Mobile menu toggle

Marc Newson sets a world record with $3.7 million lounger

By •

csm_MN-01_LC1_Newson_01_b4e69cad3a
Imagine lying on this and using your new Apple Watch Edition! Photo: Design Museum

Looking for a gorgeous chair to sit in while you get to grips with your brand new Apple Watch?

If you happen to have a spare seven-figure sum lying around, you could have snapped up this riveted aluminum and fiberglass beauty when it came up at auction yesterday — designed by none other than Jony Ive’s BFF and sometimes-Apple designer Marc Newson.

Time Warner CEO ‘pretty confident’ Apple TV service is on the way

By •

post-321214-image-46635db21036c1afe4d1f6b4585db437-jpg
We're finally going to get the TV experience we deserve. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Apple’s streaming TV service has long been a force of fodder for the rumor mill, but according to Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes, it’s already a foregone conclusion.

During Time Warner’s earning’s call on Wednesday, Bewkes told investors that he’s ‘pretty confident’ will launch a service that streams TV over the Internet, and we might not have to wait much longer to finally see it.

Apple Watch has as much RAM as iPhone 4

By •

Apple Watch back
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Now that the Apple Watch is out in the wild, we’re starting to see teardowns of its internals. iFixit has shown us the Taptic Engine, Digital Crown and tiny battery, but it wasn’t able to pry open the little computer that runs the entire device, the S1.

It turns out that the Watch’s system-on-a-chip is truly the feat of engineering Apple made it out to be. It also reveals a couple of tidbits about the Apple Watch we didn’t know yet, like that it packs the same amount of RAM as the iPhone 4.

ilumi creators enjoying their light bulb moment

By •

The ilumi smartbulb covers the color spectrum and offers a range of unique features for in-home lighting. Photo: ilumi Solutions
The ilumi smart bulb covers the color spectrum and offers a range of unique features for in-home lighting. Photo: ilumi Solutions

All that remains of the original Thomas Edison invention is the socket fitting. That and it still only takes one person to screw in the light bulb.

The rest of the ilumi smart bulb, which is slowly lighting the way to smart home and office living around the world, would be unrecognizable to Edison or any of the other early inventors of incandescent bulbs.

It is too soon to know whether the names Corey Egan, Swapnil Bora and their company ilumi Solutions will assume a place on the list of lighting pioneers with their smartphone-controlled LED lights. But with a growing list of patents, financing from a certain well-known “Shark” and a steady stream of orders, the David-like startup is holding its own against bulb big shots like GE and Phillips.

iPad still king in a slowing tablet market

By •

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

By •

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

By •

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

By •

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

By •

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

By •

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

By •

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

By •

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

By •

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

By •

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

By •

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

By •

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

By •

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

By •

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

By •

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.