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King Kong ain’t got nothing on this drone-fighting chimp

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This chimp did not appreciate being filmed by a drone and took Kong-trol by knocking it out of the air. Photo: Royal Burgers Zoo
This chimp did not appreciate being filmed by a drone and took Kong-trol by knocking it out of the air. Photo: Royal Burgers Zoo

You would have thought King Kong taught us never to fly too close to primates.

Like the giant silver screen ape swatting fighter planes out of the air, a chimpanzee at the Royal Burgers’ Zoo in the Netherlands defended its habitat with a long stick to knock down a camera-carrying drone flying over its habitat.

The GoPro camera survived the crash and managed to record everything, from the stick-wielding chimp making a ferocious face as it made a direct hit to the quadrocopter to the crash aftermath of the curious chimps looking into the camera before it destroyed the drone.

Your next iPhone could be designed in California, made in India

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Foxconn employees accused of $43 million iPhone scam
Tim Cook meets a worker at one of Foxconn's China factories. Photo: Apple
Photo: Apple

Up until now, the majority of iPhones have been built in China, but long-time Apple manufacturer Foxconn could be setting its sights on a new developing market: India.

According to the Economic Times, the Foxconn Technology Group is set to pour money into three new facilities in India — based in the country’s Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, and Andhra Pradesh provinces — with a view to building iPhones for its biggest client.

Save 70% on a lifetime of hacker protection with VPN Unlimited

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CoM_VPN Unlimited Lifetime

The internet is the western world’s business hub. We use it to communicate with family, friends, and colleagues; to conduct our banking and other financial transactions; and also to shop worldwide, often paying for goods and services by credit card.

The point is that we enter an enormous amount of sensitive data about ourselves on the internet every single day, making us vulnerable to security breaches. It’s easy to protect yourself though. All you need is a lifetime subscription to VPN Unlimited, 70% off at Cult of Mac Deals for a limited time.

Pro tips for traveling with your MacBook

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Keep your MacBook safe whilst on the move. Photo: Quentin Meulepas/Flickr
Keep your MacBook safe while you're on the move. Photo: Quentin Meulepas/Flickr

Being a workaholic means I’m always taking my MacBook with me wherever I travel, but carrying around a $2,000 machine is a constant risk. In today’s s video I show you everything you need to know to keep your MacBook safe while you’re on the move.

The electrical outlet that puts USB ports in your walls

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The SnapPower USB charger has raised more than $600,000 on Kickstarter. Photo: SnapPower
The SnapPower USB charger has raised more than $600,000 on Kickstarter. Photo: SnapPower

There are just two of us in the apartment, but power strips and bulky USB adapters charging our various devices take up room in every room.

The founders of SnapPower are building a company around the electrical outlet to bring order to household cords.

After the success of an outlet plate with built-in LED lights, the Orem, Utah company already has raised thousands of dollars on Kickstarter to produce an electrical outlet cover with a sleek, built-in USB charger.

An estimated 1 million Apple Watches sold in U.S. in first 24 hours

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Apple Watch did some monster pre-orders in its first day on sale. Photo: Leander Kahney
Apple Watch did some monster pre-orders in its first day on sale. Photo: Leander Kahney

If researchers at Slice Intelligence are to be believed, the Apple Watch scored big when it became available for preorders last week.

How big? Try 957,000 people preordering in the U.S. on Friday alone — with the more-affordable Apple Watch Sport model racking up the biggest number of sales.

Check out more of the breakdown figures and interesting sales stats below.

Apple copycat Xiaomi complains others are copying its copies

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You know Xiaomi, the Chinese smartphone maker which copied Apple designs en route to becoming the world’s most valuable startup?

Well, depending on who you are, get ready to bust out a tune on the world’s smallest violin, because Xiaomi’s quest to conquer the smartphone-owning world has apparently hit a bit of a snag: people keep copying its designs.

Yes, seriously.

Apple Watch Sport ships with a weird tri-sectioned band

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Don't expect to get two bands with this. Photo: Apple
Don't expect to get two bands with this. Photo: Apple

Recently, Apple sparked a little bit of confusion when they announced that every Apple Watch Sport would contain two separate bands. People interpreted that to mean that it shipped with two complete bands: one for small and medium wrists, and one for large wrists. But the truth is more complicated. Bad news for swappers.

The retail Apple Watch may still have its secret port

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Photo: Cult of Mac
Photo: Cult of Mac

Last month, we reported that the Apple Watch boasted a secret port that could be used in the future to unlock cool accessories… and, maybe, jailbreak the Apple Watch. Later reports, though, indicated that this port was an Apple-only diagnostic port, that could be missing from retail models.

If that’s true, though, no one told Apple’s retail stores. The Apple Watch units available for try-on appointments at Apple Stores around the world still have the diagnostic port.

The best apps you might have missed this week

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awesome-apps

It’s the weekend, which means it’s time to catch up on all of the new apps you might have missed throughout the week.

The all-new CleanMyMac is here to... er.. clean your Mac, an update to the best app finder out there, a crazy awesome app for mixing drinks, and a great language translation app made it into this week’s roundup.

Without further ado, here are this week’s awesome apps!


Awesome Apps

How to watch Coachella Live on your Apple TV

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Coachella_webstream_2
The Coachella music festival is being streamed live on YouTube all weekend. Best place to catch it is on your Apple TV.

If you didn’t make it down to the SoCal desert this weekend for the massive Coachella music festival, fear not — most of the action is being streamed live on Youtube.

Fire it up on your Apple TV, and you can enjoy Jack White, The War on Drugs, Interpol, Clean Bandit, Tyler the Creator, Run the Jewels, alt-J, The Weeknd and tons more.

However, the YouTube streams are a bit tricky to find; as is a simple guide to what’s being broadcast.

Here’s how to find it, and the full webcast schedule by time:

Gold Apple Watch looks great on my wrist. If only I could turn it on.

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The $10,000 gold Apple Watch Edition, the first and only time I will probably every wear an expensive timepiece.
The $10,000 gold Apple Watch Edition, the first and only time I will probably ever wear an expensive time piece. Photo: David Pierini/Cult of Mac
Photo: David Pierini/Cult of Mac

CHICAGO — I grabbed the black suit jacket I was married in because I wasn’t sure how to dress for a private appointment to try on a $10,000 gold watch.

My look is challenging to class up. The clean-shaven head, long goatee and ample belly blend in better at a biker bar. But I felt halfway respectable-looking when I walked into the Apple Store in Chicago’s upscale Lincoln Park neighborhood for a Saturday morning hands-on showing of the Apple Watch Edition.

Not many Apple Stores are scheduling appointments for the 18-karat gold Edition, but the ones that do provide extra-special attention. I had a friendly guide, two floor supervisors who came by to shake my hand and thank me for my patience, and a couple of hawk-eyed security guards.

Apple Watch gets mixed reviews and HBO NOW comes to iOS on The CultCast

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HBO NOW on iOS?  God's be good!
HBO NOW on iOS? God's be good!
Photo: HBO

This week: get’em while they’re hot! The Apple Watch is ready for pre-order, but the reviews are in, and they’re a mixed bag. Plus: what’s good in iOS 8.3 and OS X 10.10.3; Robert Baratheon makes HBO NOW a no-brainer; Samsung is up to their old tricks; the new Macbook didn’t benchmark well, but it might not matter; and things get weird in an all-new Get to Know Your Cultist!

Our thanks to Squarespace for supporting this episode. Squarespace 7 is live, and it’s their biggest update in years. Now building a beautiful website is faster and easier than ever. Learn more at Squarespace.com/seven and use code “CultCast” at checkout for 10% off any order.

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Full show notes ahead!

How App Store reviews can help indie developers

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The NASAViz Universal app. Photo: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center/Flicker CC
Five-star reviews are great, but there's another type of App Store review that's truly stellar. Photo: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center/Flicker CC

Customer reviews on the App Store are good for business. It’s not just that good reviews can improve your app’s ranking. Reviews have also helped me build a better app.

But with all the fake reviews and haters out there, it’s sometimes hard to see the wood from the trees. The trick is to know exactly which reviews to pay attention to — and the secret is all in your stars.

Apple Watch Edition is totally untouchable in 38 states

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Apple Watch Edition
Coming soon to a wrist near you? Photo: Apple
Photo: Apple

Want to try on the super-fancy $10,000 Apple Watch Edition? You might have to do a bit of driving, because in a whopping 75 percent of the United States, it’s totally impossible to demo the solid gold Apple smartwatch.

Only 12 states (and the District of Columbia) have Apple Stores taking appointments to check out the Apple Watch Edition. That leaves 38 states that are apparently not fancy or fashionable enough to offer demos of the schmanciest Apple Watch of all. To see if you live in one of them, check out Cult of Mac’s handy map below, but be prepared to weep.

How an in-store Apple Watch demo will make you a believer

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Apple Watch won't just be available from Apple Stores come August.
Apple is offering in-store Watch fittings to help customers figure out what watch to buy. We highly recommend it. There's a few surprises. Photo: Leander Kahney/Cult of Mac
Photo: Leander Kahney/Cult of Mac

SAN FRANCISCO — Like a lot of people, I took the midnight plunge and bought an Apple Watch before I’d even tried it on.

But today, I got to see the device I bought last night. I went down to the flagship Apple Store in San Francisco and tried on a range of watches.

I wish I’d done this before, because I might have ordered differently.

Tim Cook flashes his custom Apple Watch at Palo Alto store

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Tim Cook says Apple Watch orders are 'extraordinary'. Photo: CNBC
Tim Cook says Apple Watch orders are 'extraordinary'. Photo: CNBC

Tim Cook was spotted at the Apple Store in Palo Alto this morning, greeting customers who had come in to get a first look at the Apple Watch.

The Apple CEO said he was impressed with the enthusiasm behind Apple Watch, stating “customers have been giving us great feedback and orders have been great, as well.” Apple Watch pre-orders sold out within hours this morning, with all units now not shipping until June.

Before Cook left he gave fans a glimpse of the stainless steel Apple Watch he’s been wearing with a custom red Digital Crown. Check out in the video below:

Runeblade smashes tons of fun into a tiny Apple Watch game

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Tap your wrist, save the world. Photo: EveryWear Games
Tap your wrist, save the world. Photo: Everywear Games

Helsinki-based developer Everywear Games surely had to rethink the way they pitch when they decided to make an Apple Watch game. Runeblade, the team’s casual fantasy-adventure made only for the Apple Watch, will launch onto Apple’s diminutive third screen later this month.

“The game is designed to be played in 5-15 second sessions and builds over time as you progress through the journey,” said CEO Aki Järvilehto in a statemnent. “We’re excited to help pioneer game development on Apple Watch with a fully original title designed specifically for smartwatch gaming.”

The team has released a trailer to tease the game, and it looks interesting, if a bit tiny. It is a game meant to be played on your wrist. With one hand.

Indie developers make meme games fast, but do they pay off?

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Indie devs turned these viral memes into games quickly. Photo: Rob LeFebvre
Indie devs turned these viral memes into games quickly. Photo: Rob LeFebvre

When #TheDress went viral, you might have tweeted about it, or argued over the color with your Facebook friends. You may have forwarded that video of the Llamas giving merry chase, or the Left Shark messing up its dance moves during Katy Perry’s halftime show.

Indie game developers, however, saw an opportunity.

With games like Left Shark Dance Attack, Super WeaselPecker, and the addition of The Dress to the existing game Fashion Story, these game makers seized the opportunity of the moment and brought these viral memes into the digital realm for fun…and hopefully a quick profit.

“We understand these types of games have a short shelf life,” Evan S of Left Shark Dance Attack‘s Best Apps LLC told us, “but most games on the App Store have a short shelf life.”

‘Synergy, bitches’: Silicon Valley premieres right after Game of Thrones

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It's getting hot up in here. Photo: HBO
It's getting hot up in here. Photo: HBO

For nerds of all stripe, this Sunday night will be an imploding black hole of greatness, with the Season 5 premiere of Game of Thrones, and, right after that, the Season 2 debut of our favorite tech-themed dramedy, Silicon Valley.

In the delightfully awkward trailer, you’ll see the boys rounding up their VC resources to compete with Google stand-in Hooli, who’s hot on the Pied Piper trail to get their algorithms for data compression to market first.

Get your Apple TV ready, because Sunday is all HBO.

Why you really want to update iOS now (it’s not emojis)

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Apple offers up to $1.5 million to anyone who spots a software flaw
Artist's impression of the people potentially behind iOS vulnerability. Photo: Hackers, United Artists
Photo: United Artists

With reports that it can break elements of Touch ID, there are plenty of reasons to consider not upgrading to iOS 8.3, the latest version of Apple’s mobile OS.

But here’s a very good reason to: according to security researchers, the update fixes a vulnerability which has the potential to render your iPhone almost useless.