Get ready for a major camera upgrade for the iPhone 6s. Photo: Apple
Rumors that the iPhone 6s will receive a new 12-megapixel camera with 4K video recording got a boost today — thanks to a document allegedly leaked by a Foxconn employee.
The document also suggests that the iPhone 6s’ front-facing camera will receive a massive upgrade from the 1.2-megapixel sensor found in current iPhones thanks to a new 5-megapixel sensor.
A flying machine from the 1860s drawn with shading, colors and detail not seen in today's patent illustrations. Photo: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
The illustration that accompanies a patent application is a first glimpse inside the head of the inventor. Finally, an idea becomes a possibility, and even if an invention later proves to be impractical or an outright failure, the drawing serves as a tangible record of humanity’s quest to solve problems and move forward.
But the modern day patent sketches are stark chicken scratches compared to the intricately detailed, da Vinciesque artworks that once accompanied applications to the United States Patent & Trade Office, which first opened in 1790.
Apple Watch 2 will focus on battery improvements instead of display.
If for whatever reason you’re unhappy with the image quality, screen size, and square display of the current Apple Watch display, don’t expect any of your quibbles to be fixed with next year’s Apple Watch 2.
According to a new report, the display of the next-gen Apple wearable will remain identical in size, shape and resolution to its predecessor — although the display will be marginally thinner to allow for a larger battery.
Apple Music streams music bleep-free unless you take some action. Photo: Wikipedia
Apple Music is the latest way to stream a ridiculous number of tunes on demand. And with all that variety, you’re going to get some cursing in there. It’s just how a lot of musicians work.
But if you don’t want to hear all of those bleepables and swears, it’s a pretty quick fix to keep it from showing up in your stream. Here’s how to do it.
"If you send me back the iPhone prototype, that'll be the end of it. But if you don't, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you." Photo: Universal Pictures
Universal dropped its first full-length Steve Jobs trailer yesterday, giving us a closer glimpse than we’ve yet had at the Aaron Sorkin-penned biopic, set to hit theaters this October.
Being the fans that we are, Cult of Mac scoured the 2:40 trailer to pull out the juiciest details. Read on for everything we learned.
If you've used Apple's iBooks store, you might have a check due to you. Photo: Apple
This week, Apple lost its appeal on the antitrust case that the federal government and several state attorneys general filed on it concerning price fixing on ebooks. And now that that’s out of the way, it’s time for the company to pay up.
The green states in the map below were listed as plaintiffs on the class-action lawsuit, which means that if you live in one of them and have bought anything from iBooks, you may be entitled to a cut of the settlement.
Taylor Swift's '1989' album is finally available for streaming, so I was all ears. Photo: GabboT/Flickr CC
No one has shut up about this album since it came out in October 2014. Taylor Swift’s “1989” sold over a million copies in the first week alone and continues to sell well even today, largely due to the fact that it was previously nowhere to be found on streaming services. That is until Apple Music launched and Swift suddenly had a change of heart.
Still, since everyone I know buzzed about this album and the media certainly buzzed about it given the Spotify melodrama, I had to give it a listen. I didn’t want to buy it because I truly didn’t care that much, but I cared enough to listen if I was already paying for a streaming subscription. Now that I’m officially an Apple Music member, I got to stream “1989” in its entirety while I was cooking my lunch.
Taylor Swift fans aren’t the only ones with reasons to celebrate Apple Music.
Apple’s new streaming service boasts over 30 million songs. That’s according to the company, anyway; we definitely haven’t counted them. And even though it’s only a day old, it’s looking like it could have a chance to cut into the business of rival streamers like Spotify. And part of how it’s doing that is by landing content for its library that the other people don’t have.
Here are five albums Apple Music can brag about. Other than 1989, we mean. Because everyone knows 1989 is on there.
Like mix tapes for modern lovers. Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac
One of the cool things you can do with a streaming service like Apple Music, Spotify, or Rdio, is making and sharing playlists. It’s a way to seriously curate your own musical taste, and then show off by sending along to others.
It’s not super tricky, but the downside of such a new user interface like the one in the just released Apple Music is that things may not be where you think they should be.
With that in mind, let’s jump right in and make a new playlist. Then let’s learn how to share it with our Apple Music buddies.
iCloud Music Library is almost identical to iTunes Match with one glaring issue. Photo: Apple
Well iCloud Music Library is pissing people off already. The new service almost identical to iTunes Match has a DRM problem. Turned on, iCloud Music Library is taking the music you rightfully own and place in your iTunes library and automatically adding DRM protection to it. In essence, it’s placing a lock on music that’s already yours.
Now Hyundai owners can start their cars while sitting in their cars but using an Apple Watch. Photo: Hyundai
Hyundai has good news for Apple Watch owners who also drive late-model Sonatas: You can now use your wearable to control parts of your car.
The auto manufacturer has rolled out an update to its Blue Link app, which already creates an interface with an iPhone, to expand the connected-car functionality to Apple’s new smartwatch.
The FirstLight series by MindShift Gear helps photographers transport long, heavy telephoto lenses. Photo: MindShift Gear
The elements and rugged terrain are hard enough for any nature photographer. Add heavy equipment around the neck, shoulders and back and a challenging shoot becomes a grueling journey.
The designers at MindShift Gear, photographers and outdoor adventurers themselves, have three new backpacks designed to carry “Big Glass” lenses with relative comfort.
Tim Cook talks Apple Music at WWDC 2015. Photo: Apple
Apple Music, the new song-streaming platform that started rolling out yesterday, is currently free for everyone while the company shows off how cool its new product is. After the three-month trial period that we’re all enjoying, however, using the full set of features will cost you.
But for people in developing countries, the burn won’t be nearly as bad.
If you’ve been itching to put a real-life Pip-Boy on your wrist via the $120 collector’s edition of Bethesda’s highly-anticipated role playing video game, Fallout 4, and you own an iPhone 6 Plus, you may be out of luck.
The larger handset will not be supported for the wristband, but you can still run the companion app when the console and PC game comes out later this year.
Apple revealed some new iPod colors in the iTunes 12.2 update. Photo: Apple
You may have written off the iPod as something Apple doesn’t care to breathe new life into by this point, but the iPod is exactly what appears to be getting an update. Alongside the release of iTunes 12.2 to support Apple Music, some users quickly discovered that images of the iPod family within the app feature new, unreleased colors.
The Satechi SX20 portable power station can charge up to four devices. Photo: Satechi
If your device dies, you can usually find a place to plug in. But that’s only if you carry your charging cord and even if you’re lucky enough to have it on you, you’re stuck at the outlet until you’ve got enough juice to go.
The electronics accessory company Satechi has made it easier to stay charged on the go with three new portable energy stations for pretty much anything with a USB port.
Maybe wait until you try this on your own Mac. Photo: Apple
Several iTunes users have taken to the Apple Discussion forums to complain about iCloud Music Library — part of the iTunes 12.2 update — has destroyed their music libraries.
Discussions user Tuff Ghost explains that everything was fine with his 13,000 song iTunes library, until he installed iTunes 12.2 on his Mac and allowed it to enable iCloud Music Library.
“All of the (sic) sudden it starts overwriting my album art with completely wrong art (example: Weezer showed art for a Radiohead album) on both my iMac AND my iPhone, screwing up metadata by putting random songs in albums where they didn’t belong (there was a Cursive album where the first track was listed as a Foo Fighters song).”
When he clicked to listen to a song, it would play a completely different one, like the metadata for the files was completely incorrect.
If this is happening to you, another Discussions user may have found a solution.
If you’ve ever wanted to own a garage full of incredible super cars from the likes of Ferrari and McLaren, then you’re in luck. Virtually, at least.
NaturalMotion’s CSR Racing 2, the sequel to 2012’s hit drag racing game CSR Racing (an iTunes App Store Essential game), is headed to iOS devices soon and wow is it a tour de force of graphical fidelity. The light in the game’s garage caresses every curve of these hot automobiles, shining back the deviotion the development team obviously put into each and every loving shot.
“CSR2 lets players experience the thrill of attaining not just one, but a whole garage of the most desirable cars on the planet,” writes Torsten Reil, CEO of NaturalMotion, “and it feels as close as possible to the real thing. That’s because each car, down the stitching on the seats, is built without compromise to its real-world beauty, integrity and authenticity.”
Android apps and games are great on pocket-sized smartphones, but they’re even better on big screens — like the 24-inch monitor sitting on your desk. Don’t believe me? Check out the BlueStacks player, which lets you run almost any title built for Android on your Mac.
Making tech careers for girls attainable. Photo: App Camp for Girls
Head to any technology conference and you’ll wonder where all the women are. We live in an age where women are routinely underrepresented at best, harassed and threatened at worst.
Technology classes in schools are just as bad, with less opportunity for girls to explore potential careers in high-tech fields.
To combat this, a group of women in Portland started App Camp for Girls in 2013, and they’ve now expanded to camps in Seattle and Vancouver.
“Apps are rapidly becoming an important part the world’s economy and culture,” writes the team on their website. “If women are left on the sidelines of this phenomenon, everyone suffers.”
Cloud storage is crazy convenient, but it has its drawbacks. You can find yourself shaking your fist at the sky if your wireless connection drops out, not to mention the concerns offboard storage often raises about data privacy. Of course it beats having to lug around a brick in your bag, and avoids the risk of a power surge or accidental fall that suddenly turns all your critical data into nothing but a memory. Luckily we’ve found a deal that offers the best of both worlds by giving you both: the IDrive 1TB Wi-Fi Drive and 1TB Cloud Backup Bundle.
"If you send me back the iPhone prototype, that'll be the end of it. But if you don't, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you." Photo: Universal Pictures
Six weeks after we saw our first teaser trailer for the upcoming Steve Jobs biopic, Universal has released the first full-length trailer for the movie, showing Michael Fassbender as Apple’s co-founder and former CEO. And boy is it dramatic!
It will be two years this September since Apple introduced its last iPhone “c” model, but if you believe a new report coming out of Asia, Apple’s planning on reintroducing its lower-cost colorful iPhone line early next year — with the launch of a brand new iPhone 6c.
But learning from lessons of the past, this one will be a little bit different.
Apple Music isn’t available on Android yet — though it is coming — but that doesn’t mean you have to miss out on Beats 1 radio. Thanks to a new web app, you can tune into the 24/7 worldwide broadcast on Android and other unsupported devices right away.