Cult of Mac

This post is brought to you by Creative Labs, creator of the Sound Blaster Roar.

The Sound Blaster Roar is the epitome of audio quality, features and great looks combined into one device.

Musicality, accurate timbre, tonality, with deep, tight bass within a portable Bluetooth wireless speaker shouldn’t be a pipe dream. Creative Labs boasts of defying these laws of acoustic engineering with their Sound Blaster Roar.

Their innovative acoustic chamber design allows the Roar to adopt an impressive five-driver speaker design, which includes two high-performance amplifiers and a built-in subwoofer. Beyond the audio quality prowess, this Red Dot design award-winning speaker also includes a whole host of nifty features, doubling up as a portable battery bank, MP3 player, voice recorder and a speakerphone.

Apple’s software testing partners have reportedly received a new iOS 8 beta build that fixes a whole bunch of bugs present in beta 5. It seems the Cupertino company won’t be making this release available to registered developers, but sources say a GM seed is right around the corner.

iOS 8 will bring Extensions to your iPhone and iPad. Extensions are essentially miniature versions of apps that can be run inside other apps. For instance, if you have Evernote installed on your iPhone, you could pop up the Evernote Extension when you’re running the Mail app, and save a snippet of that email to your Evernote account.

Clearly this is huge. It’s something that Android and Windows Phone users have enjoyed for a while, but Apple has – typically – taken its time to get it right. In fact, you have probably used Apple’s own “test” Extensions already: Whenever you see the Mail sheet roll down inside another app, or you access the built-in Twitter sharing box, you’re using an Extension.

But what kind of things can Extensions do for us? I’ve been thinking about that, and here’s a wish list of Extensions I’d love to see.

Sprint has seen better days. Now existing as the distant fourth wireless carrier in America, it needs a win to score customers back.

Sprint’s recently announced new “Framily” plans might just be that win. They not only let you feel like you have a speech impediment everytime you say the word ‘Framily’, but they offer twice as much data as the likes of AT&T and Verizon, for about the same price.

First Phil Schiller dumped a bucket of ice cold water on his head, challenging Tim Cook to do the same. Then Tim Cook accepted the challenge, dousing himself at an Apple HQ beer bash to help raise money to fight Lou Gehrig’s disease.

We all thought it was over. But we forgot about Dre.

The world already has more music streaming services than any sane person can subscribe to on a monthly basis, but Google is preparing to take on the likes of Spotify, Rdio, Pandora, and Beats Music with a new service of its own called YouTube Music Key.

The TSA has started treating smartphones with dead batteries like potential bombs, but after an iPhone mishap on one plane caused an emergency evacuation, maybe they should be more worried about all the iPhones with a full charge too.

Panic broke out on a flight bound for Prague this weekend after an iPhone 5 caught fire in a passenger’s bag, causing the entire plane to be evacuated back to the main terminal.

By now, it’s obvious that Xiaomi is heavily inspired by Apple’s product design. The Chinese company’s founder even dresses up like Steve Jobs at events and uses the “One More Thing” presentation gimmick.

Now we’ve been given a look at MIUI 6, the software for Xiaomi’s new Mi 4 smartphone. It’s the most blatant ripoff of Apple to date.

The upcoming release of iOS 8 brings many new features that will dramatically improve everyday use of iPhones and iPads. While currently contacting your friends can be an annoyingly long process because you must open apps and search through contact after contact, a new feature in iOS 8 eliminates this common hassle.

In today’s video we show how iOS 8’s new quick contacts feature will make contacting your most recent friends much easier. After you update to iOS 8, simply double-click the home button to enjoy this new functionality.

Subscribe to Cult of Mac TV on YouTube to catch all our latest videos.

Flappy Bird developer Dong Nguyen has a new game coming out this Thursday, and it looks to be as brutally difficult and addictive as his original viral hit.

According to Eli Hodapp over at TouchArcade, Swing Copters contains the same one-tap gameplay as Flappy Bird, only this time you’re guiding a little character up through platforms that have swinging hammers on them, rather than horizontally through Mario-esque pipes.

Here’s a video to give you an idea:

The sixth developer preview of OS X Yosemite is upon us, and like always, Apple has made some noticeable and not-so-noticeable changes. This time around, there are some new wallpapers included alongside general design tweaks.

So in no particular order, here’s what’s new in OS X Yosemite Developer Preview 6:

Not a year goes by without NFC rumors trying to steal the spotlight during iPhone rumor season, and while this year has certainly been no exception, leaked schematic details reveal NFC might actually land on the iPhone 6 this year.

An alleged bare logic board for the iPhone 6 was the first hard evidence that NFC really is coming to the iPhone 6, but now a Chinese repair firm has found what it claims to a wiring schematic specifically for the iPhone 6’s NFC chip.

Apple released the sixth beta of OS X 10.10 Yosemite to developers this morning with preview build 14A329f ahead of its public release this fall.

Apple finalized its $3 billion acquisition of Beats Electronics just a few weeks ago, but for those looking give their earbuds a taste of Beats, the Online Apple Store is making the over-priced cans a little bit cheaper.

We often find ourselves needing to use our phones while driving. Maybe it’s because we want to use the phone’s GPS function, or maybe take a call. Whatever the reason, though, we should not be fumbling about with our phones while driving. It’s just plain dangerous.

That’s why you need The iStabilizer Glass Mount to hold your smartphone in plain view, freeing up your hands to be on the wheel and your attention on the road. Plus, for a limited time, you can get The iStabilizer Glass Mount for only $13.99 at Cult of Mac Deals.

If you’re anything like me, you’re probably interested in trying a standing desk… but not quite so committed to the idea of standing all day that you’d be willing to throw out your office chair.

Which is why I’m so interested in the Lift. Now on Kickstarter, it’s a gorgeous and elegant wooden desk gadget that allows you to convert your existing desk to and from a standing desk at will.

Recently, a clever little Pokemon clone called Micromon shot to the top of the App Store bestseller list. If the success of Micromon proved anything, it’s that an official Pokemon game would be very well received if it came to the App Store.

If that’s something that appeals to you, good news. A version of the Pokemon online trading card game is coming to the iPad sometime soon.

Anand Sharma has eaten 17 burritos in the last 141 days. An avid runner and rock climber, the San Francisco-based designer has visited parks seven times this month. He weighed 153.9 pounds and was at 18.4% bodyfat after his 5.5-mile run yesterday. He burned 688 calories during that run.

He gets around a lot, too: On July 15, he flew from Hong Kong to Changi, Singapore. Then he grabbed a bite at the Kampong Glam Cafe. He also spent 94 minutes in a car and 70 minutes on the Lomprayah high-speed ferry that day. During his long day of travel, his heart rate hit a high of 94 and a low of 66 (averaging a slightly higher than usual 79). He didn’t share any photos on Instagram, but he pushed 25 commits to code-sharing site Github.

Sharma, who was 24.382007813 years old as of this writing, is already the most transparent human being on Earth, and he’s just getting started. Fully embracing the data-hungry demands of the quantified-self movement as well as the constant spotlight of social media, he routinely shares every little detail about his life, from his travels and meals to his vital signs and work, on the slickly designed April Zero website he launched last month. Now he wants to invite you to his way of life. He’s working on a new app that will make it easy for anyone to have their own version of April Zero.

Cult of Mac talked with Sharma about April Zero, the benefits of living in public, and the possibilities of Apple’s long-rumored health-centric wearable.

Last week, we told you about shots that had leaked from within Foxconn, which reportedly showed new Lightning cables developed by Apple that featured fully reversible USB connectors.

We were excited, but there was only one problem: the images seemed a little sketchy. But a new image from reliable leaker Sonny Dickson‘s Twitter feed indicates that the reversible USB plug is indeed coming to new Lightning cables, perhaps as early as the iPhone 6.

Amongst Cupertino’s many other accomplishments, you can now chalk up Emmy Award Winner. Apple has just won the Most Outstanding Commercial of the Year award for its wonderful iPhone 5s ad, “Misunderstood.”

The LG G Watch has been on sale for less than two months, but according to a new report from Korea, an LG executive has confirmed the company is already working on its second Android Wear device. Expected to launch this fall at IFA, the G Watch 2 is being labeled a “serious game changer,” and it’s being designed with Apple’s iWatch in mind.

Beginning just moments after the shocking end of last week’s episode of True Blood, the final season’s second-to-last entry tightens down on the remaining relationships: Sookie and Bill. Hoyt and Jessica. Eric and Pam (and Ginger!). Jason and new girl. A little Lafayette and James, a tiny smattering of Arlene and Keith. Couples are the way to go in Bon Temps.

Once again, we’ve got character dialogue that sounds like a love letter to the fans from the writers of this HBO-powered vampire drama that airs Sunday nights.

“As much as I appreciate compelling character drama,” says Pam in full sarcasm mode, “but the Yakuza are upstairs, so need I remind you to keep it the f*ck down, volume-wise?”

Spoilers below, so don’t say we didn’t warn you.

Where does the time go? Another week of deals that will save you money on things you need and want is over.

Do not fret, we’re highlighting a few of the best so you won’t miss out. You can also go to the Cult of Mac Deals page to see all of the amazing gadgets, software, and training packages available right now.