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News - page 701

Appeals court reverses $234 million patent-infringement ruling against Apple

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A8 chip
Turns out the A7, A8 and A8X didn't infringe on a patent held by the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Photo: Apple

An appeals court just reversed the 2015 decision against Apple made in a patent-infringement lawsuit brought by the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The original court ruled that the iPhone-maker owed the university $234 million for infringing on patented microchip technology in the iPhone and iPad.

Spotify asks family plan subscribers to prove they are family

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Spotify app now playing screen
Don’t comply and you may lose access.
Photo: Ian Fuchs/Cult of Mac

Spotify’s family plan makes it cheaper for multiple users to enjoy its premium music streaming service. But don’t try sharing it with friends.

Spotify is now asking family plan subscribers to prove they are indeed family by confirming they all live at the same address. “If you don’t confirm, you may lose access to the plan,” it warns.

Ex-Apple engineer wants a piece of Find My iPhone

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money
Darren Eastman worked on a number of key Apple features.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

The former Apple engineer who worked on Apple’s “Find my iPhone” feature is suing the company to get them to acknowledge his role as inventor, and to compensate him for unfair dismissal.

Engineer Darren Eastman wants his name to be added to five Apple patent applications. He also wants Apple shares he claims were taken from him unfairly, plus damages.

Apple hires more series regular for its Dickinson TV show

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Don't expect to find much swearing, violence or sex in Apple's original TV shows.
Apple is spending upwards of $1 billion on original programming.
Photo: JESHOOTS.com/Pexels CC

Apple continues to pad out the cast for its Dickinson series, a comedic look at the world of 19th century poet Emily Dickinson.

Joining current cast members Hailee Steinfeld and Jane Krakowski will be Toby Huss from Nickelodeon’s The Adventures of Pete & Pete, Anna Baryshnikov from Manchester by the Sea, Ella Hunt from Anna and the Apocalypse, and Adrian Blake Enscoe from Seeds.

Catch our first-week impressions of Apple Watch 4 and iPhone XS Max, this week on The CultCast

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Macbook Pro CultCast
Catch our iPhone XS Max and Apple Watch 4 first week impressions!
Photo: @YSR50

This week on The CultCast: Beautygate — what it is, and why it’s undoubtedly the dumbest “gate” in the history of iPhone! Plus: How have we liked our first week with Apple Watch 4 and iPhone XS? We reveal all. And the shockingly low production price of the iPhone XS Max proves Apple owes us more storage space!

Our thanks to Squarespace for supporting this episode. It’s simple to accept Apple Pay and sell your wares with your very own Squarespace website. Enter offer code CultCast at checkout to get 10% off your first hosting plan or domain.

17 people now in custody for Apple Store robberies

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Thieves grab MacBooks from an Apple Store
Two brazen thieves grabbed thousands of dollars worth of MacBooks from a California Apple Store recently.
Photo: CBS New York/Apple

The number of people arrested for playing a part in the spate of snatch-and-grab Apple Store robberies throughout California has risen to 17.

Investigators claim that a crime ring was responsible for the robberies, which took place in 19 counties, resulting in more than $1 million in retail value of devices being stolen.

Fortnite challenge guide for season 6, week 1

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Fortnite
Get ready for this week's Battle Royale challenges.
Photo: Epic Games

Fortnite season six kicked off on Thursday with massive changes, including new areas to explore across the Battle Royale map, new items, and more than 100 new rewards.

To earn those rewards faster, you’ll want to complete the weekly challenges and grab as many Battle Stars as you can. A total of 50 are available. Here’s how you can claim them.

Addictive new iOS game is all about … throwing strips of bacon?

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Bacon 2
A sizzling new game will fill your appetite for weird iOS games.
Photo: Chris Yarzab/Flickr CC

A game where you flip bacon through the air doesn’t sound, on paper, like it should be a winner. But when it comes from Philipp Stollenmayer, the app developer who previously created the brilliant Sometimes You Die, things become a whole lot more interesting.

Check out the trailer for the third part in Stollenmayer’s food game trilogy below. If you’re looking for a fun (albeit offbeat) game for the weekend, this could be the one for you!

Android app maker upset at Apple over its use of ‘Memoji’ name

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Animoji
Another app maker is upset that Apple used the Memoji name.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

iOS 12’s Memojis — Animoji-style avatars which look like the user, rather than talking poop emojis or animals — are a cool feature that sets Apple apart from some of its Android rivals.

But according to a new lawsuit, the Memoji trademark actually came from an Android app with the same name.

watchOS 5.0.1 kills Apple Watch charging bug

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apple watch
Anyone running watch OS 5 should update to watchOS 5.0.1, as it fixes a serious potential problem.
Photo: Apple

Apple Watch just got a major operating system upgrade last week and there’s already a “bug fix” update.

Most of the issues watchOS 5.0.1 deals with seem fairly minor, but at least one of them is important enough to rush out this update.

Steve Jobs’ ad guru calls iPhone names ‘a war against common sense’

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Author Ken Segall worked in advertising with Steve Jobs for more than a dozen years. His new book is called Think Simple.
Ken Segall put the “i” in iMac, and now he wants iPhone names to make more sense.
Photo: Doug Schneider Photography

Apple’s decision to name its new flagship product the “iPhone XS Max” has drawn criticism. But none so harsh as from Ken Segall, who worked closely with Apple co-founder Steve Jobs on marketing for over a decade.

He says he feels “a sense of dread” before every iPhone press event because “when it comes to iPhone naming, Apple seems to wage a war against common sense.”

Group FaceTime returns in first macOS 10.14.1 public beta

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Group FaceTime Mac
Anyone willing to install macOS 10.14.1 beta 1 can try out Group FaceTime.
Photo: Apple

macOS 10.14 Mojave is still very new, but Apple isn’t resting on its laurels. It has already released the first public beta of a significant update.

Version 10.14.1 isn’t just bug fixes; it’s the first with Group FaceTime, a feature Apple has been promising since early summer.

iPhone XR gets go-ahead for October launch

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iPhone XR portrait mode
Thinking the iPhone XR would have been worth the wait?
Photo: Apple

The iPhone XR has been cleared for takeoff by the FCC.

Apple’s budget-friendly phone received the FCC’s official stamp of approval this morning, allowing the company to go-ahead with its plans to start taking pre-orders for the iPhone XR on October 19.

Logic Pro X and MainStage 3 get updated with tons of new tweaks

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Logic Pro X
Logic Pro X is the go-to software for audio pros.
Photo: Apple

Apple’s professional audio editing software, Logic Pro X, got a sizeable update today, bringing a host of new features to make editing and mixing music even easier.

Logic Pro X version 10.4.2 now allows users to save space on their Mac’s hard drive by relocating the Sound Library to external storage. There’s also a ton of performance fixes as well as tons of tweaks aimed at making editing faster.

Shocker! Clever kids find ways around Screen Time restrictions

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Woman in China temporarily goes blind in one eye after smartphone overuse
iOS 12's new Screen Time feature isn't a panacea for good parenting. Even small children can find workarounds.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

iOS 12’s Screen Time feature lets parents monitor and limit how much time their children spend on their iPhone and iPad. It should surprise no one that smart kids with lots of free time have found ways to circumvent the limits.

This is only the first version of Screen Time, and Apple will likely close these loopholes in future updates.

Cops nab 7 suspects in Apple Store robbery crime wave

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Thieves grab MacBooks from an Apple Store
A frame of CCTV footage showing one of the recent robberies.
Screenshot: CBS New York/Apple

Seven suspects have been arrested in connection to the spate of Apple Store thefts taking place across the Bay Area. Multiple law enforcement agencies cooperated to crack an organized crime ring targeting Apple Stores throughout the region.

The Oakland Police Department said that it, “assisted another law enforcement agency by arresting multiple individuals wanted on criminal warrants.” These arrests, it continued, were, “in connection to large-scale crimes that were committed throughout the state of California.”

LG latest smartphone to one-up Apple on camera count

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LG V40
The LG V40 and its many cameras.
Photo: LG

Korean electronic’s giant LG is teasing the rollout of a new smartphone with multiple cameras.

The LG V40 will feature three cameras on the back plus two front-facing cameras, joining Samsung and Huawei in what is shaping up to be a marketing war featuring the phone with the most cameras.

Every iPhone ranked, from worst to best

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Nicole Arbour 3
What was your favorite iPhone?
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

The new iPhone XS and XS Max are generating rave reviews. Having marked the iPhone’s 10th anniversary with last year’s awe-inducing iPhone X, Apple has now set the stage for a second decade of smartphone innovation.

But what about all the awesome iPhones that led us to this point? Which models are the classics that will occupy museum shelves long after they’ve stopped working? I decided to dive in at the deep end and rank every phone Apple ever made. Wish me luck!

Mueller spotted at Genius Bar appointment in Washington, D.C.

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Cohen
See, the country's power brokers are ordinary folks like us!
Photo: Kelly Cohen/Twitter

The Apple Store can be quite the place to spot celebrities and well-known public figures. An image doing the rounds on Twitter shows Robert Mueller, the special prosecutor in charge of the Russia investigation, participating in a recent Genius Bar session.

The Genius Bar appointment took place at the Apple Store in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Mueller appears to be having issues with his MacBook Pro.

Apple Watch wearers in U.K. could wait years for ECG feature

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Apple Watch ECG
Not impressed by the ECG? You’ll have more time to return your Watch.
Photo: Apple

Apple Watch Series 4’s incredible ability to offer electrocardiograms (ECG) is one of the biggest reasons to upgrade this year. But you can’t use it yet.

Those in the U.S. will be able to get their hands on the feature before the end of 2018, but for those in other countries, the wait could be a lot longer. If you live in the U.K., you may even have to wait “years,” one report warns.

Apple flaw lets hackers steal business passwords

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The CIA has a team of more than 5,000 hackers.
Businesses beware.
Photo: Brian Klug/Flickr CC

Many businesses choose to spend more on Apple smartphones and computers because they’re supposed to be safer than more affordable alternatives running Android or Windows. But they’re not completely bulletproof.

Researchers have discovered a worrying flaw in one Apple service that allows hackers to steal business passwords from macOS and iOS devices.

Fortnite season 6 kicks off with massive changes

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Fortnite haunted castle
Visit the new haunted castle in Fortnite season 6.
Photo: Epic Games

It’s time to gear up for Fortnite season six.

The mammoth update, available today across all platforms, brings new areas to explore, new consumables that make you invisible to your enemies, and pets that you carry with you wherever you go. It also removes a number of popular items from the game to make room for others.

Palo Alto Apple Store robbed twice in less than 12 hours

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Tim Cook
Tim Cook recently showed up at the Palo Alto Apple Store to greet customers.
Photo: CNBC

The Apple Store in downtown Palo Alto was robbed twice in 12 hours over the weekend, as the Californian Apple Store crime spree continues.

In the first instance, a gang of eight males entered the store after 7pm on Saturday, and began snatching iPhones and other devices, before fleeing in multiple vehicles. In the early hours of Sunday morning, the store’s glass doors were then shattered with rocks, and more products were taken.