Mobile menu toggle

Reimagining Finder’s ‘Get Info’ dialog for OS X Yosemite

By

60c8cc67d498d74ef578d5bdb77b54de

With Yosemite, OS X is getting its biggest visual overhaul yet, courtesy of Apple design head Jony Ive. But not everything is changing. Case in point: OS X’s File Inspector function.

Shown when you right click on a file in Finder and click ‘Get Info,’ Inspector shows you the nitty-gritty details of a file: it’s size, what file it is set to open with, it’s permissions, and so on. But in Yosemite, it looks pretty much as it ever did.

On Behance, user Ramotion has come up with a Yosemite-inspired redesign of OS X’s ‘Get Info’ menu that makes it more useful, intuitive, attractive, and flexible, especially when dealing with multiple files.

It’s gorgeous work, fitting of OS X Yosemite’s slick new design ethos as a whole. Take a look at the complete concept below.

Vietnam War photos leave haunting impressions on artist’s unlikely canvas

By

Binh Danh
Binh Danh

The coiled hose left a mark on the grass, a fading of color where the sun could not shine.

From this moment on his front lawn, Binh Danh realized he could create a photographic process using sunlight, leaves and grass. He had no idea his method would develop into an organic process of self-discovery.

On leaves from his family’s garden, Danh brings fresh examination to an old war, printing haunted faces and horrific scenes from the Vietnam conflict with light and chlorophyll.

Crystal Baller: iPad Air gets anti-reflection coating and iPhone 6 rumors galore

By

apple-crystal-ball1

We get slammed 24/7 with new Apple rumors. Some are accurate, most are not. To give you a clue about what’s really coming out of Cupertino in the future, we’re busting out our rumor debunker each week to blow up the nonsense.

The iPhone 6 is nearly here and the rumor mill has ramped into overdrive with new details leaking about the iPhone 6’s True Tone flash module, rumblings that sapphire might not make the cut this year, and possibly a hint that the next iPhone won’t even be called the iPhone 6.

We’re ready to give you the full reading on what the future holds for these rumors and more, just click through the gallery to find out what the future holds.


The iPhone 6’s Lightning cable could be reversible on the USB side too

By

iPhone6-USB-01

With the next-gen USB 3.1 standard now heading into production, the USB connectors of the future will be a lot more like Lightning. Featuring small, reversible connectors, the new USB Type-C cable will be particularly well suited to syncing and charging smartphones and tablets… again, just like Lightning.

But new images said to come from within Foxconn show that Apple isn’t done innovating with Lightning just yet, and that we won’t have to wait until USB Type-C to become ubiquitous to have fully-reversible USB Lightning cables. The shots are purportedly of a fully-reversible USB connector for Apple’s next Lightning cable. In other words, instead of having to plug the Lightning cable into your computer in one specific orientation, you could do it either way.

Scenes from a pivot: Making lemonade when your first app turns sour

By

Sweetch's home/office.Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Inside the Sweetch home office, where five French entrepreneurs did an about-face after their parking app drew the ire of San Francisco officials. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

SAN FRANCISCO — It’s every entrepreneur’s worst nightmare: The app you’ve spent hours developing gets shut down before it even really launches.

It’s been a rocky road for four young French entrepreneurs who hoped to make their mark with a parking app called Sweetch. Their idea was to alert prospective parkers that spots on the street were freeing up, exchanging a nominal fee between drivers that could be donated to local charities. But instead of paving the road to fame by clearing the city’s congested streets, they ended up pulling their app from the Apple store under threat of litigation from San Francisco’s City Attorney.

“We helped five or 10 people a day, we brought value to them, but the city didn’t even try to understand that,” co-founder Hamza Ouazzani Chahdi says, speaking to Cult of Mac in the sunny, immaculate and modern apartment the guys call both home and office in the city’s Mission District. “We were lumped in with the other apps that definitely had a predatory model and it was toxic for us.”

He says that despite a meeting with San Francisco officials, the entrepreneurs weren’t really give a chance: “It was just, ‘Here’s your deadline.’”

Tim Cook takes ice bucket challenge at Apple HQ beer bash

By

timcookbeerbash

Bring on the ice, ice baby!

Tim Cook has gladly accepted Phil Schiller’s challenge to douse himself with a bucket of ice in order to get out of a $100 donation to ALS charities. Only instead of doing ice bucket challenge from the comfort of a beach chair, Cook made a party of it while Apple employees got turnt up with at the beer bash celebration for Diversity week.

Take a look:

Samsung buys home automation startup SmartThings for $200 million

By

post-291494-image-27f4e813c3535b6300073eb383200db1-png

Google has Nest. Apple has HomeKit. And now Samsung is buying into the future of home automation too, with the $200 million purchase of SmartThings – a hardware startup that makes it easier for all your smart appliances to talk to each other.

SmartThings CEO Alex Hawkinson announced today that after starting from the bottom of KickStarter, his two year old home automation company has been bought by Samsung and is moving to Silicon Valley.

iOS and Android completely dominate the global smartphone market

By

iPhone-5-Android-Market

In the smartphone race there are only two players: iOS and Android. That fact is clear in IDC’s new report for worldwide smartphone shipments for the second quarter.

Combined, iOS and Android account for a whopping 96.4% of global smartphone sales. IDC notes that there’s “little space for competitors,” which is a mild way of saying that every other platform has little to no hope.

Beats Music teams with Spike Lee for Do the Right Thing documentary

By

dotherightthing

Beats wowed soccer fans with its epic World Cup ad earlier this summer, but Apple’s new acquisition is now flexing its creative marketing muscles in an all-new way: documentaries.

To celebrate the 25th anniversary of Spike Lee’s legendary Do the Right Thing, Beats created a 22-minute short that follows the director and other actors from the film as they revisit the famous Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood in Brooklyn that was featured in the movie.

Along with chatting up residents about changes the iconic neighborhood has seen since the film was released, Beats Music also threw a block party to celebrate the 1989 film, with guest appearances by Dave Chappelle, Wesley Snipes, Mos Def and Erykah Badu, along with a performance of “Fight the Power” by Public Enemy.

Check out the full documentary below:

iPhone 6 sapphire display might be limited to premium models

By

iphone6_martinhajek_10.jpg07bba7d8-3341-48ec-bd03-952541726a5bOriginal

The official iPhone 6 unveiling is less than four weeks away, but according a Wall Street Journal report, Apple is still debating whether it should limit its new Sapphire crystal displays to only the high-end models.

Production of Sapphire screens at Apple’s factory in Mesa is nearly up and running, and will produce twice as much sapphire as the current global output, but the company is still struggling to get enough material for the fall launch of the 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch iPhone 6s this fall and might only add it to the most expensive models.

Unleash the true power of your Magic Mouse with these productivity tips

By

post-291429-image-d05944107e8ca872517bb5177b82d900-jpg

The technology behind the computer mouse has leaped to unimaginable heights in the decades following the first prototype in the early 1960s. And Apple’s latest variant of its Magic Mouse has quickly become one of the most powerful iterations of the revolutionary input device.

Its touch-sensitive body lets users manipulate their computers with more than mere clicks, thanks to an array of simple gestures and smart actions that make the Mac more productive than ever.

In today’s video, we’ll take a look at tips that will help you unleash the true potential of your Magic Mouse. You’ll learn how to access Mission Control, quickly switch between apps and do much more with these speedy tips.

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

Tom Hanks turns his typewriter fetish into a retro iPad app

By

tomhanks

Tom Hanks has already scored two Oscars during his illustrious acting career, but now the acclaimed actor is turning his attention to developing apps, because if Kim Kardashian can, why can’t the dude who played Hollywood’s most lovable moron do it too?

Hanks announced this morning that he’s launching a free writing app for iPad called Hanx Writer, that recreates the retro experience of typing on a manual typewriter combined with the modern luxury of a delete key.

Minecraft lures kids to museums like nothing else

By

Playtime at the Anchorage Museum. Photo: Rob LeFebvre, Cult of Mac
Playtime at the Anchorage Museum. Photo: Rob LeFebvre, Cult of Mac

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — 12-year-old Josh couldn’t wait to get to the museum. For once, the visit wouldn’t be about “boring” old artwork or educational science, but something he really loves — Minecraft.

“This is great,” he said while tapping and mousing his way through a multiplayer Minecraft landscape that was part of an activity at The Anchorage Museum. “My friend told me about this and it’s way better than staying at home doing this in my bedroom.”

Angry Apple tells Thai officials next phone may not be called ‘iPhone 6’

By

iphone65incher

Apple is livid that a Thai government official spilled the beans on its pending launch of two new iPhone models and requested a meeting with officials at the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) to talk about a little thing called doubling down on secrecy.

Reports from Thailand indicate Apple’s top exec from South Asia met with NBTC secretary Takorn Tantasith to discuss his uncharacteristic disclosure of the two iPhone 6 models, but also told him Apple might not even name their next smartphone “iPhone 6.”

Last chance to get lifetime access to over 5,000 Adobe certified training videos [Deals]

By

CoM_Adobe

People who work in creative fields know that the best software products for media creation are made by Adobe. Whether it’s getting pictures just right with Photoshop, or putting together a whiz bang digital newsletter with InDesign, Adobe makes software to suit just about any creative situation.

While Adobe products are the industry standard in creativity software, they can also be complex and frustrating for novice users. That’s why Cult of Mac Deals, for a very limited time that is ending soon, is offering Lifetime Access To Over 5,000 Adobe Authorized Training Videos for the remarkably low price of $79. That’s 84% off the regular price of $500!

For those about to rock, this universal mic clip is essential kit

By

iKlip XPand for iPhone, iPad. Photo: Rob LeFebvre, Cult of Mac
Two models of iKlip XPand will hold iPhones, iPads or most other mobile devices. Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac

If you use your iPad or iPhone (or both!) onstage when you perform, you know how hard it can be to find a good place to put them. Putting your iPad on a flimsy music stand just won’t cut it, and leaving your iPhone on the floor near your guitar pedals is just asking for a stomped-on smartphone.

The solution, for me, has always been iKlip iPad stands, which connect right to my mic stand. The new versions, including a sweet new iPhone mount, keep my iPad and iPhone safe from all musician-based harm, and always at the right height and angle to get at my lyric sheets, set lists and guitar effects.

Activist vows to keep broken iPhone until Apple cleans up its act

By

Cracked iPhone 5C, via GewTV on Flickr.
Cracked iPhone 5C, via GewTV on Flickr.

Although the environmental group she heads up is “pleased” about the improvements Apple announced to protect workers from toxic chemicals, activist Elizabeth O’Connell still won’t buy the Cupertino company’s products.

Even if it means making those phone calls to rally support against Apple on an iPhone with a cracked screen.

“I am very happy that Apple has taken these steps and that the company is listening to its customers,” the campaign director for Green America told Cult of Mac via email. “That said, I’m going to hold on to my cracked 5c for now. I’d like for Apple to deepen its commitment to worker health and safety throughout its supply chain before I consider purchasing any new Apple products.”

Publish photos to Instagram stored on your Mac using Younity

By

share-content-photo

One sad limitation of Instagram is you can’t post photos to the service from your Mac, only your iPhone. It’s by design, of course — Instagram wants to be a more spontaneous photo hosting service than the likes of Flickr — but it can make things annoying when you want to give a more polished shot the Instagram treatment.

Things are about to get a little easier. You still can’t post photos directly from your Mac, but you can make it easier to get them on your iPhone or iPad. Younity, a service that gives you access to your computer’s files through a personal cloud with no syncing necessary, has just added support for publishing Instagram files directly from the service.

Teen’s iPhone photos put vibrant face on homeless population

By

"I met a lady and her children who travel to heavily populated areas of St. Louis to play music for tips to buy food each night. The children's broken bikes and few cherished possesions carefully tucked in the run down van they call "home," Tullis says.

Nic Tullis has a summer project that doesn’t involve surfing or working at a frozen-yogurt shop.

The 18-year-old is at the tail end of a Kickstarter campaign to to raise $2,500 that will keep him out photographing with his iPhone 4s. His “Homeless But Not Hopeless” project aims to bring awareness about the homeless population of St. Louis, Missouri, which spiked 12 percent after the economic tsunami hit.

Tullis takes photos of homeless people that show how they live along with normal shots that show off St. Louis. The funding for the project would rent a gallery space to auction off prints as a fundraiser; proceeds would go to two local organizations that help people get back on their feet.

How to access your Facebook messages in iOS without installing Messenger

By

pnqx9t4wykigffhdvuox

Do you hate the fact that Facebook is forcing you to install the Facebook Messenger app if you want to send or access messages on your iPhone or iPad?

We do too. But luckily, it turns out that right now, there’s an easy way to get around the restrictions and access your Facebook Messages through the vanilla Facebook app again. But better move on it: Facebook’s not likely to let this loophole stay open for long.