Black Friday was just the beginning. Now that Cyber Monday has arrived, there’s plenty to offer our readers here at Cult of Mac. Most notably, we’ve got a pair of killer Cult of Mac Deals offers lined up for you that will net you a whole slew of value for under $100!
To celebrate Cyber Monday, we’re offering two great bundles – The iStack Mac Bundle and The Mac Utility Bundle – that on their own are standout sales – but together they are perhaps the best deal we’ve ever offered.
BetaDwarf definitely walks the walk, instead of just talking the talk. In their Kickstarter video, the indie developer team from Copenhagen, Denmark talk about how sleeping over at the university while learning game development got a bit silly, so they all moved out of their apartments and into a house to finish development on their game, Forced, which will play like a cooperative version of Diablo crossed with Left 4 Dead, according to the developers.
The guys worked and worked on their game, which if funded will be coming soon for Mac, Windows, Linux, Xbox360, PS3 and Ouya. Then they realized they needed some money to finish, so that they could pay, like rent and stuff. The idea for a Kickstarter campaign was born.
With all the junk floating out there at the Apple App Store and Google Play (Android users, you get the nastier end of the shaft in this case), it’s no wonder good apps can often go undiscovered and neglected, withering pitifully under a heap of flashy debris.
One way to find diamond-in-the-rough apps — or apps that actually do what you want them to — is to regularly read blogs like either of the Cult twins. But there’s another way, and it involves using an app discovery tool like Hubbl.
Good news, everyone! Barnes & Noble’s Nook app for iOS has just been updated with support for Apple’s fantastic VoiceOVer accessibility feature, as well as the zoom functionality. This brings the Nook iOS app up to parity with iBooks, the only other iOS e-reader app that can be used by folks with a visual impairment or learning disability to have books read out loud.
Zoom lets those with low vision see the screen at much higher magnification than just increasing the font size, allowing them to use the buttons, icons, and other visual interface systems that they can’t see at the standard size on the iPad or iPhone screen.
The original Air Display is a great way to add a temporary second screen to any laptop or desktop Macintosh. It’s also super easy to set up and use, as we told you in an iOS tip a while back.
Unfortunately, it’s also a bit on the spendy side. While $10 really isn’t that much to spend for quality software that lets your Mac use an iPad as a second monitor, some folks might not want to spend that much without giving it a good try first.
Two months after Apple released the iPhone 5 and iOS 6, Google Voice has finally been updated. Google’s official iOS app received support for the newest iPhone’s taller display and iOS 6 today.
About time.
CultCast listeners know that I have a particular fondness for Christopher Walken. Sometimes he even likes to make an appearance on the podcast. It’s truly magical.
My love for Walken means that I couldn’t be more excited for an upcoming iOS app called Cowbell Hero. With the app, I’ll be able to relive the infamous Saturday Night Live skit in all of its glory. I gotta have more cowbell. I really do.
Mozilla released another public beta of its Firefox browser today. Version 18 beta 1 brings a number of new features and improvements, most notably Retina display support for Apple’s 2012 MacBooks. When this version of Firefox becomes official, the once-popular browser will join the ranks of Google Chrome, Opera and other third party browsers that have already received Retina support.
The current Apple TV set-top box just doesn’t cut it. We all want more from Apple, and hopefully we’ll get the perfect TV experience one day. Until then, there’s only the imagination.
Content distribution and management is a convoluted mess right now, especially in the living room. That’s why I’m floored by the beautiful simplicity of this Apple TV concept:
Wow, I could have used this tip last week when I was getting constant iMessage errors, having to tap the “please try again” icon again and again to send some messages along to my friends. There have been a few iMessage service outages lately, and when that happens, there’s the potential for some upset.
Luckily, there is a way to easily turn that frown upside down as well as turning that iMessage into a regular SMS text message. Here’s how to do just that.
I swore that I would never put a case on my iPhone 5. Then I accidentally nicked the shiny antenna frame. Ever since that dreadful moment, I’ve been on the search for the perfect iPhone case. That’s how I stumbled onto Grove.
For about two weeks, I’ve been using Grove’s bamboo case for the iPhone 5, and it has been a bittersweet experience.
Apple and Facebook haven’t had the most loving relationship ever. There was that time that Facbeook wouldn’t let them integrate Facebook Connect into Ping. And then Apple got them back by integrating Twitter into iOS before even talking to Facebook about it.
Things might have gotten a little bit better between the two companies though after Apple put Facebook into the core of iOS 6. Now delicious little fruits are springing out of their relationship, the latest of which, let’s Facebook users give their friends iTunes credits as a “gift.”
When you just look at the money Apple made in 2012 it’s pretty incredible. But when you provide some context to those earnings and put Apple’s profits next to the competition’s profits, Apple’s performance is absolutely mindboggling.
From October 2011 to September 2012 Apple made more money than Microsoft, Ebay, Google, Yahoo! Facebook and Amazon combined. In that same period, Dell, Asus, Intel, Acer, IBM, Lenovo, and HP (basically the entire PC industry) only made $19.3 billion in profit, which is less than half of Apple’s profit.
Source: Statista
Apple has released their first beta of OS X 10.8.3 to developers today. The download is live and functional, so if you have a developer account and want to see the new changes coming to OS X Mountain Lion you can log in to the developer center and download it right now.
Even though Android leads in terms of marketshare, iPhone and iPad owners use more data than Android users. It also appears that iOS users are also more comfortable with shopping online via their mobile device than Android users.
IBM released their Holiday Benchmark Report and found that among U.S. consumers shopping for Thanksgiving and Black Friday deals from their mobile device, a strong majority were using iPhones or iPads and about 77% of all mobile purchases originated from an iOS device.
Minecraft fans might be interested in Minecraft Reality, a two-dollar app that popped up in the Store last week. It lets you insert Minecraft-created 3D models into the real world, which sounds pretty cool. But it has some limitations.
It’s pretty much a proven fact that for Christmas this year kids want an iPad or something else made by Apple. Everyone knows it. Even Best Buy. So Best Buy’s newest commercial shows off all the phenomenal cosmic powers of Apple devices as a kid uses all of Apple’s products at the Best Buy Apple Store on his search to find Santa.
Source: Best Buy
Via: TUAW
Apple’s new Lightning connector is the perfect accompaniment to the Thunderbolt port, but the trademark hasn’t always been owned by the Cupertino company. In fact, it had to “partially” acquire it from motorcycle manufacturer Harley-Davidson, which uses it to cover motorcycle parts, protective helmets, and turn signals.
The ClearView is a simple alternative to pricey add-on camera viewfinders, both optical and electronic. The idea is that – instead of adding a new viewfinder – you can just repurpose the screen you already have. And this means that, with a bit of tweaking, it’ll work with an iPhone too.
Just last week, we learned that Samsung had requested to add the iPad mini, the fourth-generation iPad, and the sixth-generation iPod touch to its ongoing patent-infringement complaint against Apple. Now the Cupertino company is hoping to extend its own case by bringing Samsung’s latest Android devices into the mix.
Apple has targeted six Samsung devices in total, including its flagship Galaxy S III, the Galaxy Note II, the Galaxy S III Mini, the Galaxy Tab 8.9, and the Galaxy Tab 2 10.1.
Mall of America happens to have both an Apple Store and a Microsoft Store under one roof. In fact, they’re right across the hall from each other, so it’s a great place to gauge how enthusiastic people are for both brands.
On Black Friday, Gene Munster and his team of analyst from Piper Jaffray spend eight hours counting heads at the Apple Store. They also spend two hours monitoring the Microsoft Store and found that Microsoft didn’t sell a single Microsoft Surface tablet.
Here are some other facts that Munster observed:
Were you crazy enough to brave the murderous masses of people looking for deals on Black Friday this year? If you stopped by the Apple Store to get a cheaper MacBook or something, you probably noticed that the Apple Stores were even more crowded than usual. But then if you went over to a Microsoft Store it looked like just a normal day.
Here’s a video that compares the amount of people visiting the Microsoft Store and the Apple Store. Surprise, Apple won on Black Friday.
Use Simplenote to take and search notes on your iPhone or iPad? Love Evernote? Then you’re going to be totally stoked about Simple-For-Ever, a service which syncs the two accounts.
The shipping delay for Apple iPhone 5 has been steadily dropping over the past few weeks, and today it reached an all-time low of just one week. At least, that’s the case if you live in Australia. Estimates for other regions — including the United States — are still at two weeks, but we’re expecting those to drop soon, too.
Apple’s decision to give Samsung Display the boot over the iPad mini may be one that comes back to haunt the Cupertino company. Its tiny tablet is expected to be a smash hit this Christmas, but Apple is said to be battling with supply constraints as one of its two display manufacturers struggles to meet the demand.