Cult of Mac

Each week we pull the best Apple-related gadgets from the Cult of Mac and collect them here for your perusing pleasure.

Dorky Ruck Pack Is Like A Giant Kids Back Pack For Astronauts

The Ruck Pack is a big box for your back, with zip-up pockets no the back and a clip-closure flap on the top. I like that the square design lets you fill the main bag without stressing the iPad you can keep in the bigger rear pocket, and I also like that this iPad pocket is protected by both its own zipper and the main flap, making it a little harder for pickpockets to lift your iPad out on a crowded subway, say.

Buy it $70

Each week we pull the best Apple-related gadgets from the Cult of Mac and collect them here for your perusing pleasure.

Sick of waiting for your iPhone to finish charging? By 2017, your iPhone could completely charge from 0% to 100% in just 5 minutes, in a portable, consumer-friendly package that will make long charging times a thing of the past.

The new Galaxy S5 boasts a ton of fancy new features, but one of the things Samsung has been pushing most since the handset was unveiled back in February is its built-in heart rate sensor. But just how revolutionary is that new sensor?

Well, as it turns out, not very. In fact, based on the hands-on video below, you can get the same results using your smartphone’s camera and LED flash with an app like Heart Rate Monitor from Runtastic.

If you’re like Cult of Mac Magazine staffers, you want to use your iPad as more than a photo album.

Our reviews editor Charlie Sorrel even went as far to ditch his Mac for the magical and revolutionary tablet back when it first came out – before having to give up the ambitious plan, and not for the reasons you’d think. This week, he delves into all the ways you can power up your iPad for work without sacrificing your sanity.

Business owners who use the iPad for retail will likely want to check out the latest update of point-of-sale app ShopKeep POS, which has just been updated to version 2.0.

A significant update, ShopKeep Version 2.0 radically overhauls the look and feel of the app, with an attractive new interface inspired by iOS 7.

The app also features streamlined functionality — allowing vendors to ring up customers faster than ever with a Single Sign On feature that means that both managerial functions and ringing transactions can be done with one code.

Having launched its iPhone trade-in program back in August last year, Apple has now expanded the program to cover Apple Retail Stores throughout Germany.

The trade-in program lets customers trade in older iPhone models and receive gift cards of up to €230 ($315), which can then be used toward the purchase of a brand new iPhone.

Popular video-sharing website Vimeo has added another update to its official iOS app.

Up front, the single most prominent update relates to the in-app search feature — something that was initially absent when Vimeo made the jump to iOS 7, then restored but hidden, and now made constantly visible within the app. Since search is of vital importance on video sharing sites, this improvement means that Vimeo users can breathe a sigh of relief.

Looking for a more explosion-filled egg hunt this Easter?

If so, you may want to check out the latest version of popular third-person shooter Respawnables which adds a new Easter Egg Hunt mode, where players must gather as many Easter eggs as they can and collect prizes in doing so.

Growthy is an app that finally – finally! – replaces the biro-etched notches on your kitchen door frame with a series of in-app purchases, codifying your precious memories as stars on your iPhone screen. Welcome to the future.

Are we finally getting closer to the existence of the Apple TV set Steve Jobs told Walter Isaacson he had “finally cracked?”

According to a new rumor/report from the South Korea-based Korea Herald, an “unnamed” South Korean display manufacture is currently making 65-inch organic light emitting diode (OLED) panel samples for Apple’s proposed “iTV,” which the company expects to “be mass-produced next year.”

Of all the ambient noise apps I’ve tried, myNoise is the best. Based on the well-regarded website of the same name, myNoise for iPhone is a “noise generator,” not just an app that plays recordings of rain and coffee shops.

And it also looks as good as it sounds.

Ever wanted to take photos of people without them knowing? Perhaps a sneaky shot of a pretty girl to help you “remember” her later, or some equally creepy bit of deceit? Well then, we have good news for you, you pervert: it’s the COVR Photo, an iPhone case which lets you shoot in secret.

PhotoSync, the best iOS-to-iOS-to-Mac-to-Windows photo transfer app out there, is now fully iOS 7 compliant, and adds support for Android. Yes, Android. LOL.

Evernote’s web clipper extension for OS X Safari is a thing of beauty. The Evernote bookmarklet clipper (on iOS and OS X) is a slow piece of crap.

Phillip Gruneich’s bookmarklet, however, is a thing of beauty, a concerto features some of your favorite players: Drafts, Markdown, Readability, and some plain old clever thinking.

This cute little case is the Cargito, a lovely leather-lined pouch with space for the iPad mini (or Air), plus a battery to charge it as it lays inside.

The new Sony A7S is a mirrorless full-frame camera which shoots 4K video and has a top ISO of 102,400, expandable to 409,600.

Remember back in 2006 when Palm CEO Ed Colligan said this, about Apple and the iPhone:

PC guys are not going to just figure this out. They’re not going to just walk in.

If you switched Apple for Sony (those gadget guys) or Fujifilm ("film guys), and Palm for Nikon and Canon, then the same thing is happening today.

Email is a controlling beast sometimes. Don’t swim upstream against the ridiculous flow of important emails.

With this email course you will learn to effectively manage your email to increase productivity and get hours of your life back. No more wading through a flood of emails. And Cult of Mac Deals has it for 61% off the regular price – just $19!

You want iPhone rumors? Well CultCast’s got’em, brotherrrr! This time: the rumored 5.5-inch iPhone 6 gets delayed and patents indicate a future of interchangeable iLenses. Plus, what FireTV has that Apple TV needs; iWork online gets an update; Office finally comes to iPad; and Facebook bought Oculus, but why?

Chuckle 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 audio adventure begin!

Our thanks to New Relic for supporting this episode, the all-in-one web application performance management tool that lets you see performance from the end user experience, through servers, and down to the line of application code. New Relic helps the people who build modern software understand the stories their data is trying to tell them. Start your 30-day free trial at NewRelic.com/cultcast.

Click on for the show notes.

When you’re in the process of setting up a website or already have one, you’ll definitely need an appealing design and some great features, powered by a powerful content management system. Here is where TeslaThemes helps you out.

All 20 of these themes are powered by Tesla Framework, a powerful administration tool which allows you to easily customize the look and functionality of your theme, without advanced knowledge of programming. It’s perfect for having that professional feel without all the schooling, knowledge or expensive help. And Cult of Mac Deals has TeslaThemes for just $29 during this limited time offer!

Successful apps create a beautiful experience and look that all users will love. Victoricon icons allow you to do just that! Add clean and stimulating icons to your app to provide a large amount of info in a tiny space.

With more than 1600 vector icons are available, you won’t be able to find a category you don’t have an icon for. The collection includes 5 different sizes and 8 different formats for each icon so you won’t skip a beat. And Cult of Mac Deals has got a special price for all of this…only $19 during this limited time offer!

Let’s be honest, searching in the iTunes Store sucks, especially on the desktop. It’s often slow, and the results are difficult to navigate. Apple has tried to simplify things by displaying one result at a time in the App Store on iOS, but that approach also means that it can take longer to find the specific app you want in a sea of knockoffs.

A new web tool called “fnd” makes it easier to quickly search and navigate not just the App Store, but the iTunes Store in general.

Princess Ida needs to find herself, and she’s doing so with a quest across an unpredictable and shifting landscape that takes inspiration from perspective-bending Escher art and hit indie game Fez.

You’ll need to tap on the screen to get Ida moving to her end goal, swiping and rotating dozens of different mechanical gadgets to make sure she can continue on her way. The puzzles aren’t super difficult, but they do require a bit of thought, and plenty of them are downright ingenious. You’ll feel pretty darn intelligent when you finally get that “aha!” moment.

Check out our play-through video below to get a sense of how lush and calming Monument Valley really is.

You know what I miss? Those pre-defined search items that used to hang out over in the Finder sidebar window. You know, the ones that said, “Files Created Today” or “Yesterday” or what have you. They were super handy.

Turns out, you can get the same sort of search power right in Spotlight. All you need to know is a little syntax, and you’ll be looking for stuff created or modified on specific dates or within certain date ranges. There’s even a way to request stuff done before or after dates. Yay!

Talk of the popular app Flappy Bird has still seemed to be far from fading out. As developers everywhere continue to fuel the craze with remakes and clones, players everywhere have seemed to grow bored of many new app store releases. Although in spite of common trends, some developers have managed to channel the joys of Flappy Bird into their own creations. The new app Lightspeed Hero is one of the latest releases to do this. Avoid asteroids for as long as you can and see how far you can make it without crashing your spaceship. Just how long do you think you can last before game-over?

Take a look at the video and find out what you think.

This is a Cult of Mac video review of the multi-platform application Lightspeed Hero – Squideo Games, brought to you by Joshua Smith of TechBytes W/ Jsmith.