Ever wanted to know would it be like to learn to play a musical instrument from A-list artists such as Sarah McLachlan, Sting, John Fogerty and Fall Out Boy? Want to find out for free?
Thanks to the 10.3 update of Apple’s GarageBand software, you can now do exactly that. And that’s just one of the big updates!
Everyone should welcome skill-based matchmaking. Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac
Forget everything you know about how to win in Fortnite Battle Royale.
Epic Games has confirmed that it plans to make huge changes to the game that could completely change the way you play. Master builders will suffer most, while new players will have a greater chance of winning matches.
Victory won’t be so dependent on shotgun skill and building the biggest bases. And that’s okay.
Buying products online may not remain significantly cheaper for long. Photo: Apple/Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
If you buy your products online, you could soon find that they get a bit more expensive — due to a Supreme Court ruling that states can now require internet retailers to collect sales taxes. This decision ends 50 years of legal battles banning states from imposing sales taxes on purchases sold by out-of-state retailers.
“Our state is losing millions for education, health care and infrastructure, and our citizens are harmed by an uneven playing field,” said Marty Jackley, South Dakota’s attorney general, summing up the argument in favor of the decision.
Apple to Qualcomm: "I wish I knew how to quit you." But the companies continue to do business even as they drag each other to court. Photo: Qualcomm
“Coopetition” best describes the relationship between Apple and Qualcomm. Wireless modems made by Qualcomm are used in iPhones even as the two companies are locked in a years-long patent dispute over billions of dollars.
The fight reached a new phase today as Apple challenged four Qualcomm patents, arguing they shouldn’t have been awarded in the first place.
Apple is investigating including handwriting recognition in the iPhone and iPad. Photo: Apple/Cult of Mac
Apple is actively working on a handwriting recognition system. This raises the distinct possibility that you might someday enter text by writing words on your iPhone or iPad screen, rather than tapping out letters on a virtual keyboard.
Some will remember that Apple’s tried something similar before and it didn’t go well.
This is the second major award for the 'Welcome Home" ad Spike Jonze created for the HomePod. Photo: Apple
A Grand Prix in the Cannes Entertainment awards went to “Welcome Home,” a long-form ad for the HomePod created by Spike Jonze. The goal of the “Lions” is to reward education or advertising excellent enough to qualify asart..
Pia Muehlenbeck used her YouTube Channel to promote her first IGTV post. Photo: Kane and Pia/YouTube
Fashion influencer Pia Muehlenbeck wore a red dress chosen by her social media fans for a sunny day in Santa Monica to make her first video for the new IGTV.
Once shooting finished, she posted it on YouTube.
YouTube has seen competitors come and go and none have been able to threaten its standing as the dominant video platform. But it has not faced a media company with the might to seriously cut into its ad revenues or lure away some of its most prominent talent like Instagram.
You can add any typeface to the apps on your iPhone or iPad. Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac
Most of use just use the fonts that come supplied with the iOS apps we use every day. If you use Pages, you get a ton of built-in typeface options. But what if you use a notes app by a smaller developer that hasn’t licensed a bunch of fonts for their app? What if you have a favorite font, or even a font you designed yourself, that you want to use on your iPhone or iPad? Or maybe you opened up a Microsoft Word document in Pages and got the dreaded “missing font” warning?
Then there’s good news, because you can quite easily install fonts on your system, and they can be used by any app that supports them.
AT&T's WatchTV service combines entertainment with unlimited data. Photo: AT&T
AT&T wants to stand out in the wireless market by combining streaming TV with unlimited data. Two newly-announced WatchTV options add dozens of TV channels and thousands of on-demand TV shows to the carrier’s unlimited data plans.
This move comes in the wake of the $85B AT&T/Time Warner merger, giving the carrier far greater access to video content that can be streamed to your iPhone or iPad almost anywhere.
Are you excited at the prospect of a new HomePod? Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac
HomePods went on sale in Europe this week, and I ordered one. It arrived the very next day. I tried it out, and then sent it back to Apple the day after that. Why? Because it’s a half-finished product. Siri is just as glitchy and annoying on HomePod as elsewhere. It doesn’t work properly with a Mac. And it’s not even a very good speaker.
A black screen in the native app is one of the iOS 11.4 camera problems users are reporting. Screenshot: Wizard Design/Twitter
Everyone’s attention is on iOS 12, but Apple still has a team working on a “bug fix” update to iOS 11.4. Among the reasons for this is the complaints from numerous iPhone users that this version causes their camera to malfunction in various ways.
Apple CEO Tim Cook likes to get close to the fans. Photo: Tim Cook/Twitter
Apple CEO Tim Cook made a quick stop in Ireland this week where he promised the country he’s interested in it for more than its sweet tax rate.
The company’s relationship with Ireland has been rocky the last year. Apple scrapped plans to build a billion-dollar data center and lost its tax deal, but Cook says he’s still as committed to the country as ever.
Coming soon to a screen near you. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Apple has ordered yet another series for its original video content programming. This time, the series in question is an English language adaptation of Calls, a highly experimental French short-form series that tells short stories through real-life audio sources and minimal visuals.
Will we finally get a release date for AirPower? Photo: Apple
Apple will finally deliver its AirPower charger in September after solving “a series of technical hurdles,” according to a new report.
Overheating is one problem company engineers have had to contend with. Another is AirPower’s complex circuitry, which is necessary to allow compatible devices to be placed anywhere on the mat for charging.
It’s time to finally fight that Facebook addiction. Photo: Cult of Mac
Do you own or run a business? If you do, you’re going to want to learn how to make the most of Facebook Ads. After all, Facebook is the most powerful platform for getting your content, brand, or products seen.
TSMC is likely to produce Apple's A-series chips for at least a while longer. Photo: Intel
Apple supplier TSMC will reportedly invest a massive $25 billion in 5 nanometer node technology in its quest to fabricate next-generation chips which could help power iOS devices.
No timeframe was announced for the investment. Since the company is supposedly currently fabricating 7nm chips for the 2018 iPhone, this will hopefully help TSMC hold onto its status as Apple’s A-series chipmaker for at least a while longer.
You can save money on products bought through the Adidas app. Photo: Apple
For its latest Apple Pay weekly promotion, Apple is giving customers 15 percent off purchases made in the Adidas iOS app — provided it’s bought using Apple’s mobile payment service, of course!
There's growing concern about the effects of mobile devices on young people. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
The government of southeastern Australian state, New South Wales, has said that it plans to carry out a comprehensive review of smartphone use in schools. This will look at the effects of smartphones on kids in school, both in and out classrooms.
Why is that significant? Because, building on the growing concern about smartphone addiction, it represents a developing trend focused on cracking down on the use of phones. And New South Wales isn’t the only place doing this.
Yet another reason to use Apple Pay. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
If you aren’t already using Apple Pay, you should be. Not only does it make shopping easier, but it can also save you money on all kinds of purchases every week. And now, Apple Pay users are getting faster service on discounted food and drink at concerts and festivals.
Apple Pay “fast lanes” have started popping up at concessions stands, helping users avoid the lengthy lines.
Cupertino decided to not raise additional taxes this year on employees working at Apple Park. Photo: Duncan Sinfield
Cupertino’s city government decided to ask voters next year whether it should charge businesses a tax on every worker. Apple is the city’s largest employer, so most of the cost would have fallen on the iPhone maker.
The original plan, while vague, was to use the additional revenue to create more affordable housing options and improve Cupertino’s transit system.
Declutter My Home is one of a handful of Facebook groups that get to test charging subscription fees. Photo: Facebook
A pilot project allows people who run Facebook groups to charge subscription fees for the content they create. During the testing process, this is an option for a limited number of group admins.
The fees can range from $4.99 to $29.99 a month. Facebook isn’t taking a share of the revenue.
A Steve Jobs Apple business card and three sheets of letterhead is for sale on eBay. Photo: MG Service/eBay
It’s hard to imagine Steve Jobs ever needing to pass out business cards. But even for titans of industry, business cards were standard issue and if you happened to have one from Jobs, its worth a few bucks.
A seller on eBay is hoping to get $9,000 for a couple of Jobs business cards and a few sheets of his Apple letterhead stationary.
Apple wants to make a bigger mark on your home. Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac
Siri on HomePod is acceptable for quickly playing an album or a playlist, or even for adding a track to the existing up-next queue. But what if you want to switch the order of some songs in that queue, or delete tracks? Or maybe just use your iPhone to skip tracks, or control the volume of your HomePod without having to talk to the damn thing all the time?
It's very rare, but smartphones can catch fire. They aren't known to explode powerfully enough to kill someone, though. Photo: Langley Township Fire Department
A Malaysian man perished in a fire in his bedroom, but his family and his company say he was actually killed when the phone charging near his bed exploded.
“He had two phones, one Blackberry and a Huawei. We don’t know which one exploded,” said the brother-in-law of Nazrin Hassan, the CEO of a venture capital fund.