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News - page 779

Tim Cook pays tribute to MLK 50 years after his death

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Tim Cook
Cook shared his thoughts with students from Birmingham, AL.
Photo: Tim Cook

Tim Cook visited his home state of Alabama this week, and paid homage to American Baptist minister and activist Martin Luther King Jr. on the 50th anniversary of his assassination.

Cook also met with a group of Birmingham, AL high school and college students, and talked about the importance of the civil rights struggle, the need to learn coding, and answered questions about his own career.

AirPort Express gets Air Play 2 support for whole-house audio

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AirPort Express
Still using an AirPort device? Update the companion app today.
Photo: Apple/Cult of Mac

Air Play 2 in the first beta of iOS 11.4 lets users add AirPort Express base stations as speakers. Sort of. This could become a relatively inexpensive option for whole-house audio.

What makes this move surprising is that Apple hasn’t updated the AirPort Express since 2013. That said, the wireless router is still being sold on the company’s website. 

New videos show off iPad’s best tricks

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Side-by-side multitasking on iPad
Apple demos how easy side-by-side multitasking is on an iPad.
Graphic: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Apple wants to make sure iPad users know how to work with two apps at once, and also how an Apple Pencil can mark up screenshots. A couple of new videos walk users through each of these quickly and simply.

The video are likely timed to benefit people buying the new iPad, the first budget iOS tablet that supports the Apple Pencil.

Experimental iPhone app makes heart surgery safer

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Why you'll fall in love with Apple's new dual-lens camera.
An new experiement shows an iPhone app and a camera can be used in medical diagnosis.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Medical advances don’t have to be dramatic. Even small changes can save lives. Take an app that uses an iPhone camera to determine if an artery is healthy enough to accept the catheter needed to restore blood flow to a patent’s heart. It’s still experimental, but is significantly better than the current method.

How to kick out companies that access your Facebook profile

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Facebook Profile
You might be amazed how many companies you allow to read your complete Facebook profile.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Facebook now lists in one place all the companies that you’ve given access to your profile info. This makes deleting this access a snap, right from your iPhone or iPad.

You may have taken a silly Facebook quiz to find out which droid from Star Wars you most resemble. Just by doing so, you allowed the company that made up the quiz entry to your full profile info. And even if that was a decade ago, they still have access today.

Apple Music passes 40 million paid subscribers mark

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Apple Music
Apple is increasing its dependence on revenue from services like Apple Music.
Photo: Apple

Apple Music appears to be narrowing the gap with Spotify when it comes to paid subscribers.

In a tweet this afternoon, Apple revealed that the total subscribers for its music service passed the 40 million mark during the same week Spotify’s stock went up for sale on the New York Stock Exchange.

Apple spared from Trump’s trade war with China – for now

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iPhone X
Trump's tariff list doesn't include smartphones and laptops.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

The iPhone and other major tech products are safe from Trump’s brewing trade war with China.

On Tuesday, the office of the U.S. Trade Representative revealed that it was slapping 25 percent tariffs on 1,300 products coming from China related to technology, transport and medical products. iPhone components were exempt from the list, but other products like magnetic hard drives and flat-panel television sets were hit hard.

iOS 11.3 makes updating foreign apps easier than ever

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App Store
Apple apps no longer dominate App Store search results.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple has made it easier to update apps and games purchased from foreign App Stores in iOS 11.3. Users no longer have to switch to the App Store they originally downloaded the title from, making the update process a whole lot quicker.

Olá! Apple Pay goes live in Brazil

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Apple Pay iPhone
Yet another reason to use Apple Pay.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Brazil has become the first South American country to get Apple Pay support.

Users can sign up for the service today by registering their Itaú Unibanco, MasterCard, or Visa credit and debit cards in the Wallet app.

Fortnite gets weapon vending machines, explosive game mode

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Fortnite vending machine
Using a vending machine is easy if you have the materials.
Photo: Epic Games

This week’s Fortnite update brings vending machines to battle royale, allowing you to trade unwanted building materials for weapons.

The vending machines are scattered around the map, and each offers three items of randomly-selected rarities. The items are cycled every so often and there is no limit to how many you can purchase in each match.

Epic Games has also added a limited-time High Explosives game mode.

Future iPhones could boast curved displays and touch-free controls

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Ex-student sentenced to 3 years in prison for massive iPhone scam
Apple is exploring new ways to make future iPhones stand out.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple is exploring touchless gestures control and curved screens for possible future iPhones, a new report claims.

Although the two technologies won’t be ready for market for at least two years, they could offer Apple new ways to differentiate its products from those made by rivals.

Bored of selfies? New iPhone X app creates impressive 3D face scans

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Bellus3D
New app puts the iPhone X's 3D depth-sensing tech to good use.
Photo: Bellus3D

The 3D sensing technology behind Face ID is reportedly two years ahead of Apple’s rivals, and developers are keen to take advantage of it. A new app, created by the Silicon Valley computer vision company Bellus3D, uses Apple’s TrueDepth camera to create detailed three-dimensional selfies.

Called Bellus3D FaceApp, the iPhone X exclusive app is currently in beta. It offers users high resolution face scans of the kind that were only previously possible to achieve using expensive professional 3D scanners. Check out a demo video below.

Apple drama starring Jennifer Aniston forced to switch showrunners

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apple tv
One of Apple's shows has run into some real life drama.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Apple seems to have run into its first bit of (unintentional) drama with its upcoming original series starring Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon.

The show, based around the happenings at a morning TV show, was signed by Apple to a massive two-series, 20-episode deal last November. Industry trade magazine Variety describes it as Apple’s “first major swing in the premium drama arena.” However, creator and showrunner Jay Carson has now departed the series as the result of so-called “creative differences.”

New Apple Pay ads promote the faster way to splash your cash

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Apple Pay
A useful Apple Pay purchase, apparently.
Photo: Apple

Apple has debuted a series of new eye-catching 12-second ads showing off the ease with which Apple Pay can be used.

Titled “Groceries,” “Coffee,” Kicks,” and “Grooming,” the ads are part of Apple’s continued drive to get users to adopt is mobile payments service. Check them out below.

First mobile phone call made 45 years ago today

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First mobile phone call re-enacted
Martin Cooper uses a Motorola DynaTAC 8000x to re-enact the first cell phone call.
Photo: Wikipedia

A historic milestone occurred April 3, 1973: the very first call on a mobile phone. It was the phone equivalent of landing on the moon.

But that call wasn’t an inspirational message — some equivalent of “a giant leap for mankind.” Nope, Martin Cooper, who headed up Motorola’s team developing the cell phone, called Joel Engel, his equivalent at AT&T’s Bell Labs, to brag that his company had won the race to produce a working device.

Apple steals Google’s AI wiz to make Siri smarter

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John Giannandrea
Starting today, John Giannandrea heads the team improving the Siri voice assistant.
Photo: Google

John Giannandrea used to run Google’s artificial intelligence division, but now he works for Apple. He’s leading the drive to make the company’s Siri voice assistant smarter, a goal many would agree is overdue.

This is the most high-profile move yet in Apple’s ongoing drive to hire more talent for the Siri team.

iPad app lets you play a violin with Apple Pencil

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Pen2Bow
Pen2Bow turns the Apple Pencil into a virtual violin bow.
Photo: Pen2Bow

The Apple Pencil, now compatible with pretty much all new iPads, is not just good for drawing and writing. Because if its bevvy of sensors — tilt, pressure, acceleration, and orientation — the Apple Pencil is also a pretty good musical instrument. Pen2Bow is a new iPad app which turns the Pencil into a violin bow, letting you use all of these natural gestures to play a virtual violin.

Apple Watch helps solve brutal murder

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bezel
An Apple Watch found on a murder victim provided critical evidence.
Photo: Form Function Form

An Australian woman claims her mother-in-law was killed in their home by unknown assilants, but data from the victim’s Apple Watch contradicts that testimony.

An Apple Watch tracks the wearer’s heartbeat. This means it knows exactly when that heart stops, allowing Adelaide police to know precisely when this murder had taken place. And that was far earlier than claimed.

iOS 11.4 public beta arrives with AirPlay 2

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Don't take a chance on a bricked HomePod.
AirPlay 2.0 makes HomePod even better.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

HomePod owners no longer need to be a developer to test AirPlay 2.

Apple seeded the first public beta of iOS 11.4 to testers today, allowing anyone who signs up for the beta testing program to play with some of the new features coming out later this spring.

Snapchat adds group video chat and friend tagging

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Snapchat
Snapchat lets you video chat with up to 16 people.
Photo: Snapchat

Snapchat just rolled out a big update that gives users the ability to tag friends in Stories and enjoy chaotic group video chats with up to 16 people. It has also added support for even more ridiculous voice calls that support up to 32 people.

Got a broken phone? Let us fix it for less.

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Our partnership with MyPhones Unlimited offers unbeatable prices and convenience for fixing your iDevices.
Get your iPhone (or your iPad or MacBook) fixed the fast, cheap and painless way.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

When you break your iPhone, you want it fixed fast and frugally. That’s why our cheap iPhone repair service stands out. We’ll get your broken iPhone fixed up and shipped back to you in no time, at an extremely competitive price.

Apple Music videos make the leap to Android

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Music Video
Apple Music -- now with added music videos.
Photo: Apple

Apple has rolled out its new music video-oriented Apple Music app update for Android.

Now available to download in the Google Play store, the Apple Music 2.4.2 update boasts the same “music video experience” recently added with iOS 11.3. That means that users can access a plethora of exclusive music video playlists curated by Apple.