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Why India may not be the China substitute Apple’s hoping for

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Apple supplier is increasing its ability to build masses of iPhones in India
India is a project for the long haul it seems!
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

With Apple running into problems in China, it’s been upping its focus on India as another relatively untapped market where Cupertino hopes to expand its market share. But can India, which has a population of 1.25 billion people, really serve as a substitute for China, with its comparative 1.36 billion people?

Not according to a group of Mizuho Securities analysts, who argue that regulatory politics, competition, low wages and lack of carrier support are all obstacles in India which means it will struggle to offset a slowdown in Apple’s China business.

Today in Apple history: Steve Jobs shows off iPhone 3G

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iPhone 3G
The iPhone 3G was a big hit for Apple.
Photo: Apple

thursday_9 In the music industry, they talk about the “difficult second album.” Fortunately that didn’t hold true when it came to Apple releasing its highly successful second-gen iPhone, which it unveiled for the first time on June 9, 2008.

Adding GPS, 3G data and a higher-quality build than its predecessor, the iPhone 3G was arguably just as revolutionary for what it did on the software side. iOS 2 arrived at the same time, and introduced push email, turn-by-turn navigation and, most significantly of all, an App Store — something Steve Jobs had previously been adamant Apple would’t allow.

Check out the debut of the iPhone 3G below.

Woz says that the App Store was Apple’s most important invention

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Steve Wozniak wax sculpture fake eyes
Woz has never been shy about speaking publicly about Apple.
Photo: Madame Tussauds

What does Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak think is the most important product in the company’s history? Nope, it’s not the Apple II, or even the iPhone. Instead, Woz told the audience at this week’s Salesforce TrailheaDX conference in San Francisco that his personal pick is none other than the App Store.

Withings’ futuristic scale measures cardiac health

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The Body Cardio uses PWV to measure your heart's health.
The Body Cardio uses PWV to measure your heart's health.
Photo: Withings

Getting a checkup on the old ticker used to require a visit to the doctor, but thanks to Withings’ incredibly smart new device, soon all you’ll need to do is put your feet on a scale.

The new Withings Body Cardio is trying to completely change the expectations of the modern scale by adding a technology called Pulse Wave Velocity to get a holistic view of your health by measuring your weight, BMI, body composition, and most important of all, cardiac health.

Slack voice calls give you another reason to ditch Skype

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Cult of Mac runs on Slack. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
You can now make calls on Slack.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

The popular messaging platform Slack is ready to go from text-only to providing voice calls for teams that use the service to communicate.

Starting today, paying teams using the iOS, Mac and Chrome apps will be able to make group calls, giving you one less reason to keep Skype installed on your Mac.

Apple employees agree: Tim Cook is fabulous!

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LOVELOUD
96 percent of Apple employees approve of Tim Cook.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Tim Cook’s approval rating among Apple employees continues to be one of the best for CEOs in the U.S. according to a new survey from Glassdoor.

Cook moved up two spots this year in the site’s annual Employee Choice awards, becoming the eighth-highest-rated CEO in terms of approval ratings from anonymous employees. Other notable tech CEOs included in the top 10 include Mark Zuckerberg, Sundar Pichai and Marc Benioff.

Here’s the full rankings:

Apple is making huge changes to how much you’ll pay for apps

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iPhone
Get ready to pay for more app subscriptions.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Starting next week, Apple will roll out major changes to the App Store that will effect how — and how much — you’ll pay for some of your favorite apps.

In a rare interview ahead of next week’s Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple VP of Marketing Phil Schiller talked about the company’s “renewed focus and energy” on the App Store. He also outlined key changes that will be unveiled during Apple’s WWDC keynote on June 13 in San Francisco.

Among the many changes coming to the App Store are search ads for apps, better revenue-sharing for developers, and new incentives for app makers to switch to subscription-based models.

Libratone Zipp(s) up powerful sound into stunning design [Reviews]

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Libratone_3
Improve your speaker game this summer with the new Libratone Zipp.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

I’ve made no secret in declaring my love for Libratone speakers, having covered the Zipp and Loop in the past.

So, when Libratone got in touch asking if I’d like to take a look at the latest iteration of the Libratone Zipp, of course I jumped at the chance.

Watch the video below to see my full thoughts!

Read all about it! Teen’s news app scores him a WWDC scholarship

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Varun Shenoy, standing outside Apple headquarters, created an app to summarize the news.
Varun Shenoy, standing outside Apple headquarters, created an app to summarize the news.
Photo: Narendra Shenoy

Cult of Mac 2.0 bugVarun Shenoy is so busy with high school clubs that require him to keep on top of current events, he has no time to do the reading to keep up with the news.

So Shenoy came up with a solution, an iOS app with a language-based algorithm that distills the essence of news stories and presents the user with quick summaries. His app, Summit, earned him a highly coveted young developers scholarship to next week’s Apple Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco.

Want a new MacBook Pro? Get ready to wait a little longer

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apple-12q2-macbook-pro-ret-zebra-lg-640x340
The new MacBook Pro won't be shipping soon.
Photo: Apple

Apple will unveil a new MacBook Pro this month along with a minor update to the MacBook Air lineup, according to the latest Apple rumor out of China.

The big announcement will supposedly happen in June, though it might not happen at WWDC. A “reliable Chinese supplier” claims the new MacBook Pro will ditch USB-A connectors, Thunderbolt 2 and MagSafe 2 charging for USB-C, just like the spy shots we posted, but you’ll have to wait a few more months to get it.

Win It Wednesday: Enter to win $1,000 in free cash at Newegg [Deals]

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Newegg's $1,000 gift card giveaway is your last chance to build the machine of your dreams.
Newegg's $1,000 gift card giveaway is your last chance to build the machine of your dreams.

They say there’s no such thing as a free lunch, but $1,000 in gear and gadgets hardly counts as a meal does it? That’s exactly what you can win if you enter the Newegg $1000 Gift Card Giveaway. Whether you’re looking to upgrade your computer or build a new one, get a new phone, beef up the stereo system in your home or in your car, get a new flat screen TV or just some new flats, Newegg’s endless list of products means a cool thousand bucks will get you a lot of cool stuff.

Apple rumored to be phasing out iTunes music downloads

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Apple Music is awesome -- but can it replace the iTunes Store?
Apple Music could be the death knell for iTunes music downloads.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

With a major Apple Music refresh likely to be arriving at WWDC, there’s no doubting that Apple sees subscription-based streaming music as the way of the future. But where does this leave iTunes music downloads?

Despite Apple’s denials, according to “sources with close knowledge of the company’s plans,” the company continues to plan to “phase out” music downloads in a “just a few years” — depending on how this whole streaming music thing does, of course!

R.I.P. Apple’s original San Francisco store

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Apple's original flagship store in San Francisco is being quickly decommissioned.
Apple's original flagship store in San Francisco is being quickly decommissioned.
Photo: Lyle Kahney/Cult of Mac

SAN FRANCISCO — The iconic glass staircase is gone. The interior is being gutted. The Apple logos have been covered up.

Rest in peace, Apple’s original flagship store in San Francisco, which opened to great fanfare just a dozen years ago. Apple recently opened a crazily detailed store just two blocks away on Union Square, and the old one is being rapidly dismantled.

Cult of Mac cub reporter Lyle Kahney rode his bike downtown to snap a few photos of the old San Francisco Apple Store before it’s completely gone.

Renderings imagine how the iPhone 7 and 7 Pro may look

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264277
Are you ready for the iPhone 7 Pro?
Photo: Martin Hajek

We’ve still got a little over three months before Apple unveils its next-gen iPhone handsets, but — as always — designers are more than willing to help us imagine how different our lives will be come September.

From flip-phone versions of the iPhone to a retro “dumb” version without any of the added goodies, designer Martin Hajek has long been creating iPhone renderings. For these, however, he sticks to what we’ve heard from the rumor mill to bring us concepts for both the iPhone 7 and the possible iPhone 7 Pro.

Check them out below.

Apple supplier already shipped key component for new MacBook Pro

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The new MacBook Pro vs the Old.
The new MacBook Pro vs the Old.
Photo: Cult of Mac

The next-gen MacBook Pro is nearing completion, according to a new report that claims an Apple supplier has already shipped hinges that will be used in the upcoming 13-inch model.

In order to make the MacBook ultra-thin, Apple will reportedly use metal injection molding hinges from Taiwanese supplier Jarllytec, which shipped them to Apple in May.

Apple will live stream WWDC keynote

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Get ready for iOS 10.
Get ready for iOS 10.
Photo: Apple

You won’t have to go all the way to San Francisco to watch Apple’s big WWDC keynote as it happens.

Apple revealed today that it will offer a live stream of the event, which will be held June 13 at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco. The company is expected to unveil iOS 10, OS X 10.12 and much more at the software-oriented keynote in front of thousands of lucky developers.

Snapchat Discover page redesign adds previews and headlines

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snapchat
Get ready to discover the new Snapchat.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

The Discover page on Snapchat has always felt like a disjointed experience from the rest of the app, but starting today Snapchat is rolling out a major update that changes the way you interact with Live Stories from publishers and your friends.

The new design makes previews in the Discover tab a more visual experience by giving publishers the ability to add an image and headline to promote stories. In an effort to get more people to start viewing publisher’s stories, the previews are now located on the Stories page.

Swiss banks are finally getting Apple Pay

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Apple in talks to bring Apple Pay to Israel
Apple Pay has a new market opportunity.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Apple’s VP of Apple Pay recently said that Apple was “working rapidly” to bring its mobile payment system to new markets — and according to a fresh report that rapid progress may result in Apple Pay arriving in Switzerland, its seventh market, as early as next week.

Any time, any place, keep your Apple devices juiced [Deals]

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Wirelessly charge your Apple Watch, and up to 4 USB devices all at once.
Juice up your Apple Watch and three USB devices with this handy charger.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

We take our iPhones, iPads, Apple Watches and MacBooks everywhere with us, which means there are that many more chances for a dead battery (and a lot fewer available outlets). Whether at home, in a packed car, on a plane or in another country, these Apple chargers will make sure you’ve got access to power when you need it.

Samsung may launch bendable smartphones as early as 2017

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Your new iPhone probably won't be this bendy, but it will be incredibly durable.
Samsung has been investigating this tech for years.
Photo: DVICE

Apple’s been rumored to be investigating flexible iPhone, capable of bending and folding without damage, for years now — but it seems that Samsung may beat Cupertino to actually launching a handset like this into the marketplace.

According to a new report, Samsung is planning to introduce two new smartphone models featuring flexible displays, including one able to fold in half “like a cosmetic compact.”

‘Hey Siri’ helps mom call ambulance for her baby daughter

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Siri
Siri is saving lives!
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Whether it’s saving the life of a man trapped beneath a truck or calling 911 after a mom suffered a fainting spell, Siri has proven to be a real life-saver on a few occasions.

The latest such example comes out of Cairns, Australia, when a mother used her iPhone 6s’ “Hey Siri” feature to call an ambulance after her one-year-old daughter stopped breathing.

Today in Apple history: Steve Jobs introduces the iPhone 4

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Steve obs
The iPhone 4 sold 1.7 million units in its first weekend.
Photo: Matthew Yohe/Wikipedia CC

tuesday_7_360 Apple hasn’t always left users waiting until September to get their paws on the latest iPhone. Back on June 7, 2010, Steve Jobs took to the stage at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference to introduce the iPhone 4.

These days, with the iPhone 4 no longer capable of running the latest version of iOS, it’s easy to look back on the fourth-generation handset as a piece of ancient tech. In fact, the device was incredibly significant: The iPhone 4 introduced some very important features — and also addressed concerns that are still important today.

Check out Steve Jobs unveiling the iPhone 4 below.