Now that OS X 10.8.1 is here, has battery life really improved, as rumored? The Mac Observer did some tests, and the answer is… sometimes?

Evernote has become an indispensible tool for people all over the world. The incredibly versatile “save anything” tool is used at home, school, and work. One nagging issue has been that although Evernote is an amazing productivity tool and has tons of business applications, it has never been good at sharing on a large scale – like the level of sharing that a business of a few dozen people or a few thousand people needs.

All that is about to change. The company announced a new workplace edition of Evernote for business customers.

Since I’m so excited, we’re going to front load this review: if you don’t want to sign a contract to have an iPhone, Straight Talk is the best prepaid carrier you can possibly choose in the United States. And even if you have no problem with signing a two year contract with one of the big three, you should seriously consider Straight Talk: you get the same quality of coverage and network speeds as if you signed up with AT&T for hundreds of dollars less.

Got that? Now let me elaborate.

Farewell Nikon D700. You were one of the best digital cameras ever made.

The D700, the full-frame DSLR Nikon launched way back in 2008, has just had its life support switched off, and the doctors have pulled the sheet over its face and closed the curtain around its bed.

Four years isn’t bad in today’s world, and those wanting a non-top-end full-frame body can buy the D800, but that’s more about video and show-off (36MP) pixel-counts. Here, I’ll say it: the D700 was maybe the best photographers’ camera ever.

This image claiming that Microsoft ripped off its new logo from Apple is pretty funny, but is its creator, Andrew Brett Watson, really being fair? Check it out in full below:

Tim Cook has been very busy running Apple the past 12 months. There have been a lot of changes and new products that have helped make Apple the most valuable company ever. There have also been a lot of controversies, and headaches along the way. The road hasn’t been all smooth sailing, but we think Tim has done a great job in his first year as CEO of Apple.

Here are eight things that have kept Tim busy in his first year as CEO:

Last week I was in the tobacconist buying some Cuban cigars, and the girl in front of me was tattooed with an Apple logo. I got a crappy picture, but I snapped it out of horror rather than admiration.

Still, a tat is one thing. An Asymco T-Shirt, featuring a graph of, say, Apple’s increasing stock price, is another. These things are so dorky that they come out the other side being awesome.

I love these WordPress theme deals. Why? Well, because I’m a theme junkie. Even if I don’t get a particular theme deal, I love knowing about and checking out the various WP theme foundries that are out there. Always good to have a few smaller foundries in your back pocket, IMHO.

Today we have a deal for Themify. Nice themes. Good styles. Nice layouts. And my favorite option: they support Child theming. Why is this important? Well, let me tell you…

Bluetooth speakers? Count me in. I love the things: portable, great-sounding, remote control right there on the speaker, and wireless. But Bluetooth headphones? Aren’t they bulky, and with crappy battery life? Not, apparently, the new Satchi BT Lite headphones, which – as the name suggests – are pretty “lite.”

Samsung may have been treated unfairly when the trial’s magistrate Judge refused to admit new evidence into the case late in the game despite the fact it had allowed Apple to order an earlier sanction against it, a prominent law blog is reporting.

A post in Groklaw.net says Samsung may build a case around the issue of unfairness in an attempt to throw out the verdict if the jury goes against it.

Today marks the first anniversary of Tim Cook as CEO of the world’s biggest company, but what has really changed under the soft-spoken, shy-seeming Alabaman?

Virtually everything. Tim Cook has given Apple what Steve Jobs never could: a conscience.

What use could you possibly have for a washable keyboard? The obvious hand-shandy jokes write themselves here, but there are other reasons that you might want this easy-clean keyboard from Logitech.

While we’re almost certain Apple is working on its own television set, when it will launch is a complete mystery. Initially it seemed the set could make its debut before the end of 2012, and then reports pushed the release date back until 2013. Now according to a new analyst report, it’s unlikely won’t be adding an Apple HDTV to your credit card bill any time soon.

Why? Apple’s senior vice president of internet software and services Eddy Cue has reportedly indicated to analysts that there’s still a lot of work to be done with content providers.

In a somewhat ironic move, the U.S. government has entered into an ebook deal with Apple that will see a range of government reports, documents, and ebooks published in Apple’s iBookstore. The partnership, which was announced earlier this week, coincides with the Department of Justice’s latest legal filings in its anti-trust suit against Apple.

The deal with the Government Printing Office (GPO) will make a wide swath of documents and ebooks available through the iBookstore. While some government documents are available for free, a number of documents and full-length ebooks are not.

We love Readdle’s productivity apps here at Cult of Mac, especially when they’re going cheap. The company is currently holding a Back to School campaign that sees a number of iOS apps that “are indispensable for studying” reduced. Those included are ReaddleDocs for iPhone, ReaddleDocs for iPad, and Remarks.

Snapping a screenshot on your Apple device is dead easy: home-plus-sleep-button for iOS, and Command-Shift-4 (or others) for the Mac. But what about snapping a sound-shot, i.e. grabbing a snippet of your system audio?

Well, you could fire up Quicktime and start dickering around with that. Or you could install WavTap and then hit Command-Control-Space.

It’s been a rocking year for Tim Cook, his first as Apple’s CEO. Not only did he not fuck up; Apple shipped a bunch of hit products and became the biggest company ever.

He also defused a big crisis in Apple’s Chinese supply chain and has made Apple a little more open and relaxed (just a teeny bit).

Hit the jump for a great timeline of what Apple’s been up to under Tim Cook’s tenure. (Really, it’s a fascinating timeline and was a ton of work.)

Just as we had predicted, the iPhone mod that aims to turn your iPhone 4 or iPhone 4S into an iPhone 5 — which we told you about yesterday — has been pulled by Apple. The site selling the kit has received a letter from a third-party who is “authorized to send notice and takedowns on behalf of Apple,” and it will stop selling in 48 hours.

What’s the single standout feature that makes you want to buy Fujifilm’s retro-tastic X-series cameras? It’s that neat hybrid viewfinder, right? That’s the real innovation, and the real difference not only between the X cameras and your screen-only iPhone, but between the X-series and all mirrorless cameras.

Which brings us to leaked news of the forthcoming X-E1, a new budget-friendly X-series body which trims the cost by… ditching that viewfinder.

Display Menu is a simple yet incredibly handy little app that just hit the Mac App Store. It allows you to quickly switch display resolutions and change display settings from your Mac’s menu bar — negating the need to navigate the System Preferences options — for free.

One of the 200 new features touted by Apple for OS X Mountain Lion is a boon to those of us who have to type the same text string or phrase over and over, including email addresses, phone numbers, addresses, and the like. It’s also a great way for people with motor disabilities to be able to type at a much faster rate than otherwise. Here’s how to set it up.

It’s foolish to put too much stock in “leaked” images of third-party cases when it comes to predicting what the next Apple device is going to look like, but these iPad mini cases found in China really do look like the real thing: these aren’t just made for a shrunk-down-to-seven-inches iPad, but for a new tablet that is more like a big iPhone when it comes to its bezel design.

Other interesting details of these cases include a rear camera, no LED flash, a front facing Facetime camera, a smalller dock connector, and volume rockers on the right side of the device. Gizchina, where these pictures originate, speculate that a hole in the center of the case is meant to attach a “lanyard,” but that’s just silly: Apple wouldn’t ship a product with a laynard. That’s a hole for a microphone, same as you’ll find in the current iPad.

More images below. What do you think?

When a frail Steve Jobs announced it was time he leave Apple for good, it seemed an impossible task for anyone to fill his role as leader and CEO of one of the world’s best tech companies. But someone needed to take the reins, and so on our newest CultCast, we take a look into the first full year of Tim Cook as CEO, and ponder how the soft-spoken operations genius has imprinted Apple with his own unique DNA, and lead the company to heights many thought a post-Jobs Apple could never reach.

Scott Trattner, the executive creative director behind the “Genius” advertising campaign — which was quickly killed by Apple shortly after its debut — has left his role at TBWA/Media Arts Lab in favor of a new role with advertising agency 72andSunny.

U.K. retailer PC World has made some incredible reductions to Apple’s last-generation Macs, with prices starting at just £379 (about $670) for a refurbished Mac mini. It also has MacBook Airs starting at £499 (about $790), and MacBook Pros starting at £649 (about $1,028) — that’s £350 (about $554) off the original price tag.