If you’re a Google Glass Explorer who paid $1,500 to get your hands on the device early, then you can expect to receive an email from Google inviting you to upgrade to the latest model free of charge. The design of the new wearable remains the same, but it’s not more durable and slightly faster.
One of the more popular app Kickstarter campaigns in recent memory is the one for Mail Pilot, an app that allows you to tame your inbox by treating it like a to-do list. In April, Mail Pilot was released for iOS, and users were told that a public beta was coming soon. And now it’s here!
Forbes contributor Mark Fidelman has posted an article arguing that Microsoft’s new mobile strategy will help it overtake Apple within three years.
Fidelman’s case comes down both to the possibility of “seamless integration” with Windows 8.1, Office 365 and Xbox — in addition to the growing share of the smartphone market that Windows Phones currently represent.
When Barack Obama first made his run at the United States presidency way back in 2008, much fuss was made about how this politician was so cool, he used a BlackBerry.
Seems laughable now, doesn’t it? Yet at the time, Obama was considered so technologically hip for using a BlackBerry that he once laughingly said that if the Secret Service wanted to take it from him, they’d have to pry it from his hands.
Flash forward five years, and President Obama’s BlackBerry doesn’t seem so cool anymore. In fact, it seems ridiculous. So why isn’t he using an iPhone?
This goldie-lookin Lightning cable seems absurd at first, a piece of shiny nonsense that surely costs a fortune, aimed squarely at the kind of fools that pay real money for Swarovski crystal and Vertu phones. But in fact it’s a pretty great gadget. Why?
Last night’s South Park episode depicted a shirtless Bill Gates — revealing the Microsoft co-founder to have a tattoo reading “RIP Steve Jobs 2011.”
Great news for corrupt restaurant employees and criminal scum everywhere: you can now use the latest Google Wallet app to skim credit cards right into your iPhone. In theory at least. And without actually recording the magnetic strip. But “Google Wallet update allows easy addition of credit cards using the iPhone camera” doesn’t have the same link-baiting ring to it. So scum and villainy it is.
The Rumor: Angela Ahrendts is only three weeks into her reign at Apple but rumors claim she's already outlined a plan that will completely revamp the end-to-end Apple Store experience.
The Verdict: The shift from computers to wearables is the perfect time for the ex-Burberry CEO to shake things up at Apple's glass and aluminum shrines, I just hope she gets rid of the annoying musical chairs-style support at the Genius Bar while she's at it.
Indian-based Reliance Retail will shut down 16 of its 20 Apple premium reseller stores because they do not comply with the strict guidelines set out by Apple.
Apple dictates that its stores must conform to a standardized design featuring high ceilings, white LED lighting, wooden floors, specific display tables, and numerous other details.
One of my favorite parts of the Kanex Multi-Sync keyboard I reviewed in October. In fact, I said that “Kanex could sell it as a standalone product and do well.” And guess what? You can now buy it, in a pack of two, for just $18.
Did Apple invent the “app”?
In terms of coining the word — or coming up with the idea of software — the obvious answer is that of course they didn’t.
But did Apple’s approach to apps — seen most readily through the type of applications sold through its App Store — forever change what the typical user thinks of when they hear the word?
Yesterday’s biggest news – the biggest I tell you – was the announcement of a new USB plug that can be stuck into its hole any way you like, eliminating one of the many frustrations of USB connectors. But that plug won’t be available until 2014, and will doubtless be ruined by some stupid design decision along the way.
But fret not, dear frustrated USB user, because you can have your USB two-way today, in the form of this Buffalo USB hub.
You know how you walk into a coffee shop or bar, order a refreshing beverage and then grab a newspaper or magazine to read? Now, thanks to Apple’s iBeacons, you can do the exact same thing, only you can peruse the provided periodicals on your iPad or iPhone.
You know anamorphic, right? It’s a way of getting super widescreen film onto the relatively squarish frame of 35mm film. It’s done by using a special lens on the camera that squeezes the image sideways, and then a reverse lens on the projector that stretches it back out again when you watch it. This is why, in the bad old days of non-letterboxed video, you’d sometimes see the end movie credits squished up to fit them onto your TV screen, all while the rest of the move had just been shown with it’s sides chopped off.
Which brings us to the Anamorphic Adapter Lens for the iPhone 5/S, from Moondog Labs.
Most of us are aware that the iPhone can be an effective security tool; there are countless clips on YouTube proving its worth as a recording device, and FaceTime, Skype and the like allow someone on the other end to watch, and if needed send help, when things get sketchy.
A recording of a mugging, however, is no use if the muggers steal the phone; and initiating a FaceTime call under extreme stress is probably more difficult than it might seem.
Enter Eye Got You Covered, a $4 app that fixes both those problems and adds other thoughtful features.
Since there are relatively few good alternatives to the iPhone’s stock Mail app, a newcomer to the group usually sparks our curiosity and interest; what’s the cool new spin? Will we actually use it? Will we use it enough that it eventually replaces the Mail app on our home screen?
In the case of attachment-obsessed newcomer Inbox Cube, the answers are fun, yes and possibly.
This is Cult of Mac’s exclusive column written by an actual Apple Store Genius who answers all your questions about working at an Apple Store. Our genius must remain anonymous, but other than “Who are you, anyway?” ask anything you want about what goes on behind that slick store facade.
This week our Genius dishes on how to get your iPhone or MacBook fixed by Apple when you’re outside the country you purchased it in. Also, you may have noticed your battery life dipping a bit since upgrading to the iOS 7, our Genius will take you through the steps to troubleshoot your battery issue and eek out every extra minute of juice possible.
Got a question you want the inside scoop on? Send us your questions and the answers will be published first in Cult of Mac’s Magazine on Newsstand. Send your questions to newsATcultofmac.com with “genius” in the subject line.
I bought a MacBook Pro in Hong Kong to use here in the Philippines. The display suddenly blanks one day, and, seriously, it hasn’t met water yet. There are no Apple Stores here and I have an upcoming trip to Canada. Can I bring it to an Apple Store there? What can I expect?
Definitely, take it in. The MacBook Pro comes with a one-year international warranty. Apple’s support page online lists the contact info for each country so check beforehand to see what your options are in that country as they vary from country to country. If you are visiting near an Apple Store make an appointment and take it in.
They will want to scan your MacBook’s hardware and run some diagnostics to find the cause of the issue. Make sure to backup your data before as with any service appointment. If they find a hardware failure they may have to keep the Mac for a couple days for repair. Make sure to plan your trip for an appropriate amount of time.
I got an iPhone in Japan and sadly, I’ve left Japan but I found out that the phone can’t be unlocked even if I jailbreak it. Now that its home button doesn’t work, can I bring it to an Apple Store elsewhere for possible repair or replacement? If it’s still under one year, I’m guessing that it’ll be free, but how much will it cost if it weren’t under warranty anymore? (Let’s say I’ll bring it to the Apple Store in downtown San Francisco, for example.)
The iPhone does not have an international warranty and the warranty varies by country. For this reason, if your iPhone is in need of service, you might have to take it to the country of origin. Remember that iPhones are also different across the world as cellular technology varies. Different countries have different parts and replacement models based on what is sold in that country. Prices for replacements and repair options vary, too.
If you want international coverage for an iPhone, AppleCare+ Service Agreements are international, although certain models might have to be shipped. If you took it to the Apple Store in San Francisco, they might troubleshoot and diagnose the iPhone for you, but they’d tell you that you have to take it to the country of origin for service unless you have AppleCare+.
My iPhone’s battery life seems to have fallen off a cliff lately, what are some things I can do to make it last longer?
The main causes for short battery life, in my experience, are the display, cellular usage, and location services. You can customize your settings for the latter in the Settings > Privacy > Location Services menu and turn off the services for unnecessary apps or disable the services completely. There a lot of system services that can be disabled at the very bottom of the menu. Also, try keeping your brightness in the 50% range and use auto-brightness if desired to keep the display from consuming your battery.
Your cellular usage can also be customized in the Settings > Cellular menu. Turn off cellular data for high consuming apps or disable it completely. You can save a little more by turning off Wi-Fi or Bluetooth when not in use if you don’t have an iDevice with Bluetooth 4.0. Turning on Reduce Motion in the Accessibly Settings along with using static backgrounds as opposed to the dynamic backgrounds may help on models without the M7 coprocessor.
After years of negotiations, Apple and China Mobile have finally closed a deal for the carrier to sell the iPhone. Rumors of the two companies working together started gaining momentum a few months ago with a report from the The Wall Street Journal, and now the same publication is reporting that the deal has been finalized.
We’re still waiting on an official confirmation from Apple and China Mobile, but now is probably a good time to buy Apple stock. Why? There are 700 million reasons.
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!
Disclosure – “Settle”
2013 is quickly winding down, which means other than a river of holiday albums, most of the good stuff is already out for the year. One album that you might have missed that’s definitely worth a listen is “Settle” from the U.K. sibling duo of Guy and Howard Lawrence. The entire album is full of irresistible dance grooves and catchy synth hooks, perfect to mix in during your company’s annual Christmas party once things get really drab.
Britney Spears – “Britney Jean”
Speaking of dance music, Britney Spears hasn’t been like really relevant in almost a decade, but she’s got a new album out and ya know what? It’s not bad if you just like pop, but it’s great if you like dancing. “Britney Jean” is Spears’ eighth studio album and probably the best thing she’s released since “Circus,” thanks to a loaded deck of glittery pop bangers that feature stars such as will.i.am, T.I., and her sister Jamie Lynn, who’s got her own debut album coming out, too.
Jake Owens – “Days of Gold”
We never feature any country artists in the magazine, mostly because George Strait and Garth Brooks’ best years are long gone and who else is there? Oh, how about Jake Owen? His new album “Days of Gold” has a nice mix of modern country jams like “Beachin” and “Life of the Party” but he also shows off a bit of old school country charm in “Ghost Town” and “What We Ain’t Got.”
by Brian Kilmeade & Don Yaeger
Thanksgiving is over and I’m just barely crawling out of my turkey comatose, but what better way to be a little bit more thankful for the U-S-of-A than learning about the crazy spy games our illustrious founding fathers used to beat the British during the Revolutionary War?
“George Washington’s Secret Six” plunges readers into the highly sophisticated and deeply secretive intelligence network George Washington organized to infiltrate New York and learn the British’s secret war plans. The Secret Six’s identities were so secret that one spy wasn’t uncovered until the 1900s, while another kept his identity secret from Washington the entire time.
The book details how General Washington rallied from his hasty retreat from New York in August 1776 and used his top-secret group called The Culper Spy Ring to gain the upper hand on the British, making for one of the most interesting Revolutionary War stories you’ve never heard about.
by Mike Tyson and Larry Sloman
Mike Tyson is a weird dude. He’s gone from being the youngest heavyweight champion ever, to biting opponents ears off in the ring. The guy fought his way out of the poor streets of Brooklyn to become the most ferocious warrior the ring has ever seen, only to lose millions of dollars during the height of his fame leading to years of hard partying and criminal proceedings.
“Undisputed Truth” isn’t just a great autobiography about one of the most iconic boxers of our time, but it’s a raw and honest portrait of what makes Mike Tyson tick. Tyson dishes on what it was like to be a brilliant fighter compromised by reckless behavior as well as how he fought his way back to find success in acting with performances in movies like the “Hangover” films, his one-man stage show, and the relationships he’s built with his family.
by Robert Kirkman & Charles Adlard
The Walking Dead TV show on AMC is about to go into its dreaded mid-season break but if you’re looking for more zombie action to enjoy during the holidays, check out the latest issue of “The Walking Dead” graphic novel. Volume 19: March To War is a collection of issues #109-114 that portray the lives of community leaders Rick, Ezekiel, Gregory and Negan as they approach an truly epic battle that promises to completely change the world of The Walking Dead. If you thought the show was an emotional thrill ride, just wait til you peek inside the gory pages of “March To War.”
Everybody loves a good heist movie, but its so much more thrilling when the stakes of getting thrown in jail for life are actually real. “Smash & Grab” is a documentary about a real life crew of professional jewel thieves called The Pink Panthers who have been responsible for some of the most audacious robberies around the world over the last decade.
Director Havana Marking makes use of incredible security footage and in-depth interviews with police and even some anonymous Panthers about some of the clever techniques the gang used in some of their incredible heists, showing that you don’t always have to go the expensive “Oceans 11” route just to steal gigantic diamonds.
Families should find a lot of enjoyment in the latest Percy Jackson movie over the Christmas Break. “Sea of Monsters” follows Percy Jackson – the half-human son of Poseidon – on his quest to prove that he’s not just a “one-quest wonder” after saving Olympia and the rest of civilization in the last flick.
Fans of the book series might be a bit disappointed in the screen adaptation of “Sea of Monsters,” but if you’re a fan of Greek mythology or just need a good family-friendly action movie with a bunch of monsters in it, you’ll enjoy watching Percy and his demigod friends save the world again on their quest to find the fabled Golden Fleece.
After taking out Frank D’Amico in the first movie, self-made superhero Kick-Ass is trying to return to life as normal with his new foul-mouthed assassin friend Hit Girl, but pretty soon the world of superheroes pulls them into a new deadly challenge.
Red Mist – son of the deceased Mr. D’Amico – has gained control of his family’s wealth after accidentally killing his mother, so he decides to reinvent himself as the aptly name “Motherfucker.” Armed with new arsenal of deadly toys, The Motherfucker becomes the leader of a gang of super-villains sworn to take out Kick-Ass. To defeat the evil villains Kick-Ass and Hit-Girl find some new friends of their own in Colonel Stars and Stripes (Jim Carrey) and Night Bitch. Needless to say the film is stocked full of colorful language and catastrophic levels of violence that are sure to delight you in completely inappropriate but oh-so-funny ways.
Browsing the App Store can be a bit overwhelming. Which apps are new? Which ones are good? Are the paid ones worth paying for, or do they have a free, lite version that will work well enough?
Well, if you stop interrogating me for a second, hypothetical App Store shopper, I can tell you about this thing we do here.
Every week, we highlight some of the most interesting new apps and collect them here for your consideration. This time, our picks include a map of the moon, a big green button, and a diary for your dog.
Here you go:
Dog Diary — Lifestyle — Free
Dog Diary is an app that helps you keep track of all the people and events in your canine friend’s life. You can store important, pet-related contacts, expenses and photos. You can also create entries for multiple animals to keep everything organized. It’s an address book, a photo album and a bookkeeping program all in one. You can also track measurements like body temperature, provided you’re not shy about pulling out your phone as soon as the vet pulls out the thermometer.
I’m still waiting for an app that will walk the little guy for me once it gets snowy out, but we might need a robot for that.
Mobile Support by Sony — Utilities — Free
Owners of Sony products might want to check out its new mobile support app, which will hopefully save you from having to click around a website looking for the right troubleshooting or contact page.
It contains links to forums, troubleshooting, documentation, and support areas, and it will take you directly to the page you need in Safari and it covers information for TVs, computers, cameras, software and a bunch of other things. You can also get Sony news updates and press releases, if that’s your thing, but the app’s main value is preventing users from falling into bottomless Net-holes.
Moon Chart — Reference — $2.99
If you’re looking for a quick, easy-to-use reference guide for that giant rock in the sky, Moon Chart is a pretty good one. It’ll show you the phase and point out what scientists have named all those holes and fiddly bits and it’s all indexed. So if you have a bet with your buddy as to where Flammarion is in relation to Sinus Medii, this app will help you settle that weird, random thing I just made up.
TimeStamp — Productivity — Free
I’m a fan of apps that are basically just a giant button that does one thing easily, so TimeStamp really appeals to me. It’s a productivity tracker that independent contractors can use for invoicing purposes. It may also be of interest to people trying to figure out where their time goes. It’s just a big green button that you touch to stop and start, and when you’re done timing whatever it is, you can just drop your results into the appropriate category on the second tab.
My browse-to-watch Netflix ratio is something like 5 to 1. That’s unsettling.
To get you in the mood for the holidays, Apple is giving away an 8-song playlist in the Apple Store iOS app. Free iTunes content has been offered in the Apple Store app for a few months now, and this Holiday Cheer playlist will be available until December 31st.
Here’s the tracklist:
Carl Icahn, the richest investor on Wall Street who has been pressing Apple to make a $150 billion stock buyback, has announced the next phase of his master plan. He has submitted a proposal to Apple shareholders that asks them to vote on his buyback, which effectively puts more pressure on Apple to meet his demands.
The question is whether a more aggressive buyback is actually in Apple’s best interest.
Conrad Electronic, an authorized Apple reseller in Germany, has begun taking preorders for the new Mac Pro. Availability is listed for Monday, December 16th.
Apple has said that the Mac Pro would be available before the end of the year, but an exact date has not yet been given. It could very well be that this reseller is hedging its bets and trying to garner some press attention, but this wouldn’t be the first time a third-party reseller has correctly predicted a recent Apple product launch. The date could favorably coincide with the opening of the Apple Store in Düsseldorf, Germany on December 14th.
For the iPad I use at home, I want minimal bulk. I’m willing to sacrifice protection for that privilege, but I want to be able to use my iPad 3 in as close to the original form factor as possible.
For iPads I’ve used with kids in classrooms, or ones that might be used in hospitals or in the enterprise, I’d rather have more protection, even if it means a sacrifice of heavier, bulkier, proportions.
Otterbox has long been the industry standard super-high protection case, but this new entry into the field, the K Kuvs Klover iPad Case is a strong contender for just as much protection for half the price.
iOS 7 has brought some great new gestural support, like being able to swipe from the left side of the screen to go back a page in apps like Settings, Mail, and Safari.
Did you know, though, that you can use the same gesture to peek at your list of email or iMessages from within those specific apps? I didn’t either, so figured I’d pass it along to you.
Steam Punks likes Mega Man, and hopes you do too. Even the description of the game on the App Store says it was inspired from games like Mega Man X. And, boy, does Steam Punks play like a Mega Man game!
You’ll jump, you’ll shoot, and you’ll take out curiously Capcom-like, steam-powered robots in your effort to save kidnapped scientist Professor Clout. You play as Dunns Callahan, an Elite Enforcer assigned to protect Clout. Clearly he doesn’t do a very good job of it as the Bowler Gang easily abducts the professor off a moving train.