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Macs make life easier at IBM

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IBM
IBM and Apple, together at last.
Photo: Apple

You might not think of IBM as a Mac-friendly place to work, but Fletcher Previn, VP of Workplace-as-a-Service at IBM might beg to differ.

Previn used to think like you do: that Apple PCs are more expensive, they’re challenging to support, and require a ton of re-training for help desk staff (who serve a 50,000 employee global work force on Windows PCs)

Turns out, that’s all fairly inaccurate.

Facebook’s sneaky app is draining your iPhone battery

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facebook-logo-file
It won’t happen until 2020 at the earliest.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

iPhone users who have been suffering from worse battery life since upgrading to iOS 9 may want to try deleting Facebook’s iOS app.

The social network confirmed reports that surfaced earlier this week claiming the iOS app uses a heavy amount of resources in the background to run processes. The big problem with the battery drain is that it occurs even if iPhone owners have background app refresh disabled. It’s actually worse with the setting turned off. because Facebook is sneakily creating channels to continue refreshing its app in the background, even when users tell it not to.

These prediction apps let you show off your inner Nostradamus

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Called It! lets you register predictions and track your accuracy.
Called It! lets you register predictions and track your accuracy.
Photo: Uncharted

All-knowing soothsayers, there are a pair of apps that will let you register your predictions and even gloat when they come true. Then again, you probably saw this coming.

Called It! and Sage both appeared in the iTunes store this month as social networking apps. Each lets people make predictions on everything from the next big game (the World Series is right around the corner) to the 2016 presidential election. Followers comment on your visions of the future, affirming you or calling you plain nuts.

World’s biggest Apple fanboy dies

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ifo Apple Store creator Gary Allen.
ifo Apple Store creator Gary Allen.
Photo: Gary Allen

Apple lost its biggest fan ever this week. Gary Allen, creator of the beloved ifo Apple Store blog, died Sunday at the age of 67 after battling brain cancer.

Allen was one of the most respected voices in the Apple community when it came to the company’s retail presence worldwide, and often made long trips to Apple Store openings across the globe. He attended more than 140 openings, and knew more about Apple Stores than any other outsider — insight he gladly shared with fans on his now-defunct blog.

Stylish wooden dock charges all your devices at once

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One charging station to rule them all.
One charging station to rule them all.
Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac

Best List: AllDock USB charging station by AllDock

I have a gadget-friendly family. We’ve all got an iPhone, a few of us have iPads, and I’ve got an Apple Watch. All of these devices require charging, and all of them need a place to hang out when they’re not being used.

The AllDock is a gorgeous wooden universal charging station that lets me store and charge all the family devices in one location with ease, making it simple to grab any device and use it at a moment’s notice.

Learn to be lean when it comes to project management [Deals]

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Learn how to keep your operations humming with this certification course in lean project management.
Learn how to keep your operations humming with this certification course in lean project management.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Like any skill or discipline, being effective at getting projects done is something that can be learned and refined. This certified course in project management by the Management and Strategy Institute focuses on lean process and project management. It’s basically a master course in keeping any operation efficient and nimble, an invaluable perspective that’s just $49.99.

Go full chic with Ullu’s exotic skins for Apple Watch [Watch Store]

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Ullu exotic leather Apple Watch bands
Ullu offers a line of luxury Apple Watch bands in premium leathers that include stingray and ostrich.
Photo: Ullu

Apple Watch has a thing for style. Your wrist is the perfect spot for a subtle yet effective statement en la moda.

Apple-centric accessories brand ullu answers the call for tangible luxury with a line of fine-leather bands for Apple Watch. On some bands, the word fine understates what is actually exotic.

Peruse ullu’s collection of colorful, exotic bands in our Watch Store.

New ResearchKit projects will help tackle autism, epilepsy and melanoma

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ResearchKit is just as revolutionary as researchers hoped.
ResearchKit is continuing to revolutionize medicine.
Photo: Apple

Apple today announced it is expanding its ResearchKit health platform to include new studies on autism, epilepsy and melanoma.

Apple will work with leading universities and research centers including Duke University, John Hopkins, and Oregon Health & Science University.

“We’re honored to work with world-class medical institutions and provide them with tools to better understand diseases and ultimately help people lead healthier lives,” said Jeff Williams, Apple’s senior vice president of Operations.

Foxconn fails in bid to get an even bigger piece of the Apple pie

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hi-852-foxconn-workers
Nope. No good news in this box either.
Photo: Foxconn

Leading iPhone manufacturer Foxconn has failed to secure a stake in a Taiwanese chip company with the potential to earn massive amounts of cash from Apple.

Foxconn had made a bid for a share in Siliconware Precision Industries (SPIL), offering a share swap which would have made it the largest shareholder in the company.

Unfortunately for Foxconn, the proposal was shot down by SPIL’s board of directors on Thursday, who argued that Foxconn, “fails to make a compelling case regarding necessity of the share swap.”

Dead-simple Apple Watch app will motivate you to the max

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Clicker app for Apple Watch
Clicker will help you keep track of the number that matters most to you. Whatever that is.
Photo: Evan Killham/Cult of Mac

If you have something to count, a new Apple Watch app will let you do so quickly and easily.

Clicker comes from developer Craig Hockenberry, and it’s a crazy-simple way to count anything you have that needs counting. And it’s here to motivate you.

Google Translate update brings Split View, new instant visual language

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More power to translate from English and German to and from Arabic.
More power to translate from English and German to and from Arabic.
Photo: Google

Learning a new language is hard work, especially if you’ve been raised in the U.S., which tends to eschew any real multi-lingual literacy.

These days, however, Google Translate lets us all communicate a little more easily across language barriers.

A new update for the app today brings both Split View support for newer iPads along with new instant visual translation languages.

The world just got a little friendlier.

Tesla electric car can now (almost) drive itself

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Now every Tesla Model will be able to kind of drive itself!
Now every Tesla Model will be able to kind of drive itself!
Photo: Christopher Dorobek/FlickrCC

If you’re one of the lucky owners of Tesla’s super-awesome electric cars, you’re also might be one of the fortunate few that get to experience the future today.

Tesla just rolled out an over-the-air update that pushed out a semi-autonomous feature to all of its cars made and sold in the U.S. The roll-out could take up to a week.

Will you get to sit back, sipping a martini while your robot car takes you to your dentist appointment? Not yet, says company CEO Elon Musk.

“It works almost to the point where you can take your hands off,” Musk told Wired, “but we won’t say that. Almost.”

When iPhone power is low, this device can take charge

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The XI.i.CON is a case-dock charging combo for the iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6s and 6s Plus.
The XI.i.CON is a case-dock charging combo for the iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6s and 6s Plus.
Photo: Benchsoft

Some day battery anxiety will not be an issue. Until then, we cope by way of the many charging accessories that exist for iPhones. Lightning cords, docks, power banks, battery cases . . . Every manufacturer claims their product is better, faster or the only one of its kind.

The XI.i.CON by Benchsoft, makes it own bold claims by being all of those accessories in one.

August’s new HomeKit Smart Lock turns Siri into a bouncer

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August Smart Lock can now be controlled by Siri.
August Smart Lock can now be controlled by Siri.
Photo: August

August, the smart-home accessories manufacturer out of San Francisco, unveiled its latest vision for the connected home today by expanding its product lineup to include a new Doorbell Cam that can automatically detect when visitors arrive at your door, as well as a new Smart Keypad for people who don’t have a smartphone to unlock your door.

The two new devices are accompanied by a second-generation August Smartlock that maintains the same industrial design that made the first model popular, but adds a new Broadcom chip and comes with voice support for iOS users.

Here’s a demo of the new lock, camera, and keypad:

PAUSE your iPhone for stress relief

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PAUSE is a guided meditation app that aims to get you to relax and refocus.
PAUSE is a guided meditation app that aims to get you to relax and refocus.
Photo: UsTwo

Stress is making our heads a scattered mess and among some of the many suggested remedies is forcing ourselves to unplug from our devices. But one idea actually assigns meditative properties to our iPhones.

A new app simply called Pause use interactive graphics and soothing sounds to concentrate the mind on the present with the goal of providing relaxation and renewed focus. The app invites the user to place a finger on a slowly pulsating splotch of color and follow it as it moves slowly on screen, rewarding you with pleasant sounds, like chirping birds.

How Beats 1 DJ takes Friday nights to new heights

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anna-lunoe
DJ Anna Lunoe goes from the stage to the Beats 1 studio.
Photo: swimfinfan/Flickr CC

Beats 1 DJ Anna Lunoe revealed some details about how she got picked for her weekly gig before Apple Music had even been announced. Zane Lowe was apparently so impressed with her earlier work that he gave her complete freedom over what she wanted to do for the show.

Known for her house and electronic mixes, Lunoe aptly plays an eclectic collection of dance music during her slot every Friday night at 9 p.m. Pacific time or 12 a.m. Saturday Eastern time.

Apple clears the air on Wi-Fi Assist confusion

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Wi-Fi Assist may be chewing up your data.
Wi-Fi Assist may be chewing up your data.
Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac

iOS 9’s new Wi-Fi Assist feature might have you accidentally burning through your data plan, so to clear up any confunsion about the new iPhone feature that switches you over to LTE speeds when a Wi-Fi network is weak, Apple has released a new support document detailing exactly how and when Wi-Fi Assist should work.

Hackers can silently access Siri and Google Now on your phone

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Siri
Hey Siri
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Xperia Sirius 60fps Video
Siri can be silently put to work against you, thanks to a new hack discovered by French security researchers that allows attackers to transmit orders to the digital assistant via a radio.

The hack also works on Google Now and utilizes the headphone cord as an antenna to convert electromagnetic waves into signals that register in iOS and Android as audio coming from the microphone. José Lopes Esteves and Chaouki Kasmie — the two French researchers that discovered the hack — wrote in their paper that hackers could use the attack to get Siri and Google Now to send the phone’s browser to a malware site, or send spam and phishing messages to friends.

“The sky is the limit here,” says Vincent Strubel, the director of their research group at ANSSI. “Everything you can do through the voice interface you can do remotely and discreetly through electromagnetic waves.”

How to keep Facebook from dredging up your worst memories

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facebook-logo-file
It won’t happen until 2020 at the earliest.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Facebook’s algorithmic nostalgia is all well and good — until it starts pulling up the worst memories you’ve shared. Not everyone wants to be reminded of these awful memories.

Introduced this past March, “On This Day” is a Facebook feature that lets you re-share important digital memories from one year ago. Now you can keep specific people and/or dates from appearing in your feed, thanks to a pair of filters introduced on the social network.

Here’s how to make sure your worst memories aren’t surfaced by Facebook.

Only hours left to save big on this popular writing assistant app–Scrivener 2 [Deals]

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Scrivener 2  consolidates and streamlines all the clutter of the digital writing process.
Scrivener 2 consolidates and streamlines all the clutter of the digital writing process.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Anyone who writes on a computer knows the mental juggling routine involved in keeping track of research, notes, drafts and edits. Scrivener 2 offers a way to consolidate the whole process in one place, making for a much more efficient and less time consuming writing process. The award-winning app has also been a hit with Cult of Mac readers, who now have an extra few hours to get a copy of Scrivener 2 for $19.50.

New Twitter account will answer all your Apple Music questions

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CRR4q_MWgAAMmAp.jpg-large
Apple is here to listen so that you can listen.
Photo: Apple

Now that Apple Music’s three-month free trial is over and done with, Apple is stepping up its efforts to make sure (paying) customers are happy with the service they are receiving.

One way it is doing this is with a newly-launched Twitter account @AppleMusicHelp which, you guessed it, offers Apple Music help to anyone with a query.

iPhone 6s can’t topple the latest Androids in expert camera tests

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Apple brings carrier billing for app purchases to Germany.
Apple brings carrier billing for app purchases to Germany.
Photo: Cult of Mac
iPhone no longer offers the best smartphoe camera. Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Android
iPhone no longer offers the best smartphoe camera. Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Android

Apple’s new iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus may be packing its best iSight camera yet, but it’s not good enough to topple the latest Android devices.

In DxOMark’s expert camera tests, Apple’s latest smartphones achieve a score of 82, which is five points less than the current mobile leader, Sony’s Xperia Z5.

iPhone manufacturers are battling for Apple’s business

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Tim Cook visits Foxconn, where Apple's iMacs are traditionally assembled.
Tim Cook visits Foxconn.
Photo: Apple

Stop the presses: supply chain companies really, really want Apple’s business.

According to a new report, key Apple manufacturers Foxconn and Advanced Semiconductor Engineering (ASE) are currently battling over control of a third company, Siliconware Precision Industries, a.k.a. SPIL. Why? Because it will help them win more orders from Apple, of course.