Barrels have been a staple of video games at least since Donkey Kong used them in his vain attempts to ward off a small, mustachioed man with a penchant for jumping.

What’s the deal with barrels? Is it that they’re easy to draw? Or fun to destroy? Or is it that their size and purpose provide a wealth of possibilities, their wooden or metal frames metaphors for the endless potential that lies within all of us, just waiting for someone to pry off the lid and share our special gifts with the world? Or something else less ridiculous?

Whatever the reason, barrels are awesome, and Tap & Blast, a fun aerial platformer of sorts out now for iOS devices, flipping loves them.

If you’ve been looking for a way to get professional high-definition results with your photos at lightning speed on your Mac or PC, then look no further. Cult of Mac Deals has your solution – and at a price that’s not going to break the bank, either.

HDR Darkroom 3 is the first HDR software with comprehensive color space management. The developers have created color space management tools with a short learning curve so you can take your photography game to a whole new level. And you can get HDR Darkroom 3 for only $34.99 during this limited time offer.

Apple has reportedly seeded its fourth iOS 7.1 beta build to testing partners ahead of a possible developer release tomorrow. The update is said to include “various fixes” for keyboard issues and problems with the Contacts app, as well as some more changes to the user interface inside the Phone app.

VLC, a popular third-party video player for iOS, today received a major update that introduces a swanky new design and lots of new features. The app now looks right at home on devices running iOS 7, and it has the ability to stream videos from Google Drive and Dropbox. You can even download videos from UPnP media multimedia servers on your local network.

Apple has chosen LG Electronics as its sole manufacturing partner for the iWatch, according to a new report from Korea. The device is expected to use the same curved OLED display technology LG recently debuted with its G Flex smartphone, and production could begin during the third quarter of this year.

Java is kind of a pain in the butt, if you ask me, but there are many sites that use it.

A friend of mine contacted me this weekend looking for help in getting her Java up and running so she could upload photos to her photography business website. See, she’d upgraded to Java 7 and when she went to use the upload function on her website, she got the security warnings above.

After a bunch of googling and messing about on the internets, we figured it out.

Most people were suitably impressed when the iPhone 5s allowed the Camera app to use a “slo-mo” recording mode — shooting video at a smooth 120fps, and producing some astonishing images in the process.

Now a new jailbreak tweak called Slo-mo Mod is letting the owners of older iOS devices manually configure a similar recording feature.

Google has removed two Chrome extensions from its web store after it was discovered that they were serving unauthorized ads in violation of the company’s terms of service. Both “Add to Feedly” and “Tweet This Page” contained hidden code that served “undesirable” ads to their users while they were browsing the web, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Remember the uber-popular Megaupload?

Kim Dotcom — the controversial entrepreneur behind that site — is soft-launching his long-discussed music service Baboom. Described as a cross between iTunes and Spotify, the site will feature a combination of paid content alongside content available free to those who install an ad substitution browser plugin.

Quantified Selfers in the Apple community have a new app to download, in the form of lifelogging app OptimizeMe, which recently launched in the App Store.

A single iOS app that tracks all of your daily activities, OptimizeMe allows users to log mood, stress level, health status, quality of sleep, weight, and a number of other variables. With the addition of activity tracker Moves installed, it also automatically tracks Running, Cycling, Walking, Steps, Calories and Location (Foursquare).

With season three having come to an end, fans of the BBC’s Sherlock series will be happy to hear that today marks the launch of a new game app — featuring new footage starring actors Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman.

Fujifilm, arguably the company that started the current (and very welcome) trend of putting proper manual knobs and dials back on cameras, is currently teasing what looks like an SLR-style model for its outstanding X-Series lineup. Likely to be named the XT–1, the camera might take over the role of the current top-of-the-line X-Pro1.

Apple fans with a penchant for gaming have been able to use their PS3 controllers on the Mac for a while. A new jailbreak tweak now adds that functionality to iOS devices.

Called Controllers for All, the $1.99 jailbreak tweak is available in the Cydia Store, and adds iOS 7 gamepad compatibility to Sony’s PS3 DualShock 3 controller.

The Snap Strap does away with the annoying problem of your earbud cables ending up in your mouth when you’re just trying to enjoy a delicious hamburger and listen to some music at the same time. It’s a clever little strap that clips to the left and right cables of your ’buds and then sits across the back of your neck, keeping the cables away from your gnashing maw.

This lovely retro-style bag is made to carry over your shoulder, or on your bike. Made by the Goodordering Company of Hackney, East London (in England, for those of you who may still be half asleep), the bag can be quickly converted between shoulder bag, pannier (“saddlebag”) or handlebar bag.

Having relaunched the iPhone 4 to help grow market share in India, new reports are now suggesting that Apple is also slashing the price of its 2012 iPad mini in an effort to make inroads in India’s mid-range tablet market.

The iPhone’s LED lamp is a handy as hell. I never, ever use it for photos, but I use it as a flashlight all the time, and I have it set to flash when my iPhone gives me an alert (usually it makes my jeans pocket flash alarmingly).

Now I can use it to light up my iPhone’s whole back, if I choose to put it in the curvy Theo Light, a case that works like the Kindle Paperwhite’s magical light-up screen. And I might even start using it for photos.

This tiny $7 dongle looks essential for anyone who uses a case on their iPhone or iPad. It’s a Lightning to Lightning adapter that does one thing: move your iDevice’s Lightning port a centimeter (0.033 feet) down from the bottom its host.

Lightroom might be coming to the iPad sooner than your think, if this accidental posting of the photo-editing app is anything to go by. Oddly, it shows “Adobe Lightroom for Mobile, Annual” at $99 per year, which would suggest that this is a landing page for a service, not an actual app as one source of the story believes.

I crossed the 3-million Google+ circles line this morning.

It’s weird and thrilling to have so many “followers,” and to be sandwiched in circle counts between Paris Hilton, who has a couple hundred thousand more circles than I do, and Rihanna, who will probably catch up to me and pass me at some point in the future. (One of the great things about Google+ is that the geeks hold their own against entertainers in popularity.)

But mostly, it’s been an eye-opening adventure for me. Here’s what I learned along the way. 

There’s very few things worse than running out of power on your smartphone and tablet when you’re on the go. With this Cult of Mac Deals offer, you can charge your iPhone or iPad anywhere, anytime.

The Keychain Power Bank is about the size of a pack of gum and light enough to keep on your keys or in your pocket, purse or backpack. No outlets, walls or computers required. And you can buy it for 75% off the regular price – only $14.99 – through Cult of Mac Deals for a very limited time.

Don’t look now, but here comes India.

While everyone obsessed yesterday over Apple finally launching on the world’s largest carrier, China Mobile — and the Chinese market in general — smart companies are starting to focus on the smartphone market of the future: India.

The country’s 1.2 plus billion people are kinda hard to ignore. Also: India is so much more than the “other China” when you dig into the details of that smartphone market. Everything about India is an opportunity for smartphone companies and providers of mobile anything. And the major companies are each taking radically different approaches.

I think Apple’s strategy is the best one, and I’ll tell you why. 

This time on the CultCast: Google buys Nest and their 100 ex-Apple employees, but why? Aaron Sorkin’s Jobs biopic finally gets a script, Kutcher’s Jobs just gets a Razzie nod; plus, iOS finally gets a full-size gaming controller!

Enjoy a few laughs whilst getting caught up on 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.

Thanks to Ting for sponsoring this episode! Finally, a straight forward wireless carrier who doesn’t overcharge. In fact, did you know 98% of people who switch to Ting save money? See how much you could be saving on your wireless bill at cultcast.ting.com.

Apple revolutionized your iPhone’s camera with the introduction of the 5S, but now you can unlock its full potential with what’s being offered through this Cult of Mac Deals.

With The Ultimate iPhone Lens Kit, smartphone photography has never been this versatile. This package arms you with six different lenses so you can take virtually any kind of photo in any imaginable situation – from microscopic organisms to full-blown landscapes. And you can get it for a limited time at the low price of just $69 – 65% off the regular price!

This week, Cult of Mac Magazine explores how Apple will reboot China, and why you, the aficionado, should care.

2014 is the year of the horse: seen as an auspicious symbol for swift success, it bodes well for Apple. The Cupertino company launches its deal with China mobile around the same time as the year changes over, a deal Tim Cook called a “watershed” moment.

Author and reporter Luke Dormehl delves into the factors that will shift Apple’s strategy there as it hopes to reach over 700 million potential fanatics and why this year we may begin to see the transition into “designed in California, built for Asia.” Hong-Kong based tech reporter Truman Au takes a look at local iPhone culture and why the gold iPhone is the choice of device – and matching cars, bags and shoes — for the country’s new rich.

As always, we’ll have the best in new apps, music, books and movies plus answers to your most pressing Apple-related questions from an actual Genius.

Cult of Mac Magazine