iTunes might currently be flagging compared to rivals like Spotify, but it seems that Apple has some big ideas to bolster its music services — and unlike many companies in Silicon Valley, they’re not going to be based solely on better algorithms.

In a new job posting, Apple makes clear that it wants to lead the way when it comes to specialized employees who know their music. In particular, the company is seeking an editorial producer, based in London, with a background in both music journalism and pop culture.

Apple is continuing to provide credible reasons that it may be working on an electric vehicle, as a new report suggests that Cupertino is in the midst of hiring away battery experts from major companies involved with the car industry.

The latest company to be allegedly targeted? None other than longtime Apple rival, Samsung.

In his breathtaking profile of Jony Ive in the latest issue of The New Yorker, Ian Parker drops a bombshell. You know that crossguard lightsaber in J.J. Abrams’ new Star Wars movie? The gnarly, rough-around-the-edges one seen in the latest trailer? You can give Ive credit for inspiring it.

That got Martin Hajek thinking. The Dutch CGI modeler, who always loves rendering potential Ive designs, wondered what it would look like if Apple produced a lightsaber. Not something rough and spitty, but just as refined as any other Apple product. And so, the iSaber was born.

If you want to switch over to Virgin Mobile from your existing network for its low prices, you’ll have to go Windows Phone or Android: Sprint’s pre-paid subsidiary seems to have stopped selling the iPhone.

After hints that a broader international rollout was imminent, Apple Maps Connect has officially come to Germany, France and Canada.

Martin Scorsese’s iPad ad wasn’t the only Apple-related spot at last night’s Oscars. In addition, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak popped up in an advert for Cadillac, in which he was described as “a college dropout [who invented] the personal computer.”

Selective history notwithstanding (the Programma 101, Micral N and Altair all have claims to being the first personal computers, while the Commodore PET was the first mass-market model), the ad is particularly interesting given the recent news about a possible Apple Car.

Check out the ad after the jump:

Attention all Mac developers! You know how when your city changes its trash-collection policies it leads to months of confusion? That’s about to happen on the Mac App Store: If you want to continue selling apps there, you’ll have to switch how you collect your garbage.

Apple plans to open two new data centers in Europe, its biggest European project to date. Located in Ireland and Denmark, the twin data centers will power the company’s online services including the iTunes Store, App Store, iMessage, Maps and Siri for local customers.

As an iPhone owner, I’ve been curious about Android Wear, Google’s smartwatch platform, from the get-go. The problem is Android Wear requires an Android smartphone to work, leaving everyone out to dry.

That might be changing though. An independent developer has just released a tantalizing video, showing iOS sending notifications to an Android Wear smart watch.

Ahead of tonight’s Academy Awards, Apple released a new video celebrating how iOS devices can help filmmakers.

You will find killer deals on the tech products you need and want for your Apple devices and more at Cult of Mac Deals.

Read on for some examples of our best offers or go to Cult of Mac Deals to see them all.

Samsung has just released another teaser video of its upcoming flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S6. But will this be the iPhone-killer Samsung needs?

Jony Ive and his infamous design team aren’t simply creating the Apple products you use and love, their influence is reshaping Apple itself. On this episode, we look back at Jony’s humble start, and examine how Sir Ive and team became the powerful core of the world’s greatest company. Plus, we bet you just can’t wait to get behind the wheel of your very own Apple-made … minivan? We’ll fill you in on the latest Apple car rumors.

Our thanks to Sanebox.com for supporting this episode. Sanebox’s algorithms learn which emails you want to see and puts the rest into a daily digest you can review and delete with one click. See how accurate it is with a free trial.

Full show notes ahead!

For accessories and software that are designed to work with your Apple product, Cult of Mac Deals is the only place you need to go.

Check out hot items like the Revogi Bluetooth LED Bulb, Jump Desktop for Mac, and more at big discounts and all with free US shipping. We’d advise you to hurry though, because the end for these deals is nearing.

The mysterious Apple minivans roaming the roads in California, Florida and elsewhere are generally assumed to be self-driving cars, but they are not. They are almost undoubtedly collecting data for maps.

They are “almost certainly a mapping vehicle,” said Paul Godsmark, chief technology officer with the Canadian Automated Vehicles Centre of Excellence, who examined photos of the mystery vehicles at Cult of Mac’s request.

We get slammed 24/7 with new Apple rumors. Some are accurate, most are not. To give you a clue about what’s really coming out of Cupertino in the future, we’re busting out our rumor debunker each week to blow up the nonsense.

This week the Apple Car rumors have revved into fourth gear as a tsunami of reports from various outlets have claimed that not only is the iCar project real, but Apple is trying to get it onto highways by the end of the decade. While everyone’s focusing on the iCar, don’t forget about Apple Watch though. The rumor mill spit out five juicy rumors this week covering everything from pricing to customization.

Take a look at this week’s electrifying Apple rumors see which one’s are destined to come true:

Love your iOS device but hate the inconvenience of having to recharge it? Recharging your iPhone, iPad, or iPod means downtime that can ause you to miss opportunities.

Luckily, there are a host charging options available for your iOS device at Cult of Mac Deals that’ll minimize the inconvenience that recharging brings. Read on for some killer options at awesome prices and all of them with free shipping to addresses within the continental US.

Apple has once again been named Fortune’s “most admired” company. Having won for the past seven years in a row — and then proceeded to shatter its own records throughout 2014 — it’s no surprise that Cupertino would take the no. 1 spot, but it’s yet another reminder of Apple’s current sustained dominance.

Google, meanwhile, increased its position by one place, versus last year, to take the no. 2 spot, while Amazon fell back a couple of places to no. 4. Microsoft, IBM and Facebook all failed to make the top 10.

AJ Forsythe couldn’t stop dropping his iPhone and cracking the screen. He also couldn’t afford to be Apple’s best repair customer.

Clumsy but industrious, Forsythe bought parts on Alibaba and found he could fix his own phone cheaply and quickly. Soon, he was running a repair service out of his dorm room at California Polytechnic State University, replacing cracked touchscreens for $75.

Five years later, Forsythe runs a network of 1,700 technicians in the United States with another 400 in 11 countries under the name iCracked.

Apple may be a tech giant with more spare cash than a dozen Scrooge McDucks, but it does spare a thought for the little guy every now and then.

Late last year, the company launched a new portal called Apple Maps Connect, designed to allow businesses to add or edit listings within Apple Maps. Initially available for U.S. businesses only, last month it expanded to the U.K., Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore — and now it may be set to arrive in French and German-speaking countries, too.

Apple’s Contacts app is the worst. It’s slow, it has a hard time working with services like Google or Exchange, and it just plain doesn’t connect with Calendar. Even though it integrates into all our other apps, most of us would be super-happy to replace it.

BusyContacts, a new app from the folks behind BusyCalendar, is that replacement app, whether you’re an average consumer, a busy office manager or an entrepreneur looking to wrangle your contacts and busy schedule.

“Many people are frustrated with the shortcomings of the built-in OS X Calendar and Contacts,” said John Chaffee, president and co-founder of BusyCal, “which are very basic and don’t work well when syncing with non-iCloud services.”

BusyContacts (and BusyCal) are powerful alternatives to these built-in apps, giving users greater control and flexibility along with better compatibility with Google and Exchange, while still playing nice with iCloud.

Apple often uses the word “magical” to describe the iPad. That’s usually dismissed as hyperbole, but watch this magician’s appearance on Ellen, and you might change your mind: He’s able to pull actual objects from his iPad’s screen!

An Apple Car? Yep, you know it! Cupertino is all abuzz with latest evidence that the fruit-flavored computing company is taking a run at the highway with a possible new iCar, and we’ve got Lewis with the features we’d like to see there. Plus, Luke spends some time with the exhaustive New York Times post on Jony Ive, design genius, Alex dives deep into your new favorite iPhone game (Alto’s Adventure), David chats about one auteur’s thoughts on the film completely shot on an iPhone 5s, and Luke gets the inside scoop on one 25-year-old who’s made 600 iOS apps without even knowing how to code.

All this, plus a ton more (see below) in this week’s Cult of Mac Magazine, ready for download at your pleasure.