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App Store facelift brings out the beauty in Watch apps

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Apple Watch App Store previews
Left: Old 'n' busted. Right: New hotness.
Photo: Evan Killham/Cult of Mac

Apple’s rolled out some much-needed changes to how Apple Watch preview screens look in the App Store.

Have you looked at those shots lately? They look weird. And depending on which version of iOS you’re currently running, that could mean “horrible” or “way better than before, holy crap.”

Apple wants to add a lot more context to iMessage

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Federal judge shoots down down group iMessage lawsuit.
Someday, it could be possible for this entire conversation to happen with no human thumbs involved.
Photo: Apple

A new Apple patent could add a startling amount of functionality to your iMessages.

The tech would let you schedule pre-written texts and even send new ones automatically based on context the app draws from elsewhere on your iPhone.

Tom Ford turned Apple Watch into a fashionable pocket watch

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The Apple Watch is starting to make its mark on rivals.
The Apple (pocket)Watch
Photo: TheChicGeek/Instagram

Tom Ford unveiled his Spring 2016 collection this week in London, and while the fashion designer’s newest fanciful dinner jackets drew in a flock of celebrity, the Apple Watch made a surprise appearance in the ready-to-wear collection.

Rather than designing a fashionable Apple Watch band, the forward-thinking designer bridged Apple’s timekeeping accessory to the past by turning it into a pocket watch attached to a chain.

Here’s another look at it:

Apps that you can stream is Google’s newest dream

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Downloading apps to your smartphone could soon be a thing of the past, thanks to a software streaming service reportedly being developed by Google.

A new report claims the search giant wants to make apps available on-demand without the need to install them locally first — and Google has already acquired the company that could make it happen.

The Duo watch wants to be your Apple Watch’s BFF

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Wear two watches at once
Wear two watches at once with the Duo band
Photo: Original Grain

Traditional watch manufacturers are struggling to find a solution to take on Apple Watch, but Original Grain has taken the ‘if you can’t beat em, join em’ cliche a bit too literal with its newest watch collection.

The company launched a new Kickstarter today for its new traditional watch, The Barrel, that comes with a very non-traditional feature called The Duo Connection clasp that lets you wear you Apple Watch on the same wrist.

Apple Watch 2 will add FaceTime camera, better WiFi and more

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Force touch Apple Watch
The Apple Watch 2? Watch this space.
Photo: Apple

The Apple Watch has only just landed in Apple Stores, and already a bevy of Apple Watch 2 rumors are basically rendering it outdated.

According to a new report, not only is a second-generation Apple Watch coming next year, but it will boast an added FaceTime camera, greater levels of iPhone independence, and extra high-end $1000+ models.

Amp up your iPhone photography with this add-on

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The DxO One Camera attaches to your iPhone to beef up image quality.
The DxO ONE Camera attaches to your iPhone to beef up image quality.
Photo: DxO

We rely on our iPhone for so many facets of our life, but as a camera it has become a disruptive force in the photography world. The “Shot with an iPhone 6” advertising campaign is likely making traditional camera companies shutter – pun intended – as sales of consumer cameras continue to fall.

It’s a go-to tool for professional photographers, who have done everything from publish books with iPhone photography to shoot commercials for corporate clients. But there are limitations and sometimes it would be nice to supplement a smartphone’s camera with the punch of a DSLR camera.

DxO, the makers of sophisticated imaging software, may have the ONE camera to do this. The ONE is a palm-sized camera that plugs into your iPhone with functions and optics that have the potential to deliver greater image quality.

Jeff Williams’ Code Conference interview is now online

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Heading
Jeff Williams handles his Walt Mossberg grilling with class. And some dishy scoops.
Photo: Re/code

If you weren’t in the crowd at Re/code’s recent Code Conference, you can now check out the video of Apple Operations guru Jeff Williams’ interview with Walt Mossberg from the comfort of your home.

In a wide-reaching half-hour conversation, Williams touches on everything from Apple’s plans to disrupt the car industry, to Foxconn suicides, to Williams’ own wish for a Star Trek-style tricorder in future iPhones.

Check out the video below.

Kitschy Scopitone jukebox brought the jams before MTV

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The Scopitone was a kind of video jukebox that had a brief life in the United States 17 years before music videos were the rage.
The Scopitone was a kind of video jukebox that had a brief life in the United States 17 years before music videos were the rage.
Photo: Walker Art Center

Cable boxes couldn’t be hooked up fast enough in August of 1981. People said I want my MTV.
 
Music videos blew our minds as we watched for hours on end a steady rotation of our favorite rock and pop stars who not only sang their music, but became characters in an elaborate, often hyper-sexualized narrative with a backdrop of visual effects and exotic locations.

But a version of what became the music video craze nearly seduced Americans in the 1960s with the Scopitone, a jukebox topped with a large screen that played short Technicolor films of singers performing on a crazy set that often included bikini-clad dancers.

Fallout Shelter dethrones Candy Crush Saga on App Store charts

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Fallout Shelter
The nuclear holocaust has never been so adorable.
Photo: Bethesda

For years, King.com’s Candy Crush Saga has been one of the App Store’s top earners. The addictive match-3 game was considered the crowning success of the freemium app genre, and although the growth of Candy Crush Saga has been slowing over time, it still dominated the App Store’s ranking charts.

But there’s a new king in town. A post-apocalyptic king. Fallout Shelter, Bethesda’s adorable nuclear bunker sim, has dethroned Candy Crush Saga as the App Store freemium game to beat.

Paris or Bangkok? Holiday searches reveal a lot about iPhone and Android users

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Would you rather have weekends away in Paris and Dubai or Bangkok and Koala Lumpur? According to U.K.-based hotel search tool Trivago, your answer may have a lot to do with whether you’re an iPhone or Android user.

Looking through its searches, as made from both iOS and Android devices, Trivago concludes that iPhone users opt for popular, pricier destinations averaging £113 ($180) per night, while Android users are more likely to seek out cheaper, offbeat destinations with an average price of just £92 ($146).

University adds dedicated texting lane for students on the move

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Don't stray into the wrong lane.
Don't stray into the wrong lane.
Photo: Inside Higher Ed

You know mobile devices have hit a certain critical mass when universities start adding walking lanes designed to stop texters from accidentally colliding with non-texters.

That’s exactly what happened to a staircase at Utah Valley University’s Student Life and Wellness Centre, with one staircase being home to dividing lines splitting students into “walking,” “running” and “texting” lanes.

Napster’s Sean Parker is trying to create the Twitter of political opinions

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You should elect to download this ASAP.
Napster's Sean Parker is backing the Twitter for political opinions.
Photo: Brigade Brigade

Sean Parker — the rogue Silicon Valley investor behind Napster, and a formative part of Facebook’s early development — has a new iOS app out. It’s called Brigade, and it’s got good election timing: it’s an app devoted to sharing and polling people on their political opinions.

Apple given full marks in new data privacy report

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Who has your back? Apple does.
Photo: Electronic Frontier Foundation

Apple is one of nine different companies to be given the full five stars in this year’s “Who Has Your Back?” report by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF).

“This is Apple’s fifth year in the report, and it has adopted every best practice we’ve identified as part of this report,” the digital advocates group’s report reads. “We commend Apple for its strong stance regarding user rights, transparency, and privacy.”

Forget the Apple Watch, extra bands are where the big profit is

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Apple Watch sport with black fluoroelastomer band.
Apple Watch sport with black fluoroelastomer band.
Photo: Buster Hein/Cult of Mac

The razor-blade business model refers to a business in which a company sells a product for a modest price, and then profits from sales of accessories.

According to a new report, the Apple Watch represents a high-tech spin on this concept — since a large number of customers are not only spending hundreds (or even thousands) of dollars on the wearable device itself, but also shelling out for a spare band — thereby letting Apple dip into their wallets for a second time.

Apple Watch will more than double the size of global wearables market in 2015

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post-326694-image-d5685fb22f97f21d48d666d230ffff25-jpg
Move over Fitbit! Apple Watch is the new wearable in town!

We’ve heard amazing stats like the fact that the Apple Watch outsold every Android Wear device ever within its first 24 hours, but just what exactly does Apple’s entry mean for the wearables market as a whole?

According to new research, the Apple Watch is likely to push global shipments of wearable devices to 45-50 million units in 2015 alone — representing a massive 125-150 percent increase from the 20 million units total shipped one year earlier.

Half of everything brings out the saw in this divorce

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iPhone saw
You want the iPhone 5?. Your half coming right up.
Gif: Evan Killham/Cult of Mac

It’s hard to say whether one man’s eBay page indicates he’s bitter about his divorce or has taken the division of property too literally.

A German man used saws to divide possessions shared with his estrange wife, giving her half and selling his half on eBay.

Everything, from an iPhone and MacBook Pro to dining room chairs, the mailbox, a teddy bear and their car, was subject to his interpretation of splitting things 50-50.

Zoo animals love (and hate) Apple Watch as much as humans do

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Apple Watch
They misunderstood when they heard that Newt was reviewing the Apple Watch.
Photo: Mashable (via YouTube)

We’ve heard a lot of opinions about the Apple Watch since it came out in April. Some people love it, while others don’t see the point of wearing a device that offers no more functionality than your iPhone.

But that’s just humans. What do animals think?

Mashable posted a short video that puts the new wearable next to a series of adorable animals to see how they react, and you can check out all of the verdicts below.

What the Elle? Style bible likens Apple Watch to Birkenstocks

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Yes, you should buy an Apple Watch.
Yes, you should buy an Apple Watch.
Photo: Beyonce/Twitter

Elle fashion magazine thinks you should totally buy an Apple Watch.

While some early tech reviewers have recently panned the device two months after launch, Elle magazine’s Lauren Sherman says after telling people for weeks that they should probably wait for version two, she’s changed her mind. She’s fallen in love with it. And yes, you should buy an Apple Watch too, but probably not for the reasons you’re thinking.

One of the best weather apps for iPhone just got a huge update

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Dark Sky 5.0 displays 24-hour forecasts in a new timeline.
Dark Sky 5.0 displays 24-hour forecasts in a new timeline.
Photo: DarkSky

The Dark Sky app — famous for its crazy accurate weather predictions that give you down to the minute details on everything — has been updated to version 5.0 today, bringing with it an awesome new design and feature improvements.

Among the most noticeable differences is a new vertical timeline that dispenses weather predictions over the next 24 hours. It’s also adjustable so you can view precipitation, temperature, wind, humidity or the UV index.