It’s here: the biggest, stress-inducing flood of sales at stores around the country. Save yourself the headache and time of waiting in line with the Black Friday sales going on across all of Cult of Mac, including this premium pair of Beats earbuds and portable speaker by Logitech. Enter the coupon code ‘BLACKFRIDAY’ at checkout to save an extra 15%.
Australia may recently have said “G’day” to Apple Pay, but when it comes to the country’s overall embrace of Apple’s NFC payment platform, well, let’s just say that a few more shrimps could be tossed on the proverbial barbie.
That’s because, despite now being available to Amex customers Down Under, Australia’s Reserve Bank is being pushed to examine anti-competitive behavior due to Australia’s major banks allegedly freezing out Apple Pay — and thereby denying choice to customers in terms of digital payments.
Sony has revealed that it is developing an official PlayStation 4 Remote Play app for Mac and PC, giving gamers the ability to play their favorite titles on their desktop. The announcements comes just days after an unofficial Remote Play app was made available for Windows.
Apple has reportedly confirmed to its supply chain that it plans to switch from LCD panels to OLED ones for iPhones released in 2017-2018. This potentially means that we might get an OLED Apple handset as early as the iPhone 7s — and not the iPhone 8 as previously thought.
Cupertino is said to be asking display makers in both Korea and Japan to start expanding their OLED manufacturing capabilities to fit its needs.
The Apple-watching world just about blew a gasket when the Apple Pencil was first announced for the iPad, given Steve Jobs’ famous assessment that, “If you see a stylus, [Apple engineers] blew it!”
With that in mind, how would people react if the next iPhone went again Jobs’ wishes by taking a note out of BlackBerry’s playbook and included a physical keyboard as part of the handset? Not too well, we’re guessing, but you can make up your own mind about whether or not it would be a good thing or not by checking out the below concept video.
(Hint: it isn’t a good thing.)
Encrypting transactions, bypassing location restrictions, anonymizing browsing — the reasons for connecting to the web through a virtual private network are many, but so are the options. Luckily we’ve found four VPN services that are going for a fraction of the normal price, meaning instead of searching for a deal you can just choose the one that’s right for you. Plus, if you enter the coupon code VPN15 at checkout you’ll get an extra 15% off.
The average Apple Watch user checks his or her timepiece four to five times an hour, and are most likely to use the device’s Maps function, according to two separate studies.
Carried out by Wristly.com and researchers at the University of Stockholm’s Mobile Life Centre, the two surveys quizzed Apple Watch owners on their typical usage, and discovered a few interesting observations in the process.
Reeder has long been our favorite feed reader for iOS and Mac. Earlier this year, Reeder for Mac hit version 3.0, making us wonder when the iOS version would achieve the same milestone. Now it has, gaining support Split View in iOS 9, an updated UI, 3D Touch for previewing articles, and more!
What with it being winter and all, it would be great if Apple embraced the concept of letting people use iPhones while wearing regular gloves — something already offered by manufacturers such as Samsung.
Well, according to a patent application published today, we may not be waiting too much longer because Apple has invented something called “Glove Touch Detection.” The patent would allow Apple touchscreen to work in situations where it is separated from a finger by a barrier, such as a glove.
Based on the sadly dismal box office cash it’s failed to drum up, statistically few of you have seen Steve Jobs, Aaron Sorkin and Danny Boyle’s semi-biopic based on Walter Isaacson’s best-selling 2011 biography of Apple’s late CEO.
Well, if you want to get a taste of what you’re missing — or simply want to revisit Sorkin’s dialog-heavy screenplay — now you can, because Universal Pictures has made the entire 190-page script available to read for free online.
Apple will adopt OLED displays for its handsets beginning with the iPhone 8 in 2018, according to a new report coming out of Japan.
3D-printer maker Qubea is seeking funds on Kickstarter for what may be the first (relatively) cost-friendly device on the market.
The Rever will cost $399 when it launches next year, but early backers can grab on at a discount.
It might be a short week for most of us here in the U.S., but that didn’t stop us from piling up a whole, well, pile of great content for your long weekend enjoyment.
We’ve got all the Black Friday sale info you can handle, a bunch of sweet gadget reviews (like the rumbling, rabble-rousing Sonos Play:5) and a fantastic assortment of Apple news and views that you’ll love.
Be sure to download the Cult of Mac Magazine app now to get your own copy of our latest issue.
Here’s the rundown:
Readdle’s highly praised iOS app PDF Expert has landed on the Mac. Shortly after its debut, it shot straight to the number one spot for paid apps on the Mac App Store. Apple’s own Preview app works fine for simply reading through PDF files or making tiny edits, but people who work with PDF files more frequently and need more power can benefit from giving the $19.99 PDF Expert a chance. Cult of Mac got the opportunity to do just that.
Everybody knows that the leader in the category of PDF editors and readers is Adobe with its Reader and Acrobat apps, but the latter costs $14.99 per month for a subscription or a staggering $449 for the full desktop software. As long as you don’t need to create PDFs, PDF Expert only asks for $20 out of your pocket and it’s jam-packed with all of the necessities and then some.
Because we’re really feeling the holiday spirit this season, we’ll be giving away a brand-new black 38mm Apple Watch Sport to one person who sells their old device to us before December 15.
The magic of what Moog has done with this analog stompbox isn’t completely evident until you plug an expression pedal into it.
Certainly the drive tones are exceptional and the controls provide a myriad of useable and inspirational tones, but the expression pedal unlocks Moog’s industry-leading love of sonic experimentation.
Coding is as useful a skill as it is a time consuming (and often expensive) one to learn. It doesn’t have to be that way though — whether you want to master HTML5, Ruby, Python or anything in between, we’ve got a content-packed, 92-hour bundle of courses and you can get it for whatever you want to pay. 10% of anything you decide to pay goes to Project Hope, who provide medical expertise and resources to crises around the world.
Fossil’s first Android Wear watch, the stunning Q Founder, has finally arrived. The device ships with a bunch of exclusive Fossil faces, and it can be ordered from Fossil’s online store now for $295.
Apple has come to a preliminary agreement with China UnionPay to introduce Apple Pay in China through UnionPay’s point-of-sales network.
The deal — which builds on this week’s report that Apple Pay will be coming to China by February 2016 — will help UnionPay and Chinese banks to fend off third-party payment services like those belonging to Alibaba and Tencent.
Apple has released its first major Christmas ad for the holidays that doesn’t show many Apple products, but instead features soul pioneer’s Stevie Wonder and Andre Daye singing Wonder’s 1967 holiday classic ‘Someday at Christmas’.
Along with Wonder and Daye, the ad includes shots of a family getting ready for Christmas, exchanging gifts, and decorating the tree. There are a few glimpses of the Apple Watch and a MacBook, but the focus is on Christmas, and ends with a simple “Love, Apple” note at the end.
Check out the ad below:
The first trailer for next year’s Captain America movie Civil War debuted online last night, and it’s actually really freaking good.
The Avengers: Age of Ultron kind of soured me on Marvel’s gigantic cinematic universe, but Civil War could redeem it if it turns out to be anywhere as good as the first taste Marvel’s given us. Civil War will pit Tony Stark against Steve Rogers sometime in the future after the events after Age of Ultron. Stark is convinced the world’s superheroes need some kind of supervision, while Captain America takes the side of his old pal Bucky to fight the government.
Watch the full trailer below:
If a movie or TV show is too loud, you can always turn down the volume, but depending upon the way the sound was balanced, that can have the effect of making the dialogue impossible to hear. But the new Apple TV has a neat way around that problem. Here’s how to reduce loud sounds on the new Apple TV.
Having recently arrived in Canada and Australia, and with plans underway for a February launch in China, it’s safe to say that Apple Pay is taking over the NFC payments world.
Which is exactly why, according to a new report, banks are ramping up their technology budgets in order to compete — concerned that tech companies like Apple could outgun them on the payments front.
If you like Android’s app drawer, but prefer iOS’s apps, you’re just a jailbreak away from having it on your iPhone.
Almost all major retailers have unveiled their Black Friday ads by now, and some of our predictions have been blown out of the water by lower prices. Many will definitely qualify for the coveted Editors’ Choice nod. And with price-matching driving down prices next week, more will likely follow.
We tallied up the spoils that debuted during the November 21 to November 29 time frame last year, and selected the top five stores that had the most Editors’ Choice deals. These vendors offered the best prices on the most popular items, and we’re already seeing them attempt to repeat this year.
Now, all that’s left to do is allocate your cash wisely, prepare some comfortable running garb, and get your Black Friday game face on.