Unique deal here today. For $25 you get to spend $50 at incase. If you’re a Mac, iPhone, or iPad owner you’ve probably seen (or own) some incase before. The Apple Store stocks their gear, so do most other places who sell Apple gear. Why?

Quality.

I own several things from incase, including a bag that I’ve abused but still looks great. And funny that we should be talking about incase, because Charlie Sorrel just highlighted an incase product in his recent blogging from the iPad post—the incase Origami Workstation.

This deal ends today! Seriously get it. The Origami Case is as awesome as I thought!

Yesterday a nasty iPhone SMS spoofing hack was detailed by iOS hacker pod2g. Someone with malicious intent could theoretically change the reply-to number in a SMS message without your knowledge. For instance, you could receive a SMS from a number pretending to be your bank. If you replied with a password or other sensitive data, your security would be compromised. The hack also allows for someone to send a completely spoofed message from a random number.

This bug has been on the iPhone for years and is still present in the iOS 6 beta. Apple today released an official statement addressing the issue.

We’ve seen multiple iPhone 5 part leaks in the months leading up to Apple’s rumored September 12th announcement, and new tidbits continue to surface as the event draws near. Today more alleged components have hit the internet, including a fully assembled front panel for the next iPhone.

The panel shows a taller display with a centered FaceTime camera above the earpiece.

When Apple announced its Facetime two years ago, it looked like an appealing, easy-to-use feature that might finally make video chat mainstream and routine.

The best thing about Facetime has always been its seamless integration into Apple’s Phone and Contacts apps. Unfortunately, that’s pretty much the only good thing about it.

From the beginning, Facetime has been almost unusable because of limitations. Not small limitations, enormous ones. Here’s what I’m talking about. 

Kicking off this week’s must-have games roundup is a new game from Zynga that will blow your mind. It’s called Horn, and it’s a third-person action game with incredible, console-quality visuals and great gameplay. That’s accompanied by Mad Skills BMX from the creators of Mad Skills Motocross; Jack Lumber, the first game from the SEGA Alliance; Cafeteria Nipponica from Kairosoft, and more. Look out for the awesome new platformer from Ravenous Games, creators of the award-winning League of Evil.

Still having trouble deciding which way the wind will blow at the end of the patent trial currently being waged between Apple and Samsung? Apparently, you’re not alone,

The Joy Of Tech geniuses, Nitrozac and Shaggy, are at it again in this hilariously designed flow chart to help you make the call about who copied who in the Apple vs Samsung case. It’s fairly obvious that the comic creators are biased, but c’mon – aren’t we all, a little bit?

As we’re an Apple-facing website, we thought it our duty to bring you this, our favorite comic breakdown of the now famous patent case.

11 Bit Studios has had some success with Anomaly Warzone Earth, a real-time “tower offense” game that was originally released on Mac in April of 2011, then iOS in August of that same year. The company also released the game as an Xbox Live Arcade title the following April, and has a version of the title coming to the PlayStation Network soon.

This year at Gamescom, the big European video gaming conference, 11 Bit Studios announced a sequel, called Anomaly Warzone, and two new games, all coming to Mac and iOS as well as PC and Android, in the coming months.

Today, Bloomberg reports that Google’s Motorola Mobility unit has filed a new case against Apple with the International Trade Commission (ITC). In the claim, Google asserts that seven of Motorola’s patents have been infringed by the Cupertino-based company.

The patents Google is claiming in the case include location-based reminders, email notification, and video players, oddly enough. The suit itself seeks a ban on US imports of devices like the iPhone and iPad as well as Mac computers, all of which are manufactured out of the US, in China.

With Samsung running out of its allotted testimony time of 25 hours by mid-afternoon, Apple took advantage of its two-hour lead by stacking the stand with a whirlwind of appearances from its design experts including Ravin Balakrishnan and Karan Singh. They testified against Samsung claims of prior art potentially invalidating Apple’s patents.

Sprint is looking to entice families (or individuals with numerous lines) away from their current carriers by offering an instant $400 store credit towards the purchase of “qualifying devices.” While that $400 is sure to catch your attention, it’s the “fine print” that caught mine. In order to receive this promo, you have to activate three or more lines on an Everything Data Share or Simply Everything Data plan — one of which, must be ported over from a non-Sprint company (Virgin Mobile, Boost Mobile, and Common Cents Mobile are subsidiaries of Sprint). The stipulations don’t end there.

We’ve seen plenty of iPhone 5 leaked parts in recent weeks, and Apple is expected to host a huge media event next month revolving around all things iOS. On the iPad mini front, certain parts have started surfacing more recently, although we have yet to see the device’s rumored 7.85-inch display in all of its glory.

New leaked parts for what would allegedly be a smaller iPad have been released today, and a high-res shot of the dock connector reveals the smaller 8-pin design that’s also rumored to appear in the next iPhone.

A handful of studies recently have looked at the impact of the iPhone, iPad, and other mobile devices used for both work and personal pursuits is having on the work/life balance for professionals across a range of industries. One recent study showed mobile devices have contributed to the average American working seven hours each week, the equivalent of a full work day, out of the office and after hours. Another pointed how that many of us will work while on vacation thanks to our mobile devices.

For one segment of the workforce, however, iPhones, iPads, and Android devices and their ubiquitous connectivity have actually improved the work/life balance. That group is salaried IT professionals.

Months ago, it was discovered that AT&T would likely charge for FaceTime over Cellular in iOS 6. You can’t actually use the feature in the iOS 6 beta on any carrier, and it was believed that AT&T would charge it as an additional service, like tethering.

Today AT&T has revealed that it will in fact not charge for FaceTime over Cellular, but customers will have to be on one of AT&T’s new Mobile Share data plans.

Today is the final day of witness testimony in the Apple-Samsung trial and attorneys from both sides are squeezing as many last-minute evidence into the record. Apple is seeking more than $2.5B in damages from the Korean giant due to charges of infringement of the former’s patents, which include designs for major parts of the iPhone and iPad.

Guys. Gals. We totally just landed on Mars. Again! Ok, that news is almost two weeks old, but my chest is still pumping with adrenaline after watching those NASA nerd geniuses dominate the red surface with their radioactive robot.

Images of space always make the best wallpapers, and your Mac deserves something better than the default space wallpaper Apple provides in OS X. Here are 10 breathtaking retina wallpaper alternatives that will launch your Mac into space.

The most striking point in a recent report commissioned by Trend Micro was that IT administrators are beginning to rank Apple’s iOS ahead of RIM’s BlackBerry and other mobile platforms, but there were some other significant details in that report.

The report focuses on mobile security and issues related to bring your own device (BYOD) programs. Such programs encourage employees to use their personal iPhones, iPads, Android devices and other mobile technologies to access business resources and perform work related tasks. Many IT professionals believe that BYOD programs introduce security risks – and it looks like they’re right believe that. Decisive Analytics, the company that prepared the report, notes that nearly half the IT professionals that they surveyed in the U.S., U.K., and Germany admitted that their companies had already experienced a mobile-related security breach.

The WWE is ready to bring the pain, with its up close and personal WWE app for Android and iOS. Get in the ring with your favorite WWE Superstars, with instant access to profiles, biographies, social media feeds and more. Relive thousands of face smacking matches thanks to a video library consisting of thousands of clips. Whether you’re a die-hard fan or just looking for a little nostalgia, the WWE app has it all.

Many folks add events to their Calendar app on their iOS device the same way they’ve added events on paper since the way back days before smartphones and personal information managers. They flip to the date they want to add an event to, tap on the day, and then add it there.

This works, yes, but it can get tedious, with all the arrow tapping. What if your event is a couple years out? Even in month mode, tapping through 24 months is bound to get tedious.

There is, of course, an easier way.

The developers at Tapbots, makers of popular third-party Twitter client Tweetbot, have reassured everyone that their Twitter app isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Twitter announced a new set of rules for developers yesterday that could be interpreted as the beginning of the end for third-party Twitter clients like Tweetbot, but Tapbots is confident that their app’s future is secure.

Twitter wants developers to focus on making apps that enhance Twitter’s own apps and web experience. Very little room is being left for traditional clients like Tweetbot. The good news is that the clients that already boast huge user bases shouldn’t be in danger of disappearing.

Yesterday, Instagram launched version 3.0 of their iOS and Android app. Along with some new UI improvements, the coolest thing about the update is the new Photo Maps feature which allows users to organize photos via geo-location data to provide more interesting narratives for their followers.

The new Photo Maps feature is great, but it comes with some privacy concerns. Private user photos that are added to a Photo Map are viewable to any Android Instagram user thanks to a bug in the 3.0 update.

I have no idea how many apps there are in the iTunes store that let you add filters to your photos. But I do know how many there are to remove those filters, and turn your picture into something that you can look back on in ten years’ time without cringing: One. It’s called Normalize, and it comes from Joe Macirowski.

When the burglar who robbed Steve Jobs’ house walked out with jewelry, computers, and Steve’s old wallet, I doubt he could have imagined one of his heisted Macs would call in the coppers. But he learned that you don’t mess with a Mountain Lion. We’ll tell you the tale on our all-new CultCast—and don’t worry—all mock turtlenecks have been returned to their proper place.

We talk rumor control, iPhone 5 design, the Olympics, and more. Then, by popular request, it’s a battle of the browsers! We’ll tell you which web-ware we love the most, and why Apple’s own app still has a big issue to fix.

Subscribe to The CultCast now on iTunes, or easily stream new episodes right on your iPhone or iPad with Apple’s newly updated and freshly debugged Podcasts App.

Show notes ahead!

Apple has seeded yet another OS X 10.8.1 developer beta today (build 12B17). The update contains no known issues, and developers are still asked to focus on specific areas like Active Directory, iCal, and Microsoft Exchange in Mail.

The first 10.8.1 developer beta was released one week ago, and this second minor update indicates that the public release is right around the corner.

Apple released OS X Mountain Lion to the public on July 25th, 2012 for $20 in the Mac App Store. The first 10.x.x update to a major OS X release usually comes with many bug and compatibility fixes that were discovered in the first release. Expect it to drop soon.

Jonathan Zufi is the curator and owner of the Shrine of Apple, a web-based museum with a single, slightly obsessive goal: to obtain one of every single Apple product ever produced, and display them all online as beautifully as possible.

Zufi wants to do for all the retro Apple stuff what modern bloggers (not unlike our very selves) do for every newly announced product.

If ever a website earned membership of the Cult of Mac, this is it.

Cult of Mac got in touch with Zufi to ask him a few questions about the project. Here’s what he said.

Are you ready to have your mind blown? Then take a look at this 360-degree panorama of the surface of Mars, complete with cameo appearance by the Curiosity rover. And here’s the (literal) twist: the picture is gyroscope-friendly, so you can scan the surface of the Red Planet by sweeping your iOS device up and down, left and right.