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Apple’s iPhablet might cost you an extra $100

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Apple is definitely making a big screen iPhone that will launch this fall, the only question is how much extra is it going to cost you?

Fanboys are notoriously willing to pay an extra Apple Tax for Macs, but some analysts are worried a bigger iPhone with bigger price tag will chase some away. Those fears will probably prove to be unrealized though according to a survey by Raymond James that claims most of Apple’s potential iPhablet customers are totally cool shelling out $100 more.

Daily Show ‘investigates’ why people hate Google Glassholes

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Google Glass “explorers” have not integrated well into society.

There have been bar fights, street fights and subway nightmares thanks to the awkward face computers unleashed by Google, but Sarah Slocum and a group of Glassholes are convinced they’ve been unfairly targeted in hate crimes that had nothing to do with being a rude techies.

The Daily Show sent Jason Jones to investigate the group’s claims, who in turned tried to convert Jones with the joys of browsing the internet on your face. Jones of course had to try to the tech for himself, but at $1500 a pop, opted for a more homemade solution.

Watch the hilarious segment below:

Best places to score deals on the iPhone, iPad or MacBook Air

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Photo: Apple

Scoring a sweet deal on an iPhone directly from Apple is nearly impossible. Luck for us, a bunch of Cupertino’s retail partners aren’t afraid to cut some dinero off its price-tag to try to get you in the store. But which store is best for Apple deals?

To locate the top places to get deals on Apple products, DealNews tracked several years worth of deals for the iPhone, iPad, and 11-inch MacBook Air and discovered that certain retailers offer consistently better deals on one specific product. Many of the big name retailers are great for iPhones deals, but you might be the surprised where to look for the best iPad and MacBook Air bargains.

Here are the best places to score a deal for each Apple product:

Create a killer website with The Name Your Own Price WordPress Theme Bundle [Deals]

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Cult of Mac Deals has partnered with one of the world’s best WordPress theme developers to bring you the first-ever Name Your Own Price WordPress Theme Bundle!

You pay what you want for Bloggap, Legalized, and ThemeTick and if you pay more than the average price, you’ll receive all 15 themes in the bundle. That means you’ll get 15 WordPress themes valued at $825 at a price that you set with The Name your Own Price WordPress Theme Bundle!

Siri’s favorite table-reservation system gets bought for $2.6 billion

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Scott Forstall introduces Siri's newfound ability to book tables, back in 2012
Scott Forstall introduces Siri's ability to book tables at WWDC 2012.

Hotel booking giant Priceline.com will acquire OpenTable, the online reservation service for restaurants that provides Siri’s table-booking functionality.

Priceline is set to pay a massive $2.6 billion as part of the all-cash deal, which breaks down as $103 per share — or 46 percent above the publicly traded OpenTable’s closing price Thursday.

iOS 8 makes time-lapse video easy, plus our iPads need some Nintendo on The CultCast

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OMG y’all, it’s CultCast time. This week we bring to thee some more cool iOS 8 features you didn’t hear about at WWDC, plus we’ll tell you all about the new time-lapse video feature we’ve been playing with. Then, with rumors swirling that fall will bring us an iWatch, we have to wonder what features and price point would make us want one adorning our wrists. All that plus Apple’s marketing arm gets major renovations, and in honor of this week’s E3, we say why Nintendo absolutely needs to bring Mario to iOS to survive!

Cheerfully guffaw 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 uproarious good time commence.

Our thanks to Slingbox for supporting this episode! Slingbox, the best way to watch your TV anywhere, and brings your cable set-top box, satellite receiver or DVR, right to your favorite mobile device, wherever you are in the world. With no monthly fees. Check it out at Slingbox.com/cult, and get $50 off plus free shipping on a new Slingbox.


Devs dish on what’s hot about iOS 8, OS X Yosemite and Swift

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SAN FRANCISCO -- While Apple watchers tuned into last week's Worldwide Developers Conference keynote for a look at where the company might be headed, coders at the annual convention were getting a look at the current state of the art when it comes to the company's software.

Cult of Mac asked developers from around the world who were in town for WWDC (or its indie sibling, AltConf) what they thought about changes coming in iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite. We also asked them about their favorite apps as well as their views on Swift, the new programming language Apple introduced at WWDC. Get their takes in the gallery above.

SAN FRANCISCO -- While Apple watchers tuned into last week's Worldwide Developers Conference keynote for a look at where the company might be headed, coders at the annual convention were getting a look at the current state of the art when it comes to the company's software.

Cult of Mac asked developers from around the world who were in town for WWDC (or its indie sibling, AltConf) what they thought about changes coming in iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite. We also asked them about their favorite apps as well as their views on Swift, the new programming language Apple introduced at WWDC. Get their takes in the gallery above.


What’s your take on iOS 8, Swift and OS X Yosemite?

Got your own favorite features in Apple’s latest releases? Let us know in the comments below.

Photos: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Tweetbot for iPhone lets you post and view multiple images

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If you use Twitter a lot on your iPhone, you’ve probably heard of the Tweetbot app, a popular iOS Twitter client that was recently redesigned from the ground up for iOS 7.

Now in its third incarnation, Tweetbot 3 has just received a big update, adding a fistful of handy new features — including support for posting and viewing multiple images (although Tweetbot’s creators point out that these won’t show up on streaming timelines until Twitter adds support).

The app update also means that image detail views show the corresponding tweet when relevant, while Instagram videos are marked with a new “play” icon to make the user interface clearer.

Taking aim at Apple over chemicals

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Elizabeth O’Connell is waging war on Apple from an iPhone 5C with a cracked screen.

O’Connell, campaigns director for Green America, is part of an 80-strong group of environmental and human rights groups that recently fired off a 17-page letter to Apple’s vice president of environmental affairs Lisa Jackson. At the core of the question are known carcinogens, benzene and n-hexane, the chemicals that make your iPhone screen so shiny.

As former head of the Environmental Protection Agency Jackson, protest organizers say, should know better. The effort is part of Green America’s “Bad Apple” campaign, which features a mock app. At this writing, over 2,000 people have signed up for the “app,” which sends an email to Apple asking to cut the noxious chemicals. Organizers say another 20,000 people have signed a traditional online petition.

Apple’s new exchange program targets faulty European iPhone adapters

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Apple has launched an exchange program in 36 countries for certain models of its 5W European USB power adapter, saying that there is a risk that they might overheat and pose a safety risk.

Identified as Model A1300, the affected adapters originally came packaged with iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, and iPhone 4s models which shipped between October 2009 and September 2012. Apple is letting owners of these chargers replace them with new adapters in participating Apple Authorized Service Providers. Replacements will be made so long as the corresponding iPhone serial number is verified.

Group photo app adds new twist to Snapchat’s disappearing act

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Pikichat could be the next Snapchat. The idea behind the new photo app is ingeniously straightforward: Simply take a picture and then share it among a group of family members or friends. Like Snapchat, the picture will only stay up for a limited amount of time, but unlike Snapchat it will remain there until it is replaced by a new image.

Every time a person sends a new photo, it replaces the existing one. Group conversations take the form of the most recent photo added, with everyone possessing the ability to draw on the photo or add comments.

Angela Ahrendts appears at Tokyo Apple Store opening

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Photo: Mac Otakara/Twitter
Photo: Mac Otakara/Twitter

SVP of Retail Angela Ahrendts made her first official public appearance as an Apple executive at the Friday opening of Apple’s tony new store in Tokyo, Japan.

Ahrendts posed for photos with fans who had turned up to see the opening of the upscale Omotesando Apple Store. Other Apple execs at the event included Retail Real Estate and Development Vice President Bob Bridger, Worldwide Apple Retail International sales VP Steve Cano and Online Stores VPs Jennifer Bailey and Bob Kupbens.

Hands on: iOS 8 spreads the love with Family Sharing

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Purchasing media across iTunes accounts can fuel household arguments. Add in parents having to share their Apple IDs and passwords with children, and you’ve got a perfect recipe for irritation. In today’s hands-on video, we’ll give you a look at a new iOS 8 feature called Family Sharing, which remedies these common problems.

Family Sharing lets up to six people share movies, music, TV shows, books and apps purchased from iTunes, iBooks and the App Store. It also offers other useful features, like photo and calendar sharing. See how it all works in the video above.

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

Apple expands human curation in European App Stores

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When browsing the App Store, it’s easy to get lost in an endless sea of apps. Apple tries to make it easier to find the best apps with a team of editors that handpick the best options in different categories, like productivity and health.

In Europe, Apple now has editors curating seven more categories of the App Store, reports The Guardian. Adding more kinds of apps that are curated puts European App Stores on a closer level to the U.S. and Canada, where every category has human editors.

Get great savings on killer apps during Mac App Madness [Deals]

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Cult of Mac Deals has cooked up great savings on a slew of killer Mac apps – apps that will foster the writer in you, bring out the best in your photos, and compress files like a champ.

For a limited time you can get the award-winning Scrivener 2 for just $20, a valuable addition to your photo tools arsenal in FaceFilter3 Pro for only $49, and StuffIt Deluxe, an app that lets you easily compress, secure and send files for the low price of $9.99.

Kites trump drones for aerial-photography bliss

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Fakarava is the second largest Atoll in the Tuamotu archipelago, an hours flight North Est of Tahiti. Population of 473 and only one hotel the Maitai Dream. The french painter Matisse was inspired by Fakarava in 1932 when he discovered the incredible palette of "blues".

Go fly a kite. Marketing exec Pierre Lesage finds the practice relaxing after a busy week overseeing operations at eight hotels. It’s also perfect for shooting photos.

“Since the drones came out a few years ago, kite aerial photography lost interest for a few photographers that are just looking for photographic results,” says Lesage. “I am also looking for results but I need that poetic aspect of doing it with a kite, and as long as there is wind I never have problem with batteries.”

Quadcopters are a thrill but flying kites is the zen alternative — and the photographic results are postcard perfect. It’s a way to mix tinkering with fresh air and can be as easy as picking up a prefab rig or as complicated as diving into the world of schematics and solder.

Good vibrations: KOR-FX vest puts you into the game

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The KOR-FX Vest modeled by an actress at the E3 booth. Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac
The KOR-FX Vest modeled by an actress at the E3 booth. Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac

LOS ANGELES — Drop this tactical-style vest onto your shoulders and fasten it high on your chest, and you’re suddenly feeling the action. Using audio-based haptic technology (the kind of rumbling vibrations that you’ll find in any video gaming controller), the KOR-FX turns the audio in the game into rumbles you can feel.

The makers of this new gaming peripheral have a few prototypes set up on the show floor at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles this week, and they’ll let all comers come and try a demo.

“Some people want to wear this thing lower on their chest, but up high is what stimulates the limbic system,” Seth Fandetti, CEO of Immerz (the makers of the KOR-FX) told us onsite at the expo. “It’s more than just feeling bullets hit you; it’s a whole immersive experience.”

Halftone 2 turns your family snaps into a comic book movie

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“Meanwhile, back in the dungeons beneath Cult of Mac headquarters, an Apple-loving blogger tested out a new app…”

If you’re a fan of comic books (and, let’s face it, who isn’t?) the idea of transforming your personal photo gallery into a comic strip, complete with captions and onomatopoeic sound effects, is pretty tantalizing.

That’s the concept behind Juicy Bits’ comic-style photo-editing app Halftone 2, which has just received an exciting update, adding support for video that lets you turn your comic into a full-motion slideshow, complete with customized camera movement, sound effects, and music score.

Use these apps to get iOS 8’s great new photo features now

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iOS 8 packs in a bunch of great new photo features, in both the Camera app and the Photos app. You now get a lot more control over your photography at the front end, with manual exposure and even a time-lapse mode, and you can edit and find your photos with a little more precision than before.

iOS 8 is still a few months out, but you don’t have to wait: Use these currently available apps to add all these new functions to your iPhone (or iPad) today.