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Apple rejects Cecil the Lion app where you shoot the poachers

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Apple's rejection of the app is bound to stir up old debates about policing the App Store.
It was inevitable that this would happen wasn't it?
Photo: Cecil's Revenge

Apple’s App Store policing is being called into question again after the company rejected a Cecil the Lion-inspired game in which animals turn guns on poachers.

Cecil’s Revenge features a safari truck of cheerful-looking wildlife firing at various caricatures of hunters, ranging from old-timey colonialists with rifles to cartoon Africans with guns.

Apple may wait for 30 million subs to create original TV content

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Apple's new improved TV could be coming as early as this fall.
Original Cupertino programming in 3, 2, 1...
Photo: Robert S. DonovanFlickr CC

Given Netflix’s success in the area, it would be fair to say that most people are excited about the possibility that Apple may be entering the original programming arena.

However, according to a new report citing industry insiders, Apple could wait quite a while before launching into its latest venture.

Affordable iOS security kit locks down your house

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Here's our review of this cool security system.
Here's our review of this cool security system.
Photo: Stephen Smith/Cult of Mac

A connected home security system that you can run right from your iPhone sounds like a fantastic idea. But which system should you pick up?

We’ve taken a look at the Skylink Alarm System Starter Kit to see what it can do. It includes a security hub, various window and door sensors, and a slick Wi-Fi-connected camera that you can set up and use from your iPhone no matter where you are in the world.

Check out our fun video review of this iOS-controlled home security system below.

Apple Watch is huge in China with 1 million actual users

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Are Apple Watch expectations just too high?
China is definitely getting into the Apple Watch.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Apple is still being pretty cagey about exactly how many Apple Watches it has sold since the wearable premiered in April, but a new report suggests that the device is doing just fine in the all-important Chinese market.

Shanghai-based research company RedTech Advisors estimates that China has more than 1 million Apple Watches in use, and it reached this number in a mere 17 weeks.

How to boost iOS 9 security with 6-digit passcode

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Password Six

Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

We’ve all been using a passcode to secure our iPhones and iPads since forever, right? You’ve had the option to use an alphanumeric passcode since iOS 7, but if you chose to use a simple numeric code, you were limited to four digits.

Not anymore! Apple added the ability to use a six-digit passcode in iOS 9, and this quick settings tweak will make your iPhone or iPad far more secure.

Apple Music festival lineup adds The Weeknd and Leon Bridges

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Apple Music Festival is starting to dial in its lineup.
Apple Music Festival is starting to dial in its lineup.
Photo: Apple

The Chemical Brothers and the Weeknd will headline this year’s Apple Music Festival according to an announcement made today by the company on Twitter. The festival was revealed last month but Apple has only given us a few hints about who’s going to take the stage until today when Leon Bridges was also revealed to be one of the acts headlining the 10 day event.

Apple-produced shows ‘not that big a deal,’ says Netflix head

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Netflix CEO Reed Hastings
Netflix CEO Reed Hastings isn't worried about Apple getting into producing content.
Photo: Netflix

We’re hearing some rumblings and grumblings that Apple might start producing original content to go along with an updated version of its Apple TV streaming box, and do you know who isn’t worried about it? Netflix.

Reed Hastings, CEO of the giant streaming service, spoke to CNN to discuss his company’s new availability in Japan and its future plans to expand into all of Asia, and he could not have sounded less concerned when the interviewer asked about the rumors of the Cupertino company getting into content creation.

First manned drone uses 54 propellers

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A British man made a personal helicopter with the rotors of several quadcopters.
A British man made a personal helicopter with the rotors of several quadcopters.
Photo: gasturbine101/YouTube

History is full of DIY flying machines, including the occasional Joe who ties a bunch of helium balloons to his lawn chair.

So it was only a matter of time before someone would figure out the number of drone propellers it would take to put a man in the air The answer is 54.

A British man may have made the first manned drone flight, if there can be such a category, when he fastened a 54 rotors from quadcopters to make a personal helicopter he dubbed the Swarm.

Apple Watch about to get fresh new colors

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Will these be the new Apple Watch Sport band colors?
Will these be the new Apple Watch Sport band colors?
Photo: Umberta Gnutti Beretta/Instagram

I’m just about tired enough of my green Apple Watch Sport band to be ready for a new color soon.

Lucky for me (and probably the rest of you who feel the same way), the latest rumor out of the blogosphere is that Apple will announce new colors at the September 9 event at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium next week.

Get your money back when you use Amazon’s new Dash buttons

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Oh wait, this wasn't a joke?
Oh wait, this wasn't a joke?
Photo: Amazon

Amazon’s Wi-Fi enabled Dash buttons are finally here, turning your home into a veritable vending machine for essential home items like laundry soap, pet food, paper towels, and more.

Better yet, when you order one — each costs about $5 — you’ll get your five bucks back the first time you use it to purchase an item from Amazon, making the buttons essentially free.

Google is as sick of app-install prompts as you are

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More and more these days, mobile websites will pop up a prompt to download an app associated with the site. This “app install interstitial” hides most of the actual web page and bugs users to essentially stop browsing the web and head to an app store and install an app. App install prompts suck.

“Our analysis shows that it is not a good search experience,” Google asserts in a new blog post, “and can be frustrating for users because they are expecting to see the content of the web page.”

As of Tuesday, web masters can use Google’s updated Mobile-Friendly Test page or Google’s mobile usability tools to find out if they have any offending pages.

CBS Sports will stream Super Bowl 50 to Apple TV

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You'll now be able to stream the big game to your iPad.
You'll now be able to stream the big game to your iPad.
Photo: CBS Sports

The NFL’s 2015 season is set to kick off next week and to provide more coverage than ever of this year’s gridiron action, CBS announced that it will stream two regular season games, four playoff games and the Super Bowl 50 to Apple TV for free

Pocket-size Polaroid spits out instant prints

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pocket-size-polaroid-spits-out-instant-prints-image-cultofandroidcomwp-contentuploads201509polaroid-snap-instagram-jpg
The Polaroid Snap can turn Instagram-like shots into prints without ink.
Photo: Polaroid
polaroid-snap-instagram
The Polaroid Snap can turn Instagram-like shots into prints without ink. Photo: Polaroid

The Polaroid Snap is a new 10-megapixel camera that instantly prints out photos you take without any ink. It works with ZINK paper that produces 2-inch-by-3-inch prints and essentially lets you keep physical copies of photos you’d put on Instagram and probably quickly forget about.

Believe it or not, it’s also pretty affordable.

Best List: Go-to gear for life’s little challenges

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Each month, Lust List rounds up the gear that makes it so we can't feel our faces. This time around we're loving hot music machines, cool photo accessories and more.

S1-A Bicycle Jersey by Search and State

Earlier this summer, Search and State released its version of the ugly-ass Hawaiian shirt in the form of a bicycle jersey. I stared at it for weeks wondering if I could pull off the look while riding in the Oakland hills. While I contemplated my fashion boldness, Search and State apparently sold every last one of those jerseys. I decided I need to get my hands on one of the company's tamer garments to see what the Midtown Manhattan manufacturers have going on.

What they are doing is making beautiful bicycle attire in the heart of what was once New York's garment center. The $140 S1-A bicycle jersey is impeccably sewn and has an understated appearance even the most fashion-challenged can deal with. Nice choice on the zipper, too. — Jim Merithew

Buy from: Search and State

Each month, Lust List rounds up the gear that makes it so we can't feel our faces. This time around we're loving hot music machines, cool photo accessories and more.

S1-A Bicycle Jersey by Search and State

Earlier this summer, Search and State released its version of the ugly-ass Hawaiian shirt in the form of a bicycle jersey. I stared at it for weeks wondering if I could pull off the look while riding in the Oakland hills. While I contemplated my fashion boldness, Search and State apparently sold every last one of those jerseys. I decided I need to get my hands on one of the company's tamer garments to see what the Midtown Manhattan manufacturers have going on.

What they are doing is making beautiful bicycle attire in the heart of what was once New York's garment center. The $140 S1-A bicycle jersey is impeccably sewn and has an understated appearance even the most fashion-challenged can deal with. Nice choice on the zipper, too. — Jim Merithew

Buy from: Search and State


Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Mobile developers: iOS 9 is coming, here are some courses for getting caught up [Deals]

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This bundle of lessons covers all the essentials of coding for iOS 9 and iOS 8.
This bundle of lessons covers all the essentials of coding for iOS 9 and iOS 8.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

The release of iOS 9 is upon us, so the time is nigh to get familiar with Apple’s powerful new operating system. We’ve found a bundle of courses with over 50 hours of hands-on training that’ll get you all caught up with the essentials of developing for iOS and its Swift coding language. These courses teach key lessons by building actual, working apps. Even better, these hundreds of courses are going for 87 percent off, just $49 at Cult of Mac Deals.

iPhone 7 may use same touchscreen tech as original iPhone

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Old school iPhone tech is making a comeback.
Old school iPhone tech is making a comeback.
Photo: Gordon Mei/Flickr

The iPhone 6s and 6s Plus haven’t even been revealed yet, but the rumor mill is already spitting out new details about next year’s iPhone 7, which could boast a big display upgrade.

Apple is supposedly considering moving back to the same touchscreen technology it used in the original iPhone, according to a new rumor citing supply chain sources, saying Apple has requested samples of glass-on-glass (G/G) displays for consideration.

Munster says you won’t be buying an Apple Car for close to a decade

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Apple Car might be coming, but will it be special?
Apple Car could be up to 10 years away.
Photo: Aristomenis Tsirbas/Freelancer

Project Titan, Apple’s hundreds-strong car initiative, may be continuing to ramp up, but according to Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster, it’ll be a while before we see an Apple car.

In a new research note to clients, Munster suggests that an Apple-branded automobile is close to a decade away — although that’s not going to stop it from affecting Apple’s stock price in the meantime.

Because who needs more than rumors to decide how Apple’s doing, right?

Mount shows use of Apple Watch not all in the wrist

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This Apple Watch mount by accessory manufacturer Satechi will fit on steering wheels and handlebars.
This Apple Watch mount by accessory manufacturer Satechi will fit on steering wheels and handlebars.
Photo: Satechi

Maybe your Apple Watch doesn’t always do its best work on your wrist. There are functions and situations that need rapt attention, making looking down at your wrist inconvenient, or even risky.

For those moments, the Apple accessory manufacturer Satechi has come up with an Apple Watch grip mount, ideal for bike and motorcycle handlebars, steering wheels and treadmills.

Huawei beats Apple to a smartphone with Force Touch

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huawei-beats-apple-to-a-smartphone-with-force-touch-image-cultofandroidcomwp-contentuploads201509Huawei-Mate-S-orange-jpg
Huawei's Mate S can weigh an orange on its Force Touch display.
Photo: Huawei

Apple may have been the first to put Force Touch technology in a smartwatch, but Huawei has beaten the Cupertino company to putting it inside a phone.

At the IFA trade show in Berlin today, Huawei used the Force Touch display in its new Mate S smartphone to weigh an orange, a week before the technology is expected to make its way to the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus.

There are few surprises among the top iOS apps of all time

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Some Mac apps are vulnerable to man in the middle attacks.
Some Mac apps are vulnerable to man in the middle attacks.
Photo: Apple

There are more than 1.6 million iOS apps, but if you had to guess the top downloaded games and apps of all time worldwide, chances are good you would get a near-perfect score just by looking at your iPhone.

Four of the top 10 are apps from to Facebook, while Candy Crush, Fruit Ninja and Angry Birds continue to dominate the games section of the iOS App Store.

27% of smartphone buyers in Europe swapped Android for iPhone last quarter

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27-of-smartphone-buyers-in-europe-swapped-android-for-iphone-last-quarter-image-cultofandroidcomwp-contentuploads201504iPhone-6-Plus-vs-Note-4-jpg
Consumers aren’t bored of the iPhone 6 yet.
Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Android

Apple’s iPhones might be on the verge of a big refresh this month, but that doesn’t make them any less appealing to those looking to take a break from Android.

In Europe, 27 percent of smartphone shoppers swapped their Android for an iPhone last quarter, while 9 percent of consumers made the same switch in the U.S.

You miss out on HealthKit when using Android Wear with iOS

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you-miss-out-on-healthkit-when-using-android-wear-with-ios-image-cultofandroidcomwp-contentuploads201509healthkit-780x648-jpg
HealthKit won’t be available to Android Wear customers any time soon.
Photo: Apple

Android Wear made the leap to iOS yesterday, meaning that iPhone owners can now buy and use Android Wear smartwatches should they feel so inclined.

One thing they can’t do, however, is to use Apple’s HealthKit platform to monitor their Android Wear fitness data. According to Apple, data such as step count and heart rate can only be tracked via the Google Fit dashboard — meaning that health-conscious users will want to hang onto their Apple Watches.

And somewhat surprisingly, the decision was entirely Google’s.

Steve Jobs narrates this awesome drone footage of Apple’s ‘spaceship’

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icqowhtanjplgruc
Apple's new campus is looking sweeter than ever.
Photo: Duncan Sinfield

Apple’s eagerly-anticipated $5 billion “spaceship” Apple campus is coming along nicely, according to a new drone video shot by Silicon Valley-based photographer/videographer Duncan Sinfield.

Using a DJI Inspire 1 drone to fly over the construction site, Sinfield’s skilfully-edited video not only includes annotated descriptions of what viewers are seeing, but also progress comparisons with footage from early August, and even a nifty voiceover from none other than Steve Jobs — taken from his Cupertino City Council pitch in 2011.

Check it out below.

Student’s iPhone stops a bullet in campus armed robbery

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iphone-bullet-650x433
Not the iPhone in question, but probably not far off.
Photo: Digital Trends

Chances are that when you hear about an iPhone saving someone’s life it’s by letting them call emergency services at a crucial time, or maybe alerting them of a potential medical disaster.

During a recent armed robbery, however, iPhones demonstrated another use: saving a Fresno State student from a potentially life-altering shooting by stopping a bullet in its tracks.