The best thing about AirPlay is that it just works. It takes about two taps to send audio from an iPhone to an Apple TV or other supported device. The downside to AirPlay is that Apple owns it exclusively, and accessory makers have to pay a licensing fee to use it in their products. That means customers pay more for an average AirPlay-capable speaker vs. a Bluetooth box.

DoubleTwist, a small developer team behind some gorgeous Mac and Android apps, has an open source alternative to AirPlay called MagicPlay.

Earlier today, we showed you a screenshot of what appears to be iOS 7 in some sort of jailbroken state. While the screenshot doesn’t confirm that iOS 7 has been fully jailbroken by any means, it’s a good sign that jailbreaking will live on in the post-iOS 6 era.

OpenJailbreak, a new project led by renowned iOS hacker Joshua ‘p0sixninja‘ Hill, will be the first community-driven hub of code and tools solely dedicated to jailbreaking and everything it entails. Not only does this mean that hacking iOS could become more of a public effort, but it also means that exploits will likely be gathered more quickly for jailbreaking future iOS versions. 

Apple has been under heavy scrutiny the past few months for its tax practices and off-shore cash pile, but the criticism that Apple isn’t paying enough taxes isn’t likely to stop thanks to a new report that claims Apple paid zero corporate tax in the United Kingdom last year.

According to a report from the Financial Times, Apple was able to avoid paying corporate taxes in the UK last year by using tax deductions from share awards to employees that basically offset the amount of taxes Apple owed through September 2012, all of which is completely legal.

Kayne West totally loves Steve Jobs. In fact, Yeezy proclaimed that he’s going to be like the  “Steve of  Internet,” because writing rhymes and wearing flashy clothing is the same thing as creating the iPod, iPhone, iPad, iMac, iTunes, and all that.

Needless to say, Mr. West is fascinated by the mystique and charisma of El Jobso, so for a Father’s day gift, his girlfriend Kim Kardashian gave him an Apple mouse signed by Steve Jobs himself. No M.C. can do without a hype man though, so Kim flew Woz out to the hospital and he signed the other mouse himself.

Source: Twitter

Via: Gizmodo

In Apple’s Maps app, which debuted in iOS 6, you’ve always been able to set the volume of the voiced directions, choose whether you want to use mile or kilometer units, and set your Map Labels to Always English or not.

In iOS 7 beta, however, you’re now able to set your preferred direction type. Here’s how.

Leather never goes out of style.

For most of the twentieth century, it’s been a material that testifies to professionalism and distinction, and while Apple’s glass-and-aluminum products may be designed with timelessness in mind, this timelessness interfaces well with leather’s inherent timefulness: the way the oils in your hands and the way you touch it give it character over time.

SENA is a company specializing in premium leather cased for phones, tablets and other devices. We gave their Folio Case for the 11-inch MacBook Air a spin. Leather looks good against aluminum and glass, but how does it feel? That’s what we set to find out.

Anyone who’s ever worked from home knows that sometimes you just have to get out away from your home office and change things up. If you don’t like hanging out at coffee shops, or paying for a co-working space though, there’s a new iPhone app called Breather that offers short-term access to clean, classy office spaces with a desk, couch, and Wifi, for about $20 an hour. Basically, it’s like Zipcar only for office spaces.

The magic of the service is that, like Zipcar, there’s no hassle to get into your rented space. Once you’ve reserved a room you can just walk up to the door and it will unlock at the press of button. No secretary to give you a key. No ID needed or forms to sign. Everything happens on your iPhone.

Here is Breather’s promo video:

Since taking over as CEO of Yahoo last year, Marissa Mayer has pushed the company to make some huge improvements to its apps for iOS. So far we’ve been treated to stellar updates to Yahoo Weather, News and Flickr and the improvements keep coming as the company just published a nice update for its news app.

Yahoo News for iOS received an impressive redesign in April but today’s update cleans up some of the article navigation and adds better Yahoo! Mail integration, quicker sharing, and sponsored stories.

Here are all the new features:

iOS 7 received some mixed looks at first glance when it debuted on the iPhone. Maybe you hate Jony’s new icon grid or love it, but Chris Harris decided to see how the new interface faired on the old iPod Nano screen.

Even though the sixth gen iPod Nano doesn’t run full iOS, upgrading the layout to to the new grid wouldn’t look too bad. Here’s what Chris had to say about his mockup:

“I am not a ‘designer’ and I always choose clarity above style when I have my App Director hat on. Notice how the overly enlarged Safari circle, which some have called wrong, actually works really well in this particular situation.”

Source: Code Into Light

I have done a lot writing in my day, and there are times when I want to just let the words fly freely faster than I can possibly type them. When I’ve worked on my talks for seminars or wanted to work out some thoughts on a major piece of writing, I have given the reins to Dragon Dictate.

This Cult of Mac Deals offer has a huge savings on Dragon Dictate 3 for Mac – which has been an indispensable tool for me as a writer. You can get it for only $100 – that’s 50% off the regular price!

Apple is in the middle of negotiations to launch an iPhone 5S with LTE-Advanced technology on SK Telecom, according to an unnamed executive for the Korean carrier. The news comes just days after Samsung announced a new Galaxy S4 variant with LTE-Advanced, which is an upgraded version of LTE that promises faster data speeds.

French antitrust watchdog Autorite de la Concurrence raided Apple offices, wholesalers, and retail stores in France last week as part of an investigation into claims that the Cupertino company carries out anti-competitive practices against third-party retailers by offering consumers better deals through its own stores.

One of the coolest things about Messages is the cross-device functionality, in that you can send messages to and from your Mac and your iOS devices. I use it while at work to chat with folks who text me from their iPhone; it’s a really handy way to avoid using a tiny screen while at work, not to mention letting you keep your iPHone in a bag, instead of beeping or vibrating on your desk.

Now, though, you can send an iMessage in the Notification Center in OS X Mavericks beta. Here’s how.

HP famously gave up on its smartphone and tablet business back in 2011 when it announced that it would no longer be developing hardware powered by its webOS platform. But two years later, the company is planning to have another crack at it.

Yam Su Yin, HP’s Senior Director of Consumer PCs and Tablets, has confirmed that the company is already working on a new smartphone — one that will deliver a unique experience that you won’t get from its rivals.

Pure is an iPhone Flickr app which looks ready for iOS 7 already. As the name suggests, there’s a focus on plain and simple design, and the lack of button-shaped buttons makes even the cleanly-designed official Flickr app look cluttered. However, you mightn’t be switching to Pure just yet, as it lacks a fair bit of basic functionality.

Meet the DSPTCH case, the perfect vowel-free traveling companion for your iPad mini. It’s a simple envelope-style sleeve, only it has a bunch of unobtrusive straps and pockets on the outside to wrangle your on-the-road essentials.

Can it be jailbroken? That’s the first question a large number of iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch users ask when Apple releases a new iOS update — particularly when it’s a release as big as iOS 7. Apple attempts to block all the vulnerabilities that make jailbreaking possible with iOS updates, so there’s always a concern that the next will kill jailbreaking once and for all.

Thankfully, it doesn’t look like that will be the case with iOS 7, which has already been jailbroken.

You should probably have a smoke detector in every room, and you should also test it regularly, thus making a mockery of Nina Simone’s song Don’t Smoke in Bed. However, some of us live in apartments in which the landlord can’t even provide a toilet that flushes properly, and so the hope of him fitting smoke detectors is a distant one.

For us, the SENSE+ was invented.

Exif Manager for iPhone and iPad does one thing – it lets you view and sort your photos by various metadata attributes. Want to see all your pictures in descending order of shutter speed used? You can do that.

Apple has applied for the “iWatch” trademark in Japan following months of speculation that has claimed the company will launch its first smartwatch later this year. According to the June 3 filing with the Japan Patent Office, which was spotted by Bloomberg, the iWatch name will cover products including “a handheld computer or watch device.”

This is the SpoolStool, and it answers the question “why do I have to buy uncomfortable furniture and power adapters separately?”

I haven’t worn a watch in a while. I’m used to using my iPhone as a way to check the time when needed and I wasn’t a fan of having to have a watch that would be suitable for going to the beach and one for more formal occasions – or try to find one that would be versatile enough for both.

Then Modify Watches sent me one of their watches and my problem has essentially been solved. And right now they are offering Cult of Mac readers a 50% savings on a watch face and two bands – just $35.

There are really only two good options for following this year’s Tour de France on your iPad or iPhone, and neither of them have had their performance enhanced by drugs (we think).

Rumors about a coming smartwatch from Google were fortified this week when The Wall Street Journal reported that Google was, in fact, working on an Android-powered wristwatch, according to people familiar with the matter.

When the Journal starts talking about matters about which people are familiar, you can assume they’re reporting something more solid than rumor. We can move the Google smartwatch likelihood needle up to 95% at this point.

As a heavy user of Google services, I really want a great, Google-centric smartwatch.

But what would such a watch do?

I have a theory. And if my theory is correct, then we should be able to speculate about what the watch’s actual specifications, functionality and user interface will be.

First, the theory.

It’s looking very likely that the so-called “budget” iPhone will be announced in September. In reality, it will be less budget than mid-range, costing about $350 before contract subsidations. Even so, that should be enough for carriers to sell for $0 with a two-year contract, strengthening Apple’s presence in the market.

We’ve heard before that the budget iPhone would come in an iPod-style assortment of colors, and now new pictures purport to show exactly what the rear shell of the budget iPhone will look like.