Apple Camp is a free, three-day program that guides kids through a project. Photo: Apple
Parents looking to keep their creative kids busy this summer might want to look into Apple Camp, a free, three-day workshop at select Apple retail stores.
As in previous years, sessions will occur throughout July and August and will guide campers ages 8 to 12 through one of two cool projects.
Apple users love their Apple stuff. Photo: Lis Ferla/Flickr. Licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.
You can call it customer loyalty, brand stickiness, or whatever other terms the cool marketing kids are using these days, but it all means the same thing in this case: Apple is doing a better job than Samsung of retaining customers and winning over new ones.
This is according to a report from RBC Capital Markets, which polled Apple and Samsung customers about their current and future purchases.
First responders could be flying in and out of hot spots with the Martin Jetpack by next year. Photo: Martin Aircraft Company
We’ve been promised jetpacks since the 1950s and dreaming about them even longer. Just hang on a couple more years.
Plenty of time to save the $150,000 it will cost to buy the Martin Jetpack, which promises to be the first practical jetpack ready for vertical liftoff.
The Martin Aircraft Company has been conducting research and development on personal jet packs for a couple of decades. Even before it became a privately funded company, its founder Glenn Martin had been tinkering with the idea of something that can fly longer than 30 seconds since the early 1980s.
All of your questions and answers ahead of Apple Music's big debut. Photo: Apple
Apple Music makes its big debut tomorrow, June 30, at 8 a.m. PST. It’s going to be a very big day for the music industry, and for us listeners. It’s the day streaming goes truly mainstream. From tomorrow on, it’s officially the streaming era.
But how does it work? What artists are going to be available? You probably have a lot of questions about what Apple Music’s launch means for you — and we’ve got answers.
If your Apple Watch stops responding to your iPhone, you can reboot it or you can turn the Bluetooth connection off and on. If that doesn’t work to reconnect your Watch, you might need to reset it, and then you’ll need to re-pair it.
Mobile editing is much easier when you have a plan. Photo: Apple
We’ve all done it before: we head to the family reunion, the wedding, the kid’s birthday party and we just shoot everything. We have no plan except that we think we’ll have time later to edit it down to something interesting.
Unfortunately, that just leads to a bloated iPhone with too many unnecessary video files. Plus, you know you’re never going to get around to sitting down and looking through all that footage again. Ugh.
With a good plan, however, and a firm grasp of one simple storytelling technique, you’ll avoid this problem and create some amazing videos without a whole lot of extra work.
Soon you'll be able to blast Apple Music through your Sonos speakers. Photo: Sonos
There’s good news and bad news for Beats Music and future Apple Music users alike. Apple has confirmed that the new music service will arrive for Sonos apps and speakers, but unfortunately not right away. It turns out integration won’t be ready in time for the big launch tomorrow, June 30, but the two companies are working together to bring Apple Music to Sonos as soon as possible.
OnePlus is putting a fingerprint scanner inside its upcoming OnePlus 2, and it promises to be better than any of the scanners we’ve seen on Android devices so far. So good, in fact, that OnePlus claims it’s “faster than Touch ID” on Apple’s iOS devices.
Now you can figure out which of the subway exits is best. Photo: Apple
If you’ve ever taken a ride on an unfamiliar city’s subway or transit system, you know how confusing it can be to know which specific exit to use to find the right above ground location you need to get to where you’re going.
In the upcoming iOS 9, Apple Maps aims to help you out with a subtle yet extremely useful feature: it will tell you which exit to take when you’re using the Transit option, also new to iOS 9.
Learning to code is like learning a second language: it’s best done fully immersed and with expert guidance. Unlike learning a new language, there’s nothing like the nation of “Code-topia” to visit (yet) where you can learn among the native speakers. And unless you’re already in school for coding, it’s largely up to you to find your own teachers and classes. Luckily, BaseRails Ruby on Rails Training offers a comprehensive education in one of the top programming languages on the web, Ruby on Rails, straight to your computer (who knows what kind of virus shots you’d need to visit Code-topia anyway).
Google has teamed up with the Federal Railroad Administration to bring rail crossing warnings to Google Maps. Every crossing in the U.S. will be added, and drivers will receive alerts while using turn-by-turn directions in the Maps app.
iTunes Match is getting a big upgrade from its early days. Photo: Apple
With one day to go until Apple Music officially launches with iOS 8.4, Eddy Cue has revealed that Music’s iTunes Match integration will soon let users upload 100,000 of their own songs to iCloud for streaming at any time.
A singer records vocals using Sountrap recording software, which can be used on any device. Photo: Soundtrap/YouTube
Geography doesn’t have to get in the way of the band coming together.
A startup company by the name of Soundtrap Monday rolled out what it calls the first online music and audio recording studio, allowing musicians to collaborate remotely in real time using any operating system.
It will likely directly compete with Garageband, Apple’s popular software used to create music and podcasts that first launched in 2004.
How the iPhone has evolved over the years. Photo: Gadgetlove
The original iPhone first went on sale eight years ago today, on June 29, 2007 — a simpler time when Pixar released the movie Ratatouille, the NFL shut down its European league, Rihanna’s “Umbrella” topped the music charts, and Apple stock sold for a measly $17.43.
Suddenly my 5K iMac seems less exciting. Photo: 92JMFL/Imgur
Back in 2008, when Apple was selling roughly a tenth of the number of iPhones it sells today, the company produced a limited number of giant-sized display iPhones with built-in 30-inch Cinema Displays to show off its new line of smartphones.
Most of them were destroyed after the promotion was finished, but thanks to the wonderful world of the Internet, we can see that at least one made it out alive — and has now been converted by Reddit user 92JMFL into possibly the world’s sweetest Mac display.
Samsung is after more of Apple's iPhone business. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Samsung is reportedly making a bid to steal away Toshiba’s job of producing the flash memory chips for the iPhone 6s — something which would help out the South Korean tech giant at a time when its own mobile business is struggling.
The news follows not long after reports that the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus is looking to add faster TLC-based NAND flash storage for the next-gen handsets, possibly en route to ditching the largely-useless 16GB entry level storage option in current iPhones.
Apple waving the flag for LGBT rights. Literally. Photo: Tim Cook/Twitter
Apple was out in force yesterday as Tim Cook and 8,000 Apple employees participated in Sunday’s 43rd Annual Gay Pride Parade in San Francisco, following last week’s historic Supreme Court decision legalizing gay marriage across the U.S.
Apple employees carried LGBT rainbow flags as they took to the streets — considerably outnumbering the hundreds of employees from other tech companies such as Google, Facebook, Uber, and others.
Apple last week unveiled its Beats 1 billboard at New York's Times Square. Photo: Zane Lowe/Twitter
Apple Music is set to launch at 11am ET/8am PT tomorrow alongside the release of iOS 8.4 One hour later at 12pm ET/9am PT, the inaugural Beats 1 radio broadcast will take place presented by DJ Zane Lowe.
While we previously knew that Apple’s new streaming music service would by launching June 30, it was left to Ian Rogers, Apple’s senior director of Apple Music to announce an exact time, which he did over the weekend.
Don’t miss your chance to shop the week’s best deals at Cult of Mac deals, including wireless Bluetooth ear buds, the Amazon Web Services Engineer Bootcamp bundle, and more.
Wireless Bluetooth Cloud Buds – 72% off
Go hands-free with these wireless Bluetooth buds, complete with an array of gelled ear buds and caps in multiple sizes and option ear hooks for a perfect, secure fit. You’ll get crystal-clear, powerful sound for up to six hours of play time.
This week: the cool features in the new iOS 9 and El Capitan betas; Taylor Swift starts a royalty battle with Apple; the ridiculously low payouts artists get from music streaming; the new Macbook’s big missing feature; and the magic of Apple advertising.
Our thanks to Bushel for supporting this episode, the simple-to-use cloud-based tool that anyone can leverage to manage the Apple devices in their workplace. Get Bushel for free for up to 3 devices when you sign up at Bushel.com/cultofmac.
Procrastinators beware: the clock is ticking loudly on some excellent soon-to-expire deals, including the Summer Essentials Mac Bundle, the Striiv Fusion activity and sleep tracker, and more.
The Pride Flag at Apple HQ Photo: Rachel Goldeen/Twitter
This week has been one of the most miraculous weeks we’ve seen in recent history. We’ve seen a 25 year-old country girl bend the will of a bunch of rich ass middle-aged white men in Silicon Valley. 150 after their defeat, in the Civil War, Confederacy loyalist are lowering the stars and bars. And you can finally marry anyone you want in any state you want in America, regardless if a bunch of religious people aren’t cool with it.
Celebrations have been ringing out across the country in light of the Supreme Court’s decision that same-sex marriage is right. Silicon Valley execs tweeted their approval of the decision this morning, including Apple CEO Tim Cook, who had the Pride Flag raised at Apple HQ in celebration.
Taylor powers into Apple like no one else. Cover: Stephen Smith
Another week flying by here at Cult of Mac headquarters, and we’ve got a ton of great stories to share with you in the latest issue of Cult of Mac Magazine.
Taylor Swift made waves with her calling out the Cupertino company’s plans to not pay artists for music streamed during upcoming Apple Music free trial period, and we’ve got all the details within. Plus, we take a look at Amazon’s new home hub, the Echo, spend some time trawling the patent office for new Apple gear coming our way, and take a quick tour of the latest iOS 9 and OS X El Capitan betas for developers.
All that and more in this week’s Cult of Mac Magazine. Be sure to download and subscribe to check it all out on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch.
Extend your Apple Watch's life with the power of ugly. Photo: Reserve Strap
One of the main complaints Apple Watch naysayers have is that the advertised 18-hour battery life of the wearable is kind of crappy. An expensive, upcoming accessory aims to address that issue, but we’re not sure that the look appeals to us much.
The new band is called the Reserve Strap, and while it definitely sounds useful, its price and appearance leave our pointers well clear of the pre-order button.
Apple announced HomeKit to developers at WWDC last year. Photo: Apple Photo: Apple
Apple is gearing up to introduce its smarthome platform HomeKit alongside the launch of iOS 9 this fall. It will let users control smart devices like lights, door locks, and thermostats from their phones. You’ll also be able to issue voice commands to digital assistant Siri, and the company has updated the list of things you can say to get things done around your house.
But when we looked at the list of commands, we noticed that Apple is making some strange assumptions about how people might be using the new automation features. Here are some of the examples Apple gives and why they have us scratching our heads.