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Hackers dump NSA tools targeting millions of Windows machines

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Eternalromance, one of the hacking tools dumped by Shadow Brokers.
Eternalromance, one of the hacking tools dumped by Shadow Brokers.
Photo: Matthew Hickey

A new batch of classified NSA data was leaked today by the hacker group called Shadow Brokers, revealing malware used by the government agency to break into PCs and servers running Windows.

The leaked software is so powerful, it could give nearly anyone with a bit of technical knowledge the ability to hack millions of Microsoft users.

Looks like it’s time to finally get a Mac.

Should Apple make a standalone Siri device? [Friday Night Fights]

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Would you buy a smart speaker powered by Siri?
Would you buy a smart speaker powered by Siri?
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple might have popularized virtual assistants, but Siri has fallen behind in recent years as rivals like the Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa, and even Microsoft Cortana pull ahead with greater capabilities and unique features.

Friday Night Fights bugOne area in which Siri is lacking is in standalone devices like smart speakers, such as Google Home and Amazon Echo. Isn’t it about time Apple caught up with a smart speaker of its own powered by Siri?

Join us in this week’s Friday Night Fight as we throw punches over a Siri speaker.

One of Kendrick Lamar’s new songs was created entirely on iPhone

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GarageBand on iPhone
Your next school assignment could be in GarageBand.
Photo: Apple

Kendrick Lamar unleashed his eagerly anticipated fourth studio album, DAMN, on the world today.

Lamar is known for his perfectionism, using some of the best producers and equipment in the game to get his sound just right. But when it came to one of the best tracks on his new album, one of Lamar’s producers crafted the entire thing using only his iPhone.

Make your iPad Pro feel like paper with this cover

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PaperLike
For the iPad Pro to feel that way, it takes a screen cover called PaperLike.
Photo: PaperLike

Many artists and designers have said guiding the tip of an Apple Pencil along the surface of the iPad Pro is one of the best digital drawing experiences. Jan Sapper thinks he can eliminate the word digital from that last sentence.

Sapper says he has come up with a screen cover that makes the iPad Pro’s slick glass surface feel more like paper.

Apple Music launches intimate concert series on YouTube

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apple-music
Grab the latest update from the Play Store now.
Photo: Apple

One of Canada’s most famous music interviewers, George Stroumboulopoulos, is coming to Apple Music where he’ll host concerts featuring some of the biggest names in the industry.

Unlike the large-scale Apple Music Festival concerts hosted every year, Stroumboulopoulos (aka Strombo), will be hosting the acts at his tiny house in Toronto, giving fans an intimate concert experience unlike any other.

The first trailer for Star Wars: The Last Jedi is finally here

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Kylo Ren is ready for vengeance.
Kylo Ren is ready for vengeance.
Photo: LucasFilms

Disney just made Good Friday a little extra good by dropping the first trailer for Star Wars: The Last Jedi.

The two-minute video teases Rey getting some one-on-one lightsaber training with Luke Skywalker, as well as tons of epic battle scenes with huge explosions, new ships and some new faces.

Check it out:

ViewFind is a platform and bright future for photojournalism

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Viewing beautiful photo stories on mobile never looked so good.
Viewing beautiful photo stories on mobile never looked so good.
Photo: ViewFind

That last few years have seen plenty of grief-stricken editors and photographers deliver eulogies about the craft of photojournalism. Others hang on hoping for changes in an industry that has seen massive layoffs and reduced pay for freelancers.

The team behind a startup platform called ViewFind, not only understands the pain of an entire industry, it’s trying to cancel the funeral.

Apple may help rescue Toshiba’s chipmaking business

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Foxconn Wisconsin
Foxconn wants Toshiba's chip business.
Photo: Foxconn

iPhone-assembler Foxconn may be about to get some help from none other than Apple in its quest to buy Toshiba’s chipmaking business.

Apple is reportedly considering whether to make a huge multi-billion dollar investment in the world’s second-largest memory chip maker. If the deal goes through, it would give Foxconn and Apple a major advantage over other smartphone manufacturers.

Get X-ray vision for your files and folders [Deals]

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CoM - DeltaWalker 2
Find, compare, and merge files effortlessly with DeltaWalker's powerful, streamlined interface.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Any project on the computer can require a mess of files and folders, with revision histories and tracked changes quickly turning into a confusing mess. That’s why DeltaWalker 2 Pro is a file manager worth checking out for almost any digital professional.

With this Mac app (it’s available for Windows, too), you can easily compare, sync and merge up to three files or folders at once. It’s like gaining X-ray vision for your files and folders, and right now you can get DeltaWalker 2 Pro for just $29.95 at Cult of Mac Deals.

Apple Park landscaping triggers California tree shortage

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Apple Park Close up
Hundreds of trees are being planted at Apple HQ.
Photo: Apple

Apple’s push to finish the landscaping on its soon-to-be opened spaceship campus is causing headaches for other landscapers and architects hoping to buy trees for other projects.

The company has been known to corner the market’s supply for certain Mac and iPhone components to shut out competitors, but a new report out of San Francisco reveals Apple is bringing its overpowering tactics into foliage market too.

New software turns PDFs to putty in your hands

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PDFelement 6 makes working with PDFs simple.
PDFelement 6 makes working with PDFs simple.
Image: Wondershare

This post is brought to you by PDFelement 6.

If you work at a computer a lot, PDFs are a part of daily life. It makes sense — PDFs are reliable and look great on a wide range of devices, making them ideal for a huge number of uses. But since the text, images and other information comes baked into the document, not unlike a printed page, doing anything but reading a PDF can be tricky.

Apple convinces 3 more suppliers to switch to renewable energy

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One of Apple's many solar farms.
One of Apple's many solar farms.
Photo: Apple

Three more of Apple’s suppliers say they are committed to making the switch from energy generated from fossil fuels to using 100% renewable energy to make iPhone components.

Despite Donald Trump’s plan to roll back environmental regulations, Apple Inc is continuing on with the promises it made under the Obama administration. Even though it may cost more money initially, Apple’s partners are starting to realize the change is good for business too.

Apple takes another step toward killing iTunes brand

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apple-music-itunes
iTunes is ready to die.
Photo: Apple

The iTunes brand is being slowly carted off to the Apple graveyard.

On Thursday morning, Apple made a very subtle but profound change to the way it markets podcasts. From now on, they’re no longer called “iTunes Podcasts” — they’re called “Apple Podcasts.”

Instagram adds stickers as users flock to Stories

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insta
Add selfie stickers to your Instagram selfie to communicate with more than one expression.
Photo: Instagram

Snapchat may be popular with the young, but Instagram continues to show it can be young and fun, too.

The photo-sharing network of 600 million users rolled out new sticker tools Thursday in response to the rapidly growing number of people using the Stories feature.

Never plug in your iPhone again with this innovative case [Deals]

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CoM - CoBattery
This charging case uses replaceable batteries, meaning you'll never have to plug your phone in again.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

There are plenty of iPhone charging cases out there, but none of them are quite as game-changing as this one. Usually, you’ll plug in your phone as usual, which charges the case at the same time to extend its lifetime. CoBattery uses a different approach that means you’ll never have to plug your phone into the wall again. It’s a clever, simple case design that could change the way you use your phone while protecting it. And right now you can get a CoBattery Charging Case Kit for just $59 at Cult of Mac Deals.

New iPhone 8 schematics hint at slimmer bezels, rear-facing Touch ID

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iPhone 8 concept
The OLED revolution has begun.
Photo: Concept

Yet another set of schematics for iPhone 8 have surfaced ahead of its official debut, again hinting at slimmer bezels that make room for a larger display, and the removal of the Home button.

The latest also suggest that Apple will relocate its fingerprint scanner to the back of the device to retain Touch ID functionality.

Buying Disney could give Apple the magic it needs, says analyst

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Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse, Circa 1930
Apple's next big purchase?
Photo: Walt Disney

RBC Capital analyst Amit Daryanani has a suggestion for how Apple could spend its cash stockpile, while also growing its presence in media: buy the Walt Disney Company.

“There are plenty of factors to consider,” Daryanani wrote in a note to investors, “but such a deal would create a tech/media juggernaut like no other and instantly scale AAPL’s services, content, and media portfolio, which would make the case for a higher valuation.”

Lara Croft is back with major Tomb Raider GO update

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maxresdefault

Back in 2015, Square Enix Montreal released Tomb Raider GO, an audacious attempt to reimagine the Lara Croft franchise by turning it into a fun, turn-based isometric puzzle game.

By all rights, it totally shouldn’t have worked, but it did — and the results were excellent. Now the game has been given an overhaul with new levels, courtesy of the Mirror of Spirits update.

Check out the trailer below.

Outlook 2016 users can preview Google Calendar support

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You can finally do more than just view your calendar.
You can finally do more than just view your calendar.
Photo: Microsoft

Microsoft is inviting Outlook 2016 users on macOS to preview Google Calendar integration.

Users will have the ability to not only view their appointments, but add, edit, and delete them, too. All changes will be synced to their Google Calendar and updated on other devices automatically.

Secret Apple team working to revolutionize diabetes treatment

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Health
Apple is upping its health ambitions.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Apple reportedly has a secret team working on developing sensors for non-invasively and continuously monitoring blood sugar levels to help treat diabetes.

This goal is considered a “holy grail” by many researchers, due to the challenge of tracking glucose levels accurately without having to break the skin to do so. Clearly Apple’s aiming as high as ever!

Apple Park (Minecraft Edition) is officially open for business

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Take a tour of Apple Park.
Take a tour of Apple Park.
Photo: Alex Westlund

The official Apple Park campus should open its doors to employees later this month, but if you can’t wait for Apple to take the wraps off its shiny new spaceship, the Minecraft replica is now complete.

We got our first look at the Minecraft version of Apple Park earlier this month and were blown away by the amount of detail creator Alex Westlund threw in. Now after 413 hours of work, you can fly through Apple’s new campus and gawk at the last Apple product Steve Jobs unveiled.

Check it out:

Pro photo studio for iPhone, world’s smallest tactical knife and more [Crowdfund Roundup]

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The miniRIG turns your iPhone into a portable pro studio.
The miniRIG turns your iPhone into a portable pro studio.
Photo: Smoovie

Crowdfund Roundup bugToday’s smartphone cameras are capable of taking exceptional photos and videos, but they’re lacking some things — like brighter flashes and professional microphones. You can add these things and still be portable with the impressive miniRIG.

It’s just one of the awesome ideas in this week’s Crowdfund Roundup. We also have the world’s smallest tactical pocket knife, a neat device that turns any surface into a smart interface, and more!