Cult of Mac

This post is sponsored by Systweak Software, maker of Duplicate Photos Fixer Pro.

There was a time when people could keep track of their photos with a few shoeboxes in the closet. Now we live in the digital age where an average person will take thousands of photos each year — that’s a lot of shoeboxes.

Digital photography uses a lot less paper, but it still creates a big mess. Maybe that explains why Duplicate Photos Fixer Pro is currently ranked No. 7 on Apple’s list of the top 10 paid downloads in the Mac App Store. Its popularity speaks to just how common the problem of unwanted duplicate photos is.

Short on room space? LG has just busted through the thinness limit on massive screened television sets and unveiled its proof of concept HDTV that’s as thin as paper.

Sure, it’s not in production yet, and will likely cost way too much for the average person to buy at first, but a press-on wallpaper television set is pretty high on our list of wants.

An iOS developer claims the latest version of their app has been rejected by Apple solely because a screenshot dared to mention the forbidden word “Android.”

It’s hardly noticeable — you’ll need to squint to see it — but Apple allegedly wants it gone just in case it reminds iPhone and iPad users that other platforms are available.

Apple is expected to unveil its huge overhaul of Beats Music in just a few weeks at WWDC but Spotify is firing shots first in the battle for music streaming dominance with a huge update for its iPhone app.

Spotify took the wraps off its new music experience at a keynote this morning, revealing a new Now start page for music discovery to go along with additions such as podcasts, video clips, original content, and an awesome new feature for joggers that matches songs to your running tempo.

Here’s a rundown of the new features:

Just when you thought you were safe from ceaseless notifications from Farmville players, Facebook has let it be known that it is planning to add gaming apps to its secondary Messenger app. You know, the one you had to install on your iPhone because they took messaging functions out of the main Facebook mobile app.

Facebook is actively talking with game developers about using the Messenger platform to deliver gaming experiences, which would then lead to more interactions with the Messenger app, and probably revenues, as most of Facebook’s non advertising revenue comes from third-party games.

The only Apple Watches I’ve seen in the wild so far have been strapped to men’s wrists, and according to one of the world’s top Apple analysts, that could be a bad indicator for the digital timepieces’ popularity.

In a new note to investors, KGI analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has cut his 2015 expectations for Apple Watch sales from 30 million down to just 15 million after research found that Apple Watch has attracted mostly men.

Using your smartphone while scoffing fast food will leave your shiny display covered in grease and grime, but thanks to KFC, there’s a better way to live-tweet what you’re eating.

The finger-licking chicken giant has designed a paper-thin Bluetooth keyboard called the Tray Typer, which lets you text, tweet, and even get stuff done over dinner without having to touch your smartphone at all.

The biggest city in Silicon Valley is about to land the world’s biggest tech company.

Apple is considering expanding into north San Jose to lease more office space, even though the company’s gigantic space ship campus is scheduled to be completed next year and house more than 13,00 employees.

Google is getting ready to unveil a new online picture sharing and storage service at the company’s upcoming Google I/O software developers conference later this month.

Not linked with Google+, the tool will supposedly allow users to post pictures to Facebook and Twitter in a more straightforward way than is currently possible through Google. It will also represent another stab on Google’s part at the photo-sharing market currently dominated by Instagram, Snapchat and Flickr.

Eager to get your hands on the new Apple Watch? In the market for a new iPhone? We’re about to make your day.

Your garden may be seasonal, but part of it can live long and prosper with a set of Star Trek garden gnomes from the warped minds at Think Geek.

There are four, including a dead yeoman in a red shirt, lying on a slab that says, “Join Starfleet they said. It’d be fun they said.”

Imagine if Mr. Scott in the transporter room mixed up the energy patterns of Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock with elves and you would have the Think Geek creations.

Microsoft has inadvertently leaked plans to release a new chat app for iPhone called Flow, which will allow users to have “rapid email conversations.” The service will be a part of Outlook, but it will focus on quick communication with “no subject lines, salutations, or signatures.”

Touch ID made unlocking your phone faster than previously, but you know what’s more secure than fingerprints as authentication? Brainwaves.

That’s according to Blair Armstrong of the Basque Center on Cognition, Brain, and Language in Spain, who feels that the most secure type of biometrics technology could one day involve measuring the brain response of individual tech users to various words or acronyms.

In news that is likely to cause all manner of headaches around Hollywood, Popcorn Time — the streaming torrent service often described as “Netflix for pirates” — is now easier to access than ever, thanks to a new website.

But how long will it last?

Google has apologized for its second major mapping embarrassment in one month, after a racist slur involving the N-word was demonstrated as finding the White House on Google Maps.

Searches including “n****r house” and “n****r king” returned the home of Barack Obama as one of the top suggestions.

Samsung works in a lot of areas besides smartphones and, according to a recently published patent, one of those could soon be… Edge of Tomorrow-style soldier exoskeletons?

As described, Samsung’s wearable robot would be affixed to the legs of a user and would greatly enhance the strength of its puny human users by generating an auxiliary torque for assisting muscle power.

Well, at least this is one idea they probably didn’t borrow from Apple!

Apple’s influence on the upcoming Star Wars: The Force Awakens extends far beyond Kylo Ren’s ugly crossguard lightsaber.

The Force Awakens costume designer Michael Kaplan has designed costumes on movies like Blade Runner and Fight Club, but when it came time to redesign the new stormtrooper armor for director J.J. Abrams, Kaplan said he looked to Apple as his biggest inspiration on how to perfect the stormtrooper’s white, plastic-y armor.

Apple’s engineers might be busy building the smart car of the future, but Automatic’s new second-generation dongle can already turn your dumb hunk of junk into an intelligent auto with tons of apps.

Carl Icahn’s big bet on Apple is paying off huge.

During an interview today defending his belief that Apple will make a 65-inch UltraHD TV, the billionaire revealed his investment in Apple starting in 2013 has been one of the greatest trades of all time, netting about $3.4 billion.

Icahn owns more than 52 million shares and stands to make even more if Apple shares reach his current estimated value of $240 (shares closed today at 129.989). Watch what Icahn had to say about his mega-investment below:

Apple’s first efforts to do major business in Arizona crashed and burned with the spectacular failure of GT Advanced Technologies’ sapphire plant, but the company’s second effort is going much better than expected.

More than 500 jobs are being added to Apple’s command center in Mesa that will require a small contingent of top Apple executives from Silicon Valley to move to Arizona to oversee operations, while other positions will be filled by local hires.

The Apple Watch on your wrist is a miniature computer. As such, it might get wonky from time to time. It might freeze, apps might not load all the way or it might just get slow — especially if you haven’t downloaded today’s Apple Watch software upgrade, which brings various performance enhancements and bug fixes.

When your watch is getting wonky, it’s good to know how to force a restart, powering your Apple Watch down and back up again to reset its internal workings. Here’s how.

Rumors surrounding Apple’s plans for TV have been picking up considerably as its Worldwide Developers Conference draws near in June.

But the idea of a standalone Apple TV set (not the little hockey puck that exists already) eventually becoming a reality is starting to look pretty bleak. Not everyone has given up hope, though. As the biggest proponent of the Apple HDTV rumor throws in the towel, one of the world’s most powerful investors remains convinced that it will happen.

It’s springtime in Chicago, and one sure sign is the bizarre lines of helmeted tourists teetering on Segways on the biking paths along Lake Shore Drive. When I am stopped at a light and see a group of Segwayers crossing the road, I always think to myself “Those things never really caught on.”

A Dutch company has created a mode of transportation that borrows the technology of Segway and the cool of the skateboard culture.

The Oxboard houses gyroscopes that help a rider maintain equilibrium as they subtly shift their body to guide the two-wheel electric scooter. Gone are the handlebars and the cost. While a new second-generation Segway runs between $6,000 and $8,000, the Oxboard costs around 900 U.S. dollars.

Before creating the home automation company Nest, Tony Fadell cut his teeth at Apple by creating revolutionary products like the iPod. You’d think being one of the key guys behind Apple’s resurgence in the early aughts means you get hooked up with Apple products for life, but according to Fadell, he had to pre-order the Apple Watch like the rest of us peasants. And he’s still waiting for it to arrive.

Luca Redwood, the main powerhouse indie developer behind EightyEight Games, has taken the last three years of his life to make a sequel to critical darling match-three game, 10000000.

Sadly, it’s not named 10000001, but rather You Must Build a Boat. In it, you actually do need to build a large, ark-like boat with all sorts of rooms and defenses and such, and you outfit your boat by running dungeons and matching items to kill baddies and get past obstacles in them.

Sound weird? It is, but it’s also going to be stupidly addictive. If it’s half as engaging as 10000000, you’ll be playing this on your Mac, iOS device, or Linux box long into the wee hours of the morning.

Check it out.