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Parker, the world’s first AR teddy bear, arrives in Apple stores

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Parker
Parker? More like "pARker," right? Oh, we get it!
Photo: Seedling

Apple stores probably aren’t your first port of call when it comes to picking up toys, but it’s the only place you’ll be able to purchase one particular new toy made by the manufacturer Seedling.

Seedling’s brand new Parker the bear is described as the world’s first augmented reality teddy bear. Intended for kids three years and up, the bear serves as both a cuddly companion and an all-important child-friendly introduction to the world of ARKit.

Yahoo hack hit all 3 billion accounts in 2013

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Yahoo
The hack was bigger than anyone imagined.
Photo: Yahoo

Yahoo’s huge security breach was already considered the largest hack ever when it was revealed at the end of last year, but it appears to have been even worse than the company originally knew.

In a new filing with the SEC, Yahoo, which is now part of Oath, disclosed that all of its approximately 3 billion accounts were impacted by the breach. If you’re still using an old Yahoo password, now is a really good time to change it.

Paul Otellini, who helped bring Intel chips to Mac, dies at 66

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Paul Otellini
Former Intel CEO Paul Otellini.
Photo: Intel Corporation

Paul Otellini, the former CEO of Intel, who had a huge influence on helping Apple make the transition away from AMD processors on its Mac lineup, died earlier this week.

Otellini passed away in his sleep on Monday, Oct. 2 at the age of 66. He was the fifth CEO of Intel and helped the company make some huge strategic adjustments that helped it maintain its lead as the world’s premier manufacturer of computer CPUs.

Advanced iOS app zaps backgrounds from photos

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iOS photo app
The touch of a finger on a slider bar makes erasing backgrounds in photos simple.
Photo: Jon Colverson

Portrait mode on the iPhone does a very serviceable job of blurring out a distracting background. A new app makes it easy to remove the background entirely.

Depth Background Eraser, made for iPhone 7 Plus, 8 Plus and the soon-to-be-released iPhone X, uses the depth data stored in a photo to let your inner artist easily remove any background.

iOS 11.0.2 is here to fix iPhone 8 crackling earpiece issue

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iPhone 8 Plus MacBook
One of the iPhone 8's worst problems just got fixed.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

iPhone and iPad users received a surprise update from Apple today in the form of iOS 11.0.2.

The new update was never seeded to developers for beta testing, but it appears to come with some much-needed bug fixes and performance improvements for Apple’s mobile devices.

Spotify meets iPod shuffle in this clip-on music player [Deals]

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Play all your favorite Spotify playlists with this water-resistant personal music player.
Play all your favorite Spotify playlists with this water-resistant personal music player.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Things happen in cycles, and portable music is no exception. After records, tapes and CDs came the iPod. The iPod shuffle took the form of a small, screenless clicker. With the dawn of streaming services, portable music storage became less relevant — or so we thought.

Microsoft throws in the towel on its Apple Music rival

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Microsoft Spotify
Alas, poor Groove Music -- we barely knew you!
Photo: Microsoft

Microsoft is throwing in the towel when it comes to music streaming and downloads by announcing the closure of Groove Music.

The service will continue running through 31 December, after which customers will no longer be able to download or stream music. In the meantime, Microsoft is encouraging subscribers to migrate their music collection over to Spotify, while Groove Music Pass subscribers will receive a 60-day free trial of Spotify’s premium tier in order to entice them.

After mocking Apple, Google is also ditching headphone jack

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Pixel 2 XL
Google's new Pixel 2 XL will be made official today.
Photo: Evan Blass

Google mocked the iPhone 7’s missing headphone jack in its marketing material for the original Pixel smartphone — but it won’t be doing the same for the Pixel 2.

Just like Apple, the company has decided to remove the aging port from its latest handsets. A new leak reveals that the lineup will rely solely on USB-C for wired connectivity.

Ireland could be in trouble for ignoring Apple’s giant tax bill

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Apple could be a $2 trillion company by end of 2021
Ireland has yet to claim its Cupertino windfall.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Ireland could receive an official rebuke from European Union authorities this week for failing to collect the $17.6 billion tax payment it is owed by Apple.

Apple was supposed to pay the money way back on January 3, but Ireland has continued to battle against the case — with the majority of the country saying it doesn’t want Apple’s money. As a result, the European Commission may issue a so-called “non-compliance action” against Ireland.

WhatsApp’s new emojis look a whole lot like Apple’s

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emojis
Spot the difference.
Photo: Emojipedia

WhatsApp is introducing its own emoji — and, boy, do they look a whole lot like the Apple ones that it previously relied on!

The designs are not out-and-out copies, but they look very similar when the two are not placed side by side. Subtle differences include the fact that WhatsApp’s versions of the images look slightly more cartoonish in design, while incidental changes have been made — such as the switch of the water pistol from being green in color to orange.

Major League Baseball tests Apple Pay-style ticket system

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MLB
MLB is testing some innovative new technology.
Photo: Andrei Niemimäki/Flickr CC

The Oakland Athletics are testing a new NFC ticketing system that lets Apple users scan their iPhone or Apple Watch on the ticket reader, much like they would to make an Apple Pay purchase.

The system uses the same NFC tech as Apple’s mobile payment system. It is being trialled for a six-game homestand, which started after the launch of iOS 11.

Trump tax plan would hit Apple’s overseas earnings

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President Trump: Apple encryption could protect ‘criminal minds’
President Trump wants to stop companies shifting their profits to overseas tax havens.
Photo: Gage Skidmore/Flickr CC

As part of his plans for cutting business rates, President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans have proposed a new tax that could have a big impact on Silicon Valley tech giants including Apple.

The proposal — designed to stop companies from shifting their profits to overseas tax havens — calls for “rules to protect the U.S. tax base by taxing at a reduced rate and on a global basis the foreign profits of U.S. multinational corporations.”

iPhone 8 sales mystery ends Nov. 2

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iPhone
This will be the first earnings report with iPhone 8 sales figures.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple shareholders waiting to find out what iPhone 8 sales will mean for the company’s bottom line will have to wait one more month before getting the news.

On its investor portal this afternoon, Apple revealed that its Q4 2017 earnings report will come out November 2.

Matias Wired Aluminum Keyboard improves on the Apple original

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Matias Wired Aluminum Keyboard
Wires make more sense than Bluetooth on the desktop.
Photo: Matias

If you want a wired Apple keyboard, you’re out of luck. The only Apple-made options for your Mac are the Magic Keyboard and the Magic Keyboard with Numeric Keypad, both of which connect via Bluetooth. Soon, though, excellent Mac keyboard maker Matias will sell you a replacement — the Matias Wired Aluminum Keyboard. And not only that, it beats out the Apple original in one key way.

iPhone 8 Plus portrait mode tees off at Presidents Cup

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Some of the faces, including three former U.S. presidents, that Brad Mangin photographed at the Presidents Cup golf tournament.
Some of the faces, including three former U.S. presidents, that Brad Mangin photographed at the Presidents Cup golf tournament.
Photo: Brad Mangin/PGA Tour

Brad Mangin and the iPhone 8 Plus scored an ace at this weekend’s Presidents Cup golf tournament, where the sports photographer shot more than 100 portraits for a beautiful gallery of pictures now on the PGA Tour’s website.

How to export your Apple Notes to plain text

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exporter notes export
Getting your notes out of Apple Notes is easy.
Photo: Cult of Mac

Apple’s Notes app has gotten great in iOS 11 and macOS High Sierra. It’s fast, it’s easy to clip content to new and existing notes, search is instant, and you can collect pretty much anything into a note. You can even share individual notes, mark up PDFs, draw on pictures, and scan paper documents.

It really is a powerhouse. But one thing Notes doesn’t have is a sensible way to get your notes out of the app. Notes export is limited to PDF. If you decide Notes isn’t for you, you’re stuck. Fortunately, some third-party apps will export your Notes into universally compatible plain text files. Even better, one is free, and the other costs just 99 cents.

Tim Cook cracks top 3 of Vanity Fair’s ‘New Establishment’ list

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Tim Cook
Tim Cook at the iPhone 8 keynote.
Photo: Apple

Apple CEO Tim Cook ranks as one of the three most influential personalities in the world, according to Vanity Fair.

The fashion magazine published its annual “New Establishment” list today. While the top two spots did not change from last year’s rankings, Cook made a big leap from his No. 11 position in 2016 into the top 3.

Make sure your displays are ready for macOS High Sierra

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That sweet macOS High Sierra update will be painless for LG UltraFine Monitor owners.
That sweet macOS High Sierra update will be painless for LG UltraFine Monitor owners.
Photo: LG Electronics

This post presented by LG Electronics.

The latest version of Apple’s operating system, High Sierra, was released and is being hailed as “the biggest Mac update you’ll never see.” It’s full of tweaks to essential apps like Safari, but the remarkable stuff is under the surface: a brand-new Apple file system, as well as the groundwork for virtual-reality experiences.

What’s the catch? Glad you asked.

Roku’s new 4K streamer kills Apple TV on price

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Roku
Roku is dominating the streaming wars.
Photo: Roku

Apple’s plan to dominate the 4K TV streaming market is up against some tough competition from the top company in the game.

Fresh off its IPO, Roku revealed its brand new lineup of streaming dongles today and while they may not pack as much processing power as the new Apple TV 4K, they have one killer feature that will lure in tons of buyers: a cheap price tag.

Awesome Mac apps for photo editors, coders and more [Deals]

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This Mac App roundup covers photo masking, web design, and lots more.
This Mac App roundup covers photo masking, web design, and lots more.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Your Mac is a powerful machine, but it’s only as useful as the apps you put on it. This roundup of apps is a mixed bag of top shelf goodies for photo editors and web designers. There are also useful tools for just people who work with Wi-Fi and different a variety of media files. Additionally, everything is discounted by half or more. Read on for more details:

Samsung reportedly makes $110 for every iPhone X Apple sells

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So that's how you pronounce
If the iPhone X is a hit for Apple, Samsung will be very happy indeed.
Photo: Apple

Although devices like the Galaxy S8 and Note 8 are officially Samsung’s response to the Apple’s next-gen phone, the South Korean tech giant will nonetheless do quite well from the success of the iPhone X.

How well? According to a new report, Samsung will earn roughly $110 for every iPhone X that Apple manages to sell.

Apple Watch and AirPods set to be big holiday hits

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apple watch 1
Apple is ramping up the orders ahead of Christmas.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

The holiday season is always good for Apple, and this year is no exception. Along with the iPhone X’s possible record pre-orders and better-than-initially-thought iPhone 8 and 8 Plus sales, Apple’s suppliers are also enthused by rising sales for Apple’s AirPods and Apple Watches.

According to sources in Apple’s upstream supply chain, demand for both products has increased and Apple is placing more orders to match.