Cult of Mac

A new rear shell for the second-generation iPad mini has appared online, and yup, it comes in one of Apple’s new favored iDevice colors: space gray.

Juicy external battery packs are definitely the way to go for the globetrotting nerd – I have had my bacon saved a few times by the 12,000mAh battery pack I carry with me on trips – they’re not only good for the iPhone, but the iPad min, a Kindle, and even USB bike lights (this is the best unknown use for these chargers).

But you know what would be even better? A ruggedized, waterproof battery pack. And – surprise – that’s exactly what I’m just about to tell you about.

Do you use Google’s excellent Chrome browser for the iPhone or iPad? If so, you might want to update it and check it out: Google has just introduced a new feature to Chrome that can reduce mobile data usage by over 50%. But it’s invite-only, for now.

Ready for another weather app for your iPhone? Me too! I love WeatherPro on the iPad, but the iPhone version (despite today’s new iOS7 update) is almost impossible to read on the smaller screen. So I’m excited for Perfect Weather, which promises to make all the info I need available in a neat card view. Or rather, I would be excited if it was available outside the U.S.

BlackBerry Messenger is close to becoming a cross-platform messaging service for the first time, but when will you be able to download the app on your Android and iOS devices? BlackBerry has been pretty quiet about launch dates up until now, but a new rumor claims BBM will hit Google Play this Friday, September 20, before landing on the App Store a day later.

Although since the iPhone 4S, Apple has launched new iPhones in the fourth fiscal quarter of every year, that’s not where the quarter they sell the most iPhones. It’s simple logistics: not only does Apple usually only have a couple weeks left in the fourth quarter to fit as many sales as possible into, but supplies of new iPhones tend to be constrained.

That’s not to say, though, that this won’t be a banner quarter for Apple. Thanks to the iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C, Apple will see year-over-year sales of iPhones increase by 28%, says one analyst.

No matter how fast you can unlock your iPhone and launch Drafts app, you’ll still be slower than someone jotting down a note with a pen and paper. But that means you have to carry a separate notepad along with your iPhone, and then you have to dig around in your bag or pocket to find it.

Not so with the Paperback, a, uh, a paper back for the iPhone 5/s/c.

With the exception of latency, AirPlay beats out Bluetooth audio streaming any day. Fewer dropouts, way better (lossless) quality and less power drain on your iDevice, as it works over the Wi-Fi connection you already have on anyway.

Usually, though, AirPlay speakers are expensive. The Auris Skye is designed to fix that, turning any dock connector into an AirPlay receiver.

If you want to get serious about typing on all your devices (and I mean all) (and I also mean serious), then the new Kanex Multi-Sync Keyboard is what you want. It’s a full-sized keyboard with a number pad, and it can connect to one device via USB, plus three more via Bluetooth, switching between them at the touch of a button.

YouTube has today announced that you will soon be able to download videos and watch them offline on your mobile devices. You won’t be able to hold onto them forever, but YouTube says users will be able to “add videos to their device to watch for a short period when an Internet connection is unavailable.”

We’re just a couple hours away from the launch of iOS 7 where everyone in the world’s iPhone will instantly look different for better or worse. In the past Apple has usually released major iOS updates at 10AM Cupertino, which is 10:00 AM PDT. Apple hasn’t officially confirmed the launch time to the public, so don’t bet the farm just yet, however, Redmond Pie  created the chart below listing the launch time for most major cities across the globe:

September 17th sure has turned into a gamers delight. Not only did highly-anticipated Grand Theft Auto V launch today on consoles as well as two companion iOS apps, but the biggest iOS game of the year is available an hour before midnight too.

Chair’s final piece of the Infinity Blade III trilogy is available a few hours ahead of the iOS 7 launch.  You can grab Infinity Blade III from the App Store now for $6.99.  The game is compatible with the new iPhone 5s, iPhone 5c, iPhone 5, iPhone 4S, iPhone 4, iPad 4, iPAd 3, iPad 2, iPad Mini, iPod touch 5 and iPod touch 4.

We’ll have our full review on the game coming shortly, so stay tuned for more coverage. In the meantime, get to downloading. You only have about 10 more hours to play before iOS 7 drops too.

Source: iTunes

The iPhone 5s and 5c go on sale this weekend, and as usual, earlier reviewers have weighed in. AllThingsD’s Walt Mossberg thinks that the 5s’s Touch ID fingerprint sensor is “game-changing,” and everyone seems impressed with the 5c’s build quality.

We’ve complied a roundup of the best iPhone 5s and 5c reviews out there for you to check out. Cult of Mac’s official reviews will be posted after the devices go on sale Friday.

If you head over to iCloud.com, you’ll notice that it has been completely redesigned to match the look and feel of iOS 7. The new iCloud website has been in beta all summer, and Apple has made it publicly available on the eve of tomorrow’s iOS 7 launch.

The web versions of Mail, Contacts, Calendar, Notes, Reminders, Find My iPhone, have all been revamped to match their iOS 7 counterparts, and the iWork suite is also available. Apple demoed the web versions of Pages, Numbers, and Keynote at WWDC in June. 

Tap tap tap, the developer of Camera+, announced Tuesday that it too is updating its popular iOS prosumer camera application to match the new iOS 7 look and feel, along with several other sharing and shooting improvements.

Co-founder Lisa Bettany emailed to tell us about the overhaul to the redesign, which gives Camera+ a better match to Apple’s new mobile operating system for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.

The Great Flattening has begun.

iOS 7 is being released to the public tomorrow, and you know what that means: app updates galore. iOS 7 compatibility updates have been sneaking into the App Store for the last several days, but now bigger names are getting updated with new designs and features.

If you want to get your hands on an iPhone 5s anytime soon, prepare to work for it. Apple is suffering “severely constrained” supply for the 5s launch, and it’s likely that most models will sell out quickly in stores this weekend.

Maybe this iOS comparison GIF isn’t  quite as mind-blowing as the one of Sir Jony Ive’s death stare devouring Forstall’s face, but pretty good nonetheless.

Some Apple detractors have bemoaned the release of iOS 7, claiming its not a big enough leap forward for Apple, but when you look at this GIF created by the Czech Apple blog LetemSvetemApplem, it’s pretty clear iOS 7 has the biggest UI changes of any previous version of iOS. Not to mention a slew of new features too.

Source: LetemSvetemApplem

While we’ve noted that you can use panoramic photos as wallpaper on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch in in iOS 7, we haven’t spent a lot of time talking about the other major visual wallpaper and lock screen facelift: parallax.

In iOS 7, the background behind your Home screen apps is just a little bit 3D-ish, moving slightly as you twist and turn your iOS device around. Personally, I figured it was some fancy special effect that only Apple could create, but I was wrong.

Here’s how to make your own parallax wallpapers.

The Nimblstand is an accessory for the Apple wireless keyboard, a kind of organizer and iPad stand which can be used on the desk or the lap. As such, it needs to be compared to the InCase Origami Workstation, the established gold standard for such things.

Which isn’t to say that the Nimblstand doesn’t have its own distinguishing features.

When you’re a poor rebel faction fighting a rich and powerful dictator, I’m sure you’ll take just about all the help you get. In the Free Syrian Army’s case, they’ve been armed with basic mortars that are missing one critical feature – sights to aim at their target.

As a quick fix, some of the Syrian rebels have been seen using the iPad’s accelerometer combined with a level app to aim and launch mortars, as seen in Reuters photo above. By using a level to calculate the exact number of degrees the mortar is leaning, the rebels hope their high-tech targeting scope will give them a fighting chance, but Business Insider’s Paul Szoldra – who served in the 81mm Mortar Platoon and instructed new mortarmen while serving in the U.S. Marine Corps from 2002 to 2010 – explains everything that’s wrong in the picture above:

“Always read the instructions before playing,” is what my dad would say every time he found my sister and me making up rules on mortgages and bankruptcy whenever we busted out Monopoly. Knowing the rules and how to play is even more important with an open-world game as vast as Grand Theft Auto V’s Los Santos, so to help gamers out, Rockstar released its second iOS companion today: Grand Theft Auto V: The Manual

I really expected better of Disney.

A company that famous for creating, maintaining, and promoting franchises really should have known better than to end the first game of an almost guaranteed series with a question mark. So then the sequel comes around, and it’s called Where’s My Water? 2. Look at that 2. It’s just stuck out there alone, looking all awkward. I really feel bad for the little guy. I don’t know why Disney didn’t just call this game something like, Seriously, Where’s My Water?. Total missed opportunity to raise the stakes.

Oh, the game? Yeah, it’s pretty good.

Touch ID is getting a lot of the attention among the iPhone 5s’ new features, but Burberry’s creative director Christopher Bailey has been obsessing over one Jony Ive’s other new additions to the iPhone 5s: Slow-mo.

Apple and Burberry teamed up for fashion week in London and shot Burberry’s entire Spring/Summer 2014 fashion show using nothing but the iPhone 5s for video and photos, the results of which are pretty damn impressive. Slow-mo makes a number of appearances in the full video posted below as the camera switches from 120FPS and then back to 30FPS with relative ease while recording. Pretty spectacular for a mere smartphone.

Instagram is going to be flooded with millions of half-assed slow-mo videos in just a few short days, but Burberry posted a couple of short slow-mo clips to Instagram as well that you can check out below :

TouchArcade found this little addition in the latest update to Fox Digital Entertainment’s AVP: Evolution, a note in the update features list that claims iOS 7 Controller support.