Microsoft’s recent barrage of anti–iPad ads have nearly all featured third-party tablets rather than boasting about Microsoft’s own iPad-killer, the Surface RT. Now that it’s desperately slashed prices on RT units, Microsoft is feeling inexplicably cocky in its latest ad, which pits the hardware and software specs of the iPad against that of the Surface RT.

Basically, Microsoft is praying the iPad’s lack of a keyboard (that you have to purchase separately), Microsoft Office, and a USB port will be enough to entice some unlucky nerds to buy a Surface RT instead of an iPad now that it’s cheaper than ever but still deprived of quality apps.

Here’s the ad:

My iPhone 5 camera has gotten some grime inside it, and my pictures are all yucky because of it. I’ve procrastinated taking it to the Apple Store to get cleaned out because, hey, I’m busy lazy.

Luckily, there’s a guy on YouTube whose buddy had the same problem, and he put up a video showing how to clean out the iPhone 5 with a tiny screwdriver, suction cup, can of air, and a plastic non-marring tool.

A quick disclaimer: if you choose to try this fairly simple iPhone 5 surgery, you’re responsible for any damage that might occur. Please don’t email us asking for a replacement iPhone.

Mobile app, Twine, is trying to do something new in the dating app space. Unlike other dating or random chatting apps like ChatRoulette, Tinder, or OK Cupid, Twine connects you with new people around you and lets you chat and flirt with them without revealing your identity until you decide to.

That’s kind of a big deal, especially for those who find themselves overwhelmed with overly assertive individuals on many online and app-based dating services. Twine also tries to keep things gender balanced, saying that it only allows in equal numbers of each gender (it only recognizes two), so that’s why some folks may be put on a waiting list when they join.

Instagram just pushed out a big update for its iOS and Android apps which gives users the ability to import video from their smartphone libraries into Instagram.

Now you can film video at any time and then splice it together later into a 15-second video to import into Instagram. The update also brings video support to Android 4.0 devices and has a new trim and crop feature so your vids can be molded into perfect squares.

iOS users also pick up a new Automatic Straightening feature that set your photos level with the tap of a button. The new Instagram 4.1 update is available now in the App Store and Google Play.

Source: Instagram

When I opened the mailing box to find three pairs of EarSkinz, I wasn’t super impressed. Especially as this model, the ES2, so closely matched the shape of the EarPods it’s designed for use with, I figured it was just another throwaway product.

My apologies for even writing the above, but imagine my surprise when EarSkinz turned out to be an essential accessory for my set of EarPods. I’m even thinking about buying a pair of ES1s for my older Apple earbuds.

The EarSkinz marketing material claims that the little ES2 silicone earbud coverings will improve the comfort, fit, and sound of a pair of EarPods. I found that they indeed improved the comfort and fit, but I’m not so sure about improving the sound, though of course your mileage may vary.

Spike Jonze is coming out with a new movie and this time, rather than dissecting the mind of a famous movie star, Jonze’s new film, Her, takes a look at what it would be like to fall in love with an operating system like Siri.

The movie stars Joaquin Phoenix as a lonely dude with a non-ironic mustache who becomes intrigued with a new, Siri-like, advanced operating system named Samantha that’s powered by Scarlett Johansonn’s sexy vocal chords.

We’ll have to wait until November 20th to see what happens when you give Siri a soul and place her in the hands of anti-social men across the world, but here’s the first trailer to hold you over:

Are you unable to download content from the App Store and iTunes this morning? Don’t worry—you’re not the only one. Lots of people are experiencing the same thing, and Apple has acknowledged a problem affecting “some users” on its system status page.

Now that the iPad has a full-blown camera built in, more and more people are taking pictures with it. Even my old, original iPad has photos I’ve synced to it so that I can display photos in a larger format when I feel the need. But I rarely use the iPad’s Picture Frame mode because, well, considering the way I store the iPad it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.

But when I saw The Koala Wall Mount from Dockem–the latest deal at Cult of Mac Deals–I saw a whole new way to make use of the iPad’s Picture Frame mode that makes a whole lot of sense. And looks good in the process.

By now we know exactly what the iPhone 5C is going to look like thanks to more component leaks than you probably care to look at. But the latest gallery is the only one you should care about, because these high-resolution pictures show off the iPhone 5C’s plastic rear panel better than ever before.

Apple has been trying to be less dependent on Samsung components for years now, but ditching its rival has been a lot more difficult than imagined, mostly because there’s not a single company that can churn out displays and RAM like Samsung.

A new report from NPD DisplaySearch claims that Apple’s dependency on Samsung displays has only deepened recently, thanks to shortcomings by LG Display and other manufacturers as the iPad mini 2 launch looms ahead.

One of Apple’s Best Apps of 2012, Pixowl’s The Sandbox is a fantastically inventive mobile game that encourages players to create entire worlds and works of art, right on their iOS or Android devices. The Sandbox has reached five million downloads across app stores, and has over 300,000 unique worlds shared in its Online Gallery. That’s a lot of stuff, folks!

The new update for iOS today brings vehicles to the pixel-based world-building game, letting you carry yourself and crafting materials in a Truck from one place to another much faster. Or, if you’re of a combative turn of mind, grab a Tank or twelve and create a battle world to experiences the horrors of war, digitally.

There are new, more advanced contraptions as well, like Conveyor Belts and Multi Electro contraptions, letting you create and manage even more complicated machines and systems within your world.

Infuse is my favorite third-party media player for the iPhone and iPad. And until VLC for iOS returned to the App Store, there was really no competition. FireCore, the maker of Infuse, isn’t letting other apps get the last word. In today’s big update, Infuse has received a number of great features, including support for AirPlay and file transfers over Wi-Fi.

Apple’s yearly music festival is set to kick off at the Roundhouse venue in London’s Chalk Farm next month, and while the festival already had 23 acts slated for the month long concert, Apple just added 17 more artists to the line-up.

The new additions include Avicii, Bastille, Janelle Monae, The Lumineers, Tinie Tempah and many more to go alongside Elton John and Justin Timberlake. U.K. residents can use the iTunes Festival app to get free tickets, while the rest of the world will be able to watch the shows live from an iPhone, iPad, or Apple TV.

Here’s the full line-up:

Adobe may know how to make terrific software, but it also knows how to milk its users for every penny it can get. The latest example of that comes with a new Adobe Reader 11 update for iOS that adds some nifty PDF conversion features—which you’ll have to pay yearly to enjoy.

Amazon expanded its digital software marketplace to the United Kingdom today, allowing Brits to download apps and games directly to their Mac or PC—just like U.S. users have been doing for some time. The process for purchasing digital items is no different, but once you’ve paid for your order, you’ll be able to download it right away.

Backing up your Mac via Time Machine is highly recommended, and super easy to do, as well. It’s really the only backup system I’ve ever found myself using on a regular basis, because it’s so simple to use and easy to set up. All you need to do is connect any USB drive to your Mac, head to the Time Machine preferences, and select that USB drive as your Time Machine backup. Mac OS X does the rest.

I was thinking, though, that since I back up my Macbook Air onto a 128 GB flash drive, it’s even more possible than ever that someone might get a hold of the drive and then be able to have all my backed up stuff on it. That’s not a huge deal for me, as I don’t keep much on the Macbook Air in terms of private stuff, but if I did, I’d want to keep those files extra secure.

Encryption could be the answer, and Mac OS X Mountain Lion makes it easy.

We’re living in a post-PC age. You know it. I know it. Steve Jobs knew it when he coined the phrase three years ago at the original iPad launch event, and of course, it was the iPad that was in many ways the final nail in the coffin of decades of PC market growth.

Apple’s still the number one PC maker by unit sales, but even the growth of the Mac has been shrinking, while other PC Makers numbers are in freefall. Analysis firm Canalys, which does a lot of business analyzing PC sales, made a bizarre decision a while back to inflate their numbers by including tablets as PCs.

Even by that measure, though, Apple’s still the number one “PC” maker. But because Apple hasn’t released an iPad or iPad mini so far this year, they find that the “PC” Market was flat in Q2 2013.

What’s everyone’s favorite U.S. streaming service? Netflix? Hulu? Amazon? Angry buzzer sound! You’re wrong! It’s iTunes, natch, at least according to a recent consumer satisfaction survey by ForeSee.

AT&T has yet again expanded its super fast LTE network – by activating 4G in 6 new locations, as well as extending LTE coverage in Washington, D.C. and San Francisco. The announcement was made today in a series of sequential press releases on the carrier’s website.

https://youtu.be/i3I_7H1mByA

WhatsApp, one of the most popular univeral messaging apps out there, now has a neat new ability for iPhone users: you can exchange voice messages via push-to-talk, and your message can be received and responded to by any WhatsApp user, whether on Android, Blackberry, Nokia or Windows Phone.

Vodafone U.K. has today announced that it will begin rolling out its new 4G network on August 29 — the same day rival O2 will launch its own 4G service. The company will reach 12 major cities across the country initially, with further expansion planned before the end of this year.

That means that by the end of this month, EE will no longer be the U.K.’s only 4G provider.

If there’s one thing us iPad owners like as much as iPad cases, it’s iPad stands. And no wonder: without such a prop, the iPad can do little more than lay flat on the floor or table like a dead fish. Only unlike the poor fish, it won’t even entertain us by flapping desperately around for a few long seconds as it fruitlessly tries to push a few more drops of nonexistent water through its gills, before slowly expiring and laying eerily still.

The Boomerang case won’t provide the same pizzazz as the last few seconds of a suffocating real-life Big Mouth Billy Bass, but it does bend in the middle, and it does support your iPad.

There’s one safe prediction even prophecy-shy folks can make about the “next” iPhone: It will have a better camera.

But what does “better” mean these days? The 8MP photos from my iPhone 5 are more than big enough for editing, cropping and printing, so where does Apple go with the iPhone 5S?

If it listens to the biased opinions of the nerds who participated in DIY Photography’s latest poll, then the answer is not “more megapixels” but “better low-light performance.”

The FlameStower looks like a clever way to keep your iPhone charged while you’re camping in the wilderness. Just fill its reservoir with water, stick the other end into the flames of your campfire and plug your chosen gadget into the USB port. Relax with the charred meat and beverage of your choice, and—just three hours later—your iPhone will be fully charged.

Bind is one of those ideas that’s so simple that you get the idea you could just go and make it yourself. It’s a wide band of “methacrylate compound” (aka plastic) that has a few slots cut into it to fit the battery chambers of your Apple wireless keyboard and your Magic Trackpad. The idea is that it keeps them next to each other on your desk.

But there’s another trick in there, too.