The tablet wars in a nuthsell: of the tens of thousands of people who opened a tablet on Christmas morning, 7 times as many people got iPads than Kindles, 18 times as many people got iPads than a Google Nexus and 50 times as many people got an iPad as a Surface. Looks like Santa’s an Apple fan.
Source: Reddit
In the Western world, Santa Claus and Christmas rule the holiday season, but in Japan and other parts of Asia, it’s all about Fukubukuro or Lucky Bags, the annual New Year’s tradition where merchants distribute grab bags full of mystery contents at a huge discount to crazed shoppers.
This year, like every other year, Apple is taking part in the Lucky Bag phenomenon, allowing shoppers to spend about $400 for an Apple-certified Lucky Bag.
Usually, these bags have lower ticket items in them, like iPod touches and t-shirts, but every once in a while, some lucky S.O.B. gets a MacBook Air or a top-of-the-line iPad. There’s only a limited number of them, so you need to line up hours ahead of time. Anyone wish Apple did Lucky Bags over here?
Source: Apple
It’s the day after Christmas, and tell me honestly: did any of you get anything nearly as cool as this 2002 “Luxor Jr.” iMac, rejuvenated by the brother of reddit user craigiest to be a working office lamps?
Source: Reddit
Last week we told you about Auxo, an innovative concept for the iPhone app switcher that was brought to life in the form of a jailbreak tweak. Auxo takes the bland iOS multitasking bar to the next level with live app previews, gestures, settings toggles, and more. iPhone jailbreakers on iOS 6 can now install Auxo in Cydia for $1.99.
Unlike Apple’s stock app switcher, Auxo shows you live previews of apps you have running. You can use swipe gestures to close apps or kill all running apps at once. Auxo also comes with an enhanced music player that gives you basic controls and even the ability to view album artwork. Swipe to the far left and there are toggles for various settings, like Wi-Fi and Airplane Mode. If you hate having to go into the Settings app to constantly toggle Wi-Fi or change your screen brightness, then Auxo is a breath of fresh air.
Believe it or not, Christmas is almost here, and we’ll mark this midwinter festival by getting together with friends and family and continuing to drink and eat far too much.
Meanwhile, we also buy gifts for those same friends and family members, whether they want them or not. Luckily, we’re here to help, and if you follow our festive advice, your gifts just might make it into the “wanted” category.
Today, we’re looking at last-minute stocking stuffers. To be honest, if you still haven’t finished your Christmas shopping, you should really be out hitting the malls today. But seeing as you’re here reading this instead, here are a few ideas.
It’s that time of year again. A time where we are getting busier and busier by the hour. A time where there doesn’t seem to be enough time in the day. And a time where stellar deals come along all across the web.
But very few of these deals pack a ton of apps that not only offer a little something for everyone, but they all offer the ability to save significant pockets of time for everyone as well. That’s what The Mac Productivity Bundle 3.0 does, and while the regular price of all 9 apps would be $1150 if sold separately, Cult of Mac Deals has it for just $50!
Our favorite iPad magician, iSimon, is back at it again with some awesome iPad magic. To help you get ready for Christmas tomorrow, iSimon has some magic tricks to help you out. iSimon even has a magic app that will give you a White Christmas no matter where you live. Checkout all his tricks in the video above.
Source: YouTube
Via: Gizmodo
One of the better Yuletide traditions is the venerable holiday Advent Calendar, in which each day of December leading up to Christmas is marked off on a special calendar by opening its corresponding door to find a small gift, toy or chocolate squirreled away inside.
This year, we here at Cult of Mac decided we wanted to give our readers their very own Apple-themed advent calendar, filled with the year’s best apps, gadgets, stories and other curios. So each day in December, we’re going to lovingly peel back the door on the Cult of Mac 2012 Advent Calendar to reveal another delicious morsel, something really special that came out this year that we think every one of you should enjoy.
Hiding behind door number 24 is a little game that will help you extract revenge upon all your family members and friends. It’s Hero Academy.
I have resolutely been refusing to buy an iPad mini, but this new case from Lion Case might tip me over the edge. It’s a mini version of one of my favorite cases of the year, the New York Hong Kong Folio.
Sharing your holiday photos is always a pain, and e-mail is usually the “answer.” Mom wants the pictures in her Facebook, your smart sister wants them in her Dropbox, and her stupid hippie boyfriend wants them on paper, because bits are like, so ephemeral, man.
IBeam.it is a service that promises to make this easy, by letting you share photos from any service you like, and letting the recipient pick where they receive them. Sadly. it looks like a no-go.
After last week’s Instagram furore, many people threw a hissy fit and quit the free photo-sharing service for which they have never paid a penny. And a lot of those quitters went over to Flickr and its outstanding new iOS app.
Over the weekend, Flickr gave its regular free members a three-month Pro subscription. This is super smart, and not only as a way to entice yet more users away from Facebook’s newest toy – a Flickr Pro account ups your limit on photo uploads, which lets you bring in all your pictures from, say, Instagram.
And the best way I have found to do this is with the new Free The Photos service.
Expecting to (eventually) jailbreak iOS 6.0 on your A5 or A6 powered device? Don’t update to iOS 6.1 when it lands. Apple has ratched up the security features in the first major point release update to the latest version of iOS, making it significantly more difficult to crack than iOS 6.0.
With Apple having recently updated the iPad after a mere seven months, there’s been talk lately that instead of Cupertino’s schedule of annual updates, they might be moving to a bi-annual update schedule instead.
It doesn’t take a genius, then, to trace the newest rumor to mere speculation: according to a hit-or-miss Japanese Apple blog, Apple will release the iPad 5 in March, and it will have a chassis design similar to the iPad mini.
One of the better Yuletide traditions is the venerable holiday Advent Calendar, in which each day of December leading up to Christmas is marked off on a special calendar by opening its corresponding door to find a small gift, toy or chocolate squirreled away inside.
This year, we here at Cult of Mac decided we wanted to give our readers their very own Apple-themed advent calendar, filled with the year’s best apps, gadgets, stories and other curios. So each day in December, we’re going to lovingly peel back the door on the Cult of Mac 2012 Advent Calendar to reveal another delicious morsel, something really special that came out this year that we think every one of you should enjoy.
Day 23 is here, and today, we’re talking about JamBox’s bulkier big bro: the Big JamBox.
Picking up a new skill is a very popular new year’s resolution. And this Cult of Mac Deals offer will go a long way in helping you pick up a skill that can bring both pleasure and profit – designing iOS apps.
The iOS App Design Course bundle is just $79 for a limited time, and if you have beginner level knowledge of Photoshop and a desire to learn iOS app design, this course trio will help you quickly learn how to design both iPhone and iPad apps and icons.
The latest version of Wunderlist for iPhone kicks off this week’s must-have apps roundup, with a brand new look and a whole host of new features. It’s accompanied by an awesome new app from Readdle, a great way to monitor your social statistics, and a brand new app from Facebook.
We’ve had many deals of note here at Cult of Mac, but this is one is “noteworthy” in the most literal sense of the word!
This Mac App Bundle offers 8 top mac applications (including TuneUp Media Lifetime, T-Pain Engine, Boom, and MegaSeg DJ) for a fraction of the regular price. For starters, I mean, who doesn’t have a messy list of songs in iTunes? Use TuneUp Lifetime to keep them organized and categorized by name, genre, and artist automagically, forever!
You’d normally pay $355 for all of these apps, but Cult of Mac Deals has it for you for a mere $39!
Some pundits are predicting, and others are advocating, that Apple launch an iPhone that’s much cheaper than the current iPhone in order to keep up with Android phone sales. For more details, check out why Apple might release a cheap iPhone 15.
This is crazy talk.
Apple doesn’t need a cheaper iPhone. They need a more expensive one — much more expensive. Here’s why.
One of the better Yuletide traditions is the venerable holiday Advent Calendar, in which each day of December leading up to Christmas is marked off on a special calendar by opening its corresponding door to find a small gift, toy or chocolate squirreled away inside.
This year, we here at Cult of Mac decided we wanted to give our readers their very own Apple-themed advent calendar, filled with the year’s best apps, gadgets, stories and other curios. So each day in December, we’re going to lovingly peel back the door on the Cult of Mac 2012 Advent Calendar to reveal another delicious morsel, something really special that came out this year that we think every one of you should enjoy.
So what’s behind the door on Saturday the 22nd? SteelSeries Flux Headphones, a fantastic over-the-ear mobile headset.
Welcome to the last must-have games roundup before Christmas. If you’re looking to treat yourself, or maybe gift a new game to a friend, check out some of the titles we have below. There’s the latest game from Cut the Rope creators ZeptoLab, a stunning endless runner from Crescent Moon Games, plus the latest edition to the Final Fantasy series, and more.
Sometimes you just want to share photos with family and friends, simply and easily, without having to post to Facebook, figure out the lists thing there, or use some weird Dropbox shared folder, because, honestly, your mom really doesn’t “get” Drobpox and can’t you just send her a nice picture of the grandkids like you used to? And don’t even get me started on shared Photo Streams and your dad, ok?
Since it’s the end of the calendar year, and many folks celebrate holidays of one sort or another, or completely boycott them, which is its own kind of celebration, really, I though it might be nice to connect you all to a new app, called Pear (get it?). It lets you share photos and such simply, easily, and only with those folks you want to share with.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWyZUszyJHg
Apple just posted its new iPad mini ad, “I’ll Be Home,” in which an adorable young girl, shown on an iPad, plays “I’ll Be Home For Christmas” on the ukulele via FaceTime to her Grandfather, who is shown on an iPad mini.
It’s thirty seconds of holiday cheer, presented without comment or text, with only an Apple logo and some suggestion of snow at the very end. It’s a sweet little video, and honestly, Apple, you had me at ukulele music.
Source: YouTube
Life is Magic is a location-based free-to-play game that uses your actual location to populate its fantasy/steampunk-themed role playing game (RPG). We reported on it back in September after a meetup with the game developers at PAX, but the game is live on the App Store now.
It’s like an online multiplayer game that turns the real world around you into a gorgeously illustrated land of magic, complete with dungeons, monsters, and treasure. The combat will feel familiar to anyone who’s played a turn-based JRPG game like the Final Fantasy series.
One of the last big holdouts has caved: The Wall Street Journal is now available on Apple’s Newsstand.