Although people most often use Alexa to ask about the weather or play music, Amazon’s smart assistant is capable of much more, including connecting with friends and family. A convenient Alexa calling feature is now available on a range of tablets, including the iPad. This allows the tablet to make voice or video calls to an Amazon Echo.
All that is required is the Amazon Alexa app for iOS (and giving Alexa access to your list of contacts).
Apple Maps can now help you find a healthier and more environmentally-friendly ride. A new partnership with Ito World allows you to locate bike sharing stations in more than 175 cities across 36 countries. Simple search “bike sharing” now to get going.
Apple is moving into magazine distribution by acquiring Texture, a digital subscription service that grants users unlimited access to their favorite titles for a single $9.99 monthly fee.
The service, which could be thought of as Apple Music for magazines, covers 200 top magazines. These can be read either in their complete form or via curated articles.
A new Apple Watch band can detect dangerous levels of potassium in your blood without the use of needles.
KardiaBand takes an electrocardiogram, then uses a specially designed algorithm to identify abnormal patterns. AliveCor says its Apple Watch band can detect hyperkalemia with 94 percent accuracy. Such a diagnosis usually would require invasive blood tests
Rihanna is the first female artist to surpass 2 billion streams on Apple Music, according to a tweet sent out by Cupertino.
It’s not clear whether the quick stat refers to just Rihanna’s solo songs or includes other artists’ tracks on which she appeared. However, it’s a big achievement — and proof positive of just how big Apple Music is getting.
Fortnite Battle Royale has landed on mobile! You can now sign up for early access to the game on iPhone and iPad. If you’re lucky enough to get an invite, you’ll also receive codes for your friends.
WhatsApp’s latest update give users more time to delete accidental messages after they’ve been sent.
Its message deletion feature, introduced last October, previously gave us just seven minutes to undo a potential mess. Now the “delete for everyone” option is available for just over an hour.
Like a whole lot of folks, I’m a massive fan of Westworld, the HBO TV series which depicts a wild west-themed amusement park, staffed by futuristic robots.
A new game, coming to iOS, promises to bring that same experience to our pockets. No, it doesn’t let you play as a guest, living out your wildest gunslinger fantasies — but instead takes the form of a simulation game, in which you’re tasked with running the park. Check out the intriguing (if ambiguous) trailer below.
Apple is prepping a new entry-level 13-inch MacBook that will debut in the second quarter of 2018. It will reportedly set users back around the same price as the MacBook Air, which would peg it at about $999.
While the report leaves a bit of flexibility by saying that it could be this price “or slightly higher,” this suggests that users could get a price cut versus the $1,299 12-inch MacBook.
A brilliant minimalist settler simulation with added monsters is just of one of our picks for this week’s “Awesome Apps of the Week.”
In addition, we’ve got a great new version of The Sims for mobile, and two Google apps which have received big updates. Check out our selections below.
It’s not like you can ever find the app you’re looking for on your various home screens anyway, so why not do something fancy with those icons instead? Like, making your home screen an expression of your inner chakra, man. In this week’s Cult of Mac Magazine, we’ll show you some amazing tweaks for your home screen.
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.
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.