Sometimes, a product can really sneak into your heart. Such was the HEX Drake Origin backpack, which I gave a positive review.

Although I loved it from the first for being a backpack that a fashionably-inclined, full-grown man could wear without looking like a slobbering, buffoonish manchild — no mean feat — the Drake Origin has become even fonder to me in the months since, until I found that I was more inclined to hoist it up onto my shoulder as I left the house than I was some of my other cherished messenger and satchel bags.

What I loved about the HEX Drake Origin wasn’t just its incredibly solid stitching and construction, but the way it made me feel when I picked it up, I felt as if I suddenly went back in time, and becamed a dandyish Oxford student in the 1910s lugging a tweed backpack full of natural philosophy texts across a blustery, autumn-strewn quad. This may seem precious, and is in fact precious, but the way we all look at fashion is through the romanticized lens of nostalgia. Fashion is a way we tell other people a story about ourselves, and I liked the story I thought the HEX Drake Origins told about me.

I don’t feel the same way about the HEX Cabana Laptop Duffel, but it’s not really the bag’s fault. If the Drake turned me into an Oxford student from a hundred years ago, the Cabana Laptop Duffel turns me into that Oxford student’s girlfriend on a day out at the beach. It’s a very feminine bag that I love, but perhaps not the right bag for me.

iPhone theft has become a huge problem. Mayor Bloomberg says if it weren’t for Apple’s shiny devices getting stolen so frequently, crime in NYC would have gone down slightly in 2012.

Despite the best efforts of the boys in blue, catching iPhone thieves is hard work. Police really haven’t gotten too much better at it, so they’re changing their target. To get iPhone thieves off the streets, cops in San Francisco are trying a new tactic: rather than waiting around on subways trying to catch thieves in the act of stealing iPhones, The Fuzz has started trapping the buyers of stolen iPhones.

Carriers have made a killing over the last decade by charging customers absurd rates on SMS texting plans, but the times are quickly changing.

To avoid SMS fees, smartphone users have embraced free chat app messaging via apps like iMessage, WhatsApp, and Kik. As a result, SMS is starting to die a slow, and hopefully painful death, because free app messaging has officially overtake SMS as the most popular way to text message on a smartphone.

I am not a psychic, but I have a good idea where you and your iPhone parted ways.

If you’re desperately seeking it on Craigslist, chances are you lost your device – or had it stolen – over the weekend, especially at night. And probably at some fun destination – shopping, the beach, a bar – or heading there on your usual means of transportation (the car, a gas station or parking lot, or bus).

We’ve always thought that Apple’s rumored iWatch probably won’t have the ability to enter text, but maybe we’re wrong. Maybe Apple will use software similar to this ZoomBoard concept that lets you zoom in on a keyboard, tap the letter you want, zoom back out, and then find new characters.

Users who have tested the prototype were able to type about 10 words per minute with it, which is pretty slow compared to average speeds on a real keyboard, but maybe it could be used on a limited basis. We don’t think anyone will ever want to type an email on their iWatch, but what if you want to send a quick reply to a friend without pulling out your iPhone to type it up? This could be the answer.

Here’s a video of ZoomBoard in action:

It looks like Microsoft has been taking a sneaky peek at Samsung’s guide to marketing. Rather than touting new features or specifications in its latest Windows Phone commercial, the company has taken to bashing the competition instead.

The minute-long clip sees Apple face off against Samsung during a massive wedding brawl as the two companies trade insults over smartphones.

Google promised us it was coming, and after a lengthy Google Now today makes its debut on iOS. It’s available as part of an update to the Google Search app, and it’s exactly what users on Android have been enjoying for the past year.

The iPad has earned first place in the J.D. Power and Associates customer satisfaction survey for the second year in a row, just a month after Apple’s iPhone secured the award for the ninth time. The popular slate scored 836 out of a possible 1,000 points having been rated on performance, ease of operation, styling and design, features, and cost.

Apple’s not expected to show much at WWDC that isn’t software. Tim Cook himself pretty much precluded seeing any major updates to Apple’s hardware line until fall. That doesn’t mean, however, that Apple won’t bump the specs of some existing Mac models, and it’s now expected by one of Apple’s more reliable activists that Cupertino will do just that, unveiling upgraded MacBooks across the line at the beginning of June.

One of the best apps to have in the toolkit of the privacy minded, developer Objective Development has just unveiled Little Snitch 3.1, their app that prevents other Mac programs from ‘phoning home’ under certain conditions.

One of the changes in iTunes 11, which debuted in November of last year, was the loss of a “find all duplicates” feature that was really handy for finding and deleting duplicate files in our rather voluminous iTunes libraries. Luckily, Apple re-included the feature in the latest version of iTunes 11, version 11.0.1. Here’s where to find it, and how to use it to help yourself clean up that iTunes library.

Japanese telecom provider KDDI’s mobile branch is planning to kick off its iPhone 5S pre-orders on June 20 ahead of a launch in July, according to an internal document that has been making its way around the web. The carrier expects the device to offer a 13-megapixel camera as well as Apple’s latest iOS 7 operating system.

KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has issued a note to investors in which he says the second-generation iPad mini with Retina display won’t enter mass production until October due to yield issues with the new high-resolution display. If true, the problem could make a fall launch for the device very unlikely.

In the last week I have jailbroken and then de-jailbrokened an iPad mini, mostly thanks to stupid little glitches that make me think the whole thing will just crash in the middle of something important like a round of Super Stickman Golf 2.

But if you have a hacked iPhone, you might want to keep it hacked fo a little longer, at least until you get to try the amazing Velox, a tweak that lets you use apps as little notification-center-style widgets right there on the home screen.

Those quick-access camera straps which loop through a ring screwed into the tripod socket are fantastic and terrifying in equal measure. Fantastic because they really are fast, convenient and comfortable to use (just ask Cult of Mac’s Traci Dauphin, who I have never seen without an Olympus hanging from a Black Rapid strap around her neck); and terrifying because you’re hanging your expensive camera from a strap which could unscrew itself any any time.

Add to that the fact that you can’t use a tripod with the screw-in strap plate attached and you’ll see where this new Kickstarter gadget is coming from.

This post is a little “inside baseball,” as it’s about a new tool for grabbing high-res app icons direct from the command line (or using an app), and this is the kind of thing that is most useful to writers like me. Then again, it’s by Brett ‘I just built this’ Terpstra, the Hardest Working Man on the Internet™, and is plain ingenious, so lets take a look.

Misleading and misunderstanding blogging and reporting this week is leading everybody into falsely believing that Intel plans to ship or support Android-based laptops.

This has sparked debate over the wisdom or folly of Android laptops.

I’ll make a case for why Android laptops are a great idea, but first let’s kill the myth that Intel announced Android laptops.

If you’re looking for solid and stylish protection for your iPhone, then this Cult of Mac Deals is going to be right up your alley. You’ve spent a lot of money on your iPhone. You owe it to yourself to protect it accordingly.

BodyGuardz Armor™ Carbon Fiber is the ultimate in expression and protection. Each carbon fiber skin (Note: This is not a case) is custom designed to fit your device and will provide tough scratch protection. As a bonus, each skin also includes a screen protector. And Cult of Mac Deals has it at a 50% discount – just $9.99 – for a limited time!

The Mac App Store, originally released for Mac OS X Snow Leopard, takes a lot of the guesswork and uncertainty out of downloading apps for your Mac, and adds a little bit of security as well. You know you’re getting apps that meet Apple’s stringent requirements to work with its operating systems.

Here are five different tricks and tips to working with the Mac App Store that you may not have already known. We think you’ll find something new in the stuff below that will help you master the Mac App Store.

Popular RSS app Reeder received a pretty big update in the App Store today. The iPhone version of Reeder has been updated to version 3.1 with support for Feedbin, a paid Google Reader alternative. RSS feeds can now be manually entered and stored locally in the app as well.

When Google declared that Google Reader is set to shut down on July 1st, Reeder announced that it would be adding Feedbin support in an upcoming update. The app already supports Fever, a Google Reader-like paid service that aggregates articles from multiple feeds and determines the most important stories of the day.

Feedbin is still in its early stages, and because the company doesn’t have Google’s deep pockets, it costs $2 per month. Reeder for iPhone costs $3 in the App Store. The Mac and iPad versions of Reeder will be receiving major overhauls in the coming months.

Source: App Store

Accessibility is a priority to the designers and engineers at Apple. They have built some amazing software right into each operating system, from OS X to iOS, all for no etra charge and no need to add extra programs on to be able to use the products if you have a visual, hearing, motor, or cognitive disability.

But if you don’t have a disability (yet–we’re all just a lucky step or two away), you can take advantage of these systems for yourself or other family members.

Here are five different ways to do just that.

If you haven’t played Ticket to Ride yet, all you need to know is that the iPad version is the most addictive board game I’ve played on the device. On the iPhone? Nothing even comes close (O.K., except maybe chess and Words with Friends).

This weekend the newest version of the game to hit the iPhone, Ticket to Ride Europe Pocket, goes from $2 to free. Don’t miss out on this one — and make sure you tell a buddy so you can play ’em.

The “i” in the next iPhone will stand for “identity.”

When people hear rumors and read about Apple’s patents for NFC, they think: “Oh, good, the iPhone will be a digital wallet.”

When they hear rumors about fingerprint scanning and remember that Apple bought the leading maker of such scanners, they think: “Oh, good, the iPhone will be more secure.”

But nobody is thinking different about this combination. Everybody is thinking way too small.

I believe Apple sees the NFC chip and fingerprint scanner as part of a Grand Strategy: To use the iPhone as the solution to the digital identity problem.

NFC plus biometric security plus bullet-proof encryption deployed at iPhone-scale adds up to the death of passwords, credit cards, security badges, identity theft and waiting in line.

With all the brouhaha over the 2-minute sell-out of Apple’s upcoming World Wide Developer Conference (WWDC) this June, it’s not too surprising that the Cupertino-based technology company has taken a few steps to support those developers who weren’t able to get a ticket to the popular event.

Apple has already decided to offer video of the WWDC sessions, and has contacted some developers who were unable to get a ticket due to the online ordering system overload.

Today, however, in a post on its News and Announcements for Developers page, Apple has announced that there will be a traveling tour, dubbed Tech Talks, making its way to various cities around the country, perhaps like the ones held in 2011 for the launch of iOS 5.

Ok, so you’re a prince sent out to learn your magic at Bogsmarts, a magical boarding school for aristocratic youth in a far away kingdom. While you’re gone getting your Bachelor’s degree in petty magic, your evil aunts and uncles have predictably taken over all the smaller castles in your father’s lands, shutting you out of your rightful inheritance. So, it’s up to you to muster your troops and set off across the land, beating up your relatives’ troops, barricades, and (eventually) taking over their castles as well.