I started German language school a few weeks back, and I was looking forward to testing out the Booqpad. The combination iPad case and paper notepad seemed ideal for using in class. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out. Not only is the case oddly tacky – especially weird given the build quality of Booq’s other gear – but it is awkward to use.

Apple has made yet more improvements to AirPlay in iOS 8 by enabling compatible devices to make direct connections with each other for content streaming. This eliminates AirPlay’s reliance on a Wi-Fi network and fixes one of its biggest limitations.

When it comes to Hollywood badassery I’m most excited about here in 2014, few flicks match up to Hercules — starring none other than Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.

Directed by Brett Ratner, and co-starring John Hurt, Ian McShane, Rufus Sewell and Joseph Fiennes, the movie looks leagues better than the disappointing Legends of Hercules film released earlier this year. The new trailer contains some great (if potentially spoiler-filled) moments: showing Hercules face off against all manner of mythological nasties, in addition to a PETA-baiting scene in which he kills an attacking lion and makes a stylish hat out of him.

Given that it’s only been around since Monday, it’s still early days for iOS 8. But that doesn’t mean the jailbreak community is resting — and if early indicators are to be believed, we might see a jailbreak for Apple’s latest mobile operating system sooner than expected.

While there are still no concrete examples of someone jailbreaking their device on iOS 8, well-known hacker i0n1c claimed in a recent tweet that the first beta of iOS 8 “doesn’t fix anything” and should therefore be breakable.

Microsoft has issued a system update to Xbox One which includes support for external storage, the ability for players to use real names on Xbox Live, and superior SmartGlass integration. To coincide with this, the company has also dropped a major update to Xbox One SmartGlass, its official iOS companion app of the latest generation of its video game console.

The update redesigns the Home section to make it more engaging for players. It additionally lets you see all your TV and app channels in the OneGuide, as well as giving you the ability to control your cable or satellite box and TV with a brand new universal remote control feature.

Back in the day it would have been entirely possible to draw a direct line between Apple and Joss Whedon’s Firefly TV series: both superb products with passionate fanbases, but largely ignored by the masses.

That might not be true for Apple today (or for Joss Whedon either), but when you’re dealing with two subjects like tech and sci-fi, some overlap is expected. That appears to be the case at Apple, where a member of the Swift team is clearly something of a Firefly fanboy — hiding a reference to the cult show in its documentation for Apple’s new programming language.

Apple might have been planning its entry into health-tracking for quite some time, but it may not have given quite so much thought to the name of its HealthKit platform, as recently announced at WWDC.

That’s because an Australian health startup with the same name has come forwards, and it’s none too pleased about Apple apparently borrowing its name for the API of its Health app.

“It is very flattering that they like our name, but I’m a little let down because how hard would it have been to spend five seconds to put HealthKit.com into their browser and find us?” Alison Hardacre, co-founder and managing director of HealthKit told Wired. “Everybody worries that Google or Apple will come into their space and their business will die, but no one thinks that company will come into that space and use the same name!”

Buzzwords fly in this 90-second recap of Apple’s impressive WWDC 2014 keynote, which offered a tantalizing glimpse at where the company plans to take us with iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite.

For more great WWDC video coverage, check out Cult of Mac’s YouTube channel. Subscribe for all the best Apple-related videos.

Finally … a stylish smartwatch!

Smart watches are cool, but very, very nerdy-looking. Not that being a nerd is off-putting, but you may not always want to send that message when someone looks at your wrist.

That’s why the COOKOO watch is so awesome. It gives you most of the functionality of any competing smart watch, and you can still wear it on a date without looking like you’re going to have Scotty beam you up out of the restaurant mid-meal. And you can get one for yourself for 23% off the regular price…just $99!

One of Steve Jobs’ biggest complaints about smartphones in the days before Apple created the iPhone was that they all had keyboards which were there whether or not you wanted them. Much the same has previously been true of previous iOS gamepads — which have either been clip-on phone cases in style, or else wireless controllers you need to carry around with you if you want to use them.

It’s this problem that Razer is attempting to solve with its new Junglecat accessory. Snapping onto your iPhone, the Razer Junglecat adds a slide-out gamepad that connects to your mobile device by way of the lighting port. While it adds a bit of heft to your ultra-thin iPhone (and obviously means that your lightning port remains occupied), it does mean that the gamepad itself can remain safely tucked away until you feel like using it.

As Apple has finally announced the long-awaited iOS 8, it’s only natural for users to be curious how it will affect their daily routines. With all new features and enhancements for your iOS device, in today’s video see what’s coming this fall, and what we think about it.

Take a look at the video to see what you think.

We’re still busying digesting all the new stuff Tim Cook and Craig Federighi announced yesterday with iOS 8, and even though we’re ridiculously excited about major backend features like HomeKit, iCloud Photo Library and Metal, 24 hours of tinkering around with the OS has revealed a lot of hidden gems that went unmentioned.

Along with the host of new iOS 8 features, Jony Ive and the Human Interface team have been busy adding dozens of tiny tweaks to the UI as well as tossing in a few smaller features you probably didn’t notice.

Take a look at these 11 tweaks Apple sneaked into iOS 8 without telling anyone:

As a professional game developer, the big news coming out of Apple’s WWDC keynote wasn’t Swift or iCloud Drive — it was Metal.

In an onstage demo, Epic showed off the power of its Unreal engine after it had been modified to make use of this new Apple framework. Hundreds of fish reacted dynamically to a finger drawn on the screen. Leaves were shaken from a tree, and butterflies flew through the screen.

It was a very pretty demo. But what does it mean for the games you’ll be playing on your iOS device?

In all the recent Batman games (Arkham City, Arkham Asylum, Arkham Origins), I’ve always thrilled to Bat-grapple my way to the rooftops, occasionally base-jumping down to glide-kick some nasty thug just asking for that special brand of Bat-justice.

There’s always been one thing missing, though: The Batmobile.

The folks at Rocksteady Games have remedied this sad fact in the latest game in the series, Batman: Arkham Knight, and are showing off a car-porn-filled new trailer to whet our appetite. Check out this bad boy below.

In the not-so-distant future, we’ll use smartphones to control nearly everything around our homes. We already have smart light bulbs, thermostats, locks and appliances, but we lack a central platform for all these devices.

That’s all going to change this fall when Apple releases iOS 8 with HomeKit, an important new protocol for developers. This will create the kind of universal platform that could revolutionize home automation.

Instagram was the golden standard for not only sharing, but shooting mobile photography in its early days. But since then, more complex tools like VSCO Cam and Camera+ have come onto the scene. Nowadays, getting the perfect photo isn’t often as simple as just tapping a filter.

Today Instagram is releasing a big update in an attempt to tap into the evolved state of iPhoneography it has been missing out on. New editing tools are being added that let you adjust brightness, contrast, saturation, and more.

Monday’s fantastic WWDC keynote was the most significant product introduction since Steve Jobs unveiled the original iPad in 2010. But this time, the revolutionary product wasn’t hardware — it was software.

The surprisingly well-executed event demonstrated two things:

1. Steve Jobs’ greatest product wasn’t the iPad or the Macintosh, but Apple itself. He created a company that can very clearly innovate without him.

2. Although there was no new hardware (for now), Apple’s trajectory is clear: It’s getting into some very big things.

Great presentations are about the ideas, not the slides. Yet, most people spend more than half their time making slides rather than honing their message. Cult of Mac Deals has assembled a bundle that will help you make the most of your presentations, enhancing your reputation as a top-notch presenter in the process!

The Powerful Presentation Bundle features 4 e-learning courses that will help you take your Keynote presenting skills to greater heights. Whether you want to add polish to your Keynote presentations, build up your skills when speaking in public, or perfect your pitch, this bundle has you covered. And we’ve got it at 83% off the regular price — only $79 — during this limited time offer.

Apple finally fixed photography on iOS. Or rather, it’s fixed organizing your photos, wherever they might be. The iPhone is already a great camera. The problem was everything that happened after you tapped the shutter.

Now, in iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite, you’ll never have to worry about organizing your photos again — they’ll be everywhere, all the time. And best of all? It looks like you’re never going to need iPhoto again, on the Mac or on your iPad.

Thousands upon thousands of apps get submitted to the App Store each year, but only a select few end up being honored with an Apple Design Award. The most beautiful, well-designed apps get crowned by Apple annually at WWDC.

“The developers of these exceptional apps combined design and technology in creative, compelling and powerful ways,” according to Apple. 2014’s winners include games we’ve featured on Cult of Mac like Leo’s Fortune and Monument Valley. If you’re looking to try some new apps, these 12 are the ones to get.

When I opened the (huge) shipping box that brought the new Boa Flow to Cult of Mac’s German HQ, I thought I’d hate it (the bag, not the box). But it turned out to be one of my favorite bags for lugging a lot of gear with me.

The Boa Flow is made for “creative professionals.” That is, it’s for anyone who needs to carry computers, cameras, headphones and other accessories, and to this end it had zillions of pockets and storage sections. The best part is that there are many options for every kind of item. You can put your MacBook in the separate slot by your back, for example, or you can slip it into a pocket in the main chamber.

When the Yosemite posters first went up in Moscone Center ahead of  WWDC, a thought lodged in my brain that continued to tumble around all weekend: Apple drew inspiration for the name of the new OS from David Hockney.

It’s not as much of a stretch as it sounds. After all, Hockney recently had a major show at San Francisco’s de Young Museum, where he debuted a series of 12-foot-high tributes to Yosemite National Park made with an iPad. The big, bold, bright works with clear blues and greens were absolute show-stealers.

Apple kept its cards close to its chest about the forthcoming iPhone 6 at yesterday’s WWDC keynote (and why wouldn’t it?), but new information has arrived in the form of a report from China.

This information suggests that Apple has been able to solve the battery issues that reportedly plagued production of its expected 5.5-inch iPhone 6, and that the company is on course to ship 20 millions of these handsets in 2014 alone. The news states that Apple is partnering with the China-based Sunwoda Electronics to manufacture batteries for all of these devices — with each battery costing roughly $6.40. Apple’s regular battery supplier, Dynapack, will also help fill the order.

JJ Abrams eagerly-anticipated Star Wars Episode VII has announced two new intriguing casting decisions: adding actresses Lupita Nyong’o and Gwendoline Christie to the fold.

Nyong’o is best known to movie fans as an Academy Award winner for her role in the recent 12 Years a Slave, while Christie plays Game of Thrones badass Brienne of Tarth. Although Nyong’o had been previously rumored for a role in the movie, Christie’s casting is a surprise.

Despite pulling various Bitcoin trading apps from the App Store, Apple hasn’t previously made clear its stance on virtual currencies and how it plans to handle them in future.

Following the unveiling of iOS 8 at yesterday’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), the company has issued a revised set of its App Store Review Guidelines, complete with a section specifically dealing with virtual currencies. If we’re interpreting it correctly, it appears that Apple will accept apps for review which deal in the transmission of digital funds — at least to a degree.