Take a peek at Apple’s most amazing store on the West Coast. The Union Square store promises to be every bit as iconic as Apple’s cube on Fifth Avenue, thanks to its incredible glass and metal design and a new prominent location in San Francisco’s popular luxury shopping district.
All this, and much much more in this week’s Cult of Mac Magazine.
Here are this week’s top stories.
This week, on The CultCast: Apple makes a curious investment in China’s version of Uber; iPhones that charge wirelessly in your pocket; Siri is coming to a Mac near you; more weird and wacky stories from the Cult of Mac; and we tell you what we like (and what we don’t) about the gadgets we’re currently testing in an all-new Under Review.
Our thanks to Freshbooks for supporting this episode. FreshBooks is the easy-to-use invoicing software designed to help small business owners get organized, save time invoicing and get paid faster. Get started now with a 30-day free trial.
After another red letter week at the Cult of Mac Deals Store means we’ve got some select cuts to share this week. There’s something here for everybody — save yourself some cash and a trip to the Genius Bar with a custom set of tools for fixing your electronics. Instantly enhance your iPhone’s pictures with a set of detachable lenses. Get an anonymous second phone number or 10 top tier apps for your iPhone and Mac.
Take a look:
At its I/O conference in California this week, Google gave us a preview of the new Google Assistant that’s coming later this year. It’s like Siri, only it’s vastly more intelligent. It does everything you want a digital assistant to do and more.
And just like a lot of Google services, Assistant will be available on iOS — not only in the official Google app, but also inside the new Allo messenger. It will be competing with Apple’s AI in its own backyard, and the Cupertino company should be worried about that.
But can Siri catch up, or have Apple’s rivals now too far ahead in artificial intelligence? Join us in this week’s Friday Night Fight as we battle it out over digital assistants.
Google now offers its very own keyboard for iOS, and it’s awesome. It’s packed full of useful features like glide typing and built-in search, and it has a clean and simple design that’s a pleasure to type on. It’s probably the best third-party keyboard on iPhone.
But there are 10 things you should know about Gboard before you get set up.
Police in Brooklyn arrived to a bloody scene at the busy Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center train station on Friday morning after a 33-year-old man was stabbed while riding the N train.
The assailant apparently knifed the victim in the stomach after grabbing his iPhone while the Coney Island-bound train pulled into the subway station.
Is Apple finally going to dip its toe into the fast-growing world of virtual reality?
Everyone’s been waiting for the Cupertino company to make its move as devices like the Samsung Gear VR become increasingly popular, and according to Indian actor Emraan Hashmi — who met with Tim Cook this week — “Apple VR” is on its way!
The iPhone’s classic marimba ringtone has grown a bit annoying after nine years of playing in pockets across the globe. We’ve seen the classic tone remixed a ton of different ways, but perhaps none are better than this classical remix cooked up by musician Tony Ann.
The pianist has recreated the most popular ringtones ever into one incredible classic arrangement that includes some little gems from other carriers and cellphone makers that you’ll recognize instantly.
Check it out:
Apple has pulled its latest iOS 9.3.2 update for the 9.7-inch iPad Pro due to a mysterious bug that has bricked some devices. “Error 56” asked users to plug their tablets into iTunes, but many found that this didn’t resolve the issue.
When choosing a bag to carry my most precious cargo (MacBook, iPad(s), camera, iPhone), I generally look for something that offers a balance between minimalist good looks and higher-carrying capacity.
Waterfield’s rather boringly-named Cargo Laptop Bag is a fantastic choice for the pro on the go, with capacious storage pockets and a gorgeously-designed outer and inner experience that never feels overstuffed, even when I filled it up with all of my gear.
Apple fans felt a deep sense of mourning in 2011 when Apple founder Steve Jobs succumbed to cancer. With the fifth anniversary of his passing approaching, Cult of Mac looks at the artistic tributes that followed.
The Tumblr bio of Hong Kong graphic artist Jonathan Mak Long reads, “I try to do good work, and the world agrees on occasions.”
The death of Steve Jobs was one such occasion. Within hours of the news, grieving Apple fans across the world took comfort in an image created by the then-teenaged college student of a silhouetted Jobs in the bite of the Apple logo.
Google is bringing Android apps to Chrome OS to make its Chromebooks an even more attractive option for laptop buyers, but it turns out they’re already doing pretty well. For the first time ever, Chromebooks are now outselling Macs in the U.S.
When you think about it, a phone number can be a liability — you can be reached by anyone who punches the right digits into their phone. It’s an identifying number, a source of spam, a potential avenue for identity theft or even harassment. That’s why separate “burner” numbers are gaining popularity. You probably have a junk email address, why not something similar for your phone number? Here are 4 reasons you might consider getting a burner number, followed by a couple ways you can actually get one.
How does the iPhone cost where you live stack up against the rest of the world? Deutsche Bank’s annual “Mapping the World’s Prices” report for 2016 has arrived, and it compares the prices of 20 popular items in global cities around the world — including Apple’s iPhone 6.
The big message? Mainly that you shouldn’t misplace your iPhone while in Brazil, India, Sweden, Denmark, Indonesia, or Italy. Check it out below.
Apple may be forced to ditch its chosen dual camera module supplier Sony in favor of LG Innotek, according to a new report claiming that Sony has fallen behind schedule.
Nomura analyst Chris Chang says that he thinks Sony won’t be able to deliver its full share of dual camera lenses for the iPhone 7 due to lower-than-expected yield and damage to its production facility from the April earthquake in Kumamoto. “As a result, we think LGI will gain majority share of the initial dual camera orders from Apple,” Chang writes.
Grab an Apple iPad mini 4 64GB WiFi and 4G Tablet for $500. Or, get your hands on a case for your iPad for just $10. These deals and more are part of this week’s best Apple bargains.
Apple’s long-awaited first brick-and-mortar retail store in Brooklyn has been confirmed by a series of job listings posted by Apple.
Jobs include Creatives, Experts, Specialists, Retail Managers, Senior Managers, Geniuses and other positions, on both Apple’s job site and on LinkedIn.
As part of Apple’s top-ranking executive’s trip to India, VP of Environment, Policy and Social Initiatives Lisa P. Jackson this week visited “solar mamas” and a rural school where students are taught there lessons using iPads.
Although WWDC is mostly software focused, it’s also significant reminder that Apple is always moving forward with new devices and other big announcements on the horizon.
Unfortunately for us Apple addicts that means you have to be prepared to shell cash when Apple busts out a surprise ‘One more thing…’ announcement, but it turns out Apple devices are a really good way to recoup some of those costs.
Readdle’s excellent PDF Expert app, the best PDF management app on iOS, is now even greater thanks to Apple Pencil support, and a new transfer tool that makes moving files to and from your Mac easier than ever.
A Chromebook may be a super affordable alternative to the MacBook, but relying solely on web apps inside Google Chrome, they’re not ideal for those who have more than basic computing needs. Except they won’t just run web apps soon.
At its I/O conference in California today, Google announced that Chrome OS is finally getting the Google Play Store with full Android app support.
Apple has put the finishing touches on its new flagship store in San Francisco this week and gave the press an early preview of the store that is set to open to the public this weekend.
The Union Square store promises to be every bit as iconic as Apple’s cube on Fifth Avenue, thanks to its incredible glass and metal design and a new prominent location in San Francisco’s popular luxury shopping district.
Take a peek at Apple’s most amazing store on the West Coast:
OWC has today released new drivers that make its entire SSD lineup compatible with Boot Camp. That means you can finally run Windows on Macs that have OWC drives installed.
In a world full of smart and connected devices, a standard run-of-the-mill padlock just isn’t going to cut it for me. Thanks to Dog & Bone, though, I don’t have to settle.
This is the LockSmart Mini: a keyless, Bluetooth padlock taking the hassle out of remembering to keep those tiny little keys safe. And, saving me from trying to remember yet another four-digit passcode.
To see the lock in action and to check out my full review, see the video below.
Apple fans felt a deep sense of mourning in 2011 when Apple founder Steve Jobs succumbed to cancer. With the fifth anniversary of his passing approaching, Cult of Mac looks at the artistic tributes that followed.
If the wrinkles and curves on a person’s face tell a story, Dylan Roscover will find the right words to narrate each and every line.
The commercial artist from Boulder, Colo., used the messaging from Apple’s “Here’s to the crazy ones” television commercial from 1997 to create a portrait of the embodiment of misfit genius, Steve Jobs.