I finally pitched the cheap plastic desk lamp I’ve had since high school and replaced it with the light I’ve always wanted: the iconic Anglepoise 1227.
If you’re looking for a classic desk lamp that won’t fade into the backdrop next to your sleek iMac, this is the one for you.
Launched in 1934, the design of the 1227 has changed astonishingly little. It still looks functional and modern, which makes perfect sense given Anglepoise started out making hard-wearing lamps for factory workers.
It’s easy to see how Samsung ripped off the iPhone with the Galaxy S6’s hardware. The metallic frame with chamfered edges, antenna bands, and very familiar port positioning is blatantly taken from the iPhone 6.
But Samsung hasn’t just copied the way the iPhone looks physically. It’s also replicated elements of iOS in a way that’s so evident it’s embarrassing.
Accusations that iOS 8 is slower than Apple’s previous mobile operating systems have circulated since the software debuted in 2014. Although it works great most of the time on my iPhone 6 Plus, you don’t have to look far to find people complaining that the latest version of iOS slows down to a sluggish crawl.
From hard resets to turning on the “reduce motion” option under Accessibility, numerous solutions can be employed to keep iOS 8 running at a good clip. One explanation for iOS 8 feeling slower than its predecessors, however, is that (much like iOS 7) its system animations take too long to complete, thereby making the interface feel slower than it should.
So peeved is Omni developer William Van Hecke that he recently compared the animation speeds in a YouTube video. Chalk it up to unnecessary nitpicking if you want, but when you see iOS 3 reacting considerably quicker than iOS 8, it definitely makes you think Apple could make improvements.
Check out the video below:
Salavat Fidai is working proof that artists need not create large pieces to make a name for themselves.
Much of what he creates is no bigger than the tip of a pencil — literally.
Under the glow of a single work light while his family sleeps, Fidai uses a craft knife and 4x magnifying glass to create tiny sculptures out of pointy pencil lead.
One out of every four smartphones sold in urban China was an iPhone during the three months ending January 2015, according to sales data from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech. The impressive stats only serve to underline what we’ve been pointing out for upwards of the past year: that China is well on its way to becoming Apple’s biggest market globally.
“Leading into Chinese New Year, Apple iPhone 6 and 6 Plus drove sales to an unprecedented high in urban China with iOS’ share of the smartphone market reaching 25.4 percent – a 4.5 percentage point increase over the same period in 2014”, noted Carolina Milanesi, Kantar’s chief of research.
Apple has asked a Massachusetts federal judge for more time in its lawsuit with A123 Systems, suggesting that the Cupertino company wants to settle with the electric car battery maker.
Apple was first slapped with the lawsuit last month, after it reportedly began an “aggressive campaign” to poach top engineers with expertise in performing critical development and testing activities on cutting-edge electric vehicle batteries: once again hinting that an Apple Car could be in the company’s future.
The Apple Watch isn’t even out yet, and already it’s picking up major design awards. The award in question here is the prestigious 2015 iF Design Gold Award, a prize sometimes referred to as a “Design Oscar.”
The awards were first introduced in 1954, and attract more than 2,000 product entries from 37 different nations — with expert judges ruling based on outstanding design quality.
There’s no way you haven’t heard of “the dress.” The viral sensation that swept the world last week will probably go down as the most popular story of 2015, and it’s only March.
Naturally, it makes sense for you to be able to show your support for #teamwhiteandgold or #teamblueandblack with an iPhone case.
A newly discovered security bug has secretly left Safari users on both iOS and OS X vulnerable to attacks on hundreds of thousands of websites for years.
The ‘FREAK’ security flaw was exposed today by a group of nine researchers who discovered web browsers could be forced to use an intentionally-weakened form of encryption. FREAK effects iPhones, Macs, and Android browsers, but Apple’s spokesman says the company will release a fix next week.
Becoming the most funded Kickstarter in history is certainly enough to boost confidence — and if you’re Pebble CEO Eric Migicovsky it’s enough to get you to take some potshots at giant-sized rival, Apple.
With Cupertino’s March 9 Apple Watch event just one week away, Migicovsky has thrown out a few barbed comments about Apple’s eagerly-anticipated debut wearable. Describing the device as “definitely lacking,” Pebble’s founder noted how he’s just not that into smartwatches that are “relegated to being an accessory to your mobile phones.”
Oh, snap!
If you need a smartphone camera that can capture a steady image even when you’re not, you’ll want to choose Samsung’s new Galaxy S6 over the iPhone 6. At least, that’s what the South Korean company hopes to prove with the strange, shaking display table it brought to MWC.
Pebble gave its latest smartwatch project an extra bump this morning with the new Pebble Time Steel model, which pushed the project over the mark to become the most-funded Kickstarter project ever.
Pebble Time has raked in $13,617,054 so far, pushing it past the Coolest Cooler for the top spot. Pebble also has the third-most-successful Kickstarter project with its original Pebble Watch in 2012. The Pebble Time project still has 24 days left, so it will likely push far past the $15 million mark.
Here are the top 10 most-funded Kickstarters of all time:
Buzz Aldrin was one of the first humans to step foot on the moon. Now he’s trying to make the big leap toward becoming an iOS developer, but Apple keeps rejecting his app, Buzz Aldrin’s Space Program Manager, because of one tiny problem: It features too much Buzz Aldrin.
The App Store admissions team reportedly told Aldrin’s development team that the his game “contains well-known third parties.” What?!
Google’s efforts to counter the threat of the Apple Watch will begin with bringing Android Wear support to iPhone. Sources claim the search giant is now “preparing” an Android Wear app for iOS, and it could be announced at Google I/O in May.
The Apple Watch is expected to be the main attraction at next week’s “Spring Forward” event, but according to a new report, the long-rumored 12-inch Retina MacBook Air could make a surprise appearance at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.
The sketchy rumor comes from the Michael Report, which claims its sources inside Apple say the company’s long-awaited update to the MacBook Air will be announced March 9.
With the White Hat Security Hacker Bundle, you will learn the skills needed to protect your online presence from those who would do you harm. For a limited time, you can get the White Hat Security Hacker Bundle at 92% off, just $49, at Cult of Mac Deals.
From the Vulcan salute by an astronaut aboard the International Space Station to the pancake artist who created a batter likeness of Mr. Spock, the tributes to the late Leonard Nimoy have been touching and creative.
Canadians have gone as far as putting Mr. Spock on the $5 bill though the Bank of Canada is not that thrilled.
The Canadian Design Resource tweeted a request after hearing of Nimoy’s passing on Friday. They asked Canadian’s to “Spock their $5 bills to honor of the iconic Star Trek science officer played on television and in movies by Nimoy.
Fancy pizza but can’t be bothered to find your phone? We’ve all been there, and it’s not a pretty place. But now you don’t have to fall asleep hungry wondering what you’re doing with your life, because Domino’s finally lets you order and track a pizza from your smartwatch.
With Kanye West’s astute analysis of Apple’s business, his close friendship with Steve Wozniak, and his unabashed love for “Jony Ives” (sic), Tim Cook must count his lucky stars every day that he managed to scoop the role of Apple CEO out from under Mr. Kim Kardashian.
Perhaps Yeezy was too busy laying down vocals for Watch The Throne to take over running Apple business back in 2011.
Whatever the reason, Apple probably wouldn’t be in too great shape under the control of Kanye since in a new interview he reveals what he thinks Steve Jobs should’ve done as his final move at Apple: given all the company’s patents away.
Yes, really.
You taking a selfie and a dolphin hunting for prey don’t seem to have much in common. But what if you could operate your smartphone with signals similar to the ones dolphins use to find food?
Elliptic Labs, which has bases in San Francisco, Norway and China, used the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, to show off advances in ultrasonic touchless gesturing Tuesday that will be available on some smartphone models later this year.
“We are excited about this,” chief technology officer Haakon Bryhni told Cult of Mac in a phone interview from Barcelona. “We’ve been working with touchless gesturing for years and now we have a real breakthrough. The technology enables you to wake up the phone, take a selfie or engage any other functions on the phone without touching it.”
It’s not just technology and environmental credentials where Apple’s helping lead the way; the company is also doing its bit to secure the futures of those service employees working further down the payscale in Silicon Valley.
Like many tech companies, Apple has previously been the recipient of protests from its own security guards, who have been hired as contract workers rather than full-time employees. Last summer, 50 such individuals blocked the main doors of Apple’s flagship San Francisco Union Square retail store, protesting over their lack of job protection. “If [security officers] miss a day of work, they don’t know if they’ll have the job the next day,” one protestor noted.
To combat this, Apple has now announced that it will dramatically expand its in-house security team, which will see the workers receive the same benefits as other Apple employees. The move will mean that the majority of the day-to-day security staff who work at Apple will become full-time Apple employees, entitled to full health insurance, pension plans and lave for new parents.
Apple Pay might be taking over the world of mobile payments, but as with any new technology there are scammers looking to misuse the service. In the United States, criminals are reportedly using Apple Pay to buy expensive goods, often from Apple Stores, using stolen names and identities.
“I was surprised by the irony, but not by the fact that Apple as a merchant is seeing Apple Pay fraud,” Drop Labs commerce and fraud expert Cherian Abraham tells Cult of Mac. “As a luxury retailer it’s not a surprise that they are a retailer of choice to commit fraud.”
Abraham says banks are scrambling to solve the problem, which is already running into tens of millions in losses for financial institutions. Asked how widespread Apple Pay fraud is, he describes it as “rampant.”
This time last week, Pebble announced Pebble Time, its brand new smartwatch for 2015. And if you’ve already backed that thinking it would keep you going until a more extravagant successor to the Pebble Steel came along, you’re going to be pretty disappointed with today’s Pebble news.
Just one week after the company announced Pebble Time and raked in more than $12 million (and counting) in funding, it today revealed Pebble Time Steel, a high-end version of the device that’s made of metal, and boasts better battery life.
Bill Gates may never have creatively made the same impact on computing that Steve Jobs did, but we doubt he’s too upset about it, since according to Forbes‘ newly-published annual ranking of global billionaires, the former Microsoft mastermind-turned-philanthropist is once again the world’s richest person.
And you know what the crazy bit is? Gates earned more money last year from his return on capital than he ever did from Microsoft wages. Wowza!
Of the smartphone stories which played out in 2014, two of the biggest were the triumph of Apple’s iPhone 6, which sold a massive 10 million+ units in its opening weekend alone, and the faltering of Samsung, which fell from the dominant position it had enjoyed since 2011.
Today, a new report from Gartner (paywall) breaks down both the 1.2 billion smartphone sales that took place worldwide last year, and also the sales from Q4 2014 — revealing how Apple leaped ahead in the smartphone category, while the South Korean tech giant Samsung started to lose its footing.
Make no mistake about it: this was the year everything changed.