Cult of Mac

Would Apple ever make a credit card? They’ve got millions of credit cards on file for iTunes and App Store purchases. They could integrate it with Passbook. And they’ve got over $100 billion in cash just chillin in the bank, so why not?

We don’t think Apple would ever make a credit card, but it’s an interesting idea that the guys at Credit Card Compare dreamed up – like how it would integrate with Find My iPhone so you could chase down anyone who swipes your wallet. The mockup marketing materials they created for the iCard are perfect. It’s exactly what Apple.com would look like after the big iCard keynote.

Take a look:

Realmac Software, the developers behind Clear and RapidWeaver, have slashed the price of their Mac apps by up to 65% for the holidays. All of their titles are included in the sale, which lasts until January 6, and Clear for iPhone has also been reduced to just $0.99. We’ve got a complete list of the apps on sale below.

If you know someone who just got a new iPhone or iPad, or might be getting one for Christmas, you can help them stock up on apps, music, and movies for cheap with an iTunes gift card. Walmart is selling $50 iTunes gift cards for only 40 bucks. That’s 20% off and the biggest discount we’ve seen.

You can only get this deal online from Walmart.com. Once you purchase the gift card you’ll receive an email with a code that you can redeem via iTunes that will give you a $50 credit in your account. It’s free money. Hurry and get the deal while it’s still available.

Source: Walmart

Just a few weeks back we brought you the then-cheap $100 ring-light for the iPhone, a cheap way to shoot flat fashion photos and videos with your favorite camera. Now, though, you can achieve the same thing for just $10.

Bonus: It’s a DIY project, so you have a great excuse to ignore your family this Christmas.

Nyne’s new NB-250 portable speaker is a modern update on the venerable boombox: portable and loud.

But it’s a lot smaller and more discreet than a boombox of old.

The Bluetooth speaker comes in a trendy, unobtrusive black shoulder bag for transporting to park, pool or a party. It not only looks good but sounds nice as well.

Apple’s much-anticipated television set has entered its initial testing phase at Hon Hai Precision Industry, a company source has revealed. It’s expected to feature a display between 46 inches and 55 inches in size, and shipments are likely to be “huge.” Don’t expect to have one in your living room anytime soon, however; it doesn’t look like it’s going to get its grand unveiling during 2013.

If you want a waterproof bag, forget about zippers, velcro, or any other kind of fastening. What you need is a roll-top bag – just ask Ortlieb, the king of waterproof gear.

The same goes for gadget bags, and Smithfly’s Digi-Pouch offers a tight-sealing, easy-access home for your cameras, iPhones and anything else you want to keep dry.

Struggling Kodak has finally agreed to sell its digital imaging patents to Intellectual Ventures and RPX Corporation — two consortiums backed by Apple, Google, Microsoft, and others — for $525 million. Kodak will receive a portion of the money from 12 intellectual property licensees, with each licensee receiving rights to the patents, while another portion will be paid by Intellectual Ventures, which will then acquire the digital imaging patent portfolio, plus the new and existing licenses.

OS X’s Help menu is fantastic, if underrated. It even lets you find menu commands by highlighting them when you search within the Help search field. If you hit enter after typing in a search term, however, you’ll get the Help Viewer, a useful little hyperlinked app windwo that just, well, hovers over all your other app windows. This is good to start, but when you want to hope back into the app you’re trying to learn more about, the Help Viewer stays on top, even when it’s not the mouse focus.

Want to fix that? Here’s how.

Japanese toy manufacturer Legend Toys has unveiled a remarkably detailed Steve Jobs figure to commemorate the first anniversary of his death. Sculpted by Takao Kato, it’s called the ‘Steve mini’, and it comes bundled with a number of props, such as a chair and a tiny iPad. It’ll begin shipping at the end of December — but there’s a good chance Apple will stop it soon.

Android’s market share continues to grow throughout the world, but one country where Google’s platform is having its biggest impact is in China. It’s now the largest single Android market in the world, with one third of all Android devices sold there during 2012. The iPhone, on the other hand, is struggling there.

Just a week ago, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo began slyly hinting that Apple would be building a 3.2 million square foot computer chip factory somewhere in his state. This project is known as Project Azalea.

But not so fast. Now a new report has popped up saying that New York isn’t the destination of Apple’s massive new fab plant, but Oregon is instead.

Are you one of the many people unhappy with your new iPad mini’s low-res screen? Good morning! Here’s a handful of salt in your wound. Apple may already be revving up retina iPad mini production, according to a tenuous new analyst report.

We’ve had many deals of note here at Cult of Mac for quite some time, but this is one is “noteworthy” in the most literal sense of the word!

The Ultimate Music Mac App Bundle offers 8 top music mac applications (including TuneUp Media Lifetime) for a fraction of the regular price. You’d normally pay $355 for all of these apps, but Cult of Mac Deals has it for you for a mere $39!

Back in August, Google-owned Motorola Mobility sued Apple for violating 7 of its software patents. Motorola accused Apple of infringing on patents relating to everything from location-based reminders to email notifications.

Now The International Trade Commission (ITC) has thrown out Motorola’s claim that the iPhone violates a patent on “a sensor that prevents accidental hang-ups,” according to Bloomberg. Motorola’s proximity sensor patent has been deemed invalid by the ITC for the second time, and it looks like Motorola won’t have much luck at appealing the decision.

Penny Arcade The Game: Gamers vs. Evil is a deck-building card game published by Cryptozoic Entertainment. Today, the company announced that a stand alone iOS game app based on the deck-building game becomes available tomorrow, December 19. It features characters from the Penny Arcade comic, including Gabe and Tycho, and will launch at a $4.99 price point. The iOS game was developed by PlayDek Games.

Instagram recently updated its Terms of Service (TOS), and everyone freaked out at a clause that said a “business may pay Instagram to display your photos in connection with paid or sponsored content or promotions without any compensation to you.” INSTAGRAM CAN SELL MY PHOTOS WITHOUT MY PERMISSION?!? Quick, everyone move to Flickr!!!

As with most news involving social network privacy, it has all been blown way out of proportion. No, Instagram does not want to sell your precious pics you take on your iPhone.

Today Apple seeded a new beta of OS X Mountain Lion 10.8.3 to developers in the Mac Dev Center. The build number is “12D43” and the release contains no known issues.

This is the third 10.8.3 beta to be released after the original was seeded back in November. It was previously discovered that OS X 10.8.3 hints at the faster AMD Radeon 7000 chip making its way to the rumored Mac Pro refresh in 2013.

Apple released OS X 10.8.2 to the public back in September with Facebook integration, Game Center, and some other new features. This third 10.8.3 beta comes out just before Apple shuts down iTunes Connect for the holidays this Friday.

We all know how the annoying experience of tapping a link to an App Store app on the iPhone. You’re immediately thrown out of whatever app you’re in and forced to view the app’s full page in the App Store. Thankfully, that cumbersome experience no longer exists for app ads in the official Facebook iOS app.

When a developer pays to show an ad for their iOS app in your Facebook feed, you’ll now be able to open and install said app without ever leaving Facebook. This is the first time we’ve seen the ability for users to download an App Store app from a pop-up window.

You probably love the hell out of your iPhone. You take it everywhere. Give it constant attention. Make sure it’s clothed in the coolest covers so it doesn’t get banged up and have to go to the Genius Bar emergency room. Heck, you probably even sleep with the little guy.

Sadly, your iPhone doesn’t love you. But a new app called Hatch wants to change all that by turning your iPhone into a pet that loves you back. Hatch is a new iOS game that hatches cute little pets called Fugus inside your iPhone. You can feed your Fugu, clean up after it, pet it, play with it, and tons of other activities to shower it with love. Your Fugu will love you right back. It’s kind of like the Tamagotchi craze, but better.

Here’s a video of the app in action:

When we see companies shamelessly ripping off Apple’s brand, designs and trademarks, we usually think of any number of tiny Chinese knock-off makers (or Samsung).

Now, though, the Brazilians appear to be getting in on the action, as a Brazil-based electronics maker is now planning on launching a new line of Android smartphones that they are calling IPHONES. Yes, really.

Apps are a great gift to that person on your holiday shopping list that already has an iOS device. You used to be able to do this from in the App Store, but that was taken away as of iOS 6. iTunes gift cards were the only way to go.

Now, however, the option to send apps as gifts is back, along with a way to schedule the gifting email so you can better target a birthday or, say, winter holiday that might be coming up. Hint, hint.

Here’s how.

In my line of work, I see a lot of plastic-y, rubbery, or other kinds of cheaply-made iPhone cases. So when I saw Crimson’s new iPhone 5 case ($45), looking all svelte and made from the same aluminum they bolt into Boeing planes, I just had to see if it was truly first class, or just another case made for coach.

We’ve been waiting for Apple to release iOS 6.1 for a few weeks now, but before they bring out the good stuff, Apple is pushing out a small iOS update for iPhone 5s and the iPad mini.

iOS 6.0.2 is available for download now through iTunes or via over the air updates, but it looks like it’s only for the iPad Mini and iPhone 5. All other iOS devices will have to wait for an update.  According to Apple the update fixes a bug that could impact WiFi. We’ll let you know if there are any major changes inside once we get it on our devices.

Here are the individual download links:

The Omni Group has been testing its new OmniFocus Mail Drop, a service which lets you forward emails to a secret address, whereupon they end up — moments later — in your OmniFocus inbox. This means that we can finally (finally!) add emails direct to our Omnifocus from our iPhones and iPads.

But with a little jiggery-pokery, you can finagle some automated internet services to do much more. In this post I’ll show you how I now collect news items from Google Reader and have them waiting for me in Omnifocus and Writing Kit, ready to be written up.