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Bus-ted! Coach driver fired for using iPad at 60 mph

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Don't be distracted by your iPad while driving a bus.
Photo: 20th Century Fox/Cult of Mac

Talk all you want about the declining market share of the iPad, but some people are still willing to risk their life over Apple’s breakthrough tablet device.

One such person is Irish coach driver Sean Purcell, who recently lost his job after CCTV showed him driving his coach with his elbows at more than 60 miles per hour so that he could operate his iPad.

Now that’s a true Apple fan. Wait, what?

YouTube Gaming makes a run on Twitch tomorrow

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It's like YouTube, but with way less cat videos.
It's like YouTube, but with way less cat videos.
Photo: YouTube

It’s a bit late in the game, but YouTube has the resources and brand-name cache to take on video game streaming juggernaut, Twitch, as it turns on the lights of its much anticipated game streaming service Wednesday.

YouTube Gaming is the new portal, separate from the Google-owned video giant’s regular video website, that will aim to capture the flags, hearts and minds of gaming’s streaming technorati, some of whom can make upwards of $8,000 per month just letting people watch them play video games.

Twitch is the 800-pound gorilla of the video game streaming world; in fact, YouTube tried to buy the service sometime before Amazon snapped it up. Will YouTube bring in both current customers as well as crushing Twitch in the process?

Hyper Light Drifter mashes up classics in a hot new sci-fi RPG

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Inspired by gorgeous games of the past.
Inspired by gorgeous games of the past.
Photo: Heart Machine

Even if this upcoming game from indie studio Heart Machine wasn’t already so hotly anticipated, I’d be caught up in its gorgeous art style.

Hyper Light Drifter seems to channel the 8- to 16-bit visual look of games like Sword & Sworcery while also connecting classic Legend of Zelda-type environmental puzzles and Diablo-style action RPG fun together in an awesome mashup that’s sure to get my attention and money when it releases next year.

Check out the second official trailer below for a better taste of what this game is promising.

How to fix weak taptic feedback on Apple Watch

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Apple Watch how-to taptic feedback
Here's how to put the tap back into "taptic."
Photo: Apple

Taptic feedback on the Apple Watch felt a little weird at first, but we’ve come to love its gentle nudges to let us know something is going on. But some Cult of Mac staffers have noticed that after time, the taptic feedback has started to feel not so … tappy anymore.

If you’re having this problem, here are a couple quick and easy ways you can try to put the pep back on your wrist.

Apple brings award-winning synth back from the dead

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The new Alchemy synthesizer is center-stage in today's updates to Logic Pro X and MainStage 3.
Photo: Apple

Apple released updates today for Logic Pro X and MainStage 3, adding a famous synthesizer and other fun goodies. This synthesizer, called Alchemy, for the most part isn’t an Apple original – it was previously an award-winning piece of software from Camel Audio, which Apple acquired at the beginning of the year. Now it has officially resurfaced in Apple’s professional audio apps.

Be the first in your family to land on Mars

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I've got my ticket to Mars. How about you?
I've got my ticket to Mars. How about you?
Photo: NASA

There’s a good chance I will be the first Pierini to land on Mars. No, I did not win some contest that sends me on a one-way trip to the Red Planet in the name of reality TV.

But I did register my name with NASA to have it embedded on a microchip headed to Mars. Now it’s your turn.

Former Apple and Samsung employee dishes dirt on rivals’ innovation

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Samsung's method of innovation is way different than Apple's.
Samsung's method of innovation is way different than Apple's.
Photo: Kārlis Dambrāns/Flickr

Apple and Samsung are bitter rivals in the tech industry that make a lot of the same type of products, but when it comes to innovation, the two are complete opposites.

Arno Lenior is one of the few people on the planet who’s worked at both companies, and while Samsung gets a bad rap for copying Apple’s products, the former Apple marketing director reveals that in many ways, Samsung takes innovation just as seriously as they do in Cupertino, otherwise it would have never been able to go from a company that sold rice nearly 100 years ago, to transforming into one of the world’s top TV and smartphone manufacturers.

Now that Lenior left Samsung back in May, MarketingMag sat down with the Australian marketer to get his viewpoints on innovation and how it’s become part of the mindset at Apple.

The quickest way to find images with iOS 9

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ios 9 photos scrubber

Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac

In previous versions of iOS, finding your photos was a bit tricky, especially as you started to amass them in the thousands, what with having a high-quality camera in your pocket at all times.

In iOS 9, currently in public beta, the Photos app has gotten a new way to find the photo you’re looking for amidst the haystack of your Photo Roll. Here’s how to use this new feature.

Swatch claims ‘One more thing’ trademark isn’t a jab at Apple. Yeah, right.

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“One more thing” returned at this year's iPhone keynote. Photo: Apple.
Yep, it's just a coincidence that Swatch decided to use this phrase right now.
Photo: Apple

Swatch has denied that its trademarking of Steve Jobs’ famous “One more thing” phrase was a blatant attempt to troll Apple — arguing instead that it’s part of a new film noir-inspired watch line, referencing Peter Falk’s Columbo character.

Yes, that’ll do. And Android’s blatant borrowing of the iOS interface was just a funny coincidence too, right?

5 affordable ways to give back-to-school an upgrade for 2015 [Deals]

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The Jorg Messenger Bag adds a 11,000mAh charger to a sleek and stylish carryall.
The Jorg Messenger Bag adds a 11,000mAh charger to a sleek and stylish carryall.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

School’s changed a lot in recent years, as technology keeps creeping into every aspect of learning along with our lives. Time to get with the times — whether it’s keeping your cash and cell phone in one place, getting a bag that can charge your devices while you walk, or a cyber-secured lock for your locker, we’ve got some of the best deals for making 2015’s back-to-school actually feel like 2015.

Apple Watch demand is ‘so strong,’ says Best Buy CEO

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Apple Watch sales figures are basically analyst roulette right now.
Apple Watch sales are doing great.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Apple still hasn’t publicly released sales figures for the Apple Watch, but according to Best Buy CEO Hubert Joly, the wearable device is doing great.

“Demand for Apple Watch has been so strong in the stores and online,” Joly told analysts during the company’s latest earnings call.

HTC ditches its own design language to copy the iPhone

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Cover up the logos and you can hardly tell them apart.
Photo: Steve Hemmerstoffer
Cover up the logos and you can hardly tell them apart. Photo: Steve Hemmerstoffer
Cover up the logos and you can hardly tell them apart. Photo: Steve Hemmerstoffer

HTC appears to have given up on its own design language in an effort to make its next flagship smartphone an iPhone clone. Leaked images of the so-called HTC Aero look almost identical to an iPhone 6, with the same flat form factor and protruding camera.

Number 2 on the App Store: a social network for pooping

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Great. Just what the world needed. A social network for pooping.
Great. Just what the world needed. A social network for pooping.
Photo: Pooductive

Look, we know you’ve taken your iPhone into the bathroom with you for number two. Everyone has. That doesn’t mean you should tell people about it. But a new app, charmingly called Pooductive, is for just that. It’s dedicated to facilitating meaningful, anonymous conversation on the toilet about… you can guess the topic.

Pixeljam snubs Kickstarter, rolls out own crowdfunding platform

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Dino Run is part of Pixeljam's crowdfunding experiment.
Game developer Pixeljam is changing crowdfunding for the better.
Photo: Pixeljam

Pixeljam is no stranger to making iPhone and Mac games, but now the studio is taking on another challenge: transforming the way crowdfunding works to make it better for game developers and other creative types.

Company co-founder Miles Tillman describes the crowdfunding project as an “experiment” that’s an alternative to popular services like Indiegogo and Kickstarter. Pixeljam’s new platform lets backers donate money just like the others, but prioritizes transparent communication, instant gratification and actually making the game ahead of crowdfunding staples like producing slick videos and stressing out over fundraising goals and deadlines.

Flip off meter maids with AwareCar, an app for better parking

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It's just the size of a quarter, but this $9 dongle can supercharge your parking.
It's just the size of a quarter, but this $9 dongle can supercharge your parking.
Photo: Aware Stack

If you have trouble finding your car in a busy garage, or always find yourself coming back to a lapsed parking meter and a ticket stuck under your windshield wiper, you’re in luck. A new Bluetooth sensor, in combination with an iPhone app, can make losing your car and racking up fines a thing of the past.

Start saving now for your 24-karat gold iPhone 6s

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Want to make the other iPhone 6s owners jealous?
Photo: Goldgenie

The iPhone 6s isn’t even out yet, and already luxury goods companies are preparing to give folks with way too much money the chance to preorder their next-generation Apple handset in 24-karat gold.

Hot off the mark is Goldgenie, which is currently letting customers register their interest in an exclusive luxury box set containing both a gold-plated iPhone 6s and a gold Apple Watch.

Alleged China Telecom rep dashes hopes of pink iPhone 6s

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Is this a figment of our imagination?
Photo: Daliulian

A person claiming to be China Telecom’s social media manager has published a new blog on Chinese social media, offering a few details about the upcoming iPhone 6s.

Most interestingly, the poster claims that — despite all the rumors to the contrary — he has not seen or heard any evidence supporting the existence of a pink handset.

Tim Cook’s Mad Money email might have violated SEC rules

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Apple raked in the cash last quarter.
Apple stock has been on a wild ride recently.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Apple stock plummeted Monday morning before Tim Cook stepped in by emailing Mad Money‘s Jim Cramer to reassure investors that all is well for Apple in China. The move quickly turned Apple’s stock price around, but Cook might have violated Securities and Exchange Commission rules in the process.

Apple may introduce iPhone 6s at the same venue it unveiled the Apple II

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Apple's iPhone 6s venue may have historical significance for the company.
Photo: Hoodline

Apple still hasn’t made an announcement as to where next month’s iPhone 6s event will take place. However, according to a new report it may be set to rock San Francisco’s 7,000-seat Bill Graham Civic Auditorium — the same venue where Steve Jobs and Wozniak first unveiled the Apple II.

Shelf-size stereo delivers massive sound from a tiny footprint

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So much sound in such a small package.
So much sound in such a small package.
Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac

Now that we’re in the era of the portable Bluetooth speaker, it’s hard to justify spending money on a stereo that just sits on a shelf at home.

That perception is exactly what this tiny stereo system from German audio giant Thonet and Vander aims to fight, though. The Rätsel brings old-school stereo sensibility to the modern age, with an absolutely room-filling sound in a tiny, tiny package. Why not have something that sounds this great right there on your shelf?

Tim Cook to talk future of work at BoxWorks

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Tim Cook is going to BoxWorks.
Tim Cook is going to BoxWorks.
Photo: Apple

It usually takes a big tech conference like All Things D/Code Conf. to pull Tim Cook away from the mothership for a public interview, but this year Apple’s CEO will make his first ever appearance at BoxWorks’ cloud storage-focused conference.

Tim Cook will join Box CEO Aaron Levie on stage at BoxWorks On September 29th in a fireside conversation to talk about the future of work and how iOS will have a transformative impact on enterprise.

SmartPlug turns your home into a modern-day Clapper

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iHome SmartPlug HomeKit
You may not get a whole lot of use out of a single SmartPlug.
Photo: Evan Killham/Cult of Mac

Home automation, specifically Apple’s HomeKit framework and its compatible accessories, is the latest Thing We’re Supposed to Get Excited About™. And it has a lot of promise for convenience, time-saving, and just generally feeling like you live in the future.

The first HomeKit-compatible smartplug is upon us, courtesy of iHome. The ISP5 SmartPlug is a $40 device that plugs into your wall outlet and lets you run whatever you plug into it from your iPhone, using either Siri or the companion app.

It does everything it says it will: You can set up rooms and zones, and control individual appliances or whole groups of them with a tap or quick voice command. It also lets you build “rules” to make your stuff turn on and off without your input. All of this is cool, but when you actually have one, you might struggle to think of useful ways to use it.