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Apple may join Amazon, Google and Facebook in AI partnership group

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Screen Shot 2017-01-26 at 13.07.45
Apple is embracing artificial intelligence for the first time in years.
Photo: Partnership on AI

Apple is reportedly set to join an artificial intelligence research group, Partnership on AI, which also includes Amazon, Alphabet, Google, Facebook and Microsoft among its members.

Apple being admitted into the group could be announced as early as this week, claim sources familiar with the story.

Apple’s move into India ‘almost a done deal’

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iPhone in India
iPhones will soon be made in India.
Photo: CC: Aasif Iqbal J/Flickr

Apple is close to finalizing its negotiations with the Indian government over a local manufacturing facility, according to a new report.

The company confirmed on Wednesday that it had enjoyed a “constructive” meeting with Indian officials after issuing a list of demands for its move. Now a source with knowledge of the matter says “it’s almost a done deal.”

This tiny drone doubles as a thick iPhone case

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A drone you can take anywhere.
A drone you can take anywhere.
Photo: Selfly

Pocket-sized drones like the Mavic Pro seem poised to be the photography of the future, but one company is taking things to the next level by slapping a tiny drone inside an iPhone case.

It’s called the Selfly and while the little drone is not as powerful as its larger rivals, it packs a ton of incredible features that fit in your pocket and won’t hurt your wallet.

New Panols app lets you share panoramic shots on Instagram

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Panols makes Instagram a place where panoramic pictures can stretch.
Panols makes Instagram a place where panoramic pictures can stretch.
Photo: Panols

Instagram got the hint from users that they had grown tired of just squares and now allows mobile photographers to present horizontal or vertical pictures. But it’s still not a platform for sharing panoramic images.

A developer and frequent traveler, who grew tired of crops to his majestic captures, has created an app to bring sweeping panos to Instagram.

Apple to build 200-megawatt solar farm in Nevada

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

Apple is taking another big step to make sure it can utilize 100 percent renewable energy for its operations by expanding the solar farm it uses in Nevada.

The company revealed today that it has reached an agreement with NV Energy to add infrastructure that will generate 200 megawatts of additional solar energy by 2019. Energy created by the project will go to power Apple’s Reno data center, but some of the power will also be available to residents.

Everything new in iOS 10.3: Hidden keyboard, AirPods finder and more

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There's a lot to love in iOS 10.3.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple gave developers their first look at the next big update for iOS 10 yesterday, and it packs a surprising number of new features.

The public will have to wait a few weeks (or months) to get their hands on the new goodies packed inside iOS 10.3, which brings improvements for AirPods, iPads and more.

Here are all the new additions coming soon to iOS devices near you.

iPhone 7 Plus survives 13-hour swim in icy Russian river

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If you drop your iPhone 7 Plus down an ice fishing hole, find a friend with a wet suit. It just might still work.
If you drop your iPhone 7 Plus down an ice fishing hole, find a friend with a wet suit. It just might still work.
Photo: emfedor1983/Instagram

A Russian man claims his iPhone 7 Plus he dropped in a frozen river while ice fishing was still working after it was retrieved 13 hours later.

Now if there are two kinds of stories that deserve skepticism, it would be news out of Russia or a story from a fishing trip. But a convincing looking video of the alleged recovery was posted on Instagram a few days ago. It shows a diver emerging from an ice fishing hole holding a lit-up iPhone.

Put Apple history on your wall with super-nerdy patent posters

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Apple Mac Poster
Pop art for the tech generation.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Kitting out your dream geek-room, but don’t know what to put on the walls? Well, have no fear because Retro Patents are here — and they’ve got some unique Apple posters to sell you.

Giving a new lease of life to the original patent illustrations for devices like the iPhone and Macintosh 128K (both of which celebrated their birthdays this month), each $25 print includes the names of its inventors, U.S. Patent & Trademark Office reference number, product name, and the date of the original patent filing.

Apple Pay transactions up 50 percent last year

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apple-pay-transactions 2
Apple Pay is headed in the right direction!
Photo: TXN

Monthly Apple Pay transactions grew by 50 percent year-over-year in 2016, although they still account for a relatively small percentage of all credit card transactions.

According to a study by consumer spending analytics company TXN, Apple Pay has been a “success story,” although the fact that is still still new technology means that there’s “lot of room for future growth.”

Subscription service lets you binge on 60-plus Mac apps

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Setapp lets you binge on macOS apps.
Setapp is like Netflix for Mac apps.
Photo: MacPaw

The way Mac users get apps is about to become a lot more like Netflix, thanks to a service launching today called Setapp.

Created by the folks at MacPaw, Setapp is a new app subscription service that provides Mac users with an alternative way to try and buy apps instead of going through the Mac App Store.

Its not filled with loads of crap either. Top apps like Ulysses, Blogo, CleanMyMac, iMazing, Pixa, Polarr and Flume are all included. Instead of buying apps individually though, Setapp lets users pay a flat fee for access to hundreds of popular apps.

Master Swift 3, Apple’s latest programming language [Deals]

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Learn Apple's latest coding language, Swift 3, from the ground up.
Learn Apple's latest coding language, Swift 3, from the ground up.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

If you want to develop apps for iOS, you’ve got to know Swift 3. Apple’s latest and greatest programming language, it’s an essential element for developing for iPhone and iPad.

The Swift 3 Master Coder Bundle will give you the skills you need to develop iOS apps. Broken into four sections, the bundle includes hundreds of lectures and clocks in at 85 hours of training. This is a great resource for aspiring and seasoned coders alike, and right now you can get the whole bundle for just $45 at Cult of Mac Deals.

Tim Cook cashes in another $3.6 million in Apple stock

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Tim Cook
Tim Cook just made a cool $3.6 million.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Tim Cook has cashed in on his Apple stock again, with regulatory filings revealing that he has sold AAPL shares worth $3.6 million.

This comes shortly after he made an almost identical trade last week for another $3.6 million. It seems that being Apple CEO comes with some advantages!

Apple sued after driver gets hit by iPhone texter

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Messages iOS 10
Texting while driving caused a car crash.
Photo: Apple

Apple is being sued for something it didn’t do, by a car crash victim who claims Apple has the technology to stop iPhones working while drivers are behind the wheel — but fails to implement it.

The driver in question, Julio Ceja, was rear-ended by another motorist who was distracted while texting on their iPhone.

Apple has ‘constructive’ meeting with India over local factory

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Apple supplier is increasing its ability to build masses of iPhones in India
Apple's plans to set up shop in India are slowly but surely moving forward.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple has confirmed it has had a “constructive” meeting with the Indian government over plans to open a local manufacturing facility.

Its statement comes less than a week after the company issued a list of demands that included lengthy tax breaks and a waiver on customs duties.

Hello, San Francisco! Apple.com changes its web font

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iPhone 7
Which font did you prefer?
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

As part of its ongoing attempt to unify its platforms, Apple has switched the font for its official Apple.com website to the blockier San Francisco typeface.

Prior to this, Apple used a lighter Myriad font, which first debuted in 2001 as a replacement for the the company’s Apple Garamond typeface.

Take iPhone deep sea diving, bring MagSafe back to MacBook, and more [Crowdfund Roundup]

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Crowdfund Roundup
Help turn these awesome ideas into reality!
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Your iPhone 7 is already water-resistant, but it’s not designed for deep sea diving. Fortunately, LenzO is, and it’ll let you snap stunning pictures in water up to 100 meter deep.

It’s just one of the awesome picks in this week’s Crowdfund Roundup. We’ve also got an adapter that brings MagSafe back to your MacBook, a wearable Lightning cable that you won’t lose, the world’s smallest 4K action camera, and more!

This home theater setup makes exposed wires look cool

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aBvc7g8
Cables never looked so good.
Photo: JustTSK/Reddit

You can spend hours on cable management when trying to create the perfect home cinema setup, but you don’t need to. Why hide the wires away when you can make them look as good as they do in the sweet setup above?

All you need is a tube of superglue, steady hands, and patience.

Developers will soon be able to reply to your mean app reviews

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Apple pays $467k for doing business with blacklisted app developer
You'll soon be able to turn off app review requests.
Photo: Apple

Apple is planning to make big changes to the way iOS and Mac users leave reviews for developers.

With the release of iOS 10.3 beta 1 and macOS 10.12.4 beta 1 this morning, Apple introduced two highly requested features for the developer community: a standardized method to ask for reviews, and a way for developers to reply to individual reviews.

Remove DRM from iTunes and Apple Music to play your audio on any device

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Apple Music Converter
This app converts audio files into MP3, removing their DRM restrictions so you can play them on any device.
Photo: Convertanymusic.com

This post is brought to you by Convertanymusic.com, maker of Apple Music Converter.

When we download music from iTunes, or audiobooks from Audible, the files that get onto our devices are DRM-protected. That means they can’t be played on “unauthorized” devices. This, let’s face it, is pretty inconvenient.

Night Shift arrives on Mac in first macOS 10.12.4 beta

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15 inch MacBook Pro Silver
There's a new beta out for Macs.
Photo: Apple

A new macOS beta finally brings the popular Night Shift feature from iOS to the Mac.

Apple seeded macOS 10.12.4 beta 1 to all registered developers today, bringing Night Shift plus a host of bug fixes and performance improvements for Apple’s computers. The new macOS beta comes alongside the first betas for iOS 10.3 and tvOS 10.2.

Apple seeds first iOS 10.3 beta with Find My AirPods feature

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AirPods in case
AirPods now work with Find my iPhone
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Finding your tiny AirPods charging case is about to get a lot easier, thanks to a new iOS 10 beta that adds a Find My AirPods feature to iPhones and iPads.

Apple seeded iOS 10.3 beta 1 to registered developers this morning, bringing new hope for lost AirPods, plus a host of other new features and bug fixes. Unfortunately, there’s still no sign of the long-rumored Dark Mode.