A new Apple online ad campaign called “Start Something New” has extended to Apple’s brick-and-mortar retail outlets — with the walls of Apple Stores being used to show off artwork created using Apple products.

Apple first launched the online campaign on its Japanese website, before extending it internationally. It shows off work in which “every brushstroke, every pixel, and every frame of film” was created by artistic Apple users, using software like the third-party photography and painting apps VSCO Cam and Waterlogue, along with better known tools such as iDraw and Final Cut Pro, and in-built features like the iPhone’s Panorama mode.

This week, on our maiden episode of 2015: The story of an iOS developer who gave a gift so generous, it went viral; discovering new apps and podcasts on iTunes is an awful experience, but we know how to fix it; plus, how Steve Jobs contributions helped rebuild a struggling Disney…

And stay tuned for an all-new CultCast 2nd Hour, where pro photographer David Hobby shares his favorite tips and tactics for taking great travel photos, his bag-worthy gear, plus his street photography advice will help you not get punched…

Our thanks to lynda.com for sponsoring this episode! Learn virtually any application at your own pace from expert-taught video tutorials at lynda.com.

Full show notes ahead!

One of the selling points of a Mac these days is the ability to run Windows software on it, via virtualization or Apple’s own Boot Camp. Running Windows lets you play PC games that haven’t been ported to the Mac, or stay completely compatible with your documents from a PC-centric workplace.

Virtualization software like Parallels or VMWare Fusion (two of the best apps to run Windows software on your Mac without partitioning your hard drive for Boot Camp) isn’t free, though these applications do allow you to try before you buy. Windows 8.1, the current version of Microsoft’s operating system, will run you about $120 for a plain-jane version.

You can run the next-gen OS from Microsoft (Windows 10) on your Mac using virtualization for free, however. We took a quick run at doing just that, as originally sussed out by the fantastic folks over at iMore.

As the company’s first major new product category since the iPad, Apple fans are understandably excited about getting their hands on an Apple Watch sometime in 2015.

But while Apple has so far given just “early 2015” as a vague launch date, a look at the Apple Watch micro-sites for around the world paint a different picture; suggesting Apple’s eagerly-awaited wearables debut will follow a gradual iPhone-style rollout which may keep some customers waiting much further into the new year.

Of course, this is highly speculative based on the fact that Apple’s verbiage can change from market to market, but there’s no getting around the fact that currently major markets like the U.S. describe the Apple Watch as “Coming Early 2015” while others simply advertise “Available in 2015.”

So if this is to be believed, when will an Apple Watch land in your market? Check out the (possible) answer after the jump:

As per Japanese tradition, Apple has started handing out its Fukubukuro (a.k.a. “Lucky Bags”) to customers at its brick-and-mortar retail stores in Japan — giving some fortunate buyers massive discounts on the latest Apple products and accessories.

The bags are part of a special New Year offer, and are available in only limited quantities, with customers not knowing which they’re going to get until they’ve stumped up their ¥36,000 (around $300).

Check out the bag’s contents (as well as how you can get your hands on one, even if you don’t live in Japan!) after the jump:

Happy New Year! It’s time for new beginnings, new opportunities, and best of all, new gear.

You could be the lucky person to start this year with a great package of new gaming gear if you win The Xbox One & Grand Theft Auto V Giveaway at Cult of Mac Deals.

2014 was a great year for movies, but — if anything — 2015 looks to be even better. If you’re fretting over which films to build your year around, look no further: Cult of Mac has you covered.

From sci-fi epics from the brains behind The Matrix, to the next instalment in the James Bond franchise, to, yes, the next Star Wars movie, here are the flicks you’ll want to check out this year.

Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker (read our review) isn’t the only adorable game we’ve had our eye on this month. An assortment of recently released and equally endearing titles are available on every platform you might own. And the best news is that they’re so good you don’t have to worry about anyone catching you playing them.

Here are three fun ways to get your cute on without anyone laughing at you.

If you are like most, you’ve made a New Years resolution to get in shape. Cult of Mac Deals wants to help you achieve your best results.

Today we highlight deals that can help you attain your fitness goals. Read on for fantastic offers on fitness trackers, portable audio devices, fitness training, and more.

2014 will go down as one of the biggest years in Apple history. The stock hit record highs. The company’s first wearable was revealed. And Apple dropped $3 billion on its biggest acquisition ever. But of all the huge news Apple dropped in the last 12 months, nothing is likely to have as big an impact as the previously unthinkable announcement that Apple and IBM buried the hatchet and partnered up.

The move was significant not only for the historic aspect of the two rival tech titans uniting, but also for how it will impact all of us in the workplace. In his final note of the year, top Apple analyst Horace Dediu dubbed the IBM partnership “the most significant technology news of 2014.”

That may sound ridiculous considering how much hype Apple Watch is getting ahead of its release, but Dediu points to the first wave of apps created by the partnership. These offer an early indication of just how transformative the relationship could be. For the first time, enterprise apps are being designed for their users (the employees) rather than their employers.

Just take a look at the difference between IBM’s new Expert Tech app compared to the closest equivalent from Oracle, and see which one you’d rather work with:

Photography’s impact on society doesn’t come down to single, striking images like it once did. Instead, the power today comes from conversations: What we talked about in 2014 often began with pictures and videos that were seen and shared over and over again.

It did not matter whether the images came from skilled photojournalists or witnesses with cellphones. Consider that Instagram alone churns out 70 million images a day. From that sea of imagery, a collective and comprehensive body of work emerged. We subconsciously curated those images based on our own experiences and attitudes — and maybe even grew a little in the process.

I asked Siri to set a 6:30 a.m. alarm so I could get this article written before my morning spin class. And that got me wondering what other things the young woman on my iPhone 6 Plus could do to help me meet or exceed my plans to dominate in 2015.

After my wake-up alarm, I told Siri to “call me ‘Champ.'” What better way to get our relationship started than to establish a motivational nickname? I was going to go with “Tiger” or “Hero” or “Shnoogems,” but decided “Champ” was the least embarrassing if Siri shouted it out in public.

Smartphone innovation may have stalled in recent years, but that hasn’t stopped manufacturers from updating and improving upon their best devices. This year, we’ve seen big changes to devices like the iPhone, the Galaxy Note, and the LG G — as well as new contenders like the OnePlus One. But what are the best smartphones of 2014?

Here are our picks.

Apple Pay is a pretty seamless service for the most part — until you have to restore your iPhone, that is.

Over on the Apple Support Communities forum, a number of users are complaining that they’ve been unable to add credit cards back into Apple Pay after performing a factory restore — despite the fact that doing so should remove their cards completely.

When users try and reload their cards, they receive a message saying, “Could not add card. Try again later or contact your card issuer for more information.”

While Samsung’s smartphone sales may be falling, those who are buying its devices couldn’t be happier with them. In a new satisfaction study, the South Korean electronics giant beat even Apple to the top spot of the smartphone category, while Nokia ranked higher than BlackBerry, LG, and even HTC.

While most of us are still a day away from 2015, in New Zealand, New Year has already happened. Celebrating with an amusingly offbeat message, Steve Wozniak took to Facebook to engage in a bit of numerical fun for the year ahead.

Having turned 64 this year, 2014 has seen Woz on vintage form: from his controversially suggesting Apple should create an Android device, to penning an open letter to the FCC asking them to keep the Internet free, to raising eyebrows by dismissing the Apple Watch as a “luxury fitness band.”

With plans for a reality TV show and his heart set on becoming a fully-fledged Australian citizen, it seems 2015 is likely to be just as eventful.

Until then, you can check out Woz’s “unique” New Year’s message after the jump:

GoodReader is a popular document reader app that can view or read pretty much every type of document under the sun. The latest update to the app makes it more powerful than ever, introducing a new Speak feature that can basically turn any PDF or TXT file into an audiobook.

But it also just got a little worse: the latest update to GoodReader has dropped certain iCloud Drive functionality to prevent being pulled from the App Store. And, as usual, the issue has to do with Apple’s complete opacity when it comes to what is and isn’t allowed with iCloud Drive.

It’s winter, and that means there’s just tons of snow out there. Ever wonder, though, if your iPhone could survive being frozen in snow? Well, don’t fret: it looks like it can.

Apple won’t be at the mammoth International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas next week, but once again, it’s setting the agenda from afar.

While Korean electronics giants like Samsung will dominate the show floor, Apple is laying the future path for the entire tech industry.

In the coming year, the tech industry’s big battlegrounds will be your body, your home and your car. At CES, thousands of companies will showing off new and prototype products to do battle in these arenas. But Apple is the company to beat. With the upcoming Apple Watch, in addition to HealthKit, HomeKit and CarPlay, Apple is setting the agenda for the entire tech industry, and it’s not even there.

GT Advanced Technologies’ attempts to make sapphire iPhone screens for Apple may have ended in disaster, but that’s not stopping GT senior execs from asking for millions to be paid out in bonuses.

Because the company filed for bankruptcy protection back in October, any bonus program needs to have the signature of a judge in order to be legally binding. GT is requesting a hearing in January, although it admits there is likely to be opposition.

The bonus program would cover 9 unidentified senior executives, and could add up to $2.275 million if all the necessary targets are hit. A second bonus proposal would pay a total of $1.4 million to an additional 28 people.

Real estate in New York? It just ain’t cheap. In fact, it’s so expensive that even if you have a successful business you might not be able to afford it.

Case in point? Look no further than Restoration Hardware. The American chain of home furnishings, hardware, and outdoor and garden products may be worth over a billion dollars in revenue as of 2012, but Steve Jobs once had to personally bail the company out.

We’ve argued on many occasions before that 2014 was a superlative year for iOS games. But it was also a fantastic twelve months for video games in general, as the last generation’s consoles were pushed to their max, and the PS4 and Xbox 360 hit their stride.

So now that the dust has settled what are our picks for games of the year? Check out our choice of the ten titles you must play after the jump.

When John Legere, T-Mobile’s weird and charismatic CEO, speaks up, we listen. He’s not always right, but he’s always compelling. And in 2015, John Legere is bullish about the Apple Watch. In fact, he thinks it’s about to turn the wearables market on its head.

A great TV commercial will often be remembered for a lot longer than the product it’s trying to sell, so it’s no wonder companies spend hundreds of millions every year in pursuit of that one ad that will be a huge success. Some of the best ads we’ve seen this year come from the likes of Budweiser, P&G, Save The Children, and of course, Apple — and you’ll find them in the roundup below.

If you played last year’s Super Mario 3D World for the Wii U, you probably remember the “Adventures of Captain Toad” minigame in which an adorable little mushroom guy combed a series of square worlds in search of fortune and glory.

And if you couldn’t get enough of that mode, Nintendo has you covered with Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, a standalone Wii U title composed entirely of that gameplay.

Admittedly, building a $39.99 game around optional side content created as a diversion from a completely separate title sounds like a risky sell, but Treasure Tracker manages to provide a fun, challenging and surprisingly complete experience that lasts exactly as long as it needs to.