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Amazon Instant Pickup offers essential items in 2 minutes or less

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Amazon Instant Pickup
Instant Pickup offers "need-it-now" items in record time.
Photo: Amazon

Amazon is making last-minute shopping even more convenient with its new Instant Pickup service.

Available for free for Prime and Prime Student subscribers, the service lets you order “need-it-now” items that are available to collect in two minutes or less, including food, cold drinks, and of course, Amazon gadgets like Echo and Fire TV.

MacBook upgrades give Apple a second quarter sales boost

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MacBook
MacBook sales are up again around the world.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Recent upgrades to the 12-inch MacBook helped provide Apple with a 17.1 percent notebook sales boost during the second quarter of 2017. The company remains fifth in overall market share, but it has been able to widen the gap between itself and sixth-placed Acer.

Clever add-on expands and streamlines iPhone storage [Deals]

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iKlips Wizard Storage-1
This single device can connect three storage solutions at once, and doubles as a handy kickstand.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

One of the biggest reasons we use smartphones is to share media. But the increasing fidelity of pictures, videos, and other media is outpacing network speeds. You can try texting a 4K video to a friend, but make sure you’ve got a good book to read while you wait.

Street Fighter IV: Champion Edition gets three new characters this week

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Street Fighter IV
Coming soon to an iPhone near you.
Photo: Capcom

Street Fighter IV: Champion Edition landed on iOS last month and, true to its promise, it’s already introducing updates designed to keep the gaming experience fresh.

This week, the game will introduce fan favorite characters Evil Ryu, Guy, and Gouken, all of whom will be available to players as free downloads.

Apple tightens returns policy in Hong Kong to combat iPhone 8 scalpers

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face tracking
Apple wants to make life harder for scalpers.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple has tightened up its online sales policy in Hong Kong, noting that it will not “accept return for online orders placed on, and after August 15th, 2017.”

The move comes ahead of the launch of the eagerly-anticipated iPhone 8, and is intended to deter scalpers from buying up massive quantities of the iPhone to sell at a premium, and then returning those they don’t manage to sell.

Apple Pay snubbed by Beijing public transport app

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Beijing public transport
It's easier to commute if you're an Android user.
Photo: Oemaix/Flickr CC

Apple hasn’t always had the easiest time in China, and the latest reminder of this is the launch of a new scheme allowing users of Beijing’s transport system to pay through an app — although it’s not available on Apple Pay, or even iOS.

Instead, the service is only available via Android app, with the likely reason for the iOS lockout reportedly being because Apple sticks to its proprietary Apple Pay system, rather than supporting third-party payment apps.

Macphun photographers to get retooled Aurora HDR 2018

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AuroraHDR2018
Aurora HDR from Macphun will soon have a new interface and great power.
Photo: Trey Ratcliff/Macphun

Imaging software company Macphun today announced a faster, more powerful version of its popular Aurora HDR.

Available for pre-order next month, Aurora HDR 2018 includes a redesigned user interface, speed upgrades in RAW imaging processing and merging and masking performance, and a lens correction tool that fixes chromatic aberration, vignetting and other forms of distortion.

Google will pay $3 billion to remain top search provider on iOS

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Google logo
Amount will bolster Apple's services business.
Photo: Google

Google could pay Apple as much as $3 billion this year in order to remain the default search engine on iOS devices, a new report claims.

The claim comes from Bernstein analyst A.M. Sacconaghi Jr. If true, it would represent a sizable increase from the $1 billion that Apple was paid by Google for the same reason back in 2014.

Apple Watch Series 3 will bring LTE but no design changes

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Apple Watch
Apple Watch Series 3 will look exactly the same as its predecessors.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Apple Watch Series 3 will be a significant upgrade thanks to LTE connectivity, which will allow you to use apps and receive notifications without being tethered to your iPhone over Bluetooth.

But one reliable analyst warns that the new model will look exactly the same as its predecessors.

Good luck getting your hands on HomePod this December

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Apple's new HomePod smart speaker is ready to rock your house.
HomePod will launch in December, but supplies will be constrained.
Photo: Apple

Apple HomePod manufacturer Inventec Appliances warns that the device will be in limited supply when it launches this December.

Analysts expect the company to ship just 500,000 units by the end of 2017. However, supplies are anticipated to improve in 2018, when Foxconn will help with manufacturing duties.

How to send audio from one iOS app to another with Audiobus

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Audiobus mixer on a piano
Audiobus is like a set of virtual patch cables for musical apps.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

If you want to make music on iPhone or iPad, you can choose from an embarrassment of fantastic iOS apps. You’ll also find plenty of music effects and recording apps on the platform.

The problem is using two types of apps together, because iOS isn’t nearly as flexible as macOS when it comes to digging into the system. But with a $10 app called Audiobus 3, you can route audio between apps. That means you can send music from, say, a drum machine to an audio recorder, or from your guitar to a sampler.

Further, you can route audio from many apps at a time, letting you create as complex or simple a setup as you like. If you think of Audiobus as a set of virtual patch cables for your iPhone or iPad, you’re on the right track.

Apple rolls out sixth betas for iOS 11, macOS High Sierra, tvOS 11 and more

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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’s sixth betas for iOS 11, macOS High Sierra, tvOS 11, and watchOS 4 are now available to download for registered developers.

This rollout comes just one week after Apple seeded its fifth beta releases, which indicates the company is close to finalizing these updates for their public debut this fall.

Think Tank camera bag makes it easy to sling your gear [Review]

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Think Tank Turnstyle
The Think Tank TurnStyle V2.0 is a camera bag with a different look for a different feel.
Photo: David Pierini/Cult of Mac

I’ve never been one to wear a camera bag with the shoulder strap going across my body. I put all the burden on my right shoulder and, as time wore on, I wore out my shoulder.

The TurnStyle V2.0 sling bag by Think Tank Photo changed the way I carry my camera gear. For one, I now carry it more comfortably.

Apple Watch Series 3 on track to launch this fall

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Apple Watch
It will deliver a big boost to one Apple supplier.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple Watch Series 3 is on track to launch this fall, with shipments expected to begin in the fourth quarter of this year.

Apple partner Quanta Computer will enjoy a successful end to 2017 as a result, with revenues already up as a result of increased demand for notebooks and servers.

Pikachu Snapchat filter lets you turn yourself into a Pokémon

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Snapchat dysmorphia
Pika the new Snapchat filter to turn yourself into a Pokémon
Photo: Snapchat

Snapchat has paired up with The Pokémon Company to debut a Pikachu filter that turns users’ faces into that of the famous yellow electric Pokémon.

Best of all, whenever you open your mouth you’ll hear Pikachu’s instantly recognizable voice as the animated character leaps onto the screen to strike a pose!

Lock in 2TB of secure cloud storage for life [Deals]

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Zoolz Cloud Storage- 2TB Lifetime Subscription
With this deal, you'll get 2 terabytes worth of secure cloud storage for life.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Hard drives have a lot of drawbacks. They break, external drives disappear, they’re noisy and power-hungry. No wonder more and more people are looking to the cloud for their storage needs. But the price for secure, high capacity cloud storage is often steep.

Apple credited with significantly boosting Taiwan’s exports to the U.S.

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Apple could be a $2 trillion company by end of 2021
Apple's a money-printing machine right now.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Excitement over the iPhone 8, and Apple’s better-than-expected iPad sales, have driven a number of Apple suppliers in Taiwan to experience massive growth in the last financial quarter.

Taken in their entirety, the strong financial performance of Apple’s suppliers was enough to increase Taiwan’s overall export revenue to the United States in July by a massive 12.5 percent year-on-year in U.S. dollars. For those keeping track at home, that’s pretty darn impressive!

Microsoft memo confirms Consumer Reports was right about the Surface

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Surface Book
Apple won't make a 2-in-1, but Microsoft has more up its sleeve.
Photo: Microsoft

A leaked Microsoft memo confirms that Consumer Reports was right to retract its recommendation rating from the Surface lineup due to reliability concerns.

Microsoft previously denied that users were experiencing an abnormal number of issues with its devices, but an internal document reveals that the Surface Book and Surface Pro 3 both have unusually high return rates long after launch.

iPhone 8 production line revealed in new videos

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iPhone sales drive Apple’s biggest supplier to big profits
One of Foxconn's many factories, where devices like the iPhone are built.
Photo: CBS

For most of us, the iPhone 8 will arrive in a pristine box, as if it materialized out of nowhere to land in our local Apple store.

Things are a bit different if you’re working on the iPhone production line, however. Two new videos give us a glimpse of what that looks like, as Foxconn employees work on the iPhone 8 rear shells. Check out the videos, which showed up on Chinese social media, below.

Pressure mounts on Apple Watch Series 3 as shipments fall

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apple watch bands
Apple Watch Series 3 needs to be special.
Photo: Apple

Apple Watch Series 3 is under pressure to recapture a larger share of the wearables market after Apple was overtaken by Xiaomi and Fitbit last quarter.

Despite wearables shipments increasing 8 percent year-over-year in the second quarter of 2017, Apple fell to third place, shifting just 2.7 million units.

Ristar, Twitch, and other awesome apps of the week

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Awesome Apps
'Appy weekend everyone!
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Remember the innocent joy of gaming in the 1990s? You can relive it this weekend, courtesy of two rereleases of forgotten console gems from the decade of Nirvana and dial-up internet.

Those are just two of the picks we’ve highlighted for this week’s “Awesome Apps” roundup. We’ve also got a great update to an iOS email client and a livestreaming app for Mac.

Check out our choices below.

How to use AirDrop for instant file sharing

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Airdrop ios iPad iPhone
AirDrop works across the room to make sharing files between Apple devices easy as can be.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

AirDrop, Apple’s built-in sharing feature, lets you beam pretty much anything between any Apple devices. You can use it to share photos, videos, URLS, documents, snippets of text — in short, anything that can be shared using the standard “sharing arrow” icon is fair game for AirDrop.

AirDrop really should be your first choice for sharing, because it doesn’t use the internet to send the files. It connects you and the recipient directly to each other using Wi-Fi, and makes the transfer that way. This makes AirDrop secure and lightning-fast. It also mean it works as well on the top of a mountain as it does in a busy office.