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Google robots can now chase you like a Terminator

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Google's robots are starting to look more an more like the Terminator.
Google's robots are starting to look more an more like the Terminator.
Photo: Boston Dynamics

Google-owned Boston Dynamics scared the bejesus out of us earlier this year with its hive-mind 160-pound robot dogs that can run on almost any terrain. Now the company is taking things to an all-new level with new video of its humanoid robot, which is the closest thing to a real-life Terminator we’ve ever seen.

Versatile messenger bag fits all your stuff and more

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Get all your stuff together in this lightweight, classy, functional messenger bag.
Get all your stuff together in this lightweight, classy, functional messenger bag.
Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac

Ever try to go from home to the gym to the office to the party in the same day? If you have, you’ll know that move requires a lot of carrying capacity, typically across several bags.

Now try to do all that as an eco-warrior on a bicycle. You’ll want one big, waterproof bag that can hold your work stuff, your gym clothes and maybe a rain coat in case it gets wet out there. Stylish and useful, the Vitesse from WaterField Designs is a lovely, waxed-canvas messenger bag that will fit all that stuff.

The Bling on this smart cycling helmet flashes for safety

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The Bling helmet by LIVALL features LED lights for turn signals and night riding along with Bluetooth speakers for safe phone calls and music listening.
The Bling helmet by LIVALL features LED lights for turn signals and night riding along with Bluetooth speakers for safe phone calls and music listening.
Photo: LIVALL

The cycling helmet is often referred to as a brain bucket. It has kept many a melon in one piece after falls and collisions and there’s no smarter wearable for your ride.

One helmet promises to offer more smarts. It’s called the Bling Helmet by LIVALL and it is aptly named because of how it flashes.

Wrangling all the Apple devices in your workplace just got a lot easier

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Jamf Now is a cloud-based solution for managing all the devices used for doing business
Jamf Now is a cloud-based solution for managing all the devices used for doing business
Photo: Jamf

If you’re running your business on Apple machines, it’s probably because you want to keep things clean and simple. But wrangling desktops, tablets, phones and the employees who use them isn’t as easy as syncing your calendar.

Emails, point-of-sale operations, apps, security settings — an enterprise of any size can quickly present a symphony of stresses that’s too much for any business owner to orchestrate.

Jimmy Iovine is still worried about the future of music

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Jimmy Iovine, Bono, Steve Jobs and The Edge
Jimmy Iovine, Bono, Steve Jobs and The Edge
Photo: Apple

With the purchase of Beats Electronics and the subsequent launch of Apple Music, Jimmy Iovine quickly became Apple’s best hope for saving the music industry. But in a new interview, the Beats co-founder says it’s just not cool to be into music anymore.

To help ignite the scene, Iovine and Dre created an Academy for Arts Technology and the Business of Innovation at USC, and while the music and tech mogul says the program has already become ultra-competitive to get into, it might not be enough to change young people’s minds from wanting to become the next Larry Page instead of the next Jimmy Page.

Diamond-encrusted iPhone 6s makes Apple Watch Edition look cheap

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Brikk iPhone 6s
When it comes out, Brikk will have an opulent iPhone 6s just for you.
Photo: Brikk

We don’t even know for sure what the unrevealed iPhone 6s is going to look like, but that isn’t stopping one company from opening up preorders for ridiculously expensive and extravagant custom versions of Apple’s upcoming handset.

Luxury design company Brikk will pre-sell you blinged-up versions of the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, and if you have $206,000 or so lying around that you’d love to spend on a phone you haven’t even seen yet, they have a model for you.

Save 90% on The Complete iOS 9 Developer Course [Deals]

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The Complete iOS 9 Developer Course will get you caught up on iOS 9 well before it drops.
The Complete iOS 9 Developer Course will get you caught up on iOS 9 well before it drops.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

iOS 9 is coming, and from what we hear it’s going to be a game-changer. Luckily there’s still time to prepare for Apple’s newest era in mobile, and we’ve found a course that can get you totally caught up before it drops. It’s called The Complete iOS 9 Developer Course, and it’s just $99 at Cult of Mac Deals, a whopping 90 percent off the normal price.

Sprint thinks you should always carry the latest iPhone

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iPhone
Upgrade to the latest iPhone whenever you want.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

We’re less than one month away from the iPhone 6s being announced, and carriers are tripping over themselves and each other trying to offer the best terms for customer upgrades.

The latest carrier to throw its name in the ring is Sprint, which has just launched its new iPhone Forever plan, which lets users upgrade to the latest iPhone any time they want — without having to pay an upfront fee or experience a hike in rates.

Jeff Bezos dismisses claims that Amazon is an evil employer

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Amazon beats Apple and Google to be named 'most valuable' brand
Amazon beats Apple and Google to be named 'most valuable' brand
Photo: Steve Jurvetson/Flickr CC

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos wouldn’t want to toil in the dehumanizing hellhole described in a recent report about work conditions at his company. In a memo to employees responding to the allegations, Bezos painted a picture of caring Amazonians who are “fun” and “brilliant” and “helping to invent the future, and laughing along the way.”

He also said anybody who gets treated badly by Amazon should snitch to HR — or email him directly to air their grievances.

Australian banks aren’t in a hurry to say g’day to Apple Pay

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Apple partners with Red Cross to accept donations to fight Australia bushfires
Australian banks wish Apple Pay would make like a boomerang and go home.
Photo: Cult of Mac / Picturesofmoney

Apple Pay might be a while arriving in Australia according to a new report, which claims that the country’s four largest banks are stalling negotiations with Apple so as to hold on to $2 billion per year they earn from merchants for interchange fees.

We rounded up some of the very best apps for Hacking your Mac [Deals]

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This bundle of apps offers 10 different ways to maximize your Mac's performance.
This bundle of apps offers 10 different ways to maximize your Mac's performance.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Beneath the keyboard of your Mac lies a vast ocean of untapped potential. We’ve assembled some of the best deals on the most powerful apps for drilling deep into those hidden reserves of functionality. From productivity-enhancing programs. to comprehensive hard-drive maintenance and unlocking hidden Mac OS functions, these app bundles are power-packed and priced to move.

The life of a professional Instagrammer, this week on The CultCast

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Imagine getting paid to Instagram...
Imagine getting paid to Instagram...
Photo: @withhearts

This week on The Cultcast: Ever wonder what it’s like to have companies pay you to travel the world snapping their Instagram photos? Professional Instagrammer Cory Staudacher shares his workflows and favorite iOS photo apps — and you won’t believe how much some companies will pay you to make them look cool.

Plus: Neat new features coming to iOS 9; Apple quietly beefs up the iPhone 6s to prevent another #Bendgate; and don’t miss our list of new favorite apps.

Our thanks to Squarespace for supporting this episode. Build a beautiful new website quick with Squarespace’s drag-and-drop interface. Start a free trial and save 10 percent off any first order with code “CultCast.”

Catch our favorite new apps in the show notes below.

Apple’s savvy fitness plan: Build an indispensable platform

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The Activity app forms the hub of Apple’s fitness platform strategy.
The Activity app forms the hub of Apple’s fitness platform strategy.
Photo: Graham Bower/Cult of Mac

If you compare the Apple Watch to dedicated fitness tracking devices, it comes up short, and the forthcoming watchOS 2 will do little to address these limitations. Instead, with this update Apple is focusing on helping improve third-party fitness apps.

That’s because Apple sees its wearable as the main component of a fitness platform, with the Activity app as hub. While the built-in Workout app is mostly for beginners, third-party apps will provide the missing features for hardcore users.

Deceptively simple gadget could boost Siri’s hearing

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Siri sound sensor
This honeycombed disk may help Siri understand you better someday.
Photo: Steve Cummer, Duke University

Siri typically works pretty well when you’re just sitting around at home — or at least, it can usually hear you just fine. Whether or not you get the results you need is another question, but a prototype device created by engineers at Duke University could one day help Apple’s digital assistant understand you just as well if you’re in a crowded room or a car.

It’ll just have to get a little smaller first.

Cult of Mac Magazine: Updates Galore! iOS 8, iTunes, Boot Camp

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More updates than you can shake a selfie stick at.
More updates than you can shake a selfie stick at.
Cover Design: Stephen Smith/Cult of Mac

This week, Apple has released a ton of new updates into the wild, including better-and-better versions of iOS 8, an iTunes that does Apple Music a bit better, and a Boot Camp that will let you run Windows 10 on your Mac. Try that on your Chromebook.

We’ve got a ton more, too, like killer tips and tricks for the public beta of iOS 9, a slick feature on trailblazer photographers who took selfies back in the day, and some ideas on how Apple Watch should track weightlifting sessions at your local gym.

All that and much, much more in this week’s Cult of Mac Magazine

(Note: Because of Cult of Mac’s recent redesign, some images are not displaying properly in this week’s issue of Cult of Mac Magazine. We apologize in advance — and we’re working on it.)

NASA needs a smartwatch app for its astronauts

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ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti worked with iPad during a recent mission on the International Space Station. NASA wants astronauts to start using smartwatches for some of their tasks.
ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti worked with iPad during a recent mission on the International Space Station. NASA wants astronauts to start using smartwatches for some of their tasks.
Photo: NASA

There’s a smartwatch app for almost everything, but very few are useful to the men and women who work in microgravity.

So NASA is asking the pubic to design a smartwatch app for its astronauts to do everything from keeping them organized during science experiments to alerting them to space debris approaching.