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Presence security camera keeps an eye outside your door

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The Presence that promises to deliver peace of mind.
The Presence that promises to deliver peace of mind.
Photo: Netatmo

Cult of Mac CES 2016 full coverage
Consumer electronics company Netatmo has made a camera that is easily overlooked as it keeps a lookout outside your door.

The outdoor surveillance camera Netatmo named Presence uses an algorithm to detect whether something in its view is a person, car or animal. It then immediately sends a notification through a companion iPhone or Android app along with an option to see what the camera recorded.

Evil alarm clock tricks you out of bed with food smells

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Sensorwake
Wake up and smell the ... whatever.
Photo: Sensorwake

Cult of Mac CES 2016 full coverage LAS VEGAS — There was a whole lot of sniffing going on at the Sensorwake booth here at CES Unveiled. The first olfactory alarm clock promises a kinder, gentler start to mornings, using scents instead of noise to wake up sleepyheads.

The quirky gadget couldn’t be any simpler: Set the alarm and wake up to one of six dry-air infused cartridges. Sensorwake is similar to a Glade Plugin but with cooler scents. It’s made by a French company, so it pumps out crazy European aromas.

Apple plans new Reno data center, calls it Project Huckleberry

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data-center
Apple's data center is doubling.
Photo: Bob Mical/Flickr CC

Apple is expanding its presence in Reno Technology Park in Nevada by building a new data center adjacent to its current one. The company filed a permit with Washoe County for “Project Huckleberry,” the codename for the new facilities that will stand next to the current “Project Mills” data center.

Kodak’s new Super 8 camera aims at keeping film alive

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Kodak Super 8 CES 2016
Kodak's bridging film and digital at CES 2016.
Photo: Kodak

Cult of Mac CES 2016 full coverageKodak is not prepared to let analog filmmaking disappear into the digital world.

At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week, the film-stock maker is showing off a prototype for a new camera that will combine time-honored, physical shooting techniques with the latest in digital technology. This powerful combination hopes to capture the best of both traditions, allowing present and future filmmakers to continue to produce their art in whichever way they see fit.

‘Music brain’ queues up perfect tracks to get you laid

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The Prizm smart music player thinks it knows what you want to hear, no matter what you're doing.
The Prizm smart music player thinks it knows what you want to hear, no matter what you're doing.
Photo: Leander Kahney/Cult of Mac

Cult of Mac CES 2016 full coverage Music can set the mood for everything and the Prizm, a new music player described as “the music brain,” is hoping to reinvent the way we listen to music.

It listens to sounds in the room you’re in and identifies who’s in the room, then selects the perfect track for the situation. Lots of people making noise late at night? Prizm thinks it’s party time and plays techno music. Nothing but heavy breathing or kissing sounds? It’s time for some Barry White.

Apple might cut iPhone 6s production by up to 30% this quarter

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iphone-6s-rose-gold
Is iPhone growth starting to stall?
Photo: Apple

Apple will be allegedly reducing orders of the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus to suppliers by as much as 30 percent this quarter. iPhone 6s and 6s Plus sales are apparently considerably less than that of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus in the year-ago quarter. If this is true, it seems that Apple has been making too much supply for simply not enough demand.

Huawei targets Apple with new phone, tablet, watch

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Meet the new watch, similar to the old watch.
Meet the new watch, similar to the old watch.
Photo: Huawei

Cult of Mac CES 2016 full coverageHuawei took to the stage at CES this morning to show off a bunch of stuff that looked really familiar — although the stage wasn’t free of some killer features.

The world’s number three smartphone brand is ready to take on Apple and Samsung, and it brought its own versions of the big three devices on stage to show off what they can do. And they can do quite a lot, it seems, but not all of it has us wanting to defect from our iPhones.

Here’s what Huawei brought to the party.

This budgeting platform thinks ahead for those of us stuck in the now

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app-spread

Photo: Syndicate

This post is brought to you by You Need A Budget.

Given today’s economy, there’s a good chance you’re a freelancer. The self-employed, as much as and maybe more so than the salaried, can only benefit from being strategic and disciplined in handling money.

Of course many of us don’t have the bandwidth to plan beyond next week, let alone the next six months. But with shifting sources of income and hard deadlines for bills, improvising with your finances is a sure way to lose cash you could be keeping.

Twitter abandons microblogging with new 10,000-character limit

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Get ready for a future in which you can tweet the entire Declaration of Independence.
Photo: Jennie/Flickr CC

Say goodbye to the 140-character limit that made Twitter famous and say hello to something much longer. According to a report, Twitter is getting ready to launch a new feature that will let users include as many as 10,000 characters in one tweet — 9,860 more than before.

Back up more of your Mac with Samsung’s new terabyte SSD

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Samsung Portable SSD T3 CES 2016
Bigger, faster, better.
Photo: Samsung

Cult of Mac CES 2016 full coverage If you’re like the rest of us, you’ve got a nice Mac with plenty of video, photos, and apps on it. Time Machine is a fantastic way to keep your stuff all backed up and safe, so you’ll need a high-capacity drive to do that with.

Samsung’s new external solid state drive (SSD), called the T3, has the capacity of multiple terabytes to keep more of your data backed up and the speed to make it easy.

“Following the successful worldwide launch of the Portable SSD T1 in 2015, we made several significant upgrades to the T3 based on the feedback and needs of our customers, which included content creators and business professionals in particular,” said Samsung’s Un-Soo Kim in a statement.

iHeartRadio hearts Apple TV with new streaming app

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Do you really heart radio?
Do you really heart radio?
Photo: iHeartMedia

If you want to listen to the same corporate pop music as you do on your terrestrial radio, you can do so from the comfort of your couch.

iHeartRadio’s streaming app can now also reside on your Apple TV, assuming you have one of the newer fourth-generation set-top boxes from Apple.

The new Apple TV app will give you all the main elements of the iOS app, including Live Stations, Custom Stations based on songs or artists, and podcasts from the behemoth media network.

Faraday Future is taking on Apple Car with a Batmobile

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Faraday Future's concept car looks like a batmobile.
Faraday's FFZero1 is out of this world.
Photo: Faraday

Cult of Mac CES 2016 full coverage No, that car you see above is not a real Batmobile — but it is just as exciting. Built by Faraday Future, the FFZero1 is a concept smart car that’s back from the future, with a 1,000-horsepower electric engine that goes from zero to 60mph in under three seconds.

This weird-looking headband uses lasers to fight balding

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The Laserband 82 uses lasers to regrow your mane.
The Laserband 82 uses lasers to regrow your mane.
Photo: Buster Hein/Cult of Mac

Cult of Mac CES 2016 full coverage LAS VEGAS — Can you use lasers to regrow hair?

The folks at HairMax are at CES 2016 to show that yes, it is totally possible to stimulate hair follicles to regrow your skimpy, thinning head of hair into a thick, furry mane. However, there is a catch: You have to have the right type of baldness.

The LaserBand 82 brings laser revitalization to the home with its 82 medical-grade lasers that provide a full treatment for hair loss in 90 seconds. Cult of Mac caught up with HairMax at CES, the largest orgy of tech gadgetry in the world, to get a heads-on look at the funky futuristic headgear.

Hold onto your seats! Here’s an update on the Apple tax investigation

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money
Ireland has a few more weeks to wait to find out if it's broken the law.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

After having initially been promised for a Christmas deadline, it now appears that both Apple and Ireland will have to  wait until February to receive the verdict of European Union regulators on whether or not Ireland has broken international tax rules by letting Apple shelter profits worth tens of billions of dollars there.

Learning to build apps is like anything else — it takes practice [Deals]

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Learn to build iOS 9 apps with 20 hands-on examples.
Learn to build iOS 9 apps with 20 hands-on examples.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

These days, coding for mobile is one of the most valuable professional skills you can acquire. If you want in on the action but didn’t spend your teen years coding a the console, you’ll need help getting your hands dirty with the nitty gritty of mobile development. That’s exactly what this course provides, offering the chance to build 20 hands-on iOS 9 apps, an invaluable learning experience that’s just $19.

The Bluetooth headset that keeps you awake at the wheel

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While it rests in your ear, the Vigo headset keeps an eye on you to make sure you stay awake at the wheel.
While it rests in your ear, the Vigo headset keeps an eye on you to make sure you stay awake at the wheel.
Photo: Vigo

Cult of Mac CES 2016 full coverage Pounding coffee and Red Bull can only do so much to keep a driver from falling asleep at the wheel. But one company has developed a discreet Bluetooth headset that nudges you before you doze off.

The Vigo Bluetooth headset uses an infrared sensor, an accelerometer and an algorithm that tracks blinking patterns and head motion and notes changes to quantify mental energy in real time.

Why is Apple’s ancient 2012 MacBook Pro still so popular?

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We're not going to beat the original caption on this:
We're not going to beat the original caption on this: "The MD101LL/A, pixelated to simulate the quality of its screen."
Photo: Marco Arment

Without a doubt, the oldest Mac Apple still sells is the 13-inch non-Retina MacBook Pro, model number MD101LL/A. Launched in 2012, it’s still on sale from Apple for just $1,099 … $200 more expensive than Apple’s entry-level MacBook Air, which is just as powerful.

What’s the deal? Why does Apple still sell it? The 2012 MacBook Pro is still a surprisingly big seller for Cupertino. Here’s why.

Use this neat trick to hide unwanted apps in iOS 9

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Screen Shot 2016-01-05 at 13.45.33
Say goodbye to the stock apps you don't want. Temporarily.
Photo: videosdebarraquito

iPhones may not come with the crazy amounts of bloatware that swell up Android devices, but there are still a handful of pre-installed apps that some users don’t want to have on their home screen.

While Apple doesn’t let you delete its stock apps in iOS 9, a new method for hiding them was recently discovered by YouTube user videosdebarraquito, who posted a video revealing his solution. Check it out below.

EFF: T-Mobile’s Binge On breaks net neutrality by throttling all HTML5 video

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The EFF agrees: T-Mobile's Binge On plan is just throttling.
The EFF agrees: T-Mobile's Binge On plan is just throttling.
Photo: T-Mobile

T-Mobile, America’s uncarrier, claims that its Binge On program allows its customers to stream an unlimited amount of video from select services without taking away from their data caps. And that’s true.

But according to the Electronics Frontier Foundation, what’s also true is that Binge On throttles streaming speeds on literally every other HTML5 video service out there, degrading video performance across the board no matter where you stream. Boo.

Booze bots, badass routers, high-flyin’ drones and more at CES

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The Vuze is a VR camera that captures scenes in 360-degrees. It'll be sold as a kit that includes a headset, and it's pretty cool.
The Vuze is a VR camera that captures scenes in 360-degrees. It'll be sold as a kit that includes a headset, and it's pretty cool.
Photo: Leander Kahney / Cult of Mac

Cult of Mac CES 2016 full coverage LAS VEGAS — CES 2016 is about to kick off. The world’s biggest consumer electronics show, which is held each January in Las Vegas, starts this week. At a press preview Monday night, we got a peek at some of the industry’s latest, greatest offerings.

Here’s some of the stuff we think is pretty cool. Check out a cocktail robot, a monster Wi-Fi router that promises to eliminate dead spots, and a fixed-wing drone that flies like a hawk.