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‘Racist’ Snapchat filter turns anyone into Bob Marley

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HEADING
Snapchat desperately hopes every little thing will turn out to be alright.
Photo: Ste Smith/Luke Dormehl
Snapchat desperately hopes every little thing will turn out to be alright. Photo: Cult of Mac
Snapchat desperately hopes every little thing will turn out to be alright. Photo: Cult of Mac

A Bob Marley-themed Snapchat filter designed to celebrate 4/20 has backfired, with hordes of users accusing the company of promoting “blackface.”

It’s the latest instant outrage to flare up on the internet, and a total bummer for anyone just trying to enjoy the high holy day for pot smokers. After all, isn’t April 20 the one day of the year we should all be kicking back and chilling out?

This app takes the friction out of sharing files [Deals]

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CloudApp makes it easy and seamless to share your image files with anyone.
CloudApp makes it easy and seamless to share your image files with anyone.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

When you’ve got a lot of pictures to share with friends and colleagues, it can quickly turn into a mess of shared folders, resizing and reformatting. CloudApp is a premium app designed to make sharing photos a seamless, drag-and-drop affair. It’s an easy way to get your content where you want it and fast, and right now you can get CloudApp for just $24.99.

Pictar grip gives conventional camera feel to iPhone

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Pictar eliminates the worry of dropping your iPhone while making pictures.
Pictar eliminates the worry of dropping your iPhone while making pictures.
Photo: miggo

The more I grow to love photography with an iPhone, the more I miss certain things about conventional cameras. Get a grip, you say? A grip is one of the things I am talking about.

miggo, innovative makers of camera bags, straps and mounts, brings to Kickstarter the Pictar, an ergonomic camera grip for the iPhone that also shifts cumbersome menu functions to five programmable wheels and buttons right at the tip of your shooting finger.

Android maker beats Apple to banishing the headphone jack

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android-maker-beats-apple-to-banishing-the-headphone-jack-image-cultofandroidcomwp-contentuploads201604LeEco-Le-2-2-png
LeEco will tackle the U.S. market this year.
Photo: LeEco
LeEco will tackle the U.S. market this year. Photo: LeEco
LeEco will tackle the U.S. market this year. Photo: LeEco

Apple is expected to banish the 3.5mm headphone jack to make its next-generation iPhone 7 even thinner. But it won’t be the first smartphone maker to take this controversial step.

LeEco today unveiled a trio of new Android-powered handsets that have all snubbed the headphone jack in favor of digital USB-C headphones and wireless alternatives.

How to streamline your Touch ID setup

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

If you’re setting up your new iPhone for the first time, one of your must-do steps will be setting up Touch ID. Apple’s biometric security system lets you map your own fingerprint to the Home button so nobody can unlock your device but you (or the bad person who has gained control of your thumb somehow, but that’s a bit grim).

When I set up my Touch ID the first time, I mapped the thumbs of both hands separately, and that was a good idea because I frankly have no idea which side my phone is going to be on when I want to get into it. And that’s served me well, but we’ve found an even more efficient way to do that same thing thanks to some sharp internet investigators.

Apple and Alphabet employees are definitely feeling the Bern

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apple-and-alphabet-employees-are-definitely-feeling-the-bern-image-cultofandroidcomwp-contentuploads201604sanders-780x521-jpg
Silicon Valley is behind Bernie Sanders all the way.
Photo: Ste Smith/Jonathunder/Cult of Mac
Silicon Valley is behind Bernie Sanders all the way. Photo: Ste Smith/Jonathunder/Cult of Mac
Silicon Valley is behind Bernie Sanders all the way. Photo: Ste Smith/Jonathunder/Cult of Mac

Tech employees at Google, Apple, Microsoft and Amazon are some of the most ardent supporters of Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders, according to findings by the Federal Elections Commission.

In all, Google employees have donated $250,000 to Sanders’ campaign, while Apple workers have handed over a not-unimpressive $85,576.

That’s in stark contrast to Hillary Clinton and Republican front-runner Donald Trump, both of whom have mainly attracted financial groups as their leading supporters.

Apple and Google take aim at controversial anti-encryption bill

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Proposed bill could hold tech giants more accountable for child exploitation
Tech companies want to protect encryption.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Tech companies want to protect encryption. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Tech companies want to protect encryption. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple and Google have leant their names to an open letter taking aim at a controversial new anti-encryption bill, which demands that tech companies make their devices breakable at will.

“We write to express our deep concerns about well-intentioned but ultimately unworkable policies around encryption that would weaken the very defenses we need to protect us from people who want to cause economic and physical harm,” the letter opens.

In addition to Apple and Google, other tech giants which signed the missive include Amazon, eBay, Facebook, Netflix, and more.

Zombie-hunting platformer channels the spirit of Metal Slug

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Screen Shot 2016-04-20 at 09.49.33
Coming Thursday to an iOS device near you.
Photo: Zombie Hunter: Death to the Undead

I love the Metal Slug franchise. I don’t think there’s anyone my age (early thirties), who grew up on a diet of comic books and testosterone-fuelled action movies from the 1980s, that doesn’t.

But while the franchise’s iOS efforts have so far been confined to diverting spinoffs like tower defense games, a new title promises to take the classic Metal Slug spirit (even if it’s not an official game in the series) and pour it into an all new balls-to-the-wall action-platformer-shooter.

Check out the trailer below.

FBI found no new information on San Bernardino shooter’s iPhone

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google-facebook-and-others-following-apples-lead-on-encryption-image-cultofandroidcomwp-contentuploads201601iPhone-6s-Live-Photos-jpg
After all that effort, the San Bernardino iPhone turns out not to be what the FBI was hoping for.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

The FBI has had three weeks to examine the unlocked iPhone belonging to San Bernardino shooter Syed Farook, and U.S. law enforcement officials are finally ready to say whether they were able to find anything of use on the handset.

The answer? Not much. Although that’s not the way they’re presenting it.

Hermès Apple Watch bands are pricey even à la carte

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Hermes Apple Watch bands are now available on their own.
Hermes Apple Watch bands are now available on their own.
Photo: Apple

No need to let those new MacBooks hog all of the attention today — now, you can buy one of those super-luxe Hermès Apple Watch bands separately from the device.

This is, of course, assuming you already have an Apple Watch and enough scratch to bring home one of these things, which are as fabulous as they are ridiculously expensive. But along with their newfound independent retail status, the straps are premiering some new colors so that you can coordinate appropriately.

Here’s how the pricing and options break down.

Man wants to marry his MacBook to make (idiotic) point

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Actually, marrying a MacBook doesn't sound like such a bad idea.
Actually, marrying a MacBook doesn't sound like such a bad idea.
Photo: Ben Rosett/Unsplash

If you love your MacBook so much, why don’t you marry it?

The real answer to the above, typically hypothetical question is, “Because it wouldn’t be legal, and that’s stupid.” And if you understand that, you’re one step ahead of Chris Sevier, a guy who has just filed a civil suit in Houston demanding his right to be bound in holy matrimony with his laptop. And why would anyone want to do that, other than the obvious tax benefits and status as Ultimate Apple Fanboy?

Sevier’s taking his case across the country in protest of same-sex marriage.

Siri lawsuit costs Apple $25 million

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Siri
Hey Siri
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

A long running lawsuit between Apple and Dynamic Advances and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has finally come to an end, and it wasn’t cheap for Apple.

The Dallas-based Dynamic Advances sued Apple for allegedly infringing on a 2007 patent. The patent in question was exclusively licenced to the firm by Rensselaer, but Apple violated it with certain voice features used in Siri. 

The new MacBooks are out, and I don’t care [Opinions]

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New MacBook line Spring 2016
That’s 23% off the usual price!
Photo: Apple

We’d heard rumblings and observed omens and portents about the imminent release of new 12-inch MacBooks, and now they are here. And that’s pretty cool, I guess.

Longer battery life is always a plus, as are faster Skylake processors and speedier memory. The new Rose Gold option is pretty, too.

But despite the fact that I’m still rocking a 2011 MacBook Pro, I’m not reaching for my wallet to grab one of the new Retina MacBook models. I can’t even explain why that is — I simply don’t care.

Apple denies giving China its source code

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Bruce Sewell
Apple's top lawyer went back to Congress today.
Photo: House Committee on the Judiciary Hearings

Chinese authorities have demanded Apple give the country complete access to its source code within the last two years, but Apple says it has refused to comply with the government’s demands.

Apple’s top lawyer, Bruce Sewell, defended the company’s position before U.S. lawmakers at a congressional hearing today, after the iPhone-maker was accused by law enforcement officials of refusing to help the U.S. government while at the same time freely giving information to China for business reasons.

One contact app to collect them all

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1sync_promo (1)
1Sync takes the hassle out of managing all your contacts.
Photo: Kraftwerk9

This post is brought to you by Kraftwerk9, maker of 1Sync.

For all the fancy features on our phones, somehow keeping our many streams of contacts organized remains a tedious hassle. When you meet someone on Facebook, get a phone number, connect via Gmail, or get in touch through any of the other myriad forms of communication we use daily, you create a new contact in an isolated contact category.

Former Tesla VP joins Apple as electric car project accelerates

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tesla
Tesla just lost another engineer to Apple.
Photo: CC Wikipedia

Apple’s not-so-secret electric car project has added yet another Telsa engineer to its growing ranks.

Former Telsa VP of Vehicle Engineering Chris Porritt has reportedly been hired by Apple. Porritt also recently worked at Aston Martin as chief engineer. Now he’ll be working on “special projects” at Apple — like Project Titan.

Magnetic iPhone mount keeps you charged anywhere [Reviews]

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Xvida_Charger_7
This iPhone mount makes sure you never run out of juice again.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

While the iPhone 7 is rumored to have wireless charging, those of us who upgraded to the 6s are stuck without until the 7 launches this fall.

Xvida is here to save the day with its new modular mounting system with QI charging, launched today on Kickstarter.

And of course, Cult of Mac is here to show you everything you need to know with a handy video. Check it out below.

Flexible stylus has some cool hidden talents [Reviews]

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StylusFlex
The StylusFlex does a bit more than just let you poke at your screen.
Photo: Evan Killham/Cult of Mac

StylusFlex

Most people don’t use a stylus with their iPhones, and late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs wouldn’t want them to. But the StylusFlex might change a few minds because it’s not simply a substitute for the five styli you have at the end of your arm.

You have plenty of reasons to just stick with your fingers when you’re using your iPhone or iPad, and this device seems to realize that. That’s why it does a few extra things that might help it earn its keep.

To work with data, you have to learn SQL [Deals]

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SQL
It's time you enlisted in SQL Bootcamp.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

In today’s digital job market, data is king. Learning to work with the vast oceans of data that inform today’s enterprises of all sizes can be intimidating, but one thing you can be sure you’ll need to know is the SQL database language.

Knowing how to build and manage databases is one of the most lucrative skills you can add to your resume, and right now you can learn learn SQL inside and out when you sign up for this SQL Bootcamp for only $49.

Viber follows Apple’s lead with end-to-end encryption

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viber-follows-apples-lead-with-end-to-end-encryption-image-cultofandroidcomwp-contentuploads201604Viber-Logo-png
Viber's new app update is a significant one.
Photo: Viber
Viber's new app update is a significant one. Photo: Viber
Viber’s new app update is a significant one. Photo: Viber

Popular cross-platform messaging service Viber has announced that it will follow Apple’s example by embracing user privacy through the introduction of end-to-end encryption.

Viber revealed today that it will start rolling this out for all of its one-to-one and group conversations, whether that be video, voice, or text messages. According to a spokesperson for the company, the encryption update will be available to users worldwide within “several weeks,” although an exact date isn’t specified.

Apple unleashes improved MacBooks, now in rose gold

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12-inch MacBook lineup
Aren't they stunning?
Photo: Apple

Update: As several readers have pointed out, right now Apple’s “buy” page appears to be down for its new MacBooks. Either the company’s not quite ready to make the MacBooks available for sale or someone in Cupertino is costing Apple thousands and thousands of dollars.

Apple today unveiled its new MacBooks, boasting the latest Intel processors, improved graphics, faster flash storage and an additional hour of battery life.

The new 12-inch notebooks are available in four different aluminum finishes, including gold, silver, space gray and — for the first time ever — rose gold.

How to get Apple Maps on your Apple TV (sort of)

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Plan your next trip from your couch.
Plan your next trip from your couch.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Have you ever tried to plan a trip with your posse while gathered around your iPhone? It’s kind of a mess. The tiny screen doesn’t really lend itself to larger viewings. Even an iPad is much smaller than one of those big-old paper maps we used to use to group plan.

If you want to use a big screen to find your way to a road trip this summer, perhaps TV Maps by Arno Appenzeller will do the trick, letting you plan a trip right on your giant screen TV.

This third-party Apple TV app will let you search a destination, get directions, and then send everything to the companion app on your iPhone, which will then launch Apple’s Map app to get you where you need to be.

Here’s how.