YouTube is going ad-free, for a price. Photo: Google
Google revealed that it’s getting into the subscription video streaming game today with the introduction of YouTube Red.
The new $9.99-per-month service will give customers ad-free access to all of YouTube’s content, but the company plans to charge customers extra if they sign up through iOS.
This Italian leather case also attaches with the Micro Dock from Nodus. Photo: George Tinari/Cult of Mac
I go through phases of different cases that I like to style my iPhone with. Back in the day I used to like clear cases just to show off the fact that I have an iPhone at all, but lately I’ve been really digging leather. That’s why I was particularly excited to try out the new Access Case 2 from Nodus, but it’s more than just good looks. It works as a compact wallet and dock for your phone as well. Yes, an actual dock.
The first big updates for iOS 9 and El Capitan were released by Apple this morning, but the company has some smaller updates for the Apple Watch and Apple TV 4, too.
The GM for tvOS was seeded today to developers who already got their hands on the early release Apple TV 4 units. That software will be the final version the new set-top box ships with next week. Apple Watch owners also received an update in the form of watchOS 2.0.1.
The Apple Watch update contains the following fixes:
A new beta is out for OS X El Capitan. Photo: Apple
The first big update for OS X El Capitan has been released to the public today after months of beta testing of its new features and improvements.
OS X 10.11.1 brings more than 150 new emoji characters to the Mac, along with improved compatibility with Microsoft Office 2016, better VoiceOver reliability and numerous other bug fixes. The update can be now loaded through the Mac App Store or via the Software Update option in the Apple menu.
A ton of new emoji land on iOS devices today with the public launch of iOS 9.1.
Apple released iOS 9.1 this morning to users after five beta builds of the first big iOS 9 update were tested by developers. Among the new features: dozens of new emoji for everything from tacos, burritos, unicorns — and even a middle finger.
iOS users currently running iOS 9.0.2 can grab the new software via an over-the-air update or download it directly from iTunes.
Walt Mossberg echoes what others are saying about the Steve Jobs movie: it's inaccurate. Photo: Joi Ito/Flickr CC
Technology journalist Walt Mossberg opened up about the Steve Jobs movie debuting in theaters this Friday and he didn’t have many kind things to say about it. Mossberg, who knew Steve Jobs for 14 years before his passing, recalls the numerous occasions in which they talked and spent time together including in interviews. None of those times, however, seem to add up to Aaron Sorkin’s portrayal of Jobs in the movie.
The SKEYE, now available in a limited black shade, is the ideal drone for first-time fliers.
We’ve all got a jones for drones, but not all of us have the space or cash to hang up a 5-foot-wide quad-copter in our garage. The SKEYE Nano, now available in a Batwing-worthy shade of black, solves both problems, small enough to fit in the palm of your hand, and at $39.99 it’s cheap enough to keep cash in your pocket.
Not everyone is happy at Apple under CEO Tim Cook. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Tim Cook heads a company that devotes massive brain power in developing and understanding algorithms. And it was an algorithm that ranked the Apple CEO the nation’s top executive from a list of 250.
ExecRank, a kind of social network for companies to find advisors and board members, uses a statistical and algorithmic analysis to measure 24 categories, including experience, business resolution, company growth and earnings and industry reputation.
Spot the difference. The Apple legal team edition. Photo: Apple/LenovoSpot the difference. Photo: Gizmodic
Jony Ive sure hates rival companies ripping off the iPhone for their latest flagship handset design. Which is why we’d respectfully suggest that Jony doesn’t click the link below, unless he wants to ruin his Wednesday before it even starts.
From the curved edges and color options to the prominent antenna lines, all that’s missing is the Apple stamp of quality. And Jony’s permission, of course.
Apple's building a new office in San Jose. Photo: Apple
Apple has been making some big moves in the north San Jose real estate market lately, and the company just added another big property to its holdings with the leasing of a new site that could hold up to 3,000 workers.
Millennials now have a place to register a range of opinions with the app exacly.me. Photo: exacly.me
Millennials are a generation of “digital natives” with strong opinions and they’re losing interest in social media that only allows them to register a Like on posts.
The creators of a new social media app called exacly.me believe they can give Millennials a platform for meaningful sharing with the honest self-expression that so defines them. The community of users can rate each other’s content with “Me” or “Not Me.” Gasp at a picture of a friend rock climbing? There’s even an option to say “So Not Me.”
Happy Back to the Future Day, everyone! If you’ve somehow been living under a rock, today is the “future date” which Marty McFly visits in the 1989 movie sequel Back to the Future II.
And while we may not yet have ubiquitous hoverboards, self-tying sneakers, rehydrating pizzas or, erm, loads and loads of fax machines, we do have Siri. And Apple’s loaded it full of Doc Brown and Marty McFly references to celebrate the occasion.
This is 70 minutes more with Steve than most of us ever had. Photo: Steve Jobs: The Lost Interview
Between Alex Gibney’s The Man in the Machine documentary and the new Steve Jobs biopic, there’s no shortage of viewing material at the moment if you’re interested in Steve Jobs.
But Netflix-subscribing Steve Jobs completists may want to check out one other Jobs artifact: 2012’s Steve Jobs: The Lost Interview. And you’d better hurry up, too — because it disappears in November.
And the roulette wheel of Apple Watch predictions lands on... zero? Photo: John Wardell/Flickr CC
Apple is still being coy about Apple Watch sales figures, with Cook this week noting that, “We are not announcing the numbers” — but assuring people that the company has “shipped a lot” of Apple Watches, and that numbers continue to grow.
“This is competitive information,” he said. “I don’t want to help the competition. We shipped a lot [of Apple Watches] the first quarter, then last quarter we shipped even more. I can predict this quarter we will ship even more.”
The maker of Telegram, a popular messaging app, has had his creation blocked in Iran on the grounds that he refused to help authorities to spy on their own citizens.
Creator Pavel Durov said that Iran’s Ministry of Information and Communications Technology asked him to provide them with “spying and censorship tools” for the service. When he refused, Telegram was quickly given the boot.
The new Misfit Shine 2 delivers better fitness tracking. Photo: Misfit
Misfit Shine 2 delivers better fitness tracking. Photo: Misfit
Misfit is back with a major update to its award-winning Shine fitness and sleep tracker. The new Shine 2 is faster and more accurate than its predecessor, with an added 3-axis magnetometer and updated hardware that promises improved responsiveness and snappier syncing.
The M2M Channel is part of Apple TV's ambitious launch plan next week. Photo: WME/IMG
Apple TV has locked up some fancy, exclusive content ahead of the launch of its new set-top hardware next week.
M2M, which is a really chic way of saying “Made to Measure,” will air content devoted to the fashion world and its icons. It comes courtesy of a partnership between Apple and sports/fashion titan WME/IMG, and you’ll only be able to see it through Apple.
Here’s what you can expect your Apple TV to be wearing when the channel launches Tuesday.
Makers of Swiss watches may not be adding Apple to their friend circles anytime soon. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
The third-quarter figures are in for the Swiss watch industry, and it’s not good news. Exports slid 8.5 percent over the past three months, continuing a trend that has some worried that newer tech like the Apple Watch might be affecting demand for traditional timepieces.
Analysts are citing falling sales in Asia as the reason for the downturn.
Now that marijuana is legal in many spots around the U.S., pot apps abound. Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac
Where can you buy weed legally? What kind of marijuana is best for you? What are the laws concerning pot use in your neck of the woods? Potent new marijuana apps make it easy to answer all your sticky weed questions.
We’ve harvested the best marijuana apps so you don’t have to pick through the seeds and stems yourself.
Apple plans to make a big splash in the fashion world next year by sponsoring the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s big Costume Institute exhibit. Few details about the project are known, but Apple design guru Jony Ive teased what visitors might be able to expect in a new interview about the intersection of technology and fashion.
We won’t get a peak of the iPhone 7 until late next year, but when we do its biggest feature may be that it comes without it’s most iconic pieces of hardware: the home button.
Piper Jaffrey analyst Gene Munster is infamous in the Apple community for his incessant predictions that Apple is making a television set. Now the analyst is dipping into some iPhone 7 speculation, claiming that by ditching the home button, the iPhone 7 will come in a smaller form-factor but pack the same screen size.
Siri will remind you of tasks you need to complete based on your location. Photo: Stephen Smith/Cult of Mac
Maybe there aren’t a ton of new features in iOS 9, but you may find yourself getting tighter with Siri.
Siri is out to earn the title of “Best Assistant” with a series of new tricks aimed at making your life easier.
You no longer have to set a time for Siri to remind you to do tasks. You will automatically get reminders once you arrive or leave a location. No time to read an email or an interesting article? Ask her to remind you later and she will do so.
Siri can call up any photo you like based on a location or timestamp. She can also give you sports scores without directing you to a website, can convert measurements and, if you have a shiny new iPhone 6s, there is no need to press the home button to summon her. Just say, “Hey Siri.”
To see how Siri worked for me, check out the video below.
Apple TV 4 brings iOS apps to the big screen. Photo: Apple
The fourth generation Apple TV is set to start shipping next week and Apple just added three new channels to the device’s lineup to boost its offerings.
New channels were added to Apple TV this morning for CBS All Access, Made to Measure, and finally NBC, which is the last of the major networks to joining the Apple TV lineup.