Cult of Mac

I hate voicemail, I truly do. It’s like a fax machine: outdated and unnecessarily complicated. The introduction of visual voicemail in iOS was a good step toward updating the technology, but I’d still much rather get an email or text message than sit through someone’s verbal ramblings just to hear them say, “call me back.”

Unfortunately, there are still plenty of people who insist on leaving auditory messages for me on my iPhone. Apple has also given us quite a few ways to delete them, and then to clear out the deleted messages (yes, even deleted voicemails stick around). They must hate voicemail as much as I do.

If you’re shopping for a new iPhone wallet case, you’ll be hard pushed to find one as suave and as strongly-built as the Fulki Pocket for iPhone 5 and 5s. Handmade from thick, belt-grade Italian leather, it’s the kind of case that’ll still be looking good and going strong long after the iPhone you slip into it has died out.

The Fulki Pocket is designed to provide your iPhone with protection from scratches, scrapes, and bumps at almost every angle. It also has a small pocket that’ll carry your credit card or some cash, and the v-shaped cutout in its top edge will allow you to grip your iPhone with your thumb and forefinger when you’re pulling it out of the case.

The Fulki Pocket is available in tan, coffee, and cognac colors, and it’s priced at €85 ($116). It’s pretty pricey, but it’s worth it.

Let’s admit it. You’re the best goddamn drummer your bus stop has ever seen. When “Hot For Teacher” rounds the corner on your iPhone, you transform into a radiant drumming beast. Sadly, all of your gut-busting drum sessions take place right there in your lap. Nobody can hear the majesty of your air drum solo, but thanks to the latest advances in drumming technology, now they can!

That’s pretty much the pitch for DrumPants, a set of Bluetooth LE-enabled sensors that capture triumphant thigh thumping to play more than 100 different sounds controlled by your iPhone or iPad. They’re kind of like those ridiculous Keyboard Jeans, except the sensors aren’t a part of your clothing, allowing you to attach DrumPants to anything you’re wearing. They come as both drum pads and foot pedals, so you can take your customized instrument wherever you go.

Check out the promo video below:

Rather than slogging through a lake of reviews to find something you’re just going to put down after 30 minutes, Cult of Mac has once again waded through the iTunes store to compile a list of the best new movies, albums and books to come out this week.

Enjoy!

Books

Duty
by Robert M. Gates

Love him or hate him, there’s no denying Robert M. Gates has been one of the biggest figures in American national security over the past few decades. Not only did he serve as Secretary of Defense under both Bush and Obama, but he also worked under six presidents during his time in the CIA and the National Security Council and transformed the Pentagon during turbulent times. In his autobiography Gates dishes on his campaign for power and the cut throat politics in Washington. Some have called it a fascinating bridge-burning memoir, while others haven’t been as kind. Either way, Duty is bound to be a compelling read as one of the most talked about books of the new year.

iTunes – $11.99

Lone Survivor
by Marcus Lutrell

Lone Survivor isn’t new – in fact it’s seven years old – but I just saw the movie adaptation by Mark Wahlberg this weekend was absolutely blown away by the real-life account of the four U.S. Navy SEALs and their mission to capture and kill a notorious al-Qaida leader. I’ve never wanted to join the military, but Marky Mark’s depiction of the intense training, struggles, and brotherhood got me so proud and grateful to be an American. Predictably, everyone I know who read the book said it’s so much better than the film, but the movie launched a grenade of patriotism right into my soul, so it’s going to be hard for the book to top it.

iTunes – $5.99

Andrew’s Brain
by E.L. Doctorow

If you’d rather take a pass on these patriotic book suggestions, check out E.L. Doctorow’s new book Andrew’s Brain. Not only does the book explore Andrew’s life story of love and tragedy, but as he confuses details of his past to an unknown interlocutor the reader is treated to questions about what we really know about truth, memory, personality and fate, thanks to Doctorow’s probing lyrical prose.

iTunes – $12.99

Albums

Sharon Jones & The DAP-Kings – Give the People What They Want

My only challenge for you this week is to play this album and try not to get out your seat and dance. You won’t be able to. It’s too soulful. Too fun.

iTunes – $11.99

Black Sabbath – Paranoid

Ozzy’s solo stuff has been available on iTunes for ages, but for some reason Black Sabbath’s first eight studio albums – the good stuff – only landed on the online store this week. There’s also three compilation albums if you just want a sampling of Ozzy and Tony’s majesty.

Ozzy commented that it was “about [expletive deleted] time” that the albums were released digitally, while guitarist Tony Iommi said it had “been a long time trying to explain to fans why the music wasn’t available.” Whatever the delay, we’re just happy to finally have them in the store. Start with Paranoid and work your way down.

iTunes – $9.99

Bastille – All This Bad Blood

Bad Blood was a huge success for Bastille in 2013, so the bad has decided to re-release the album with a bunch of new songs, rarities and cover versions. If you missed out on discovering Bastille last year there’s no better way to dive into their spirited sound than the new All This Bad Blood album which only three bucks more than the original but packs a whopping 25 tracks.

iTunes – $12.99

Movies

The Other Shore

Drop me out in the open ocean and I might make it half a mile before I sink to the bottom. Diana Nyad on the other hand is a beast. Forget that she’s 64 and hasn’t swam competitively in over 30 years. She’s obsessed with pushing her body to the limit and in the new documentary The Other Shore, Nyad goes for her ultimate goal of swimming from the coast of Cuba to Florida, 103 miles, non-stop. And she doesn’t use a shark cage.

iTunes – $7.99

The Crash Reel

The Winter Olympic games start in just three weeks, so what better way to get ready for all the action of the games than by reliving the behind-the-scenes action between the two best snowboarders in the world leading up the the Vancouver games?

The Crash Reel follows the rivalry between half-pipe snowboarding legends Shaun White and Kevin Pierce in the winter of 2010. It’s packed with incredible arial stunts from the Flying Tomato, but things take a serious turn when a serious crash leaves Kevin Pierce hospitalized, turning the film into much more than just an exhibition of 1080s and frontside rodeos.

iTunes – $12.99

A.C.O.D.

It’s movie award season, which means we’re all supposed to focus on those incredible – but sometimes totally depressing – dramatic performances in the serious, artsy movies.

Try mixing up the pace of your Oscar-nominated-movie-binge with a solid comedy. Adult Children of Divorce didn’t get any Oscar nods but it’s also not up from a Razzie either and offers a great cast, including Adam Scott, Amy Poehler, and Richard Jenkins.

iTunes – $14.99

We got a sneak peek at Codename Cygnus, a Kickstarter-funded interactive radio drama game for iOS, at PAX this last fall. Developer Reactive studios has just updated the app with more than 20 Game Center achievements, improved voice recognition, VoiceOver features, and a redesigned iOS 7 friendly interface.

Oh, and it’s cheaper, too.

The AppleTV is one of the most underappreciated pieces of technology around, but it can be limiting. If you’re anything like me, you want to get more out of the tech you love. So if you want to get the most out of your AppleTV then aTV Flash from Firecore is the way to go.

And the great news is that Cult of Mac Deals has it for just $19.99 during this limited time offer.

Autism is an epidemic that can’t be overstated. The disorder is really a spectrum of behaviors and needs, and it affects about one in every 50 children in the US alone.

The Center for Autism and Related Disorders (CARD) has developed an app that puts its research-based interventions into an educational iPad app with mini games for reinforcement. The app, titled Autism Learning Games: Camp Discovery, provides children ages two to eight with direct instruction on topics that kids with Autism have trouble sorting out.

“The idea here is that there are so many things a kid needs to learn, to ‘catch up’ with their peers,” CARD’s chief strategy officer, Dennis Dixon told Cult of Mac during a phone call. “Autism has a number of skill deficits. ABA (Applied Behavioral Analysis) targets those skills one at a time.”

Camp Discovery, then, is like having a behavior intervention teacher on the iPad, presenting lesson after lesson with 100 percent accuracy. But will kids play with it?

While Microsoft and BlackBerry are still trying to piece together a decent mobile user base in the U.S., Apple and Samsung managed to widen their lead against the competition in terms of smartphone marketshare in the U.S. Both companies experienced a significant bump in 2013, but Apple claimed the largest increase despite murmurs that the company is getting out innovated by Google. 

52 Weeks Money Challenge — Finance — Free

If you haven’t heard of the 52 Weeks Money Challenge, you probably don’t have a Facebook account. And I envy you for that.

Anyway, the challenge is a way to help you build up a nest egg through regimented saving. You put away one dollar the first week, two dollars the second, and so on. At the end of 52 weeks, you’ve set aside a total of $1,378. This app tracks your progress and grand total, and it will even send you weekly reminders in case you’re the forgetful type.

52 Weeks Money Challenge

Let’s take a minute to address the fact that I’m not really sure how to pronounce the title of this game. Is it “B-ombs,” or is it, “Buh-buh-buh-bombs”? My money’s on the second one, and now that we’ve sorted that out, the review can begin.

‘Bombs’ with Too Many Letters is a puzzle-ish game that tasks you with clearing a ridiculous lab of the now-sentient explosives that are now buzzing around all willy-nilly. You do this with plain, stupid, regular bombs. You get three blast per level, and you can set up chain reactions to clear a bunch of what science hath wrought in one shot.

Meanwhile, this game is hilarious.

An iOS version has been available since last year, but today sees the official launch of popular email client (and former Kickstarter project) Mail Pilot for Mac.

The team behind CyanogenMod has released a new CyanogenMod Installer tool for Mac that makes it easy to load the latest versions of its custom ROMs with just one click. Compatible with both smartphones and tablets, the installer does not require devices to be rooted or an unlocked bootloader.

Crescent Moon Games has published a string of fantastic iOS games of late, including cute-as-pie Mimpi, deep RPG Ravensword: Shadowlands, first person shooter Neon Shadows, and the unforgettable Space Chicks. Each one approaches controls for touch screens in a unique and fairly successful way.

The publisher’s 2D side-scrolling action platformer Shadow Blade takes things even further, utilizing a complex but ultimately responsive control scheme. The game is made in Unity, giving it fluid, console-quality animations, a lush eastern-flavored soundtrack, and a gorgeous look and feel.

This is a fine effort from first-time iOS developer Dead Mage, for sure.

Copy and Paste has been around for a good long while, obviously, and drag and drop even longer. Moving files from one spot to another in the Finder is a fairly easy, well-rehearsed process that one wonders if we really need another way.

OS X Mavericks has introduced, however, yet another way to move files with the new tabbed Finder feature. It seems like a pretty cool way to move stuff from one folder to another without having to clutter up your Mac screen with a bunch of windows.

We’ve been waiting for Google to bring Google Now to the desktop via Chrome for over a year now, and today the feature finally appeared in a new alpha version of the browser, called Chrome Canary.

Now is baked into Chrome’s new notification center, and functions just like its Android counterpart, providing users with real-time weather updates, sports scores, and travel information. Not all of its Cards are available on the desktop yet, but we expect that to change by the time it is ready for its public release.

If you’re particularly concerned about the security of your passwords, you might want to stay away from Starbucks’ official iOS app: the Seattle-based coffee maker has just confirmed that passwords, credentials and location in the company’s app are stored in plain text, and are not hashed or encrypted at all.

For those of us who live the lives of professional bloggers, here’s a common occurence. You wake up in the morning and load up a bunch of tabs of stories you want to read that day. Soon, you have two or three dozen tabs open, one of which has an auto-playing video. And no matter how hard you try, you can’t bloody find the thing!

Yeah. Chrome just fixed that.

With the next Worldwide Developer Conference a few months away (good luck getting tickets), it seems a little strange that Apple would go through the trouble of updating last year’s WWDC 2013 app with some fixes, but delve a little deeper and it makes sense.

It’s here, it’s here, it’s finally here! Long months after it hit the Mac, Beamdog Entertainment’s update of Bioware’s classic RPG set in the Dungeons and Dragons universe, Baldur’s Gate II: Enhanced Edition, is finally available on the iPad.

Another day, another new iOS game is launched toward the back of the App Store net!

Given a soft launch last week in the Australian App Store last week, Football Kicks: Title Race is now available to download internationally.

Steve Jobs biographer Walter Isaacson appeared on CNBC’s Squawk Box yesterday — and had a few things to say about the state of the high tech nation.

Isaacson — who is currently crowdsourcing editorial comments for his new book on digital innovators throughout history — claimed that Google is outgunning Apple when it comes to innovation.

Thanks to the release of Chrome 32 for Android and iOS, users of Google’s mobile OS will have the option of reducing their browser’s data usage by up to 50 percent.

If I was trying to sell you this backup battery, I probably wouldn’t need to do much more than tell your its name: The Darth Vader Lightsaber Portable Battery Charger. Because really, who wouldn’t want to juice their iPhone with Vader’s laser sword?

Soon after Tim Cook took over running Apple, we reported that he was following the example of predecessor Steve Jobs in terms of responding to customer emails.

Two-and-a-half years on, it seems nothing has changed.

The trouble with Kickstarter and Indiegogo projects is that they take so damn long to arrive. They need to get funded, they need to get made, and only then will they be shipped. In the meantime, you’ve forgotten about them, or – worse – you bought something and now, six months later, you no longer want or need it.

What if there were a way to browse and buy only successful, shipping products, and buy them as God intended – with immediate shipping? Well, now there is. It’s a web store called Tiny Lightbulbs, and you’ll recognize a lot of what you see there.