Up until the present, the various paintjobs of our phones have existed primarily as a means of personalization. In the near future, they could well be the way that our phones are charged.

A new study by the UK’s University of Sheffield is investigating the possibility of spray-painted solar cells which could be used to power anything from smartphones to electric cars.

While the energy generating effectiveness of paint-on solar cells was just one percent a couple of years ago, Sheffield University currently gets about 11 percent efficiency versus 19 percent at optimal performance.

Apple is set to open its second brick-and-mortar retail store in Turkey, according to Turkish website ElmaDergisi.

The store is allegedly planned to open this fall, around the same time as Apple’s long-awaited iPhone 6 is set to hit shelves. It will be located in Istanbul’s upmarket Akasya Shopping Center, a shopping mall known for its major brand stores.

I’m all about minimalist bags; paring down my kit to the bare essentials so I’m not bogged down when traipsing from place to place is a daily goal of mine. I’ve gone minimal with my wallet, my MacBook and the various digital and analog ephemera I need to carry with me as I go about daily tasks for work and at home.

There is a time, however, when you need to have a larger subset of your general kit. You might need that extra battery pack (or two), your MacBook Pro, both your iPads, a couple of backup hard drives, an external keyboard, a gaming mouse, a PlayStation Vita, headphones and (of course) all the associated wires and plugins that these items require. Oh, and maybe a water bottle, a wallet, an iPhone and a set of keys.

That’s the exact stuff I’ve got packed into an STM Quantum Messenger bag — and it fits handily, with room to spare.

Although Samsung’s commercials often mock Apple and its devices, the South Korean company has been known to use Apple products as its inspiration. In fact, it has been so inspired by iOS devices in the past that it was recently found guilty of ripping them off and forced to cough up $119 million in damages.

That doesn’t appear to have deterred Samsung from copying again, though. Leaked images of its upcoming Galaxy Alpha smartphone suggest the device could be the company’s biggest iPhone knockoff to date.

First debuted in November last year, the iPad Air is coming up on a year old. In Apple terms, that means it’s due for an upgrade, but we still don’t know what the iPad Air 2 will be. Will it be a spec bump, or will it be a redesign?

According to new leaks from China purporting to be the rear shell for the iPad Air 2, the correct answer is: “A little bit of column A, a little but of column B.”

Over the years, I’ve seen rumor after rumor that Apple would eventually abandon Intel chips in favor of ARM chips. And time after time, I’ve refuted those arguments, saying that a Mac running ARM processors is not likely to happen anytime soon.

But maybe I’m wrong. Former Apple executive Jean-Louis Gassée — himself a longtime skeptic of Apple’s transition to ARM chips for its desktop and laptop computers — says he’s recently been convinced, and even believes that Apple could release ARM-based Macs as soon as 2016.

While most of Square-Enix’s games for mobile tend to be ports of the developer’s past hits, it also occasionally releases original games too — often with spectacularly great results.

The latest of these games is set to Chaos Rings III, a sequel to 2012’s Chaos Rings II — coming to Android, iOS and PlayStation Vita this winter. Announced over the weekend on Famitsu, the game is set to arrive in Japan on October 16.

Another week of amazing deals is in the books, so we are highlighting some of the best to make sure you don’t miss out.

Unbelievably low prices can be had on The Productive Design Mac Bundle, The Sensordrone Bluetooth Sensor, over 5000 Adobe training videos, Twisted Wave, and The Kick. Do yourself a favor and check them out now.

Apple has a new TV ad out for the iPhone 5s, and it’s the fourth installment in its “You’re More Powerful Than You Think” campaign. The ads have previously shown people using the iPhone to do stuff like play music, workout, and parent.

Titled “Dreams,” the latest spot is a collection of ways people are using the iPhone around the world to make a real impact in the lives of others. Using a combination of hardware accessories and apps, the iPhone is seen helping doctors, firefighters, and more.

This week: now with over 300,000 followers, we welcome back professional Instagram’er Cory @WithHearts Staudacher to share his iPhone photo editing tips and reveal which camera apps he relies on daily. Also on the docket: why our cities deserve municipal internet; unlocking your iPhone gets legal (again); great changes on the horizon for Apple’s Podcasts app; and our musings on the freshly-updated 13 and 15-inch MacBook Pros.

Kick back and relax whilst we amuse you with 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! Treat yourself to a brand new website with the help of Squarespace – a drag-and-drop, do-it-yourself site builder with everything you need to create an exceptional website. Start a free trial at squarespace.com and use the offer code “CultCast” to save 10% on any order.

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In Star Trek, the crew of the Enterprise would routinely beam down to a planet, pull out their trusty tricorders and scan the environment for a multitude of different things, like gas levels and air quality.

Now you can have something like a tricorder for yourself. The Sensordrone Bluetooth Sensor has 11 sensors packed into a tiny housing that collects real data on your surroundings, and it’s available at Cult of Mac Deals for only $149.

One of the world’s top tech companies is suing Samsung for patent violations, only this time its not Apple.

Microsoft announced this afternoon that it filed a lawsuit against Samsung in the U.S. District Court of Southern District of New York, for not paying up on cross-licensed intellectual property from Microsoft that its been using in smartphones since 2011.

U.S. District Judge Denise Cote has granted Preliminary approval to Apple’s proposed $450 million settlement for claims that it colluded with the five major U.S. publishers to increase e-book prices.

The settlement fee is still pending the appeal of Judge Cote’s 2013 ruling, but if it stands, Apple will pay $400 million to consumers and $50 million to lawyers. However, Judge Cote says she was deeply troubled by a provision that could see Apple pay as little as $70 million.

Watch today’s Cult of Mac news roundup for details on how one popular group of protesters are picketing Steve Jobs and Apple itself. Plus, get info on a new Snapchat clone from Instagram, news on unlocking your iPhone and even how one KickStarter is turning MacBooks into huge touch-enabled tablets.

Of course, don’t forget to subscribe to Cult of Mac TV on YouTube and catch all our latest videos.

A new smartphone unlocking bill has made its way through the Senate and House of Representatives, and now it’s getting the seal approval from President Obama.

Today The White House announced that Obama will sign the “Unlocking Consumer Choice and Wireless Competition Act” into law, which gives the right to unlock your phone after your contract is up and take it to another carrier.

One of the App Store’s most beloved to-do apps, Wunderlist, has received a major redesign and a ton of new features.

Wunderlist 3 boats a more polished design on desktop and mobile, new icon, 30 new backgrounds, real-time sync, smart lists, and new gestures. There’s an emphasis on collaboration for the app’s pro users, including unlimited task assigning, file uploads, and subtasks.

Who needs a tiny screen behind the seat in front of you when everyone has a smartphone or tablet?

Beginning today, Delta is rolling out free in-flight movies and TV shows for flyers through its Fly Delta app. The service is being called Delta Studio, and it follows the trend of other airlines like United delivering free content to flyers’ personal devices.

Dong Nguyen’s runaway viral hit mobile game, Flappy Bird, is back in a new form, but this time it’s only on Fire TV, Amazon’s answer to the Roku and Apple TV devices.

The new game, titled Flappy Birds: Family, is available now on the Amazon App Store, and seems to only work on the Fire TV as of this moment.

The game seems to have the same basic gameplay as the original (tap or click a button to flap the bird’s wings and avoid pipes), but adds ghosts as a new obstacle and a new multi-player feature.

“Flappy Birds now are on Amazon Fire TV,” says the app description, “with incredible new features: Person vs Person mode, more obstacles, more fun and still very hard. Enjoy playing the game at home (not breaking your TV) with your family and friends.”

Apple’s $3 billion acquisition of Beats was finalized this morning, and it’s up to Apple to determine what will happen to the hundreds of remaining Beats employees it hasn’t laid off.

Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine have already said that they’re joining Apple, and now it’s being reported that the head of Beats Music, Ian Rogers, will oversee iTunes Radio as well.

I was supposed to get a Roost to review last year after the successful Kickstarter went into production. I didn’t, but we fixed that at the beginning of this summer, and think God we did – this stand will change the way you use your MacBook.

The Roost is a crazy collapsible scaffold that unfolds from nothing to become a sturdy stand the holds the MacBook at eye-level. Assuming you combine it with regular breaks, and set your keyboard at the right height, you will never have to experience neck, arm or back pain ever again.

A new set of images of the the iPhone 6 home button flex cable have been leaked to Nowherelse.fr that show some of the changes coming to Apple’s new smartphones.

You could nearly build your own iPhone 6 with all the leaked components we’ve seen the last few weeks, but based on these alleged home button cables, the design of the new iPhone 6 won’t just be different from the iPhone 5s, but the the 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch iPhone 6s will also be very different from each other.

It’s Freebie Friday and that means that you can get a treasure trove of useful stuff for, you guessed it, free.

To download a Freebie, all you have to do is create an account at the Cult of Mac Deals store (that is, if you haven’t already). Then, follow Cult of Mac on either Twitter or Facebook, and share the deal on the social media network of your choice. It really is that easy. Read on to see what Cult of Mac Deals has in store today.

Apple today officially welcomed Beats Music and Beats Electronics to its family, along with Beats co-founders Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre, following its $3 billion takeover back in May.

“Music has always held a special place in our hearts, and we’re thrilled to join forces with a group of people who love it as much as we do,” reads an announcement on Apple.com, while those buying products from the Beats website will now be routed through the Apple Store.