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Hackers turn our gadgets against us, plus our favorite supercharged routers on The CultCast

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The CIA just made it easier to hack your Camera Roll nudies.
The CIA just made it easier to hack your Camera Roll nudies.
Photo: Nvidia

This week on The CultCast: The CIA loses control of its iPhone-hacking arsenal, and computer crooks turn your gadgets against you. Plus: Why iPhone 8 may arrive later than you hoped; our favorite Apple AirPort replacement routers; and we discuss the non-Apple gear we’re currently obsessing over in an all-new and aptly named “What We’re Into.”

Our thanks to Squarespace for supporting this episode. It’s simple to accept Apple Pay and sell your wares with your very own Squarespace.com website. Enter offer code CultCast at checkout to get 10 percent off any hosting plan.

Apple tops tech support rankings for third year in a row

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The Genius Bar is one of the best things about buying a Mac.
The Genius Bar is one of the best things about buying a Mac.
Photo: Apple

If you want to get the absolute best tech support for your laptop, pay the Apple tax and get a Mac.

In the latest annual Tech Support Showdown rankings, Laptop Magazine has awarded Apple the number one spot for the third straight year. Apple beat out nine other companies, but it’s starting to get some serious competition from companies like Acer that are focusing more on online service.

Tim Cook spotted dining with Google CEO

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Does this mean the thermonuclear war is over?
Does this mean the thermonuclear war is over?
Photo: Amit Pradhan

Apple CEO Tim Cook appears to be open to a friendlier relationship with Google than Steve Jobs ever was. Cook got spotted dining with Google CEO Sundar Pichai at one of the top Vietnamese restaurants in Silicon Valley this week. What the two powerful tech leaders were discussing is still a mystery, though.

Here’s another angle:

Twitch is invading your desktop

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Twitch desktop
Twitch on desktops has all web features and more.
Photo: Twitch

Game streaming platform Twitch today unveiled its new desktop app for Windows and Mac.

It will offer all the features you expect from the service, including voice and video calling, and you’ll be able to get your hands on the beta later this month.

Twitter begins censoring profiles that post ‘sensitive’ content

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Twitter
Will Facebook and Instagram follow suit?
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

As part of its ongoing effort to make micro-blogging a less offensive experience, Twitter has begun censoring profiles that post “potentially sensitive” content.

Users that publish offensive tweets and images will have their profiles grayed out, forcing visitors to push a button to see censored content.

Apple fights ‘right to repair’ bill in Nebraska

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apple-iphone-cracked-security-mac-ios-malware-flaw
Oops.
Photo: Faris Algosaibi/Flickr CC

Apple delegates have officially opposed the so-called “right to repair” bill in Nebraska that would make it easier for consumers to repair its products.

Should the bill be passed, Apple could be forced to give users and third-party repairers access to its components and service manuals. Company representative Steve Kester warned Nebraska would become a “Mecca for bad actors.”

Foxconn chairman says Trump should pay to get iPhone made in USA

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Foxconn Wisconsin
Foxconn doesn't want to be forced to choose between China and the US.
Photo: Foxconn

If President Donald Trump wants Apple to bring iPhone manufacturing to the United States, America needs to open up its wallet first, according to the company that actually assembles the devices.

Foxconn CEO Terry Gou said that if Trump truly wants iPhones to be made in America, he’ll need to push new laws through Congress that offer incentives and tax breaks to foreign companies.

Swift is already one of the world’s most popular programming languages

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CoM - The Swift 3 Master Coder Bundle
Swift use is on the rise.
Photo: Cult of Mac

Apple’s new Swift programming language is being adopted even faster than anyone predicted.

In the latest TIOBE Index, which ranks the popularity of programming languages, Apple shot up from the 14th spot last year — and has already cracked the top 10. That may not sound too exciting, but considering all the other languages in the top 10 are at least two decades old, Swift is catching fire in a major way.

Conan O’Brien reveals Apple’s new healthcare plan

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Blood transfusions from an iPad?
Blood transfusions from an iPad?
Photo: Team CoCo

US Congressman Jason Chaffetz thinks poor people should stop buying iPhones and pay more for healthcare, but in his latest comedy sketch, late-night TV host Conan O’Brien shows how you can have both at the same time.

CoCo’s satirical video unveils Apple’s new “Healthcare” product that utilizes the company’s innovative products to check on your well-being. Why pay for a doctor when you can use an iPhone for throat examinations and rectal temperature checks?

Watch Conan’s silly skit:

WikiLeaks vows to share CIA ‘cyberweapons’ so tech firms can fix holes

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Wikileaks'
Wikileaks' "Vault 7" data dump allegedly reveals CIA hacking tools used to compromise iPhones, Android phones and other devices.
Image: Gordon Johnson/Pixabay

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has vowed to give technology firms like Apple access to the CIA’s “cyberweapons” arsenal so they can develop fixes that make our devices more secure.

Earlier this week, thousands of leaked documents and files revealed the full extent of the CIA’s cyber attacks on smartphones, computers and even smart TVs. WikiLeaks says the spy agency has lost control of it all in a “historic act of devastating incompetence.”

FBI says nobody should expect privacy in America

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"There is no such thing as absolute privacy in America," says FBI director James Comey.
Photo: CNN

FBI director James Comey has warned that we should not expect “absolute privacy” in America. His comments come just days after a WikiLeaks dump revealed the CIA’s incredible arsenal of malware and viruses used to spy on iPhones and other smart devices.

Speaking at a Boston College conference on cybersecurity this week, Comey said that while the government cannot invade our privacy without good reason, “there is no place outside of judicial reach.”

The lengthy process Apple uses to teach Siri new languages

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Sorry, Alexa: Siri still the most widespread AI assistant
Sorry, Alexa: Siri still the most widespread AI assistant
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

If you’ve ever tried to learn a new language, you’ll know it’s a hard and incredibly time-consuming process. It’s not much easier for virtual assistants like Siri.

Here are the mind-blowing steps Apple goes through to teach Siri new languages and dialects that help it stay one step ahead of the competition.

Louis Vuitton’s new iPhone case is super-expensive, just as ugly

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Louis-Vuitton-Eye-Trunk-case
It's made from real crocodile leather.
Photo: Louis Vuitton

When you spend $700 on an iPhone, the last thing you should do is rely on a $5 case to protect it. Instead, let Louis Vuitton coat it in clunky metal and crocodile skin so you never have to worry about scratches and shattered screens.

Just try to ignore the fact that the case is super-expensive — and just as ugly.

Week’s best Apple deals: Get the lowest price ever on this refurb MacBook Air

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A great deal on a MacBook Air is just the start of this week's Apple deals.
A great deal on a MacBook Air is just the start of this week's Apple deals.
Images: Apple, eForCity, i4software, Penom

With new iPads (and new iPad price cuts) on the horizon, you should definitely hold off on buying an Apple tablet for a few weeks. But that leaves plenty of Apple deals: Check out a super-cheap refurbished MacBook Air and several great tech accessories in this week’s roundup.

Apple celebrates International Women’s Day on iTunes and iBookstore

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iTunes is promoting movies and TV shows with strong female characters.
iTunes is promoting movies and TV shows with strong female characters.
Photo: Apple

Apple is going all out to feature great media that promotes strong women by creating special sections in iTunes and Apple Music for International Women’s Day.

iPhone, Mac and Apple TV users can comb through Apple’s handpicked choices in categories like music, movies and books to find stories and entertainment that promotes strong female characters.

Why Apple should make a cheap activity band (and what it might look like)

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A no-frills Apple fitness tracker could get new users hooked on the Activity app.
A no-frills Apple fitness tracker could get new users hooked on the Activity app.
Image: Graham Bower/Cult of Mac

The Activity app is one of Apple’s most important and powerful products. Its three brightly colored rings are changing people’s lives around the world, inspiring individuals to make healthier choices throughout their day.

The trouble is, if you want to use the Activity app, your only option right now is to buy an Apple Watch — and Apple Watches are expensive.

With this kind of game-changing product, Apple usually wants to reach as big an audience as possible. Take the iPod, for example. It was too expensive for some consumers. so Apple released a no-frills, sub-$99 version called the iPod Shuffle. Could a similar strategy work for the Activity app? An affordable activity band from Apple could be a Fitbit killer.

Sleek iPhone 8 concept shows how ‘Function Bar’ might work

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iphone
We hope the next iPhone is this beautiful.
Photo: AlHasan Husni

The rumored “Function Bar” will make a beautiful addition to the upcoming iPhone 8 if it looks anything like the concept created by designer AlHasan Husni.

In the stunning new artwork, Husni imagines how the Function Bar at the bottom of the new iPhone will work. Not only could it make unlocking the iPhone even faster, it could add a whole new set of swipe functions to bring up certain features.

Apple seeds new betas for iOS, tvOS and watchOS

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iPhone 7
A new iOS 10.3 beta is ready to be installed.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Three new beta software updates have been seeded to developers by Apple today, adding a bunch of bug fixes and performance improvements to Apple’s platforms.

The new builds come one day after Apple seeded a new build of macOS 10.12.4 to developers. The fifth beta builds of iOS 10.3, tvOS 10.2 and watchOS 3.2 can be downloaded by registered developers directly from the Apple’s dev portal.

PowerVR graphics upgrade allows for 4K iPhone displays

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iphone-new
It also paves the way for iPhone VR.
Photo: Apple

Imagination Technologies, the company behind the PowerVR graphics technology used in iPhone and iPad, has unleashed its powerful new Furion architecture.

It’s the first major upgrade since the introduction of Rogue, the architecture currently used in iPhone 7, and it’s capable of powering 4K smartphone and tablet displays with four times the resolution of 1080p.

Apple grabs lion’s share of 2016 smartphone profits

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Samsung
Samsung got dominated by Apple in 2016.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

When it comes to making money off of smartphones, no company is doing it as well as Apple.

The latest data on profits made by smartphone manufacturers reveals that while the iPhone doesn’t dominate the global marketshare, it takes home nearly all of the profits.