iPhone 6 takes top prize in photography contest

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Colleen Wright
The winning moody pic in all its grandeur!
Photo: Friends of the Columbia Gorge/Colleen Wright

The iPhone 6 is a few years old now. However, its 2014-era, 8-megapixel camera is still enough to capture the hearts of judges in a photography contest.

That’s based on the recent Friends of the Columbia Gorge photography contest, held in Portland, Oregon. Despite the professional camera equipment used to shoot many of the entries, the Grand Prize was awarded to a moody image shot using an iPhone 6.

Apple could adopt mini LED backlighting for a giant iMac

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iMac
It's about time the iMac was redesigned.
Photo: Apple

Apple is expected to adopt mini LED backlighting technology this year to further improve color gamut, contrast ratio, and high dynamic range in its displays.

A brand new 31.6-inch iMac will be the first machine to offer the new display technology, sources claim. It will then make its way to the iPad and other Apple computers in 2020.

WhatsApp may finally be getting its own iPad app

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WhatsApp on iOS
WhatsApp will no longer be limited to iPhones.
Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

WhatsApp is one of the world’s most popular messaging apps. More than 1 billion people use it every single day. But until now it’s not been available on the iPad without using a WhatsApp Web workaround.

That may be about to change, however, as WhatsApp is reportedly working on an official iPad app. It’s about time!

Twitter cuts follow limit to crack down on spam

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Twitter logo
Twitter just made life harder for spammers.
Photo: Twitter

Twitter has reduced its limit on the number of people you can follow in one day in an effort to crack down on spammers.

The new limit, which is 400, is designed to prevent new accounts from following a large number of people and then removing them in a “bulk aggressive or indiscriminate manner.”

Stephen King bringing haunting Lisey’s Story to Apple TV+

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Julianne Moore will star in a series of love and horror on Apple TV+.
Julianne Moore will star in a series of love and horror on Apple TV+.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Horror master Stephen King will adapt his favorite novel, Lisey’s Story, into a TV series staring Oscar-winner Julianne Moore. This will be presented on the recently unveiled Apple TV+ service.

Lisey’s Story combines romance and psychological horror, and earned King a nomination for the World Fantasy Award in 2007.

Huawei ready to provide modems for a 5G iPhone

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Huawei launched the Balong 5000 5G modem in January.
Huawei launched the Balong 5000 5G modem in January.
Photo: Huawei

Apple apparently has another option for 5G modems. Huawei reportedly is willing to provide future iPhones with these chips.

If true, this significantly improves the chances that a 5G iPhone will launch in 2020. Still, there are reasons to question the wisdom of any such deal.

Smartphones keep twisting the knife on camera sales

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camera sales
iPhone photography is still incredibly good.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

When the CEO of one of the biggest brands in cameras said his company was in a losing battle against smartphones, he was dismissed by some of his contemporaries who insisted on a brighter future.

Canon CEO Fujio Mitarai today probably wishes he was wrong.

A new report by Japan’s Camera & Imaging Products Association (CIPA), shows camera sales for February dropping by 35 percent compared to the second month of 2018.