iOS 8 introduces many convenient features and enhancements designed to make your iPhone even easier to use. Among these is keyboard update QuickType and support for installing third-party keyboards on iPhones, iPads and iPod touches. In today’s video, we’ll show you exactly how third-party keyboards work — and how they will change your interactions with your device for the better.
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Google’s keynote presentation at its I/O developer’s conference today offered a revealing picture of the company itself: meandering, unfocused, copycat and just a little bit evil.
The two-hours-plus keynote had a lot of everything, from a new version of Android to new phones, smartwatches, TVs, cars, Chromebooks and big data — but much of it was deja vu from Apple’s WWDC two weeks ago.
After giving the world a glimpse at Android Wear back in March, Google has finally revealed its new OS meant for wearables. Android Wear, detailed Wednesday at the Google I/O conference in San Francisco, is a true OS for smartwatches that will offer many advanced features like synced notifications, the ability to control other devices around you and constant display of relevant information based on the wearer’s location.
Unless Apple surprises the world with the speedy release of its long-rumored iWatch, it looks like Android Wear smartwatches will win the race for wrist supremacy. In other words, they’ll be your first “iWatch.” Here’s what the Google-powered devices will offer.
Siri: “How long should a keynote last?”
As anyone who watched Wednesday’s nearly three-hour livestream of the Google I/O kickoff, the answer to that question should be 90 minutes or less.
As the event dragged on, the tone on Twitter went from restrained interest about Google’s somewhat underwhelming announcements to reports of sleeping reporters and jabs at the ponderous presentation’s length. “Apple just launched a keynote shortener,” tweeted Dave Pell.
Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1 is coming to theaters this November, and the propaganda public relations machinery is getting in its first swing.
In a new trailer posted on YouTube Wednesday and embedded below, you’ll get to see Donald Sutherland as President Snow, the creepy dictator-like leader of Panem, the totalitarian state that runs the teens-killing-teens Hunger Games as a way to control the means of production via fear and sweeping promises of security.
It’s a creepy trailer that looks like a propaganda film, with President Snow mouthing platitudes and a brainwashed Peeta Mellark, played by Josh Hutcherson, standing at Snow’s right hand, staring up into the sky (or ceiling).
3-D scanning is set to get a whole lot more user-friendly, thanks to a new app from visual technology company Itseez.
Called Itseez3D, the just-launched free iPad app works with the $499 Occipital Structure sensor, which launched on Kickstarter in the fall of 2013 and went on to raise more than $1.2 million. Using the app and sensor, you can scan an object simply by circling it with your iPad — and then send this scan directly to SketchFab, a browser-based 3D design viewer and online portfolio.
Before the AeroPress, there was the moka pot, or cafetera as it’s called in Spain. There is at least one cafetera in every Spanish kitchen, and if you want a quick fix of something strong and good, it’s your go-to coffee gadget. Not bad for something invented way back in 1933.
I’ve had a moka since I first saw one in action a couple decades ago. Up until I bought an AeroPress, I used a moka every day, never tiring of its old-school charm and serious wake-me-up taste. But what is a moka exactly, and why is it so good?
Is Apple’s $3 billion acquisition of Beats Music a potential antitrust case? European Union antitrust regulators announced this morning that it will rule on whether or not to clear Apple’s Beats music bid by July 30.
It is hoped that the deal will help Apple gain the lead in the rapidly-growing and lucrative music streaming business. The European Commission has the power to either clear the Beats deal unconditionally, or else demand concessions if it sees competition issues.
When it was released in August last year as a free-to-play game, Plants vs. Zombies 2: It’s About Time shipped with three distinct worlds and countless new plants and zombies.
But for lovers of the first game, all of the new levels, plants and enemies in Plants vs. Zombies 2 didn’t make it a total improvement over its predecessor. Notably, many of the plants from the first game — including all of the nocturnal plants — were missing.
Luckily, Plants vs. Zombies 2 is being constantly updated, and the latest update adds the nocturnal plants back to the game in a new world, appropriately called the Dark Ages.
iOS 7’s Notification Center is useful, but Apple’s made a number of improvements in iOS 8. For one thing, they dropped the ‘Missed’ tab, which was always next to useless. There’s also support for third-party widgets in Today View, as well as interactive notifications and the ability to individually dismiss notifications that are no longer applicable.
They are all good changes, but unfortunately, you need to wait until September to make use of them… that is, unless you have a jailbroken phone, in which case, a simple tweak is all you need to get an iOS 8-style Notification Center today.
Glenn Jones didn’t set out to build a one-man T-shirt empire. The Aukland, New Zealand-based designer and illustrator started emblazoning tees with his visual witticisms on Threadless in 2004 and then hit the virtual shelves with his own store featuring just six designs in 2008.
He now sells more than 100 designs at Glennz Tees — you may remember his Melting Rubik’s Cube worn by Sheldon Cooper on The Big Bang Theory — all of which look as home at South by Southwest as they do at your favorite watering hole.
Google will make several big announcements during its Google I/O keynote today — and one of them will almost certainly be about Android TV.
Sources familiar with the plans claim we’ll see “at least one” set-top box powered by the search giant’s latest entertainment platform during the event. In addition to playing movies and music, they’ll also allow users to play Android games through their TVs.
With a much larger screen size, the iPhone 6 may be the most radical redesign of Apple’s smartphone ever. But with such a major redesign in the works, there’s a lot that can go wrong, and it looks like something already has: according to reports, defects in the iPhone 6’s metal chassis could lead to short supply of enough devices to go around when it launches in September.
I recently wrote about an upcoming game that re-imagines SNK Playmore’s The King of Fighters as an, um, music-based beat-em-up, called The Rhythm of Fighters. As a huge fan of the franchise (and the proud owner of a 4 CD compilation of the series’ various soundtracks) I was intrigued by the idea — even if it is a major departure from what we’re used to.
Jump forward a week and the game has now landed in the App Store, priced $0.99.
Slingshot, Facebook’s new Snapchat competitor, has today been made available internationally on Android and iOS. The free service, which first made its debut in the U.S. last week, allows users to send “shots” containing pictures or videos to each other — but only after they’ve sent a shot back.
SAN FRANCISCO — In a city obsessed with parking, app developers who came up with disruptive ideas to turn vacant spots into cash found their apps targeted by local officials. But the crackdown might be unnecessary: So far, the sharing economy seems to stall when it comes to auctioning off parking spots.
Cult of Mac offices are in the Mission District, epicenter of the parking crunch, so we took MonkeyParking and Sweetch — two of the “predatory” apps named in a cease-and-desist letter from San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera — for a spin.
Common sense would dictate that Apple should release the iPhone 6 right around the time that iPhone 5 early adopters’ two-year phone contracts run out — which would mean a mid-September launch.
For the second time in two months, a source has come forward claiming to know the release date Apple has its eye on, and it “reconfirms” the date given by Deutsche Telekom’s support representatives back in May.
Apple’s constantly evolving set of Apple Store policies cracked down on apps earlier this month that incentivize users to watch crappy video ads for certain rewards. Two weeks later and Apple has already reversed course.
Developers who monetize their apps by offering rewards for sharing to social sites or viewing videos ads were sent packing by Apple’s Review Team, but according to a report from TechCrunch, Apple had a change of heart and is allowing those apps back in the App Store, but there’s a catch.
There’s nothing more boring than going on a road trip without entertainment for the ride. While the iPad is good for storing all your favorite movies and television shows, when squeezed into your car there’s no convenient way to hold the tablet for hours on end. In today’s video, we review Speck Products’ Showfolio case for the iPad mini, the perfect remedy to this common problem. Simply snap your iPad into the case and hook it onto your car’s headrest: Your mobile movie theater is set to go.
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Tim Cook and Craig Federighi took a few swipes at Android during WWDC’s keynote, but now that Google is readying its hype machine for Google I/O tomorrow, Sundar Pichai, the head of Android, tossed a few jabs Apple’s way in an interview with Bloomberg this morning.
Pichai noted that all the data points to people adopting Android faster than any other operating system, but the dude’s so gosh darn nice, he couldn’t insult Apple without flattering them in the same breath.
Addressing Tim Cook’s comments that Android is a “toxic hell stew of vulnerabilities,” Pichai said it’s difficult to compare the two, because iOS is like the $100,000 Mercedes Benz of mobile platforms, and Android is like your cheap ass Honda Civic, taking over the world one delicious dessert fueled update at a time.
With the World Cup in full swing, our latest video takes a look at apps that will help you get the most out of 2014’s biggest sporting event. Score these top apps and you’ll get everything from games to news.
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With summertime here in the northern hemisphere, it’s definitely time to get outdoors and sample all that the world has to offer.
Of course, if Steam or GoG.com have anything to say about it, you’ll stay inside working on your pasty complexion playing all these amazing games for very little money.
Both gaming digital distribution platforms have their respective summer sales on right now, and you can grab some amazing games without emptying your wallet. All of the games below are playable on Mac or PC, so pick your poison.
Just lay off the sunscreen, ok?
Assimilating into the mothership’s culture isn’t easy (just ask John Browett) but Angela Ahrendts looks well on her way to becoming one of the regulars at Apple HQ.
The recently hired retail chief has only been at Apple for two months, but in a recent blog post, the former Burberry CEO says she’s learned a few tips transitioning from London and the fashion industry to Silicon Valley’s tech scene, and she’s ready to divulge her wisdom to anyone disoriented during the first 90 days of a new job.
Here are three tips she has on how to assimilate and thrive during a transition:
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Like most, you probably capture all of your life’s significant moments by taking video with your smartphone. Likely, the majority of those shots end up being riddled with bumps and shakes that render the subject of your video a blurry mess. Well, say goodbye to the blurs and shakes thanks to the iStabilizer Dolly, available now at the low cost of $38.99 from Cult of Mac Deals.
The iStabilizer Dolly attaches to your smartphone providing it with a smooth ride to take professional looking panning and tracking shots. All you need in a flat surface for the iStabilizer Dolly to ride on and you’ve got shots that look like they are out of a Hollywood blockbuster!
