Apple made a minor design faux pas with its newly-launched iPhone Smart Battery Case, so of course all of the company’s rivals are doing the mature thing and getting on with their own work, knowing that joining the pile-on will only come back to bite them.
Wait — that’s not what’s happening at all! In fact, LG and Asus today debuted two new ads poking fun of Apple, while at the same time advertising the alleged superiority of their LG V10 and Asus ZenFone Max phones respectively.
Tim Cook saw all the complaints fanboys levied against the ugly new Smart Battery Case his company unveiled this week, but the Apple CEO is defending the controversial new product, claiming Apple’s designers used ‘great insight’ to solve a crutial flaw facing most battery cases.
There are times when you need to sign a contract or other document that comes over via email. You could print it out, sign with a pen, and then scan it back to the recipient, of course, but that takes forever. Might as well fax it.
If you get a PDF form via the Mail app on your iPhone, however, you can sign it right there on your little pocket computer using just your finger, and then mail it back, all without ever committing ink to paper.
Here’s how.
Apple’s Lightning to USB connector has ostensibly been about connecting your iPad to a camera to import images directly to your tablet.
Now, with iOS 9.2, it looks like the same adapter can be used on your iPhone to get photos onto your smaller-screened device.
There’s even some evidence that the Lightning to USB adapter works to connect other USB peripherals, like MIDI keyboards or USB-powered microphones. If you’re a musician on the road without access to your iPad, this might be your new best solution.
It’s almost winter, and if you reside in an area with a climate like mine, you know you’ll be carrying gloves with you no matter where you go. When you live someplace like Anchorage, Alaska, even a quick trip outside to the trash bin requires that you cover up.
And yet, we live in a touchscreen world. I have my iPhone with me all the time, and I use it to stay connected to my kids and family members as I move around the winter wonderland. Pulling off a glove every time I want to play a song or answer a text is time-consuming and sometimes dangerous.
If that’s something you worry about, Mujjo’s got you covered, quite literally, with these new double-layered touchscreen gloves.
The consensus view of Apple’s newly launched hunchback iPhone battery case is that it should ideally be hidden from human view, spending its life in isolation ringing bells in Notre Dame.
Immediately upon release, the Internet filled with loud, angry protesters saying this kind of thing would never have happened in Steve Jobs’ day (and accusing Jony Ive of snoozing on the job). While I’m definitely no fan of Apple’s $99 Smart Battery Case, this isn’t the first time the company has released a less-than-stellar piece of design work amidst its usually gorgeous offerings.
Check out the list below for five of the worst pieces of design to come out of Cupertino since … well, yesterday, actually.
Devialet’s Phantom speaker is a ultra deluxe bit of audio gear, and Apple’s about to favor it with some serious retail real estate as the Cupertino-based company places the company from France’s product front and center in select Apple Stores.
If you head to one of them, you’ll see the Phantom starting Wednesday, December 9.
The wireless Phantom has a crazy 3000 watts of distortion-free sound, claims its maker, and starts at a cool $1,990, which makes it a perfect match for Apple’s retail stores, which aim to showcase high-quality items that are worth their high-end price.
To the derision of the entire internet, Apple’s new Smart Battery Case for the iPhone has an inelegant hump on the back.
Turns out, this isn’t the first time Apple design chief Jony Ive and his team have “humped” a thin design.
A tribute to late public-television legend Bob Ross shows you the joy of painting on the iPad Pro, and it’s not so much about happy little trees as it is really thinking about those bushes.
YouTube user iPhonedo, who may want to rethink his wig choices, gives a Rossian demonstration of basic techniques using the iPad Pro and Apple Pencil to create beautiful landscapes. It’s about planning layers, thinking about light, and bushes. We can’t impress upon you enough how important bushes are. Bushes are so important that the video gets kinda weird.
Check it out below.
Yes, Apple launched a new battery case for iPhone 6s today, and yes, it’s butt-ugly.
All battery cases are, but because this one has an Apple logo on it, the Internet is getting all bent out of shape over just how ugly it is. There’s one thing nobody is mentioning, though: You don’t have to buy one if you don’t like it — and no one really cares what you think.
The latest iteration of Apple TV’s operating system, tvOS 9.1, is out of beta and ready for the big screen.
The new update includes support for searching Apple Music with your voice, via the fantastic Siri Remote, so you no longer have to type in long artist names with the weird keyboard line that Apple offers you.
Apple has dropped a big new update on Mac users today with the release of OS X El Capitan 10.11.2.
This is the second big update for El Capitan since the desktop operating system was made public two months ago. OS X 10.11.2 brings with it a number of stability and security improvements for Mac, including fixes for Wi-Fi, AirDrop, Bluetooth, Mail, and Live Photos.
Here’s a full list of the changes:
Apple Watch owners received a new software update this morning in the form of watchOS 2.1.
The new update comes over a month after watchOS 2.0.1 was made available to the public and contains a number of bug fixes and performance improvements to go with expanded system language support.
Apple’s new Smart Battery Case is the ugliest product to come out of Cupertino since apps with leather stiching.
The new case came as a surprise this morning, offering iPhone 6s owners some extra juice and protection, but its weird hump has drawn the attention and ire of fans, leading many to wonder, ‘did Jony Ive really approve this thing?’
Not only is the case so ugly it looks like Quasimodo had sex with a camel. It’s not even that functional. It can’t recharge the iPhone 6s from 0 to 100 percent. The only LED indicator is on the inside of the case. And you can’t decide when to have the case charge your iPhone.
It’s so awful I’d almost swear Scott Forstall snuck into the design lab and is pranking us. It’s ironic Apple’s obsession with sacrificing battery life to make the iPhone thinner has put the company in a corner, causing it to innovate its way into making a big bulky battery case.
We’re not the only ones that hate the new case. Apple fans went crazy on Twitter in disbelief over the Smart Battery Case. Check out some of the best reactions:
Apple just released iOS 9.2 to the public today after months of beta testing by developers and public testers.
iOS 9.2 is the second major update since iOS 9 was released to in Septmeber and brings with it a host of new bug fixes, as well as significant tweaks to the Safari View Controller that allows Safari to run natively within third-party apps.
There’s unquestionable power in an object that does one thing and does it well. Consider the lowly travel mug — it’s a common commodity among the world’s coffee-swilling commuters, and yet the standard design lets us down repeatedly.
How does it fail us? It doesn’t keep our coffee hot for long. And, worse, it’s got a tendency to drip, spill and even spurt lukewarm java onto our clothes and car interiors. Many of my shirts bear depressing coffee stains, the marks of a road warrior using an inferior travel mug.
A recent weird patent filing suggested Apple might be making a color 3-D printer. Now, the best Apple concept designer in the business, Martin Hajek, has come along and imagined the device in a set of beautiful renderings.
A two-pack of custom Lego figures has made late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs into Elvis Presley.
Not appearance-wise, we mean. That would be super weird. But the new set, which comes courtesy of custom-Lego company FamousBrick, pays tribute to Jobs by showcasing both young and old versions of the tech legend.
The iPad Pro has become a huge favorite of illustrators and artists all over the place, and as these talented individuals get their Apple Pencils, they’re starting to see the joy of drawing directly on Apple’s massive and powerful tablet.
Thing is, the Apple Pencil doesn’t have an eraser on the end of it, unlike competitor artistic styluses (including 53’s own Pencil stylus, which features a big, soft eraser on the end opposite the drawing part).
Luckily, if you’re using an app like Savage Interactive’s Procreate, you can tweak things to make your finger do the magic eraser job.
The ever-expanding holiday season is upon us once again, and Cult of Mac wants to help make your obligatory family dinners the least awkward they can be.
We know that a certain amount of discomfort is unavoidable. Kids might have tantrums, Grinches might get a bit too much “holiday spirit,” or some cousin with a beef might have been waiting for everyone to be in the same room before they announce how they really feel about Grandma.
Family drama aside, we have a few tips for conversation tech topics to avoid during dinner to keep everyone as happy and un-yelled-at as possible. It was a big year for tech, but some topics are best left in Internet forums and the comments of your favorite Apple blog.
Apple Pay is showing up in more places these days, but if you live in a town like mine, it can be hard to know exactly where those places are.
Want to know whether that hip restaurant down the street or your local pharmacy supports Apple Pay before you get there? Here’s a super easy trick using either your iPhone or your Mac.
The iPad lineup has seen a ton of changes since Apple introduced its first tablet in 2010. Not only have the form factors evolved ever so slightly, but the internal components have pushed the product line from a cool reading/gaming device into a powerhouse machine that can replace your laptop.
To see just how much iPad has progressed, EverythingApplePro created a speed test using every iPad ever made. It’s no surprise that the iPad Pro comes out on top, but the original iPad off a shocker by beating some of its successors.
Check it out:
The magic of the Magic Flute is its ability to do two things with equal aplomb.
On the one hand, it is a solidly built hand pump that lets you fill your bike tire the old-fashioned way. On the other, it is a handy CO2 cartridge adapter that lets you fill your tire quickly without the need for elbow grease.
Though Apple spends far less on research and development than the competition, they out-innovate them all. How? Catch the discussion on this episode of The CultCast. Plus: iPhone 7 may ditch the beloved headphone jack; Amazon Video is coming to Apple TV; the holiday accessory that could be eroding your WiFi signal; and with the year drawing to a close, we choose we our favorite Apple device of 2015!
Our thanks to Lynda for supporting this episode. Lynda is like the Apple Music of online education, with over 3000 expert-taught video courses you can stream straight to computer or mobile device. Learn how to use Logic’s new super powerful Alchemy synth, or develop Mac apps for OS X—learn all you want for free for 10 days at lynda.com/cultcast.
There are so many iPhone apps for runners, it’s hard to decide which one to use. Should you go for a familiar brand like Nike, or a specialist like Runkeeper?
Ultimately, all running apps do pretty much the same thing: They use GPS to track how far and how fast you run. But when you take a closer look, their features and prices vary considerably. So I’ve done the leg work for you, to help you find the right running app faster.