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Carl Icahn Rallies Apple Shareholders To Demand Stock Buyback

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The newest cover for TIME Magazine featuring Carl Icahn, the legendary investor who has set his sights on Apple.
The newest cover for TIME Magazine featuring Carl Icahn, the legendary investor who has set his sights on Apple.

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.

Er Kommt! New Mac Pro Available Dec 16, Claims German Reseller

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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.

K Kuv Klover iPad Case – Get Otterbox-Style Protection For A Fraction Of The Price [Review]

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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.

Klover iPad Case by K Kuvs
Category: iPad Cases
Works With: iPad 2, 3, 4
Price: $28.95, $8.00 for stand, $11.00 for screen protector

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.

Sneak A Peek At Your Mail Or Messages List [iOS Tips]

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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 Wants To Be Mega Man X Something Fierce [Review]

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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!

Steam Punks by Monster Robot Studios
Category: iOS Games
Works With: iPhone, iPad
Price: $2.99

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.

‘TimeStamp’ Tells You What To Charge For (Or What You’re Wasting)

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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.

TimeStamp

The Inner World: A Throwback Game In a Modern Package [Review]

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The Inner World

The Inner World is one of those “throwback, but in a good way” titles that reminds us of how good we have it nowadays. That sounds harsh, but remember that a time existed in which point-and-click adventures were everywhere. Very few of them gave you any help or hints, and all of them required you to play Amateur Psychic with the developers.

The Inner World by Studio Fizbin
Category: iOS Games
Works With: iPhone, iPad
Price: $2.99

This is what I’m saying (slight spoiler, but it’s the first puzzle): I have no reason to believe that a drunken worm would make for a good slingshot.

And it’s a good thing that The Inner World is so cute and sympathetic to its players or that would really annoy me.

The Official iPhone 5s Case Was Almost As Hideous As The iPhone 5c Case

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The official iPhone 5c case isn’t exactly Apple’s most widely acclaimed product design ever. Even if you love it, you have to admit it looks a lot like those brightly-colored, foam rubber shoes with the holes in them known as Crocs. And if you’re like me, and think the iPhone 5c case is pure trash, it seems almost insulting that Apple overlooked the iPhone 5c case’s design flaws and released it anyway.

According to a new report, though, Apple wasn’t just about to unleash the so-called ‘Croc’ case on consumers once, but twice. Not only did Cupertino intend for the hole-filled design to be the official case for the iPhone 5c, but they wanted to give the luxury, high-end iPhone 5s the same treatment.

Why A Selfie Could Be More Secure Than A Password

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Brazenly calling itself the “ultimate defense” for protecting passwords, documents, credit cards and all your other private stuff, FaceCrypt is being advertised as one of the most secure ways of controlling access to your iOS device.

Instead of asking for an alphanumeric password — or even Touch ID — FaceCrypt requests that users take a “selfie” to prove they are really the person they say they are.

Apple’s 2013 Acquisitions Show A Focus On Maps, Chips & Making Data Useful

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Apple is ramping up production on a budget iPhone.
Photo: Cult of Mac

When Apple bought Twitter analytics company Topsy for over $200 million earlier this week, many commenters were taking aback. How does Twitter analytics of all things fit into Apple’s general acquisition strategy?

Although they broke the story, it looks like The Wall Street Journal were wondering the same thing themselves. The result is an excellent breakdown of Apple’s major acquisitions in 2013. Unfortunately, it doesn’t shed much light on why Apple bought Topsy, but it does show Cupertino’s areas of interest.

Chart Proves That Android Smartphones Are Bad Deal Compared To iPhones

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When people talk about Android’s “fragmentation” problem, what they are referring to is the fact that the majority of Android devices are not running the most current version of Google’s mobile operating system.

The reason this is a big deal is because an ecosystem is only as strong as how many devices are running a current version of the operating system: older versions of Android are not only more vulnerable to malicious exploits that have been patched in more recent versions, but apps running on them can’t make use of newer Android features.

A new chart released by Fidlee shows exactly how bad Google’s fragmentation problem has become. Although iOS 7 runs on almost all Apple iPhones released in the last five years, there are few Android devices that are supported by the most recent version of Android just two years after they are purchased.

Waterproof iPhone 5S Case Lets You Keep Using Touch ID

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The Atlas ID is a waterproof case for your iPhone 5S that lets you use the Touch ID sensor even while the iPhone is in the case (although both you finger and the button cover need to be dry for it to work). However, you can still use the regular unlock when the screen is wet, and you’ll be having so much fun snapping underwater picks that you won;t care anyway.

The Man Behind Android Is Now Building Robots For Google

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Earlier this year, the leader and visionary behind Android, Andy Rubin -—the man Apple co-founder Steve Jobs once called an “arrogant f***” — stepped down as head of Google’s mobile OS. What’s he been doing since?

Well, if there’s any accuracy to claims Rubin ripped off Apple to make Android, then this time, it looks like Rubin intends to steal inspiration from Skynet. Rubin’s latest project for Google? Frickin’ robots.

iOS 7 Reaches 70% Penetration In North America

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Has it really been less than three months since the roll out of iOS 7?

Well, however long it has been that has clearly been enough time for most users — since new data from online ad network Chitika reveals that iOS 7 is currently running on more than 70 percent of North American iOS devices.

Good News Pushes Apple Stock to Highest Close in Almost a Year

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Apple stock closed at a new 2013 high on Tuesday — rising 2.7 percent (or $15) over the course of the day to finish at $566.32.

For those keeping score, that’s the best close Apple’s stock has had since December 4, 2012, and means that the company is up by 6 percent so far this year — although still down on the $700 all time high which accompanied the iPhone 5.

Bokeh Lifeblogging App Shares Memories A Day At A Time

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Bokeh is an iPhone app (and web service) for easily “lifeblogging” your photos and thoughts. And because nobody but you really cares about the mundane details of your days, Bokeh can be used as a private diary, too, albeit a private diary that you access via the web. So what’s the gimmick? What sets Bokeh apart from all the other lifeblogging apps out there? It has a great calendar view, making it easy to browse and zero-in on the exact memory you forgot.