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Segway miniPRO makes hoverboards great again [Review]

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Segway's miniPRO is the new standard in hover boards.
Segway's miniPRO is the new standard in hover boards.
Photo: Erfon Elijah/Cult of Mac

There’s no way to look cool rollin’ on Ninebot’s Segway miniPRO, but it’s built like a tank, boasts great battery life, and it’s so gosh darn fun to ride, you just won’t care.

Another plus? Non-exploding batteries. What Segway has here is the new Cadillac of hoverboards.

Apple was the only smartphone maker that made real profit last quarter

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money
Apple is making hella bank, as the kids say.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

The iPhone’s market share is down around the world, but you know what’s up? Its profitability related to other smartphones.

In fact, according to a new report from BMO Capital Markets analyst Tim Long, Apple accounted for 103.6 percent of all smartphone industry operating profits in the third quarter of 2016.

Get a lifetime of VPN access at a massive discount [Deals]

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VPN Unlimited is offering a lifetime of protection from data theft and location restrictions when you go online.
VPN Unlimited is offering a lifetime of protection from data theft and location restrictions when you go online.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

If you visit this site often, you know we’re big fans of virtual private networks, or VPNs. By creating an encrypted tunnel for you data, they’re a great, practical way to stay protected and anonymous online. And now’s a great time to find out why we dig VPNs, because you can sign up for one at a massive discount of 94 percent. Right now, you can get a lifetime subscription to VPN Unlimited for just $39 at Cult of Mac.

MacBook Pro’s Touch Bar tech was a Microsoft idea first

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macbook pro touch bar
Apple was late to the party. Kind of.
Photo: Apple

Apple might have just gotten to the Touch Bar with its new MacBook Pro, but according to a new report, Microsoft was working on similar adaptive keyboard technology as early as 1999.

To put that into context, that would be around the time that Apple first shipped its iMac G3 and way before the company started to embrace multitouch technology with the iPhone.

DigiDNA devs make apps that rock by thinking like a band

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The indie developers at DigiDNA scored their first hit with iMazing for Mac.
The indie developers at DigiDNA scored their first hit with iMazing for Mac.
Photo: DigiDNA

Our new App Business section is brought to you by MacPaw, maker of proven Mac apps.

Sometimes you’ve got to think small to hit it big. For DigiDNA, a Swiss development team that makes popular software for managing iOS devices, that means functioning more like a tight rock ‘n’ roll band than a sprawling orchestra.

How this money man helped Steve Jobs turn Pixar into a powerhouse [Kahney’s Korner podcast]

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Lawrence Levy former Pixar CFO
Lawrence Levy, Pixar's former CFO and author of To Pixar and Beyond.
Photo: Lawrence Levy

In the early ’90s, Pixar was in the middle of creating its first movie, Toy Story, but the company was in disarray. It was bleeding cash and floundering around looking for a business model.

To help turn it around, Steve Jobs hired Lawrence Levy, a former corporate lawyer, to help figure out how to make Pixar a real business.

In this week’s episode of Kahney’s Korner, I talk to Levy about how exactly he and Jobs made Pixar into one of the most successful movie studios in history.

MacBook Pro parody ad pulls exactly zero punches

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macbook pro
The new MacBook Pro is stunning, but not without its flaws.
Photo: Apple

Apple’s latest MacBook Pro is a stunning feat of engineering, but it isn’t without its fair share of compromises. These shortcomings get showcased in the parody ad below, which pulls no punches when highlighting all of the $1,799 notebook’s nasty flaws.

Cheapo Androids erode iPhone market share globally

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iPhone
iPhones were a small part of the overall smartphone pie in Q3.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

iPhones fell to just 12 percent of worldwide marketshare in Q3, claims a new report from Strategy Analytics — totting up the figures for what it claims was the fastest growth period for smartphones in one year.

Android phones, on the other hand, captured a record 88 percent of global smartphones shipments during the three month period. As for BlackBerry and Microsoft Windows Phone? Best not to ask, really!

Pokémon GO has a plan to stop you leaving

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Pokémon Go
Niantic has a plan to keep you coming back to Pokémon GO.
Photo: Niantic

Already bored of Pokémon GO? So are millions of others, it seems — but Niantic has tricks up its sleeve to get you back. With an update that’s coming “soon,” Pokémon GO will get daily and weekly bonuses that will encourage you to keep playing.

Last chance to show up your power user friends with this award-winning app [Deals]

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Enhance your workflow with this Macworld Editor's Choice Award-winning productivity app
Enhance your workflow with this Macworld Editor's Choice Award-winning productivity app
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

If you know any self-styled power users, you’ve probably been told (too many times) how useful it is to learn your Mac’s keyboard shortcuts. They can save you a lot of time, sure, but Keyboard Maestro blows the out-of-the box shortcuts away. It won the Macworld Editor’s Choice Award for Productivity Software by offering an easy way to create a vast array of custom macro shortcuts. And today is your last chance to get it for just $19.99 at Cult of Mac Deals.

Apple Watch coming to Kohl’s department stores this month

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Apple Watch
Apple Watch is coming to a new department store chain.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

U.S. department store chain Kohl’s will start selling the Apple Watch at 400 of its 1,100 stores, beginning November 15.

The news comes shortly after rival chain Macy’s announced that it will start selling the Apple Watch at 180 of its stores. Interestingly, Kohl’s will differ from many other retailers by not selling the Apple Watch in its electronics section, but instead in its activewear and wellness category.

Review site lets consumers shine a light on media bias

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Got a beef about media bias? Rate My Media is place to call it out.
Got a beef about media bias? Rate My Media is place to call it out.
Photo: Rate My Media

This presidential election has produced a clear loser and it is not who you think. Journalism, with an already low approval rating, has lost even more support from a public not sure what to trust in the cacophony of media voices.

One university professor has started an internet conversation with a tool that aims to educate media consumers on the influences of media bias, which can be destructive with a single word or phrase inadvertently used in a sentence.

Apple is honing Siri’s skills in a secret U.K. office

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Siri
Hey, Siri, tell us about Apple's new secret U.K. office!
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Apple is using a “secret office” in Cambridge, in the U.K., to make Siri smarter, claims a new report.

Located approximately five minutes walk from the city’s train station, the fewer-than-30-person office shows no outward sign of being an Apple office. It includes a number of employees from VocalIQ, a Cambridge University spinoff, which was acquired by Apple in 2015 for as much as $100 million.

Salivating over Apple’s latest, greatest laptops? Sell your old MacBook to us first.

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smashed_macbook
If your MacBook looks like this, it might be time to trade in and upgrade.
Photo illustration: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Got your eye on one of Apple’s latest super-sexy MacBooks? Wipe the drool from your chin, and sell your old MacBook to us — even if it fell off a bridge.

You could go through the sketchy and time-consuming process of selling your computer on Craigslist, but good luck if it’s in less than mint condition. We’ve got a better way to make sure you get what you deserve for your old computer.

In most cases, Cult of Mac’s Apple gear buyback program offers more for used or broken devices than Gazelle, Walmart, Best Buy or even Apple itself.

Elgato’s HomeKit motion sensor is ready to automate your house

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The new Eve Motion sensor can detect when you get home.
The new Eve Motion sensor can detect when you get home.
Photo: Elgato

Turning your dumb old house into a Jetsons-style smart home of the future just got a little bit easier, with Elgato’s introduction of a super-cheap motion sensor.

The HomeKit-connected device, called Eve Motion, lets users pair it with other smart appliances and gadgets to automate workflows. You can then use Eve Motion to trigger a series of tasks, like turning on the lights when it detects that you walk into a room.

Apple sends it off the high-dive in new iPhone 7 ad

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Taking your iPhone to the pool is no longer a risk.
Taking your iPhone to the pool is no longer a risk.
Photo: Apple

Apple’s new ad for the iPhone 7 will have you missing the warmth of summer.

The funny new ad shows off the iPhone 7’s new stereo speakers and waterproofing in a scene that follows an old man at the pool. Titled “Dive.” the ad leads up to a dramatic conclusion when the old man reaches the high dive while blasting tunes.

Check out the new iPhone 7 ad, which debuted on Apple’s YouTube channel today:

Apple needs to make this Magic Keyboard with Touch Bar

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Touch Bar would make Magic Keyboard even better.
Touch Bar would make Magic Keyboard even better.
Photo: Hazza42/Reddit

Apple’s new Touch Bar looks like the coolest innovation since trackpads, but there’s just one problem: You must buy a brand new MacBook Pro to get it.

It seems inevitable that Apple will eventually bring the Touch Bar to all Macs, so a concept artist created a mockup of what that may look like. It looks like a Touch Bar on a new Magic Keyboard would be even more incredible than on the MacBook Pro.

Take a closer look:

Apple’s first AR product may arrive by 2018

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hololens by microsoft
All Apple has to do is making something that looks less dorky than this.
Photo: Microsoft

Apple’s stalling autonomous car project caused the company to shift its attention to augmented reality, according to analyst Ming Chi Kuo, who says the company is racing ahead of the competition when it comes to AR.

In a new note to investors, the KGI Securities analyst says Apple’s decision to develop a self-driving platform instead of an entire electric car makes sense. The company will use augmented reality to provide an incredible experience, he predicts.

Slack’s public letter to Microsoft takes a note from Apple playbook

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Screen Shot 2016-11-02 at 15.53.08
It's like it's 1981 again.
Photo: Twitter/Stewart Butterfield

Apple’s pulled some memorable marketing stunts over the years, particularly in its early days when it was still the underdog fighting against much larger opponents.

With the rest of Silicon Valley desperate to have some of that Cupertino fairy dust, cloud-based team collaboration chatroom Slack published an open letter to Microsoft in today’s New York Times — paying homage to an audacious 1981 publicity stunt by Apple at the expense of IBM.

LeEco Le Pro3 looks pretty good for a dirt-cheap Android

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The LePro3 comes packs powerhouse features into a brushed-aluminum body.
Get your LeEco Le Pro3 cheap today!
Photo: LeEco

With a sharp screen, a fast processor and 4GB of RAM, the new LeEco Le Pro3 is a bold shot across the bow of Apple and other premium smartphone makers.

While the hardware nudges the phone toward the high end of the spectrum, the rock-bottom pricing should send shivers through Cupertino. At just $399 — or $299 if you get in on LeEco’s generous instant rebate, which starts today — the Le Pro3 is a steal when compared to the iPhone 7 Plus.