News - page 823

Grab massive Black Friday deals in our Watch Store this weekend, and read our roundups for the Best Black Friday Deals elsewhere! Check out artists’ concepts for the Mac mini and iPad X. Find out why the iPhone X needs its notch.

Last week, Apple announced that it’s HomePod smart speaker will be delayed until the new year. “We need a little more time before it’s ready for our customers,” the company said. Last week’s But, Cult of Mac’s own Leander Kahney shrugged it off. That’s because he made his own HomePod smart speaker. It cost him about $60 and sounds absolutely great.

In this week’s issue, you’ll find these stories and more. Get your free subscription to Cult of Mac Magazine from iTunes. Or read on for this week’s top stories.

The long-awaited arrival of beloved Nintendo franchise Animal Crossing on iOS is just of one of the picks for this week’s “Awesome Apps of the Week.”

In addition, we’ve got a great writing app for Mac (perfect if you’re writing a book!), a popular ARPG, and a brilliant point-and-click adventure game. Check out our picks below.

Apple is known for its multibillion-dollar hits, but not everything Cupertino touches turns to gold. These six Apple products flopped in the marketplace, despite being pretty darn great.

The Grid racing franchise is going mobile! Feral Interactive today revealed Grid Autosport for iOS, which will put high-performance racing in your pocket this fall.

The game will pack supercars from the likes of McLaren, Audi, Pagani and more. And you won’t have to worry about in-app purchases.

Two of Cydia’s largest repositories have been shutdown as jailbreaking dies out. ModMy and ZodTTD are no longer available, leaving BigBoss as the only major source still available to those who want apps and tweaks you can’t find in the App Store.

The iPhone X went on sale in 13 more countries today, bringing the total worldwide availability to more than 70 different markets.

Countries added today include Albania, Bosnia, Cambodia, Kosovo, Macau, Macedonia, Malaysia, Montenegro, Serbia, South Africa, South Korea, Thailand, and Turkey.

As a premium brand, Apple’s not exactly known for its discounts or plethora of special offers. This year’s Black Friday is no different if you’ve been holding out for 50 percent reductions on the cost of a new iMac, or a buy-1-get-1-free deal on new Apple Watches.

That doesn’t mean Apple skipping out on a spending holiday altogether, though. In a “one day” shopping deal, Apple is handing out gift cards to anyone who buys certain products.

Check out the details below.

What better gift for the Apple geek in your life (or, heck, yourself) than a ridiculously realistic Steve Jobs action figure?

The 1/6 scale replica of the iconic Apple co-founder and CEO is coming soon from DAM Toys. In addition to boasting some highly detailed head sculpting, it sports Jobs’ iconic mock turtleneck, glasses, jeans, and a slew of other nifty accessories to create your own tiny One Infinite Loop tableaux in the comfort of your own home.

Authorities in South Korea raided Apple’s offices in Seoul today, one day ahead of the launch of the iPhone X.

The exact reason for the raid isn’t apparent, although it reportedly concerns Apple’s business practices in the country. Nonetheless, it raises questions about whether the South Korean government may be trying to hurt Apple prior to the release of one of its most sought-after products in years.

Foxconn has wasted little time in responding to reports that high school student interns worked illegal overtime building the iPhone X.

In a statement made to the U.K.’s BBC broadcasting service, a representative for the Foxconn Technology Group said that it has taken, “immediate action to ensure that no interns are carrying out any overtime work.”

The U.K. Treasury has announced plans to crack down on tech giants which use overseas profit-shifting strategies to cut down on the amount of tax they have to pay.

Chancellor Philip Hammond announced that the country will now charge a 20 percent income tax rate on any British earnings held overseas, starting April 2019.

The first big Apple ad of the holiday season is here just in time for Thanksgiving.

Apple published its holiday ad “Sway” to Youtube today. The whimsical ad features a winter holiday cityscape that transforms into something magical as a couple dance through it. Of course, they’re rocking AirPods and the iPhone X the entire time.

Check it out:

Apple’s new A11 Bionic makes iPhone X blazing fast. It’s faster than its biggest rivals, despite fewer processing cores and slower clock speeds. But there’s a new Android that narrowly beats Apple’s latest in a real-world speed test.

And believe it or not, that Android costs half as much as iPhone X.

Apple’s new Siri-powered smart speaker won’t be one of the hottest gifts of the 2017 holiday season after all.

The HomePod was set to launch in December 2017, but the company released a statement today saying it needs more time to make the smart speaker ready for customers.

Apple is set to make another major play for emerging markets next year with the rumored release of a new iPhone SE 2 handset.

According to a rumor out of Apple’s supply chain, the new iPhone SE 2 will be assembled by Taiwanese manufacturer Winstron, only all units will be put together in Bengaluru, India.

An iPhone thief in the U.K. had the audacity to send a message to the phone’s original owner, requesting the iCloud details so they could access their account.

Psychology student Beth Freestone had her handset stolen on a night out in the city of Manchester. Several months later, she then received a message on Facebook from a person claiming to have found the iPhone — but wanting to know how to access its associated accounts.

Black Friday is only two days away, and with that Cult of Mac Watch Store’s biggest sale of the year! Save up to 50 percent on Apple Watch bands and accessories, and get a big jump on holiday shopping.

We’ve rounded up some amazing brands for this huge sale including: OleksynPrannyk, Casetify, Nyloon, Ottm, E3 Supply Co., Rilee & Lo, Jack Foster, Strapple, Wood Mark, Nomad, Form Function Form, Clessant, Juuk and more. These brands are offering from 17% to 50% off regular sale prices.

In a few clicks, you’ll find incredible savings on Apple Watch bands and accessories during Cult of Mac Watch Store’s big Black Friday Weekend Sale. That’s right, four days of massive savings. So, on Friday through Monday, visit the Watch Store and get in on these screaming deals while supplies last.

As one of Apple’s more elusive executives (when was the last time he spoke live at a keynote event?), it’s not every day that you get to hear chief design officer Jony Ive talk about what he does best.

If you live in Washington, D.C., however, you’ll get the chance later this month. Ive is speaking about the “future of design” at the Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum.

Best of all? The tickets are free.

Apple may have just reignited rumors about its Apple Car ambitions by publishing an online research paper — describing how neural networks can be used to detect autonomous car-friendly objects in 3D point clouds.

The results could be used to help improve accuracy in LiDAR technology, in which pulsed laser light is used to measure the distance of objects.

Pixar co-founder John Lasseter has become the latest high profile person to be accused of inappropriate behavior toward women. In a statement released today, Lasseter apologized for his alleged pattern of showering female employees with hugs and that he’s taking a six-month leave of absence.

As Chief Creative Officer of both Disney and Pixar, Lasseter is one of the most prominent persons in the animated film industry. Steve Jobs and Lasseter had a close relationship for years after the Apple CEO purchased Pixar from Lucasfilm.

Ever since Apple unveiled the iPhone X, naysayers have been complaining about “the notch.” But in today’s video, I’m going to do my best to convince you that the controversial cutout at the top of the iPhone X screen is totally not an issue.

Here’s why I think the iPhone X actually needs the notch.

Apple started working on its HomePod smart speaker back in 2012, one year after Siri debuted on the iPhone 4s, a new report claims.

Since then, the project was cancelled and restarted several times to reach its current point.

Smart appliances have allowed us to take control of our home security, heating, lighting, and more. Now you can do the same with your water supply, thanks to Buoy.

This revolutionary new smart device uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to give you a complete understanding and complete control over your water. It alerts you when there’s a leak, lets you shut off supply remotely, and helps you avoid unexpected bills.

In an attempt to make itself more appealing to developers, Google is reportedly adding support for Apple’s popular Swift programming language to its mysterious new operating system, “Fuchsia.”

There was a time in the 1980s when Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean” was a balm that could sooth the prickly nature of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.

His former publicist remembers having to play the song over and over again because it was the only way he got through a particular photo shoot.