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Apple investigates fraudulent iTunes charges worth thousands of dollars

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iTunes
Scam affected users in Singapore.
Photo: Apple

Apple is investigating complaints from dozens of customers in Singapore, who claim to have had hundreds of dollars taken from their accounts, supposedly for iTunes payments.

Some of the victims lost up to $7,000. Others lost less than this, but nonetheless had their available balance “completely wiped out” by the fraudulent charges.

HomePod update will bring phone calls, voicemail, multiple timers

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HomePod market share
The new HomePod could offer a neat new feature.
Photo: Apple

HomePod is expected to get even smarter this fall when Apple rolls out a big software update.

A new report claims the $349 device will be able to handle phone calls, retrieve your voicemail, and run multiple timers. It could also give you the ability to search for songs by using their lyrics, and to translate languages.

Chinese company could compete with Samsung on OLED iPhone screens

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BOE Technology Group already makes LCDs for Apple, and this Chinese company now wants to produce OLED iPhone screens.
BOE Technology Group already makes LCDs for Apple, and this Chinese company now wants to produce OLED iPhone screens.
Photo: BOE Technology Group

One of the most important components of the 2018 iPhone could be produced by a company with very strong ties to the Chinese government.

BOE Technology Group already makes some LCD screens for Apple, but also wants to manufacture OLED displays used in flagship iPhone models.

Score a lifetime of VPN protection at 96 percent off [Deals]

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CoM - VPNSecure- Lifetime Subscription
This great deal will land you powerful VPN protection for up to 5 devices at once.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

If the news of the last few weeks tells us anything, it’s that online security are no joke. Maybe you don’t have to worry about foreign governments snooping on your emails…or maybe you do. Either way, one great way to guard your online activity is to connect with a VPN.

Save 98 percent on a 5-course coding education [Deals]

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This bundle of coding courses will give you the basic skills you need to build great things on and for the web.
This bundle of coding courses will give you the basic skills you need to build great things on and for the web.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Coding is key to so many careers these days. It’s also just a valuable skill, whether for creative projects, building a website, gathering data, the list goes on. But learning to code can be daunting, so this massively discounted bundle of coding lessons is a must-see.

Fire up Apple Watch with this on-the-wall charging stand

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Wiplabs Apple Watch Wall Charger
Wiplabs' Wall Charging Stand will allow you to charge Apple Watch on any wall socket while neatly storing the MagSafe cable inside the charger.
Photo: Wiplabs

For those of us seeking space for yet another Apple Watch accessory, fear not. I’ve found a modern, minimal wall charging stand that powers up Apple Watch directly via socket.

Talk about a discreet and dual-use Apple Watch charging stand. Wiplabs Wall Charging Stand has no footprint. Nightstand full? Desk a nightmare? Pop this into your nearest wall socket, and voila … you’re juicing up Apple Watch.

Three more cities will get super-fast AT&T 5G this year

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AT&T logo
AT&T and arch-rival Verizon will be among the first U.S. carriers to offer 5G.
Photo: Luismt94/Wikipedia CC

AT&T promised to bring the next generation of cellular wireless technology to a dozen cities before the end of this year. It just hasn’t revealed which ones yet.

The carrier started the teasing process a few months ago, announcing that Atlanta, Dallas and Waco, Texas, will get mobile 5G.

How to make a website that fits inside its own link

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Itty Bitty could turn paper posters into web servers.
Itty Bitty could turn paper posters into web servers.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

Quick question: If you wanted to publish a quick one-page website right now, how would you do it? You’d either put it up on a service like Tumblr, or you’d have to register a domain name, find a host, and Zzzzzzzz. But what if you could just create that web page, then zip it up into its own link? Whenever anyone clicked on that link, it would unpack itself, and show up in their browser like any regular web page. That’s what Itty Bitty does.

It’s pretty wild, and gets even wilder. Because while you can paste your link anywhere, like a Tweet, you can also turn that link into a QR code and print it. If you do so, then that paper QR code contains your actual website. Whenever anyone scans it, it will be unpacked, and rendered, no internet required.

Amazon’s iPhone app uses computer vision to identify and replace screws and other parts

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Amazon's new Part Finder feature for iPhone uses computer vision to identify and buy hundreds of different types of fasteners.
Amazon's new Part Finder feature for iPhone uses computer vision to identify and buy hundreds of different types of fasteners.
Photo: Sheila Sund via Flickr

Until recently, if you needed to replace a screw, nut or bolt, you’d take a trip to the hardware store. With Amazon’s latest update to its iPhone app, there’s no need.

Part Finder is a new feature of Amazon’s camera search that can identify hundreds of types of screws, nuts, bolts, washers and other fasteners. Once ID’d, they can be bought straight from the app.

iPhone lets Phillies fans order a ballpark beer by text

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It's the fullfillment of many a baseball fan's dreams: beer by text.
It's the fullfillment of many a baseball fan's dreams: beer by text.
Photo: Aramark

The Philadelphia Phillies and Aramark started a pilot program that lets fans order beer from their seats using an iPhone.

The service makes use of Apple Business Chat, a service that launched this spring designed to let customers send messages to companies without strings attached.

Samsung smack-talks iPhone X with more ‘Ingenious’ ads

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Ingenious
Samsung hits Apple with three more blows in commercials for the Galaxy S9.
Photo: Samsung

Samsung continues tyring to sell smartphones with advertising that gives more airtime to Apple.

Three more commercials in Samsung’s “Ingenious” campaign went public today with a belief in accentuating the negative. Each exploits a different criticism of the iPhone X – the need for a dongle, the lack of a fast charger and a camera that gets lower test scores than the Galaxy S9.

2018 MacBook Pro’s Thunderbolt 3 suffers big limitations

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The 2018 MacBook Pro is expected to look much like its predecessor.
Despite faster connections, display support hasn’t improved.
Photo: Apple

Apple’s new MacBook Pro lineup has a lot of improvements under the hood that you might have missed. One of those is an upgraded Thunderbolt 3 controller from Intel.

Both the 13- and 15-inch models pack a new “Titan Ridge” chip, but unfortunately for some users, there are big limitations. Don’t rush out to blow your savings on an 8K monitor just yet.

Unleash your graphic design prowess with Pixelmator [50 Essential iOS Apps #40]

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Pixelmator on iPad surrounded by camera gear
Pixelmator is a powerful, all-in-one graphic design app for photographers and designers alike
Photo: Ian Fuchs/Cult of Mac

50 Essential iOS Apps: PixelmatorSince its introduction, the iPad has slowly won over new markets of people. Over the past couple years, photo and image editing apps have found a home on Apple’s tablet. Pixelmator for iOS takes photo editing and graphic design on iOS to a new level, bringing a photoshop-like experience to your fingertips.

Love Notes to Newton tells story of Apple’s most important failure [Review]

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Love Notes to Newton
Both the MessagePad 120 and eMate devices grew out of the Newton project.
Photo: Love Notes to Newton

The Newton MessagePad is simultaneously one of Apple’s biggest flops and one of the company’s most underrated products.

A series of PDA devices available during the 1990s, today Newtons are much-sought-after relics among a group of enthusiastic Apple fans. These collectors recognize the devices for the forward-looking gadgets they truly were. The Newton product line is now the subject of a new feature-length documentary, titled Love Notes to Newton. Can it do justice to its beloved subject matter?

$100 iPhone X clone is a lot scarier than it looks

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$100 iPhone X clone
Can you tell the difference?
Photo: Jason Keobler/Motherboard

Now that rival smartphone makers have had some time to follow in Apple’s footsteps, you don’t have to spend $1,000 on an iPhone X to enjoy features like facial recognition and an edge-to-edge screen. For instance, this handset looks almost exactly like Apple’s latest flagship, and yet it costs just $100.

But don’t be fooled by its pretty face. This unashamed iPhone X clone is as ugly as sin under the surface, and its poor excuse for security is even scarier.

Ed Sheeran’s creative process is on full display in new Apple documentary

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434F113A-118B-49B3-8D02-DFFB3C4CCFBF
Ed Sheeran shows viewers how to write a song in his new movie.
Photo: Apple Music

Singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran and his creative process will be on full display in Apple’s newest documentary movie, Songwriter.

Filming on the documentary began in 2008, giving fans an unprecedented look at how Sheeran’s songs are created. From the spark of an idea for a song to seeing it sung by thousands of fans at concerts, Songwriter paints an intimate portrait of one of the most popular artists of the last decade. The movie was filmed by Ed’s cousin Murray Cummings and focuses on the making of his third album “÷” that came out last year.

Take a look at the teaser:

Apple Watch could fall victim to trade war with China

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Apple Watch
Apple has until fall to plead its case.
Photo: Apple

Apple might have been reassured at the news that tariffs in the U.S.’s trade war with China wouldn’t hurt the iPhone and the iPad — but apparently nobody said anything about the Apple Watch.

According to a new report, the latest round of U.S. tariffs on approximately $200 billion goods imported from China could hit Apple’s wearable device.

These 2018 MacBook Pro models are the best values

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2018 MacBook Pro
Figuring out which 2018 MacBook Pro is fastest or cheapest is easy. We puzzled out which offers the most bang for the buck.
Photo: Apple

You need a 2018 MacBook Pro, but there are a bunch of configurations to choose from, with the top model more than twice as expensive as the base one. Of course, Apple is asking you to pay extra for a faster processor, but is the additional cost worth it?

We took benchmarking scores for all the variations of the newest macOS laptop and divided them by the cost of each. The results might well surprise you.

2018 MacBook Pro: the good, the great, the ugly — this week on The CultCast

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CultCast 2018 MacBook Pro
The new MacBook Pros are shockingly fast.
Photo: Apple

This week on The CultCast: The 2018 MacBook Pro is both a beauty and a beast. In fact, it’s one of the most exciting MBP refreshes in years. We’ll tell you why.

Then: A popular tech reviewer warns that the 15-inch MacBook Pro’s i9 processor upgrade suffers a major flaw; Apple quietly updates MacBook Pro’s keyboard to be more reliable; and we pitch you our favorite new gear and gadgets in an all-new Under Review!

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

iPhone could get shut out of India altogether

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Apple supplier is increasing its ability to build masses of iPhones in India
Apple is facing the prospect of zero working iPhones in India.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India could require mobile operators in the country to stop supporting the iPhone if Apple doesn’t allow a mobile app that lets users report unwanted calls and messages.

Apple has been going back and forth with officials in India over the government-approved anti-spam mobile app, which Apple has suggested violates user privacy.

Apple switches designs for new Oz store, but some are still unhappy

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New design vs. old design
Apple's new design (left) vs. its original design (right).
Photo: Federation Square

Normally, the addition of a new Apple Store is met with positivity, on account of the prestige and increased foot traffic that it brings to an area. That’s not exactly proving to be the case for Apple’s proposed “global flagship” Apple Store in Melbourne, Australia, however.

Revised drawings for the new store were published on Friday, after Apple scrapped original designs which apparently reminded locals of a toasted sandwich.