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Multitask like a boss on your iPad with iOS 9’s Slide Over

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Checking out Maps while browsing the web.
Checking out Maps while browsing the web.
Screen: Leander Kahney/Cult of Mac

Our digital lives are busy. We send iMessages while we’re browsing the web, type in phone numbers and addresses while FaceTiming, and bounce between apps on our Macs constantly.

Now, with iOS 9 and a modern iPad, you can quickly browse the web, respond to a text message, or jot something down in a note, then slide that app away so you can focus on your original app.

This feature, called Slide Over, is going to make using your iPad a lot more fun and useful.

Here’s how to make it happen, assuming you have an iPad Air, iPad Air 2, iPad mini 2, or iPad mini 3.

Save up to 75% on Cult of Mac Deal’s summer blowout sale! [Deals]

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This clear case lets you see and touch your phone the way Apple intended.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Summer’s almost over, along with all its bounty – the beautiful weather, the backyard barbecues, and Cult of Mac’s summer blowout sale. Here are three ways to take advantage of the end of season savings by decking out and protecting your iPhone. These are already heavily discounted, but with the coupon code eos5off you can get an extra 5% off.

Belgium’s first Apple Store will open this month

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Barricades have already been erected for the big day.
Photo: Apple Nieuws Vlaanderen

Good news Belgian Apple fans! The country’s first brick-and-mortar Apple Store will open later this month on Saturday, September 19.

For those keeping track at home, that’s right around the time the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus will arrive in stores — perhaps increasing the chance that the opening will be attended by a big-name Apple employee or two.

More than 60% of pay TV streams are watched on Apple devices

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Apple is dominating pay TV thanks to its range of devices.
Photo: Fortune/Adobe Digital Index

We’re less than a week away from Apple’s refreshed Apple TV service being announced, and a new report published by Adobe Digital Index is sure to bring a smile to faces in Cupertino.

That’s because an analysis of 1.49 billion TV Everywhere streams — referring to the paid streaming of shows through tablets, smartphones, computers and set-top boxes — suggests a whopping 61.9 percent is done via an Apple device.

Kids of today think cassette players are iPhone docks

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iPhonedock
The reason Apple Stores should come with a mandatory IQ test before sales are made.
Photo: Trevor Thomas

We’ve all seen the adorably hilarious videos of kids making us feel old by responding with general bafflement to ancient technologies like, erm, the original iPod. But you’d hope for the good of our future that people of driving age are a little bit more educated than that.

Not according to a photo that’s currently going viral on Facebook, showing what’s claimed to be the work of a young driver who has mistaken the cassette deck in their car for an iPhone dock — with disastrous results.

44 million people boogied down to Apple Music in July

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Tired of Apple Music's playlists? Try something even more indie.
Apple Music has already cracked the charts in a big way.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

There have been mixed reports about the success of Apple Music — with the project’s senior director leaving Apple, reports of declining listenership, and Apple acknowledging that the platform still needs a lot of work.

However, according to a new ComScore report, Apple Music is certainly catching the attention of users. The digital analytics company claims that Apple’s Music service was listened to by 44 million users in the U.S. during the month of July — putting it in the top 15 smartphone apps in the U.S.

Controversial Steve Jobs documentary hits theaters today

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Alex Gibney's Steve Jobs documentary opens Sept. 4th.
Probably not a Steve Jobs portrait his friends would enjoy.
Photo: Magnolia Pictures

Movie fans may be waiting on Aaron Sorkin and Danny Boyle’s Steve Jobs biopic, but another Jobs-related project arrives in theaters today. And, boy, is it not a film Apple is happy about!

Titled Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine, the feature-length documentary is directed by Oscar winner Alex Gibney, who has previously made docs exploring the dark side of Enron and the Church of Scientology.

Yep, you can probably see where this one is going!

Knights of Pen & Paper 2 rolls dice on new adventures

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Slay powerful beasts with strategic combat decisions.
Slay powerful beasts with strategic combat decisions.
Photo: Paradox

Playing Dungeons and Dragons as a youngster is a watershed moment of a modern adult’s formative nerd experience. Grownups, however, don’t necessarily have time to draw up characters or roll dice for strength and charisma stats, let alone spend weekends huddled around a table full of charts, oddly shaped dice and Cheetos.

Knights of Pen & Paper 2 is a less-time-intensive way to recapture the dungeons (and dragons!) of yore in a cheeky, fun, self-aware way, all from the relative safety of your iPad, iPhone or select Android devices.

And now there’s an expansion for the mobile game, called Fist of +1 Fury, available as an in-app purchase for $1.99. Check out the trailer below for all the retro nerd fun.

Clashem turns iPhone into an arena of epic video battles

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Five-second video clips go head-to-head on the iOS app Clashem.
Five-second video clips go head-to-head on the iOS app Clashem.
Photo: Red Bull Media

There is now an iOS app where you could possibly see a flashy snowboarder fighting a guy who can spit ping-pong balls into distant beer cups. The best part is, you decide who wins.

Red Bull Media rolled out a free mobile app called Clashem, where users try to win fame five seconds at a time in a video battle where the community votes what wins and what loses with the swipe of the finger.

Don’t Starve brings hunger game to iPhone

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Those beefalo look pretty worried.
Those beefalo look pretty worried.
Photo: Klei Entertainment

Seriously, try not to starve. That’s the entire point of Klei Entertainment’s runaway hit game Don’t Starve, a test of survival set in a darkly humorous, Edward Gorey-esque world filled with vicious hounds, creeping spiders, herds of stampeding Beefalo and slimy fish men.

Now you can get in on the action on iPhone, as the desktop game just became a universal app called Don’t Starve: Pocket Edition.

Apple Watch your Airbnb plans take shape

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The new Airbnb app for Apple Watch simplifies communication between hosts and guests.
The new Airbnb app for Apple Watch simplifies communication between hosts and guests.
Photo: Airbnb

When Airbnb set out to design an app for the Apple Watch, its team did so like a master woodcarver. Whittle away until you leave what is essential.

The popular community hospitality network launched a watch app today that provides a simple messaging hub for hosts and guests. Travelers can send a host a message with name, photo and requested dates. A host can accept or decline right on the wrist and respond to messages, either through dictation or a preset response.

Tiny charger taps AA batteries to keep your phone running

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tiny-mobile-phone-charger-uses-aa-batteries-to-keep-you-running-image-cultofandroidcomwp-contentuploads2015094694c805b2581cea79001de0369de32b_original-jpg
No, that's not a giant hand.
No, that’s not a giant hand. Photo: The Nipper

Modern mobile phones need a lot of power; chances are we’ve all got an external battery pack (or at least a second cable and wall plug) tucked away in a bag somewhere that will charge up our Android and iOS mobile phones while we’re on the run.

The thing is, those things need to be taken along with you when you leave the house. If you’re like me, though, that requires a heck of a lot of cognitive overhead and pre-planning.

The whole point of the Nipper, this tiny new mobile phone charger that uses two AA batteries to give you a bit of juice when needed, is to always be available.

Spoiler alert: All the juicy details on iPhone 6s

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It's time to get ready for your iOS 9 upgrade.
Here's everything we know about the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Although the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus aren’t expected to bring major design changes to Apple’s world-beating smartphone lineup, a bevy of hardware upgrades will make the new models faster and easier to use.

Even though we’re almost a week away from Apple’s 2015 iPhone unveiling, we pretty much know all the key features that are coming. Here’s everything we think know about the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, which will undoubtedly become most popular iPhones ever.

Cute Apple miniatures will transport you to 1984

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This 3D printed miniature of an Apple II was designed to house a Raspberry Pi computer.
This 3D printed miniature of an Apple II was designed to house a Raspberry Pi computer.
Photo: Charles Mangin/RetroConnector

Apple rolls out new products next week at the annual fall reveal, but you can’t stop thinking about the Apple IIc from 1984.

Self-taught hardware hacker and 3D printer Charles Mangin feels you. So much so that Mangin, of Raleigh, NC., creates tiny versions of classic Apple computers that encase the Raspberry Pi computers. He has even made a classic Mac that serves as a working charging dock for the iPod Nano and an SD card reader that looks an old Apple disk drive.

With this pocket power station, the world is your outlet [Deals]

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An all-in-one adapter that makes sure you can always find a charge in more than 150 countries.
An all-in-one adapter that makes sure you can always find a charge in more than 150 countries.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Traveling usually comes with anxiety over either not having access to a wall socket for all your devices, or having the wrong one for the country you’re in. Consider that problem solved with the Twist+ World Charging Station, a compact charging hub that makes sure no matter where you go, you’ve got a place to plug in all your devices. It’s a game-changer for convenience, and it’s going for just $34.99 at Cult of Mac Deals.

iPhone 6s will be Apple’s best selfie machine ever

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The iPhone 6s FaceTime camera is getting some big upgrades.
The iPhone 6s FaceTime camera is getting some big upgrades.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Apple is bringing some big upgrades to the iPhone 6s FaceTime camera according to a new report from one of the most respected Apple analysts on the planet.

KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo issued a note to investors this morning, claiming the new iPhone 6s will add a much improved 5 megapixel camera sensor to the FaceTime camera, making it it the best selfie machine Apple has ever made.

Apple admits there’s ‘homework to be done’ with Apple Music

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Tired of Apple Music's playlists? Try something even more indie.
Apple Music needs plenty of revision if it's going to pass finals.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

In a rare showing, Apple has acknowledged that there is still “a bit of homework to be done” when it comes to improving one of its products — in this case, Apple Music.

The company’s streaming music service has seen mixed success since its launch back in June, with reports of falling listenership and even a public slating from a well-known pro-Apple pundit.

Recently Apple Music’s senior director upped and left the company, with no word on whether it was his or Apple’s decision to step down.

Your very own Star Wars BB-8 droid is not so far, far away

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BB-8, the cute little droid from Star Wars: The Force Awakens, is now available as an app-enabled companion.
BB-8, the cute little droid from Star Wars: The Force Awakens, is now available as an app-enabled companion.
Photo: Sphero

The editing on Star Wars: The Force Awakens isn’t finished yet but one of the characters already promises to be the hot toy of the Christmas season.

BB-8, the roly-poly little droid seen spinning across the screen in trailers for the highly anticipated movie, is now an app-controlled toy with an adaptive personality that responds to voice commands.

From hobby to hero: The history of Apple TV

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Apple TV
Apple TV was a hobby for years. Until it wasn't.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Apple just keeps trying to crack the lucrative nut known as your living room. From a gimmicky Macintosh TV in the 1990s to a “hobby” Apple TV in the mid-2000s, Cupertino keeps trying to come up with ultimate digital hub for our homes.

So far, Apple has failed to deliver a magical device that will tame all our televisions. Here’s a brief history of Apple’s TV efforts — a two-decade push aimed at ensconcing an Apple machine at the center of our domestic universe — ahead of next week’s likely Apple TV refresh.

Apple and other tech companies pay $415 million to settle ‘no poaching’ lawsuit

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Apple raked in the cash last quarter.
The long-running antitrust lawsuit is finally over.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

The long-running Silicon Valley antitrust case that saw Apple, Google, Intel and Adobe accused of conspiring to suppress worker salaries has finally come to an end.

U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh gave final approval to a $415 million settlement in a ruling on Wednesday. This is an increase of around $90 million on the $324.5 million settlement rejected last year, but far below the $3 billion that plaintiff Michael Devine had asked for in a letter written to Koh in 2014.

5 ways to turn your old iPhone into money

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iphone back
Your old iPhone is far from worthless.
Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac

If the rumor mill has it right, new iPhones are right around the corner. But that doesn’t mean you should relegate your current model to the junk drawer once you trade up: You can turn your old iPhone into money in one of several ways.