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iPhone chipmaker will decide on U.S. plant in 2018

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TSMC and Apple: productive partnership
TSMC is one of Apple's biggest partners.
Photo: Apple/TSMC

Apple’s favorite chipmaker in Asia may be ready to move to the United States next year.

TSMC — the world’s largest contract chipmaker, and sole supplier of the A10 Fusion processor that powers the iPhone 7 — says it is weighing the benefits of setting up shop in the U.S. under President Donald Trump.

How to pick the perfect frame on iPhone Live Photos

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Live Photos are magical.
Live Photos are magical.
Photo: Apple

The iPhone’s Live Photos feature is one of the funnest innovations Apple’s brought to photography. There’s just one annoying problem with the moving pictures: you can’t choose which frame it uses for the final image.

Thanks to a third-party app there’s finally a way to do just that, making Live Photos more versatile than ever.

Apple store ‘maintenance’ means get your credit card ready

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The new iPad Pro may feature smaller bezels.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

The Apple online store will go down for scheduled “maintenance” tomorrow morning, and while it’s offline, you might want to get your credit card ready.

Recent rumors have promised Apple will launch new products this week. There are no plans for a big keynote, but there’s still a chance the Apple store will return with some sweet surprises.

ResearchKit powers WebMD’s ambitious pregnancy study

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Screen Shot 2017-03-20 at 16.20.51
ResearchKit is being used for a major new large-scale study into pregnancy.
Photo: WebMD

ResearchKit has another useful trick up its sleeve: monitoring pregnancies.

WebMD has just relaunched its iOS Pregnancy app — and this time it’s integrated ResearchKit technology for a long term research study into the factors which lead to positive pregnancy outcomes.

Pokémon Yellow is reborn on Apple Watch

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Don't expect to see this on your own Apple Watch just yet.
Don't expect to see this on your own Apple Watch just yet.
Photo: Gabriel O’Flaherty-Chan

Pokémon fans, prepare yourself for the coolest Apple Watch hack to date.

One of the most popular titles from the original Pokémon series has been reborn on watchOS. This Game Boy Color emulator hack dismisses the idea that Apple’s wearable is no good for gaming by running fan-favorite Pokémon Yellow.

Use this Apple editors’ choice app to hack your PDFs [Deals]

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CoM - PDF Expert 2.2 for Mac
This award winning app can unlock PDFs in ways you might not have thought possible.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

If your workplace is even a little bit digital, you deal with PDFs. The ubiquitous file format is clear and user-friendly, but if you ever want to make edits or do more than just read them, PDFs can quickly start to feel like they’re padlocked.

PDF Expert 2.2 changes that, offering a set of powerful but easy-to-use tools for getting under the hood of your PDFs. And right now you can get this award-winning app for just $29.99 through Cult of Mac Deals.

Apple snags top AR talent for work on new wearable

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The Magic Toolbar could be a baby step toward augmented reality.
Augmented reality could transform the use of Apple products.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple’s massive team of hardware and software engineers working on augmented reality (AR) includes former employees from Dolby Laboratories, Oculus and HoloLens, alongside special effects folks from Hollywood.

According to a new report, Apple now has hundreds of engineers working on the project, which aims to introduce AR features first to the iPhone, and then possibly later for a standalone headset.

Man dies while charging iPhone in the bath

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Selling your iPhone? Wiping it clean before you hand it off is easy.
Coroner says that Apple should warn customers.
Photo: Ed Gregory

A 32-year-old British man died after electrocuting himself while charging his iPhone in the bath. The fatality appears to have been an accident, rather than suicide.

Richard Bull reportedly plugged his iPhone charger into an extension cord, and then rested the handset on his chest while he was submerged in water. He was pronounced dead by paramedics after they arrived at his London home.

Meet the artist who turned Apple legalese into a fun comic book

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Terms and Conditions: The Graphic Novel
Watch as Steve Jobs is transformed into a different comic book character while wearing the same clothes.
Photo: R. Sikoryak

Artist Robert Sikoryak has a knack for introducing skittish readers to dense classic literature with comic book adaptions. Try Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment with a 1950s-era Batman with blood on his ax.

But would you consider reading Apple’s terms and conditions user agreement for iTunes as a graphic novel — all 20,699 dry, legalistic words?

VR headsets you can actually afford, and more [Week’s Newest Deals]

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collage-2017-03-15 (1)
Convert your smartphone into a VR headset, design your dream home, and more in the week's newest deals.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

As we roll into a new week, the Cult of Mac Store has caught some killer deals on gadgets and gear. From a set of streaming on-ear headphones, to an autocad for buildings and houses, high quality VR headset you can actually afford, and a rugged little Bluetooth speaker, this is one mixed bag worth digging into. Read on to learn more:

10 apps for a tenth the price, and lots more [Week’s Best Deals]

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collage-2017-03-15
This week's best deals include a massively discounted app bundle, a powerful firewall for your smart home devices, and more.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

It’s already mid-March, but at the Cult of Mac Store we’re just getting warmed up with the top deals on gear and gadgets. The week, we’ve got a bundle of ten top shelf apps for less than a tenth the usual price, a versatile tripod for any mobile device, a lifetime of VPN access, and a firewall for all your internet-connected devices at home. Everything’s discounted significantly, some by more than 90 percent. Read on for more details.

You can now buy AppleCare+ one year after getting an iPhone

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AppleCare
Don't be a fool, protect your tool.
Photo: Apple

If you’ve purchased a new iPhone in the last 12 months but failed to buy AppleCare+ to protect it, Apple is ready to cut you a break.

Apple has decided to extend the period in which iPhone buyers can get AppleCare+ to one full year from the data of purchase, after previously only letting you buy it within 60 days.

This gadget fixes two of iPhone 7’s biggest shortcomings

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Charge your iPhone (even wirelessly) and bring back the headphone jack at the same time with RES.
Charge your iPhone (even wirelessly) and bring back the headphone jack with RES.
Photo: Gadget Creative Lab

This post is presented by Gadget Creative Lab, maker of the RES.

When the iPhone 7 came out, many bemoaned the loss of the headphone jack. The traditional way to use headphones disappeared, leaving iPhone 7 owners with just three options: Bluetooth, Lightning headphones or weird dongles. Luckily, the RES can take you back to a simpler time — and solve one of the iPhone’s other shortcomings at the same time.

Netflix gives thumbs up to skipping opening credits

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Netflix on a MacBook
You can now skip opening credits.
Photo: Netflix is killing star-ratings and title scenes

Binging your favorite TV shows on Netflix is about to get a lot better and a lot worse at the same time.

Netflix revealed that it plans to roll out two new features that will change the way you watch and review shows. Get ready to say goodbye to opening credits and five star reviews.

Chance the Rapper reveals how much Apple Music paid for Coloring Book

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Chance The Rapper performing at Wireless Festival Birmingham 2014.
Chance The Rapper performing at Wireless Festival Birmingham 2014.
Photo: Daniel Gregory/Flickr

Apple’s war with Spotify for exclusives can be a great thing for artists, according to three time Grammy winner Chance the Rapper.

In a series of tweets posted this morning, Chance the Rapper elaborated on his music with Apple Music and revealed how much the company paid him for exclusive access to his award-winning album Coloring Book.

Galaxy S8’s slo-mo video will blow iPhone 7 away

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Samsung Galaxy Note 8
Apple isn't the only one suffering in China.
Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

iPhone wasn’t first to shoot slow-motion video, but like a lot of things, it certainly popularized it. Now the feature can be found in every high-end smartphone, but none of them can shoot slo-mo video like the Galaxy S8 will.

According to a new report, Samsung’s next-generation smartphone camera will be capable of capturing an incredible 1,000 frames-per-second.

App Store finally gives indie games the spotlight they deserve

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Mac App Store
The email app BlueMail finds itself on the outside of the "closed garden."
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

After a big indie game promotion over the past week, Apple has given titles from independent developers their very own spot in the App Store. And it’s about time, too!

The new section will make it easier for shoppers to find new titles from smaller studios, while developers will benefit from greater coverage. It won’t be quite as easy for the latest releases to be drowned out by bigger titles from gaming giants.

Use this tripod to prop up your phone anywhere, anyhow [Deals]

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CoM - Gekkopod
This versatile tripod works with almost any device and goes anywhere.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Tripods can make photography easier and photos better, especially on mobile phones. If you’re looking for a tripod you can use take creative pictures in the field, and just to make Facetime calls at home without wearing out your arm, we’ve got what you’re looking for. The Gekkopod is solid, slim, and versatile, perfect for a variety of devices and uses. And right now at the Cult of Mac Store, you can get a Gekkopod Mobile Smartphone Mount for $19.95.

MacBook Pro’s Touch Bar hacked through Safari exploit

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MacBook Pro Touch Bar hacked
MacBook Pro's Touch Bar isn't as secure as we thought.
Photo: Niklas Baumstark

Hackers have been able to gain unauthorized access to the MacBook Pro’s fancy new Touch Bar by taking advantage of a hole in Safari.

The duo demonstrated the exploit at the Pwn2Own security conference taking place in Vancouver, Canada this week and bagged $28,000 for their efforts.

Apple will open two additional R&D centers in China this year

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Apple-Store-Shanghai
Shanghai will be home to one of them.
Photo: Apple

Apple has confirmed plans to open two additional research and development centers in China this year.

The centers in Shanghai and Suzhou will focus on developing technical experts for its local supply chain, and attracting graduates from universities like Peking University, Tsinghua University, and Shanghai Jiaotong University.