Volvo's Concept 26 shows what a Microsoft Car could look like. Photo: Volvo
Microsoft has brokered a deal with automaker Volvo to co-develop a driverless vehicle, according to a new report — putting it in competition with Apple’s rumored “Project Titan” Apple Car.
Opportunities to buy new Apple hardware at a discount don’t come around very often, but ahead of Black Friday, Best Buy is offering $50 off all Apple Watch models.
Apple’s computers and devices may be at the top of the review charts, but one way in which they almost never do very well is in iFixit’s repairability ratings. With hard-to-crack cases held together by copious amounts of solder and glue, it’s practically impossible to repair your own iPhone, iPad, or Mac by yourself. Apple routinely gets ranks of 1, 2, or 3 on iFixit’s “Out of 10” repairability scale.
But smartphones don’t need to be unrepairable. iFixIt just gave a smartphone a perfect 10 on its repairability scale. And surprise! It’s an Android device.
Apple’s official charging pad may be a not-too-cheap $79, but if you want to wirelessly charge your smartwatch, Apple’s not leaving you a whole lot of options.
That’s because, despite the wide range of Qi chargers around, Apple has made it so that its watch will only work with a select few which have received the Cupertino stamp of approval.
Well, they're both working to build Tomorrowland. Photo: Disney
Boasting a 100,000-square-foot fitness center, 11,000 parking spaces, 2,000 bike parking spaces, 2.8 million square feet of office space, and a 100,000-square-foot lab thrown in for good measure, Apple’s “spaceship” Campus 2 is pretty darned massive.
Struggling to wrap your head around that? Then consider that it’s big enough to house pretty much the entirety of Disneyland Park in Anaheim, California. And we’ve got the (mocked-up) photos to prove it.
Jimmy Iovine is in damage control mode. Photo: Pete Mall/Re/code
Like an over-the-air update to fix a faulty piece of software, Apple sprang into action following Jimmy Iovine’s Thursday interview with CBS This Morning — with Iovine apologizing for his sexist comments about women’s inability to find music because… you know, women.
“I could have chosen my words better,” the Apple Music boss, Beats guru and Interscope Records co-founder said in a statement.
Jimmy Iovine’s days at Apple are numbered. Photo: Apple
Apple Music head Jimmy Iovine has won today’s “Yes, they really said that” award after an appearance on CBS This Morning.
Iovine was there talking up the latest ad for Apple Music, which features singer Mary J. Blige, actress Kerry Washington, and singer/actress Taraji P. Henson just kinda hanging out with knives and salsa dancing. This one follows the also-great original spot from September, but Iovine didn’t necessarily explain the origin of the woman-centric campaign (Selma director Ava DuVernay helmed both of them) as well as he could have.
Earth ain't the kind of place to raise your kids in Last Horizon. Photo: Pixeljam
Last Horizon, which is out now for Mac, iOS (reviewed version), PC, and Android is a beautifully simple game: You leave your obliterated planet in a single rocket, heading out for a new home and gathering supplies along the way. It has two controls: turning and firing your thrusters. But it’s a lot more than that.
From that simple framework and its colorful, minimalist art style, a story emerges of hope, exploration, danger, fear, doubt, and, ultimately, triumph.
But it’s outer space, so you have to make sure that the thousands of things that will kill you don’t.
The Qube Smartbulb is taking on more expensive lighting like Philips Hue. Photo: Qube
I love my Philips Hue smart-lighting kit, but every time I’ve just randomly turned my living-room lights different colors in front of another person, they’ve asked the same question:
“How much did you pay for this?”
And then I just kind of mumble something because while the system has added convenience and versatility to my apartment, I’m still not super comfortable admitting that I plan on paying $60 for a light bulb. Instead, I just say, “It was for work,” and leave it.
But Qube, a new smart-lighting system that launches in April, wants to avoid that kind of awkwardness with bulbs that cost way less than its competitors but offer just as many opportunities for just the weirdest ambience you can design.
Testing in a the real world is always best. Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac
Best List: Sit-Stand Desktop Workstation by Ergotron
I’ve got a love/hate relationship with standing desks. While I love the health benefits of standing, I seriously cannot stand at my desk all day every day. It needs to be easily adjustable.
Also, not all of us have the space for yet another desk in our homes or offices. Most of us have a regular, plain old desk. If you’re looking for a standing solution – you can convert that plain desk super easily with this Sit-Stand Desktop Workstation. It’s a heavy-duty, solid piece of work, and it sits right on top your regular desk. There’s room to strap on a monitor or two, or even just place your Macbook on top with an external keyboard and mouse below.
Let’s face it: Online shopping is amazing. Given the choice of shopping from home while relaxing in their PJs or fighting crowds and dodging overbearing salespeople, we bet most people will choose to shop online.
But shopping online has some drawbacks as well. Mainly, those drawbacks come in the form of having to sift through multiple colors and sizes of clothes and shoes to find the perfect piece at the perfect price. When prices vary depending on the size and color combination that you select, it can be difficult to assess an item at a glance.
Your iPhone and flashlight app can create a cozy ambiance for reading. Photo: Peleg Design
The iPhone can do a lot of things, but work as a functional piece of furniture? Yes, as one design studio proved when it created a tiny lampshade that clips to the iPhone.
Activate the flashlight app and behold, a nightstand reading light.
Spotify and Apple Music subscribers won’t be able to stream Adele’s highly anticipated album “25” when it is publicly released tomorrow.
The album is sure to be one of the biggest sellers of the year, but according to a report from the New York Times, Adele’s people have informed companies that “25” will not be made available for streaming.
Winter is here, which also means flu season is getting ready to knock you out. Finding time to get immunized may not be on the top of your To Do List, but Uber is making it ridiculously easy to get your flu shot with it’s new UberHealth option that will bring a registered nurse to your front door.
The special promotion is only in effect today from 11AM – 3PM, with over 35 cities participating. Uber will deliver wellness packs for $10, and give users the option to request a free Fluzone vaccine for you and nine other people.
The Iris lens series uses a mount that does not require you to remove your smartphone case. Photo: Photojojo
Lens attachments for your iPhone can bring a fresh point of view to your photos but there are drawbacks. Some force you to remove the phone’s protective case to properly fit the lens. Others require a sticky mounting plate.
The mount for the Iris lenses by Photojojo looks like a little girl’s ponytail holder with a silicon housing holding one of three pop-in lenses that is attached to an elastic cord stretching and securing snuggly to diagonal corners of your iPhone or Samsung Galaxy.
This massive bundle of deals can organize anyone's digital life in time for the holidays. Photo: Cult of Mac Deals
Instead of standing in line after Thanksgiving, get your productivity in line with these massively discounted apps for organizing any Mac. Everything from tuning your hard drive to editing PDFs and creating mixtapes and animations, if you work on a computer there’s something you can use, all for just $39.99.
You won't be easily taking your Apple Pencil apart and reassembling it. Photo: iFixit
The Apple Pencil stylus accessory was one of the most-praised parts of the newly-launched iPad Pro — which, naturally, means that our friends at iFixit were tripping over one another to pull it apart and scoop through its gory innards like geeky zombies with a taste for tech components.
Here’s what they discovered in their customary teardown.
Do Swiss watchmakers wake up sweating at the sight of the Apple Watch? Photo: Apple
Jony Ive memorably (allegedly) described Swiss watchmakers as “f**ked” due to the then-impending launch of the launch of the Apple Watch, and one year later — like some kind of creepy, well-dressed soothsayer in an Apple-centric episode of The Twilight Zone — it seems he may have been correct.
Swiss watch exports suffered their biggest decline in six years in October, with sales dropping 12 percent to $2 billion. Jon Cox, an analyst at Kepler Cheuvreux in Zurich, describes 2015 as a year “to forget” for watchmakers.
iPad Air 3 will be the smartest iPad yet. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Black Friday is inching closer and we’ve got plenty of ads to whet our appetite for savings. We’ve done our initial inspection, and we’re ready to present our first look at the best Black Friday ads. Here you’ll find all our favorite ads in one convenient place, from crazy-cheap TVs to Apple items galore.
It pays to be nice to this man, apparently. Photo: Apple
Popular U.K. talk show host Jonathan Ross (possibly best known to U.S. readers as the husband of Kick-Ass screenwriter Jane Goldman) recently gave an interview about technology as part of the IAB Digital Upfronts 2015 conference.
In addition to touching on Apple Watch and a variety of other tech topics, the most interesting anecdote came when “Wossy” talked about getting on the Apple free products guest list — including receiving an iPod shuffle months before it was publicly available.
How? Apparently it pays to be nice to students. Particularly if one of them turns out to be the future Sir Jony Ive.
Apple doesn't want this happening to your future iPhones. Photo: Cult of Mac
Apple’s always on the lookout for ways to improve the resiliency of its devices. For this reason, the U.S. Patent and Trademarks Office today published a new patent application from the company — calling for retractable drop-proof bumpers to be built into future iPhone housing, capable of doubling as a flotation device in case your handset accidentally lands in water.
One possible concept for the Apple Watch 2. Photo: Eric Heisuman
Apple is seeking out another manufacturer to help build its upcoming Apple Watch 2, according to a newly published report, citing supply chain insiders.
While Apple currently relies on Quanta Computer to build its first-gen wearable device, the company is said to also be speaking with Inventec, Wistron and Foxconn Electronics — all companies Cupertino has previously worked with — to help build its follow-up smartwatch, which is expected to arrive in the second quarter of 2016.
India loves Apple products. Illustration: Cult of Mac
Apple has crossed the $1 billion sales mark for its Indian operations for the first time, according to a filing with India’s Registrar of Companies (RoC) this week.
Apple saw 44 percent increase in sales for its most recent financial year, marking an overall doubling of Indian sales in the past two years — largely due to increased demand for the iPhone.
Apple's betting it's impossible to say no to that face. Photo: ABC
Apple TV owners can watch ABC on their streaming boxes (with a subscription), and the company isn’t afraid to exploit the undying, platonic love between a bear and a frog to make that fact known.
The latest Apple TV ad showcases the Watch ABC app, which lets existing cable subscribers watch full episodes and live broadcasts of the network’s programming, including The Muppets. The puppet-driven show features prominently in the new, 15-second spot which went live today.