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iPhone shipments rocket 133% in the Middle East and Africa

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iPhone 6s
After China, the Middle East and Africa is one of Apple's big focuses.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Apple is focused on expanding into new markets, and after its success in China, it seems the next focus is on the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region.

According to analysts at Counterpoint Research, Apple saw its market share in the region climb 3.9 percent in the third quarter of 2015, compared to 2.2 percent during the same period one year earlier. Overall, iPhone shipments grew 133 percent on-year in 2015 to enter the top 5 smartphone brands in the area.

Controversial Steve Jobs documentary airs on TV this weekend

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man in the machine
Something something dark side.
Photo: Magnolia Pictures

If you haven’t suffered Steve Jobs overload already (and the disappointing box office results for Aaron Sorkin’s Steve Jobs suggests that many people have), Oscar winner Alex Gibney’s controversial feature-length Jobs documentary, Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine, debuts this Sunday on CNN.

Apple could ink deal with Samsung and LG for future OLED iPhones

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apple-could-ink-deal-with-samsung-and-lg-for-future-oled-iphones-image-cultofandroidcomwp-contentuploads201501LG-G-Flex-2-jpg

LG-G-Flex-2

We’ve heard for years that Apple could incorporate OLED displays into next-generation iPhones, but over the past few months, those rumors have ramped up, suggesting that the power-sipping display technology could land as early as the iPhone 7.

Now, a new report buttresses those rumors, saying Apple is close to finalizing a supply agreement with Samsung and LG to give future iPhones OLED displays.

How to keep iPhone from ruining your square lock-screen photos

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It's hip to be square.
It's hip to be square.
Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac

If you’ve ever tried to set a square photo as your lock screen or homes screen wallpaper, you know that iOS will zoom into the photo, resizing it to fit the entire iPhone screen.

This is fine with some images, but square ones, like the ones you save on Instagram or take with your iPhone’s square photo feature, just zoom in too far, obscuring much of the photo.

Here’s a quick and easy work around that will let you see the whole square photo when you use it as wallpaper.

iPhone goes dumb in this neat Apple concept

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iDot would be the first distraction free iPhone.
iDot would be the first distraction free iPhone.
Photo: Martin Hajek/Curved

Apple fans obsess over which new features will get added to the iPhone every year, but if the latest concept from designer Martin Hajek ever becomes a reality, the new iPhone will be more notable for the hardware it’s missing.

The iDot concept packs no camera, no internet connection, zero apps and minimal distractions, so you can focus on what’s really important instead of having your soul slowly sucked away by your iPhone screen.

Apple’s ‘Start Something New’ campaign will help you get your creativity on

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Artist Kahori Maki of Japan demonstrates how she paints using the iPad Pro and Apple Pencil.
Artist Kahori Maki of Japan demonstrates how she paints using the iPad Pro and Apple Pencil.
Photo: Apple

Apple won’t tell you it makes the world’s best computing products. That’s because rhetoric doesn’t have the same power as seeing is believing.

Apple is showcasing the work of some of the more creative users of iMacs, iPads and iPhones in an advertising campaign called “Start Something New.”

Why 2015 was Apple’s most important year since original iPhone’s unveiling

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Apple raked in the cash last quarter.
2015 was a crucial year for Apple, and it looks like it's paying off.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

‘Tis the season to be jolly — or, if you’re a tech writer hoping to score enough clicks to help pay off the post-Christmas credit card, ’tis the season to label this the worst year for Apple since records began.

From Gizmodo’s restrained “Everything Apple Introduced This Year Kinda Sucked,” to The Verge calling this the year Apple spent in beta, to Bloomberg banging the “lemon of the year” gong for the Apple Watch, pundits aren’t exactly being kind to Cupertino as 2015 draws to a close.

But, you know what? They’re dead wrong. This was the most important year for Apple since 2007, when Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone.

Last chance for the best bargains on Cult of Mac Store’s coolest stuff [Deals]

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Access your favorite movies and TV shows without ever having to worry about travel restrictions again.
Access your favorite movies and TV shows without ever having to worry about travel restrictions again.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

The holidays have come and gone, but the big deals live on, at least for a little while. The Cult of Mac Store still has plenty of awesome tools, toys and subscriptions priced to move, but they’re deals that won’t last for long. Now’s your last chance to take advantage of massive savings on everything from invincible Lightning cables to secure internet browsing.

Steve Jobs’ response to why Apple didn’t pay its engineers more

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Why Salesforce chief gave up AppStore.com for Apple
Steve Jobs was a one-man quote machine.
Photo: Ben Stanfield/Flickr CC

Pretty much everyone who met or worked with Steve Jobs has some anecdote about Apple’s late CEO that shines a light on an aspect of his personality and/or approach to life.

The latest is Evan Doll, co-founder of news reading app Flipboard, who worked at Apple from 2003 to 2009. In a series of tweets, Doll recalls the time Jobs was asked why Apple didn’t better remunerate its engineers.

Jobs’ response was classic Steve: part obfuscation, part passive-aggressive masterclass, all while subtly (or not-so-subtly) reminding the asker that they were lucky to be at Apple, and that it was their own fault if they weren’t being paid more.

North Korea’s OS X clone is a dictator’s ‘wet dream’

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A North Korean operating system is seen in this screen shot taken in Seoul December 23, 2015.   REUTERS/James Pearson
You can't complain about North Korea's attention to detail. Especially if you live in the country.
Photo: James Pearson/Reuters

User privacy has been a massive focus for Tim Cook during his time as CEO at Apple, but it’s apparently not an area of much concern for North Korea’s OS X ripoff RedStar OS.

The operating system, which borrows Apple’s “look and feel” but little else, is basically the “wet dream of a surveillance state dictator,” according to security researchers who analyzed RedStar OS.

Apple’s A-series chip mastermind gets a happy Christmas bonus

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johny_hero
The man who designs Apple's chips just got a few more of his own.
Photo: Apple

Johny Srouji may only have been an Apple Senior Vice President for a hot minute, but already he’s reaping the benefits of his new position — courtesy of the festive awarding of restricted stock units currently valued at $9.6 million, plus common stock holdings worth $10.9 million.

iOS game AdVenture Capitalist! will scratch that ‘endless clicker’ itch

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This can run all day.
This can run all day.
Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac

If you’re anything like me, you find something compelling about an “endless clicker” game. There’s not a lot of gameplay or strategy in one of these time-wasters, but they’re fulfilling in some odd way.

Take my latest obsession: AdVenture Capitalist! Starting with a lemonade stand, you can work your way up to an oil magnate on Earth and then bust out of the atmosphere to take your industrious money gathering to Mars and the Moon.

It’s kind of ridiculous to just tap buttons to buy various industries like newspapers, pizza parlors, donut shops, and banks, but oddly soothing all the same. Here’s a quick video to give you a sense of the gameplay.

Apple made up nearly half of all Santa’s mobile presents

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ChristmasCharts_THREE
Apple is still king of the Christmas tree.
Photo: Flurry Analytics

It looks like Kris Kringle spent quite a bit of time delivering iPhones and iPads this year. Apple still remains very much in the dominant position for the tech logo people find most under their Christmas trees. The company garnered almost half of the market share — 49.1 percent, to be exact — for device activations this holiday season, far ahead of the usual runner-up, Samsung.

2016 could be the year Apple goes crazy for VR

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VR may be happening soon, and Apple might want to jump in.
VR may be happening soon, and Apple might want to jump in.
Photo: Sergey Galyonkin/Wikipedia CC

Apple might need to play catch-up on virtual reality in the coming year. Oculus, Samsung and Sony are already promoting their own brand of VR headsets and technologies.

Virtual reality is the next big thing. As such, we undoubtedly will see a ton of it at the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show. But one analyst already jumped in with his predictions about Cupertino’s chances for another hit product in the VR space.

Here’s what the new, better Google Glass looks like

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heres-what-the-new-better-google-glass-looks-like-image-cultofandroidcomwp-contentuploads201512Google-glass-jpg

This is the new Google Glass.
This is the new Google Glass.

The FCC has given us our first glimpse at Google’s next-generation Glass headset today, thanks to a public filing that includes detailed photos of the new glasses aimed at enterprise.

Tony Fadell was put in charge of redesigning Google Glass into something non-nerds would actually want to wear, and based on the FCC’s images, it looks like his team has done just that. Not only is the new Google Glass slimmer and durable, it also touts a bigger display prism while packing a hinge that will allow wearers to fold it up during travel.

We still don’t know when or if Google will officially announce the headset, but based on the FCC documents, it appears that the device is nearly ready to launch.

Take a look at its internals:

Verizon’s new deal showers switchers with cash, data

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verizons-new-deal-showers-switchers-with-cash-data-image-cultofandroidcomwp-contentuploads20151214771414113_aeae46f3b8_h-jpg
Verizon is hungry for new and returning customers.
Photo: Mike Mozart/Flickr CC
verizon-deal-650
Verizon is hungry for new and returning customers. Photo: Mike Mozart/Flickr CC

Verizon Wireless is just about matching the deal other carriers have offered for a while to entice customers on other networks. It’s essentially offering to buy you out of your contract with up to $650 per line, less the trade-in value of your current device. But Verizon also has a few extra bonuses to brag about.

iOS concept brings joy of Windows to iPad

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Windows could change work on the iPad.
Windows could change work on the iPad.
Photo: Steve Troughton-Smith

iOS 9 finally brought split-screen views to the iPad, but it’s still not nearly as useful as the windowed multitasking views you get on a Mac. Developer Steve Troughton-Smith has come up with a much better solution with a new proof-of-concept called iOS window management that would bring the joy of working in a windows environment to the iPad.

Apple already has the foundation built thanks to UIKit. It only took Troughton-Smith 500 lines of code to build the concept with the UIWindow subclass, allowing individual app screens to be resized an overlaid on top of each other.

Check out the concept video:

As more drones take to the skies, droneports will become a thing

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Rendering of the Eldorado Droneport.
Rendering of the Eldorado Droneport.
Photo: The Aerodrome

Just when you thought it was hard to achieve a first in flight in this day and age, a city near Las Vegas has broken ground on what is believed to be the first commercial drone airport.

The Aerodrome, a non-profit in unmanned aircraft education, has partnered with Boulder City, Nevada to develop the droneport. The 50-acre site about 28 miles from the Las Vegas Strip is already partially operational but won’t be complete until 2018.

Bullet, the ‘tiniest flashlight on Kickstarter,’ blows away its target

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The tiny Bullet is sorta like the 12-inch MacBook of LED flashlights.
The tiny Bullet is sorta like the 12-inch MacBook of LED flashlights.
Photo: Slughaus

The makers of a tiny (but badass!) new LED flashlight say they took inspiration from the 9mm bullet, but Apple’s incessant drive toward miniaturization seems at least as much of an influence.

You can almost hear the dulcet tones of Jony Ive’s voice in the description of the Bullet, which its maker calls “the tiniest flashlight on Kickstarter.”

Get iTunes to stop asking you to authorize your Mac

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iTunes on Mac
iTunes ain’t dead yet.
Photo: Apple

Trying to play a song in iTunes and getting the same error over and over can be frustrating. If your computer isn’t authorized with your Apple ID via iTunes, it won’t let you play any songs you’ve downloaded from the iTunes Store until it is. Sometimes iTunes will seem to get “stuck” prompting you again and again with the need to authorize.

If you’re having trouble playing your purchased iTunes on your Mac due to the repeated prompts to authorize your computer, there are a few things you can do.

Soulja Boy’s latest repetitive trap song is all about iPhone

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Trappin off my iPhone.
Trappin off my iPhone.
Photo: Soulja Boy

Rapper, producer and dance meme-maker Soulja Boy finally removed his regrettable Gucci forehead tattoo over Christmas weekend, and to celebrate he released a fresh new song that’s all about his love of Steve Jobs’ greatest gift to gangsters: the iPhone.

The new meme-worthy trap song blasts the same highly repetitive lyrics and catchy trap beats that turned Soulja Boy into a sensation in 2007 with his hit “Crank That.” Aptly titled “Trappin On My iPhone” (but not to be confused with Bigg Quan’s “Trappin Off My iPhone“), the ridiculous new song contains more than 40 iPhone references and talks about why true CEOs of the streets manage drug empires with the best smartphone, instead of a lame flip-phone burner.

Listen to the song below: