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Apple secretly logs iCloud users’ iPhone call history

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Apple receives user call histories when iCloud is enabled, claims a new report.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Apple receives user call histories when iCloud is enabled, claims a new report from Russian digital forensics firm Elcomsoft.

The logs include information about calls made and received on an iOS device, along with phone numbers, dates, times, call duration, and even missed and bypassed calls — for both regular and FaceTime calls.

Roxio Toast price tag gets sliced as of today [Deals]

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Starting today, save even more on the best tool for screen capture, burning digital media and editing videos.
Starting today, save even more on the best tool for screen capture, burning digital media and editing videos.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

If you work with digital media, you’ve caught a whiff of Toast. It’s one of the premier software tools for converting and working with digital media of all kinds, whether video or audio, for online or physical playback. And now the 15th and most powerful version of Toast Titanium has dropped in price from a previous discount of 50 percent. As today’s deal of the day, you can get Toast Titanium 15 for $35 at Cult of Mac Deals.

Apple’s ‘Hour of Code’ classes will run for a whole week this year

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In previous years, Apple ran the events for just one day.
Photo: Apple

Apple has officially opened registration for its free “Hour of Code” workshops, which this year will run every day for a week at around 500 Apple stores around the world.

In previous years, Apple has offered just one day of workshops for its introduction to programming events, produced in partnership with Code.org.

24k gold iPhone dock comes with a nice charity donation

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A gold plinth worthy of your iPhone.
Photo: Brikk

From magnetic chargers to levitating ones, one thing we’ve learned in 2016 it’s that apparently nobody likes to just plug their iPhone in and charge it regularly.

If that includes your good self, you may be interested in a new ultra-luxury Lightning Dock, released by Los Angeles-based premium technology products maker, Brikk.

Available in 24k gold yellow gold, 18k rose gold, and 950 platinum, the docks will make any visitors to your house say, “wow, that guy/girl sure has an expensive-looking iPhone dock.”

Hackers can use this tiny $5 device to attack your locked Mac

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PoisonTap is tiny but deadly.
PoisonTap is tiny but deadly.
Photo: Samy Kamkar

The next time you leave your Mac unattended, make sure to turn it off.

A well-known hacker has created a cheap tool that can steal data off of locked computers in minutes. The clever new device called PoisonTap is created using a $5 Raspberry Pi Zero and some open source code. Attackers can plug PoisonTap into a machine and as long as the victim has a web browser open, it can steal data and leave remote backdoors.

Apple tried to sign Chris Rock to iTunes movie deal

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Making TV shows is just one of Apple's many hobbies.
Photo: Apple

Cupertino’s slow flirtation with Hollywood nearly landed Apple an exclusive iTunes movie deal with comedian Chris Rock, according to a new report.

Apple has shown interest in producing original video content of its own. The company bought the rights to James Cordon’s Carpool Karaoke TV show, and it appears Apple has some tepid interest in making the type of movies you’d find on Netflix.

MacBook Pro teardown reveals mystifying speaker grilles

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Ooh, new speakers! Well, not so fast...
Photo: iFixit

Apple’s new MacBook Pro with Touch Bar have arrived, and our friends at iFixit have already dutifully taken one apart to reveal what’s lurking under the surface.

The most interesting revelation? The laptop’s new speaker grilles don’t house new speakers, but may instead exist purely for design purposes.

These 3 great Mac apps will power up your productivity [Deals]

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These three MacX apps add a suite of tools and capacities for working with media of all kinds.
These three MacX apps add a suite of tools and capacities for working with media of all kinds.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

It’s amazing the difference an app can make for the productive potential of your Mac. This power trio of apps from MacX adds a wide set of tools and utilities for for ripping DVDs, converting videos, and managing files on your drive. And right now you can get the whole shebang for $19.95 at Cult of Mac Deals.

Read on for more details:

MacBook Pro Touch Bar lets users skip through YouTube ads

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macbook pro touch bar
Hate YouTube ads? We've got the perfect laptop for you!
Photo: Apple

The Touch Bar in Apple’s new MacBook Pro may have met with mixed reviews so far, but there’s one group it is finding favor with: people who absolutely hate having to watch compulsory YouTube ads.

First spotted by users on Reddit, at present the fancy new Touch Bar lets users scrub through otherwise unskippable ads so you can start watching videos straight away.

Apple Music gets exclusive documentary about iconic drum machine

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tr-808
The TR-808 drum machine was a big part of the hip-hop and dance scene.
Photo: Roland

A documentary titled 808, chronicling the cultural impact of the Roland TR-808 drum machine, will debut as an Apple Music exclusive on December 9.

Narrated by Beats 1 DJ Zane Lowe and featuring interviews with various big music names — including Apple favorite Pharrell — the documentary previously debuted at 2015’s SXSW Film Festival, although this marks its first wide release.

Check out the trailer below.

Hold onto your butts: Apple restores bootylicious peach emoji

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The emoji that also looks like a butt will stay that way.
The emoji that also looks like a butt will stay that way.
Photo: Cult of Mac

Sometimes a peach is just a peach. But when it comes to emoji, it’s also a tush.

Yet, much to the chagrin of those who like to use emoji for more than visual grocery lists, Apple’s first 10.2 developer beta replaced the peach emoji with something that looks less like a posterior, and more like a piece of fruit or something.

Samsung Galaxy S7 explodes in man’s face

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Galaxy Note 7 that exploded while charging.
Galaxy Note 7 that exploded while charging.
Photo: Mr Ni/Baidu

A Canadian man says he’s lucky to still have his eyes after a Samsung Galaxy S7 exploded in his hands.

Amarjit Mann told a local news station that he felt something in his pocket getting warm while he was driving. He pulled out his Galaxy S7 and says it exploded immediately. Sparks from the blast hit him in the cheek.

Jony Ive goes inside Apple’s design lab in new video

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macbook pro
Not a single detail goes unnoticed at Apple.
Photo: Apple

Going inside Apple’s design lab is a rare privilege some Apple execs don’t even get, but Jony Ive is giving the world a glimpse inside his lab to celebrate the company’s new book.

In Apple’s latest video, Jony Ive’s disembodied voice floats through his Industrial Design Studio while describing the processes for making the company’s iconic gadgets. Shots of Apple’s prototyping machines can be seen, as well as the product benches where every single detail of a product is analyzed and reconsidered.

Take a look:

Super smart remotes, glass iPhone cases and more [Crowdfund Roundup]

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

You can find some incredible new gadgets on Kickstarter and Indiegogo that often go unnoticed. We’re rounding up some of the best every week to help them get the funding they need to become a reality.

This week, we have a super smart remote that controls almost everything, a tempered glass case for iPhone 7, a robot that teaches kids to code without computers, and more!

Apple ramps up efforts to remove old apps from the App Store

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You can remove stock apps in iOS 10, but you can't swap them.
Bad apps are getting booted from the App Store.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

The great App Store purge is finally underway.

Apple warned developers in September that it plans to remove apps from its store that don’t meet quality standards of being “functional and up-to-date.” According to a new report, the deadline to meet those standards has passed and thousands of crummy apps are now being removed.

Smaller iPhone still won’t get dual-lens camera in 2017

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jet black iphone 7 plus
Dual-lens camera will be exclusive to Plus-sized iPhones in 2017.
Photo: Apple

You won’t have to buy the most expensive iPhone to get the best camera Apple makes in 2017.

Apple is reportedly planning to include a dual-lens camera on two different iPhone models, according to one of the most accurate Apple analysts that also predicts three different models will be announced next year.

Boost your iPhone storage with Lexar’s tiny devices [Review]

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Lexar makes a microSD reader and JumpDrive that backs up your iPhone data and frees its memory.
Lexar makes a microSD reader and JumpDrive that backs up your iPhone data and frees its memory.
Photo: David Pierini/Cult of Mac

We take for granted how much of our lives are stored on our iPhones until, of course, that day arrives when a notification pops up to say the device’s memory is full.

Lexar has a couple of nifty little devices to quickly store photos, videos, music and documents, and free up the memory on your iPhone.

Apple may have found perfect spot for its flagship Melbourne store

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Federation Square in Melbourne.
Photo: Mark Pegrum/Flickr CC

Apple is reportedly planning to open a new flagship Australian retail store in Federation Square, Melbourne.

According to a new report, Apple is currently negotiating to replace an existing “deconstructivist” metal building in the square with a $50 million glass structure, which sounds reminiscent of Apple’s iconic Fifth Avenue store.

New price for the day on rugged Bluetooth buds [Deals]

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com-freshebuds-pro-magnetic-bluetooth-earbuds
FRESHeBUDS upgrades their already popular Bluetooth earbuds with better sound, water resistance, longer battery life, and more.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Soon we’re all going to be wearing Bluetooth buds, so you might as well get a set that lasts. FRESHeBUDS are among the most popular makers of wireless earbuds, but with their new Pro model they’ve upped the game, adding things like improved sweat and water resistance and enhanced battery life. And today, there’s a drop in the price that makes them even more worth your attention, right now you can get a set of FRESHeBUDS Pro for $29.95 at Cult of Mac Deals.