Proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) has recommended that shareholders vote against Carl Icahn’s share buyback proposal for Apple.

According to the ISS report, “[The Apple board] has returned the bulk of its U.S.-generated cash to shareholders via aggressive stock buybacks and dividends payouts. In light of these good-faith efforts and its past stewardship, the board’s latitude should not be constricted by a shareholder resolution that would micromanage the company’s capital allocation process.”

iPhones with the deleted smash hit iOS game Flappy Bird still installed are garnering bids of up to $99,900.00 on eBay.

Leading the way is eBay user pindrus who is selling his used 16GB iPhone 5s (“The item may have some signs of cosmetic wear, but is fully operational and functions as intended”) with the game, and has so far attracted more than 70 bids.

Just a few months after its launch, LinkedIn has made the call to kill controversial feature LinkedIn Intro — which embedded LinkedIn profiles inside your iOS Mail app.

Despite being a cleverly designed solution, LinkedIn Intro was cricitized almost immediately for being invasive and a potential security risk. Security firm Bishop Fox described the service as “a dream for attackers.”

Here’s a little squirt of nostalgia into the brains of our (slightly) older readers: it’s an iPad app called Light Pad HD, and it exists to help you view your film slides and negatives by turning your iPad into a light-box. Instead of having to find a brightly lit piece of wall, or a window without distractions behind it, you can just launch this $2 app and drop your film strips on top of the iPad’s screen and use its screen.

The FAVI may look kind of dumb, but I have a use-case for it right now: Whenever I play music or podcasts in my kitchen, I use a Bluetooth speaker. This means first getting the speaker to talk to the iPhone, and then it means finding a safe spot in the kitchen where my iPhone won’t get killed by spills.

The FAVI solves both these problems, by being a stand which connects wirelessly to your iPhone when you set it down on the cradle.

If you’re going to stick your beautifully slimline iPhone inside and external battery case, then why not make it a battery case with wireless charging built in? That’s the thinking behind the new Unu Aero case, a slimline (15mm) case that doubles the battery life of your iPhone 5, and frees you from ever plugging it in ever again.

You know how it goes: you and your adventure buddies are standing around in the middle of the arctic, or atop a high-altitude jungle, and you’re all bored stiff. The campfire is burning down, you’ve all told your best ghost stories, and all you want to do it Tweet that awesome photo you just took of a penguin kissing a polar bear.

What’s the answer? The Iridium Go!, a kind of satellite MiFi that brings a data and voice connection down from the heavens and shares it between up to five devices via Wi-Fi. Never suffer the boredom of nature again.

We’ve seen several horn speakers here on Cult of Mac, and made at least as many schoolboyish horn jokes. But to my knowledge this is the first speaker that looks like an acoustic amplifying horn, but is in fact just a regular novelty speaker. It’s also probably the only gadget we’ve featured that has “trendy” as a bullet point on its feature list.

And finally, it looks like a snail.

IDraw, the iPad vector-based drawing app, has just gone v2.0, and turned from a great drawing app into a crazy full-featured pro-level app. Here’s a taster of the new features:

Photoshop PSD Import/Export:

• Import layered PSD files with vector paths and effects
• Shape layers are imported as editable vector paths
• Layer effects are imported as fully editable drop shadows, glows, etc.
• Export designs as layered PSD files

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNGm7te6qdU

iMessage, Facetime, Siri… what will Apple’s next innovation be? This video humorously speculates that for the iPhone 6, Apple might take a page from Emmett Brown’s book with the iFlux Capacitor, an app that will allow any car to travel back in time, take photos in another century, as well as let you send messages to yourself in the past and track the stock market of the future. The English ain’t great, but the humor is.

Source: YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7GVHj4c2iE

It feels like it’s taken forever for Siri Eyes Free — the in-car Siri functionality first unveiled in 2012 — to actually start popping up in a meaningful number of cars, but the new ad for the Chevrolet Equinox highlights Siri Eyes Free functionality in the wild… and shows how it can go horribly, horribly wrong for you.

Via: iClarified

Cult of Mac Deals has put together another astounding offer – a package deal that features over $3000 worth of vector illustrations, Photoshop brushes, t-shirt designs, text styles and more. And you can get this bundle – dubbed The Valentine’s Day Designer Bundle in honor of the upcoming holiday – for just $39 for a limited time.

The first successful personal computer didn’t have a screen — not even a command-line screen. It communicated with the user through blinking lights. It was called the MITS Altair 8800. This blinking-light box was such a revolution, a kid named Bill Gates dropped out of Harvard to write software for it.

I have the feeling that the first successful wearable computer will also show nothing more than blinking lights.

I’m going to tell you why the high-rez wearables may not go mainstream over next couple of years, but why blinking-lights devices might. But first, let’s check out two interesting blinking light wearable devices.

Following his comments that he would be pulling his wildly popular, $50,000-a-day game Flappy Bird from the App Store, developer Dong Nguyen has actually gone through with it, removing the game from both the App Store and Google Play Store.

We’ve seen concepts of the iPhone Air before, but I can’t think of one I like more — or that I think looks more plausible — than Joseph Farahi’s 5.1-inch iPhone 6 concept. This actually looks like a device Jony Ive could design.

Cables wear out, get lost, and you never know when you’ll need another, so grab one of these to keep in the car, at the office, or tightly wound in its packaging until you call it up from the reserves.

Cult of Mac Deals has another great deal lined up for those of you who have been looking for that extra cable for your iPhone. And this Apple-approved Lightning cable is available at an amazing price…just $17.99!

Everyone knows that there’s a lucrative black market in iPhones, particularly in Asia, but did you know that iPhones are increasingly being used as currency? That’s the case in Rome, at least, where at least one journalist is using iPhones as a way to pay his bills.

Samsung is trying to weasel out of paying up to Apple, asking Judge Lucy Koh for a mistrial based upon the supposedly “racist” remarks of Cupertino’s attorneys. But Judge Lucy Koh was having none of it.

The other day, our Google-loving friends over at Cult of Android breathlessly hopped on a story suggesting that Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak wanted Apple to make an Android smartphone.

It was always a bizarre story — what could Apple possibly have to gain from that, when it is already has the best-selling smartphone in the world — but it certainly made for a good headline. The only problem? Woz says he never meant it.

In a tweet earlier in the day on Saturday, Dong Nguyen–developer of the wildly popular iOS and Android game, Flappy Bird–apologized to fans while simultaneously promising to take his game down, assumedly from the various app stores it’s been selling like crazy on.

Like, $50,000 per day crazy.

His tweet hints at the insanity of success, and we can only assume that a shy, retiring game developer might have a hard time with the kind of success Flappy Bird has seen.

I am sorry 'Flappy Bird' users, 22 hours from now, I will take 'Flappy Bird' down. I cannot take this anymore.

— Dong Nguyen (@dongatory) February 8, 2014

No matter if you’re a beginner, have a basic understanding of web design or fundamental programming skills, or simply want to learn how to build a website from scratch, this Cult of Mac Deals offer is worth exploring. After all, the web really is at your fingertips when coding with Python.

Infinite Skills offers an ever growing range of high quality eLearning solutions that teach using studio quality narrated videos backed-up with practical hands-on examples. The emphasis is on teaching real life skills that are essential in today’s commercial environment. And that credo is on full display in The Ultimate Python Programming Course For Beginners, which Cult of Mac Deals has available for 60% off the regular price right now…only $39!

Evidence that Apple is going big with sapphire is overwhelming. But the reasons for Apple’s sapphire obsession range from scratch-resistant screens to solar-charging screens.

I have another theory: Apple wants to eliminate both the need and the desire for an iPhone case, cover or sleeve. There’s a lot more to this idea than simple scratch resistance.

Here’s my case for Apple’s case against cases.

The Cable Key is a seamless solution to all your power needs. This lightweight charger cable is there when you need it and out of the way when you don’t. The high-speed USB 2.0 connection ensures a quick charging session while allowing you to enjoy your device, uninterrupted.

Cult of Mac Deals has this little wonder for 62% off during this limited time offer – just $14.99!

This week, Cult of Mac Magazine is all about the Olympics.

Whether you’re a cord cutter or just like to slack off at work, our ever-resourceful reviews editor Charlie Sorrel has compiled all the tips you need to watch without a traditional TV – from streaming services to apps and, like any good British expat, he’s also given a thought to beverages – so you can get more Sochi action across all your Apple devices.

The 2014 Winter Olympics may also be the first quantified games in history. Sure, coaches have been standing by with stopwatches and clipboards since, well, some dude sprinted down dusty roads in sandals, probably. But now, there’s an app for that. To find out more about what the teams are using (and how you can improve your form on the slopes) we talked to the people behind some those performance apps.

We’re also featuring the winners of our epic Selfie Olympics contest. But just so you know: you’re all winners in our book!

Cult of Mac Magazine

With rumors of a new Apple-made “fitness app” coming to iOS 8, secret meetings with the FDA, and murmurs of more sleep and fitness experts joining the Apple ranks, the iWatch rumors are heating up on this week’s CultCast! Plus, a classic Nintendo game makes its way to iOS; Microsoft says goodbye to the one and only Steve Ballmer; and new job openings in Cupertino could mean big upgrades in battery life for future MacBooks…

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