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How to send app crash reports to OS X Notification Center

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Crash reports don't have to interrupt your Zen.
Crash reports don't have to interrupt your Zen.
Photo: Lifehacker

OS X is about as reliable as any operating system out there, but apps still can — and do — crash. When they do, they take up the entire middle of your screen, interrupting whatever you’re doing, even if the app that crashed was running in the background.

It’s a mild annoyance, true, but it doesn’t have to be an annoyance at all. Here’s how to push crash messages to Notification Center instead of the middle of your screen.

Ford exec: Apple and Google can succeed at building vehicles

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ford-exec-apple-and-google-can-succeed-at-building-vehicles-2-image-cultofandroidcomwp-contentuploads201601fordapplecarplay2016jan770x488-jpg
Ford is embracing the Silicon Valley vision of cars.
Photo: Ford
Ford is embracing the Silicon Valley vision of cars. Photo: Ford
Ford is embracing the Silicon Valley vision of cars. Photo: Ford

Compared to some of the other automotive naysayers, Ford has been outspoken about the fact that Silicon Valley might (shock horror!) actually be able to successfully disrupt the car industry.

Now a Ford exec says his company actually welcomes the competition from companies like Google and Apple.

3D scanner will let you count food calories with your iPhone

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A prototype of NutriRay3D in action.
Photo: NutriRay3D

There are many meal-tracking apps and iOS-compatible smart scales out there, but for really dedicated calorie-counters the problem with the majority of them is that they don’t give you the nutritional content of the exact meal sitting in front of you.

A new high-tech food scanner straight out of Star Trek hopes to help solve that problem, by giving you a new iPhone attachment called NutriRay3D, which will use 3D image processing to accurately calculate the volume and calorie measurement of any meal.

India may be about to get its own Apple Stores

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India Apple Stores
The closest thing India currently has to an Apple Store.
Photo: Lawrence Sinclair/Flickr CC

With the Chinese economy slowing, Apple’s got another heavily-populated country in its sights — with Apple India filing an application to open official Apple Stores with the country’s department of industrial policy and promotion.

“We have just received Apple’s proposal. We are examining it,” said India’s DIPP Secretary Amitabh Kant.

Apple Watch Hermès wings its way online Friday

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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

The bulk of the country is about to get some very good news for their senses of style — and bad news for their bank accounts: The super-luxe Apple Watch Hermès will be available for purchase online at the end of this week.

Up to now, you’ve had to live in (or travel to) specific Apple and boutique stores in Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Francisco, or Toronto to pick up the especially fancy editions of the Apple Watch. But starting Friday, you’ll just have to go to either Apple or Hermès’ official sites to score one of your own.

Adobe knows what stock photos will be hot, hot, hot in 2016

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Quirky, personal tech will continue to attract.
Quirky, personal tech will continue to attract.
Photo: BIZOO_N / Adobe Stock

Adobe Stock thinks it knows the future.

At least, the stock photography collective run by Adobe Systems, thinks that photos showing personalized technology (wearables and VR headsets), hipster aesthetics (Instagram, beards, and flannel, anyone?), and more stylish selfies will rule the roost in the coming year.

What’s that mean to you? Well, chances are you’ll see more of these kinds of images in your Facebook and Instagram feeds, and every day advertising life. If you’re a creative professional, you’ll want to stay up on the trending imagery as it evolves over the coming months.

Here’s a rundown of the trends Adobe Stock thinks are coming your way in 2016.

Creepy phone case looks like it can listen in on your calls

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Ear by bohed
"That would look fantastic on the back of my phone." -- possible serial killers
Photo: bohed/Pixabay

If you’re looking for a one-of-a-kind case for your precious smartphone, here’s one that looks like it came straight out of Videodrome director David Cronenberg’s worst nightmares.

Have you seen that movie? It’s messed up.

This creepy phone case comes courtesy of artist Sarah Sitkin, who specializes in amazing, realistic representations of human body parts. And if you want one that looks like its upkeep will include the judicious use of cotton swabs, she’s created one that looks uncannily like you skinned it off of one of your victims as a trophy. But it will cost you.

Check it out below:

More evidence of Apple’s frustrating fight to build TV service

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Apple TV
The streaming TV service is still on the way, but not without some bumps in the road.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

John Skipper, president of ESPN, talked quite a bit in an interview about the future of Apple TV and in particular, Apple’s plans for a streaming television service that may or may not include ESPN. He revealed that Apple is apparently having a hard time sorting out the details with programmers.

“We have ongoing conversations,” Skipper told The Wall Street Journal. “They have been frustrated by their ability to construct something which works for them with programmers. We continue to try to work with them.”

Apple TV’s software designer bails on Cupertino

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The guy that designed Apple TV's software is leaving.
The guy that designed Apple TV's software is leaving.
Photo: Leander Kahney/Cult of Mac

Apple is losing one of the chief designers of the new Apple TV just months after the product launched to the public.

Designer Ben Keighran revealed that he is leaving the company after joining Apple four years ago when his company Chomp was purchased by Apple to inject fresh talent into Apple’s streaming box.

Messaging app takes on Skype, WhatsApp with killer advertising

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SOMA wants to grow its users for security reasons.
SOMA wants to grow its users for security reasons.
Photo: SOMA

If you are unfamiliar with the messaging app SOMA, you will soon learn about them through a confrontational advertising campaign that implores people to give up on Skype, WhatsApp and Viber.

It’s for your own good, the company says.

SOMA Messenger encrypts data end-to-end and auto-deletes messages, its team declaring the app to be the most secure in the space. It also allows up to 500 people for group chats and up to four in group video or voice calls.

Tune up your iOS devices the easy way with iPhone Care Pro

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iPhone Care Pro does what iTunes does for our iOS devices, only better and easier.
iPhone Care Pro does what iTunes does for our iOS devices, only better and easier.
Photo: Tenorshare

This post is brought to you by Tenorshare, maker of iPhone Care Pro.

Oh, iTunes. We gave it a good run, but I finally realized I’ve just been using you to take care of my iPhone. And that I can do better.

After finding my iPhone never quite properly synced, waiting through lengthy backups and updates, and putting up with your strange behavior because “that’s just the way you were designed,” it’s time to move on.

How I quickly fixed a weird Siri Remote problem

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Wonky Menu button? Try this weird trick.
Wonky Menu button? Try this weird trick.
Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac

I’ve been suffering with this strange issue for about a week: my Apple TV’s Siri Remote’s Menu button stopped working.

All the other buttons–Home, Siri, Volume and Play–worked, so it didn’t seem like a huge deal at first. But then I was digging around in the Settings app and realized that the Menu button is indispensible for one thing: moving backward in an app. Without it, I was stuck in the Settings pane that I had clicked through to; there was no getting back to the main Settings page.

Here’s what I did to get the Siri Remote’s Menu button working again.

iOS 9.2.1 brings lots of bug fixes

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A new iOS 9 update is here
Ladies and gentlemen, it's time to update your iOS devices!
Photo: Apple

The first public update for iOS 9 this year has finally arrived in the form of iOS 9.2.1, which was made available to all iPhone, iPad and iPod touch users this morning.

Get it now: OS X update boosts Mac performance

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A new beta is out for OS X El Capitan.
El Capitan's third big update brings performance enhancements and bug fixes.
Photo: Apple

The newest build of OS X El Capitan is now available to the public after undergoing a month of beta testing.

OS X 10.11.3 can now be downloaded and installed by all Mac users with supported hardware. It’s a free update that promises to bring a number of enhancements, including performance improvements and tons of bug fixes.

Apple may be testing iPhone tech that’s 100 times faster than Wi-Fi

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bump transfer
Apple was awarded a patent for bump transfer of data between iPhones.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

The next iPhone you get may come with super-fast data speeds that are 100 times faster than Wi-Fi. Based on references found in iOS 9.1’s code, it appears that Apple is testing Li-Fi capabilities on the iPhone that use light pulses instead of radio waves to transmit data.

Hidden inside iOS 9’s system library cache file there’s a specific mention of “LifiCapability.” The reference was first spotted by 19 year-old developer Chase Fromm on Twitter:

Pay what you want to learn programming for web, Apple Watch, iOS 9 and more [Deals]

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Learn to code for mobile or web with these 10 hands-on, comprehensive lessons.
Learn to code for mobile or web with these 10 hands-on, comprehensive lessons.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

The world of programming is wide and wild, bristling with enough different languages, platforms and workflows to leave anyone dizzy. These 10 courses, clocking in at over 178 hours of content, offer a travel guide for the prospective coder. The best part might be that you can get it for whatever you’re willing to pay, and a portion of every dollar you spend goes to support the important work of Save the Children.

Hand-cranked iPhone battery case puts you in charge

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Dead battery? Get cranking with the AMPWare case.
Dead battery? Get cranking with the AMPWare case.
Photo: AMPWare

Now more than ever, we are able to manage our anxiety over a dead iPhone battery. There are plenty external power banks and battery cases on the market, but even those need to be charged.

The AMPWare Case revives a dead battery much like your great grandfather started his horseless buggy – with a hand crank.

Apple will provide free products for Super Bowl committee

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A still from the classic Apple
Still Apple's most iconic Super Bowl moment.
Photo: Apple

As one of the tech companies sponsoring this year’s Super Bowl, Apple is reportedly doing more than just lending its support to the biggest event on the NFL calendar. According to a new report, Apple will also be providing the host committee with free products and equipment.

Despite this, Apple has chosen not to have its name or logo included in any of the marketing materials for the event.

Victory for Apple! Court bans sale of older Samsung phones

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Samsung is banned from selling some of its older handsets.
Photo: Kārlis Dambrāns/Flickr CC
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Samsung is banned from selling some of its older handsets. Photo: Kārlis Dambrāns/Flickr CC

Apple and Samsung have been locked in a never-ending legal battle seemingly forever, but yesterday a federal court in California agreed to finally ban the U.S. sale of several Samsung smartphones which infringe on patents owned by Apple.

The bad news? The phones are now so old that they’re not really sold any more. But there’s some good news, too.