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Luna Display converts an iPad into a Mac’s second screen

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Luna Display iPad
Double the size of your MacBook screen by using your iPad as a second monitor with Luna Display.
Photo: Astro HQ

Anyone who feels their MacBook’s screen is too cramped can now use their iPad as as second display just by plugging in a dongle. Luna Display is now available to all after a successful Kickstarter campaign.

Astro HQ promises that its hardware/software solution is better than purely software options for using an iPad as an external monitor.

Apple Watch might solve mystery of missing Saudi dissident

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Apple Watch alerts user of irregular heart rhythms in sleep
Jamal Khashoggi's Apple Watch might be able to tell investigators if he's still alive.
Photo: Apple

A prominent critic of Saudi Arabia went into that country’s consulate in Istanbul last week and never came out again. Evidence of what happened to him might come from his Apple Watch.

The burning question the wearable potentially could answer: is Jamal Khashoggi still alive?

Snapchat jumps into original content with 5-minute daily scripted shows

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Snap Originals 1
Snap is launching a whole bunch of original shows.
Photo: Snap

Apple’s not the only tech company hopping on the original content bandwagon in 2018. Snapchat company Snap is launching new shows in partnership with Hollywood production companies. And they’re coming as soon as today.

Called “Snap Originals,” they won’t be full-length shows like Apple is busy commissioning, though. In keeping with the short-term hook that made Snapchat popular, the company is cranking out five-minute episodes shot vertically for viewing on mobile devices.

Fortnite 6.02 brings Disco Domination LTM, Quadlauncher

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Fortnite Disco Domination
Dance off in the new Disco Domination LTM.
Photo: Epic Games

Fortnite’s weekly update has finally dropped across all platforms, bringing a new Disco Domination limited-time game mode (LTM), the new Quadlauncher weapon, and more.

The update also improves performance on a number of platforms, and fixes bugs that were introduced with previous builds.

Senators want answers about alleged China spy chips

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This isn't actually Apple's data center, but it's close.
Recent report claimed that Apple's data center had been infiltrated by spy chips.
Photo: Pexels

It’s not yet clear how much veracity there is to the recent Bloomberg report claiming that companies, including Apple and Amazon, were sold data servers compromised by Chinese spies. However, a bipartisan pair of U.S. senators want answers from the manufacturer in question.

In a letter addressed to motherboard supplier Supermicro, senators Marco Rubio and Richard Blumenthal request the answers to eight queries. Here’s what they want to know:

Hit farming simulator Stardew Valley is coming to iOS

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Stardew Valley
Stardew Valley is finally going mobile.
Photo: Chucklefish Limited

Popular indie farming simulator Stardew Valley is finally making the leap to iPhone and iPad.

The game has proven a smash hit on Mac and PC, selling over 400,000 copies during its first two weeks of availability, and has been well-received on console, with glowing review scores on Metacritic. You’ll be able to play it on iOS later this month.

Apple buys visual effects startup focused on machine learning

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Spektral 2
Startup is helping Apple's video and photo editing tools get smarter.
Photo: Spektral

Apple has acquired a Danish visual effects company which uses machine learning technology for image and video editing.

Based in Copenhagen, Denmark, the startup Spektral was acquired late in 2017, although news of the purchase has only come to light now. One of the company’s core technologies relates to real-time green screen processing that’s capable of separating people and objects from a background and dropping them into a scene with an alternate backdrop.

Netflix isn’t worried about Apple’s impending avalanche of TV shows

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75% of Netflix users have no plans to jump ship to Apple TV+ (right away)
Netflix isn't fearing Apple.
Photo: Flickr/Stock Catalog

Apple is spending upwards of $1 billion making original TV shows, but little has been publicly said about the initiative just yet. According to Netflix’s chief content officer, not only are customers in the dark about how Apple will make its shows available — even the folks making the shows for Apple don’t know.

Speaking at the Vanity Fair New Establishment Summit in Los Angeles, Netflix’s Ted Sarandos said that, “I don’t have any idea what that Apple product is going to be. I don’t think anybody does. I don’t think people making shows for them have any idea.”

What’s more, Netflix isn’t worried!

Apple sued over misleading iTunes season pass bundles

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Apple's iTunes movie trailers go dark as streaming supplants downloads.
Apple is accused of misleading wording.
Photo: Tookapic/Pexels CC

Apple has been hit with a class action lawsuit for allegedly tricking iTunes customers into buying its TV season bundles by misleading them over how many episodes are contained.

iTunes sells shows by individual episodes, whole seasons, or season passes, which includes current and future episodes not yet available. The lawsuit takes aim at this last option, claiming that Apple sneakily counts promotional clips as episodes.

Everyone can already get today’s iOS 12.1 developer beta

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iOS 12 features
The major change in iOS 12.1 is a feature that should have been in iOS 12: Group FaceTime.
Photo: Apple

Apple seeded the third beta of iOS 12.1 to developers this afternoon. In what’s possibly a new speed record, that version is already available to the general public. 

The major change coming in the final version is support for Group FaceTime, but there’re other enhancements too. 

Huge number of iPhone users ready to upgrade

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iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR
Expect a rise in iPhone sales as users of Apple's current models move to the 2018 lineup.
Photo: Apple

Almost everyone who wants a smartphone already has one, so device makers depend on upgrades among current customers to make money. Fortunately for Apple, an analyst reports there’s a surge of interest in buying a newer model.

The rising desire to upgrade isn’t limited to iPhone users, but the analyst says Apple will benefit the most.

iPhone XS video impresses, but it’s no match for a cinema cam

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iPhone XS video
Is there a major difference? Depends on the size of the screen on which each is viewed.
Photo: Ed Gregory/Pictures In Color

Director Steven Soderbergh called the iPhone the future of cinematography. Filmmaker and photographer Ed Gregory isn’t quite ready to put down his cinema camera.

Still, Gregory came away pretty impressed with the video capabilities of the iPhone XS Max when he tested it recently against his Canon C200.

How to customize and use your Instagram Nametag

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What should you never do to the Hoff?
This is what The Hoff's instagram tag could look like.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

Instagram just added Nametags to its app, to make it easier to share your account with other people. Instead of forcing them to try to remember your Instagram username, you can just show them your Instagram Nametag, and they scan it from their own Instagram app.

It’s a neat feature, already in use on Snapchat. And — of course — you can customize your Nametag. Lets check it out.

No Apple Watch ECG app in watchOS 5.1 beta 3

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Apple Watch ECG
watchOS 5.1 shows no sign of getting the Apple Watch ECG application so many people are waiting for.
Photo: Apple

There’s bad news for Apple Watch Series 4 users: the third beta of watchOS 5.1 is out and it still lacks an ECG application. The hardware to take an electrocardiogram is built into Apple’s latest wearable but the software is still MIA.

There’s also a new beta of tvOS 12.1 today, along with iOS 12.1 beta 3. The latest macOS 10.14.1 pre-release version came out yesterday.

iOS 12 opens new password management possibilities

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A big change in iOS 12 makes password managers like Dashlane even easier to use.
A big change in iOS 12 makes password managers even easier to use.
Photo: Bruno Cervera/Pexels CC

This post is presented by Dashlane.

One of iOS 12’s most powerful features — a newfound compatibility with password management apps — kind of flew under the radar. But that doesn’t mean it’s not a big deal. In fact, this is a huge step forward for password managers like Dashlane, because it makes them far easier to use on iPhones and iPads.

With the recent Facebook hack compromising the personal data of 50 million users, there’s never been a better time to change all your passwords. And if you’re going to use strong, unique and extremely hard-to-remember passwords for every site you visit or web service you use, you’re going to need industrial-strength password management.

Inside Apple’s billion-dollar war on repair fraud

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Cult of Mac's buyback program pays good money for your gear, even broken ones.
Chinese iPhone fraud involved removing components from devices then deliberately breaking them so Apple would replace the handset.
Photo: Warren R.M. Stuart/Flickr CC

Fraudulent iPhone repair claims are big business in China. To the point where about 60 percent of the handsets being repaired under warranty in that country were part of scams.

Apple has had to make draconian efforts to even slow the rate at which Chinese criminal gangs are stealing from it.

Pixel 3 camera taps into Google’s AI to top iPhone

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Pixel 3 camera
The Pixel 3 camera has an eye on the competition.
Photo: Google

Google called its new Pixel 3 “the best end-to-end photography experience” Tuesday and has adopted features and marketing strategies that made the iPhone a global success and camera industry game-changer.

But marketing and megapixels will not be where these two smartphone cameras do battle. The competition shifts to artificial intelligence and how it makes each phone camera perform.

Carpool Karaoke season 2 gets official release date

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Carpool Karaoke
Miss Piggy rides shotgun with Jason Sudeikis in the second season of Carpool Karaoke.
Photo: Apple

Apple’s Carpool Karaoke TV series is already back with a new season and based on the new preview Apple posted, the pairings are going to be even crazier than last season’s.

Matthew McConaughey and Snoop Dogg are spotted rolling down the street together in the teaser Apple posted this morning. That’s just the start of the wildness though. The Muppets, Weird Al and the Lonely Island crew also make an appearance.

Check out some of the funny new pairings:

Apple seeds iOS 12.1 beta 3 to developers

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Group FaceTime
iOS 12.1 brings back group FaceTime.
Photo: Apple

Developers received a brand new beta for iOS 12.1 this morning, bringing a host of new tweaks and performance improvements to the iPhone and iPad.

iOS 12.1 beta 3 comes one week after Apple seeded the last beta build to developers. The company also released the third beta builds of watchOS 5.1 and tvOS 12.1 to developers today.

Google takes on Apple with Pixel 3, Pixel Slate and Home Hub

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The new Made by Google products.
The new Made by Google products.
Photo: Google

Google unleashed its latest wave of hardware designed to take on Apple and Amazon by combining its powerful software with custom-designed hardware. And it actually looks pretty good.

Three new products were unveiled at Google’s event in New York City this morning: the Pixel 3, Pixel Slate and Google Home Hub. All three pack some interesting new features that some of Apple’s own products can’t match. But there are also glaring weaknesses in the new Google products. Like the horrifically huge notch on the Pixel 3 to start with.

Take a closer look at all the new products:

Tim Cook pays a visit to Shanghai

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iPhone sales are finally rebounding in China
Tim Cook is visiting China at a time when there are lots of questions in the air.
Photo: Tim Cook/Weibo

Tim Cook is in China, visiting Shanghai to promote Apple Watch, pay a trip to one of one of the local Apple Stores, and meet with developers and Apple users.

Cook marked the trip by posting on his official Weibo account, the microblogging account that acts as China’s version of Twitter. While he is upbeat about meeting with Chinese fans, however, the visit comes at a tough time — with a burgeoning trade war with the U.S. and questionable claims about Chinese spy chips allegedly used by Apple.