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Marc Newson wants to kick the aluminum bucket in Apple’s design studio

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Marc Newson and BFF Jony Ive.

Given how secretive Apple is, it’s no surprise that we know relatively little about the role of Jony Ive’s designer BFF Marc Newson, who works on so-called “special projects” for the company.

In a recent interview, however, Newson spilled a few beans about his work at Apple — including the fact that it consumes about 60 percent of his time, and is a job he hopes to hold “indefinitely.”

Who can blame him?

Apple is destroying the competition when it comes to digital video

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Adobe reports breaks down why refreshed Apple TV is going to be the biggest thing since sliced bread.
Adobe reports breaks down why refreshed Apple TV is going to be the biggest thing since sliced bread.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

A new report published today by Adobe demonstrates that, when it comes to both pay TV and the devices people choose for consuming digital media, Apple trounces the competition.

Having once dismissed its own Apple TV offering as just a “hobby,” the powers-that-be in Cupertino are likely to want to rethink that statement following the news that its set-top boxes doubled their share of premium video viewing quarter-over-quarter during the last year — overtaking Roku in the process.

Stopping bullets with silk was this priest’s unlikely calling

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A test of a bulletproof vest in Washington D.C. in 1923.
A test of a bulletproof vest in Washington D.C. in 1923.
Photo: Wikipedia

Casimir Zeglen was truly a man of the cloth. He was a Catholic priest — with an obsession for silk underwear — but the pleasure he got from silk touching skin was because it stopped bullets.

 The Chicago priest is credited with inventing the first bulletproof vest, a calling he answered in 1893 after the city’s mayor was gunned down.

The vests worn today by soldiers, police officers and marked men are made with lightweight armor and sophisticated, bullet-resistant fibers like Kevlar that evolved as weapons got more powerful. Yet they work much the same way as Zeglen’s silk invention: The material catches and deforms slugs, then spreads the force of the strike over a larger area of the vest.

Apple Watch coming to retail stores and new countries this month

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Apple Watch supply is finally catching up with demand.
Apple Watch supply is finally catching up with demand.
Photo: Leander Kahney/Cult of Mac

Apple has confirmed that the Apple Watch is coming to a slew of new countries, as well as Apple Stores, this month.

Beginning Friday, June 26, customers in Italy, Mexico, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland and Taiwan will finally be able to throw down their cash for Apple’s debut wearable device by visiting the Apple Online Store or dropping into their local brick-and-mortar Apple retailer.

And that’s not all.

Retro turntable skips the one feature it really needs

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Right at home in any environment.
Right at home in any environment.
Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac

You’ve got to love a big, gorgeous hunk of wood, right? The Signature Vinyl Record Player Classic Turntable Hi-Fi Stereo System from Electrohome is all that, plus a delicious vintage-styled bag of chips, and it’s almost perfect.

The dark, solid-wood cabinet is like a throwback to your mom’s stereo furniture of the 1960s, with deep grain and resonating power like you wouldn’t believe. Plus, you can play CDs, listen to AM and FM radio stations, and plug your iPhone into the auxiliary input for some modern tune action.

All of this makes for a fantastic package, but there’s one essential thing missing that may have you looking elsewhere for your all-in-one stereo system.

Jawbone will make a return to Apple Stores this month

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Jawbone's senior product manager Jason Donahue speaking in Japan.
Jawbone's senior product manager Jason Donahue speaking in Japan.
Photo: Macotakara

Jawbone’s fitness-tracking devices were among those booted out of the Apple Store to make room for the Apple Watch, but according to Jawbone’s senior product manager Jason Donahue, they’re about to make a return.

Donahue revealed this tidbit during a presentation in Japan earlier today, during which he told the press that the new UP2 fitness band is expected to hit Japanese Apple Stores in early July — and U.S. Apple Stores even earlier than this.

How Force Touch unlocks the power of your Apple Watch

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Apple Watch-style Force Touch is coming to both iPhone models this September.
Sometimes it's OK to just push really hard.
Photo: Apple

Early adopters of the Apple Watch are still exploring the new wearable to discover all its hidden functionality. The least obvious feature in Apple’s newest device is Force Touch, which lets you change some settings by pressing firmly on the screen.

It’s a weird thing to get used to, and sometimes it’s even tough to remember that it’s an option, so here’s a handy guide to everything that Force Touch can do with the apps included on your new Apple Watch.

Download and convert YouTube videos for free with MacX Video Converter Pro

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Digiarty celebrates five years of creating great video download software with a fantastic free offer.
Digiarty celebrates five years of great video download software with a fantastic free offer.
Photo: Digiarty

This post is brought to you by Digiarty, creator of MacX Video Converter Pro.

Sometimes you see a great video online and you’ve just got to have your very own copy. MacX YouTube Downloader, a free tool from Digiarty, can make that happen. And if you want to take things a little further, companion software MacX Video Converter Pro can transform the videos you’ve downloaded into files that will work on all your devices.

Possibly the best part? Digiarty is celebrating its fifth birthday in style this week by giving away MacX Video Converter Pro!

Hubble finds football-shaped moons in the end zone of our solar system

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An artist's rendering shows the wobbble and oblong shape of Pluto's moon, Nix.
An artist's rendering shows the wobbble and oblong shape of Pluto's moon, Nix.
Illustration: NASA

Just because Pluto lost its planetary status doesn’t mean it’s any less interesting to astronomers.

NASA on Wednesday reported two football-shaped moons that wobble so unpredictably that the sun could rise in a different direction every day from either of the moons.

The Hubble Telescope recorded the oddball orbits of the oblong moons Nix and Hydra, which wobble because they are embedded in a constantly shifting gravitational field created by dwarf planet Pluto and its largest moon, Charon. Pluto and Charon share a common center of gravity.

Indians’ bullpen ransoms 100th home run ball for a ton of Apple products

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Give us an Apple Watch, or the baseball get it.
Give us an Apple Watch, or the baseball get it.
Photo: Cleveland Indians/Twitter

Cleveland Indians outfielder Brandon Moss hit his 100th home run in the major leagues yesterday against the Kansas City Royals. The ball representing his career milestone landed in his own team’s bullpen, but unfortunately for Moss, his teammates are holding the it ransom. And all they want is a few grand worth of Apple products.

After catching Moss’ home run, the bullpen’s pitchers scribbled down a ransom note, telling Moss “you get the ball when we get these items.” Take a look at their list of ransom items and try to find something not made by Apple:

Apple taking its sweet time approving Pebble iOS software

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Apple's delay may mean no Pebble Time for iPhone users.
Apple's delay may mean no Pebble Time for iPhone users.
Photo: Pebble

Pebble Time, the new smartwatch from the Kickstarter superstar, might be headed to wrists soon, but if you own an iPhone, you might be out of luck.

According to an email sent out to Time backers on Kickstarter, the version of the Pebble iOS software needed to connect and use Pebble’s newest iteration is still sitting in the gray no-man’s land of Apple approval; it’s been there for 43 days with no end in sight.

Get your Safari bookmarks from your Mac to your iPhone

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Bookmarks everywhere!
Bookmarks everywhere!
Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac

I took the plunge and downloaded a password manager today, and when I was researching how to use it on my iPhone, one help page said I needed to put some bookmarklets onto my Mac and then move them over to the iPhone.

Problem was, I wasn’t sure how to make that happen; I figured it was just automatic.

It might be magically enabled for you, but if you’re like me and don’t know how to get your Safari bookmarks from one device to the other, here’s how to get it to work.

New Apple TV hardware won’t be ready for WWDC reveal

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It isn't going to control itself. Well, not before The Singularity, anyway.
It isn't going to control itself. Well, not before The Singularity, anyway.
Photo: Apple

Apple fans that were hoping a new Apple TV set top box would debut next week at WWDC are in for some bad news today. According to the New York Times, Apple is postponing its plans to debut the device next weeks because it’s just not quite ready.

The Apple TV has remained relatively unchanged since its second generation upgrade in 2010, but Apple’s team is still having problems getting the final product polished after already suffering major setbacks for content deals.

Stephen Colbert still loves Apple in first Late Show teaser

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Colbert's got a new show, a new beard, and a new watch.
Colbert's got a new show, a new beard, and a new watch.
Photo: The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

Notorious Apple fanboy Stephen Colbert is taking over The Late Show from David Letterman in September, and while he’s not bringing his ultra-conservative persona, his love of Apple products is still burning bright.

In the first promotional video for his new show, Colbert is seen wearing a white Apple Watch to go with his new white Colbeard. As he gears up for his new hosting duties, he decided to test a few different facial hairstyles before the show’s premiere.

Check out the funny promo:

Cell jamming gives science teacher an important legal lesson

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Cell phone jammer
Bringing one of these into class will get you into more trouble than texting.
Photo: Cell Phone Jammers

A high-school science teacher has received a five-day suspension without pay for using a jammer in his classroom to block students’ cell-phone signals.

He can consider himself lucky, however, because he had actually violated federal law.

There’s no money for Apple in music streaming, but that’s OK

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Apple has big ambitions for its new music streaming service.
Will Beats redesign be ready for WWDC? Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

The redesign and relaunch of Beats Music is one of the most anticipated announcements Apple fans are expecting to hear about next week at WWDC. Apple spent $3 billion on Beats in an effort to take on the likes of Spotify and Pandora, but according to Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster, all that effort won’t make Apple a ton of money.

Beats currently has about 300,000 paid subscribers while Spotify has 15 million. According to Munster’s math, even if Apple matched Spotify’s subscriber base the profits will be weak.

3.1 billion deer died for Dominations to slay mobile gaming

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That's a lot of dead deer. And soldiers, I guess.
That's a lot of dead deer. And soldiers, I guess.
Photo: Big Huge Games

Dominations is one my new favorite games on my iPhone; it combines the gameplay of Clash of Clans (build a city, attack other cities) along with a more historic approach. You’ll take your city from Bronze Age to the Space Age, upgrading your warriors and defenses along the way.

Developer Big Huge Games has scored a big huge hit with this one, garnering 7.2 million downloads across the App Store and Google Play in the space of 60 days.

Players have racked up some serious activity in game, too, as you can see in the infographic below, prepared by Big Huge and publisher Nexon Games.

Apple snags Showtime for yet another streaming exclusive

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You can now stream Showtime without cable
Showtime is coming to Apple TV 
Photo: Showitme

HBO made a splash with its streaming service HBO Now, and now its cheaper rival Showtime is ready to get in on the action too with its own streaming service that’s also launching exclusively with Apple.

Starting in July, iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV users will be able to purchase a stand-alone subscription to Showtime through the Showtime app to stream all of the company’s original programming. It’s just like HBO Now, only a little bit cheaper.

Apple puts its stamp on Moscone Center ahead of WWDC 2015

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It's beginning to look a lot like WWDC at Moscone Center in San Francisco.
It's beginning to look a lot like WWDC at Moscone Center in San Francisco.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Apple takes over San Francisco’s Moscone Center next week for the Worldwide Developers Conference, and preparations for the annual invasion have already begun. More than 5,000 developers will descend on the conference center for a week of coding and a little bit of partying.

This year’s signage on the outside of the Moscone Center looks pretty much just like last year’s. Here’s a closer look:

New Fallout 4 trailer is packed with dogs, nukes and Ron Perlman

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Fallout 4 dog
If anything happens to this dog, Bethesda, so help me ...
Photo: Bethesda

Developer Bethesda Softworks released a trailer for Fallout 4, the upcoming installment in its franchise of post-apocalyptic role-playing games.

The video doesn’t include any gameplay, but it does feature a whole lot of voiceover from series narrator Ron Perlman. Check it out below.

Kanye’s new album might be released as free iTunes exclusive

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Yeezus is ready to launch Apple's new music streaming service.
Yeezus is ready to launch Apple's new music streaming service.
Photo: Adweek

Kanye West was part of Jay Z’s small army of megastars that helped launch Tidal, but when it comes to his next album, Ye is reportedly looking to take the U2 route by releasing it on iTunes for free.

According to a new rumor on Twitter, Apple and Kanye are joining forces for the launch of the company’s new music streaming service. As a gift to the fans, Yeezy has agreed to release his new album ‘Swish’ for free after Apple paid him nearly double what he expected to make of album sales.

Apple invites you to return your Beats Pill XL before it catches fire

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Have one of these? Take it back to Apple.
Have one of these? Take it back to Apple.
Photo: Beats

Beats Pill XL owners should return their speakers for a refund because the batteries could overheat and pose a fire safety risk. Apple recalled the product Wednesday, saying people who return the potentially dangerous Bluetooth speakers will receive a full refund of $325 as an Apple Store gift card or electronic payment.