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James Corden and Will Smith star in new Carpool Karaoke trailer

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carpool karaoke ad
Smith and Corden had too much fun making this episode.
Photo: Apple Music

The official debut of Carpool Karaoke: The Series is just a few days away but music fans can get an early taste of episode one in the latest ad released by Apple.

Will Smith will be the first guest on the new show with creator James Corden singing along behind the wheel. Apple’s teaser for the episode shows The Fresh Prince busting out some of his classic songs along with getting down to other artists like R. Kelly.

Check it out:

Apple officially adds services to business strategy

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App Store
Services like the App Store are a huge money maker.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Services have become such an important revenue stream for Apple in recent years that the company decided to update its official business strategy today reflect its expanding money making machine.

In a filing with the SEC, Apple made a couple of changes to the description of its business. It’s the first time a major change has been made to the strategy since around 2014.

Apple owns more U.S. debt than most foreign countries

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money
In case you didn't know, Apple is an economic powerhouse!
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple owns $52.6 billion in U.S. Treasury securities, ranking it above countries like Israel, Mexico, Australia and the Netherlands — and one of the top 25 “major foreign holders” of U.S. government debt, according to a new report.

U.S. Treasury securities, in the forms of bills, notes and bonds, are debt obligations of the U.S. government. In essence, it means that individuals are loaning money to the United States’ federal government in exchange for what amounts to the safest of investments.

New miggo bags keep photo gear dry in stormy weather

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miggo bags
This Agua won't stand for water.
Photo: miggo

The designers at the Jerusalem-based company miggo are happy if its customers are left standing in the rain.

This really is supportive when you consider photography accessory company has a reputation for producing storm-proof bags and cases so photographers don’t have to run for cover before they get their shots.

miggo Thursday introduced three new bags to its Agua X line with a backpack, sling bag and a dedicated drone bag that includes a roll out launch pad.

One-time Apple ripoff company Xiaomi is now leading the wearables market

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Apple Watch goal
Apple is de-throned, but it could be back on top soon.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Xiaomi, the Chinese company which once specialized in brazen iPhone ripoffs, has overtaken Apple and Fitbit to become the number one manufacturer of wearables, based on shipments.

The news comes from a new Strategy Analytics report, which claims that Xiaomi shipped 3.7 million wearable devices during Q2 this year, taking the number one spot. Fitbit shipped 3.4 million to take second place, while Apple shipped 2.8 million for third. Should these numbers be correct, that also means that Apple shipped its 30 millionth Apple Watch at some point over the past three months.

The Rock and Siri team up in new iPhone 7 ads

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siri in space
Siri can help you do everyday things. Like take a selfie in space.
Photo: Apple

Apple’s partnership with the Rock (aka Dwayne Johnson) has spawned three new ads for the iPhone 7 that showcase Siri’s talents at performing everyday tasks.

The Rock cooks up something smelly and takes his selfie talents to space in the colossal ads that are a follow up to the short film Apple released last month starring Johnson and Siri.

Check out all three sequel ads:

HomePod software leaks new ‘SmartCamera’ feature for iPhone

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iPhone 8 facial recognition
We could be waiting a long time for iPhone 8.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple’s HomePod might have revealed another huge new iPhone feature after developers did some more digging into the beta software for the upcoming smart speaker.

The software appears to reference an unannounced “SmartCamera” feature built into iOS 11 or the yet-to-be-released 2017 iPhone. And it could totally change the way we snap photos.

You can now use Skype’s iOS app to send money to friends and family

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Skype money
Skype's functionality has just expanded.
Photo: Skype

Thanks to PayPal integration, it’s now possible for users in 22 different countries to send money to friends and family using Skype’s iOS app.

The update not only improves Skype’s functionality, but also — due to the fact that Skype has been downloaded more than one billion times worldwide — greatly extends the possible reach of PayPal, too.

AAPL opens at new all-time high, following strong earnings report

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What’s it like to have your startup bought by Apple? Stressful
Investors can't get enough of AAPL.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Following its strong quarterly earnings call yesterday, AAPL stock has opened 6 percent up at $159 a share, representing a new all-time high valuation for Apple.

With a market cap of $830 billion, suddenly the proposed Wall Street valuation of 1 trillion dollars within the next year looks a whole lot more realistic! Why did we ever doubt it?

Apple spent close to $3 billion on R&D last quarter

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R&D
One of Apple's many R&D centers. (This one is in Japan!)
Photo: Apple

Apple spent a whopping $2.94 billion on research and development last quarter, according to a new filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The Apple R&D spending represents an increase of 6 percent compared to the same quarter last year.

While Apple keeps its plans close to its chest, it invests a tremendous amount of money on research and development to create the products we’ll be buying a year or more from now.

Legendary Pokémon Moltres is now available to catch in Pokémon GO

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Pokemon Go
Who wouldn't want this beautiful creature for their own?
Photo: Pokémon GO

Listen up, Pokémon fans! Moltres, the latest Legendary Pokémon, has just been added to Pokémon GO, giving players the chance to pick up the fiery flying Pokémon that represents one of the three Legendary birds of Kanto.

Moltres is available from now through August 7, and can be captured during Raid Battles.

5 key takeaways from Apple’s surprising Q3 earnings call

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Earnings call
Tim Cook was stoked about Apple's Q3 earnings.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Apple posted its second-highest Q3 earnings ever today, surprising investors with $45.4 billion in revenue powered by strong iPhone, iPad, Mac and services revenues.

CEO Tim Cook sounded pleased during Apple’s earnings call, but he wasn’t just looking back on the past three months. By the end of the call, Cook had analysts hyped for the future and upcoming Apple products.

Here are the five biggest takeaways from the Apple Q3 2017 earnings call.

Apple reveals its Q3 2017 earnings [Live blog]

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Apple is worth more than the entire US energy sector combined
Apple is worth more than the entire US energy sector combined
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple CEO Tim Cook and CFO Luca Maestri are set to reveal all the details of Apple’s latest earnings in a call with investors today could have a huge impact on the company’s stock price.

The Q3 2017 earnings report isn’t expected to be a record-breaker, but Wall Street analysts will be hanging on to every word that comes out of Cook’s mouth as the next iPhone launch approaches. Most experts agree Apple will meet earnings expectations of $43.5 billion in revenue — the only question is by how much.

Cult of Mac will be right here live-blogging the entire call once it starts at 2 p.m. Pacific. Come join the fun.

Apple posts its second-highest Q3 earnings ever

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Apple raked in the cash last quarter.
Apple raked in the cash last quarter.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Investors found a lot to be happy about in Apple’s latest earnings report, which was released by the company this afternoon. While Apple didn’t shatter any records, the company beat expectations for the quarter with a total of $45.5 billion in revenue.

That’s well ahead of Wall Street’s expectation of $43.5 billion. iPad sales proved one of the biggest surprises of the quarter, with shipments rising 15 percent year-over-year. Apple CEO Tim Cook was definitely happy with the results.

iPhone 8’s radical redesign could bring awesome UI change

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iPhone 8
A mockup of iPhone 8 with its edge-to-edge display.
Photo: Benjamin Geskin

Thanks to secrets hidden inside Apple’s firmware, we’ve discovered a lot about the iPhone 8 this week. One of its biggest features — quite literally — will be a significantly larger display that leaves no room for a physical Home button or bulky bezels.

Here’s how iOS could change to take advantage of it with a sweet new user interface.

Apple and Google remove 330 apps linked to trading scams

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France fines Apple $27 million for intention iPhone 'throttling' controversy
Removal request came from Australia, but is a worldwide problem.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple and Google have removed a total of 330 binary trading apps from their respective app stores, following intervention from the Australian Securities & Investments Commission.

Australia’s securities regulator requested the removal of the apps based on fraud investigations, concerning certain apps which allow users to make bets about whether or not shares and currency will rise or fall. While some apps that do this are legitimate, others have been linked to scams.

More juicy details about iPhone 8 discovered in Apple code

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iPhone 8
HomePod firmware spills more iPhone 8 secrets.
Photo: Apple

Yet more information about the iPhone 8 has been discovered in Apple’s HomePod firmware. We now know the device will have a split status bar designed to fit its edge-to-edge display and tap to wake functionality like its Android-powered rivals.

However, the future of Touch ID still looks bleak.

Thieves snatch $600,000 of iPhones from a moving truck

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iPhone 7
Some folks will go to crazy lengths to get their hands on an iPhone!
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Five men from Romania have been arrested after stealing $600,000 of iPhones from a moving truck in an astonishingly risky late-night raid that ultimately didn’t pay off for them.

Who needs the Fast and the Furious movies when you’ve got real life?

Apple now protects enough forest to produce all its paper packaging

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forest
Apple is smashing its previous forestry targets.
Photo: Whitney Flanagan, The Conservation Fund

Apple is now protecting enough sustainable forest land to cover all its paper packaging needs. The news is a major milestone for Apple, which has been buying up massive swathes of forest around the world for the past couple of years as part of its sustainability drive.

It means that Apple has already hit its goal of protecting 1 million acres of responsibly-managed forest by 2020 — two-and-a-half years ahead of schedule!

Apple faces ugly lawsuit for breaking FaceTime

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FaceTime
A judge has ruled a lawsuit against Apple can proceed.
Photo: Apple

A judge has ruled that a lawsuit against Apple for breaking FaceTime in iOS 6 can continue.

It is alleged that the iPhone-maker purposely allowed the feature to be disabled on older devices in an effort to force users to update to iOS 7.