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The first Apple Watch software update is here

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Apple Watch
It's time for an Apple Watch software update
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Apple Watch has barely been available to the public for a month now but Apple is already sending out its first software update this morning that includes new emojis as well as fixes for Siri, measuring stand activity, and third party apps.

Samsung’s Flow toes up against Apple Handoff

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post-323211-image-94f8a4d137feefdd222ac2ba22219c35-png

Samsung Flow, the South Korean company’s answer to Handoff, is now available in beta following its official unveiling at the Samsung Developer Conference last November. If you have a modern Galaxy device, you should be able to try it out, but don’t expect it to be exactly like Apple’s offering.

School takes harsh stance on snapping selfies during commencement

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This selfie during a recent graduation in Malaysia earned the student a suspension from the university.
This selfie during a recent graduation in Malaysia earned the student a suspension from the university.
Photo: Muhammed Hasrul Haris Mohd Radzi

We are in the middle of the cap-and-gown selfie season, when dorky high school and college graduates hold up the line to snap a quick picture with the person handing them the diploma. The relatively new custom drags out an already long and boring commencement ceremony. It’s harmless otherwise.

But a university in Malaysia didn’t see it that way when it suspended one snap-happy graduate for two years with one official saying, “Let them call me cruel, but I’d rather let a child die than lose our customs.”

According to a report in TODAY, an English-language newspaper in Singapore, Muhammed Hasrul Haris Mohd Radzi apologized and said he was just excited when he took the picture of himself with the school’s chancellor during a recent commencement ceremony at Universiti Teknologi Mara Lendu in Malacca.

Charge your iPhone 6 in style with Apple’s new Lightning Dock

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Apple's Lightning dock as released earlier this year.
Thunder and Lightning, very very frightening.
Photo: Apple

Here’s one for the “better late than never” category: Almost three years after releasing the Lightning connector for the iPhone 5, Apple has unveiled its brand new official Lightning connector dock for use with the iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 5s, iPhone 5c, iPhone 5, and fifth-generation iPod touch.

Silicon Valley takes hilarious shot at one of Apple’s worst products

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One piece of product placement Apple can't be too happy about.
One piece of product placement Apple can't be too happy about.
Photo: HBO

Mike Judge’s great HBO comedy Silicon Valley has featured some fantastic references to Apple in the past — including a tongue-in-cheek dismissal of Steve Jobs as someone who “didn’t even code” and two not-so-obvious Apple logos that pop up during the show’s opening.

The most recent episode, entitled “Homicide,” contained one more namecheck of everyone’s favorite Cupertino company, but it’s unlikely to be a reference that got Tim Cook guffawing in front of his TV at home — since it skewered one of the most notorious Apple products of all time.

Apple urges Obama to block government snooping

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for story on iPhone security
Apple has taken steps to avoid snooping.
File photo: Cult of Mac

Apple has put its name to a letter which will be sent today, appealing to the White House to protect individual privacy rights in the face of suggestions that law enforcement should be able to access encrypted smartphone data via a backdoor.

“Strong encryption is the cornerstone of the modern information economy’s security,” argues the letter, which is signed by more than 140 tech companies, technologists, and civil society groups.

New patent hints at hands-free gaming on Apple TV

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Forget joysticks, this could be the future of gaming.
Forget joysticks, this could be the future of gaming.
Photo: Apple/USPTO

There have been plenty of rumors about the refreshed Apple TV set to arrive at WWDC, but two of the biggest concern the fact that it will feature a revolutionary gesture-based user interface and a new focus on gaming.

Possibly tying into that is a newly-published patent from Apple, which describes a pattern projector which would use laser beams to map the 3D space between the device and a user — thereby allowing a person to carry out motions as a way of interacting with specific apps.

And, yes, that includes games.

Obama tweeting from an iPhone isn’t all that it seems

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Barry sending his first tweet from an iPhone.
Barry sending his first tweet from an iPhone.
Photo: White House

The Apple-watching world lost its shiz yesterday when Obama made his first tweet from his brand-new presidential Twitter account using an iPhone. But don’t get too excited, because the White House has revealed that the phone in question isn’t Obama’s regular handset after all.

Which prompts the question, “Who did it belong to?” Maybe Apple should commission JFK director Oliver Stone to shoot an advert/paranoid conspiracy thriller on the subject of the Obama iPhone.

Safari exploit allows attackers to spoof URLs

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Whatever, Safari. I'm not believing a thing you say anymore.
Whatever, Safari. I'm not believing a thing you say anymore.
Screenshot: Evan Killham/Cult of Mac

Tech-wizard scientists have discovered a crack in the Safari web browser’s armor that will let evildoers trick it into showing false information in its address bar.

The exploit could lead to users giving up sensitive information when they think they’re just trying to buy some pants or something.

Apple execs killed plans to make UltraHD TV last year

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Apple SuperHD TV
Not just yet.
Photo: Evan Killham/Cult of Mac

As it turns out, not only is Apple not pursuing an entry into the UltraHD TV market, but it stopped development on the project last year.

That’s not to say that it won’t ever grace your living room (even more than it already is), but maybe don’t chuck out your old TV just yet.

Credit card-size cellphone will free you from your iPhone

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Light. Phone.
Light. Phone.
Photo: Light Phone/Kickstarter

The iPhone is a distracting gadget. There’s texting, Facebook and a dozen-odd games I keep on the thing. I’m constantly being notified that there is something new to look at, a new Instagram post, a new Twitter reply, a new email.

Sometimes I just want to get away from it all, but I keep my iPhone with me all the time because, essentially, it makes sure I’m able to make a phone call in an emergency.

Now there’s a new Kickstarter project that aims to let you leave your iPhone at home but still remain connected with the one essential function: phone calls. The Light Phone is “a credit card-sized cell phone designed to be used as little as possible. The Light Phone is your phone away from phone.”

That sounds pretty neat, actually. Too bad I hate making phone calls.

iPhone 6s might launch as soon as August

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iPhone 6
The iPhone 6s may arrive sooner than expected.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Ever since the release of the iPhone 4s Apple has launched its annual smartphone updates in September, but according to supply chain sources, the production of iPhone 6s components is going so well, Apple might be able to launch the device sooner than expected.

How to get your Apple Watch to leave you alone

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Activate do not disturb and silence your Apple Watch right from your wrist.
Activate Do Not Disturb and silence your Apple Watch right from your wrist.
Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac

If you’ve spent any time with an Apple Watch, you might have noticed that it notifies you quite a bit. There’s the ubiquitous Stand Up commands, notifications from Messages, Calendar and the like, and then all the third-party apps that send you taps all day long.

If you chose to have your Apple Watch mirror your iPhone’s Do Not Disturb schedule, at least it will stop bugging you during those hours, but what if you just need to stop the notifications right now on your Apple Watch?

Here’s how to do just that.

Screaming ‘fire!’ in a crowded Russian space capsule is useless

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ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen, left, and Russian cosmonaut Sergei Volkov work through artificial fire aboard a Soyuz simulator.
ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen, left, and Russian cosmonaut Sergei Volkov work through artificial fire aboard a Soyuz simulator.

A first-class flight in a Soyuz space capsule is rocky, reliable and rather snug. An astronaut sits in a semi-fetal position, works the controls with a stick and feels a pretty heavy G load, especially on reentry.

So imagine if a fire breaks out on the Soyuz spacecraft. There’s no extinguisher, no exit and no help to call.

ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen narrated a video showing he and Russian cosmonaut Sergei Volkov going through a simulated fire on a capsule to train for an upcoming flight to the International Space Station.

An Iron Man suit for your MacBook power supply

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MeezyCube will protect your MacBook’s power supply.
MeezyCube will protect your MacBook’s power supply.
Photo: Bulwark Products

This post is brought to you by Bulwark Products, maker of MeezyCube.

Buying any Apple product — whether a phone, tablet or laptop — is an investment in quality. We pay a premium for the sake of a device that’s designed and built to last, perform and look good while doing so.

Unless, of course, you’re talking about the power supply that comes with any MacBook. Somehow, Cupertino’s hardware wizards haven’t been able to move us beyond an unwieldy, tentacled plastic brick whose white plastic quickly gets scuffed up and filthy.

Doom teaser is too damn short

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The demons are coming.
The demons are coming.
Photo: Bethesda/YouTube

I’m not much of a video gamer, but Doom holds a special place in my heart. It’s the first game I can remember playing on a Mac, and while the next game in the sequel has been in the works forever (see: 2008), we finally got our first look at the gristly game today.

Publisher Bethesda will show off more of Doom at E3 next month, but for now the company released a super short teaser that has everything you could wish for: shotguns, and demons with monster guns.
Check it out below:

Barack Obama writes his first tweet from an iPhone

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Barry sending his first tweet from an iPhone.
President Obama sending his first tweet.
Photo: White House

  President Barack Obama is finally ready to enter the age of social media. After sitting behind the Resolute desk for six years, the president finally opened his own Twitter account today, but rather than using his hacker-proof BlackBerry to send his first message, POTUS turned to an Apple product.

Here’s his first tweet, sent from an iPhone: