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Feds can’t tell Apple how they cracked San Bernardino iPhone

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iPhone 6s
The FBI may not legally own the process used to crack the iPhone 5c under investigation.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

We’ve heard plenty of bluster about how the FBI won’t tell Apple how it cracked the iPhone 5c at the heart of the San Bernardino shooting case, but there’s another possibility, too: that the Feds can’t tell Apple how it did it.

Why? Because according to a new report, citing Obama administration sources, it may not actually have legal ownership of the method in question.

Why the departure of Apple designer Daniel Coster matters

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Daniel Coster, fourth from left, is leaving Apple's vaunted industrial design team.
Daniel Coster, fourth from left, is leaving Apple's vaunted industrial design team.
Photo: Leander Kahney/Cult of Mac

The departure of veteran Apple industrial designer Daniel Coster is significant because, like the Mafia, no one ever leaves Jony Ive’s design studio.

Coster, a core member of Apple’s design team for more than 20 years, is perhaps only the third member of Ive’s tight-knit industrial design group to leave in almost two decades. And one of the others died.

How to never lose your car again with Tile

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Tile in the car is all sorts of useful.
Tile in the car is all sorts of useful.
Photo: Tile

I lose my car fairly regularly. Whenever I park in a lot larger than my driveway, I never seem to quite remember where I parked. It’s especially true in bigger venues that I haven’t visited before.

The folks over at Tile think they have a solution to find my parked car, though.

Here’s how to make sure you or I never lose our car again.

Facebook videos are about to get extremely intelligent

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Facebook
Automatic tagging is coming to video.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Facebook is upping its game with video. Soon, Facebook will be able to automatically identify friends in videos and tag them. Better yet, it’ll store this information so when you want to find that moment again, you could find the video by searching for your friend’s name and then jump straight to when they appear in frame.

These goggles could change your mind about cheap VR [Reviews]

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Mac users are missing out on VR.
Take your first step into VR with these inexpensive goggles.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple hasn’t shown much enthusiasm for diving into virtual reality in the past, but all signs are pointing to a renewed interest. With Tim Cook mentioning VR in the latest Apple earnings call, I got to thinking more about it — as I’ve never personally given it a go.

Being immersed in a 3-D world that tracks your head movements is becoming a mainstream reality. At the moment, VR is heading full-steam toward gamers in particular — the user is immersed in a virtual world where they can look around without the 16:9 constrictions of a standard TV or monitor.

So in this video I’m looking at a $30 VR headset and seeing how well it works. Or, if it just sucks. Check out the video after the break.

No excuses! Google Calendar now finds time for self-improvement

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no-excuses-google-calendar-now-finds-time-for-self-improvement-image-cultofandroidcomwp-contentuploads201604Google-Calendar-goals-png
Google Calendar gets smarter.
Photo: Google
Google Calendar gets smarter. Photo: Google
Google Calendar gets smarter. Photo: Google

Finding time in your busy schedule to hit the gym, get through a new book, or start a new hobby can be a task in itself. But now Google Calendar has the power to do it for you.

The new Goals feature lets you tell Google Calendar exactly what you want to do, and it will go ahead and help you find free time in which to do it.

Meizu Pro 6 is latest Android to swipe iPhone’s 3D Touch

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meizu-pro-6-is-latest-android-to-swipe-iphones-3d-touch-image-cultofandroidcomwp-contentuploads201604Meizu-Pro-6-png
The Meizu Pro 6 boasts 3D Press technology.
Photo: Meizu
The Meizu Pro 6 boasts 3D Press technology. Photo: Meizu
The Meizu Pro 6 boasts 3D Press technology. Photo: Meizu

Samsung didn’t adopt the iPhone’s pressure-sensitive display for its latest Galaxies as some reports promised it would, but other Android makers are already using it.

The latest is Meizu, which today unveiling its incredibly attractive Pro 6 smartphone with “3D Press” technology, plus a 5.2-inch Super AMOLED display, a ten-core Helio X25 chipset, and a 21.1-megapixel rear-facing Sony camera with 10 LED ring flash.

Teach your old Mac new tricks with these awesome apps [Deals]

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Give your iOS device a proper cleanse with this powerful and super intuitive app.
Give your iOS device a proper cleanse with this powerful and super intuitive app.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

You’ve got a Mac, but it could be doing more for you. From getting your phone running in top shape, taking more organized notes, or getting your streaming music playlists in order, we’ve got a triplet of useful apps at slashed prices that run the gamut.

Take a look:

‘Evil’ Wi-Fi network can brick your iPhone (and how to stop it)

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brick
Attack can render your iPhone as useful as a brick.
Photo: Cult of Mac/Nick Hubbard CC

A new threat targeting iOS devices has been discovered by security researchers Patrick Kelly and Matt Harrigan, promising to “brick” your iPhone or iPad if you happen to log onto malicious Wi-Fi networks.

Why would anyone log onto a malicious Wi-Fi network? Because by exploiting the auto-reconnect feature found on iOS — whereby your Apple device will automatically log into Wi-Fi networks it thinks it’s previously connected to — you might not even realize it’s happening.

Until it’s too late, of course.

How to make a jaw-dropping collage on your iPad with Pixlr

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Make your own fun collage with Pixlr right on your iPad.
Make your own fun collage with Pixlr right on your iPad.
Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac

Don’t let the backlash against scrapbooking get you down — photo collages are fun. You can go to the store and buy a multi-framed monstrosity to put your hardcopy photos in and mount it on your wall, or you can use an app on your Mac or iPad to take some of the work out of it.

If you’re looking to make your own collage on your iPad, Pixlr is a fantastic choice, as it makes putting various photos together and adding fun effects incredibly simple and fun.

Here’s how.

iPhone 7 demand predicted to be ‘remarkably high’

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Apple iPhone 6s
The iPhone 7's reception will be anything but frosty.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Forget about the “peak iPhone” problem: Goldman Sachs thinks this year’s iPhone 7 is going to be a big one for Apple.

Coming off the back of Apple selling its billionth iPhone sometime this summer, the bank’s senior equity research analyst Simona Jankowski says the number of people clamoring to get their hands on Apple’s next-gen iPhone will be “remarkably high.”

75 percent of teens say their next phone will be an iPhone

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960
"Android? Whatever!"
Photo: Yoga Hosers/Kevin Smith

iPhone sales may be slowing down, but the popularity level of Apple’s handsets among teenage customers is higher than ever — and increasing all the time.

In an extensive new survey carried out by analysts at Piper Jaffray, entitled “Taking Stock with Teens,” a whopping 69 percent claim to be iPhone owners. Better still, 75 percent of teens say they expect their next phone to be an iPhone.

8 easy ways to speed up your Mac

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Slow Mac
Get your Mac back up to speed with these handy tips!
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

We all know a Mac is the best computer. It’s the most reliable, the least fuss and usually the most snappy. But, as with all computers, the trusty Macintosh can also become sluggish after a while.

In today’s Cult of Mac video, we’re going to show you eight easy, useful tips to speed up your Mac.

Nintendo’s Miitomo game said to be making $280,000 every week

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Nintendo Miitomo on iPhone
Miitomo is raking in the cash.
Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac
Miitomo
Miitomo is raking in the cash. Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Android

Nintendo fans bemoaned the company’s decision not to use Mario or Link or Donkey Kong in its first smartphone game, but it seems Miitomo is doing perfectly well without famous faces.

According to new estimates, the social app is currently raking in a whopping $280,000 every single week.

Detroit museum displaying an original Apple-1 this month only

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image1
One of the rarest computers ever assembled.
Photo: Bonhams

If you’ve ever wanted to lay your eyes on an original ultra-rare Apple-1 computer — and don’t happen to have a spare six-figures of disposable income lying around — now’s your chance.

That’s because Detroit’s Henry Ford Museum is showing off one of a handful of fully-operation Apple-1 mainboards as a celebration of how far computing (and Apple) has come over the past few decades. You’ll have to be quick, though, as the breakthrough computer is only on display from now until the end of the month.

New game imagines a world in which Steve Jobs was North Korean

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1460399581-screen-shot-2016-04-11-at-23211-pm
Somewhere in a garage in... North Korea?
Photo: Homefront: The Revolution

From Philip K. Dick’s The Man in the High Castle to Mark Millar’s Superman comic Red Son, I’ve always been a massive fan of alternative history stories.

Now, upcoming first-person-shooter game Homefront: The Revolution asks a question as intriguing as any: What would have happened if a technological genius like Steve Jobs came out of North Korea instead of California?

The answer? A trillion-dollar company called APeX, apparently.

Cellebrite probably wasn’t the brains behind FBI’s iPhone hack

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iPhone hack
Israeli tech firm may not have been the ones who hacked San Bernardino iPhone.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

The FBI signed a $15,000 contract with Israeli-tech firm Cellebrite to crack the iPhone 5c at the heart of the San Bernardino shooting investigation. However, according to a new report, Cellebrite may not have been the ones who successfully hacked the smartphone, after all.

Instead, the Feds reportedly broke into the iPhone 5c with the aid of a group of professional hackers who discovered and brought to the bureau a previously unknown iOS flaw — letting them get around the iPhone’s four-digit pincode feature, without accidentally erasing the iPhone’s data in the process.

Swift grew, er, really fast in 2015

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Swift
Swift is wide open and growing fast.
Photo: Apple

Swift, the programming language that creates apps for all of Apple’s hardware, had a pretty happy 2015, according to a report from job site Freelancer.com.

The data comes from 1,429,842 “good” projects — that is, “those which have been filtered for spam, advertising, self promotion, reposts, or that are otherwise unlikely to be filled,” the published report says. And Swift was the big winner, especially when you compare its numbers to 2014’s.

You can see more in the infographic below.

How Facebook is about to spice up your internet life

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Facebook messaging apps
Mark Zuckerberg was to integrate Facebook-owned, Instagram, WhatsApp and messenger.
Photo: Facebook

Facebook’s annual F8 Conference is happening in San Francisco this week. The developer convention has wrapped up its first of two days, and CEO Mark Zuckerberg and other presenters had a bunch to share about how the social platform is about to transform itself. Some of this news has us more excited than the others but if you’re one of the 1.44 billion users worldwide (thanks, Siri), you’re about to see some changes.

Here’s what’s coming to your feed in the future, where you and I are going to spend the rest of our lives.

Sony Action Cam makes amazing video easier than ever

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The Sony Action Cam is perfect for all your craziest shots.
The Sony Action Cam is perfect for all your craziest shots.
Photo: Sony

This post is brought to you by Sony.

Competition among low-profile, high-definition cameras keeps getting tougher. For proof, look no further than the latest Sony Action Cam lineup.

Looking something like a futuristic Super 8 in pill form, these powerhouse cameras are as feature-rich as photo gear five times their size. Sony sets its new cameras apart by throwing in attractive goodies and improving upon the previous Action Cam iteration.

How to stitch together a Frankenvideo in Instagram

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InstagramCloseiPhone
Become an Insta-master with these killer Instagram tips and tricks.
Photo: Stephen Smith/Cult of Mac

An update this week has given Instagram a new superpower: You can now stitch together several clips into a single video in the app. Some of the process and details are a little unclear, however, so we’re here to help walk you through it.

Here’s how to make your classic montages in Instagram.

Don’t wake the baby! Use Bluetooth headphones with Apple TV

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Use Bluetooth headphones to watch Apple TV quietly.
Use Bluetooth headphones to watch Apple TV quietly.
Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac

If you’re anything like me, you knew that the new 4th-generation Apple TV supported Bluetooth devices like the Siri Remote, game controllers, and even keyboards, but you didn’t twig to the fact that it might also let you use Bluetooth headphones, too.

In point of fact, though, it does support them, letting you watch Netflix or game on your Apple TV without the sound of your activities waking the baby or a sleeping partner. How great is that?

Here’s how to set it up.

Circle with Disney is a near-flawless parental control system [Reviews]

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circle-disney-header
Someone didn't quite think through that Circle is mostly square.
Photo: Circle

I recall at WWDC 2011 when Steve Jobs introduced iCloud he talked about how up until that point, managing and syncing content across devices was driving everybody nuts. You’d take one photo on one device and would have to plug it in and sync it to another device, which would then offer up some of its own photos and meanwhile none of them are even on the third device yet. It truly was an insane world. But in 2016, the new Circle with Disney aims to solve a surprisingly similar problem.

Managing content across devices has gotten much easier, yet managing the people who use those devices has not. Circle is a brand-new product from Disney that wants to unify your family’s entire online experience. It allows you to set time limits for individual family members, block websites based on your child’s age, and even pause Internet access entirely when it’s time to log off.