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iPad still king in a slowing tablet market

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iPad Air 2
Apple's still leading, but the market for new tablets is declining. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Worldwide tablet sales may be falling, but according to figures from the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Tablet Tracker, the iPad is still leading the product category when it comes to sales — despite five consecutive quarters of negative annual shipment growth.

Yay! We guess…

Bloodborne offers the most fun you can have being terrible

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Bloodborne
It's not, you know, pretty pretty, but Bloodborne's grim Gothic setting does have its charms. Photo: Sony

Bloodborne’s village of Yharnam is a dangerous place. It’s full of werewolves, trolls, giant pigs and a host of other terrible beasts that want to kill you. And they can. And they will. But that’s all part of the fun.

Yharnam is a towering, Gothic, often claustrophobic place with buildings piled on buildings and dead ends everywhere. It isn’t a vacation spot, and it isn’t here to make you happy. It exists to give those who venture within exactly what they deserve, for good or ill. The village rewards those who take their time, study their enemies, and plan their moves carefully. And it punishes those who rush or are otherwise careless.

If you want to survive Bloodborne, you must be careful and learn everything you can about both your own and the monsters’ capabilities. This might take a while, but it’s a game in which progress really feels like progress, and you have nobody to blame for failure but yourself.

YouTube’s tech assassin has Apple Watch in his sights

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Richard Ryan is a YouTube sensation for putting tech gadgets, like Apple products, through outragious torture tests. Photo: FullMag/YouTube
Richard Ryan is a YouTube sensation famous for putting tech gadgets, especially Apple products, through outrageous torture tests. Photo: FullMag/YouTube

Richard Ryan is friendly and easy-going — even when he’s behind a 50-caliber rifle, violently shredding an iPhone, iPad or, this week, the new Apple Watch.

Every neighborhood had that one kid who liked to build a model only to blow it up. Ryan, 33, is that kid, except with more firepower and a slow-motion camera. He delights in “blowouts,” meaning when a round completely shatters a device, and likes to admire the “peel back,” the path a bullet travels through a device’s metal casing.

“Very little, if any, practical knowledge comes out of this,” Ryan told Cult of Mac before shooting an episode where he tested the Apple Watch while skydiving in a wingsuit. “It goes back to that kid smashing that thing he just bought as soon as he gets outside the store. Yes, there is a cringeworthy feeling you get watching that device you and I both want get destroyed. But there is a visual payoff with the slow-mo. It’s entertainment.”

Apple and IBM team up to help Japan’s senior citizens

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Apple's iPad business may not turn around any time soon. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
The news marks the next step in Apple's relationship with IBM. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Apple is teaming with IBM and Japan Post on a pilot scheme that will hand up to 5 million iPads out to elderly people in Japan by 2020, to help them keep in touch with their families, physicians and community.

In addition to existing iPad apps like FaceTime and Messages, the tablets will come loaded with custom IBM apps designed to help remind senior citizens to take their medication, exercise regularly, and maintain a healthy diet, while also allowing direct access to community support services such as grocery shopping.

Mobile cinema is quirky British history looking for a good home

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Britain's last mobile cinema, one of seven buses built by the government in the 1960s to promote modern manufacturing, is for sale on eBay. Photo: Jane Sanders
Britain's last mobile cinema, one of seven buses built by the government in the 1960s to promote modern manufacturing, is for sale on eBay. Photo: Jane Sanders

Mobile cinema today is a Netflix movie streamed on your smartphone. But movie history is full of fearless and devoted projectionists traveling to bring moving pictures to remote communities.

A piece of that history, an actual mobile cinema on wheels, is now for sale in Great Britain.

A fleet of seven government buses toured the country during the 1960s, bringing industrial films to companies to promote efficiency and modern production techniques. One survived the scrap heap, was restored and is now on eBay for about $184,000.

12 biggest surprises after a week with Apple Watch

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Apple Watch
The Apple Watch keeps surprising us. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Far from being a superfluous device strictly for hard-core Apple fans, the Apple Watch is a surprisingly delightful and useful device.

Now that we’ve spent enough time with the latest gadget from the mothership, we’re noticing quite a few sweet little positives (and a couple negatives) about Apple Watch.

Bottom line: The more you use this thing, the better it is.

iOS 8 growth slowing, but still enough to shame Android

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iOS 8 adoption continues to pick up. Slowly but surely. Photo: Apple
iOS 8 adoption continues to pick up. Slowly but surely. Photo: Apple

We’re likely only a couple of months away from the first developer previews of iOS 9, but iOS 8 adoption continues to creepy steadily northwards.

According to Apple’s in-house stats — measured by visits to the App Store on April 27 — 81 percent of eligible iOS devices have now upgraded to Apple’s latest mobile OS. That’s up 2 percent from the last time Apple released its numbers.

The world’s saddest and most disturbing selfie stick yet

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Photo:
Why make fun of selfie-takers? They're not 'arm-ing anyone. Photo: Aric Snee and Justin Crowe

Most of us can agree that selfie sticks are pretty much the bane of humanity, right? Heck, even Apple agrees: Cupertino already threw down a decree from on high that selfie sticks are not welcome at this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference.

But while I admit to thinking the selfie stick pretty much represented the nadir of civilization and the beginning of the end for humanity, I spoke too soon.

It’s nothing compared to this monstrosity: the Selfie Arm.

Russian minister accuses Apple of distributing gay porn to minors

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Won't someone think of the Russian children? Photo:
Here's a complaint we've not heard before about last year's U2 album giveaway. Photo: Island Records

Some people just won’t let go, will they?

Still upset about Apple’s much-maligned U2 album giveaway last year, Russian politician Alexander Starovoitov has come up with a new complaint we’ve not heard before: That by gifting Songs of Innocence to millions of iTunes customers around the world, Apple was knowingly distributing gay pornography.

If found guilty, Apple could be forced to cease operations in Russia for 90 days, or pay 1 million roubles in fines.

Pixelmator integrates with new MacBook’s Force Touch trackpad

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A staple Mac app now supports Apple's new trackpad. Photo: Pixelmator
A staple Mac app now supports Apple's new trackpad. Photo: Pixelmator

The new MacBook has been out for a couple of weeks, and OS X apps are starting to take advantage of its Force Touch trackpad.

Pixelmator, a popular photo editor and Photoshop alternative on the Mac, is an early example of how third-party developers are utilizing Force Touch. The app recently added support for the pressure sensitive trackpad along with a number of other improvements.

Apple steals talent from BBC Radio 1 for new music service

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Apple has big ambitions for its new music streaming service.
Beats redesign is coming to WWDC 2015. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

When Apple picked up Beats, they got a music service along with the headphone hardware and executive talents of Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine.

It looks like Apple has just upped its game, internally, in creating a Spotify-killer: Cupertino has just picked up four producers from BBC Radio 1, including key talent from hot radio property “BBC Introducing.”

How to change out your Apple Watch band

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Apple Watch band connector
The band stops here.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

When I found out I’d be able to change out the band on my Apple Watch Sport, I was ecstatic. While I really don’t mind the green fluoroelastomer band, I’m looking forward to swapping it out for something a little less Swatch and a bit more Gap casual.

Changing the band is a pretty simple affair, but if you haven’t had the chance to put one on your wrist yet, it’s a bit hard to tell just how to do so.

Defective part slows Apple Watch rollout

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Photo: Buster Hein/Cult of Mac
Problems with a key component appear to have slowed Apple Watch's launch. Photo: Buster Hein/Cult of Mac

The Apple Watch has been in short supply ever since its hype-filled launch, and a new report claims that it’s all the Taptic Engine’s fault.

Defects in the key Apple Watch component were found in the Apple’s supply chain, severely limiting early supplies of the wearable, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal.

Apple Watch marketing whiz defects to DKNY

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Former Apple Watch Marketing whiz, Hector Muelas. Photo:
Former Apple Watch marketing whiz, Hector Muelas, has jumped ship for the fashion industry. Photo:

Apple poached talent from fashion brands leading up to the Apple Watch launch, but the tables turned this week as Donna Karan International revealed it has sniped some talent from the tech giant.

Instagram turns on the tunes with new music channel

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Use social media to find out more about your favorite artist. Photo: Instagram
Use social media to find out more about your favorite artist. Photo: Instagram

As Apple prepares to relaunch Beats Music at WWDC, another tech giant is throwing its name in the music ring: Instagram, which has just launched a new @Music account designed to capitalize on its popularity among music fans.

The newly-opened account will share music-related photos, lyrics, and videos, relating to both established artists and new acts you haven’t heard of.

Couchlet turns any sofa or bed into a charging station

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The Couchlet nestles between cushions or under a mattress to make for a more comfortable reach of your phone when charging. Photo: Trident Designs
The Couchlet nestles between cushions or under a mattress to make for a more comfortable reach of your phone when charging. Photo: Trident Design

Chris Hawker does his best thinking when he sees someone doing something awkward. Watching people struggle with everyday tools guides the designer to invent things that solve everyday problems, from peeling a cucumber to powering our growing number of electronic devices.

So when Hawker found himself in an uncomfortable stretch between his couch and the nearest outlet, trying to charge his phone and talk on it at the same time, he wished for a plug-in near his leg.

Hawker came up with Couchlet, a thin, dual-USB port that tucks in between couch cushions or wedges beneath a mattress. On Indiegogo for just three days, the Couchlet attracted more than 1,600 funders and surpassed a $30,000 goal.

4 episodic games for players who love cliffhangers

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Don't worry; we'll resolve all of this next week. Photo: Capcom
Don't worry -- we'll resolve all this next week. Photo: Capcom

You don’t always have to sit down to an epic, 100-hour slog to get your gaming in. Developers are delivering plenty of great bite-size, episodic games that (usually) release one part at a time.

If you’re looking for something you can play in installments, here are four great places to start. These games are all fully released, so you won’t have to wait for the next episode if you can’t stand the suspense. This is great if you’re like me; I watched all of Breaking Bad in a week once it was all up on Netflix. That’s just how I roll.

Back off, Apple! Samsung is world’s largest smartphone seller again

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post-321029-image-e0f8bdb0d731a94d4ad5d44cd96a2f9d-jpg

Samsung has regained its position over Apple as the world’s largest smartphone vendor by volume, according to new stats from Strategy Analytics.

The analysts claim that global smartphone shipments grew 21 percent annually, to hit 345 million units in the first three months of 2015.

Of these, Samsung shipped 83.2 million smartphones worldwide, meaning it captured 24 percent marketshare for the first quarter. Apple, meanwhile, shipped 61.2 million smartphones to represent 18 percent of the marketshare.