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News - page 764

Verizon spinoff offers unlimited wireless service at $40 a month

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Visible offers discount Verizon service, and it's currently iPhone only.
Visible uses Verizon's network to offer discount service. It's currently iPhone only.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Verizon Wireless spun off a startup that offers unlimited data, voice, and messages for just $40 a month. The new company, dubbed Visible, is currently only offering this service for unlocked iPhones.

But there is a catch: all data connections are always throttled to 5Mbps, well below what Verizon’s network can provide.

Damaged iPhone appears to explode on video

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iPhone explosion caught on security video
Before-and-after of an iPhone explosion in front of a security camera.
Screencap: ABC News

An iPhone reportedly exploded and briefly caught fire in front of a security camera. 

The device was an iPhone 6 that was in the shop for repair. Its battery had supposedly begun to expand, cracking the display.

Save 25% on luxury charm necklaces for Apple Watch [Mother’s Day Sale]

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bucardo
Wear your Apple Watch in a unique way with the Silver Horn Charm Necklace by Bucardo.
Photo: Bucardo

Today only, take 25 percent off Bucardo’s stunning Charm Necklaces for Apple Watch.

Real turquoise and Swarovski crystals adorn several of these lovely charms, and all necklaces are crafted from either gold or silver plated stainless steel. In wearing these beautiful Apple Watch charm necklaces, the watch is still clearly visible, incorporating itself into a hot piece of jewelry. It’s unique yet timeless — just like mom. Save 25 percent through Mother’s Day in our Watch Store.

Tim Cook urges graduates to ‘be fearless’

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Tim Cook
Tim Cook tells Duke graduates that technology gives each individual more power to change the world than any other time in history.
Screencap: Duke University

Apple CEO Tim Cook gave the commencement address at Duke University this morning. He urged the newest graduates of his alma mater to fearlessly face the challenges that trouble the world today, and assured them that technology gives them to power to do so.

Problems Cook mentioned include political divisions, climate change, and societal inequality. But he also told the graduates, “You are not powerless to fix them. No generation has ever had more power than yours, and no generation has a chance to change things faster than yours can.”

Apple’s ‘butterfly’ MacBook keyboard faces threat of class-action lawsuit

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MacBook butterfly keyboard
The butterfly keyboard used in the MacBook Pro and MacBook has now drawn both a recall petition and a lawsuit.
Photo: Apple

A lawsuit filed in federal court claims that the keyboard used in all the MacBook Pros and MacBooks made in the past few years is defective. The plaintiffs request that this be made into a class-action lawsuit, and that Apple be required to replace all the affected keyboards at no cost to users.

The lawsuit also requests punitive damages because, as the plaintiffs claim, Apple continued to build and sell laptops with the “butterfly” keyboard even though the company knew it was defective.

Cult of Mac Magazine: Strength is the missing Activity Ring on Apple Watch, and more!

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cover
In this week's Cult of Mac magazine: Why doesn’t the Activity app track strength training?
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

In this week’s Cult of Mac Magazine: The Activity Rings on your Apple Watch don’t provide a complete picture of your fitness. There is one important ring missing: Strength. The Rock didn’t get ripped just by standing up once an hour. And both the Exercise and Move rings essentially measure the same thing: cardio.

As any fitness expert will tell you, an effective workout program should combine cardio with strength training. Here’s why strength is currently Apple Watch’s weakness, and how you can use third-party apps to make sure it isn’t yours as well.

You’ll find that story and more in this issue. Get your free subscription to Cult of Mac Magazine from iTunes. Or read on for this week’s top stories.

How iPad saves one company $1.8 million every year

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Construction company enjoys iPad savings in time and money.
The iPad savings for Rogers-O’Brien Construction aren't just money; there's also less frustration.
Screencap: Rogers-O’Brien

Building construction is an immensely complex process. The firm Rogers-O’Brien uses hundreds of iPads to simplify it, while saving 55,000 hours of employee time and $1.8 million annually.

All the paperwork involved is stored in the cloud where it can be accessed at any time. This means someone in the office can make a change and the people in the field can immediately see the updated document.

New iPhone SE 2 renders reveal gorgeous glass back

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iPhone SE 2 with glass back
iPhone SE 2 looks good in these renders, but they may not be accurate.
Photo: Olixar

New renders of the upcoming iPhone SE 2, which depict its gorgeous glass back, have been revealed by a popular case-maker.

Olixar is already producing accessories for the device based on information it has gleaned from sources in China. Its new screen protector indicates the iPhone SE 2 will be a big surprise, with an edge-to-edge display just like iPhone X.

Apple Watch may have saved yet another person’s life

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Apple Watch
The Apple Watch's heart rate sensor may have saved a 76-year-old man's life.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

The Apple Watch is credited with potentially saving its wearer’s life after 76-year-old man Gaston D’Aquino was recently told to go to hospital after being informed of an unusually high heart rate.

Despite feeling fine, D’Aquino discovered that two of his three coronary arteries were blocked, while the remaining one was only functioning at 10 percent of its usual capacity.

Snapchat is rolling back some of its radical redesign changes

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Snapchat
Snapchat has experienced a big backlash since its redesign.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Snapchat has caved in to demands to reinstate the old Snapchat look. Well, kind of.

The self-destructing messages service is currently rolling out a new design to iOS users, undoing at least a few of the contentious changes it introduced with its previous redesign.

Microsoft wants to bring iMessage to Windows

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Microsoft Your Phone
Microsoft’s new Your Phone service can sync messages with Android, but not with iOS.
Photo: Microsoft

Microsoft wants to work with Apple to bring iMessage to Windows machines.

The company’s upcoming Your Phone app will seamlessly sync content between your iPhone and your Windows 10 PC, but unlike those with an Android device, you won’t be able to sync messages. Microsoft is hoping it can team up with Apple to change that.

Tim Cook will deliver Duke University commencement address this Sunday

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Tim Cook
But will he join graduates in the student bar for a drink afterwards?
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Tim Cook will give the commencement address for Duke University’s graduating class this Sunday, May 13. Cook graduated from Duke’s Fuqua School of Business with an MBA in 1988.

“I’m honored to be returning to Duke this weekend to help celebrate the Class of 2018,” Cook told Duke University’s Chronicle newspaper this week. “I graduated from Fuqua 30 years ago, and the friends and memories I made at Duke are among the most treasured of my life.”

Watch HDR YouTube videos on your iPhone X

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Displaying an HDR YouTube video on a non-HDR screen is impossible.
Unfortunately, displaying an HDR YouTube video on a non-HDR screen is an exercise in futility.
Graphic: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

There’s a whole YouTube channel devoted to HDR videos, and the iPhone X can now display them as they are meant to be seen.

High Dynamic Range offers a greater span of colors that most screens can display. The OLED display in Apple’s flagship device is up to the job, though.

Buttery-smooth Barenia leather makes this Series 3 band soft yet strong [Review]

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Clessant Barenia leather Apple Watch Band comes in black or gold.
The delicate accent stitching looks great, but there's more to this Apple Watch band than meets the eye. Clessant uses prized Barenia leather from the Haas Tannery in France.
Photo: Clessant

Best List: Clessant Gold Barenia Apple Watch Band

When it comes to fashion, it’s hard to beat basic black. However, sometimes you want a little something extra — a color and design that adds subtle interest without going over the top. The Clessant Gold Barenia Apple Watch band joins its black counterpart and does the trick, thanks to fine off-white stitching that looks almost like racing stripes.

Apple finds greener way to produce aluminium

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Elysis produces greener aluminium that will someday be used in iPhones.
Apple helped found Elysis, an environmentally-friendly company that produces this greener aluminium that will someday go into iPhones.
Photo: Apple

Just a glance at an iPad or Apple Watch shows how much aluminum Apple uses. The traditional method for producing this material creates greenhouse gases. Apple brought together a pair of companies to develop a greener aluminium smelting process that releases oxygen instead.

The metal will someday go into iPhones, Macs, and other devices to make them easier on the environment.

Apple has a wild idea for enhancing video capture

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Apple video patent
A patent application from Apple suggests it has developed a way to record video using both lenses at the same time.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Imagine shooting video with a dual-camera iPhone with simultaneous capture through both lenses.

Apple has and it applied for a patent indicating software to record with both the wide and zoom lenses on a device is somewhere in the pipeline.

Apple, Goldman Sachs team on rewards credit card

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Apple, Goldman Sachs credit card will replace Apple Reward Card
Get ready to tear up your Apple Rewards Card. The company will release a replacement next year with Goldman Sachs.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Apple is working with Goldman Sachs to release a credit card, according to an unconfirmed report. This will apparently take the place of the company’s current Rewards Visa.

The card will be offered under the Apple Pay brand. Goldman Sachs will allegedly replace Barclays as Apple’s partner for credit cards.

Malicious Siri voice commands can hide in regular music

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Siri Alexa in voice report
Instead of helping you, Siri could be obeying voice commands concealed in the song you're playing.
Photo: Apple

Suppose you’re listening to some music, then glance over an realize your iPhone has loaded a porn site all on its own. That’s the nightmare scenario researchers say is possible after they proved voice commands can be concealed in songs.

It’s also possible to get Siri to recognize commands given at frequencies outside the range of human hearing.

So long, aluminum! Why the iMac needs a total redesign.

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Will the iMac design ever be this exciting again? The original iMac G3.
Will the iMac ever be this exciting again?
Photo: Apple

When the first iMac debuted 20 years ago, it shook the tech world with its completely unorthodox appearance. The blobby, curvaceous and colorful computer looked, in Steve Jobs’ words, good enough to lick.

It was a statement computer, both for those who owned it and for those who made it.

However, with the iMac not having had a substantial redesign since 2012, Apple’s all-in-one desktop is getting a bit long in the tooth. It’s time for Apple to give it an overhaul with a new iMac design that would get the world excited about Macs again — and prove Apple remains committed to innovative computing.

Apple will adopt LG G7 display tech for 2018 LCD iPhone

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LG G7 ThinQ with MLCD+ display
The LG G7 ThinQ’s MLCD+ display is brighter and more color accurate.
Photo: LG

Apple is expected adopt new LCD technology from the LG G7 ThinQ for one of three iPhone models set for release later this year.

The MLCD+ display will deliver increased brightness to what will surely be Apple’s most affordable smartphone to go on sale this fall. It will also offer a wider color gamut to match the iPhone X.

Don’t expect the iPhone to get cheaper in 2018

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iphone x
Apple's $1,000+ iPhone price tags aren't going anywhere.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple is set to continue its high price tag strategy for the next generation of iPhones launching later this year, a new report suggests.

While no exact prices are given, the news may be disappointing for anyone who thought that Apple would slash the $1,000+ cost of the iPhone X for its follow-up phones. Then again, coming off a record-breaking quarter and a bestselling handset, was anyone really expecting anything different?