Apple has hired a former Qualcomm Engineering VP to act as the project lead on its wireless “System on a Chip” (SoC) project, hinting that it may be planning to develop its own cellular modems.
The hiring of Esin Terzioglu, who joined Qualcomm back in 2009, comes at a time when Apple is locked in a legal battle with the company.
Apple celebrated Memorial Day by launching three new ads as part of its “Life is easier on iPhone” campaign.
The witty ads, which run 15-seconds each, focus on security, contacts, and performance on the iPhone versus generic other devices. Subtly harkening back to the classic “1984” Macintosh ad, Apple’s competition is shown to be dull and gray, while Apple is depicted as a colorful utopia where everything “just works.” Check them out below.
The surprisingly addictive new Pokémon game, starring everyone’s favorite fish Pokémon Magikarp, is just one of the great titles we’ve picked out for this week’s “Awesome Apps” roundup.
We’ve also got a tremendous free video downloading tool, a SEGA classic gone free, and a slate of productivity apps that now let you easily drag and drop content between them on your iPad.
Check out our picks below. There’s really no better way to spend the middle day of the Memorial Day weekend!
In this week’s Cult of Mac Magazine, we give you our wish list for macOS 10.13, which will be introduced by Apple in two weeks at the WWDC.
Take advantage of our massive Memorial Day weekend sale at Watch Store, where we offer 20 percent off a large selection of Apple Watch bands an chargers from top name brands: JUUK, Clessant, Form Function Form, Just Mobile, Jack Foster and more. Sale starts today, so get shopping!
Here are this week’s top stories.
This week, on The CultCast: rumors point to a big iPhone 8 price hike. What’s the max you would pay? Plus: Intel makes a huge move to push Thunderbolt into the mainstream; Ikea about to drop tons of great HomeKit gadgets on us; DJI’s Spark selfie drone is a compact powerhouse; we’ll tell you about our favorite smart lights; and we’ll tell you about the weird and whacky gadgets we’re reviewing in an all-new Under Review!
Our thanks to Blue Apron for supporting this episode. Blue Apron makes it easy to cook delicious meals at home. Get your first three meals free at BlueApron.com/CultCast.
Apple is allegedly planning to take its Artificial Intelligence game to an all-new level an AI-powered iPhone chip.
In a race to catch up with the competition at Amazon and Google, Apple has a team of engineers working on a new piece of silicon that’s dedicated to processing artificial intelligence commands which could lead to improved battery life.
It’s been some time since Apple delivered something really revolutionary. Every product in its stores looks just like it did last year… and the year before that… and the year before that.
Fans will pin most of the blame on chief design officer Jony Ive. After more than two decades of spectacular and unparalleled ideas, it seems Steve Jobs’s best friend is running on empty. Is it time for him to go to make room for fresh blood and new ideas?
Join us in this week’s Friday Night Fight as we battle it out over whether Apple’s design team needs significant change.
French officials are investigating the possibility of whether an iPhone or iPad was the cause of EgyptAir Flight 804.
The 2016 crashed killed 66 people yet the investigators have been stumped on what brought the plane down. Some new clues may hint that it was an overheating iOS device that sparked the catastrophe.
Jay Z’s struggling Tidal music streaming service is saying goodbye to its third CEO in two years.
The company reportedly parted way with top executive Jeff Toig, though no replacement has been named. Tidal has had a revolving door of CEOs during its troubled history. Toig took over the reigns of Tidal just 18 months ago.
Mixer, Microsoft’s new game streaming platform, has landed on iOS.
Formerly known as Beam, Mixer is taking on the likes of Twitch with live-streaming “that’s actually live” — not delayed. The iOS app lets you enjoy broadcasts in real-time, connect with your favorite streamers, and more.
Looking for more evidence that the iPad Pro can be used to create stunning artwork? The cover of the latest issue of The New Yorker might be just the proof you’re searching for.
Created by the magazine’s long-time art editor Jorge Colombo, it depicts kids playing basketball near to his home in Brooklyn. “This was a risky drawing to make,” he said. “I kept worrying that the ball would hit me or the iPad.” Not that he let that stop him from creating a stunning image!
If you think cheating is the easy way to get ahead in Pokémon GO, think again.
Developer Niantic just rolled out a new update that punishes cheaters by only allowing them to catch lousy monsters.
Whatever problems Apple may have been having embedding Touch ID into the iPhone 8’s display, it appears that it’s solved them!
According to a new report — citing Apple chip supplier TSMC — the next-gen iPhone will boast an optical fingerprint sensor to enable authentication directly by touching the screen.
Essential inc, the new tech company founded by the godfather of Android, Andy Rubin, is set to unveil its first product at the end of this month.
A new Twitter account created by the company teased the announcement today with its first ever tweet to hype what many anticipate to be a new Android smartphone. Rubin shot followers a teaser in March, but now Essential is busting out its own glimpses of the smartphone that may include a 360-degree camera.
You could say Think Thank thought of every kind of photographer with the release of two upgraded lines of camera bags.
The globe-trekker needing a mother load of gear can rely on the new StreetWalker Rolling Backpack. The discreet street shooter with a single body and lens may select the contoured TurnStyle 5 V2.0.
Didn’t get one of the rare tickets to Apple’s 2017 Worldwide Developers Conference? Don’t worry, you’ll still be able to watch most of the action from your couch at home.
Apple confirmed today that it’s big keynote on June 5 will be available to view via live streaming. Fans can tune in by watching the event on Apple TV, or through Safari on a Mac, iPhone, or iPad. You can even watch from a PC with Microsoft Edge on Windows 10.
Earth Day 2017 festivities ended over a month ago, but that’s not stopping Apple from busting out another one of the quirky cartoon videos it made for the holiday.
Apple published a new Earth Day video today that highlights the problems it faces in regards to recycling materials from old iPhones. The ad explains how iPhone parts get a second life after Apple’s robot Liam has stripped them all away.
Being the the Leader of the Free World usually comes with phenomenal benefits most U.S. citizens only dream of, but apparently the perks don’t extend to the iPhone.
The Pokémon Company just launched its latest game on Android and iOS, and it’s all about Magikarp.
Called Magikarp Jump, it sees you training a Magikarp to do about the only thing a Magikarp is good for: Jumping!
Can you get yours to jump the highest?
Apple has hired Lauren Kern, one of New York Magazine’s most high-ranking editors and a former deputy editor at The New York Times Magazine, to work on Apple News as its first-ever editor-in-chief.
Readdle just rolled out big updates that give users the ability to drag and drop content between its entire lineup of awesome productivity apps on iPad. It’s never been easier to multitask and manage your most important files on the go.
The company has also updated Documents 6 to turn it into a “Finder on iOS.”
SEGA arcade hit Crazy Taxi is now free to play on Android and iOS.
The game has also been updated to support 64-bit processors, which means it will continue to be playable after Apple kills 32-bit apps with iOS 11 later this year.
Google Assistant for iOS was released at Google’s latest I/O event. Having never tried it (being an Apple fanboy and all) I thought it was only fair to put the two virtual assistants head to head.
There’s still a lot Google needs to fix such as being able to open apps other than it’s own. But check out the head to head battle in my video below.
Apple has begun transition App Store currencies from the U.S. dollar and euro to local alternatives in nine new countries. The change brings small savings for customers in certain markets.
Qualcomm has asked a court to force iPhone suppliers to keep paying it royalty payments while it is in the middle of its standoff with Apple.
The tech giant has updated one of its lawsuits to include what it claims is additional evidence about Apple instructing third-party suppliers not to pay money they owe to Qualcomm. Qualcomm suggests that this is an underhanded tactic on Apple’s part to force it to settle sooner.