News - page 912

This week on The CultCast: Are you yearning for a more powerful Mac? Well, friend, Tim Cook is promising to make Apple “pro” again. We discuss! Plus: iPhone 8 ditching Lightning for USB-C; Spotify about to go Hi-Fi; why your next iPhone screen might read your fingerprints; and the best iPhone bumper case in the land!

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Nintendo’s new Switch console is turning the gaming world on its head today with its ultra-portable features that let you do some serious gaming no matter where you go.

Lines for the Switch nearly reached iPhone launch size levels, but if you didn’t manage to get your hands on one, here’s the next best thing: a homemade portable Super NES console.

Take a look:

A recent rumor claimed Apple could swap its Lightning port for USB-C connectivity with iPhone 8 later this year. That’s already been debunked by one reliable analyst, but is it a move Apple should consider making in the foreseeable future?

Lightning and USB-C both have their pros and cons. One has been around since iPhone 5 and we’re all familiar with it; the other is an open standard that anyone can use, which makes accessories, cables, and peripherals more affordable.

Join us in this week’s Friday Night Fight as we battle it out over whether Apple should give Lightning the boot in 2017.

Ever feel like you got way too much stuff crowding up your life?

Well, according to Apple’s latest ad you could be living in minimalist bliss with fewer things if you just buy one more thing: an iPad Pro.

Apple CEO Tim Cook made a special appearance during one of the first screenings of former vice president Al Gore’s new movie this week.

To kick off the Silicon Valley screening of Gore’s film, “An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power,” Cook gave a short speech before the silver screen lit up. Tim praised Gore for his work on the movie which is a direct sequel to the Academy Award-winning documentary “An Inconvenient Truth” which highlighted the signs and dangers of climate change.

Apple has published a new series of ads for its music streaming service and just like its last ads for AirPods, the new spots focus on the U.K. market.

The two new Apple Music ads originally aired during the BRIT awards last month, but Apple just added them to its YouTube channel. Beats 1 radio host Julie Adenuga narrates the ads which highlight a bevy of British artists while talking about Apple Music’s best features.

Check ’em out:

Three senior Apple executives are in talks with Hollywood’s “most successful” TV and movie producers over original content for Apple TV, according to a new report.

Each member of the trio, which includes Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of internet software and services, is so desperate to secure the first deal that they supposedly are fighting against each other.

Apple might be doing away with the physical Home button for iPhone 8, but Touch ID is going nowhere.

Sources in the company’s supply chain say Apple is working on a custom fingerprint scanner that uses ultrasound technology, which will be integrated into the iPhone 8’s OLED display.

Apple Music’s batch of exclusives haven’t been able to stop Spotify’s impressive growth of paid subscribers over the last year.

Spotify revealed today that it new has over 50 million paid subscribers for its music streaming service, which is more than double the 20 million subscribers Apple Music had at the end of 2016.

Mac users hoping to jump into the world of virtual reality will have to wait even longer than expected.

Oculus co-founder Nate Mitchell revealed in a recent interview that the company currently has no plans to bring Rift support to the Mac. Even though Mitchell himself is a MacBook Pro user, he says Apple’s machines don’t have the resources to deliver a premium experience

The photo sharing and messaging app Snapchat is a hit with kids, but on Thursday its parent company was fun for investors who made it the day’s most heavily traded stock on the New York Stock Exchange.

Snap Inc. made its debut with shares priced at $17, but high investor demand quickly raised it to $24, putting the tech company’s value at close to $33 billion, according to reports.

Amazon’s next Alexa product won’t just be able to listen to you. It can watch your every move.

Leaked images of a new home security camera created by Amazon hit the internet today, giving us our first glimpse of what the company’s Dropcam competitor will look like.

2016 was a fantastic year for Apple Watch, according to the latest info from the International Data Corporation that shows Apple’s wearable just experience its best quarter ever.

In its latest report, IDC analysts say Apple Watch is finally closing the gap on Fitbit, which just experienced its largest declines ever in the fourth quarter.

Apple and dozens of other top tech companies filed a Supreme Court brief today in support of a transgender boy’s fight for equality.

In the case, Gavin Grimm, a transgender student from Virginia, is suing the Gloucester County School Board for creating a bathroom policy he says discriminates against transgender students by separating them from their peers.

The rumor that Apple plans to switch to USB-C on all 2017 iPhones has been shot down by one of the most reliable Apple analysts in the game.

KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo sent a note to investors today claiming that all three new iPhone models supposedly set for release this fall will come with a Lightning port, not USB-C.

Would you like to buy a brand new iPhone 7 at one of the best prices we’ve ever seen … and then get a second one completely free??? If so, we’ve got an iPhone deal for you.

You’ll find that offer, plus the best prices currently available on the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6s, in this week’s roundup of the best Apple deals.

The days of placing your order with a person at McDonald’s is about to come to an end.

McDonalds revealed today at its investor meeting that it is finally ready to embrace the digital age by adding support for mobile ordering and delivery at nearly all of its locations across the U.S.

A ringing endorsement from mega-investor Warren Buffett has helped push Apple’s stock to a new record high today.

Apple shares were trading up 2.04% and closed at an all-time high of $139.78 per share, beating the company’s previous top mark of $137.11 set last week.

Apple’s long-standing legal battle with patent troll Smartflash is finally nearing an end.

A previous jury verdict from 2015 that required Apple to pay $533 million to Smartflash was thrown out by a federal appeals court today. The lawsuit between the two companies has been ongoing since 2013, after Smartflash accused Apple’s iTunes software of infringing on its data storage patents.

Spotify appears poised to put the final nail in Tidal’s coffin.

The music streaming service is planning to launch a new feature that will give listeners access to lossless audio streaming, according to a new report reveals the feature is currently in testing.

Whether you got the Apple Watch Series 3 or just want to up the game of an older model, we’ve got you covered with our Watch Store customers’ favorite bands. These are some of the best-selling straps for Apple Watch — bands we personally love and recommend for their quality, craftsmanship, value and style.

All of the newest bands and many more from each brand are available in our Watch Store. Read on to check out 10 customer favorites.

The Samsung Galaxy S8 has been fully exposed ahead of its grand unveiling later this month.

Thanks to notorious smartphone leaker Evan Blass, we now have have our first solid look at what Samsung’s next iPhone rival will look like. Blass tweeted a marketing image for the upcoming handset, and the Apple fan in me has to admit — it looks pretty damn good.

Target is reportedly returning unsold iPhone SE units to Apple ahead of a rumored March event that could bring an improved model.

A leaked memo reveals that stores were instructed to send back certain models of Apple’s most affordable smartphone by today, March 1.

There’s a reason so many wallet projects flock to Kickstarter. A lot of people carry wallets — and everyone seems to be irritated by at least one feature that doesn’t work for them.

A group of mechanical engineers out of Canada think they have come up with a design that’s sure to satisfy any wallet user trying to avoid pocket bulk and identity theft. The Fantom, the latest wallet design to come to Kickstarter — as of Wednesday morning, anyway — shuns traditional materials and forms for a futuristic case that holds credit cards, cash, coins and yet somehow remains slim.

Foxconn CEO Terry Gou has said the company is “very serious” about acquiring Toshiba’s memory chip business.

If this happens, it would cement Foxconn as potentially Apple’s single biggest manufacturer, with it having already purchased a controlling interest in iPhone display maker Sharp, in addition to building iPhones and iPads for the company.