Fancy being able to use fingerprints to enable payment verification on PayPal for making purchases?
Having announced that feature with the Samsung Galaxy S5 at Mobile World Congress back In February, PayPal finally debuted that integration today — letting users in 25 different countries login to PayPal by simply placing one of their chubby digits on their brand new phone’s fingerprint sensor.
Back in the heady days of 1996 — when Apple shares were worth less than the cost of a VHS tape of Independence Day — one of the many awful ideas the company came up with was to latch onto the then-popular trend for theme restaurants, by announcing the debut of Apple Computer cybercafes.
These were supposed to start in Los Angeles, before eventually spreading over the entire world.
Needless to say, they never happened — but if they had done, they may have served pizzas bearing the face of Apple’s co-founder Steve Jobs. (Or possibly not, since he wasn’t with the company at the time.)
Either way, if you’ve been waiting for the past two decades to finally have an edible snack in the form of Apple’s late co-founder and CEO, you may want to buy a plane ticket to take you to Papa’s Pizza restaurant in Puerto Rico, where pizza artist Wilhelm Rodriguez can whip you up a pizza pie like the above.
Have a great app idea written down in a notebook that would make you a millionaire if only you could turn it into a working prototype? (Sure you do!)
Marvel is a great iPhone app that lets you take sketches and turn them into a free prototype, by applying “hotspots” to your images and then letting you link these hotspots with other photos to create a demo you can tap your way through.
Got a tough, possibly life-changing ethical decision to make? Why not make your iPhone part of the decision-making process?
A recently released app called Ethical Decision Making lets you work through your options by prompting you to identify the people who have a stake in your decision, consider your options through five different ethical perspectives, weigh different approaches, and score and rank potential decisions.
When last summer solstice we heard tell of the legend that Microsoft was planning to bring ye olde strategy franchise Age of Empires to iOS, we did rejoice greatly.
Today scouts from the Pacific Northwest (read: Redmond, WA) have traveled to bring tidings, and moving pictures, of the game known as Age of Empires: World Domination.
I like this Hammerhead Lightning cable for two reasons: it’s red, and the cable is flat. Actually, make that three reasons – it’s called the Hammerhead, like the frikkin shark.
Gusto is yet another iPhone email app that promises to fix your email, and it looks pretty good. It’s Gmail-only and iPhone-only, and its gimmick is that it separates your mail messages into categories according to their attachments. It also has killer search capabilities.
There’s something totally perverse about putting a crappy Lomo lens on your Leica M-series camera. After all, the Leica might be a glorious box which makes it super easy to take great pictures, but it really is just a box for holding Leica’s extraordinary lenses.
Thankfully, the new Lomo Russar+ also fits other bodies, using adapter mounts.
Ever looked at a column of numbers on your Mac’s screen and wished that they would just add themselves together already? I do. Ever since my “special” cat died, I’ve been adding things up manually.
My cat, who was called “Rain Cat,” used to take one look at a page full of numbers, twitch its cute little head a few times, and then tap out the answer with its paw. Admittedly, getting the answer usually took longer than doing it myself on a pocket calculator, and sometimes Rain Cat would fall asleep in the middle of a particularly long answer, but it was pretty convenient most of the time.
Now, Rain Cat can be replaced with Brett Terpstra’s Total Number service.
Here’s how to do Spotify voice search on the iPhone or iPad.
Alternatively you can buy the new Vela app for $0.99, and skip all the tedious screen tapping.
Oh man, I just can’t wait for this week to be over. First the entire Internet turns out to have been broken for the last two years. Then Dropbox hires Condoleezza “Cruella de Vil” Rice to help out with security. And now Amazon has bought out ComiXology, the digital comic book store/platform.
I’m ready for the weekend.
T-Mobile’s new deal on LTE iPads is a doozy. The ‘Uncarrier’ is shaking things up again by offering LTE iPads for the price of their WiFi-only counterparts. And on top of that, more free data is involved.
Apple released a new update for its iMovie for Mac video editing software today that adds a number of tweaks, bug fixes, and a small sampling of new features.
iMovie version 10.0.3 is the third small update since the app was received a big update last fall, but new improvements are mostly minor with new sorting options, adjustable font sizes and colors, and better speed effects.
Here’s a rundown of the changes:
Heartbleed sent the web reeling with the discovery that the catastrophic security hole quietly left passwords and other private data open for the taking on nearly 66% of the Internet’s servers. Luckily for Apple customers, iOS and OS X were never vulnerable to Heartbleed but some of the most popular sites and services on the Internet weren’t so lucky.
Many companies are still working to patch their hole, but Mashable has compiled a list of the biggest sites hit by Heartbleed. There’s no way to tell if your info was actually snatched by attackers, but if you have account on the following sites that were affected and subsequently patched, you should change your password ASAP:
Fancy building your own glittering high-tech utopia, or a bustling cosmopolitan metropolis?
Either way, gamers will be happy to know that SimCity 4 Deluxe Edition today became available for download, exclusively in the Mac App Store. Combining both SimCity 4 and the Rush Hour expansion pack — which adds bonus disasters like UFO attacks and Autosaurus Wrecks — the game is a steal at $19.99.
Apple has confirmed that none of its products, including web services like iCloud.com, are vulnerable to the nasty Heartbleed web bug that was recently uncovered.
Heartbleed allows hackers to intercept sensitive traffic and steal information like logins from websites using OpenSSL encryption. So when you visit a website with a little padlock in the address bar and think you’re safe, you maybe aren’t.
“Imperfections are not inadequacies; they are reminders that we’re all in this together.” ― Brené Brown
Help us make the magazine better by chiming in to report anything that needs fixing or can be improved.
Some of the improvements on the upcoming version of the app were suggested by readers, so give us a shout if you have a wish list.
And, if you enjoy Cult of Mac Magazine, please give us a review.
Credits
Publisher Leander Kahney
Editor Nicole Martinelli
Cover design Rob LeFebvre
Contributors Evan Killham, Buster Heine, Luke Dormehl, Rob LeFebvre and Cult of Mac staffers.
@2014 Cult of Media Corp. Produced using Packagr and the Baker Framework.
Thule’s Gauntlet case for the iPhone 5s is a slim, stylish snap-on cover that offers plenty of protection. Just like its big brother, a thin folio that will effectively protect an iPad Air, the Gauntlet employs a molded texture for grip and durability.
The iPhone case provides plenty of access to all buttons, ports and cameras. It comes in black, turquoise or pink, and it will protect your device without making it too big and bulky.
One of the Gauntlet’s best features, however, is its slender price tag. Available from MyBanana, it costs less than £16 ($27) — and it’s worth every penny.
Family Guy is one of the most popular comedy shows on television nowadays. While people everywhere can watch the show, the creators behind the show have made games for fans to enjoy as well. The new app Family Guy: The Quest For Stuff is an interactive touch based game full of fun quests, funny dialogue and much more. After Peter fights the giant chicken and accidentally destroys Quahog it’s your job to help build it back up to what it once was. Do you think you have the skills to help restore Quahog?
Take a look at the video and see what you think.
Rather than slogging through a lake of reviews to find something you’re just going to put down after 10 minutes, Cult of Mac has once again waded through the iTunes store to compile a list of the best new albums, books and movies to come out this week.
Enjoy!
Sage the Gemini – Remember Me
Los Angeles is getting a lot of credit for the west coast’s rap resurgence thanks to Kendrick Lamar, YG, and the A$AP crew, but Sage the Gemini would like to turn your attention to the Bay Area this week with his debut album that has everything from hopping instructional dance floor drills like Gas Pedal and College Drop to your bravado tracks, while also exploring Sage’s variety combined and garrulous charm.
iTunes – $9.99
Todd Terje – It’s Album Time
I fell hard. It took me just 30 seconds to love, love, love Todd Terje’s new album. The other 3,520 seconds weren’t bad either as Terje mixes a delicious cocktail of disco and surf tone instrumentals. It’s kind of like elevator music, only really fun danceable elevator music.
iTunes – $9.99
EMA – The Future’s Void
Erika M. Anderson, better known by her stage name EMA, perked ears up with her debut album Past Life Martyred Saints due to the brutal intimacy of her songs, but with her latest effort, The Future’s Void, EMA goes for something new by turning her focus to things and issues rather than the people she cut herself off from in the first album.
iTunes – $9.99
The Wrong Enemy: America in Afghanistan, 2001-2014
by Carlotta Gall
Many many books will yet be written about the war in Afghanistan, but few will have a deeper personal acquaintance with Afghanistan and Pakistan New York Times correspondent Carlotta Gall who has been reporting from the area for almost the entire duration of the American invasion. Now that the U.S. is on its way out, Gall’s book outlines how we’ve been fighting the wrong enemy, in the wrong country.
iTunes – $18.99
The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry
by Gabrielle Zevin
The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry, the third novel from Gabrielle Zevin, is about a 39-year-old widower named A.J., a cranky drunkard with a bookstore in shambles, but mostly it’s about reading. Each chapter starts with the title of short story or book and note from A.J. that introduces each new character along with what they read, using literature as his prism for judgement.
iTunes – $11.99
The Divide
by Matt Taibbi
The yawning economic gap has promised to be a huge issue coming up in this year’s midterm elections which makes Matt Taibbi’s new book, The Divide: American Injustice in the Age of the Wealth Gap a timely read if you’re curious about two alarming trends – growing wealth inequality and mass incarceration.
iTunes – $13.99
Philomena
Philomena is based on the incredible true story of British journalist Martin Sixsmith, who reluctantly decides to accompany Philomena Lee on her search to find the son who was taken from her at a convent 50 years ago. The film could’ve been a sentimental nightmare in other hands, but thanks to the stellar cast, journey is both smart, funny and heartfelt.
iTunes – $14.99
Ride Along
I usually find Kevin Hart’s hyperactive comedy riffs too exhaustive to be enjoyable, but tempered against the stone- cold attitude of Ice Cube he’s pretty great. Here in Ride Along, the two actors are a police duo out on ride-along designed to scare the hell out of Hart’s character so he’ll stop foolin’ around with Cube’s sister.
iTunes – $14.99
Patton Oswalt: Tragedy Plus Comedy Equals Time
Technically you can also get Patton Oswalt’s latest stand-up special as an album, but Patton’s jokes on the trials and tribulations of frozen foods, failed outings with prostitutes, fatherhood and other uncensored topics are so much more entertaining watching them on the big screen with your friends.
iTunes – $14.99
This new self-improvement app from the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance has a simple premise: Trying to do everything is hard, but doing one thing isn’t.
Sounds obvious, but what you do here is select a few habits you’d like to form; pre-loaded examples include drinking more water, inviting friends over, and going to bed early. You can also devise your own if you want to do something that isn’t on the list. The app sets goals, and you check them off when you do them. Eventually, you can “commit” to doing a thing without prompting and start on something else.
If I’ve learned nothing else from science-fiction shows like Firefly and Cowboy Bebop, it’s this: If society crumbles, even a little, we will revert back to a Wild-West mode of life.
I’m not sure why that is. Maybe it’s just more simple. Maybe it’s more practical. Odds are, though, that it’s just a cool motif for a story, and if you can get some spaceships or motorbikes in there, too, it’s like a bonus.
Trials Frontier, the latest in publisher Ubisoft’s physics-driven racing game franchise is out now, and it takes place in a rustic, post-apocalyptic world. But if you don’t care about that stuff, it’s also the series’ first appearance on mobile. And it’s free to play. And it’s really, really good.
Running out of space on your phone? Worried about losing those irreplaceable photos and videos? Pogoplug has your back…and your backup.
Through this Cult of Mac Deals offer you’ll get Pogoplug, which gives you unlimited storage on your phone, tablet and computer for one year. That means you’ll have access to your files anytime and anywhere – and all for just $39.
Monument Valley is one of the most original iOS games ever. A triumph of isometric design, it’s a trippy puzzle game in which you guide a white-clad princess through a series of twisting, turning structures, inspired by the mind-bending art of M.C. Escher.
Creating a world of this complexity might sound like a nightmare project, but for the UK-based game developers at ustwo, coming up with such an audacious creation was something of a dream.
“One of the first things we did when designing Monument Valley were to try and come up with images that seemed impossible,” says lead designer Ken Wong.
Still reeling from the success of the game — priced at $3.99, it was the top paid iPad app in its first week of release — Wong cracked open his sketchbooks to give Cult of Mac readers a glimpse at how Monument Valley‘s breathtaking designs came to be.
Here’s what we found.
Editor’s Note: Due to the sheer size of Elder Scrolls Online, we’re publishing our hands-on impressions in three chunks. Part 1 is here and Part 2 is here. What follows is Part 3.
I had just finished a long assignment from the elven ambassador in the province of Elsweyr. I was tired from running to and fro, tangling with spies and fighting the Sea Elves at every turn.
Suddenly, Commander Karinth stopped me in my path and pressed me into duty fighting these ocean foes. I had to run into the fabled Wind Tunnels, looking to destroy the foul Storm Totems. Enemies at every turn of the weaving passages forced me to dodge back and forth to avoid vicious attacks while retaliating with my own spells and sword blows.
After what seemed a lifetime of combat and destruction, I returned a hero. Then I took some time out for me, finding a crafting table to put together some ingredients I’d gathered to make something useful. A restorative meal got me feeling better than usual.
As in many MMO games, Elder Scrolls Online offers many activities to engage in, including questing, crafting, cooking, combat (both player versus player and player versus environment) and traveling through dungeons with a few close friends. Even marriage — if you bought the digital Collector’s Edition.
There’s a reason people get addicted to games like Elder Scrolls Online: There’s so much to do that it’s incredibly easy to get sucked into these deep virtual worlds.