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Architects behind Apple’s spaceship campus set their sights on Mars

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Foster + Partners want to take on Mars.
Foster + Partners want to take on Mars.
Photo: Foster + Partners

Foster + Partners is currently making a name for itself by designing Apple’s new spaceship campus and flagship stores, but once it’s done taking over Earth, the London-based architecture firm wants to help NASA create human colonies on Mars.

Norman Foster’s firm revealed its plans for a 93-square meter habitat that would be 3D printed from the loose soil and rocks on the the martian surface. The firm’s designs were shortlisted as a finalist for the 3D Printed Habitat Challenge hosted by NASA and America Makes.

This is the same architecture firm that designed Apple’s spaceship in Cupertino as well as most of the flagship Apple Store. While the structures presented in the Mars plan are vastly different from what Apple uses, it shows the kind of crazy ideas that go into modern architecture, some of which can be implemented in one way or another here on Earth.

Here’s how the firm says it would put 4 astronauts on the red planet:

Will it bend? iPhone 6s is one tough cookie

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how-iphone-6s-stacks-up-against-android-rivals-image-cultofandroidcomwp-contentuploads201509Screen-Shot-2015-09-09-at-203842-png
This year's iPhone could be one of the toughest yet.
Photo: Apple

Although we’re not sure if it did much to damage sales, last year’s iPhone launch was marred slightly by the so-called Bendgate problem — most famously shown off by the man who bent an iPhone 6 Plus with his bare hands.

Given the notoriety that video enjoyed, it’s no surprise that this year’s customers would be willing to put their new iPhone 6s handsets through the wringer to answer the immortal question: Will it bend?

While his testing method isn’t exactly scientific, Australian YouTuber Christian from FoneFox took up the challenge with his brand new iPhone 6s — and the results look very promising indeed.

Check it out below:

Apple shows iPhone 6s lens supplier who’s boss

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iPhone 6s gets the biggest iSight upgrade yet.
Who'd think something as small as an iPhone 6s lens could cause so much drama?
Photo: Apple

Having Apple on your side can, unsurprisingly, be a massive boon to any manufacturer. But don’t try and play hard ball with Cupertino — as the Taiwan-based Largan Precision could be about to find out.

According to a new report, Apple may shift 30 percent of its orders for the lens modules for the iPhone 6s away from current contractors Largan Precision to Japanese rival company Kantatsu, over Largan’s refusal to lower its prices.

5 ways ‘Hey Siri’ will change your life for the better

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Siri
Apple's new "Hey Siri" feature promises to be a game-changer.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

iOS 9’s new always-on “Hey Siri” feature promises to be a game changer for iPhone 6s-owning users of Apple’s AI assistant. For the first time ever, these owners won’t have to plug in their handsets in order to use Siri’s new voice activation tech.

So how exactly will this untethered “Hey Siri” improve your life? Let us count the ways…

Samsung tries to sell its Galaxy S6 edge to iPhone 6s buyers in London

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samsung-tries-to-sell-its-galaxy-s6-edge-to-iphone-6s-buyers-in-london-image-cultofandroidcomwp-contentuploads201509CPuyh2QWsAAtxwS-jpg
Really, Samsung?
Photo: Carly Page/The Inquirer
Really, Samsung? Photo: Carly Page/The Inquirer
Really, Samsung? Photo: Carly Page/The Inquirer

When you’re lining up for a brand new iPhone on launch day, the last thing you expect to see outside the Apple Store is a whole team of people from Samsung. But that’s exactly what iPhone 6s buyers in London were greeted by this morning.

Samsung sent a flock of people to gatecrash the iPhone 6s launch at the Apple Store on Regent Street to promote the Galaxy S6 edge and S6 edge+, and to hand out free goodies bearing Samsung’s “#NextisNew” slogan.

Prep photos perfectly for your custom Apple Watch face

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Apple Watch Update
Get ready to make custom Apple Watch faces like a champ.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

With watchOS 2, you can now use any photo in your library to make a custom Apple Watch face. And that gives you a lot of freedom to make the wearable your own, but sometimes, you and the watch might have different ideas for how to treat your pictures.

Here’s a quick and easy way to make sure that your Apple Watch looks exactly how you want it to.

iCloud bug delays key iOS 9 feature to keep your iPhone slim

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Hacker who tried to extort Apple for $100k is spared prison
Hacker who tried to extort Apple for $100k is spared prison
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

iOS 9 was set to have a new feature that would let developers create smaller apps targeted to specific iPhone devices. Called App Slicing, it would allow developers to target specific devices with smaller versions of their apps, rather than just sending out bloated Universal apps that need all the assets for all device types, including iPads.

App Slicing has been delayed until an unspecified time in a “future software update,” according to Apple’s developer website.

Apple fans (and a robot) line up around world for iPhone 6s launch

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Apple Store Hamburg line iPhone 6s
Apple fans are turning out in force in Hamburg, Germany for the iPhone 6s launch.
Photo: Thomas Knoop (via Twitter)

We figured tonight’s iPhone 6s launch would draw some crowds, and sure enough, they are. Fans all over the world are lining up to be the first to get their hands on Apple’s latest hardware, and we have the pictures to prove it, starting with that massive batch of Hamburgers above.

Here are crowds outside of Apple Stores from across the globe.

The best reason to upgrade to iPhone 6s Plus: optical image stabilization

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4K video is better on iPhone 6s Plus.
4K video is better on iPhone 6s Plus.
Photo: Apple

If you want to record the smoothest 4K video with an iPhone, skip the 6s and go with the 6s Plus.

The two new iPhones appear to be identical in almost every way except screen size, but in a new 4K video comparing the digital stabilization of the iPhone 6s against the optical/digital stabilization on the iPhone 6s Plus, the new camera on Apple’s bigger-than-big iPhone is clearly superior.

Check it out for yourself:

iOS 9.0.1 brings first bug fixes for iPhones 6s and 6s Plus

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iOS 9.3 beta 6 is here!
iOS 9.3 beta 6 is here!
Photo: Apple

The iPhone 6s and 6s Plus haven’t gone on sale yet but Apple has already released the first bug fixes for the new smartphones.

iOS 9.0.1 with support for iPhone 6s and 6s Plus was seeded out to users this afternoon, bringing with it a number of improvements for Safari, Photos, alarms, and more. Apple released iOS 9.0.1 to the public yesterday, but it didn’t include support for the company’s newest smartphones. Once iPhone 6s and 6s Plus owners receive their devices tomorrow, they’ll likely need to run a software update to install iOS 9.0.1.

Here’s a full list of the bug fixes:

Animated game AZZL will bust your brain out of the real world

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AZZL is a  brain-teasingly clever puzzle game featuring lovingly designed animations and characters.
AZZL is a brain-teasingly clever puzzle game featuring lovingly designed animations and characters.
Photo: Jutiful

This post is brought to you by Jutiful, maker of AZZL and other smart games.

Much as candy makers know what taste buds they’re appealing to, game makers have learned what makes people respond. Similarly, the “animation puzzles” in AZZL make it feel like a game that’s also a confection: sweet and a little addicting.

iPhone case adds e-ink to its backside

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The InkCase i6 gives your iPhone 6 protection and a second screen.
The InkCase i6 gives your iPhone 6 protection and a second screen.
Photo: OAXIS

We want our iPhone case to look pretty and protect our investment. Beyond that, we ask nothing of it.

One technology company wants its case to do a little more, though. OAXIS is launching a case that also serves as a second screen, an e-ink display that gives you time, allows you to receive important messages and lets you read your favorite e-book.

App lets you keep shooting photos when your iPhone is full

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Avoid this message with the IceCream app, which quickly helps free your storage to continue shooting photos.
Avoid this message with the IceCream app, which quickly helps free your storage to continue shooting photos.
Photo: IceCream

You’ve got the perfect photo lined in your sites and so you push the button on your iPhone camera. Instead of a memory etched in pixels, you get a message saying “Cannot take photo. There’s not enough storage.”

An iOS app called IceCream lets you quickly free up space without deleting photos, instead saving them to a secure cloud server with the tap of a button.

iPhones 6s captures China’s beauty (and liberates Nat Geo photog)

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iphone6s-natgeo

The new camera on the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus have already been put to the test in the fashion world, and on the baseball diamond, and now ahead of the device’s release tomorrow, National Geographic is showing fans what the new 12MP sensor can do when it replaces your entire camera bag.

National Geographic sent Mark Leong to the Chinese city of Sanjiang to retrace the first road trip that set the tone for his career as a professional photographer. Instead of lugging around his DSLR and suitcase of extra gear though, Leong was only allowed to shoot with the iPhone 6s Plus, which he says turned out to be ‘incredibly liberating.’

Take a look at some of the stunning images he captured:

Finally, the key ring gets the upgrade it deserves [Deals]

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Made of lightweight titanium, KeySmart can keep up to 10 keys, a USB, and more.
Made of lightweight titanium, KeySmart can keep up to 10 keys, a USB, and more.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

No matter how much slimmer the other stuff we put in our pockets might get, our keys remain the jangly, jagged mess they’ve always been. At least that was the case, until KeySmart 2.0’s Titanium Key Organizer came slicing into the scene, cutting the clutter and bringing the keeper of our keys up to the slim, sleek standards of the 21st century. It does all that and more, and it’s just $29.99.

Tim Cook has now launched more iPhones than Steve Jobs

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How the iPhone has evolved over the years.
How the iPhone has changed over the years.
Photo: Gadgetlove

Here’s a thought to make you feel old: With the launch of the iPhone 6s, Tim Cook will have officially overseen the launch of more new iPhone generations as CEO than Steve Jobs.

While Jobs was running the show at Apple during the original iPhone, 3G, 3GS and iPhone 4 era, Cook has been in charge during the 4s, 5, 5s, 6 and 6s timeframe.

All the phones at the party become one sound system with AmpMe

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No stereo? No problem. AmpMe app creates a sound system with all the phones at a party.
No stereo? No problem. AmpMe app creates a sound system with all the phones at a party.
Photo: AmpMe

The party is on, but there’s a problem: There’s no stereo or Bluetooth speaker for the music.

But a startup out of Montreal has developed an app that allows partygoers to create a DIY sound system. AmpMe is an app that syncs streaming music across the many smartphones at that party to create one powerful sound system. That means iPhones and Android phones can join forces to save the day.

ROBLOX games hit the big screen with an app for Xbox

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From the ROBLOX game Angels 15, which will be among 20 games coming to Xbox.
From the ROBLOX game Angels 15, which will be among 20 games coming to Xbox.
Photo: ROBLOX

ROBLOX, the popular user-generated online gaming platform, introduces kids to game building and even helps them earn a few bucks in the process. Some ROBLOX game developers have earned enough money to pay for college.

Now some of the more successful developers will raise their gaming cred even higher as ROBLOX launches a free app for Xbox featuring 20 of its top games.

Jailbreak tweak brings 3D Touch to older iPhones. Kind of.

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iphone-6s-3d-touch
3D Touch is Apple's big new feature for the iPhone 6s.
Photo: Apple

3D Touch has been the most widely-praised feature of the iPhone 6s in its advance reviews, so it’s no great surprise that savvy jailbreakers would attempt to replicate the technology in older iPhones.

One attempt at this is a new free tweak called ForceTouchActivator, which tries to impersonate 3D Touch by using long presses to expand the functionality of your iPhone.

And as far as free tweaks go, it’s not a bad effort. Sort of.

In-app purchases flaw exposes developers to costly hacks

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App Store icon
Business is booming for the App Store.
Photo: PhotoAtelier/Flickr

Sloppy coding in some popular iOS games allows hackers to give themselves and others thousands of dollars’ worth of in-app purchases for free.

The hole was discovered by developers at DigiDNA, creator of a backup tool called iMazing that allows iPhone and iPad users to access their devices’ hidden file systems. The developers found that the app backup/restore feature in iMazing 1.3 exposes weaknesses in the way games like Angry Birds 2 and Tetris Free handle in-app purchases.

To demonstrate how easy it is to hack in-app purchases using this method, the DigiDNA team tweaked Angry Birds 2 to start the game with 999,999,999 gems — the equivalent of $10,000 of in-game credits.

iOS 9 ad blockers could ruin your online shopping experience

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unnamed-2
Before and after adblockers. Notice any difference?
Photo: Sears

One of the big innovations of iOS 9 was the ability for Safari users to download and take advantage of content blockers.

According to a new report, however, ads may not be the only content that is blocked by apps like Crystal. Online retailers such as Walmart, Sears and Lululemon are also seeing their e-commerce sites negatively affected by adblockers — with some crucial features failing to work as before.

A savvy Apple fan has sent a robot to queue for her iPhone 6s

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lucy3
It certainly beats sitting out in the cold.
Photo: Atomic 212

People are already camping out for the iPhone 6s, but one smart would-be customer from Australia has decided to dodge the queues — by sending a robot on her behalf.

Lucy Kelly dispatched the robot — a remote-controlled tablet attached to a Segway — to wait in line at the flagship Apple Store in Sydney, where the iPhone 6s will go on sale ahead of the rest of the world. It gives her the ability to join in the fun of waiting alongside eager Apple fans, without the negative part of standing around for hours in the cold.

Now why didn’t we think of that?

HTC’s iPhone clone leaks out again with giant bezels, six color options

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htcs-iphone-clone-leaks-out-again-with-giant-bezels-six-color-options-image-cultofandroidcomwp-contentuploads201509HTC-One-A9-colors-jpg
One A9's six color options.
Photo: Evan Blass
One A9's six color options. Photo: Evan Blass
One A9’s six color options. Photo: Evan Blass

HTC’s upcoming iPhone clone, the One A9, has leaked out again ahead of its official unveiling.

A new press image confirms the device will be available in six colors, with gigantic bezels above and beneath its display that somewhat spoil its otherwise attractive look.