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‘Netflix of Mac software’ lets you binge on apps

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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

Apple’s Mac App Store has been a desolate wasteland of mediocrity for years, but a new service called Setapp wants to breathe new life into macOS apps.

Setapp app claims it’s an “Unstore” alternative to the Mac App Store. Instead of paying for apps individually, you’ll pay a monthly subscription fee for access to 300 popular apps.

Apple is finally ready to spill some of its AI secrets

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Cy_5-XiW8AEVx3z
Apple is opening up about its AI work.
Photo: Hardmaru/Twitter

In a break from its ultra-secretive attitude toward R&D, Apple is set to start engaging more with the AI academic community by allowing its researchers to publish their work in machine learning journals.

The news was announced by Russ Salakhutd, director of AI research at Apple and a professor at Carnegie Mellon University in Pennsylvania. He made the announcement at the Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems (NIPS) conference earlier today.

How to resize images using Apple’s Preview tool in macOS

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Resize Featured
You don't need a fancy third-party app to resize your pictures because Preview works just fine.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

In addition to being a photo viewer, the Preview app for Mac offers basic image-editing functionality. If you want a quick and easy way to resize images, this built-in Apple app will do the trick.

Here’s how to use Preview to resize photos and other images in macOS Sierra.

Ditch the password and use your face or fingerprint to sign in [Deals]

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Replace or augment your passwords with personal features like face and fingerprint.
Replace or augment your passwords with personal features like face and fingerprint.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Passwords are too easy to forget or misplace, and after getting a few weird emails from friends’ hacked accounts it’s clear they don’t always work. True Key from Intel Security lets you switch from logging in with a string of letters and numbers to using your individual features, like face and fingerprints, as a security key. It’s a real game changer for personal data security and convenience, and right now you can get True Key for just $15.99 at Cult of Mac Deals.

Instagram controls let you share more love, shut out hate

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Instagram
Instagram makes sharing Stories simpler.
Photo: Instagram

In a year highlighted by high-octane social media unkindness, Instagram is adding controls to make the photo sharing site safe for all.

Instagram will soon give its 500 million users a setting to turn off comments on any post, the ability to remove followers from private accounts, and a tool to anonymously report users expressing signs of hurting themselves.

Tim Cook says Apple Watch sales ‘off the charts’

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Apple Watch Series 2 waterproof
Apple says the Apple Watch set a sales record for the first week of holiday shopping.
Photo: Apple

A day after a gloomy third-quarter sales report about the Apple Watch, CEO Tim Cook says the device is already having a record holiday as one of the season’s most popular gifts.

He shoppers bought a record number of Apple Watches during the first week of holiday shopping, and the wearable is on pace to have its best quarter ever to close out 2016.

Apple’s latest ad asks wherefore art thou, iPhone 7?

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Screen Shot 2016-12-06 at 11.42.32
Shouldn't a Romeo and Juliet ad really be about star-crossed Android and iOS owners?
Photo: Apple

Apple’s launched another heartstring-tugging ad in time for the holidays, with an iPhone 7 commercial showing a teary-eyed dad filming his daughter in a school play version of Romeo and Juliet.

As with many of the other iPhone 7 ads, it focuses on the handset’s new camera upgrade, but ditches the moody black and white aesthetic for a more colorful one.

Check it out below.

The new MacBook Pro may have some battery issues

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Luminar
Some owners of the new MacBook Pro report unexpectedly short battery life.
Photo: Apple

Apple’s innovative new MacBook Pro may come with a battery that is a magnet for problems.

Several owners of the MacBook Pro with Touch Bar have taken to Apple’s support forums and Twitter to complain that the battery inside the new machine doesn’t last nearly as long as advertised.

CBS CEO hints a DirecTV Now deal will probably happen

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Add CBS to the list of broadcasters ready to sign a deal for Apple TV
You won't find CBS on DirecTV Now.
Photo: Buster Hein/Cult of Mac

The biggest hole in DirecTV Now’s lineup may finally get filled by CBS, but it’s going to take awhile.

CBS CEO Les Moonves said today he’s confident his company will be able to make a deal with AT&T’s DirecTV Now service. However, CBS may delay and wait for a better deal.

Celebrity Apprentice hires YouTube star iJustine

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Justine Ezarik, a.k.a iJustine, will appear on The New Celebrity Apprentice.
Justine Ezarik, a.k.a iJustine, will appear on The New Celebrity Apprentice.
Photo: iJustine screenshot/YouTube

Justine Ezarik built a successful brand from her home by unboxing the latest Apple gadgets in front of a video camera and sharing her geeky tech enthusiasm with millions of YouTube followers.

Now the internet influencer known as iJustine will reach a new audience as she joins Arnold Schwarzenegger in the “Boardroom” as an adviser on The New Celebrity Apprentice.

Fitbit surges as Apple Watch stumbles

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Simple fitness trackers from Fitbit, Xiaomi and Garmin outsold Apple Watch during the third quarter.
Simple fitness trackers from Fitbit, Xiaomi and Garmin outsold Apple Watch during the third quarter.
Photo: David Pierini/Cult of Mac

Apple Watch may be the most recognizable product in the wearables space, but it isn’t the best-selling.

Sales of Apple Watch are down more than 70 percent, according to IDC Research, which cites third-quarter sales figures of the wearables market.

9 awesome Mac apps cost less than ever, but not for long [Deals]

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CoM - The Black Friday Mac Bundle 2.0
These nine apps add a range of new functionality to your Mac.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

The flagship Mac App bundle is back, packed with nine top-shelf apps for creativity and productivity, including PDF Expert, TripMode and AfterShot 3.

Right now, you can get the whole bundle for the lowest price ever. But after today, the price will go up by $1 every day until Saturday.

Palo Alto Apple store targeted by ‘ram-raider’ thieves

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apple store
Not the correct place to park your car.
Photo: Apple

The Apple store in Palo Alto, California, suffered a brazen attack when a group of thieves in a rented SUV “ram-raided” the store early Sunday morning.

The burglars drove their vehicle at high speed into the 40-foot glass window at the front of the store, then climbed through the hole it had made. They stole iPhones, Macs and other devices before fleeing.

5 years after his death, Steve Jobs remains among top ‘current’ tech leaders

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Steve Jobs was anything but a bust as CEO.
Steve Jobs is still one of the most revered leaders in tech.
Photo: China News

Put it down to Steve Jobs’ astonishing legacy — or poor reading comprehension — but according to a poll of 700 tech company founders, the late Apple CEO is among the most admired “current” tech leaders.

Despite having died five years ago, Jobs scored fourth place in the poll, following Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos.

Best List: Moshi’s AirPlay Spatia speaker looks old-fashioned but is anything but [Review]

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Moshi's Spatia Wireless AirPlay Speaker speaker has retro looks, but is thoroughly modern under the hood.
Moshi's Spatia Wireless AirPlay Speaker speaker has retro looks, but is thoroughly modern under the hood.
Photo: Lyle Kahney/Cult of Mac

Best List: Spatia wireless speaker by Moshi

Wireless speakers tend to be cheap and nasty — or fantastic and expensive.

There are exceptions, though, and Moshi’s Spatia wireless AirPlay speaker is one of them.

At $399, the Spatia isn’t cheap by any means, but its sound and features rival systems costing much more.

And does it sound sweet. With five drivers, including a subwoofer, the Spatia serves up a rich, wide soundstage. Lots of speakers claim “room-filling sound,” but the Spatia truly fills the bill.

Drones, big boxes of geeky goodies, and more [Week’s Newest Deals]

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Fly in first person and execute tricky maneuvers all with the world's smallest drone.
Fly in first person and execute tricky maneuvers all with the world's smallest drone.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Maybe it’s because we’re getting closer to Christmas, but each new shipment to the Cult of Mac Store seems better than the last. This week, we’ve got a super small 1st-person drone, software for totally unlocking PDFs, a powerful tool for capturing and converting YouTube videos, and a set of Loot Crate deliveries. Read on for more details:

Essentials to reinvent your data management [Week’s Best Deals]

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inCharge puts a Lightning cable right on your keychain.
inCharge puts a Lightning cable right on your keychain.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Considering all the new forms and formats our data take with each passing year, sometimes we need to catch up. This week is the one to do it, as the best deals that have come through the Cult of Mac store are all ways to upgrade your data game: a set of keychain-sized Lightning cables; a MicroSD adapter for seamlessly expanding MacBook drive capacity, a lifetime of cloud storage, and a hub that converts USB-C into five familiar formats. Read on for more details:

Hackintosh monster Macs and iPhone 8’s marquee feature, on The CultCast

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Could this be the next Mac Pro?
Could this be the next Mac Pro?
Photo: Nvidia

This week on The CultCast: Why building a Hackintosh can get you the monster Mac you’ve always wanted. Plus: Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reveals iPhone 8’s marquee feature; AirPods ship date is finally revealed; and stick around for our top Apple AirPort router replacement picks!

Our thanks to Casper for supporting this episode. Casper’s American-made mattresses have just the right amount of memory foam and latex, and people everywhere love them. Learn why and save $50 off your order at casper.com/cultcast.