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Apple will feel effects of U.K. tax avoidance crackdown

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Apple could be a $2 trillion company by end of 2021
U.K. Treasury announced its new policy this week.
Photo illustration: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

The U.K. Treasury has announced plans to crack down on tech giants which use overseas profit-shifting strategies to cut down on the amount of tax they have to pay.

Chancellor Philip Hammond announced that the country will now charge a 20 percent income tax rate on any British earnings held overseas, starting April 2019.

AirPods are the key to romance in Apple’s holiday ad

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Apple
Apple wants you to give the gift of music this holiday season.
Photo: Apple

The first big Apple ad of the holiday season is here just in time for Thanksgiving.

Apple published its holiday ad “Sway” to Youtube today. The whimsical ad features a winter holiday cityscape that transforms into something magical as a couple dance through it. Of course, they’re rocking AirPods and the iPhone X the entire time.

Check it out:

How to use Live Loops in GarageBand

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piano hand
GarageBand's Live Loops let anyone make amazing tracks.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

Today we’re going to figure out how to use GarageBand’s Live Loops feature. These let you drop a little loop of music into a square on a grid (or record your own), and then trigger that loop by tapping the square. Everything plays in time, so you can use it to DJ with loops and samples and create sick drops like VITALIC. Alternatively, Live Loops are a fantastic way to remix your own recordings on the fly, letting you experiment with how your own songs progress, without all that tedious dragging of audio track in timelines.

Affordable Android beats iPhone X in new speed test

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iPhone X
iPhone X wasn't the first, but it certainly boosted the trend.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple’s new A11 Bionic makes iPhone X blazing fast. It’s faster than its biggest rivals, despite fewer processing cores and slower clock speeds. But there’s a new Android that narrowly beats Apple’s latest in a real-world speed test.

And believe it or not, that Android costs half as much as iPhone X.

iPhone SE 2 rumored to launch in mid-2018

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low-cost-android-makers-are-hurting-thanks-to-iphone-se-image-cultofandroidcomwp-contentuploads201604iphonesearray-800x620-jpg
A new iPhone SE might be on the way.
Photo: Apple

Apple is set to make another major play for emerging markets next year with the rumored release of a new iPhone SE 2 handset.

According to a rumor out of Apple’s supply chain, the new iPhone SE 2 will be assembled by Taiwanese manufacturer Winstron, only all units will be put together in Bengaluru, India.

Droplr might make you ditch DropBox [Deals]

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Droplr's simple sharing features might be just what your team needs.
Droplr's simple sharing features might be just what your team needs.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Remote collaboration has basically become a norm. For passing files of a all sorts back and forth, Google Drive or Dropbox quickly come to mind. But Droplr presents a unique set of collaborative tools.

Bold iPhone thief messages owner for iCloud password

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iPhone
Not the message you expect from an iPhone thief.
Photo: Beth Freestone

An iPhone thief in the U.K. had the audacity to send a message to the phone’s original owner, requesting the iCloud details so they could access their account.

Psychology student Beth Freestone had her handset stolen on a night out in the city of Manchester. Several months later, she then received a message on Facebook from a person claiming to have found the iPhone — but wanting to know how to access its associated accounts.

Watch Store’s biggest sale of the year starts Black Friday [Watch Store]

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black friday Apple Watch bands sale
black friday
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Black Friday is only two days away, and with that Cult of Mac Watch Store’s biggest sale of the year! Save up to 50 percent on Apple Watch bands and accessories, and get a big jump on holiday shopping.

We’ve rounded up some amazing brands for this huge sale including: OleksynPrannyk, Casetify, Nyloon, Ottm, E3 Supply Co., Rilee & Lo, Jack Foster, Strapple, Wood Mark, Nomad, Form Function Form, Clessant, Juuk and more. These brands are offering from 17% to 50% off regular sale prices.

In a few clicks, you’ll find incredible savings on Apple Watch bands and accessories during Cult of Mac Watch Store’s big Black Friday Weekend Sale. That’s right, four days of massive savings. So, on Friday through Monday, visit the Watch Store and get in on these screaming deals while supplies last.

Jony Ive will host free design talk in Washington, D.C.

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Ive
Jony Ive will be talking about the future of design.
Photo: Apple

As one of Apple’s more elusive executives (when was the last time he spoke live at a keynote event?), it’s not every day that you get to hear chief design officer Jony Ive talk about what he does best.

If you live in Washington, D.C., however, you’ll get the chance later this month. Ive is speaking about the “future of design” at the Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum.

Best of all? The tickets are free.

Apple’s AI experts are working to make self-driving cars smarter

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Apple's Car
The autonomous Apple Car as spotted last month.
Photo: diggapple/Twitter

Apple may have just reignited rumors about its Apple Car ambitions by publishing an online research paper — describing how neural networks can be used to detect autonomous car-friendly objects in 3D point clouds.

The results could be used to help improve accuracy in LiDAR technology, in which pulsed laser light is used to measure the distance of objects.

Pixar co-founder takes leave of absence following misconduct allegations

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steve jobs
Steve Jobs surrounded by Pixar founders Edwin Catmull (left) and Peter Lasseter (right).
Photo: Disney

Pixar co-founder John Lasseter has become the latest high profile person to be accused of inappropriate behavior toward women. In a statement released today, Lasseter apologized for his alleged pattern of showering female employees with hugs and that he’s taking a six-month leave of absence.

As Chief Creative Officer of both Disney and Pixar, Lasseter is one of the most prominent persons in the animated film industry. Steve Jobs and Lasseter had a close relationship for years after the Apple CEO purchased Pixar from Lucasfilm.

Keep your AirPods safe and sound with PodPocket

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PodPockets protect your AirPods and complement Apple's unique design.
A PodPocket protects your AirPods and complements Apple’s unique design.
Photo: PodPocket

This post is presented by PodPocket.

Apple’s futuristic wireless headphones might look like they belong in Elroy Jetson’s ears, but they’re still subject to gravity. Think it stings when you drop a couple hundred bucks on a new set of AirPods? Imagine the feeling of dropping them on the pavement.

Bottom line: AirPods are great, but also expensive, fragile and easy to lose.

Why the iPhone X needs its notch

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iPhone X notch
The "notch" is not a problem.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Ever since Apple unveiled the iPhone X, naysayers have been complaining about “the notch.” But in today’s video, I’m going to do my best to convince you that the controversial cutout at the top of the iPhone X screen is totally not an issue.

Here’s why I think the iPhone X actually needs the notch.

Pick the VPN setup that’s best for you [Deals]

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This roundup of VPN deals offers an option for anybody looking to protect their online life.
This roundup of VPN deals offers an option for anybody looking to protect their online life.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Getting a VPN is one of the most effective ways of adding a degree privacy and protection to your online life. But with all the options out there, it can be hard to know where to start. So this roundup of various Windscribe VPN licenses is a great place to start.

Buoy is a smart home water system that gives you complete control

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Buoy
Buoy makes managing water easy.
Photo: Buoy

Smart appliances have allowed us to take control of our home security, heating, lighting, and more. Now you can do the same with your water supply, thanks to Buoy.

This revolutionary new smart device uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to give you a complete understanding and complete control over your water. It alerts you when there’s a leak, lets you shut off supply remotely, and helps you avoid unexpected bills.

Steve Jobs had a thing for ‘Billie Jean’

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Jobs
Steve Jobs was a fan of Michael Jackson's music, especially Billie Jean.
Photo: Esther Dyson/Flickr CC

There was a time in the 1980s when Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean” was a balm that could sooth the prickly nature of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.

His former publicist remembers having to play the song over and over again because it was the only way he got through a particular photo shoot.

Foxconn will be assembling Apple’s HomePod speaker for 2018

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Apple's new HomePod smart speaker is ready to rock your house.
HomePod's delay will help Amazon.
Photo: Apple

Foxconn is joining the HomePod supply chain to help assemble Apple’s delayed smart speakers, a new report claims.

Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. — to use Foxconn’s full name — is currently the sole manufacturer of Apple’s iPhone X. However, despite the massive demand for that device, various manufacturing issues with the iPhone X recently caused Foxconn to report its biggest decline in profits in nearly a decade.

That evidently isn’t putting it off working with Apple, however.

Apple forced to pull Skype from Chinese App Store

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Skype for Web
Skype is the latest app to run into problems in China.
Photo: Evan Killham/Cult of Mac

China may be working to ban Skype, with the phone call and messaging service disappearing from a number of sites, including Apple’s App Store in the country.

“We have been notified by the Ministry of Public Security that a number of voice over internet protocol apps do not comply with local law,” an Apple spokesperson said in a statement. “Therefore these apps have been removed from the App Store in China.”

AT&T’s merger with Time Warner hits major roadblock

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AT&T logo
U.S. government says AT&T/Time Warner merger would hurt customers
Photo: Luismt94/Wikipedia CC

The U.S. Justice Department has filed an antitrust lawsuit to block a planned AT&T and Time Warner deal — marking the first time in several decades the government has tried to block a merger between two companies that don’t directly compete with each other.

The AT&T chief says the suit, “defies logic and is unprecedented,” but the Justice Department claims that AT&T’s $85.4 billion bid to buy Time Warner would mean higher fees and fewer choices for customers.

How to get Animojis on any phone (kind of)

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iPhone X Animoji
Animoji are too much fun!
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Want Animojis on any iPhone? While you need the iPhone X’s TrueDepth sensors to create Apple’s animated emojis, some apps produce results that look very much like Animoji.

In the video below, I’ll show you how one of them works.