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This song was written by iOS 8’s autocomplete function

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I’ve always liked Jonathan Mann, the YouTube artist who became popular for writing and uploading a brand new song each and every day. Mann’s a big Apple fan, too, and over the years has put together numerous songs concerning everything from the iPhone 4’s Antennagate (which Steve Jobs actually danced to,) to duets with Siri, to a recap of the Apple Watch unveiling.

In his latest song (number 2,110!) he uses iOS 8’s new autocomplete function to compose a nonsensical song that — how do I put this delicately? — is still more entertaining and listenable than a large percentage of the music on the radio.

I won’t reproduce the lyrics here, since they’re essentially meaningless, but it’s a fun exercise nonetheless that may just be able to displace Mann’s WWDC song, which is still kicking around my head months later.

Via: The Loop

Apple slaps suppliers with a $50 million fine for leaking secrets

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Photo: Michelangelo Carrieri/Flickr
Photo: Michelangelo Carrieri/Flickr

Apple’s bankrupt sapphire supplier GT Advanced Technologies might have stayed quiet about its reasons for the bankruptcy, but a few details are nonetheless starting to emerge.

Two of the most intriguing tidbits concerning the case regard the cost of sapphire production for GT Advanced Technologies, and the financial penalties Apple imposes on any supplier who leaks information about future products.

Finnish prime minister accuses Apple of crashing his country’s economy

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Photo: Estonian Foreign Ministry/Flickr
Finnish prime minister Alexander Stubb. Photo: Estonian Foreign Ministry/Flickr

People blame Apple for the craziest things: from crafting metal devices that bend if you apply enough pressure, to giving out free albums, to — now — crashing national economies.

Today’s “gate” incident (Finnishgate?) comes from Finland Prime Minister Alexander Stubb, who blames the iPhone maker for bringing down two of his country’s biggest exports: Nokia and paper.

“The iPhone killed Nokia and the iPad killed the paper industry, but we’ll make a comeback,” Alexander Stubb told an interviewer for CNBC.

iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus coming to 36 new countries this month

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Product image of iPhone 6 Plus, which set a new sales record for Apple by selling 10 million over its launch weekend.
This is Apple's fastest iPhone rollout to date. Photo: Apple
Photo: Apple

Apple is bringing the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus to 36 new countries by the end of this month. The Cupertino company today confirmed that the devices will be available in Monaco on October 17 — the same day they go on sale in China and India — and then in Israel on October 23.

Xiaomi dismisses Jony Ive’s ‘design theft’ accusations

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Going, going, gone! Photo: Xiaomi
Photo: Xiaomi

Interviewed at the recent Vanity Fair Summit, Jony Ive had strong words for companies like Xiaomi producing iPhone copycats.

“I don’t see it as flattery, I see it as theft, and it’s lazy,” he said, when asked about the Chinese smartphone maker whose devices bear something of a striking resemblance to the iPhone.

Responding in an interview with the Economic Times, Xiaomi’s VP for International markets Hugo Barra suggested that it’s unfair to place the blame on Xiaomi — because Apple copies other people too.

Apple takes over 20 million iPhone 6 preorders in China

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iPhone
iPhone 6 and 6 Plus Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Photo: Jim Merithew

The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus may have shattered preorder records in the U.S. and elsewhere with a massive 4 million units reservations, but that’s apparently nothing compared to China.

Having had its arrival in China delayed to a lack of regulatory approval, preorders for the iPhone 6 family of devices have reportedly hit 20 million in the country since officially being made available on Friday.

Former CEO John Sculley explains how Apple sells experiences

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I’m a sucker for Apple history, and I particularly enjoy hearing from the people who had an impact on shaping Steve Jobs into the incredible force of nature that he became.

In a new interview with John Sculley, the former Apple CEO sheds some light on what may have been his single biggest lasting impact on Apple: the drive toward making the experience of using an Apple product one of the company’s most important focuses.

Sculley catches a lot of flack for being the CEO who kicked Jobs out of Apple back in 1985, but after Jobs and Tim Cook he was the best of CEO Apple ever had, and someone who’s always interesting to hear talk about Apple. In this particular video he shares his thoughts on the original Macintosh ad and why Apple trumps everyone else at marketing.

More of Sculley’s thoughts after the jump.

Best deals of the week: Batman, Espionage 3, BT Speaker, iRest, and more [Deals]

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CoM_Batman

There’s a veritible treasure trove of cool stuff available every week at Cult of Mac Deals and, best of all, none of it will cost you an arm and a leg.

Today we put a spotlight on just a few of those supremely awesome deals so be sure to check them out. Of course, you can go to the Cult of Mac Deals page and see all the deals if these don’t tickle your fancy.

Ready your wallets and catch our Oct. 16th iPad and Mac predictions on The CultCast

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This week on The CultCast: Just when you thought it was safe to close your wallet, Apple goes and announces yet another hardware event. Yessir, Oct. 16 is just days away, and if you’re eyeballin’ a new Mac or iPad, don’t miss our event-day predictions. Plus—-ever wonder what it’s like to have a brand new iPhone 6 Plus stolen right out of your hands? Well we can tell you firsthand, and we want your help to catch the crooks.

Chuckle your way through each week’s best Apple stories! Stream or download new and past episodes of The CultCast now on your Mac or iDevice by subscribing on iTunes, or hit play below and let the chuckles begin.

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.

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Click on for the show notes.

Bankrupt sapphire supplier seeks to cut ties with ‘oppressive’ Apple

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The iPhone 6's Touch ID sensor is greatly improved over the 5s &mdash for me, anyway.
With GTAT gone, who will supply the sapphire for Apple components like Touch ID? Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

We’ve witnessed a quick unraveling of GT Advanced Technologies (GTAT), Apple’s main sapphire supplier, since the company suddenly filed for bankruptcy earlier this week.

New court filings indicate that GTAT wants to take legal action against Apple for its “oppressive and burdensome” terms. The sapphire maker also plans to shut down its Arizona plant by December 31st, which leaves Apple’s sapphire production in limbo. The Arizona plant shuttering will also result in the loss of 890 jobs.

Beats and Bose end their patent beef

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Photo: Kārlis Dambrāns/Flickr
Photo: Kārlis Dambrāns/Flickr

A budding feud between Bose and Beats Electronics has ended with both sides settling out of court. Although the terms haven’t been made public, according to Bose the matter has been satisfactorily “resolved” and will no longer go to trial.

Both sides have agreed to pay their own costs and legal fees, and have asked the International Trade Commission to suspend its investigation into the disagreement.

8-bit Miyazaki tribute film will fill you with nostalgia

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It's rainy out there for neighbors. Screengrab: Pablo Fernandez Eyre
It's rainy out there for neighbors. Screengrab: Pablo Fernandez Eyre

My Neighbor Totoro, Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle. Ponyo, Kiki’s Delivery Service. Chances are you’re thinking of these lovely, peaceful, wonderful animated films right now.

And these are just a few of the fantastic and bewitching animated films that Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli have made together over the past couple of decades. Now, however, Miyazaki has retired after making one final, autobiographical film, The Wind Rises. Studio Ghibli has put its film-making on hold, as well, citing restructuring.

Independent filmmaker Pablo Fernandez Eyre was a little sad when he heard the news.

“I decided to make a tribute to show my love for movies like Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away,” he told Cult of Mac in an email. Check out his moving 8-bit piece below.

Last chance to get Dragon Dictate for Mac 4, the world’s #1 speech recognition software [Deals]

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“A keyboard? How quaint,” said Scotty, the USS Enterprise’s Chief Engineer, when it was suggested he use a keyboard instead of voicing commands to a computer. How quaint indeed.

Now, with Dragon Dictate for Mac 4, you can give your quaint keyboard a well deserved rest. Get this revolutionary software for your Mac at half price, just $99.99, at Cult of Mac Deals. This is your last chance to pick up this deal, so jump on this one now.

China goes crazy for iPhone 6 as official pre-orders start

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iPhone 6s
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Update: Initial reports claim that China’s top three wireless carriers have already accepted 1 million iPhone 6 orders in the first six hours of availability alone.

Apple’s initial failure to secure regulatory approval for its next-gen handsets means it’s been a harder than expected slog for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus to make it into China through official channels.

Today, however, marks the occasion on which the iPhone 6 family of devices officially became available for pre-order in China, ahead of the handsets landing in stores Friday, October 17.

“We are thrilled to bring iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus to our customers in China on all three carriers at launch,” Tim Cook said in an official Apple statement. “With support for TD-LTE and FDD-LTE, iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus customers will have access to high-speed mobile networks from China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom for an incredible experience.”

The sapphire’s safe: Other suppliers are lined up for Apple Watch

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Apple Watch supply is finally catching up with demand.
Photo: Leander Kahney/Cult of Mac
Photo: Leander Kahney/Cult of Mac

With GT Advanced Technologies asking permission to close down its Arizona factory after less than a year, it’s a fair question to ask where exactly Apple plans to get the sapphire displays for its forthcoming Apple Watch.

Earlier this week, KGI analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said that the bankruptcy filing wouldn’t affect Apple’s forthcoming wearables debut. According to a new report from Digitimes, the reason for this is that Apple has a backup plan in the form of two other sapphire cover suppliers besides GT Advanced: the South Korea-based Hansol Technics and China-based Harbin Aurora Optoelectronics Technology.

Why Steve Jobs called Jony Ive ‘vain’

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Ive
Photo: Apple
Photo: Apple

As someone who seems to care far more about the perfection of the beautiful objects he creates than about the trappings of celebrity, one word you’d be unlikely to associated with Apple’s design guru Jony Ive is “vain.”

According to a story told by Ive at yesterday’s Vanity Fair New Establishment Summit that’s exactly the accusation that was once levelled at him by Steve Jobs, however.

Here’s why:

Bankrupt Apple supplier wants to close sapphire plant after less than 1 year

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This year will be the iPhone's biggest camera upgrade ever.
Sapphire is used to protect the iPhone's rear-facing iSight camera. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

GT Advanced Technologies is apparently getting out of the sapphire production game, after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection at the start of this week.

As reported by Re/code and the Wall Street Journal, the beleaguered company is asking the court’s permission to “wind down” operations at its sapphire manufacturing plant in Arizona — and, yes, for those keep track, that does come less than one year after the company first announced its game-changing deal with Apple.

ICYMI: Remembering Steve, new iPads are coming, and more

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Issue 58 brings some memories of Steve, products we'd like to see updated, and more! Cover: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac
Issue 58 brings some memories of Steve, products we'd like to see updated, and more! Cover: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac

It’s that time of the week again — all of Cult of Mac’s best news stories and features, compiled in one place to peruse easily on your iPad or iPhone. This week we’ve got heartfelt remembrances of Steve Jobs, some products we’d like to see updated along with the coming new iPads, a look at upcoming Twin Peaks in our modern era, and some hard lessons learned in running the top iPad magazine. Plus, some great new apps to look at and a reminder that the iPhone 6 continues to sell like, well, iPhones.

Dig into Cult of Mac Magazine October 10 Edition, Free on iTunes

Colored iMacs are coming back and other insane Apple rumors

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The Rumor: The iPad Air's mute switch will disappear next week.
The Verdict: I hope so. I use the mute switch all the time on my iPhone 6 Plus, but it never seems to get any use on the iPad, other than when I accidentally toggle it when flipping to landscape mode, and it gives Jony an excuse to shave an extra 0.5mm off the body, I'm sure he'll kill it quicker than he can pronounce aluminum.

The Rumor: The iPad Air's mute switch will disappear next week.

The Verdict: I hope so. I use the mute switch all the time on my iPhone 6 Plus, but it never seems to get any use on the iPad, other than when I accidentally toggle it when flipping to landscape mode, and it gives Jony an excuse to shave an extra 0.5mm off the body, I'm sure he'll kill it quicker than he can pronounce aluminum.


Apple will live stream its special event on October 16

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Watch Apple unveil its new iPads live. Screenshot: Apple.com
Watch Apple unveil its new iPads live. Screenshot: Apple.com

With Apple’s last keynote live stream being an utter disaster, we weren’t holding out much hope for another one in the foreseeable future. But the company has today posted a note on its website that confirms you will be able to tune into next Thursday’s iPad event via the Apple website.