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Apple’s iPhone 5s Case May Be Pricey, But It’s Worth Every Penny [Review]

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iPhone-5s-case

While we knew almost everything there was to know about the iPhone 5s prior to its official unveiling last week, I don’t think anybody expected Apple to announce a fancy new case to go with it.

PRODUCT by Apple
Category: Cases
Works With: iPhone 5 & iPhone 5s
Price: $39.95

The Cupertino company has released an iPad case or cover for every model it has ever made, but this is the first time it has provided first-party iPhone protection since the iPhone 4 Bumper back in 2010. But I’m glad it’s back in the case business.

The new iPhone 5s case — which fits the iPhone 5, too, by the way — is made from soft, premium leather and designed to “look and feel luxurious,” Apple says. It is precision crafted for a tight fit that maintain’s your iPhone’s sleek, slim design, and its microfiber lining promises to protect its aluminum shell from scuffs and scratches.

The case is available in six pretty colors, and it’s priced at $39.95. That’s pretty expensive for a case of this kind, but is it worth it?

LA School District Didn’t Plan On Students Hacking iPads In Class

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The Los Angeles Unified School District is in the process of rolling out iPads to all of its students in 47 K-12 schools. It’s a huge educational partnership for Apple, and the goal is to have students use the iPads to help learn the curriculum.

Apparently LAUSD didn’t anticipate that students would be able to easily hack around the security measures on the iPads and use them to surf the web and download apps. Hundreds of students at Theodore Roosevelt High School have already broken the restrictions, and the district is considering halting the iPad rollout until it figure out what to do.

Apple Ordered To Pay $3.3 Million For Infringing On Japanese Inventor’s Click Wheel Patents

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ipod_clickwheel_games

Apple was hit with a Y330 million (about $3.3 million) bill  by the Tokyo District Court on Thursday after the company was found guilty of patent infringement. Japanese inventor Norihiko Saito was awarded by Presiding Judge Teruhisa Takano after the court ruled that Mr. Saito’s patent, which had been filed in 1998, covered technology for the Click Wheel controller Apple added to the iPod back in 2004.

Bono Announces Over $65 Million Was Raised By Apple For Product (RED) AIDS Effort

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product red

U2 frontman and AIDS activist, Bono was on hand at the Clinton Global Initiative meeting where he announced that his Product (RED) partner Apple has raised over $65 million for the charity organization.

Undo And Redo Keyboard Buttons On An iPad? You Bet [iOS Tips]

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iPad Keyboard Undo Redo

On the Mac, you can always hit Command-Z to undo something. You can also hit Command-Shift-Z to redo something and put it back to what it was before you hit undo. Make sense?

This isn’t so easily done on iOS, as there isn’t a Command key, to being with, but there is, in fact, an option to undo and one to redo hidden in the iPad keyboard. Here’s how to get to each of them.

Facebook Now Lets Android Users Edit Status Updates After Posting, iOS Coming Soon

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Facebook announced this afternoon that Android and web users will now be able to edit status updates after they have been posted, meaning you can finally cleanse your status update masterpieces of careless typos without losing your cherished likes, comments and shares.

The new feature should be live on the web and Android versions of Facebook later this afternoon, but iOS users will have to wait a short while before it hits iPhones.

Enter The Magical Cyberpunk World Of Shadowrun Returns, Now On iPad And Android Tablets

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Seminal 1990s tabletop role-playing game, Shadowrun, has recently come to the digital domain, originally with a version of Shadowrun Returns for the Mac, PC, and Linux platforms. Cult of Mac gave the game a stellar review, calling it a “fully realized tabletop to digital RPG conversion.” Say that five times fast.

Now the game is finally on tablets, both of the Android and iOS variety, and the buzz is that it’s a note-for-note port of the desktop game, minus the campaign editor. That’s a lot of game to smoosh into a tablet.

Apple Brings New MLS And Disney Junior Channels To Apple TV

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Apple updated its Apple TV offering this morning to include new channels for Major League Soccer and Disney Junior. The new channels aren’t bound to raise much excitement from average consumers, but sports fans and parents of young kids are sure to enjoy the new additions.

MLS allows soccer fans to hookup to their MLS Live subscription to watch live games across the country, while also keep tabs on scores and standings. There are a number of soccer-themed videos that can be enjoyed for free, and you can watch highlights of your favorite team via the Club Channels.

The new Disney Junior app provides live access to Disney Junior with a cable subscription, as well as access to Disney Junior TV shows on demand, so you can load up an episode of Jake and the Never Land Pirates for your rugrat while you rush around getting ready.

 

 

Apple Releases iOS 7.0.2 To Fix Lock Screen Bug

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Feels a bit more secure, now.
Feels a bit more secure, now.

Apple just released a new patch for iOS 7 that fixes a bug that allowed anyone to bypass the lock screen in the new iOS 7. The exploit involved swiping up on the lock screen to access Control Center, then opening the alarm clock. Holding the iPhone’s sleep/wake button brings up the power off option, and you could hit cancel, double click the home button, and have access to the multitasking screen. This would give anyone access to your photos, camera, email, Twitter, Facebook, or Flickr account.

Today’s update to iOS 7.0.2 purports to fix that, and reintroduces a Greek keyboard option for passcode entry.

Source: Apple

Trouserheart: Big On Adventure, Low On Pants [Review]

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Trouserheart

You know how it goes: You’re the king, you have prestige and power and piles of riches all around you … and then some goblin shows up and steals your pants.

Trouserheart by 10tons, Ltd.
Category: iOS Games
Works With: iPhone, iPad
Price: $2.99

Alright, maybe none of that has ever happened to me, ever, but it is the premise of Trouserheart, a new hack-and-slash action game out today by developer 10tons (makers of the Joining Hands puzzle series).

Given the “epic quest to rescue kidnapped pants” premise, you’d expect Trouserheart to be a pretty light affair. And it is, but it’s also a solid, satisfying experience.

Charming Free-To-Play Match-Three Game Dragon Academy Is Live In The App Store

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Dragon Academy

With an odd mix of Bejeweled and Pokemon, including a dash of inspiration from Puzzles and Dragons, Dragon Academy aims to be your next iOS game addiction. available now in the App Store for the low price of free-to-play, Dragon Academy tasks you with matching jewels of different dragon-enhancing powers to level up your adorable, charming dragons for even more jewel-matching fun.

We got the chance to sit down with Trent Polack, creative director at developer Team Chaos, and chat a bit about dragons, “hatch-three” puzzle games, and why the team decided to go with such a saturated genre to begin with.

The Boombot REX: A Rugged Bluetooth Speaker You Can Take Anywhere [Deals]

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CoM-plox

I’ve got a Bluetooth speaker…and I love it. But when my family and I went camping this summer I left it at home. Why? Because I wasn’t convinced that the environment it would be in was going to serve it all that well. I could have used something more rugged, and even more versatile.

I could have used the Boombot REX.

With a ruggedized ABS housing, Boombot REX goes anywhere, but it also features full fidelity stereo sound, is water-resistant and plays for up to eight hours on a single charge – it’s built tough to withstand the demands of your active lifestyle. And Cult of Mac Deals has it for 23% off the regular price – just $99.99!

BlackBerry Messenger Is Also Coming To Your Desktop

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BlackBerry failed miserably in its attempt to bring BBM to Android and iOS last week, but the Canadian company hasn’t given up on making its popular messaging service available to all. In fact, it isn’t just targeting other mobile platforms, but it’s also planning to bring BBM to your desktop, too.

iOS 7 Mail Now Lets You View Files Inside Zipped Attachments

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zippers

Earlier this morning in the Cult of Mac chatroom, Killian told me that “iOS 7 as a whole is little more than a lick of paint.” He was baiting me of course (I hope so anyway, or I have some punishment to administer), but it’s a common enough view. However, as we shall see, there’s plenty going on under the hood too.

Exhibit A: Mail app now lets you look right inside ZIP attachments and open the individual documents direct.

Bluetooth Water Bottle (Yes, Really) Talks To Your iPhone, Reminds You To Drink

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Warning: Sarcasm follows.

“Are you drinking enough water?” asks BluFit. Well are you? This is how to tell:

  1. Are you thirsty?

If the answer to the above question is “yes,” then you should drink some water.

I’m kidding, of course: BluFit is in fact a totally legit gadget that makes it easy to track how much water you drink. What is it? It’s a water bottle that connects wirelessly to an app on your iPhone.

Seriously.

Evernote To Launch Branded Post-It Notes

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evernote

Here’s an idea to file in your Evernote app under “Why didn’t anyone do this before?”: Evernote Post-It notes. That’s right; Evernote has teamed up with 3M to offer multi-colored, Evernote-branded sticky notes which can be scanned into the app to save, well, forever.