Apple TV manages to grab most of the spotlight for streaming set-top boxes, but when it comes time to actually view content, Americans are using Roku far more frequently than Apple’s little hobby.

A new study from Parks Associates found that while the Apple TV is used by 24% of U.S. consumers with a streaming video device, Roku has managed to best that with a 37% usage rate among households with such devices.

Orbotix’s robotic ball, Sphero, has gotten so popular over the past two years, even Obama has been spotted driving one around, but it’s finally getting an upgrade, as Orbotix has just announced Sphero 2.0 will launch later this month.

Since the original iPhone in 2007, the iPhone Photography Awards have been showcasing incredible work from professional and amateur photographers. This year’s IPAA’s are no different, and the winners are on display. Selections were made for over 15 different categories from thousands of photos submitted from 38 countries.

Notifications in iOS 6 can be annoying, for sure. To dismiss them takes some funky gestures, which we tipped you on a while back.

In iOS 7, however, notifications look different, and — thankfully — are a little easier to dismiss. Here’s how it works.

WordPress has released an update to its iOS app that introduces several improvements. Most notably, the app has a new Reader experience for reading posts from followed blogs, liked posts, favorite topics, etc. Automatiic, the company behind WordPress, has also streamlined how the app handles multiple accounts.

With less a month to go until Apple unveils its new iPhones and the release date of iOS 7, the iCloud beta site just received a redesign to bring it more in-line with iOS 7’s UI.

Apple has replaced the old iCloud app icons for Mail, Contacts, Calendar, Notes, Reminders, and Find My iPhone with their counterparts from iOS 7. Along with the new icons, Apple has redesigned the UI of each app with the updated look of iOS 7 as well.

Take a look:

Disney’s upcoming open world sandbox game for gaming consoles, Disney Infinity, will bring all our favorite characters together from a host of Disney franchises, including The Incredibles, The Pirates of the Caribbean, Wreck-It Ralph, and more. It’s an ambitious release, and will include Skylanders-style figures and collectibles into the mix.

Yesterday, then, Disney revealed that there will be two separate iPad apps to support the console release. The Disney Infinity: Toy Box app will connect to players’ Disney ID and allow them to download and play in shared Infinity worlds. The second app, Disney Infinity: Action!, will allow folks to use characters from the Infinity universe in their own videos, blending the real world with the stylized characters from the Infinity game.

There’s been a lot written about Steve Jobs here and elsewhere – but if you want to get even deeper insights into the man and his legacy, then Cult of Mac Deals has assembled a video bundle that will help you do just that.

Apple’s MagSafe power cord is one of the most underrated MacBook features ever, but unfortunately, they’re not very durable. We’ve all seen MagSafe cords become nearly unusable after a years’ worth of bending and wrapping, or if you’re like Toronto-based artist Brian Richer, your dog eats them.

After doing some tinkering, Brian found that his chewed MagSafe cords still passed enough power to light up some LEDs. Rather than tossing them in the trash, Richer has managed to salvage the cords to power his gorgeous, minimalist lamps.

Here are some close ups:

In a clever Facebook status update, the App Store posted a picture of a zombie hand, thrusting upward through the dirt. The caption reads, “It’s about time. Guess what game is coming tomorrow?”

That game can only be PopCap’s Plants vs Zombies 2, the highly anticipated sequel to smash hit Plants vs Zombies, a lane-based castle defense game that’s since appeared on every gaming platform known. PvZ2 was supposed to release last month in July, but was delayed here in the U.S.

Tomorrow, then, is the big day, and we’re excited.

Although we expect the iPhone 5S to look a lot like the iPhone 5, there may be one model that won’t be confused with its predecessor — a white and gold one. It’s been the subject of countless rumors in recent months, and this photo, posted to Chinese social networking site Weibo, could prove it’s real.

I saw this tip over at OS X Daily today, and it reminded me of all the times I did this as a Mac IT guy a couple of jobs back.

See, every so often, the Macs where I worked would start to act weird. Nothing truly game-stopping — just little things, stuff that was easily worked around but always a little bit annoying. The first stop when things are weird, for me, was always Repair Permissions in the Disk Utility app. I’d usually then Verify the disk in that very same app, and see if it returned any errors. If not, I’d usually drop into single-user mode and do a file system check.

Here’s how to do just that.

The low-cost “iPhone 5C” hasn’t been announced yet, but it already feels like we’re pretty familiar with it — mostly because we’ve seen so many pictures of its plastic rear shell. But most of those — the high quality ones, at least — have included the white model.

A new hands-on video that has surfaced today shows off the yellow model in all its glory.

We expect the upcoming iPhone 5S to look a lot like the iPhone 5, so its biggest changes will all be internal. We’re likely to see a faster processor and better graphics, an improved camera, and if we’re really lucky, a fingerprint scanner. This purported iPhone 5S rear shell shows the changes Apple has made to the handset’s design to accommodate the new components.

After Google announced Hangouts at Google I/O back in June, we suspected that Google+ Messenger’s days were numbered — and we were right. In a new Google+ update rolling out now on Android, Google is killing Google+ Messenger for good, while the iOS version will get the chop at a later date.

It had to happen eventually, but now that it has, it feels weird: smartphones are now officially outselling dumb feature phones internationally for the first time ever. And what made it happen? Cheap Android phones.

Cord cutting is something a lot of people threaten to do, but pretty much only ever talk about. People really like the idea of eliminating their cable bills and simply connecting their TV to the web, but the reality is there’s too much on TV you can’t easily get if you cut the cord, like HBO, and for most people, the technology involved is still a difficult hurdle.

But if there’s anything that’s going to get you to cut the cord? According to a new report, it’s an Apple TV.

Remember how just a few months ago, Foxconn profits were slumping because — as the anti-Apple brigade hysterically shrieked — the iPhone 5 was a dud, and the iPhone’s meteoric rise in popularity was finally done?

Yeah, well, Foxconn just posted a 41 percent year-over-year increase in profit, driven by strong iPhone sales.

O2 has today confirmed the price of its 4G price plans ahead of their rollout next Thursday, August 29. The carrier’s SIM-only plans will start from £26 ($40) per month, while those that are tied to a 4G handset start from £32 ($49) per month. All of O2’s 4G plans will also come bundled with free music, sport, and game content.

Kickstarters are like wonderful, vivid dreams that you’re never quite sure are real, and constantly terrified that you’re suddenly going to wake up from, with nothing to show for it. That’s why I usually don’t write them up: even if a Kickstarter is fully funded, you’re never sure if it’s going to come to market as planned, or not be a steaming pile when it does.

I’m making an exception for the AccessIO, though. It corrects a major design issue I’ve had with the iMac pretty much forever: it’s impossible to reach its ports. AccessIO brings your iMac USB and headphone jack to the front of the device, where they belong.

I have a few things to say about external iPhone batteries, but we’ll get to that in a second. First, here’s the Jackery battery for the iPhone 5, a backup battery distinguished by being slim, having a nice sleek design, and featuring an absurdly pretentious video promo on the product page.

Usually when we mention a Kickstarter project it’s with a mixture of excitement (because it’s like a totally cool product) and disappointment (because it will usually be at least half a year before we see a product, if ever).

However, some of these products make it into stores. The Vaavud is one. It’s a no-power wind-meter which you can buy today.

I don’t know what I like most about MindShift’s new Contact Sheet: its name or its purpose. The Contact Sheet (named after a sheet of photographic paper showing all the photos from a roll of film, printed by putting the film right on top of the paper and flashing it with light) is a kind of fancy lightweight tarp for photographers.

Apple has acquired Matcha, a second-screen video search and recommendation service that was recently closed, for a fee believed to be between $1 million and $1.5 million.

Matcha was previously available as an iOS app, and it allowed users to get an overview of everything they could watch on a variety of cable TV networks and video-streaming services. But the service was closed back in May as it focused on a new direction — one which will now be controlled by Apple.

Wahoo, known for making sports-tracking accessories that hook up to your iPhone and turn it into a bike/running/fitness computer, has finally made a bike mount for your trusty outboard brain. It’s called the PROTKT, and it puts your iPhone up on your handlebars whilst making sure it stays safe.