Have you been waiting for Google Maps to come back to the App Store before you update to iOS 6? Given the incredibly harsh media attention that Apple Maps has received since iOS 6 went live back in September, you’d think that there would be a significant number of users holding out for Google Maps to make its triumphant return.

Since the release of Google Maps a few days ago, there hasn’t been a noticeable spike in iOS 6’s adoption rate. In fact, it’s had no real impact on users updating to iOS 6 at all. Was the ‘Mapplegate‘ fiasco really that exaggerated?

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!

Microsoft is looking for a handout.

Microsoft told AllThingsD this week that the company has insisted that Apple lower its 30 percent cut for Office 365 subscriptions sold through Microsoft Office for iOS.

Microsoft probably assumes that since they have such an iron grip on the office suite market — in most industries, you’re essentially required to use office, or at least share Office-compatible files — that they’re “special,” and deserve a better deal than tiny software and app companies that aren’t massively profitable corporations.

I think that not only should Apple stick to its current position of saying no to this request, they should go further. Much further. They should try to replace Microsoft Office as the de facto standard for Office software with iWork — to kill Office as the global standard.

The late Apple founder and CEO Steve Jobs used to talk a lot about “changing the world.” And he did. But what has Apple done for the world lately?

I’ve got a great new way for Apple to truly make the world a truly better place: Kill Microsoft Office.

First I’m going to tell you why Microsoft Office deserves to die. Then I’m going to tell you how Apple could do it.

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.

So what’s behind the door on Saturday the 15th? Arcane Legends for iOS, a free-to-play, massively multiplayer online game (MMO) that’s bound to please.

This week’s must-have games roundup begins with a wonderful new building game called Middle Manager of Justice, in which you take charge of Justice Corp., a team of superheroes that are on a mission to save the city’s inhabitants. We also have Monsters, Inc. Run, a new running platform game from Disney; Sport Interactive’s latest Football Manager Handheld title, and more.

One of the best cloud-based services out there, Dropbox, has gotten its iOS app updated with a shiny new design and photo gallery, which adds its own tab and a scrollable timeline of the automatically uploaded photos from your iOS device of choice.

Tower offense game, Anomaly Korea, will be out in time for Christmas, says developer 11bitstudios. The sequel to Anomaly Warzone: Earth will feature new weapons, new levels, and new game styles, as well as the dynamic tower offense game play of the original game.

The aliens are back, and this time, they’re fighting in Korea. You’ll get to command a squad of troops and use tactical planning touch controls to lead them through 12 new missions against the new alien enemies.

Believe it or not, Black Friday has already come and gone. Pretty soon the Christmas season will begin, 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.

From now until Christmas, Cult of Mac will be putting together holiday gift guys full of ideas for the special ones in your life, no matter what their interests or your budget. Today, we’re looking at gifts for Mac lovers (not Mac fighters).

Ever since iOS 4 (I think – thanks, Shane!) came out, you’ve been able to send more than one photo attachment per email message, up to a maximum of five. What happens when you need to send more than five photos in one email, though?

That’s where Instamail Photos comes in. It’s on sale right now for $0.99 in the App Store and works pretty darn well.

If you’ve been waiting for a great time to buy the iPhone 5 Walmart is ready to seduce your money out of your wallet.

Walmart announced today that they’re going to drop the price of the 16GB iPhone 5 down to $127 starting today, and they’ve got other great holiday deals on other Apple products too.

Following the launch of Windows 8 and the Surface RT, Microsoft’s head of Windows, Steven Sinofsky, abruptly left the company. Some assumed Sinofsky would become the next CEO so it left many to wonder about the fate of Windows 8 and the approach they will take to software in the future.

Julie Larson-Green has been tapped to replace Sinosky and she’s started her reign by talking to the media about what makes Windows 8 special. While many view Windows 8 and the Surface RT as responses to the iPad’s popularity, Larson-Green claims that Microsoft totally didn’t even think about the iPad and iOS when designing Windows 8.

When the iPad mini first became available in Apple retail stores, it was hard to gauge just how popular it was among fans — and how well it was selling. It seemed that the tablet wasn’t moving as quickly as other iOS devices on their first day, and for many customers it was easy to walk into store once the queues had died down and find one still in stock. Some assumed people didn’t want a device that started at $329, didn’t have a Retina display, and featured older hardware.

Despite that, the iPad mini’s on track to become a hugely successful product during its first year. NPD DisplaySearch expects it to reach 100 million shipments during 2013, eclipsing sales of the larger fourth-generation iPad.

Apple just unleashed the iPhone 5 on China today so things should be going really well for the company on Wall Street as well, but they’re not. According to initial reports, the debut of the iPhone 5 has been somewhat muted thanks to a snowstorm hitting Beijing and a pre-order requirement to prevent rioting.

Adding to Apple’s pain, the company’s stock hit a 10-month low today and is trading at $511.58 – the lowest its been since February.

Apple’s been focusing their retail expansion overseas the last few years. They recently announced plans to build their first store in South America, and they’ve continued to open up new flagship stores in Asia.

Hong Kong already has two Apple Stores, but a third store is opening up in the Causeway Bay area this Saturday that is both massive and beautiful. The main feature of the Causeway Bay store is its 30-foot glass curtain wall that allows customers to see all three stories of the store while walking by on the street.

It’s almost 2013. High-quality web and blog design are no longer a luxury – they’re a necessity.

Picturesque is an awesome little app – and the latest Cult of Mac Deals offer. This app will improve any web design by adding some serious sizzle to your images. Drag and drop images onto Picturesque & choose from 5 tasteful effects. It’s that easy. And it’s only $5 for a limited time!

If you’re an AT&T subscriber and are having problems accessing your visual voicemail, it’s not just you. We’re hearing reports that a widescale problem is preventing AT&T subscribers from accessing their visual voicemail.

The Daily was the first bold publishing experiment on the iPad, the project that was supposed to be a shining light to show journalism the way through the murky path of the 21st Century.

Instead, it was sadly shut down earlier this month, with December 14th marked as the last day for the world’s first iPad-only newspaper.

Well, today’s December 14th, and the remaining staff of The Daily have opted to go out in style, sweetly releasing their own version of “So Long, Farewell” from The Sound of Music… with modified lyrics calling out various Apple products and the newspaper they’d worked for. Here’s the video.

Rovio, one of the most successful iOS developers around, has slashed all of its iPad games to just 99¢ for a limited time. That includes all titles in the Angry Birds series, the new Bad Piggies game, and Amazing Alex. Has Christmas come early?

Just as they did yesterday with the iOS App Store0, Apple today has launched their Best of 2012 awards for the Mac App Store… and this time, the clear winners are actually clear winners instead of head-scratching WTFs.

Almost three months after making its debut in the United States, Apple’s iPhone 5 goes on sale in China and 32 addition countries today. As is often the case when Apple launches a new gadget, fans lined up in droves in an effort to get their hands on the Cupertino company’s latest smartphone before it’s all sold out. Some stores, however, were unusually quiet.

When Apple rolled out a new App Store redesign with iOS 6, the Cupertino company removed the ability for customers to gift apps and games to their friends via email. Just in time for Christmas, that’s now back, making gift-giving for those getting new iOS devices a whole lot easier.

Ok, so we may not be rockstars (yet), but we just hit 1,000,000 downloads of The CultCast, our fun, quirky, totally off-base podcast covering everything in the wonderful world of Apple. That’s like earning a platinum record! Now we know what Led Zeppelin felt like… But we couldn’t have done it without our smart, good-looking, worldwide audience supporting us all the way. If you’ve ever listened to an episode of The CultCast, thank you, we love you, and we would like to hold your hand.

But enough self sycophancy! On our newest episode, we talk Google Maps reborn on iOS. We’ll tell you what we love, what we don’t, and if it scratches the itch we’ve all had since the demise of the last Google Maps.

Plus: why Twitter wants to be your next Instagram, and a new Flickr app rises from the ashes—but is it too little too late?

Join us on our newest CultCast! Subscribe now on iTunes, or easily stream new and previous episodes via Apple’s free Podcasts App.

Yeah, this is one of the least surprising rumors you’ll hear all day. But it’s sure to delight those who are holding out for an iPad mini with a Retina display. According to industry sources in Taiwan, Apple will indeed be “enhancing” the display resolution of its second-generation iPad mini, introducing a 2058×1536 panel with 326 pixels-per-inch.

Those photo screen saver modules that Apple includes with Mac OS X are gorgeous, right? With Aerial, Cosmos, National Geographic, and Nature Patterns on offer, the basic photo Screen Saver is just right to keep things pretty when you step away from your Mac for a moment or two. I’ve gotten tons of complements on the photos, and they’re just the default ones.

But sometimes I want to see the previous photo in a screensaver slide show. How do I do that without waiting for the whole rotation of photos to move through, just to see that one photo again?

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.

What’s the prize for Day 14? A wonderful little app called Hueless that will drain all the color from your photos..