Mobile menu toggle

Beats drops epic commercial celebrating LeBron’s return to Cleveland

By

IMG_1609.JPG

The NBA season is set to tip off on October 28th and Beats is ready to celebrate with a new epic ad all about King James’ return to Cleveland.

The long cinematic ad is similar to Beats’ incredible World Cup ad, and flashes between LeBron’s fierce workout regimen he went through this summer – while rocking the Beats earbuds of course – as well as showing spurts from his past like St. Vincent-St. Mary high school, his old Spring Hill apartments, and his mom.

Check it out:

What we love and don’t about the new iPads, this week on The CultCast

By

cultcast-phone6-gold

Fresh off the Apple event! Catch our impressions of iPad Air 2, the iPad Mini 3, the big, beautiful iMac with 5K display, and the updated Mac Mini. Plus, our favorite Yosemite and iOS 8.1 Continuity features; and HBO makes a move to offer all us cable cutters the a la cart TV we’ve always wanted.

Snicker 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 Squarespace for supporting this episode. Squarespace 7 is live, and it’s their biggest update in years. Now building a beautiful website is faster and easier than ever. Get started with a free trial at Squarespace.com and use code “CultCast” at checkout for 10% off any order.

cultcast-149-post-player-image-thin

Hot deals ending soon: Dragon Dictate, Mac Mastery Bundle, ActiveInbox [Deals]

By

There are dozens of hot deals on far out gizmos, software, and services at Cult of Mac Deals everyday. They are constantly on the look out to bring you new and exciting offers.

As new deals begin, other ones that have been around a while have got to go. We don’t want to see you miss out, so act fast as these limited time deals are just about done.

Retina iMac RAM is user upgradable, reveals iFixit

By

Photo: iFixit
Photo: iFixit

The folks at iFixit have already gotten their hands on a new 27-inch Retina iMac, and their teardown reveals everything you need to know about the machine’s innards.

Thanks to a rear access door, the RAM in the new iMac remains user upgradable without needing to open the case. Most of the iMac’s internal design has stayed the same from last year’s model.

Tips for getting the most out of OS X Yosemite

By

Yosemite's
"Dark mode" is just one of OS X Yosemite's great new features. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

OS X Yosemite packs a lot of new features inside a cleaner, flatter interface on the Mac. It’s a big upgrade, and there’s a lot to take in at first glance.

Whether you’re a Mac novice or a seasoned expert, there’s plenty to explore in the latest version of OS X. Wondering how to get started? Here are some of the best tips and tricks for getting the most out of Yosemite: 

Sublime night-skiing video shows off brilliant LED technology

By

Custom LED suits and a small fortune in equipment to make a 12 minute movie: so worth it. Photo: Philips Ambilight TV
Custom LED suits and a small fortune in equipment to make a 12 minute movie: so worth it. Photo: Philips Ambilight TV

Filmed on location at the Alyeska resort in Alaska, the Alaskan wilderness, and the Golden Alpine lodges in Canada, this incredible film of extreme skiing will light up your screens on October 19.

The 12-minute video was created to show off the color and light technology of Phillips Ambilight TV. To do so, the filmmakers created LED ski suits and let loose their pro skiers in the Alaskan and Canadian mountains.

Check out the gorgeous preview in the short teaser below.

Apple’s biggest security threat is you

By

Hacker who tried to extort Apple for $100k is spared prison
iCloud faces some tough security issues. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

iCloud passwords and security passwords can be guessed using social networking and various phishing techniques, and complex passwords and two-step verification are not as intuitive as they should be.

In a delightfully complete article over at TidBITS, author Rich Mogul lays out the facts behind the current spate of Apple security problems – most of which boil down to this: People are the weakest link in the chain.

As anyone who’s worked with technology in the past decade can tell you, the thorniest technical challenges aren’t typically those that deal directly with hardware and software. No, in most cases, the toughest things to troubleshoot and fix lie along the human spectrum. System administrators have long known this, coming up with acronyms like PEBCAK and ID-10T errors.

The same goes for security, which in Apple’s case affects an ever-increasing number of people who not be savvy to the ways of information security.

Does the Nexus 6 have what it takes to tackle Apple’s new iPhones?

By

post-300092-image-d7ef1037788cc3fa5c1ddfc242d6f4ac-jpg
Nexus 6 vs. iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Android

Apple’s latest iPhones have been shipping for a few weeks now, but many have been waiting for Google to show its hand before deciding what will be their new smartphone for the next two years. So how does the new Nexus 6 compare to the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, and more importantly, which is most worthy of your hard-earned cash?

Our in-depth comparison below will help you decide.

iPhone 6 lines in NYC are still bigger than big a month after launch

By

iPhoneNYC
One month after the iPhone 6 launched and the lines in NYC are still massive. Photo: Walter Piecyk

Tim Cook called the iPhone 6 the fastest-selling smartphone in history during yesterday’s Apple event. It’s set a new high-water mark for the most first-month orders ever, and if you need any more evidence, just look at this line outside the Fifth Avenue Apple Store in New York City today.

It’s been a month since the iPhone 6 launched and the line is still down the street. Unlike a month ago, Asian resellers can’t be blamed for the length, as China just got its fingers all over the bigger-than-big displays this morning.

Apple didn’t announce how many iPhones it sold in the first month – although we might find out during Monday’s earnings call – but with 32 countries accepting orders in the first few weeks, and another 36 getting it this month, the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus are poised to be Apple’s biggest cash machines ever.

Name-your-own-price madness: Web design, WordPress themes, design assets, more [Deals]

By

CoM_FrontEndHackerBundle

Everyone loves to get something at a discount. But what if you could slash prices on your own and just decide for yourself what you want to pay? That’s the beauty of The Name Your Own Price offers at Cult of Mac Deals.

As the title suggests, you decide what you want to pay to receive part of a bundle. Beat the average price paid and you get everything in the bundle. Plus, 10% of what you pay goes to your choice of three charities: Child’s Play, World Wildlife Fund, and Creative Commons. With The Name Your Own Price offers, it’s a win for everyone. Have a look at these four Name Your Own Price bundles and get in the action today.

Conan reveals Christian Bale as Steve Jobs for the first time

By

switchtomac
Photo: Team Coco

Christian Bale has reportedly been tapped to don Steve Jobs’ black turtleneck in the upcoming biopic from Sony, and I got to admit I’m stoked. Bale seems like the perfect fit. He looks as much like Steve as Ashton did, only he’s actually a phenomenal actor.

Conan is pretty excited about the Dark Knight playing el Jobso too. So much so, that last night he gave us a hilarious sneak preview of how Bale’s portrayal of Jobs will probably turn out.

Check it out:

This amazing machine can brew the perfect drink in just 60 seconds

By

Photo: PSFK
The BKON Craft Brewer can make up to 60 cups of perfectly-brewed tea or coffee per hour. Photo: BKON

Are you looking for a high tech, upscale beverage maker to go along with your brand new 5K 27-inch Retina iMac?

If so you could do a lot worse than this revolutionary BKON Craft Brewer, a machine that allows you to make the perfect cup of loose-leaf tea, coffee, cocktail, and a variety of other drinks from your home, without the need for an intensive training course and plenty of spare time.

How does it do it? In one word: physics.

Wacky wearable wants to merge your smartwatch and phone into one

By

The wearable tech you can take off and talk into. Photo: .klatz
The wearable tech you can take off and talk into. Photo: .klatz

Some of the best tech ideas come from taking two separate concepts and trying to merge them together into one device.

With all the chatter about smartwatches and smartphones as of late, it was only going to be so long before someone tried to combine the two: creating a gadget that gives smartwatch-like functionality while on the wrist, but also allows the user to take it off and use it like a smartphone when necessary.

That’s the idea behind .klatz, a Ukrainian “smartwatch/watchphone” project that’s currently raising money on Indiegogo. Its creator points out its iOS support — which means that you can pair it with an iPhone if you don’t fancy using it as your primary handset — while a promo video for the project shows it providing Pebble-style notifications, along with fitness tracking and music playing functionality.

ICYMI: It’s been way too long – new iPads, Macs, and more

By

Cover: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac
Cover: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac

Another week, another issue — all of Cult of Mac’s best news stories and features, compiled in one place to read through easily on your iPad or iPhone. This week we’ve got some fantastic coverage of Apple’s iPad event, which revealed iPad Air 2, iPad mini 3, iMac with 5K Retinal Display, and a boosted Mac mini. Plus, read about how one cop saved a life using Find My iPhone, and the new official Reddit app. That and more in this week’s Cult of Mac Magazine.

Dig into Cult of Mac Magazine October 17 Edition, Free on iTunes

Hilarious song pays homage to Apple’s ‘Chairman Honeycrisp’

By

Life is good for Tim Cook in 2015. Photo: Apple
Tim Cook Chairman Honeycrisp took to the stage at yesterday's Apple keynote. Photo: Apple

Tim Cook sure is picking up a lot of nicknames as of late. At the iPhone 6 keynote he was dubbed the “Zen Master of hardware and software” by U2’s Bono, and at yesterday’s iPad event he was given the codename “Chairman Honeycrisp” as part of the entertaining Stephen Colbert secrecy skit.

Taking the latter nickname as his inspiration, YouTube’s resident Apple songsmith Jonathan Mann (whose work we profiled earlier this week) put together his customary post-keynote song, highlighting the October 16 Apple media event.

The result may not quite hit the highs of Mann’s superb WWDC tribute (a song that is still stuck in my head months later), but it’s worth a watch for the repeating “Intergalactic Chancellor Chairman Honeycrisp” chorus alone.

Check out the video after the jump:

Why Apple’s heading toward a ‘zombie iPad’ apocalypse

By

post-300070-image-f2b22eea4b71ea66285b5b1a926dc168-jpg
This is the source of the iPad's zombie problem. Photo: Apple

Yesterday, Apple unveiled the iPad mini 3, a slightly updated version of the second-gen iPad mini with Retina display. But even though it’s two generations old at this point, Apple still sells the original iPad mini for $249. That makes it the cheapest iPad yet, albeit for good reason: It packs the same A5 chip and other silicon guts that the iPad 2 did way back in March 2011.

That might actually seem like a good deal for consumers, but it’s turning out to be a nightmare for developers who will likely have to support the iPad mini until 2017.

iPad Air 2’s new antireflective display is causing production problems

By

Phil Schiller talks iPad Air 2 during yesterday's keynote. Photo: Apple
Phil Schiller talks iPad Air 2 during yesterday's keynote. Photo: Apple

Tim Cook crowed over the sales figures of the iPad during yesterday’s Apple keynote, pointing out that it has sold a whopping 225 million units since debuting in 2010.

Despite the iPad Air 2 looking like the finest iPad iteration yet, however, sources in the supply chain reckon Apple’s new flagship tablet is going to be available only in limited quantities during the remainder of 2014 — thanks to production difficulties with the devices’ new anti-reflective coating.

iPhone 6 and 6 Plus go on sale in China, sparking huge lines

By

People queue for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus all across China. Photo: People's Daily/Weibo
iPhone 6 and 6 Plus queues in China. Photo: People's Daily/Weibo

When Tim Cook took time out of yesterday’s iPad and iMac keynote to discuss just how excited he was about the iPhone 6 coming to China, he wasn’t kidding: the market Cook has previously said could one day overtake the U.S. has been going iPhone crazy.

Having been made available for preorder on October 10, today marks the first day in which the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus are available for (authorized) sale in China, being made available on all three major networks.

The best apps for OS X Yosemite

By

Yosemite apps
Photo: Ste Smith/ Cult of Mac

Like any new Apple software release, OS X Yosemite has great third-party apps that are worth checking out.

Developers can take advantage of iOS 8-like extensions, Handoff, iCloud Drive, Notification Center widgets, and more to create a better experience. Many apps also need to be updated aesthetically to look at home in Yosemite’s cleaner, flatter design. The ones that aren’t updated stick out like sore thumbs.

We’ve collected a running list of the best third-party apps that are already optimized for Yosemite:

The Mac App Store is broken, and developers are sick of it

By

You now have to pay more to become an App Store developer. Photo: Apple
The Mac App Store is broken. Photo: Apple

First launched in January 2011, the Mac App Store promised to give developers the same sort of centralized marketplace to sell their apps that had made the iOS App Store such a success. Instead of making developers rich or giving them a better place to market their apps, though, an increasing number of developers are actually leaving the Mac App Store in what Milen Dzhumerov, one of the devopers behind Monodraw, has called a “subtle exodus.”

Why? It all has to do with Apple’s Mac App Store policies.

Celebrate Ghostbusters‘ 30th birthday with ghoulish Fruit Ninja update

By

The messy way to make fruit salad. Photo: Columbia Pictures
The messy way to make fruit salad. Photo: Columbia Pictures

It’s not just the Macintosh which turned 30 this year. Another beloved franchise many of us were introduced to as kids, Ghostbusters, also ushers in its fourth decade with… an update to Halfbrick’s fructose-slicing iOS game Fruit Ninja?

That’s right, the game which we first reviewed all the way back in 2010 has received a ghostly update which enhances the already fun title with some neat new visual effects and a great haunted soundtrack.

Instead of a ninja blade, the update means your fruit chopping is now carried out using the Ghostbusters’ proton packs, while true to the movies there’s even the possibility of “crossing the beams” to create an explosion that will turn every melon, pineapple and orange into instant fruit salad.