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News - page 663

Samsung’s Space Monitor is a star in super-simple setups

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Samsung Space Monitor
Isn’t she a stunner?
Photo: Samsung

Samsung has a number of new monitors lined up for CES 2019, including one that’s perfect for Mac mini owners with small desks. It’s called the Samsung Space Monitor — and it’s a beauty.

Not only does the Space Monitor sport a super-slim design, but it can be clamped to the edge of your desk, negating the need for a large foot that takes up precious space.

Apple market cap falls behind Amazon, Microsoft and Google

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money
Apple's had a rough few months.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple shares suffered their worst day since January 2013 yesterday, declining almost 10 percent in a single day. Since its valuation peak of $1.1 trillion in 2018, Apple has lost approximately $450 billion of its market cap.

Having been the world’s most valuable public company, Apple now sits behind Microsoft, Amazon and Google parent company Alphabet among the top-valued tech giants.

Huawei punishes employees over iPhone tweet

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Huawei P20 Pro
It’s just a backup plan for now.
Photo: Huawei

Huawei has demoted two employees over a Twitter update sent from an iPhone.

The New Year message, which has since been deleted, was mocked for being published “via Twitter for iPhone.” But Huawei isn’t the only smartphone maker that’s been caught using a rival’s devices.

Apple launches exclusive Beats headphones for Chinese New Year

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Beats headphones 2
Get a load of these bad boys!
Photo: Apple

Apple has unveiled a new “silver wing grey” pair of Beats Solo3 wireless headphones to commemorate the Chinese New Year.

The headphones, which are only available in China, are one of the items highlighted in Apple’s Chinese New Year gift guide. Apple also showcases the iPhone XS Max, iPhone XR, Apple Watch and iPad Pro as hot ticket items — along with third-party products like the Lifeprint photo printer and DJI Osmo gimbal video camera.

Apple’s App Store sets record: takes in $1.22 billion in a week

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The App Store had a great Q4, including its best week ever.
The App Store had a great Q4, including its biggest week ever.
Graphic: Apple

The Apple App Store had its best week ever between between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve. And New Year’s Day was the best single day of sales ever.

This is just the kind of news the company needs, as Pres. Trump’s trade war with China is hurting iPhone, iPad, and Mac sales in that country.

Mophie’s new powerstations bring super-fast USB-C charging

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mophone powerstation USB-C battery
New mophie powerstation batteries, including this one, have a USB-C and a USB-A port.
Photo: mophie/Zagg

mophie just unveiled a pair of external batteries designed to supply up to 18W of power. They can give recent iPhone models up to a 50 percent charge in half an hour.

This is possible because the new powerstation PD and PD XL each have a USB-C port, enabling them to transfer more power than older USB-A ports.

Epic offers free Fortnite glider following event confusion

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Fortnite Equalizer glider
Look out for the Equalizer glider in Battle Royale.
Photo: Epic Games

Epic Games is gifting Fortnite fans a free glider following confusion over its latest event.

Many players believed they had until January 3 or 4 to complete the recent 14 Days of Fortnite challenges, and when it came to an end on January 1, they missed out on the festive rewards. The best item on offer will now be distributed for free.

Apple Watch saves the life of woman trapped in a submerged car

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life-saving Apple Watch
The ping my iPhone feature on watchOS
Photo: Cult of Mac

A 20-year-old Florida woman discovered the health benefits of owning an Apple Watch when it indirectly saved her life as her flipped car was filling with water.

Amanda Antonio told first responders in Hillsborough County, Fla., that she used her Apple Watch to locate her iPhone to call 9-1-1 after her car rolled in a ditch full of mud and water.

Goldman Sachs thinks Apple could be the next Nokia

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Nokia
Nokia could have more in common with Apple than first though.
Photo: Nokia

A Goldman Sachs analyst thinks Apple’s revised earnings guidance might be the start of a longer-term story. According to Rod Hall, Apple could slash numbers even further later in the year, due to lowered expectations about iPhone sales.

Hall goes on to liken Apple to Nokia, a fallen giant in the mobile game. The company ruled the market early on, only to run into problems.

Apple enforces another confusing ban on popular puzzle games

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Rusty Lake iOS
A number of Rusty Lake puzzle games were pulled this week.
Photo: Rusty Lake

Apple’s often baffling App Store ban hammer has fallen again.

Developer Rusty Lake has had all of its games pulled for supposedly being spam and “looking identical” — despite the fact that they are genuine (and popular) games. It has told fans that it hopes this is an automated removal and that its titles will be back soon.

Tim Cook explains declining iPhone sales on CNBC

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Tim Cook talks diversity, sustainability, and coming out as gay
Tim Cook probably wasn't in quite such a jubilant mood yesterday.
Photo: Apple

Tim Cook elaborated on some of the reasons for Apple’s declining iPhone sales during an interview with CNBC Fast Money’s Josh Lipton.

Cook said that the shortfall on Apple’s part is entirely related to the iPhone, and primarily its performance (or lack thereof) in Greater China. However, he also touched on several other issues — including the challenges of Apple’s battery replacement program.

Tim Cook will host meeting for all Apple employees to talk iPhone

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apple park
Cook will address all Apple employees about declining iPhone sales.
Photo: Apple

Tim Cook is reportedly hosting an all-hands meeting with every Apple employee today about the revelations regarding stalling iPhone sales.

The news caused Apple shares to plummet in after-hours trading, taking some Apple suppliers with it. As part of the meeting, Cook will spell out what the news means, and take questions from employees.

Apple shares plummet following Tim Cook letter

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Tim Cook earnings apple
AAPL shares declined in after-hours trading.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

AAPL shares fell steeply in after-hours trading on Wednesday, after Tim Cook acknowledged that Apple’s earnings would underperform its own guidance for Q4 2018.

Shares fell by more than 7.4 percent, declining as low as $146.22. That’s the lowest that Apple has hit since July 12, 2017. It means that Apple has lost a massive 35.5 percent of its value in just three months.

Apple Watch is now a bigger business for Apple than iPod ever was

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The first iPod went from pitch to shipped product in 7 months
The iPod was once Apple's biggest seller.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

iPhone sales may be hitting a road block, but there are plenty of stats that offer up reasons to be optimistic about Apple.

One of them? That the Apple Watch is now a much bigger business for Apple than the iPod ever was. While the iPod today may be pretty much nonexistent as a revenue stream for Apple, there was a time when it was far and away the company’s top earner.

Apple warns investors that iPhone sales are weak

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Apple revenues
Tim Cook defends Apple's decision to pull HKmap.live from App Store.
Photo: Apple

Apple CEO Tim Cook warned investors today that weak iPhone sales could translate into revenue shortfalls in the billions of dollars.

Cook blames the expected revenue drop on fewer-than-expected iPhone upgrades and weakened demand in China.

IINA is a beautiful new Mac-only movie-watching app

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IINA screenshots
IINA is a super-slick new media player for the Mac.
Photo: IINA

Iina is a brand-new video-playing app for the Mac. Like VLC, it can play pretty much any file, and has deep customization options, even in v1.0. Unlike VLC, it feels like a real Mac-first app, and has support for trackpad gestures and bowser extensions right out of the box.

Ex-Apple engineer invents new UI that’s shaded by lights in your room

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iOS UI
This UI tweak would make iOS even better.
Photo: Bob Burrough

The overall UI of iOS hasn’t changed too much since iOS 7 got rid of skeuomorphism, but an ex-Apple employee has come up with a brilliant UI concept that makes elements on your iPhone look like real-life objects.

Former Apple software engineer Bob Burrough posted a video of an environmentally-lit user interface he’s developing and even though it’s still very basic, it looks very promising. By using the iPhone’s front-facing camera, the iPhone’s UI shades objects based on the lighting in a room. It may not sound that exciting, but once you see it in action you’ll be wowed.

Check it out:

This is the future of iPhone photography

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Year in Review Future of Photography 2018
The iPhone’s camera already does things impossible for a regular camera. What’s next?
Image: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

The iPhone camera is hands-down amazing, thanks almost entirely to the fact that it is hooked up to a pocket-size supercomputer. Initially, the iPhone used its computer smarts to overcome the limitations of phone cameras — the tiny sensor, for example. But over time, Apple added amazing features like Smart HDR and the incredible Portrait Mode, which simulates the out-of-focus background that occurs naturally with traditional high-end cameras.

This path is likely to continue. Computational photography, as it is called, is pushing the capabilities of cellphone cameras far ahead of regular “dumb” cameras. So what can we expect to see in future?

Austrian tech tax sets its sights on Apple

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tech tax
An Apple store in Austria.
Photo: Apple

The Austrian government will announce plans this month to impose a levy on giant tech companies that make huge online profits that largely go untaxed.

Austria joins France to be among the first countries to tax internet and technology companies that shuttle profits to avoid higher taxes in each company.

Beats 1 host Ebro Darden gets a big Apple Music promotion

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Streaming services like Apple Music dominate the US music market
Beats 1 anchor Ebro Darden will help promote R&B and hip-hop artists.
Photo: Apple

Beats 1 anchor Ebro Darden has been given a New Year’s promotion, being made Apple’s new global editorial head of hip-hop and R&B. In the role, Darden will manage a team of editors in developing editorial strategies for promoting artists, albums, and song releases.

This will be in addition to his Monday to Friday role as a host on Beats 1 and the Hot 97 show, Ebro in the Morning.

iTunes celebrates the new year with $5 movie deals

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iTunes
Catch up on the movies you've missed.
Screenshot: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

Apple is kicking off 2019 with a massive movie sale on iTunes.

A long list of titles, including Reservoir Dogs, Kill Bill, and The Goonies, have been reduced to just $4.99 for a limited time. Other titles, including Deadpool, Suicide Squad, and The Equalizer, are now available for $7.99.

Apple has invented its very own fabric

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Apple t-shirt 2
"Clothing by Jony." Or not.
Photo: Ryan Orr/Flickr CC

The Apple Watch may be the world’s top wearable device right now, but that doesn’t mean that Apple’s happy to stop there. According to a newly published patent, Apple has developed its very own fabric, made up of a ridged material to offer a “contrasting appearance.”

The patent is an ornamental one, covering the look of the fabric rather than a specific use case. However, given Apple’s history of investigation into smart fabrics, it’s possible that the material could be used for developing future smart, sensor-equipped clothing.