Cult of Mac

If you’ve ever been hacked and had your identity stolen, then you already know the importance of protecting yourself online. If you haven’t been the victim of identity theft, don’t allow yourself to become one.

For a very limited time only, you can get 3 years of protection from online hackers with the VPN Unlimited Premium Plan at 70% off, just $19, at Cult of Mac Deals.

Tim Cook may have laughed at Topeka Capital Markets analyst Brian White’s “iRing” prediction, but someone at Microsoft was clearly scratching their chin, intrigued at the idea.

That’s based on a recently published patent application from Microsoft showing how the company has investigated a finger ring as a possible future wearable device. Microsoft’s impressive-sounding wireless ring could be used as an input device either to control a cursor on a mobile device such as a tablet, smartphone, or even a head-up display like Google Glass.

Forget those ridiculous rumors that the huge quantities of smuggled handsets had all but killed iPhone 6 interest in China! According to new reports coming out of China, both retailers and carriers have taken in a massive 2 million reservations just six hours after putting the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus on earlier-than-expected pre-order.

It was previously announced that customers would be able to place orders for the iPhone on Friday, October 10, with the devices finally going on sale one week later on October 17.

However, that edict appears to have been ignored, since all three major Chinese carriers — including China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom — are already taking orders.

Things go from bad to worse for Angry Birds developer Rovio. Having seen its CEO step down in August, now the Finnish studio has announced that job cuts are on the cards — to the tune of up to 130 people.

In a blog post, outgoing head honcho Mikael Hed claimed that these cuts were part of an effort to simplify the company after a period of ambitious growth that is considered no longer sustainable.

Pioneer Electronics has released a firmware update making Apple’s CarPlay technology live on five 2014 NEX in-dash multimedia receivers. In doing so it becomes the first company to officially support CarPlay’s vehicle integration feature — and means you won’t need a new Ferrari or Benz to use iOS in your vehicle.

Users with an iPhone 5, 5s, 5c, 6 or 6 Plus can utilize Siri to both makes and receive calls, compose and read text messages, access Apple Maps, and listen to music libraries, podcasts, and iTunes Radio.

As the makers of some of the most attractive (and high-end) smartphones around, Apple devices are ripe for theft. With that in mind, the good folks at Cupertino have just added a new iCloud tool which lets users work out whether the used iPhone they’re about to lay down their hard-earned money for has been locked by its real owner.

All you need to do it is to visit this link and enter the device’s IMEI or serial number, at which point you’ll be informed of the device’s Activation Lock feature — thereby saving you from buying a device that’s already been locked.

iOS 8’s new Family Sharing feature makes it easier than ever for your entire family to share purchases on iTunes, iBooks and the App Store.

Family Sharing is about more than just sneaking copies of apps off your siblings’ accounts, though: It can bring harmony to your entire digital life by sharing photos, creating a family calendar and even keeping track of each others’ locations.

With minimal effort, you can sync up to six accounts. Here’s how to maximize Family Sharing’s potential.

Apple’s marketing machine has tried to straighten out the Bendghazi controversy that invaded the web last week, but someone might want to alert their billboard company in Berlin that the iPhone 6’s bendiness isn’t supposed to be a selling point.

iPhone 6 ads have started going up on billboards across the globe, but the monstrous ad (shown above) in Germany was so huge, they couldn’t fit the bigger than big display on the structure without bending it just a little bit – right near its supposed weak spot.

Another Apple reseller in the Netherlands had some similar woes with its iPhone 6 ads. Check out their hilarious poster below:

A U.S. judge has ruled in Apple’s favor in litigation filed against the company by Canadian patent licensing company WiLan, reports Reuters, after the judge issued a public statement on the case Wednesday afternoon.

Apple was being sued for supposedly violating two LTE patents held by WiLan, but a summary judgement from Judge Dana Sabraw ruled that the patents were invalid and note infringed.

Working at Apple isn’t a cake walk. Any former or current employee will tell you that point blank.

On a recent episode of the Debug podcast, ex-Apple managers Don Melton and Nitin Ganatra discuss the ridiculous hours senior-level employees are required to keep. Emails from executives in the middle of the night are commonplace, even on the weekends.

Apple’s new design guru Marc Newson has barely been at Apple for nearly a month now, but that’s not going to stop him from also working on his own designs – like a fabulous new way to pour yourself a draft beer at home.

Marc unveiled his revolutionary new beer machine today in partnership with Heineken, but in an interview with Deezer, the famed designer also talked publicly for the first time about his new role at Apple, stating the position will only be part-time and he’ll still be based out of the U.K.

What Marc’s actually doing at Apple though is still a mystery. Apple’s PR handler wouldn’t let him comment on whether he had a hand in the Apple Watch’s design, and speculation on what he’s working on with Jony was quickly shot down. Whatever Apple does throw at him though, Marc said he can handle it, because “there isn’t really a big difference between designing a watch or a car or even a machine that pours beer.”

Check out the full interview transcript below:

Apple’s first major iOS 8 seeded to developers this week contained clues that Apple Pay is nearly ready for launch, and according to a report from Bank Innovation, we won’t have to wait much longer to replace our wallets with the new mobile payments solution.

The finishing touches are still being made to the security features in Apple Pay, but the report claims that the official release is tentatively scheduled for the third monday of October.

As thousands of protesters flood the streets of Hong Kong demanding a democratic election, the Chinese government is reportedly using sophisticated malware to spy on not only Android devices, but iOS devices as well.

But don’t worry about China peeking at your Snapchats. There has yet to be a widespread instance of iOS malware in the wild, and this particularly “advanced” trojan still requires a tremendous amount of complicit behavior on the victim’s part.

Tweetbot, one of the most popular third-party Twitter clients out there, has been updated with full support for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus.

Today’s version 3.5 update also includes iOS 8-specific features like interactive notifications. Share Sheet integration now means you can send links to the app from anywhere in iOS 8.

Sure the new iPhone 6 and 6 Plus have an amazing camera with all sorts of improvements to make stunning use of in the pursuit of the perfect high-definition time-lapse or slow motion video.

But the video (below) is so stunning, so amazingly beautiful – there’s no way you’re going to be able to pull this off on your iPhone 6, no matter how amazing Apple’s latest gadget is.

Popcorn Time is finally out for iOS, giving iPad and iPhone users direct access to “The Netflix of Pirated Movies” service for the first time ever. There’s just one catch: it requires a jailbreak.

Over 50% of iPhone and iPad users have already upgraded to iOS 8 and a jailbreak isn’t coming out anyday soon, but if you want to stream movies to your iOS device you’re still in luck.  A competing service called MovieBox does pretty much the exact same thing as Popcorn Time, and you can get it on your iPhone 6 and 6 Plus 8 without needing to jailbreaking.

Here’s how to install it:

Vogue’s new profile of Apple’s head of design is a great read, especially because of the details it includes about Jony Ive’s work and personal life. For instance, Ive is in love with the “k-chit” noise the Apple Watch band makes it when it clasps.

The interview took place in a white room on Apple’s campus, which is fitting considering that Ive is always shrouded in white during his product design videos. Touching on the company’s secretive design studio, Vogue notes, “Ive’s wife, Heather Pegg, has never been—he doesn’t even tell her what he’s working on—and his twin sons, like all but a few Apple employees, are not allowed in either.”

Apple has added a new page to iTunes today in support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month (also known as October) that allows iTunes customers to donate to City of Hope to support medical research for cancer and other diseases.

If you’ve always wanted a camera equipped quadcopter but balked at their typically high prices, then you’ll want to keep reading.

For a limited time at Cult of Mac Deals you can get The Extreme Micro Drone 2.0, a fully functional, high tech, camera equipped quadcopter drone, for an unbeatable price of $74.99. That’s half off the regular price for this model!

Popcorn Time, the service that allows users to stream movie torrents, today makes its debut on iOS. It’s available only to jailbroken devices — there’s no way Apple would have approved it for the App Store — and it can be obtained through Cydia via a dedicated Popcorn Time repository.

It’s hard enough to sing and play guitar at the same time, let alone manage a floor full of guitar effects pedals. Add to that trying to create vocal effects like most listeners expect and you’ve got a solo musician’s worst nightmare.

The folks at TC-Helicon have come up with a couple of pretty nifty floor-style pedal boxes that have you covered though: You can dial in a fantastic guitar sound for either acoustic or electric guitar, fill a room with amazing vocal effects and backing harmonies, and even loop musical phrases to create a song with multiple parts on the fly. Dubbed Play Acoustic and Play Electric, these simple stomp boxes contain some serious technology in an easy-to-use platform.

Here’s how it plays out.

Apple has begun contacting developers to tell them that it’s time to submit their apps for OS X Yosemite ahead of its public release later this fall. The email encourages the use of new Yosemite functions like app extensions — as well as Swift, Apple’s “innovative” new programming language.

2014 will be the year the iPad turns golden, according to a new report from Bloomberg.

After introducing gold as a color option in the iPhone lineup with the 5s last year, the second-gen iPad Air will reportedly also be offered in gold.