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News - page 643

Drake drops $400,000 on blue diamond iPhone case

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Drake iPhone case
When an ordinary Otter Box won't do.
Screenshot: Jason of Beverly Hills/Instagram

Canadian rapper Drake reportedly spent $400,000 to have a case for his iPhone X covered in diamonds and white gold.

Drake is known to have a thing for bling, but this one appears off the charts. The case is 18k white gold and is covered with small blue diamonds. In the center is a white gold owl, the logo for his record company, with two big diamonds for eyes.

Lego adds spooky augmented reality ghosts to new playsets

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Hidden Side sets combine Lego bricks with augmented reality ghosts.
Will AR finally go mainstream in 2020?
Photo: Lego Group

Lego is exploring the cutting edge of play with its Hidden Side sets. These include augmented reality (AR) ghosts that children catch on their iPhone or Android.

This upcoming offering from the toy giant is in line with all of AR, which combines the real world with the digital one. 

New shortcut proves Apple is serious about subscriptions [Opinion]

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The inevitable visual ‘sub’ pun.
The inevitable visual ‘sub’ pun.
Photo: Marion Doss/Flickr CC

Apple has added a shortcut to the latest versions of iOS 12 to make managing app subscriptions easier. Previously, you had to dig deep into your Apple ID settings to find the control panel for your subs. Now, it’s just a couple of taps away. On the surface, this looks like a simple tweak to make things easier for the user, but it’s more than that.

By making subscriptions easier for the user to cancel, it’s also making it more likely that people will sign up for them in the first place. That’s good for users, for developers, and for quality apps in general.

UAG’s translucent folio case protects your iPad while showing it off

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Despite being semi-transparent, UAG’s Plyo Series meets military drop-test standards.
Despite being semi-transparent, UAG’s Plyo Series meets military drop-test standards.
Photo: UAG

Urban Armor Gear‘s Plyo Series doesn’t hide your fancy new iPad inside a bulky case.  It protects your expensive tablet but includes translucent plastic so it can still be seen.

This case, which also serves as a stand, is currently available only for the most recent 9.7-inch iPad models.

Apple’s iPhone sales problem isn’t limited to China

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iPhone sales
Critics say Apple needs to build more affordable iPhones.
Photo: Apple

China is not the only part of the world where Apple’s iPhone is losing market share to hard-charging Chinese brands.

Sales of the iPhone are falling off in Europe and Thailand, the second-biggest smartphone market in Southeast Asia, where shipments fell by more than 50 percent.

The iconic creative behind some of Apple’s most beloved ads retires

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Apple
Lee Clow helped shape some of Apple's most iconic ads.
Photo: Apple

Lee Clow, the founder of Apple’s creative agency TBWA\Media Arts Lab and TBWA global director of media arts, is retiring at the age of 73.

A friend of Steve Jobs for three decades, Clow played a crucial role in the creation of some of Apple’s most iconic advertising campaigns. (As well as a whole lot of other, non-Apple ads.)

Google follows Apple’s lead by investigating controversial Saudi app

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Saudi government app
A Saudi man can use a government app to restrict the travel of his wife or daughter.
Screenshot: iTunes

Google is following Apple’s lead in investigating a controversial Saudi app which allowed men to follow the locations of their wife or daughters.

Tim Cook said yesterday that Apple was looking into the app to find out whether complaints made about it were accurate. Google has now told the New York Times that it plans to do the same.

China’s top app rewards citizens for reading up on President Xi Jinping

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Xi Jingping 1
Xi Jinping, pictured in 2016.
Photo: Narendra Modi/Wikipedia CC

Can you imagine if the most popular app in the U.S. — more than Facebook, YouTube or WhatsApp — was an official White House app?

The idea sounds, frankly, crazy. But that’s more or less what’s happened in China, where the app currently ruling the App Store is one dedicated to President Xi Jinping.

Apple once again selling older iPhone models in Germany

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iphone
You can once again buy iPhone 7 and 8 handsets from Apple Stores in Germany.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple has seemingly reached a compromise in its battle with Qualcomm in Germany. It will resume selling older iPhone models in Apple Stores in Germany, after previously withdrawing them following a court decision. However, it will sell iPhones only with Qualcomm chips inside.

This means not selling iPhone 7 and 8 models which contain Intel chips. Apple began phasing in Intel modem chips back in 2016. Last year, it dropped Qualcomm entirely in favor of Intel.

Apple faces challenges with pirate developers abusing enterprise certificates

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Pokémon GO is blasting off again with new GO Battle League
A hacked version of Pokémon GO was one of the apps available.
Photo: Niantic

Apple is currently dealing with a number of apps abusing its enterprise certificate program.

According to a new report, software pirates have used the technology to distribute hacked versions of many popular apps. These include the likes of Spotify, Pokémon GO, Angry Birds, Minecraft, and others. Apple originally introduced its enterprise certificates to let companies make business apps for employees, without going through the App Store.

Apple has signed ‘many publishers’ for its subscription news services

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Apple News
Will Apple's subscription news service be a hit?
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple is reportedly having no problem signing up publishers for its proposed 50-50 revenue split deal for its news subscription service.

Despite the massive cut Apple is demanding, a new report claims that it has “already signed many publishers to deals.” These companies are banking on Apple being able to pull off an iTunes-style rescue of the news business. As such, they believe they’ll get a smaller piece of a big business, rather than a big piece of a small one.

Colorful custom AirPods will make you see green

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Caviar AirPods in black
You don’t have to settle for white AirPods if you have plenty of green.
Photo: AirPods

If you’ve been hoping for a pair of AirPods in black or red then this is your lucky day. And you’re even luckier if for some reason you’ve been hoping to pay a whole lot of money for them.

Luxury brand Caviar now has the Apple’s wireless earbuds in new colors but these go for more than three times the standard price.

Hollywood stars tapped to attend Apple’s March event

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Reese Witherspoon
Reese Witherspoon is playing a huge role in Apple's original content creation.
Photo: HBO

Some of the biggest names in Hollywood are coming to Silicon Valley for Apple’s first big event of 2019.

Apple is rumored to be planning a late March keynote where a slew of new services will be unveiled. To help with its pitch to customers, Apple reportedly asked some of the stars from its original TV shows to join the festivities.

Brilliant iOS 13 concept packs 40 features Apple should steal

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iOS 13
Always-on lock screen complications would be great!
Photo: AppleiDesigner

There are 110 days left until Apple takes the wraps off iOS 13, but if the company is still looking for a few more features to cram in, look no further than AppleiDesigner’s new concept.

With over 40 new features packed into a two-minute video, this iOS 13 concept has a little something for everyone. Dark mode, picture-in-picture on iPhone, an AR-powered Camera app, split view on iPhone and redesigned apps and more all make an appearance. There are also tons of new iPad features that could make Apple’s tablet a true PC replacement.

Get ready to drool over all the new goodies:

Tim Cook joins Trump’s workforce advisory panel

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Cook
Apple CEO Tim Cook has joined a Trump Administration panel focusing on worker education.
Photo: Saïd Business School, University of Oxford

Apple’s CEO is one of 25 members of the new American Workforce Policy Advisory Board which will advise President Trump on issues affecting workers.

Tim Cook and the president have a surprisingly congenial relationship considering they differ on some fundamental issues.

OP-Z pocket synthesizer uses the iPhone as its screen

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It’s tiny, yet more powerful than you can possibly imagine.
It’s tiny, yet more powerful than you can possibly imagine.
Photo: Teenage Engineering

This is Teenage Engineering’s amazing OP-Z, a tiny, TV-remote-size synthesizer and sequencer that has no screen, and yet manages to pack in a range of features that make users of “real” music hardware and software jealous. And if you do prefer working on a screen, you can hook it up to your iPhone via Bluetooth and use that.

SEC charges ex-Apple lawyer with insider trading

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Apple is worth more than the entire US energy sector combined
Former Apple lawyer Gene Levoff used confidential Apple earnings data to make millions.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple’s former lawyer who was in charge of preventing employees from insider trading has been charged with insider trading himself.

The Securities and Exchange Commission accuses Gene Levoff, former senior director of corporate law and corporate secretary at Apple, of using inside information to buy and sell tens of millions of dollars worth of Apple shares in order to make a profit or avoid losses.

How iOS makes it easier to manage your subscriptions

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Streaming services like Apple Music dominate the US music market
Apple's making it simpler to check your recurring iOS subscriptions.
Photo: Apple

Unlike some companies, Apple doesn’t want to sucker you into subscriptions by making it really hard to cancel them.

In fact, the latest iOS update makes it easier than ever to manage your recurring app subscriptions. Here’s how to dive in and take control of your iOS subscriptions.

GTA: Vice City looks better than ever on iPhone and iPad Pro

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GTA 2
Travel back to Vice City in style.
Photo: Rockstar Games

Amazingly, it’s more than 16 years since the legendary Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas landed on PlayStation 2. (That’s the same length of time that had elapsed, on its launch in 2002, since the game’s 1986 setting.)

Almost two decades later, the game is as much fun as it ever was. And now, thanks to an iOS update, its iPhone and iPad port looks better than ever.

Apple will investigate Saudi app that let men track wives and daughters

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Saudi government app
Government app can be used to restrict the travel of women in the country.
Screenshot: iTunes

Tim Cook says he will investigate a Saudi government app that lets men receive updates on the location of their wives and daughters.

Speaking on National Public Radio, Cook said he was not personally aware of the app. However, he noted that, “obviously we’ll take a look at it if [the complaints about it are accurate].”