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From Cupertino with love: Apple could acquire James Bond franchise rights

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James Bond
Both Apple and Amazon are reportedly among the bidders.
Photo: Eon Pictures

Apple is in the running to secure movie (and possibly TV) distribution rights for the James Bond franchise, a new report claims.

While Warner Bros., Sony, Universal and Fox are the more likely candidates, Apple and fellow tech giant Amazon have also reportedly thrown their names into the hat. Jony Ive as 007, anyone?

Apple teases iOS 10 users with new iOS 11 features

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iPhone 7 iOS 11
A redesigned Control Center is one of many changes to look forward to in iOS 11.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple has begun promoting new iOS 11 features to iOS 10 users ahead of the update’s public release.

The Tips app is issuing notifications that tease things like iOS 11’s redesigned Control Center, giving users a chance to preview them before the mobile operating system’s release in coming weeks.

India fights Apple over anti-spam app ban

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Apple supplier is increasing its ability to build masses of iPhones in India
Apple is at odds with the Indian government.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple is running into big problems in India, concerning a clash with the government over its anti-spam iOS app.

The problem comes down to a Do Not Disturb app, which the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India wants Apple to distribute on the App Store. Apple, however, is refusing since it allows people to share spam call and text message logs with government agency, which Apple claims violates its privacy policies.

Drone flyover shows off a bustling Steve Jobs Theater

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Steve Jobs Theater
The Steve Jobs Theater is the site or next week's iPhone 8 event.
Photo: Duncan Sinfield

A spectacular new drone flyover video of Apple’s enormous Apple Park campus shows off employees gathered at the new Steve Jobs Theater, where next week’s iPhone 8 keynote is scheduled to be held.

While it doesn’t give any spoilers away about what we can expect from the event, it’s the best look we’ve yet received at the new location for media events, all courtesy of drone photographer extraordinaire, Duncan Sinfield. Check it out below.

How to add a bookmarklet in Mobile Safari

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bookmarklet code
In 2017, you still have to copy-and-paste Javascript to save a bookmarklet on iOS.
Photo: Cult of Mac

Bookmarklets are those little bookmarks you click to run mini “apps” in your web browser. You might have one that saves the current page to your Instapaper account, or one that launches a Google search focused only on the current site. Bookmarklets can translate highlighted text on a page, send something to your to-do list, or pretty much anything. On the Mac, installing a bookmarklet is easy. You just drag it to the bookmarks bar in Safari and you’re done. On iOS, though, it’s still a real pain.

So, bookmark this how-to (in the usual way), and have it handy for those times you need to install a bookmarklet on an iPhone or iPad.

Apple rolls out tvOS 11 beta 10 for registered developers

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apple tv and siri remote
Grab the latest tvOS 11 update now.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple has rolled out its tenth beta of tvOS 11 for registered developers ahead of a public release this fall.

The release comes just under one week after developers got their hands on beta 9, and it mostly includes bug fixes and performance improvements at this point.

Tim Cook promises employees to work with Congress to help Dreamers

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Tim Cook
Tim Cook greeting employees at CTS.
Photo: Tim Cook

Apple CEO Tim Cook sent out a new letter this morning pledging to help fight for the protection of his employees who are now at risk of being deported.

The letter comes just hours after Donald Trump’s administration revealed plans to officially rescind Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) in the next six months. If Trump’s plan goes through, hundreds of Apple employees who are Dreamers could be forced out of the country. In his email, Cook says he’ll work with members of Congress from both parties to ensure that doesn’t happen.

Read Tim’s inspiring note to employees:

China will get a new Apple store in time for iPhone 8

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Apple store's new location
Apple's newest Apple store location.
Photo: Wikipedia CC

Apple has announced that it will open its latest China Apple store just in time for this year’s iPhone 8 release.

The new store will be located in Ningbo, a sub-provincial city in northeast Zhejiang. The space that Apple has picked out is in Tianyi Square, a giant retail area covering a massive 350,000 square meters. Tianyi Square has won awards for its design, which makes it the perfect location for design-fixated Apple.

Name your price for four iOS 11 coding courses [Deals]

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Pay What You Want- The Complete iOS 11 Developer Bundle
This bundle of coding courses covers the gamut for iOS 11. And you can get it for whatever you're willing to pay.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

iOS 11 is about to launch, and it’s going to be a big one. With all manner of updates and entirely new features, it’s going to give developers a lot to work with and a lot to learn. That means it’s time to get studying, coders.

Why it might be easier to choose the right iPhone 8 for you

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iPhone color
iPhone 8 may come in only two storage options.
Photo: Ben Miller

A recent report suggested that the new iPhone 8 will ship in three different storage configurations, starting at $999 for a 64 GB option, and increasing at $100 increments through 256 GB and an unprecedented 512 GB model.

A new note from UBS analysts Steven Milunovich and Benjamim Wilson disagrees, however. Instead, they think it’s “unlikely” that Apple will ship a $1,199 version, and instead that Apple will offer only two storage options — in the form of a 64 GB and 256 GB version.

Most Apple fans have no idea what to expect from iPhone 8

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iPhone 8 render
iPhone 8 will be a huge upgrade, but most fans aren't prepared.
Photo: Quinton Theron

If you’ve been keeping up with the iPhone 8 rumors, you’ll know exactly what to expect from Apple’s big refresh this fall. But for the vast majority of fans, the upgrade will come as a huge surprise.

One survey has found that for ordinary iPhone users, the urge to upgrade is no more significant than it has been for previous, more incremental releases.

Siri helps save life of teen stranded in Hurricane Harvey flooding

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Sorry, Alexa: Siri still the most widespread AI assistant
On this occasion, Siri was a real life lifesaver.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Siri is being credited as helping save the life of a critically-ill teenager in Texas, who was trapped on a roof with her family due to flooding caused by Hurricane Harvey.

After calls to 911 and pleas on Facebook and Instagram failed to yield results, the 14-year-old — who suffers from sickle cell anemia — asked Siri for help. Siri proceeded to place calls with the U.S. Coast Guard, which resulted in the family being rescued.

Apple Music Festival axed after 10-year run

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Festival
The festival first launched ten years ago as the iTunes Festival.
Photo: Apple

Apple is reportedly pulling the plug on its annual Apple Music Festival at London’s Roundhouse in the U.K.

The festival was first staged by Apple in 2007 as the iTunes Festival, and was rebranded in 2015 for the Apple Music launch. In addition to offering tickets for fans to attend live, Apple streamed the shows online.

Apple snaps up all available cameras for massive iPhone upgrade

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iPhone 7 camera
Even more powerful iPhone cameras are coming.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple is consuming the entire production capacity of a new smartphone camera facility as it prepares to take the iPhone’s iSight sensor beyond 12 megapixels.

Largan Precision in central Taiwan is said to be the only manufacturer that meets the company’s minimum yield rate requirement, with its new Taichung factory designed to output around 600 million lens modules every single month.

How to use the Finder’s powerful bulk renaming tools

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file renaming mac finder
You might be surprised by how much the macOS Finder's renaming tools can do.
Photo: Cult of Mac

Renaming a single file in the Finder isn’t too bad. You can click on its name and type in a new one. But what if you want to rename a whole bunch of files at once? Maybe you want to add the same text to the beginning of every file, or add a number to the end of a folder full of MP3 recording to keep them in the right order. Do you have a folder full of photos named IMG_00xx.JPG that need to be called dads_wedding_00x.jpg instead? Or perhaps that intern spelled the company name wrong on every single one of a hundred files, and you need to correct that word on every file?

In the olden days, you would have to either a) research, download, buy, and learn to use a new bulk-renaming app or b), punish your intern by making them correct everything by hand, before finally resorting to a) anyway because the intern screwed it up again. Now, the Finder has powerful bulk-renaming tools built in, so you can just take care of it all in a couple of minutes, and have your intern make you a coffee instead. If they can be trusted to do it, that is.

iPhone becomes a reliable light meter with Lumu Power [Review]

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Lumu Power light meter
Is that an iPhone or a light meter? It's both.
Photo: David Pierini/Cult of Mac

Lumu Power light meter for iPhone

The iPhone democratized photography and disrupted the video and camera industry. Now a new product that plugs into the iPhone’s Lightning port aims to replace an important photographer’s tool — the handheld light meter.

The Lumu Power light meter is a small, plug-in photodiode that looks like a pingpong ball cut in half. The light meter, a product of Lumu Labs from Slovenia, rose out of a Kickstarter campaign in 2015. It’s won favorable reviews from photographers and photo websites as the company works to improve the companion app.

Here’s how much the three tiers of iPhone 8 will cost

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Apple could be a $2 trillion company by end of 2021
Get ready to splash some cash!
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple is set to show off its new, eagerly anticipated iPhone 8 for the first time next week — and according to renowned Apple leaker and tipster Benjamin Geskin, it won’t be cheap.

Geskin has posted the prices for the new handset on Twitter, which he reportedly heard from a friend with knowledge of Apple’s plans. Here’s how much Geskin thinks we’ll be shelling out for the new devices:

Here’s how you’ll activate Siri on the new iPhone

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Sorry, Alexa: Siri still the most widespread AI assistant
Sorry, Alexa: Siri still the most widespread AI assistant
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

We might have a brand new way to activate Siri on Apple’s next-generation iPhones, according to one iOS developer.

References in Apple’s source code hint at a new gesture using the physical sleep/wake button, which will enable us to access the virtual assistant in situations where using the “Hey Siri” command isn’t ideal.

Apple will no longer repair or service your sixth-gen iPod nano

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iPod nano
Don't ask Apple to fix your broken sixth-gen iPod nano.
Photo: Apple

Apple is no longer providing repairs or service for the sixth-generation iPod nano.

The device was added to the company’s list of vintage and obsolete products on August 30, and a memo distributed to Apple stores and Authorized Service Providers confirms that repairs are no longer being carried out … unless you live in California.