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Samsung’s sad new ad is packed with iPhone disses

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Samsung ad
Samsung's not pulling any punches in its latest ad.
Photo: Samsung

The life of an iPhone owner is a truly miserable experience, according to the Android smartphone makers at Samsung.

Apple’s big Android rival put out a new ad today titled “Moving On” that attacks the iPhone for taking a few seconds to load a boarding pass and if you’re not careful you might totally get caught in the rain with one while waiting for an Uber.

Take a look at the sad life of an iPhone user:

Fortnite’s new Solo Showdown game mode offers big prizes

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Fortnite Solo Showdown game mode
Get your V-Bucks back for unwanted Fortnite purchases.
Photo: Epic Games

Fortnite Battle Royale is getting a new limited-time game mode that awards big prizes.

Solo Showdown places players against self-selected competitors in “the ultimate test of survival.” The best performers are rewarded with free V-Bucks, and a whopping 50,000 are up for grabs if you can secure first place. You’ll also get a unique spray just for taking part.

Apple welcomes deaf and blind students to Everyone Can Code initiative

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Everyone Can Code
Apple is doing its bit for Global Accessibility Awareness Day.
Photo: Apple

Apple has been pretty outspoken about bringing coding classes to everyone — and that most assuredly includes the deaf and blind communities, too.

Timed to coincide with Global Accessibility Awareness Day, Apple has revealed that it is making it easier for students with vision, hearing or other assistive needs to take part in its Everyone Can Code curricula for Swift.

Apple’s proposed North Carolina campus is almost a ‘done deal’

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Research Triangle
The Research Triangle Park headquarters as it is today.
Photo: Ildar Sagdejev/Wikipedia CC

Apple’s decision to open a new HQ in North Carolina is reportedly a “done deal” as soon as a bill is passed approving a series of incentives for Apple.

The location of Apple’s proposed new headquarter has been speculated upon, with North Carolina and Northern Virginia emerging as the two most likely candidates.

Apple Pay goes live in Ukraine

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Apple in talks to bring Apple Pay to Israel
Apple Pay continues its growth around the world.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Apple Pay has launched in Ukraine, a move that was officially announced by the country’s finance minister Oleksandr Danyliuk on Facebook.

At present, Apple Pay is supported by Ukraine’s nationalized PrivatBank, with the State Savings Bank of Ukraine, a.k.a. Oschadbank, set to follow in the near future.

Stunning OnePlus 6 wallpapers look awesome on iPhone X

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iPhone X
Make back some of the money you just spent by selling your old iPhone.
Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

OnePlus revealed its latest flagship on Tuesday with an edge-to-edge display inspired by iPhone X. The OnePlus 6 is the Chinese company’s prettiest smartphone yet, and it ships with a bunch of gorgeous wallpapers that look awesome on any home screen.

Download them for your iPhone right here.

New YouTube Music streaming service goes live this month

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YouTube Music
YouTube will take on Apple Music (again).
Photo: Google

YouTube Music, a new service that will take on the likes of Spotify and Apple, goes live next week.

Listeners will be able to enjoy the service for free if they don’t mind their music interspersed with advertisements. An upgrade to YouTube Music Premium, priced at $9.99 a month, will remove those ads and allow for background playback and music downloads.

Apple can finally replace batteries in older MacBook Pro models

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MacBook Pro
Replacements for a 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro battery from five years ago are available with no waiting.
Photo: Apple

Apple ran short on a very vital part of the Mid 2012 and Early 2013 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display for over a year. But it now reportedly has plenty of batteries for these models in stock once again.

For months, Apple had been forced to waive the fee on battery replacements on these older models because customers were having to wait so long for the part to become available. 

OnePlus 6 has a notch because it just makes sense

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Although the OnePlus 6 has a screen cutout like the iPhone X, it's not a copycat.
Although the OnePlus 6 has a screen cutout like the iPhone X, it's not a copycat.
Photo: OnePlus

OnePlus isn’t as well known as Samsung, but its Android devices have a following. Its newly-announced flagship has a screen cutout, which will cause many people to call the OnePlus 6 an iPhone X clone.  

But Apple didn’t put the “notch” in its device for esthetics. There’s good reason for it. And that’s the same reason it’s in the OnePlus 6, as well as other Android devices with the same feature expected later this year.

Caviar’s solar-powered iPhone X Tesla costs a paltry $4,600

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iPhone X Tesla
The iPhone X Tesla is solar powered, with gold trim. Each is hand delivered to its buyer.
Photo: Caviar Globsl

Russian luxury brand Caviar just launched the iPhone X Tesla, a solar-powered version of Apple’s flagship device. Parts are gilded in gold, and the whole deal costs 284,000 ₽ ($4600) for a 64GB version.

It’s a device any Russian oligarch would be proud to own.

Beautiful concept images show 2018 iPhone in its full glory

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An artist compiled various rumors about the 2018 iPhone into images, including this one.
An artist compiled several rumors about the 2018 iPhone into images, including this one.
Photo: DBS Designing

Rumors of the next iPhone are running hot and heavy, and an artist has assembled the various unconfirmed reports into concept images of the device Apple might release this fall.

These visual speculations come from Muhsin M. Belaal Auckburaully of DBS Designing, who gives Martin Hajek some real competition in Apple concept drawings. 

New Apple HQ might land in the South

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Apple Park
Apple might be moving into the D.C. area.
Photo: Apple

North Carolina and Northern Virginia have risen as two likely candidates for Apple’s third headquarters.

The new location of the new Apple HQ is supposed to be revealed by the end of 2018. According to a new report, one of the spots Apple is looking at is in the same area that Amazon is eying too.

Inexpensive Logitech Crayon iPad stylus debuts just for students

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Logitech Crayon
The Logitech Crayon was designed for the classroom. It saves schools quite a bit of money compared to the Apple Pencil.
Photo: Logitech

Logitech’s $49 active stylus for iPad unveiled back in March just debuted. However, at this point the Crayon can only be purchased through Apple’s Education channel.

This accessory for students was created to be a cheaper alternative to the Apple Pencil, which schools can buy at $89.

Microsoft will take on the iPad with a low-cost Surface tablet

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Microsoft Surface to take on iPad
Microsoft’s next Surface tablet wants to make difficult for iPad.
Photo: Microsoft

Microsoft plans to take on Apple’s popular 9.7-inch iPad with a low-cost Surface tablet, according to a new report.

The device, which will be powered by Intel processors and priced at around $400, is expected to go on sale in the second half of 2018. It will be accompanied by more affordable versions of Microsoft’s keyboard cover, mouse, and Surface Pen.

Want to pit Street Fighter against Power Rangers? Now you can

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PR vs SF Group Shot
The crossover you never thought would happen.
Photo: Power Rangers: Legacy Wars

Two franchises I love, Power Rangers and Street Fighter are crossing over for team-based real-time mobile fighting game, Power Rangers: Legacy Wars.

If you’ve been waiting since the 1990s to pit Chun-Li against the Pink Ranger or Akuma against Lord Zedd, today is your lucky day. Check out the action-packed trailer below.

Fortnite update brings customizable HUD, burst assault rifle

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Fortnite burst assault rifle
The new Burst assault rifle will help you gun down this challenge.
Photo: Epic Games

Fortnite Battle Royale’s latest update has hit the App Store. Players have a new burst assault rifle to enjoy, as well as a new limited-time game mode. Epic Games has also added the ability to customize the game’s heads-up display on iPhone and iPad.

But it’s not all good news.

iPhone SE 2 could pack iPhone X features into compact form factor

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iPhone SE CAD
A miniature iPhone X? Yes please!
Photo: Olixar

If you love the design of the iPhone X, but yearn for the smaller form factor of the 2012-era iPhone 5s, you could well find yourself in luck this year.

According to a new report, Apple’s next-gen iPhone SE is set to be the same size as its predecessor, but boast the same edge-to-edge display and “notch” of the iPhone X. This would mean that it would have more screen real estate than the original iPhone SE, although the body would stay the same size.

PicoBrew’s beer robot now brews kombucha, coffee and more

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PicoBrew Pico U brewing appliance is smaller, cheaper and far more capable than its predecessors.
Pico U is smaller, cheaper and far more capable than its predecessors.
Photo: PicoBrew

PicoBrew’s new Pico U, which the company calls “the world’s first universal craft beverage brewing appliance,” does more than brew great beer. The “U” stands for “universal,” because the Pico U also makes kombucha, horchata and milk-based drinks, as well as tea and single-serving coffee.

It’s also small enough to fit on a kitchen countertop — and costs far less than its predecessors. Pico U offers so many brewing options, at a price that’s so attainable, that Donald Brewer, PicoBrew’s VP of sales, calls it the “Instant Pot for brewed beverages.”

Apple demands $1 billion from Samsung for patent infringement

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Apple and Samsung return to court
Apple and Samsung are battling it out again.
Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

Apple wants Samsung to cough up a whopping $1 billion in damages for infringing iPhone design patents.

The two companies again returned to court this week over the long-running dispute, which first began seven years ago. Apple told jurors that Samsung should hand over all the profit it made on four devices that were heavily inspired by the iPhone. Samsung’s lawyers disagree.

Doom’s lead programmer recalls working with Steve Jobs

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Doom cover
John Carmack was one of the brains behind some of the biggest PC games of the 1980s and 90s.
Photo: Id Software

Id Software co-founder John Carmack was behind some of the most iconic computer game of the 1980s and 90s. This week, the legendary coder behind the smash hit games Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, and Quake shared some memories of working with Steve Jobs.

Writing on Facebook, Carmack described some of his interactions with Jobs over the years — for better and for worse.

WhatsApp makes big improvements to group messaging

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WhatsApp
You’ll need a new iPhone if you can’t update to iOS 8 or later.
Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

WhatsApp is rolling out big improvements to group messaging that make it easier to manage your conversations, catch up on what you’ve missed, and more. It has also added enhanced controls for group admins.

Here’s what you have to look forward to on iPhone today.

Panicked Apple investors shed stocks quickly during iPhone X scare

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Apple waives developer fees for nonprofits, others in 8 additional countries
Remember the iPhone X flop that never happened?
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Remember how Apple was doomed earlier this year, and how the iPhone X was a massive flop — only for Apple to pull out a record March quarter and prove everyone wrong? Well, it seems that a large number of folks took the Apple failure narrative pretty seriously.

According to a new report, during the first three months of this year, institutional investors reduced their holdings in Apple at a greater rate than any time since the 2008 financial crisis. In total, that added up to around 153 million shares sold.