This week on The CultCast: Siri sucks, Apple knows it, and Cupertino isn’t sure how to fix it … but there’s still hope. Plus: Our 2018 WWDC hardware expectations!
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Apple constantly wins plaudits for being a brand consumers feel passionate about, but Fitbit Chief Financial Officer Bill Zerella doesn’t think that applies to the Apple Watch.
Speaking at the recent Roth Investment Conference in Laguna Beach, California, Zerella said that, “I have yet to meet anyone who owns an Apple Watch who’s passionate about the product.”
Steve Jobs’ daughter, Lisa Brennan-Jobs, is writing a coming-of-age memoir.
Given his immense significance as the CEO who turned around Apple’s fortunes, there are many books about Steve Jobs. This newly announced one written by his daughter will offer a different, more personal take on the late Steve Jobs than most of its bookstore rivals.
Any time you slate a product that a lot of people worked hard on, you’re bound to get some pushback.
In the wake of a recent damning report, suggesting that Siri is broken, and has pretty much been that way since the start, Siri’s co-founder Dag Kittlaus has hit back at one of the article’s claims.
Apple has responded to the French government’s plans to take it to court over what French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire calls its “abusive trade practices.”
While the French government is critical of Apple for taking a non-negotiable cut of the profits from developers who use its App Store platform, Apple has taken the opportunity to remind everyone of just how good its “app economy” has been for many devs.
The image-identification technology in Google Photos is now in the iOS version of this software. Google Lens can find objects and text in pictures and then provide more information. For example, by examining a photo of a business card, the artificial intelligence can pull out all the contact information.
Charging the Apple Watch while traveling can be a little tricky. Generally, I lug along a super-long charging cable and a wall plug to get the job done when on holiday.
Nomad — makers of great Apple Watch straps and accessories — offers a stylish and super-portable charging solution called the Pod Pro. The Pod Pro wraps that lengthy charging cable neatly inside a stylish, round enclosure that also holds a massive 6000 mAh of power — enough to keep Apple Watch juiced up all weekend long.
Read on to learn more about this amazing, portable charging puck, and check out the Pod Pro in our Watch Store!
More details have come to light about the GrayKey iPhone unlocker, and it turns out it’s even more likely to fall into the wrong hands than first thought.
This tool is very expensive, and is intended for use only by law enforcement, but stolen units could someday be available on the black market where they would be a goldmine for identity thieves.
iPhone users in Iran are no longer able to access the App Store starting today.
The App Store ban appears to be IP based, which means there are ways for users to get around it, but it’s unclear whether Apple is behind the ban or if it was done by the government.
Apple engineers are looking into a laptop that uses a touchscreen in place of a keyboard. The second screen would be slightly flexible, allowing keys to depress. It would also be extremely customizable –basically like a giant Touch Bar.
Android Wear, Google’s operating system built to be a rival to Apple’s watchOS, is getting a huge name change.
And the iPhone is a big reason why.
While rumors are swirling that Apple will release new products soon, you can get great deals on the latest iPad right now. Plus, this week you can save loads by buying refurbished, unlocked iPhones.
iPhones already replace credit cards, and a pilot program is exploring the next logical step: a digital drivers licence.
Delaware just began testing a mobile driver license (mDL) with some state residents, checking if a smartphone application can be kept secure while offering real advantages over plastic cards.
Apple’s huge lead over Samsung in mobile facial recognition won’t be threatened anytime this year.
Samsung is supposedly working on adding a 3D mapping facial recognition sensor to its next flagship smartphone, but according to a report from Asia, the supplier won’t have it ready until 2019.
Logitech’s new speaker system adds a new dimension to gaming: color. LEDs hidden in the front and back of the speaker bathe your desktop and the wall behind your computer in light.
That’s fine for making your room look like a disco palace while listening to music. But it’s really designed to make video games more immersive.
Intel has redesigned its processors to help eliminate the Meltdown and Spectre flaws once and for all.
Its eighth-generation Core and Xeon chips use protection through partitioning, along with the latest software patches, to kill all three variants of the bug. Intel CEO Brian Krzanich warns, however, that “there is still work to do” to ensure users stay protected.
Music service Spotify has added a voice search feature to its iOS app that allows users to find song tracks, albums, and playlists.
The new test feature takes Siri out of the equation. With Apple trying to grow its music streaming service, it never allowed Spotify to integrate with Siri, including with Apple’s first smart speaker, HomePod.
Responding to concerns about smartphone addiction among younger users, Apple rolled out a new “Families” page to describe the parental controls and safety features currently available on the company’s devices.
The page reveals how parents can track their kids’ location, monitor purchases, and filter what their children can see on their devices. It also reviews Apple’s privacy and health-related features, along with sharing among family members, and Apple’s focus on education.
Apple has formerly requested approval for its Shazam acquisition from the European Commission.
EU antitrust regulators confirmed last month that they had launched an investigation into the deal following concerns from seven European countries. Apple will get a decision next month, but it may not be final.
Disappointing iPhone X demand is singled out as one major reason why the revenue of major Taiwanese manufacturers declined year-on-year in February.
Combined sales for nine Apple suppliers fell 4.8 percent in February, representing a two-year low. This is reportedly linked to Apple slashing iPhone X orders in half for the January through March period, although some suggest that actual demand could be even lower than that.
The makers of the excellent 2014 game Leo’s Fortune are back with a new action platformer, and this time they’re shifting their their focus from the cartoony world of Leo, which looked like it came straight out of a Pixar movie, to something based on Viking and Norse mythology.
While the game won’t arrive until later this spring, the developers just dropped a trailer for Oddmar — and it looks kind of awesome, with all the graphical gorgeousness we’d expect. Check it out below.
Apple has reportedly suspended production at one of its iPhone manufacturing plants in China as the result of the use of unauthorized components.
The story concerns a Wistron plant in Kunshan, China, where the iPhone 8 Plus is manufactured. Production has allegedly been suspended for two weeks, although Wistron insists that this is not true and that, “operations remain completely normal.”
Apple asked six filmmakers to create short videos that highlight the cababilities of the recently-released iMac Pro. The results debuted today: trippy, abstract films that are mesmerizing to watch.
All are quite short (under 30 seconds) and include a quick plug for the computer, and so could be turned into advertisements, either online on TV.
A major redesign of Twitter’s mobile app is rumored to be underway and it could spell bad news for Snapchat.
Rumors of Twitter’s camera-focused redesign have been swirling for months, but according to a new report, the redesign will also steal one of Snapchat’s best location-based features.
All the Yoga Flames, Dragon Punches and Sonic Booms of Street Fighter II spill out into the real world in a new demo that mixes classic gameplay with augmented reality.
Michigan-based software developer Abhishek Singh‘s “Real World Warrior” edition of Street Fighter II features all the familiar characters, moves and sounds of the original. But now, the game’s arena is the outside world.
“I loved playing [Street Fighter] as a kid with my sister on an actual arcade machine,” Singh told Cult of Mac. “I was thinking about multiplayer experiences and this kind of popped into my head.”