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Apple needs something spectacular in 2016 — but what?

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Friday Night Fights is back!
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

2016 is here, and so far, it hasn’t been good to Apple.

Friday-Night-Fights-bug-2Just this week, the Cupertino company saw its stock price fall below $100 for the first time since 2014 amid countless reports that iPhone demand is weakening at a rapid pace. Apple needs to do something, but what?

Should it address falling iPhone sales first and focus on making iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus the best smartphones money can buy? Should it put more effort into making iPad the tablet it once was? Or is it time for something new?

Join us in this week’s Friday Night Fight between Cult of Android and Cult of Mac as we battle it out over all this and more!

Apple snaps up a trio of car-related web domains

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Apple Car might be coming, but will it be special?
Apple Car might be coming, but will it be special?
Image: Aristomenis Tsirbas/Freelancer

Some new (circumstantial) evidence is lending further weight to the possibility that we may one day cruise down the street in an Apple Car.

Listings on domain search site Who.is show that Apple is buying up car-related web domains like crazy. The sites in question are “apple.car,” “apple.cars,” and “apple.auto.” This is not the absolute, ironclad confirmation a lot of Apple Car fans are looking for, but it may point to some news coming.

Or it may not.

Pro Tip: How to sync iMessages across your devices

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Make sure you get your iMessages no matter where you are.
Make sure you get your iMessages no matter where you are.
Photo: Rob LeFebvre

Pro Tip Cult of Mac bug I’ve always loved being able to pick up an iMessage conversation that I started on my iPhone right on my Mac, and vice versa.

Unfortunately, I’ve been having an iMessage issue for the last few months — I can have conversations via Messages on my Mac and conversations via Messages on my iPhone, but my iMessages have stopped synchronizing across my devices.

Ampy battery pack uses body movement to recharge iPhone

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You can now jog your iPhone back to full power.
You can now jog your iPhone back to full power.
Photo: Ampy

Cult of Mac CES 2016 full coverage LAS VEGAS — Your body is an amazing energy creation machine but you’re not even using it to its full potential. All the walking, running, biking and other movements you make throughout the day all create kinetic energy, and now you can finally harness it to charge the most important gadgets in your life with Ampy.

Ampy is a wearable battery pack that can be charged via USB, but its superpower is the ability to recharge using motion thanks to a couple of magnets that bounce up and down inside coils. One hour of moderate exercise (jogging or riding a bike) will add up to five hours of standby battery life to your iPhone, or about 1 hour of regular usage. It’s not something you’ll want to use everyday, but it’s perfect for when you’re going on a hike, or experience a power outage.

The device comes with a strap and carrying band so you can place it on your arm or leg depending on what exercises you’re doing. It features a curved profile, making it a great fit for jean pockets, jackets, or anything other object that moves a lot. Priced at $100 the device comes with an accompanying iOS app so you can track how much power you’re generating. A slimmer, more power efficient model is on the way later this year.

The secrets of design aren’t so secret, you just have to take the right classes [Deals]

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Learn the secrets of modern digital design with these 9 courses, a total of 57 hours of lessons.
Learn the secrets of modern digital design with these 9 courses, a total of 57 hours of lessons.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Everything that is good in the world of tech is designed well. Being able to craft an intuitive, user-pleasing experience or product might seem like magic, but that’s probably just because you haven’t studied it. This bundle of 9 courses, clocking in at 57 hours of content and worth hundreds of bucks, will get you caught up on the craft of design in the modern age, from responsive design, rapid prototyping, HTML, CSS and lots more, all for just $39.

Rich men like Apple Watch, but the ladies love Rolex

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Rich single men must choose their watch carefully.
Rich single men must choose their watch carefully.
Photo: Apple

Rich single men love the Apple Watch, but if they are dressing for a first date, they may want to wrist up with a good old-fashioned Rolex.

Rolex appears to be the way to a woman’s heart according to a survey of 1,400 members of the millionaire dating app Luxy, an unapologetic company that describes itself as “Tinder minus the poor people.”

Steve Jobs picks up three prestigious movie award nominations

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Aaron Sorkin’s Steve Jobs movie is coming to Netflix
It may have failed at the box office, but Steve Jobs is racking up award nominations.
Photo: François Duhamel/©2015 Universal Studios

Surprise box office bomb Steve Jobs has racked up yet more award nominations in the form of three BAFTA awards, a.k.a. the U.K.’s most respected film prize.

Aaron Sorkin and Danny Boyle’s controversial movie picked up nominations in the Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Supporting Actress, and Best Actor categories.

CES Day 3: Hoverboards, doggie ‘brain puzzles’ and beer

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This Hoverboard is hot at  CES 2016.
This Hoverboard is hot at CES 2016.
Photo: Leander Kahney/Cult of Mac

Cult of Mac CES 2016 full coverage LAS VEGAS — CES is the tech world equivalent of an all-you-can-eat dim sum buffet. Your eyes boggle at all the tantalizing-looking options, but you’re never really sure what you’re about to sink your teeth into.

Sometimes an exhibitor at this sprawling electronics show serves up the tech equivalent of a delicious shrimp dumpling. Other times you end up politely nodding and searching for the nearest napkin.

In today’s Cult of Mac CES 2016 roundup, we’ve got hoverboards, a game console for dogs, robots and other exotic offerings on the menu.

Amazing $2,000 speaker is worth every penny

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Looks, power, and ease of use - what more do you need?
Looks, power, and ease of use - what more do you need?
Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac

Best List: Phantom speaker by Devialet

A whispered conversation in a library is about 30 decibels. A normally loud chat comes in at around 65 decibels. A jackhammer at 50 feet is 95 decibels, and also the loudness at which our ears can get damaged with prolonged exposure.

The Phantom speaker I’ve been using as my main television and Bluetooth speaker for the last couple of weeks tops out at 99 decibels. This sucker gets loud, without any distortion, real quick. It’s easy to use, looks amazing in any room, and will change your experience of music and movies from the moment you turn it on.

While it looks like something out of the future depicted in a Kubrick film, has an ungainly outdoor-style power cable, and is heavier than you’d think, the Phantom is simply the best home speaker I’ve ever encountered.

For two grand, it had better be.

BeastGrip transforms your iPhone into a pro camera rig

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BeastGrip lets you attach pretty much anything to your iPhone.
BeastGrip lets you attach pretty much anything to your iPhone.
Photo: BeastGrip

The iPhone camera is great at photos and videos, but if you want to take your shots to the next level, you need some extra gear. BeastGrip is the easy-to-use solution that enables photogs to attach all sorts of components like stabilizers, mics, lights, and DSLR lenses to the iPhone to make a custom, pro-quality camera rig.

Every aspect of BeastGrip’s modular system can be expanded to fit practically any piece of photography hardware you throw at it. Whether you’re shooting on an iPhone, Android, or Windows device, simply loosen some screws, slide in a new segment, and you’re ready to capture professional quality video from your smartphone.

Flexibility is BeatGrip’s biggest selling point. The body alone costs $115, but you can also buy a kit with the company’s DOF adapter that lets you mount Canon or Nikon DSLR lenses to your iPhone, giving you much better depth-of-field for really unique camera phone shots.

iPhone 7 will be waterproof, charge wirelessly and have no headphone jack

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iPhone-7-concept
An iPhone 7 concept gets rid of the ugly antenna lines too.
Photo: Eric Huismann

The upcoming iPhone 7 is almost certainly ditching the headphone jack at this point. What at first seemed like a ridiculous stretch is now shaping up to be the most credible rumor about the next-gen iPhone so far.

The latest whispers indicate that, while the headphone jack is out, wireless charging and a waterproof design are finally in.

EyeForcer is no slouch at keeping kids upright

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They better sit up straight or the EyeForcer will shut off their devices.
They better sit up straight or the EyeForcer will shut off their devices.
Photo: Medical Wearable Solutions

Cult of Mac CES 2016 full coverageYou can warn your kid about too much screen time until you’re blue in the face. They’re too absorbed to listen. You need an enforcer or, better yet, an EyeForcer.

It’s another gadget for your kid, but this one works with you. Looking like eyeglass frames without lenses, the EyeForcer shuts down your child’s device when it senses he or she has been on it too long. It promotes good posture by switching the device off when the young user begins to slouch.

Double your MacBook’s hard drive with quick ‘one-click upgrade’

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The tiny TarDisk Pear slides into your MacBook's SD card slot and doubles your storage almost instantly.
The tiny TarDisk Pear slides into your MacBook's SD card slot and doubles your storage almost instantly.
Photo: Lewis Wallace/Cult of Mac

Cult of Mac CES 2016 full coverage LAS VEGAS — The makers of a tiny new device called the TarDisk Pear promise to permanently double your MacBook’s hard drive space in a matter of moments.

Simply slide the Pear into your MacBook’s SD card slot, run a quick setup (called “pearing”), and your hard-drive capacity will be permanently doubled.

“Pear is a one-click option for upgrading,” TarDisk’s Pierce Schiller told Cult of Mac at CES 2016.

Bluetooth luggage lock will keep the TSA out of your pants

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bluetooth-luggage-lock-will-keep-the-tsa-out-of-your-pants-image-cultofandroidcomwp-contentuploads201601Dog-and-Bone-LockSmart-Travel-CES-2016-jpg
Dog-and-Bone-LockSmart-Travel-CES-2016
Keep it secret. Keep it safe. Photo: Dog & Bone

Cult of Mac CES 2016 full coverage We can officially add luggage locks to the list of things we kind of never expected to get smart versions.

Case and lock maker Dog & Bone is bringing out a keyless, TSA-approved, Bluetooth travel padlock that’s designed to keep unwanted people from getting their dirty hands on your underwear and hoard of duty-free booze. The company is showing off their new device at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week.

Get your workout fix in 7 minutes on your Apple TV

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Get your heart rate pumping in seven minutes.
Get your heart rate pumping in seven minutes.
Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac

The holy grail of the home workout is something that you can get set up for quickly and easily, doesn’t require a lot of gear, and will only take as short a time as possible.

Wahoo Fitness thinks they have this down. The developer of the Wahoo 7 Minute Workout app has brought its science-based, high-intensity interval workout to your big screen via the Apple TV app store, so you can get your workout on quickly and easily.

Apple scoops up A.I. startup that analyzes users’ emotions

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Emojis
Less emojis, more AI.
Photo: Evan Killham/Cult of Mac

Apple’s latest acquisition is of a small artificial intelligence company called Emotient. The startup has technology that analyzes people’s emotions through their facial expressions.

Apple “buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans,” Apple’s spokeswoman told The Wall Street Journal. That’s the typical statement Apple gives when snatching up small companies.

It’s not clear yet what Apple has in mind for Emotient, but we sure can speculate.

Screw the Apple Watch. This is the most personal device ever.

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vSculpt
vSculpt really is an intimate device.
Photo: Traci Dauphin/Cult of Mac

Cult of Mac CES 2016 full coverage Navigating the many health devices on the CES show floor, I came across the vSculpt booth and stopped dead in my tracks. Mainly because it looked like a sex toy and they were giving away red panties (best swag ever).

But what I assumed was just a basic vibrator is actually a medical device used for vaginal rejuvenation therapy.

As drone makers fill the sky, one looks to the deep seas

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The FiFish Atlantis hopes to the first consumer drone of the seas.
The FiFish Atlantis hopes to the first consumer drone of the seas.
Photo: Taihuoniao Shenzhen D3IN Future Labs

Cult of Mac CES 2016 full coverageDrones may be big news at CES, but only one can make a splash.

Chinese hardware company Taihuoniao Shenzhen has developed what it says is the first consumer drone for exploring all those big bodies of water that cover most of the Earth.

Capturing awesome aerial footage is easy with this self-flying drone

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You don't need a pilot to fly this drone.
You don't need a pilot to fly this drone.
Photo: AirDog

Cult of Mac CES 2016 full coverage LAS VEGAS — Learning how to fly a drone isn’t easy, and accidents happen all the time. Wouldn’t it be great if your drone could just fly itself?

AirDog does just that. In fact, the only way to fly AirDog is to use its incredible auto-following technology that keeps the camera aimed at you during the entire flight Cult of Mac met up with the makers of AirDog at CES 2016 for a mountain-biking demo in the desert to see how the drone uses LiDAR and other tech to capture spectacular aerial footage on the fly without any human intervention. We came away ridiculously impressed.

Keep two Macs running at peak performance with this award-winning app [Deals]

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Keep two Macs in tip top shape with the award winning CleanMyMac 3.
Keep two Macs in tip top shape with the award winning CleanMyMac 3.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Like all of us, our computers can develop habits over time, not all of them great. Many computers basically become hoarders, getting distracted, forgetting where things are stored. CleanMyMac 3 corrects that behavior and cleans up your Mac’s act, using sophisticated algorithms to find and remove files taking up space. It’s easy to use, powerful, precise, and right now you can get a license to use on two computers for $35.97.