People love large and shiny objects. So we can be forgiven for being absolutely blown away by Google’s idea of relaying IP across the skies via giant balloons to remote areas where Internet connectivity would otherwise not exist.

The most jaw-dropping aspect of the Loon project is the fact that the system uses algorithms to convert published windspeed and direction data into navigation using algorithms. (Balloons are moved by finding an altitude at which the air is moving in the right direction.)

So much about this project is dazzling — the scope and audacity of it; the solar-powered servers-in-the-sky; and the fact that balloons will deliver the Internet to remote areas — that the core aspect of Loon is easy to overlook.

The key thing about Loon is mesh networking.

OS X Mavericks (named after a surfing hot spot in California) was announced recently, and it contains a ton of new features for Mac users to pore over and learn anew. While not as incredible an overhaul as the concurrent update to iOS 7, Mavericks still contains some fairly helpful features and additions to make it worth some poking around, even in the beta.

Speaking of the beta, remember that any of the stuff we talk about below may only exist in the beta, or in some other form, so enjoy playing around with these things, but don’t worry when things are different when Mavericks releases for real in the Fall.

That said, let’s take a look at five new, hidden, and above all, interesting, features of the latest beta for OS X: Mavericks.

Remember that the OS X Mavericks beta isn’t a final version—it’s meant to be used by developers to ensure that their software will work with Apple’s latest and greatest. With that disclaimer in mind, let’s check out yet another little feature in the beta.

Prior to OS X Mavericks beta, the Dashboard, loaded with useful widgets of all stripe, used to be limited to two states: disabled, or locked to the top left side of the Mission Control screen.

Now, however, with the advent of OS X Mavericks beta, that’s no longer the case. The Dashboard is now treated the same as any other Space when enabled. Here’s how to get it enabled, and then how to move it around.

Apple posted a public notice called “Apple’s Commitment to Customer Privacy” in which they dodge and weave their way through key bits of information.

It’s not clear whether this deliberately cagey language is done to comply with the unconstitutional and illegal FISA requirements or whether Apple chose to hide this information for its own purposes, but I suspect the former, and I’ll tell you why.

But first, let’s look at Apple’s constrained, disingenuous statement.

As a designer, there is no such thing as too many resources. It’s simple – the more assets you have, the more combinations and unique designs you can deliver. With that in mind, the more designs you can deliver, the more dynamic of a designer you’ll be! If you are looking for a UI/UX bundle that has it all, look no further.

The Summer Creative Design Bundle is a Cult of Mac Deals special offer that gets you lifetime access to literally thousands of high-quality assets…for only $39!

Top Apple executives get really good stock compensation as an incentive to stay with the company. In the past, stock awards have typically been granted by Apple’s board on a restricted basis, meaning that a certain number of shares is set aside to be given years down the road. The obvious incentive is that the executive does well and helps Apple succeed so that the stock is cashed in for more than when it was granted.

Tim Cook was awarded 1,000,000 restricted shares in Apple when he became CEO, but the shares weren’t tied to Apple’s overall health as a company. He would get them all over time as long as he stayed at Apple—whether the stock value bottomed out or rose exponentially.

A recent update to Cook’s stock compensation—at what appears to be his own request—changes the terms to focus on Apple’s actual performance. If Apple doesn’t perform well under Cook’s tenure, millions of his own dollars are on the line. His stock is currently worth around $413 million.

iOS 7 beta is fresh out of the gate, and already we’re finding a bunch of hidden and new features bundled into Apple’s latest revolution in mobile operating system software for iPhone. While we can’t guarantee these will work the same way–or even exist, to be honest–when iOS 7 comes out for real this coming fall, it’s a ton of fun dropping into the features and playing around a bit.

Be sure you don’t use iOS 7 beta for anything mission critical, as it’s still not quite ready for prime time, and it could mess your data up in some way unexpected.

That said, let’s look at five hidden secrets in the new beta for iOS 7, shall we?

Nope, that’s not your iPhone ringing, it’s just a music video.

Hollywood-based band Mars Argo turned Apple’s iconic ‘Marimba’ ringtone into a hook for their new music video, “Don’t Call Me.” Whether you prefer the band’s musical stylings or not, you have to admit it’s a pretty neat idea for a song.

Source: YouTube

Via: Twitter

Every day there seems to be a new alternative to Google Reader, the beloved RSS aggregator Google will bury once and for all on July 1st. Services like Feedly and Newsblur are already established with millions of users, and Digg has a service launching next week. Now AOL—yes, the company formerly known as America Online—even has a RSS reader.

You can sign up to get access to the private beta on a new webpage. That’s all we really know at this point. AOL will assumedly email people when it’s ready to let them in. Since it’s AOL, don’t hold out with too high of hopes. A lot of people (including this writer) are having trouble loading the website today.

But hey, I guess if Digg can do it, anyone can?

Source: AOL Reader

Instagram added support for sharing 15-second video clips yesterday, and the feature has been available in the App Store and Google Play for a little over 24 hours. Twitter’s Vine app is already a pretty established video sharing network with 13 million+ users, so you would think that Instagram has some catching up to do. O wait… Instagram has 130,000 million users. Right.

Enough videos were uploaded within the first eight hours of release that it would take you a year to watch them all. Also, there’s a reason clips are 15 seconds long.

The improved Notifications in OS X 10.9 are great. Not only can you respond to notifications as they appear on your desktop, but the new Notification Center also lets you know when your peripherals are about to die.

Now when your keyboard or mouse is getting low on juice, OS X Mavericks will display a notification alerting you that it’s almost time to change the batteries. The days of getting caught with a dead mouse during a presentation may finally be over.

This time on The CultCast: Microsoft disses Siri but becomes her go-to search; Apple TV gets better with new apps; new Airport routers get even better; Anchorman 2 gets classier; we answer your Facebook questions; we pitch our favorite tech and apps on an all new Faves N Raves; and… WHEW! Just press play already.

All that and more on this week’s CultCast! Stream or download new and past episodes on your Mac or iDevice by subscribing now on iTunes, or hit play below and may the shwartz be with you.

Show notes up next.

Disclaimer: Seriously, folks, iOS 7 beta is a pre-release version of iOS. Don’t use these tips as proof that anything will be in the final release, or that they’ll work past the beta. We’re providing these as a fun way to explore Apple’s new mobile OS, is all.

The iPhone’s built-in navigation system has profoundly changed my life. No longer do I need to plan extra time to get to a meeting so I can deal with my ability to get lost on even the most benign route in my own hometown, since I can use turn by turn spoken directions to get me to my destination.

When walking however, I’m the guy who’s usually staring down at his iPhone, waving it around in some weird figure eight pattern to resolve interference, and generally bumping into things along the way.

No longer, though, as iOS 7 beta has turn by turn walking directions. Here’s how to use them.

You know who thinks I look hot when I wear this bag? Everyone, that’s who. From the young hipster laydeez to the local barrio ne’erdowells, everyone steals a glance at me when I sashay down the filthy dogs hit covered streets of my dirty Barcelona neighborhood. “Who is that guy?” their eyes seems to ask. “And why is he wearing that short-strapped red leather bag with those pink shorts?” their eyes continue, before rolling momentarily in what I like to think is ecstasy, but which is probably just exasperation.

The bag, though, is worth the attention, and it probably also worth more than its contents. At €180 ($240) it’s not cheap. But then, it’s pretty gorgeous.

Foxconn has an iPad mini production plant inside Brazil but Apple still hasn’t made the iPad mini available in the country, even though it launched eight months ago in the U.S.  Brazilians won’t have to wait much longer though, as a new report claims that Apple make the iPad mini available in Brazil starting next Tuesday.

Following the release of a teaser clip back in January, the first full trailer for the new Jobs movie starring Ashton Kutcher has been made available—and yes, it features a song by Macklemore.

The movie was originally supposed to hit theaters in April, but the premiere has been pushed back to August 16th due to a need more more marketing.

Early reviews were mixed for Jobs, but most seem to agree that the movie isn’t going to be that great. What do you think of the new trailer?

Kanye West and Kim Kardashian have had their baby, and word on the street is that the name is “North West.” KimYe’s creation may very well be the most popular baby on earth right now,  but no one has seen it yet. Well, no one except… wait for it… Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak.

In what is probably the most random connection between celebrities in recent memory, the Woz has been chilling with Kim, Kanye, and baby North West.

Do you have an easier time remembering faces than names? Have a ton of contacts with the first name “Mike” but want to reach a specific one that you know by seeing him rather than hearing his name? If so, Cult of Mac Deals has an offer that is going to help you deal with your contacts with that sensibility in mind.

Ensoul is the easiest way to create perfectly sized wallpapers and full-size contact images for your iPhone, and Cult of Mac Deals has it for a limited time for the low price of only $5.

Nokia has a new ad out for its latest Lumia 925 smartphone, and it attempts to praise the handset’s camera abilities by depicting iPhone owners as brain-dead zombies who have to use flash to take photos in the dark. Yeah, it makes no sense to me, either. Check it out below.

Every year Apple does a summer camp for kids at its U.S. retail stores. The free workshops teach 8-12 year olds how to make movies and music with iMovie and Garageband. Camp sessions begin around the middle of July and last through the beginning of August in some cases. There are two workshop days that culminate with an Apple Camp Film Festival.

I like smartphones with big displays, which is why I’m a fan of the Samsung Galaxy Note, so I’d certainly be in line for an iPhone “phablet” if Apple ever decided to release one. With rival smartphones getting bigger by the day, that seems like only a matter of time.

But how big could the iPhone go? A recent report claimed Apple has been considering iPhones with 4.7- and 5.7-inch displays, and the concept video below shows what the latter might look like.

Virgin Mobile has today announced that it will be launching the iPhone 5 on Friday, June 28. The handset will be available on its Beyond Talk plans, which offer unlimited 3G and 4G LTE data and unlimited messaging for $35 per month. Prices for the iPhone 5 itself start at $549.99.

A Tokyo court has today found Samsung guilty of infringing an Apple “bounce-back” or “rubber banding” patent that covers the popular scrolling feature built into its iOS platform. Apple has been using the patent against Samsung in a number of courtrooms all over the world, but back in April, the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office deemed it invalid.

Best Buy has today begun a new nine-day deal that gives you $150 when you trade-in any working iPhone 4 or iPhone 4S. That’s enough to cover the cost of a brand new 16GB iPhone 5 on a two-year contract with a $50 instant rebate, which means there couldn’t be a better time to upgrade.

Apple has begun charting iOS adoption figures to help developers establish the percentage of users running different versions of iOS. Google has been doing the same thing for Android developers for some time, and Apple’s chart only highlights the massive difference in fragmentation between the two platforms.