Two-timer: I now wear two watches when I’m running. Seriously. Photo: Graham Bower/Cult of Mac
After six months of trying to log my runs with my Apple Watch, I finally gave up and bought a dedicated GPS running watch.
There’s a lot to like about Apple’s new wearable. The Activity app, for example, is brilliant at helping people lose weight. But the truth is, as a running watch, it sucks.
Twitter didn't waste a single moment getting to monetization. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Just a few short weeks after Twitter launched Moments, it’s already gearing up to start the monetization process. Promoted Moments will have brands curate some of their favorite tweets from around the service relevant to the promotion and pack them neatly in Twitter’s newest feature.
The UsBidi charger for smartphones and tablets. Photo: UsBidi
We know that keeping our smartphones and tablets plugged in over night, well past the point of a full charge, will deplete precious battery life. But who among us purposely gets up in the middle of the night to unplug?
The team at UsBidi assumes very few, which is why its developers believe they have something special with a charging cord that automatically cuts off the power to a device when the battery is full.
It's that time of the week again! Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Is merging iOS with OS X a good idea? For the longest time, the answer to that question has been a resounding no from anyone who appreciates good software — but with iPad Pro on the horizon, there may well be a growing case for it.
The iPad Pro has the potential to be the ultimate 2-in-1 — a laptop that could really replace a notebook when you need to get stuff done. But in many ways, it’s being held back by iOS, which is still very much a mobile platform without many of the basics we have on our desktops — like a file manager.
So, is there now room for a new platform that delivers the best of iOS and OS X, perfectly suited to a tablet that doubles as a notebook?
Join us in this week’s Friday Night Fight between Cult of Androidand Cult of Mac as we battle it out over that very question!
Snooze with a wave of your hand. Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac
Best List: Retro Alarm Clock Radio by Electrohome
Experts say you need to minimize distraction from your smartphones and tablets at night, so I’ve started leaving my iPhone charging in the kitchen. Instead, I now wake up to NPR thanks to this gorgeously retro alarm clock radio from Electrohome.
It’s got everything you need to get you up at the right time, plus a host of features that make it the only alarm clock you’ll ever need.
Microsoft infamously invested $150 million in archenemy Apple in 1997 as the company was facing bankruptcy right after the return of Steve Jobs, and according to former CEO Steve Ballmer, it was the craziest thing the Windows-maker ever did.
Ballmer spends more of his time on the basketball court now than working on the next big tech ideas, but in an interview with Bloomberg this morning, Ballmer was brought on to talk about the Microsoft’s battle with Amazon. After saying Amazon is not a great place to work, the conversation drifted to Apple and Ballmer actually admitted that “they’ve done a great job.”
Coming from the guy who laughed off the iPhone because he thought the Zune was killer, that’s a hell of a compliment. Watch what Ballmer had to say about Microsoft’s rivalry with Apple below:
How do you say "Payback's a bitch" in Klingon? Photo: Edward Brawer
When a Klingon says bortaS bir jablu’DI’reH QaQqu’ nay,’ it’s not good. It means “Revenge is a dish best served cold” and what is likely to follow is some sort of death blow.
So when Edward Brawer, the developer of the dock replacement software uBar, had pirates of his Mac app in sight, he set his phaser to amusement. Users who ripped him off soon saw the titles on apps and folders switched to the Klingon language.
These 11 lessons will make sure your business is caught up with the complex world of cyber threats and security. Photo: Cult of Mac Deals
A key part of running any effective business these days is securing computers and online accounts against threats from hackers. The Cyber Security Professional Training and Certification Bundle offers 11 courses and more than 13 hours of instruction covering everything from the history of the software development to specific techniques for defending against attacks. It’s an ideal way to become conversant in cyber security or prepare for certification, and right now it’s a massive 98% off the normal price, just $39.
Will the Steve Jobs movie take over the box office this weekend? Photo: Universal Pictures
Aaron Sorkin and Danny Boyle’s Steve Jobs movie finally gets a wide release this weekend — meaning that fans outside of the New York and Los Angeles areas will get a chance to watch the controversial biopic.
Just like your iPad, your Mac can do picture in picture mode, thanks to Helium. Photo: Helium
One of my favorite things about iOS 9 is picture in picture mode, which keeps a small window of a movie visible on screen at all times. Unfortunately, OS X El Capitan doesn’t have an equivalent: you can watch a movie while multitasking, sure, but it doesn’t stay on top of your window stack no matter what, which is the genius of iOS 9’s interpretation.
I’m hoping OS X 10.12 will address this issue. In the meantime, though, there’s an app that will give OS X iOS 9-style picture in picture mode. And it’s free!
Xiaomi wants to bring Apple's 3D Touch technology to its smartphones. Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of AndroidXiaomi wants its users to enjoy 3D Touch, too. Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Android
Xiaomi isn’t exactly known for having its own ideas, so why would you expect it to act any differently when Apple introduced its innovative new 3D Touch feature for the iPhone 6s?
True to form, a new rumor coming out of China claims that Xiaomi has patented its own version of the technology. Because, of course it has.
The Apple Watch is coming to India. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Apple is slowly rolling out the Apple Watch worldwide, and the next place to receive it is set to be India — a largely-untapped market which ranks among the biggest in the world.
The Apple Watch will go on sale on November 6, according to Apple’s India website. No prices have been announced yet, but it is likely to be significantly more than the cost in the U.S.
A dramatic mural painted at the Hengzhou Apple Store in China. Photo: Apple
Apple is opening yet another major brick-and-mortar Apple retail store in China this weekend. But according to a new report, the company’s retail assault on China is linked with a more negative factor: weaker than expected online sales.
Apple Music is claiming victims. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
With Pandora CEO Brian McAndres dismissing Apple Music back in July as nothing to worry about, Pandora stock took an after-hours beating yesterday, falling by as much as 21 percent to just $15.25.
The reason? A poorly-received quarterly earnings report, thought to be the result of would-be customers trying (you guessed it!) Apple Music instead of the ad-supported Internet radio company.
The Quarter with the Apple Pencil docked and ready for use. Photo: SteelConnect
When Apple enthusiastically introduced to the Apple Pencil in September, it left out one little detail – where we are supposed to put it.
SteelConnect, a company known for designing smart watch accessories, has come up with with a pencil holder that connects to the new iPad Pro. The Quarter provides a way to store the pencil, dock it in a ready position or keep the cap from getting misplaced while the pencil is charging elsewhere.
We hope Apple takes some cues from this cool Apple Watch 2 concept. Photo: Eric Heisuman
If Cupertino is looking for some ideas for its next wearable, this slick Apple Watch 2 concept would be a good place to start.
The mock-up comes from designer Eric Huismann, and he has some cool ideas for how the future of Apple’s smartwatches could look and behave. Along with some nice cosmetic changes, Huismann’s version of the device also boasts some of the features that didn’t make it into the first wave.
The “Left Speech Bubble” emoji isn’t part of the official canon yet, but Apple went ahead and added it, anyway. Here’s what it looks like and how to add it to your pictorial lexicon.
The Ad Council invented iOS 9.1's mystery emoji. Photo: Goodby Silverstien & Partners
Apple’s new “Eye in Speech Bubble” emoji has mystified us ever since it was first discovered last month, but now that iOS 9.1 is out to the public, we finally know the full story (and meaning) behind the odd new pictogram.
Get a gazillion books at your fingertips day and night with the Kindle Paperwhite. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Best List: Amazon Kindle Paperwhite
My wife is a voracious reader. And a bit of a hoarder.
So I tried to convince her to start reading ebooks on her iPad mini, instead of constantly bringing home new books from the book store. But it was not an easy transition. Partly because she loves to support our local bookstores and partly because she didn’t love the reading experience on the iPad.
Into the house comes a Paperwhite and all that changed.
Best Buy is preparing for shoppers wanting iPads. Photo: Apple
Want the new iPad or MacBook for Christmas? You’re not alone. Big box store Best Buy found the iPad the most desired tech gift this holiday season, according to a survey of 2,000 people.
The MacBook came in third behind the Bose QuietComfort noise cancelling headphones. Of the 15 tech items listed, the Apple Watch ranked 12th.
HTC has been getting a lot of stick for its brand new One A9, which looks just like another iPhone clone. But the Taiwanese company insists that the design was its own idea, and that Apple actually copied HTC’s first unibody phone that was released in 2013.
iPhones are pretty tough things, but despite all the Gorilla Glass and engineering magic Apple can throw at them, they’re still susceptible to broken screens when dropped.
That could change in future iPhone models, with a newly-published patent application describing an automated mechanism for protecting the iPhone display with a method straight out of James Bond.
Boomerang is just like Live Photos. Photo: Instagram
Instagram’s new app Boomerang lets users create one-second videos of everyday moments, then share them to Instagram, Facebook or Twitter.
The new app is a lot like the new Live Photos feature Apple introduced on the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus. Boomerang takes a burst of five photos, stitches them together into a mini-video, then plays the clip in forward and then reverse — you know, just like a boomerang!
Step up your coding game or start from scratch with this bundle of 8 lessons. Photo: Cult of Mac Deals
It’s never too late to learn a new skill, and coding is one skill that’s worth acquiring no matter when you choose to start. Few things look as good on a resume as confidence with a variety of coding languages and techniques, which is what this bundle of 8 courses offers. With over 74 hours of training on everything from basic web development to Ruby, Python, Node, and other essential elements of the modern coding landscape, there’s something here to enhance anybody’s skill set. And right now you can get in on these lessons for a whopping 94% off the regular price, just $59.
Tim Cook visits one of Apple's factories in China. Photo: Tim Cook
One of Apple’s supply chain iPhone manufacturers is under fire for unsafe and illegal labor practices — and for once it’s not Foxconn.
This time the company is Pegatron, which worker rights group China Labor Watch says has not cleaned up its act, despite Apple claiming that it would investigate it back in 2013 after 86 labour rights violations were identified at three of its factories.