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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.”
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.
The man who lead the creation of iOS may have found his next calling in an unlikely place: Broadway.
Scott Forstall, a veteran Apple executive who was famously ousted in 2012, has been co-producing a hit musical that’s already doing very well for itself.
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 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.
Casey Neistat showed us a brilliant way to turn your cheapo Apple Watch into a luxurious gold Edition, but if you’d like to make your fake Edition look just like the real thing, you can now get it gold plated for a fraction of the cost of Katy Perry’s.
Microsoft has gone from shunning Apple products to making the world’s best iOS apps quicker than Jony Ive can say aluminum. This morning at the company’s Build conference for developers, Microsoft revealed its plan to make you fall back in love with Office: Extensions.
More than four years after its debut, Windows Phone still has a native app problem. Microsoft has now accepted that’s not going to change anytime soon, so in an effort to attract new users to its platform, it’s going to allow them to run Android and iOS apps… sort of.
Spotlight can do a lot of things, but did you know that it can search hashtags on Twitter?
The feature, which many are just now discovering, could be only the beginning of how Apple and Twitter will work together in the future.
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.
Here’s your chance to get your hands on a huge 27-inch Thunderbolt Display from Apple for free with Cult of Mac Deals.
TAG Heuer’s first smartwatch powered by Android Wear will make its debut later this year, priced at about $1,400, according to a new report. The device hopes to compete with other high-end smartwatches like the Apple Watch, and it promises excellent battery life.
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.
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.
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.
The Apple Watch is such a stunningly gorgeous piece of engineering that throwing it down on your nightstand at the end of a hard day — as if it were a common-as-dirt Android Wear device — is borderline insulting.
What you need is an equally attractive charging stand to proudly display your new wearable as it’s refreshed for the following day.
But which one to choose? Follow Cult of Mac’s suggestions and you’ll be keeping your Watch battery fully-juiced in style.
Several dozen American Airlines flights were delayed overnight, after the pilots’ iPads — used for providing information to flight crews — failed prior to takeoff, leaving pilots without a flight plan.
Most early reviews of the Apple Watch didn’t do it justice. It’s fine, they said, but not for everybody.
Come on! COME ON!!!!
The Apple Watch is the most exciting gadget for years. Its ambition is huge. It does a ton of stuff. It’s not some silly smartwatch — it’s a computer for your wrist. And I’m loving it.
Yeah, it has its quirks, and it’s far from perfect, but it’s a great vision, and it’s only going to get better!
It’s a ton of fun, and it works great — except when it doesn’t.
More Apple Watch owners with wrist tattoos are reporting problems using the device. The light sensors that enable the Watch to determine if it’s being worn apparently get confused by tattooed skin.
The problem — let’s call it “Tattoogate” — is possibly the result of metallic pigments used for the inking process, although nobody knows for sure. While the glitch affects only a small number of users, it’s definitely mauling the buzz of some frustrated Apple Watch early adopters.
Cult of Mac reader Michael Lovell spoke with us about his disappointing experiences with the Apple Watch, and even sent in a video demonstrating the problem. Check it out below!
A “test model” iPad was stolen in a home robbery earlier this month along with other valuables. Suspects have been arrested, but the stolen goods have not been found.