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A swimmer’s view of Apple Watch Series 2 [Reviews]

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How to ensure you get a route map with every outdoor swim
How to ensure you get a route map with every outdoor swim
Photo: Graham Bower/Cult of Mac

The Workout app in Apple Watch Series 2 includes two new swimming options to show off its waterproofing. This is a key differentiator over the cheaper Series 1 model, and yet very few reviewers actually took their test units for a swim. One even claimed that all the pools and beaches in New York were closed, so they couldn’t test this feature.

So I decided to take the plunge with Series 2 and find out for myself if it sinks or swims.

Over the past two weeks, I’ve tested my Apple Watch in a variety of swimming conditions, including various public pools — and even the Mediterranean sea.

Apple approached Time Warner about possible acquisition

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Apple TV might get exclusive TV shows.
Buying Time Warner would be great for Apple TV.
Photo: Apple

AT&T isn’t the only company interested in acquiring HBO’s parent company Time Warner Inc.

Apple executives approached the company about a potential merger a few months ago, according to a new report that claims the iPhone-maker is keeping a close eye on Time Warner’s advanced acquisition talks with AT&T.

Can Samsung recover from its Galaxy Note 7 nightmare? [Friday Night Fights]

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Galaxy Note 7 on fire
Will you buy a Samsung phone again?
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Fans have mourned the loss of the Galaxy Note 7 — perhaps the best smartphone released in 2016 — and while a small few are determined to cling onto the device despite the risks, most have handed theirs back and moved on.

Friday Night Fights bugThe whole debacle is going to cost Samsung billions in lost revenue, and it will likely take years for the South Korean company to regain the trust it has lost. But just how detrimental could the problem be for Samsung’s smartphone business?

Join us in this week’s Friday Night Fight as we discuss Samsung’s chances of recovering from the Galaxy Note 7 nightmare.

Refurbished iPhone 6 drops to $370 and PlayStation 4 sees its first discounts [Deals]

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You'll find deals on iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, Beats by Dre urBeats earbuds, Xbox One and more in this week's roundup.
The Xbox One Gears of War Bundle is $100 off.
Photo: Microsoft

We love the internet. So much. It is so unrelentingly kind, and this week is no exception. PlayStation 4 is experiencing its first discounts since Playstation VR released, iPhone 6 prices continue to drop as iPhone 7 catches on, the Beats by Dre flagship earbuds are $240 off, and that awesome DJI Phantom 4 deal is still cooking.

How to book a reservation through Apple Maps on iOS 10

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Apple Maps reservation OpenTable
Apple Maps makes it easy to get your grub on.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Finding an awesome spot to eat has always been easy on the iPhone. But iOS 10 makes it super-simple to book a restaurant reservation in Apple Maps.

With the new third-party app extensions in Maps, users can now reserve a table without ever leaving the Maps app. Just find the spot you want to dine at, and with a few extra taps you’ll be on your way to a fine dining experience.

Book a reservation in seconds with these steps.

Ukrainian craftsman takes iPhone into new badass gilded era

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Aurum Edition
Those are not cases. These iPhones get gold, leather and jewels applied directly to the aluminum.
Photo: Aurum Edition

Cult of Mac 2.0 bugIf your iPhone feels precious out of the box, hand it over to Dmitry Lischina for a couple of weeks. Afterward, you will then understand precious as you hold an iPhone unlike any other.

Lischina’s company Aurum Editions could have made phone cases, but instead developed a business around pulling apart iPhones and plating them with 24K gold, exotic animal leather and diamonds.

Steve Jobs exhibition will take place on Samsung’s home turf

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Steve Jobs, creator of the iPad and created on the iPad.
Staging a Steve Jobs exhibit in South Korea is like bringing a Note 7 to an Apple keynote.
Photo: Jeremy Martin

South Korea is Samsung country, but that’s not stopping a local museum in Guri, Gyeongg from staging an honorary exhibition to the late founder of Apple, Steve Jobs.

Featuring a range of Apple computers starting with 1977’s Apple II and running through to the iMac models Jobs oversaw upon his return to the company in the late 1990s, the exhibition will run until November 27.

This Chrome extension makes screen recordings easy [Deals]

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Easily capture and share high quality video and audio straight from this Chrome extension
Easily capture and share high quality video and audio straight from this Chrome extension
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

There are plenty of reasons you might want to record your screen — whether showing off your gaming prowess, creating a walkthrough for friends or coworkers, demonstrating a problem or bug, and so on. But creating and sharing a high quality video from your screen can involve a lot of work. That’s what makes HYFY so cool — it’s a simple extension for Google Chrome that makes it easy to capture and share video from your screen, no extra software required. And right now you can get a year of HYFY for $25 at Cult of Mac Deals.

Teen gang steals $13,000 worth of iPhones from the Apple store

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iPHone 7 sales
iPhones are easy to sell, which makes them a big target for thieves.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple’s latest iPhones sell like hot cakes, which makes them a big target for thieves looking to make a quick buck. One teenage gang stole 19 display units worth over $13,000 from the Apple store in Natick Mall this week — and the “flash mob” robbery took less than a minute.

Beats 1 finally gets an official Facebook page

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Screen Shot 2016-10-21 at 14.38.34
Well, that took long enough!
Photo: Apple

Apple has launched a new Facebook page to promote its Beats 1 worldwide radio station, which broadcasts 24 hours a day, 7 days a week exclusively on Apple Music.

The page features small sharable video clips of Beats 1 action, currently including snippets from Zane Lowe’s interview with Lady Gaga. Oh, and a whole lot of hashtags, too.

Parisian Apple Watch store may close due to poor sales

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Apple Watch mini-store will reportedly close in January.
Photo: Kaysgeog/Flickr CC

An exclusive Apple Watch mini-store at one of Paris’ fanciest department stores, Galeries Lafayette Haussmann, is reportedly set to close in January.

The report suggests the reason for the closure is poor sales — although it may also reflect a repositioning on Apple’s part concerning where the Apple Watch sits: moving it away from the world of high fashion and toward health-tracking and sport applications.

Eddy Cue says TV ‘needs to be reinvented’

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Eddy Cue
Apple VP Eddy Cue runs Apple's media business.
Photo: CNBC

Watching television is still a dreadful experience, according to Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior VP of internet software and services.

The Apple exec sat down for a joint interview with HBO CEO Richard Plepler at Vanity Fair’s New Establishment Summit in San Francisco today. The two media titans discussed the rapidly changing landscape of television, but Cue told the audience that more changes are needed to make the experience better.

7 ways LeEco is the Anti-Apple (and why Cupertino should be paying attention)

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LeEco's Lei Ding shows off the LeSEE Pro, LeEco's autonomous electric concept car, in San Francisco.
Another Chinese tech company, LeEco, shows off its autonomous electric concept car in San Francisco.
Photo: Lewis Wallace/Cult of Mac

SAN FRANCISCO — Apple does things one way. LeEco chooses a radically different path — in fact, you might call it the Anti-Apple.

What, you’ve never heard of LeEco, the Chinese company with the French-sounding name that’s gunning for American millenials?

After a big, splashy press conference on Wednesday that unveiled a raft of Android-based products, you’re about to hear a lot about LeEco, which calls itself “the best-kept secret in tech.” And if you’re working for Cupertino, you might be getting a little bit anxious as LeEco storms into the U.S. market.

Take control of how you move and manage files on your Mac [Deals]

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These 4 apps will organize your downloads, cloud and local storage for Mac
These 4 apps will organize your downloads, cloud and local storage for Mac
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Keeping track of all the files you upload, download, that live locally on your computer or on the cloud can take a lot of work. Many people develop their own systems for file management and movement, but with this bundle of four Mac apps you won’t have to. It includes Folx 5, Commander One PRO Pack, Uplet Bulk Instagram Uploader, and CloudMounter, each of which offers a new degree of control and clarity over the files on (or off) your Mac. Get it now for $15.99 at Cult of Mac Deals.

MacBook OLED trackpad could be called the ‘Magic Toolbar’

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MacBook Pro OLED mockup
The Magic Toolbar is on its way.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple’s adaptive OLED touchbar for its next-gen MacBook will be called the “Magic Toolbar,” according to a trademark filing made earlier this year.

The trademark filing was made by a dummy corporation called “Presto Apps America LLC” on February 5, 2016. Interestingly, said corporation happened to use the same lawyers as those who applied for the trademark “AirPod” in Indonesia, Canada and Malaysia.