News - page 795

In just 24 hours, Apple went from being ho-hum in charisma to number one in brand intimacy.

What sounds like fickle middle school popularity are actual rankings based on research, data and scientific surveys of, well, fickle people.

Apple ended its workweek ranked first for brand intimacy among millennials, according to a report MBLM, a marketing firm that specializes in helping brands form said connection. Apple as a brand must have worked hard on itself over the last year because it beat out Netflix, which was tops among millennials last year.

Smart speaker sales have exploded, with 47 million Americans now using one, up from about zero two years ago. And Apple fans are leading the trend — they’re 22 percent more likely than Android users to own a smart speaker.

You can navigate the world as Mario for a limited time inside Google Maps.

The awesome new feature, added to celebrate Mario Day on March 10, shows you driving along in Mario’s red kart — complete with familiar sound effects.

Apple’s Swift programming language it continuing its ascent through the coding ranks. According to a new quarterly ranking by developer-focused analyst firm RedMonk, Swift has entered the top 10 programming languages as indicated on GitHub and Stack Overflow.

The rest of the top 10 (from no. 1 through no. 9) is comprised of JavaScript, Java, Python, PHP, C#, C++, CSS, Ruby, and Swift and Apple’s previous coding language Objective-C ranking in joint tenth place.

This week’s episode of The CultCast is packed with great Apple stories. We talk: Reports of a cheaper, smaller HomePod; the end of iTunes; MoviePass tracking your every move; the first security camera for your car; and more! Hit play to catch the discussion.

Our thanks to Casper for supporting this episode. Learn why Casper makes the internet’s favorite mattress, and save $50 off your order at casper.com/cultcast.

Epic Games is bringing its insanely popular Fornight Battle Royale to iPhone and iPad.

It will be exactly the same 100-player game you’ve been enjoying on consoles, with the same map and the same weapons — and it will support cross-platform play between PlayStation 4 and PC. You can sign up to join the beta on Monday, March 12.

Amazon could beat Apple to become the world’s first $1 trillion company, a new report suggests.

While Apple’s market cap currently stands at $893 billion to Amazon’s $752 billion, the online retail giant is rapidly closing the gap. By current trajectories, it will beat Apple to the $1 trillion mark by a mere week.

Apple is reportedly battling with Netflix and Amazon to sign former President Barack Obama to a deal that would see him produce a high profile series of shows with wife Michelle Obama.

These shows will likely focus on the Obamas hosting conversations on a variety of topics, ranging from health care and climate change to nutrition. Unfortunately for Apple, it seems that Netflix may have this deal in the bag!

Americans are far less likely to switch between an iPhone and an Android smartphone than they once were. A new study shows that virtually all users of both types have little interest in moving to the other team.

Loyalty to Android is just slightly stronger than it is to iOS. Nevertheless, more people are switching away from Google’s operating system than they are Apple’s.

In the world of watch straps, we think Ottm, a manufacturer of wooden Apple Watch bands, offers one of the best unboxing experiences.

The box itself is plain and simple, but the package is thoughtfully designed, containing extra links and a pin removal tool that makes it very easy to adjust your new band.

The bands are awesome, too. Made from zebrawood and/or sandalwood, each hand-finished strap is eye-catching, comfortable and unique.

We made a video to show you what to expect. And, check out Ottm’s wooden Apple Watch bands in the Watch Store.

Charisma is hard to judge, but apparently Apple doesn’t have it. Or at least it’s less charismatic than many rivals, including Amazon and Google.

“Compelling attractiveness or charm that can inspire devotion in others,” is how the Oxford dictionary defines charisma. Since Apple is known for generating a legion of fans — a cult, if you will — one would expect it to sit at the top of a new survey judging the charisma of various brands. Instead, the iPhone-maker ranked eighth.

There are great deals, and then there are great deals. These are the latter kind: Right now, you can get the best prices we’ve ever seen on certain iPads and iMacs. Or you can score a $60 cash card when you purchase an Apple Watch from a certain retailer. You’ll find those great buys and more in this week’s roundup of the best Apple deals.

We post our iPhone photos on Instagram and are often content if an image gets a few dozen likes. Luisa Dörr’s iPhone pictures got her a gig at TIME magazine. With the assignment, she landed the magazine’s cover — 12 of them to be precise.

The resulting work featuring some of the world’s most powerful women was published late last year and accelerated the career of the young unknown photographer from a small village in Brazil.

Apple designed a waterproof Lighting connector that could block out liquids, dust and dirt when inserted into an iPhone.

People got bored of Pokémon Go pretty quickly, but 20-foot-tall flesh-eating dinosaurs prove way harder to ignore. That’s the gist of Jurassic World Alive, a new augmented reality game that’s coming to iOS this spring to coincide with the release of the new Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom movie.

Taking inspiration from the aforementioned Pokémon game, it lets you capture dinos by walking around, train them up, and then battle them against others. Check out the pretty awesome-looking trailer below.

Apple this week acknowledged it is still battling poor working conditions and environmental violations with some of its overseas supplier factories, but highlighted programs to solve ongoing issues, according to a company audit.

Apple’s annual Supplier Responsibility Report addressed conditions at 756 sites in 30 countries last year and scored facilities based on its Code of Conduct.

Netflix is bringing video previews to mobile, giving users a 30-second glimpse at shows they may find interesting. On iPhone, you’ll be able to enjoy them in portrait mode so that you don’t have to keep switching orientation while browsing.

Tim Cook is the “Donald Trump of the music industry,” claims outspoken Guns N’ Roses frontman Axl Rose.

There’s no further explanation from Rose, who posted the message on Twitter. It’s probably not meant as a compliment, though. Rose previously criticized Trump for appointing controversial ex-Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions as his attorney general and accusing the president of “whining.”

Google is making it easier to download all your saved passwords from Chrome. It has long offered the ability to export the data, but the process has been complicated and cumbersome. That’s going to change “soon” with a new export system.

Nintendo is slashing 50 percent off Super Mario Run to celebrate Mario Day on March 10. New players will be able to unlock the full game, which includes six different worlds, for just $4.99 — but only for a limited time.

Google Duo, the FaceTime rival video calling app from Alphabet, has received an update adding an often-requested feature that FaceTime still doesn’t offer: video voicemails.

That means that, should you try and video call a person who doesn’t pick up, you can still record up to 30 seconds of video and send it them. These video messages can easily be played inside the Google Duo app. Check out the video explainer below.

Are you familiar with General Magic? If you’re not, and you’re a fan of tech history, you really should be. A cutting edge startup founded by Andy Hertzfeld, Bill Atkinson and other veterans of the original Macintosh team, it was one of the most exciting tech companies of the 1990s — before it all came crashing down.

Now a new documentary is set to debut at the 17th Tribeca Film Festival, telling the story of General Magic and its efforts to build a breakthrough handheld computer.

Apple’s home state of California could embrace the “Right to Repair” act if a new bill introduced by lawmaker Susan Talamantes Eggman is passed.

California is the 18th state in the U.S. to look into the possibility of making electronic devices easier to repair. The Right to Repair act would compel tech companies to release repair guides and make official parts available to any customers or third-party repair shops who want them. Doing so could have multiple benefits, such as reducing the amount of e-waste produced every year.

The FBI wants the tech industry to help unlock thousands of smartphones and tablets involved in criminal cases each year.

FBI Director Christopher Wray did not single out any companies during his talk at a cybersecurity conference today. Still, Apple certainly sits at the top of his wish list.

iOS 12 will focus on fixing all the problems plaguing iPhone and iPad users. This concept imagines what it could do for Apple Music. It showcases a gorgeous new design with improved controls, and a dark mode that would be perfect for iPhone X.