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News - page 882

Battlezone 98 Redux blasts its way onto iPad and Mac

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Battlezone 98
This takes us back!
Photo: Rebellion

Sure, there are a ton of great new games available for both macOS and iOS, but sometimes it pays to revisit the classics. That’s what users get with Battlezone 98 Redux, a remastered version of one of the best sci-fi strategy first-person shooter games of all time.

This was hot stuff back in the halcyon days of 1998, back when the iMac G3 was the hottest computer going. And now that it’s landed on both Mac and iPad, it remains pretty darn good!

The magic behind HomePod gets revealed in new patent

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Apple's new HomePod smart speaker is ready to rock your house.
Apple's smart tech will let the HomePod smart speaker perfectly rock your house.
Photo: Apple

According to Apple, its upcoming HomePod smart speaker will “reinvent the way we enjoy music” thanks to its seven-tweeter array, 4-inch woofer, and smart “spatial awareness” technology that lets it “read” its environment.

If you want to find out more about how Apple’s smart speaker works, check out this new patent application. It describes an Apple speaker that uses digital signal processing, microphones and algorithms to play perfectly equalized music.

Apple recruits Samsung to resolve iPhone chip problems

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Samsung
Apple is leaning more heavily on Samsung.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Apple is turning to Samsung to resolve some of the yield issues it is having with its NAND flash storage chips for the upcoming iPhone, claims a new report.

Existing suppliers SK Hynix and Toshiba have reportedly both experienced lower-than-expected yield rates for the next-gen iPhone chips. As a result, the overall supply of NAND flash chips bound for Cupertino has fallen short of demand by as much as 30 percent.

Apple’s Q3 2017 earnings call to be held on August 1

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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

Investors will get their next glimpse into how well iPhone sells are doing on August 1 when Apple reveals its Q3 earnings for 2017.

Apple updated its investor relations page today confirming the time and date of its next earnings call, which will include early sales of the new iPad Pro and MacBook Pros unveiled at the company’s Worldwide Developers Conference at the beginning of June.

Jailbreaking pioneers say iPhone jailbreaking is dead

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Jay
Cydia creator Jay Freeman says he doesn't recommend jailbreaking your iPhone anymore.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

It’s been months since the last iOS 10 jailbreak has been released. And according to the guys that originally made jailbreaking a huge craze, you shouldn’t get your hopes up about jailbreaking your iPhone ever again.

In fact, even if you could jailbreak iOS 10, Jay Freeman — the guy who invented Cydia, which was the App Store before the App Store was the App Store — says he doesn’t recommend it.

Jailbreaking is officially dead.

Apple Music partners with Fender for rocking playlists

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apple-music
Brands are partnering with Apple Music to curate playlists.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Electric guitar fans can listen to Apple Music playlists from Fender, maker of some of the world’s most iconic axes.

Five new playlists emerged from the new Fender/Apple Music partnership. While rock ‘n’ roll might be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Fender, the company is also highlighting how its instruments have been used in R&B, hip-hop, jazz and other genres.

Suit of the future, first automatic toothbrush and more [Crowdfund Roundup]

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Amabrush
The world's first automatic toothbrush.
Photo: Amabrush

Crowdfund Roundup bugDid you know that you’ll waste 108 days in your lifetime just brushing your teeth? But not with Amabrush, the world’s first automatic toothbrush, which promises to give you an even better clean in just ten seconds!

It’s one of the awesome ideas in this week’s Crowdfund Roundup. We also have the last suit you’ll ever need, a sticker that lets your MacBook’s trackpad do more, and a robot that will pull your weeds!

Apple News may let publishers charge readers

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Apple News
Apple News is about to get magazines too.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple may be planning to loosen its tight control of the way ads are run on the Apple News app. And that could mean big bucks for publishers.

A money fix for the app is supposedly in the works, according to a new report that claims publishers potentially could soon make the same amount of money off ads in Apple News as they do from their own websites.

Jay Z’s new album goes platinum without Apple Music’s help

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Jay Z 4:44
No Apple Music, no problem. Apparently.
Photo: Jay Z

It’s only been out since last week, but Jay Z’s 4:44 album has already gone platinum, according to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

The feat is all the more miraculous considering that Jay’s album has thus far been available only in a select few places. As we’ve noted, it was nearly impossible to stream through legal methods, with the only two ways to access it either being a Tidal subscription or listening on the 160 iHeartRadio stations across the country.

Kickstarter documentary unpacks Steve Jobs’ original Apple downfall

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Jobs
Documentary will tell the story of Jobs' 1985 Apple firing and the immediate aftermath.
Photo: Esther Dyson/Flickr CC

Given that he was, you know, Steve Jobs, it’s still pretty crazy to think that there was a time in Apple history when Jobs was pretty much forced out of the company he helped found.

A new documentary, currently raising funds on Kickstarter, aims to tell the story of Jobs’ attempted boardroom coup and 1985 ouster from Apple with insights from the people who were actually there.

In related news, Apple’s latest innovations continue to push the boundaries of design, including the world’s smallest iPhone—discover more in the latest predictions here.

U.S. government could back Apple’s tax battle against E.U.

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France fines Apple $27 million for intention iPhone 'throttling' controversy
The E.U. fined Apple as massive $14.5 billion last year.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

The U.S. government may intervene as Apple appeals its massive 13 billion euro ($14.52 billion) tax bill from the European Union.

The demand for money was made last year, after the E.U. ruled that Apple has taken advantage of illegal state aid in routing its profits through Ireland. It seems that the U.S. government doesn’t see entirely eye-to-eye with Europe, though.

Alibaba undercuts Echo and HomePod with $73 smart speaker

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Aliba
It's only available in China for now, though!
Photo: Alibaba

China’s Alibaba Group has launched a cut-price smart speaker to compete with the Amazon Echo, Google Home, and Apple’s forthcoming HomePod, as announced at WWDC.

Called the “Tmall Genie,” after Alibaba’s e-commerce platform Tmall, the China-only device represents the company’s first step into artificial intelligence hardware. It is priced at 499 yuan ($73.42), which makes it significantly cheaper than the aforementioned rivals.

Tim Cook celebrates Independence Day with Franklin Roosevelt quote

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Tim Cook
Tim Cook wishes everyone a happy July 4.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

It’s July 4, a.k.a. Independence Day — and to mark the occasion Apple CEO Tim Cook has taken to Twitter with a message wishing everyone a happy holiday.

“Wishing everyone a happy #Independence Day!” he writes. He also includes a quote from former President Franklin D. Roosevelt, taken from a speech Roosevelt gave in Washington D.C. on April 21, 1938: “Remember always that all of us … are descended from immigrants and revolutionists.”

Apple gear looks impossibly cool in classic movies

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Laurel and Hardy
Laurel and Hardy using an iPhone is a crazy sight.
Photo: Pablo Larrocha

Remember the time Laurel and Hardy rocked an iPhone in one of their movies? Or when Audrey Hepburn and Julie Andrews used one of Apple’s handsets to snap a selfie at the 1965 Oscars?

Obviously such scenes can’t be real — but that’s not stopped a bunch of 2017-era Apple gear showing up in classic movies, thanks to one Apple fan’s work.

Apple share price appears to quadruple thanks to weird glitch

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Apple could be a $2 trillion company by end of 2021
AAPL stock looked like it took a major jump yesterday.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Update: It seems the same technology glitch also caused AAPL prices to seemingly crash early this morning, with Yahoo Finance, Google Finance and MacOS widgets all showing incorrect prices.

We’re used to seeing the price of AAPL stock fluctuating based on even the flimsiest rumor, but this is something else entirely. Due to a glitch related to the way that Nasdaq stocks are listed on several major financial sites, AAPL shares appeared to quadruple in value following the closing bell on Monday.

While Apple fared well, however, other tech companies were less fortunate. The price of Amazon and Microsoft stocks appeared to lose more than half their value, while Alphabet and eBay shares were stuck at $123.47.

Samsung will fight HomePod with Bixby smart speaker

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Phil Schiller gives the world a sneak peek at the HomePod during WWDC 2017.
We'd love to see Apple lavish some more attention on the HomePod.
Photo: Apple

There isn’t an Apple product Samsung doesn’t have an answer to, so it’s not surprising to hear the South Korean company is developing its own HomePod rival.

It will be powered by Bixby, the Galaxy S8’s new virtual assistant, but it’s likely to be a while before it’s ready to hit the market.

iPhone chipmaker no closer to ending dispute with Apple

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Apple patches things up with mobile GPU maker Imagination
Imagination has been building GPUs for Apple since the iPod.
Photo: Apple

Imagination Technologies, the company that has been making graphics chips for Apple’s mobile devices for well over a decade, says it has made no progress in its ongoing dispute with the iPhone maker.

Imagination is still in talks with potential buyers after putting itself up for sale, but it is adamant that it will continue its fight with Apple after the company’s “unsubstantiated claim.”