Before the machines take our jobs, they may help us work better. That was the original promise of computers, but as we all know they’re just as powerful as tools for procrastination as they are for productivity. Brain.fm is a music streaming service that helps you stay on task by generating a soundtrack using brain research to improve focus, foster relaxation, and help settle into sleep. Right now you can get a lifetime subscription for just $39 at Cult of Mac Deals.

Amazon’s Alexa devices were some of the most exciting tech products of 2016, and immediately there were rumors that Apple was planning to follow suit with a standalone Siri — possibly even with the addition of facial recognition tech.

A new report, however, claims that despite its popularity, Alexa has been a massive money drain on Amazon so far. In 2016 alone, it lost Amazon $330 million, and this figure is set to rise to $600 million-plus this year.

Applying a screen protector to your iPhone might prevent it from getting scratched, but it won’t keep it from shattering. That’s why InvisibleShield protectors are now available with a coverage plan that pays you $100 towards your repair bill if your display gets broken.

Rumors that Apple’s upcoming iPhone 8 will come with wireless charging just took another step forward, thanks to a report claiming the company has added a new manufacturer to its supply chain to help achieve this.

The new supplier is Taiwan-based Lite-On Semiconductor, which will reportedly be providing GPP bridge rectifier components to support wireless charging.

Apple has settled a possible antitrust lawsuit to the satisfaction of European Commission regulators and German Federal Cartel Office, after scrapping an exclusivity deal with the Amazon-owned Audible.

The investigation dates back to November 2015, following complaints from the German Publishers and Booksellers Association.

A court in South Korea has denied a request from special prosecutors to arrest the acting head of Samsung over alleged corruption and bribery charges.

Lee Kun-hee, Samsung’s vice chairman and the only son of its incapacitated chairman, had been accused of using Samsung subsidiaries to make possible bribery-related payments of $36 million as part of a scandal involving the country’s president Park Geun-hye and a confidante.

Hulu has promised it will give subscribers a new live streaming bundle and the ability to download content for offline viewing “in a few months.”

Many of the company’s biggest competitors already offer an offline viewing feature, with Netflix the latest to join the party back in November. Hulu CEO Mike Hopkins assures fans that his team is “working hard” on it.

Apple is expected to launch three new iPad models in various sizes in 2017, but we may have to wait until the second half of the year to get our hands on them.

Sources in Apple’s supply chain have confirmed earlier reports that three new models are coming — but they’re unlikely to arrive this spring as previously anticipated.

Donald Trump sounds confident that Tim Cook will bring Apple manufacturing jobs back to the United States. In a new interview, the president-elect said Cook “loves his country” and has “his eyes open” to building production facilities at home.

In the old days, a piece of string tied around a finger served as a reminder. You just couldn’t forget what the string was for in the first place.

Today, there’s a better way to use your fingers to remember your keys, passport and other personal items with the iOS app Don’t Leave It! Type items into the app you can’t be without and an alert will go off should a certain distance separate you from that particular item.

Keeping tabs on your Apple Pencil is about to get a lot easier once Apple comes out with the second-generation version later this year.

A new rumor out of Asia claims Apple plans to release an updated version of its fancy stylus this spring and like the Smart Cover, it will use magnets to attach itself to your iPad.

One of the most powerful synthesizers in the world has finally arrived on iPhone and iPad, thanks to a big update for GarageBand that Apple pushed to users this morning.

Both Garageband for iOS and Logic Pro X for macOS received huge new features today, bringing new music creation tools for iPhone and Mac users, as well as support for the new Touch Bar on the MacBook Pro.

AirPods are the hottest item in tech right now, but you can already bag a discount on Apple’s wireless headphones. Plus, we’ve got iPhones both current- and past-gen to suit every taste and budget, all in this week’s best Apple deals.

Apple’s next iPhone may come with new facial recognition technology and actual friggin’ laser beams, according to an analyst.

By adding lasers near the front-facing camera, Apple will be able to depth-map objects, according to analysts at Cowen and Company. The camera could also be used for image recognition, enhancing security and fueling augmented reality.

Apple is the “most intimate” brand in the U.S., according to MBLM’s new Brand Intimacy 2017 Report.

What is an “intimate” brand, you might ask? According to MBLM, brand intimacy is defined as, “a new paradigm that leverages and strengthens the emotional bonds between a person and a brand.”

Apple Music fans in the United States can now listen to CBS Sports Radio as part of their subscription package, bringing the total number of news and sports radio channels on the service to nine.

“CBS Sports Radio delivers this to fans 24 hours a day, 7 days a week so it’s an ideal next step to launch a channel on Apple Music, one of the most popular streaming services today, as yet another way we continue to meet the evolving desires of this passionate audience anywhere and everywhere,” said Chris Oliviero, Executive Vice President of Programming for CBS Radio.

Apple Mail houses all of your contacts, correspondence, and other critical details of your day to day life. That makes it a great platform for a productivity manager, and MailButler turns it into one. Packed with a variety of email-organizing functions, this handy plug-in streamlines and optimizes your correspondence to help you prioritize and get organized. Right now you can get MailButler for just $34.99 at Cult of Mac Deals.

It was a pretty bold move for the pioneering but fading photography icon Kodak to launch a smartphone dedicated to serious photographers one month after Apple’s release of the highly anticipated iPhone 7 Plus.

The Android handset was released in Europe and Australia and some lackluster reviews soon followed. But Kodak and its partner in smartphones, Bullitt, still have high hopes in putting the Kodak Ektra in the hands of more photographers.

Indian officials are reportedly keeping an “open mind” with regards to Apple’s demands in return for considering producing iPhones in the country.

“We will very much like Apple to come and have a base in India,” Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters earlier today.

By now you’ve probably already seen the new Super Mario Odyssey trailer for Nintendo Switch, in which everyone’s favorite plumber ventures into the real world for the first time. But what if that world wasn’t created by Nintendo?

The hilarious mod below puts Mario in Grand Theft Auto 4’s terrifying Liberty City, and he looks to be having a whale of a time.

There may be disagreement over whether Tim Cook’s Apple is a more predictable, less interesting one than Steve Jobs’ Apple, but one thing that’s for certain is that Cook has enjoyed a heckuva rise to power.

In a new video created by the U.K.’s Telegraph newspaper, a 90-second recap of Cook’s career so far shows how he went from a kid growing up in Alabama to the head of the world’s most valuable tech company, with a net worth of $785 million.

Check it out below.

Apple makes iOS more secure with almost every update it rolls out, but there’s always a glitch somewhere that slips through the net.

The latest is a bug in iMessage that allows any iPhone running iOS 10 to iOS 10.1.1 to be crashed with a simple text message.

Stanford University has launched a new program, offering faculty members and instructors up to 1,000 Apple Watches and $10,000 in funding to investigate how Apple’s wearable device can be used in healthcare.

“This seed grant program is designed to stimulate and support creative uses of the Apple Watch to address important issues in healthcare,” the Center for Digital Health’s website notes. “We are particularly interested in high impact projects that will positively influence the selected study population and/or clinical workflow.”

Tim Cook’s kinder, gentler management style is the biggest reason why 2016 was one of the most boring years for Apple in recent memory, according to a former employee of the company.

Steve Jobs was notorious for inciting conflict and competition between top employees, which him a controversial leader but also birthed some of the most iconic tech products ever (iMac, iPod and iPhone). After Cook took over, he worked to eliminate conflict within Cupertino’s walls and made employees less passionate, claims ex-Apple employee Bob Burrough.

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

Getting a bad app review is a definite bummer. When some faceless user trashes your labor of love in the App Store or some other public venue, it can really sting. But if you’re smart about it, you can turn negative reviews into positive opportunities for improving your app and winning committed customers.

Here’s how to spin bad app reviews into developer gold.