Your pulse may one day unlock your Apple Watch. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Future versions of the Apple Watch may be able to identify owners just by taking their pulse.
Apple was awarded a patent this week that details the use of biometrics on a smartwatch that can identify the user based on their heart rate and other variables. All without the users having to make any input.
Edward Field introduces a nylon iPhone wallet case designed for the person active outdoors. Photo: Edward Field
Remember the fat wallets our dad’s carried? Unfortunately, cash was rarely responsible for the back pocket bulge with things like receipts, business cards, a spare key, contacts list and of course an accordion fold-out of family pictures taking up wallet real estate and stretching them into a back-breaking burden.
Today, our iPhones can carry virtually everything, our memories, our money, our contacts and even a virtual key with the right Smarthome app. And what remains could easily fit in a case that serves as both a wallet and iPhone protection.
E-commerce accessories company Edward Field exists to merge wallet and smartphone and its latest line called Cordura strays from the usual Italian leather of their product lines to cater to people active in outdoor leisure.
Ayano Tominaga shares a little pillow talk with Steve Jobs while waiting to purchase the iPhone 7. Photo: Ayano Tominaga/Instagram
Apple co-founder Steve Jobs was known to have a prickly personality. But Japanese internet star Ayano Tominaga can honestly say Jobs is a good cuddler.
Tominaga is a popular tech journalist, Apple fan and IT consultant who can be seen at the launch of every new iPhone, camping out in line at the Apple Store in Tokyo clutching a body pillow featuring the likeness of Jobs.
iPhone 7's new home button is awesome. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus deliver an all-new Home button that uses the Taptic Engine inside your device to simulate clicks. It doesn’t actually move in and out like a traditional iPhone Home button, but that’s not a bad thing.
Not only does it make your iPhone more reliable (without a moving button there’s no need to worry about it failing), but it also makes it more water-resistant. It’s also customizable; you can adjust the strength of the haptic feedback to make your clicks more noticeable.
Apple Watch blasts your wrist with green light to read your pulse. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Fitness fanatics that want a good heart rate reading from their wrist better get an Apple Watch.
A new study of the four most popular wearables on the market found Apple Watch to be the most accurate smart watch for tracking heart rate. And it wasn’t even close.
The futuristic DropTech case on a MacBook Air. Photo: Gumdrop Cases
It’s not easy to find MacBook cases that are both protective and good-looking; you usually have to choose between the two. But Gumdrop Cases has hit the nail on the head with its new DropTech case.
It promises to be one of the “world’s most durable MacBook cases,” and it looks like it came straight out of a futuristic sci-fi movie. Or maybe a retro iMac? Claim yours on Kickstarter now to take advantage of big discounts with early bird pricing.
These water-resistant Bluetooth speakers offer 12-hour playtime on a single charge Photo: Cult of Mac Deals
Bluetooth is the way we’re getting our music now, thanks in large part to the headphone jack-free iPhone 7. Lucky for us, Bluetooth speakers are keeping right up — for proof, just look at this new water-resistant, long-lasting, shock-absorbing speaker from Braven. It’s a speaker that’s up to the challenge of being a workhorse for bringing the noise, and right now you can get one for just $49.99 at Cult of Mac Deals.
Building Apple's A10 chip turns out to be good business. Photo: Apple
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) reportedly had to fight to secure the A10 chip orders for the iPhone 7, but whatever it had to do to get there has clearly paid off!
That’s based on the company’s new 2016 revenue forecast, which has just been ramped up based on new profit and sales records being reached in the year’s third quarter — largely thanks to the success of Apple’s next-gen iPhone.
Have you signed up to Apple Music yet? Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Apple’s newer adverts have tended to fall into either the comedy or moody art school genres. However, in its fight to grow Apple Music it just released a more traditional feature showcase ad, laying out the abilities of the “all-new” Apple Music.
Brisbane's Apple Store is center of controversy. Photo: Wikipedia/KGBO CC
Apple is denying claims that customers were victims of a “photo-sharing” ring in which its retail store employees in Brisbane took and circulated photos of female customers and staff.
The employees were fired for the inappropriate behavior, which included ranking the victims out of 10.
The next Magic Keyboard may look something like this. Photo: Sonder
Apple is reportedly in talks to acquire an Australian startup called Sonder that specializes in making keyboards with individual e-ink displays on each key.
The Sonder acquisition is supposedly part of Apple’s plan to update its Magic Keyboard in 2018 with a smart keyboard module and color e-ink keys that allow programs to quickly swap characters for shortcuts or change to a different language.
Portrait mode has landed for public beta users. Photo: Apple
You no longer need a developer account to get your hands on iOS 10.1. Apple today released its first public beta, bringing the new portrait shooting mode to iPhone 7 Plus.
Here's a workaround to bring "Hey Siri" to your Mac. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
The ability to activate Siri by saying “Hey Siri” is an incredibly useful feature on iOS. Want to do it on macOS Sierra? Too bad you can’t.
Or, rather, you can’t through the usual Siri system preferences. However, if you’re really intent on being able to start up Siri without hitting a single key or mouse click, it’s possible to do it using Sierra’s Accessibility options. Here’s how.
The South Korean company initially believed that defective batteries from a certain supplier were the problem, but after replacement units with new cells started catching fire, Samsung has been unable to pinpoint the cause of the issue.
Spend 48 hours with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to become an in-demand front end engineer Photo: Cult of Mac Deals
Development for web users is one of the most lucrative and portable skills you can learn today. It can be hard to know where to start in front-end development though, making this bundle an especially great opportunity. Clocking in at 48 hours, it’s a comprehensive set of 8 lessons covering basic and advanced concepts and techniques in HTML, CSS, JavaScript and more. It usually goes for over $1,000, but right now you can get the whole thing for just $39 at Cult of Mac Deals.
Apple has announced plans for its second R&D center in China, located in the country’s manufacturing hub Shenzhen. The 2017 opening will help Apple further grow its market in the world’s second largest economy as it challenges local competition.
“We are excited to be opening a new Research and Development center here next year so our engineering team can work even more closely and collaboratively with our manufacturing partners,” Apple spokesperson Josh Rosenstock said.
Guess who's got a brand new music service! Photo: Amazon
Apple Music has a new competitor in the form of Amazon, which today launched music streaming service Amazon Music Unlimited.
The premium service carries the same $9.99 monthly fee as Apple Music for regular users, although Prime customers get a reduced $7.99 monthly charge — while owners of the Amazon Echo can use an Amazon Music Unlimited subscription through the standalone device for a mere $3.99 per month.
Although Didi Chuxing denied it at the time, regulatory filings show that Apple took the board position in late June, one month after it made its generous investment — designed to aid Apple’s continued push into China and interest in shaking up the automotive industry.
Apple Music wants to have a strong voice in the music world. Photo: Apple
Apple Music remains a long way from being a finished product, according to Apple executive and Beats Electronics co-founder Jimmy Iovine.
In a new interview discussing the struggles of building a product that fuses the worlds of tech and music, Iovine revealed that the company wants to build a product that is more than just a utility for accessing your music or getting a weekly playlist.
Apple vs Samsung is going all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
U.S. Supreme Court justices appear to be confused over how much Apple’s patented iPhone design should worth.
Lawyers for Apple and Samsung faced off this morning at the nation’s highest court. The two sides argued whether breaking a design patent should be worth most of a product’s profits, or if the thousands of other patents that go into a smartphone should be viewed as equally valuable to the contribution of profits.
Billions of dollars and the future of patent law is at stake in the case that hinges on a law written in 1887. But the justices didn’t give much indication which side they’ll take.
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Dropbox today rolled out a big update for its iOS app, adding a number of nice new features. In addition to an iMessage app for iOS 10, the release also brings the ability to sign PDF documents and a handy Today screen widget.
One day after dropping new betas for iOS 10 and tvOS 10, Apple has seeded a new beta build of macOS Sierra 10.12.1 to registered developers this morning.
The fourth beta of macOS Sierra 10.12.1 comes a week after Apple released the last build that contained a number of bug fixes and performance improvements for the Mac.
Lower storage could mean less speed. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Apple finally bumped the storage on the baseline iPhone model to 32GB this year, but it looks like choosing the cheapest model may come with some serious speed setbacks.
The 32GB versions of the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus suffer from slower storage speeds, according to benchmarks that reveal the memory chip on the baseline model scores markedly worse than other versions.
Mix technology and beer without worrying thanks to Fizzics. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Technology and alcohol don’t usually mix. It normally results in lost iPhones or inebriated calls to an ex. But, I might make an exception for the Fizzics Draft Beer System.
Fizzics is designed to enhance the flavor and aroma of any bottle, can or even 64 oz. growler you place inside. Without the use of any CO2 or nitrogen cartridges, the boozy contraption aims to give you the fresh from the tap experience by using sound technology. But, does it work?
I gladly took on the challenge to try out the Fizzics and put it to the test. Check out the review below.