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Hermès-style Apple Watch bands won’t empty your wallet [Reviews]

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All of Arrow & Board's products are handmade in a tiny workshop in Austin.
Photo: Traci Dauphin/Cult of Mac

Best List: Triple Tour Split Strap by Arrow & Board

With the deluge of Apple Watch bands on the market, I wanted to wrap my wrist in leather for a reasonable price.

Unwilling to drop $500 on the luxe Hermès Double Tour, I was delighted to discover the wares of Arrow & Board, a tiny company from Austin, Texas, that produces made-to-order, handcrafted leather accessories at modest prices.

iPhone drive adds storage, stays out of your way [Reviews]

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SanDisk iXpand flash drive
You'll barely even know the SanDisk iXpand is there.
Photo: Evan Killham/Cult of Mac

Budget-minded iPhone owners have gotten used to making do with a meager 16GB of memory on their devices, but it’s annoying and may not be worth the money you’ve saved. But the market has no shortage of iPhone-friendly flash drives to make your life easier, and the new version of the SanDisk iXpand is one of the cooler ones we’ve seen.

Not only does it offer a bunch of different storage sizes and a really slick app to keep everything straight, but the makers also designed it to be as unobtrusive as possible. Basically, you can keep it plugged into your iPhone all the time, and you’ll barely even notice it. And that’s more than we can say about most of the phone accessories we carry around.

Apple Watch no closer to knocking Fitbit off its throne

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Apple Watch
Fitbit won't be worried about Apple Watch... yet.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Despite its focus on helping you get fit, Apple Watch is still no closer to knocking Fitbit off its throne.

The company’s much more affordable fitness trackers have helped it claim 61.7 percent of the U.S. wearables market so far, while Apple’s first smartwatch has grabbed just 6.8 percent since making its debut last April.

Apple collectibles are a seller’s market

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Bids for this Apple I started at $370,000.
Bids for this Apple I started at $370,000.
Photo: Christie's

Cult of Mac 2.0 bugStarting a collection of Apple’s past is relatively easy and often affordable. But once you get started and a pricey, rare object presents itself, will you be able to control yourself?

Here’s a list that will test whether you have the fever and an intense desire to hold personal computing history in your hands. It may also test your fiscal fitness.

Hilarious parody edits Siri into 2001: A Space Odyssey

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Siri
"I'm sorry, Dave, I can't do that!"
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Let’s face it: Siri is a pretty astounding bit of technology, but even its creators aren’t going to argue any time soon that it’s quite on the level of HAL 9000, the murderous artificial intelligence seen in Stanley Kubrick’s classic sci-fi movie 2001: A Space Odyssey.

As the below hilarious reimagining of one of the film’s most iconic scenes makes abundantly clear. Check it out:

Hacking for the good guys is a lucrative skill to learn [Deals]

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PWYW Pentester
With companies like Instagram paying big bug bounties, it's a great time to learn ethical hacking.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Finding faults in a computer system can mean exploiting it — which is what we’ve been conditioned to think of when we hear the term “hacker” — or it can mean you’re trying to find ways of making the system stronger.

That’s what so-called white hat hacking is all about, and it’s a skill that’s becoming increasingly lucrative as more and more businesses are looking to do business over secure networks. This Ethical Hacker and Pentester Pro Bundle is a great way to join the light side of the hacking workforce, and you can get it for whatever you’re willing to pay.

Kohl’s now offering one-tap reward points with Apple Pay

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Apple in talks to bring Apple Pay to Israel
Kohl's just added a useful new Apple Pay feature.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

U.S. department store chain Kohl’s has announced that it is the first retailer to double-down on Apple Pay by adding the ability for customers to pay with their iPhones or Apple Watches using a Kohl’s Charge store-branded credit card, while simultaneously earning Yes2You Rewards loyalty points — and all with one single tap.

Apple will defend its Ireland data center plans this month

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Irish flag
New data center will be one of Apple's biggest projects in Europe to date.
Photo: John Hoey/Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple’s proposed 850 million euro ($960 million) data centre in Athenry, Ireland may be one of the most environmentally-friendly projects the company has yet put its name to, but that’s not stopping locals from kicking up a fuss about it.

This month, Apple will defend its plans during a hearing to be held on Tuesday 24 May in Galway City, when Cupertino representatives will attempt to convince An Bord Pleanála, an independent, statutory body which decides on appeals from planning decisions made by local authorities in Ireland.

Jony Ive: Apple has a ‘lot to learn’ about wearables

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A starry-eyed, slurry-tongued Jony Ive raves about the Apple Watch in a new parody video. Photo: Gizmodo
Jony Ive is excited about seeing where the Apple Watch goes in future.
Photo: Gizmodo

Jony Ive suggests that Apple is bound to make some missteps as it continues to explore wearable devices, and offers some vague, tantalizing hints about Apple’s plans for the Apple Watch in a new interview.

“Regardless of whether we declare an interest in fashion or not, we are making products that are more and more personal, products that you wear and you wear every day,” he told Business of Fashion ahead of the Apple-sponsored Met Gala. “We’ve not done that before and we’ve got a lot to learn.”

Apple Music will get a major facelift at WWDC

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Apple Music
Apple Music is getting a major update in June.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

With 13 million subscribers, Apple Music is pretty far from being a failure. At the same time, it’s fair to say that the service probably hasn’t been met with the rapturous applause which greeted, say, the launch of the iTunes Store back in 2003.

That’s about to change at WWDC, however, with Apple rumored to be using the developer conference to unleash “sweeping changes” to its streaming music service.

Apple officially makes one of Steve Jobs’ favorite projects obsolete

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Steve_Jobs_2007
WebObjects came to Apple when Steve Jobs returned from NeXT.
Photo: Ben Stanfield/Flickr CC

Twenty years after it was first released to the public, Apple has finally confirmed that its WebObjects Java-based web application framework is dead — at least as far as official Apple updates are concerned.

Never heard of WebObjects? You’re probably not alone, but back in the 1990s it was considered a breakthrough product, was one that Steve Jobs was incredibly high on, and officially came over to Apple as part of the historic deal to acquire Jobs’ former company NeXT. Even today, aspects of WebObjects are used to power its online Apple Store and iTunes Store.

Moog’s new iPad synth app is a knob-twiddler’s dream

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Model_15_app_Horizontal_2
It's the 1970s all over again!
Photo: Moog

If you’re a fan of classic synth music (and, let’s be honest, who isn’t?), you may want to check out Moog’s latest iOS release, which astonishingly recreates the company’s iconic 1973 Model 15 modular synth inside an iPad app.

Considering that a genuine Model 15 will set you back $10,000, and Moog’s app is just $30, that’s a whopping $9,970 discount!

Facebook coughs up $10,000 for 10-year-old Instagram hacker

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facebook-coughs-up-10000-for-10-year-old-instagram-hacker-image-cultofandroidcomwp-contentuploads2015122015-12-08-140126-1-jpg
It pays to uncover Facebook flaws.
Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac
Instagram Android
It pays to uncover Facebook flaws. Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Android

A 10-year-old with insane hacking skills just scored a $10,000 payout from Facebook for uncovering a serious flaw in Instagram.

The Helsinki-based boy, who can’t even open a Facebook account for another three years, found he was able to alter code on Instagram’s servers to delete comments posted by any account.

People can’t stop running into Google’s autonomous cars

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people-cant-stop-running-into-googles-autonomous-cars-image-cultofandroidcomwp-contentuploads201605Google-autonomous-vehicle-accident-report-jpeg
Yep. This is a form that exists now.
Photo: Department of Motor Vehicles

Google’s autonomous cars have taken to the road with the rest of us normals in our comparatively Flintstones-esque, human-directed rides. And the very small brush-ups are starting to come in.

In fact, the California DMV has created a form just for reporting accidents involving at least one self-driving vehicle, and it publishes these reports on its website. And while the doomsayers and doubters have wrung their hands about cars plowing into trucks filled with baby penguins, the truth is that the dozen or so accidents on the list are so hilariously small that they hardly seem worth the paperwork at all.

They should definitely file the reports; don’t get us wrong. But we imagine an eye-roll or two while it happens.

Apple hires Google X Lab co-founder to work on health projects

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Apple's latest hire specialized at building robotic hands.
Apple's latest hire specialized at building robotic hands.
Photo: University of Washington/Flickr

Apple has added yet another wicked smart talent to its ranks recently by hiring famed robotics expert Yoky Matsuoka.

Yoky was working as the head of technology at Nest before joining Apple. She was also one of the co-founders of Google’s X Lab and is a MacArthur genius award winner.

Apple only sells these retrotastic T-shirts at its campus store

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These Apple t-shirts will bring a retro nerd vibe to your wardrobe,
These Apple t-shirts will bring a retro nerd vibe to your wardrobe,
Photo: Cabel Sasser/Twitter

Looking for a T-shirt that will be the envy of all your Apple fanboy friends?

The Company Store at Apple’s headquarters on 1 Infinite Loop in Cupertino has stocked up on some great retro shirts that you won’t find anywhere else. The new items feature the rainbow Apple logo and clip art created by Susan Kare for the original Macintosh created by Susan Kare. There’s also one with the original Apple logo drawing with Isaac Newton.

Take a closer look at the new Apple T-shirts:

WhatsApp wins encryption victory in Brazilian courts

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WhatsApp is getting its own day(s) in court.
Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Android
WhatsApp
WhatsApp is getting its own day(s) in court. Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Android

Apple’s encryption showdown with the U.S. government may be more or less dormant for now, but Facebook-owned WhatsApp has its own courtroom drama happening in Brazil. It scored a slight win today, however, as a judge overturned a decision yesterday that would have shut the whole thing down across the country for several days.

The controversy surrounds the messaging app’s end-to-end encryption. Specifically, the developer’s inability (and/or unwillingness) to crack it to comply with law enforcement requests.

Spring clean your Mac with these awesome apps

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Mac_Cleaner
Free up some disk space easily and quickly thanks to these apps!
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

No matter the size of your Mac’s hard drive, there will come a time when you need to free up some space. Having a full hard drive can make your Mac feel sluggish, and running out of space can be terrifying.

Sifting through your archive of files may seem like a daunting task. But don’t fear — these three super-simple and effective Mac disk cleanup apps can help you out.

Check them out in the Cult of Mac video review below.

How to back up your iPhone or iPad to an external drive

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Use an external hard drive to free up space on your Mac.
Use an external hard drive to free up space on your Mac.
Photo: Ste Smith/ Cult of Mac

If you’ve got a tiny hard drive on your Mac and a large-capacity iPhone or iPad (or both!), you might worry that you’re about to run out of space due to all the stuff you want to back up from your iOS device to your OS X one.

You won’t have to worry any longer. This trick makes your Mac back up your iPhone or iPad to an external drive, which will ensure you never run out of space to keep your data backed up.

Here’s how.

Spotify just got a lot easier to navigate

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Spotify
Meet Spotify's new nav bar.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Spotify is ditching its hamburger button for a more familiar navigation bar on iOS, making it quicker and easier to access your music and features like Spotify Radio.

Users in some countries — including the U.S. — can enjoy the changes today.

Meet the loyal Newton fans who keep the device alive and kicking

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Keeping the light on. A group of enthusiasts who keep their Apple Newtons aglow.
Keeping the light on. A group of enthusiasts who keep their Apple Newtons aglow.
Photo: Adam Tow

Cult of Mac 2.0 bugGrant Hutchinson has never owned an iPad. He does, however, own some 15-dozen Newton devices, a few of which he uses every day to help manage tasks, a schedule and software clients.

Why would Hutchinson cling to and even rely on a clunky obsolete digital message pad, an Apple failure so big it inspired f-bomb rage in Steve Jobs and a week’s worth of damning Doonesbury comic strips?

Hutchinson is just one of a few thousand people worldwide who collect and even use Apple’s first mobile computing device, discontinued in 1998 after a number of incarnations over a rocky five-year run.

Apple devices top list of ‘most influential gadgets’ of all time

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iPhone
The iPhone is Time's most influential gadget of all time.
Photo: andri333 / Pixabay CC

Apple’s iconic consumer electronics continue to top the record books, fitting into the first (iPhone), third (Macintosh), and ninth (iPod) spots in Time Magazine’s list of the 50 most influential gadgets of all time.

The list is rounded out with the iPad (number 25) and Apple’s original candy-colored iBook (38), the Sony Walkman at number four, Kodak’s Brownie camera at number eight, and several consoles from Atari, Nintendo, and Sony scattered throughout.

It’s a surprisingly mixed list, in terms of historical time period, but it does tend to skew a bit modern, thanks to our rapid advances in our own “gadget” era.

iMessage comes to Android thanks to neat Mac hack

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Your Android friends may soon get blue chat bubbles too.
But how long will it last?
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Having to bid farewell to iMessage is one of the reasons why many iPhone users won’t jump ship to Android. But thanks to a new app called PieMessage, you can now enjoy Apple’s insanely popular messaging platform on a Google-powered smartphone.