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Steve Wozniak says he (or his wife) might be ‘patient zero’ for COVID-19 in US

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Steve Wozniak
Steve Wozniak might, or might not, have helped introduce the coronavirus into the US.
Photo: The DEMO Conference/Flickr CC

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak suggested in a tweet Monday that he or his wife might be “patient zero” for the COVID-19 virus currently spreading in the United States. Wozniak said he and Janet Hill came home from China early this year, as the novel coronavirus began to wreak havoc in Wuhan.

Update: Wozniak’s wife says she has an ordinary sinus infection.

20th Century Fox poaches Apple TV+ executive

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Michelle-mendelovitz
Mendelovitz's short stint at Apple TV+ is already over.
Photo: Paul Smith Photography

A top Apple executive who oversaw development of some of the first Apple TV+ series is headed to a rival studio.

20th Century Fox TV revealed today that it tapped Michelle Mendelovitz to lead the development of its drama TV series. Mendelovitz worked at Apple for less than two years, helping to oversee the production of For All Mankind, Servant and Visible: Out on Television.

Shortcutify integrates Spotify, Google Maps, Todoist and more into Shortcuts

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Control your smart lighting, your music, and more with Shortcutify.
Control your smart lighting, your music, and more with Shortcutify.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

Shortcutify is a free iOS app that lets you use web-based services in your Shortcuts. For instance, it can connect with Spotify, Todoist, AirTable and more, and provides an easy bridge between these services’ complicated APIs and the Shortcuts app on your iPhone or iPad.

If you use any of the supported services, you’re going to totally love Shortcutify. If not? More app integrations are planned for the future.

Pricey AT&T TV service rolls out nationwide

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att
AT&T TV can be streamed from your iPhone.
Photo: AT&T

AT&T’s latest cable replacement for cord-cutters, AT&T TV, launched nationwide today, replacing the streaming service DirecTV Now.

The carrier is offering big discounts to customers that sign a 24-month contract for AT&T TV which allows you to stream live sports, news, shows, and on-demand titles for a monthly fee. The only problem is it might not be much cheaper than your old cable bill.

Apple spotlights female artists with 5,000 creative sessions

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Apple celebrates International Women’s Day
Apple celebrates International Women’s Day with a special Today at Apple Series in its retail stores.
Photo: Apple/Cult of Mac

Throughout March, select Apple Stores will host “She Creates” sessions led by women from across industries and mediums. This includes co-chair of the Women’s March Linda Sarsour, musicians Meghan Trainor and Victoria Monét, designer Carla Fernández, and many more.

Spotify wants labels to pay for playlist promos

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Spotify Premium update October 2018
Labels might start shelling out big bucks for more visibility on Spotify.
Photo: Spotify

Spotify is reportedly making a big push to get record labels to pay to promote artists’ music in its service as a new way to generate revenue.

Despite having nearly double the number of paid subscribers as Apple Music, Spotify still isn’t a profitable company and is looking to the music industry to help it create new revenue streams. Although the talks are still ongoing, you could soon see sponsored songs in your playlists and other areas of the app.

iPadOS 13.4’s Full Keyboard Access offers incredible touch-free control

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tab key Full Keyboard Access
You will come to love the Tab key with iPadOS 13.4's Full Keyboard Access.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

Did you know you can control your iPad using just a keyboard? You can use the arrow keys to move between icons on the Home screen. You can use the arrow keys (again) to scroll lists. And you can even tap and toggle buttons using the space bar. Apple added this capability via iOS 13.4’s new Full Keyboard Access feature, and it’s wild.

How wild? How about offering system-wide, custom keyboard shortcuts for running actual Shortcuts? And that’s just the beginning.

Apple may owe you $25 for throttling your iPhone

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jet black iphone 7 plus
The iPhone 7 is one of the device listed in the settlement.
Photo: Apple

Apple has reportedly reached an agreement to pay up to $500 million to settle a class-action lawsuit in which it was accused of secretly throttling iPhone CPU speeds.

According to Reuters Apple reached a preliminary agreement for the lawsuit on Friday night. U.S. District Judge Edward Davila still has to approve it, but if the settlement goes through, some U.S. iPhone owners could get paid $25 per iPhone that Apple throttle.

If you owned one of these iPhones covered in the lawsuit, a check might be coming your way:

Forget anagrams, Sticky Terms is a word puzzle game with a twist

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Word puzzle game
You're not just rearranging the letters here.
Photo: Sticky Terms

Want a text-based puzzle game that will stretch your brain, help you relax and, heck, maybe even teach you some new words? Sticky Terms is the game you’ve been searching for.

Created by 28-year-old iOS game developer Philipp Stollenmayer, it’s a playable head-scratching lexicon of words covering a wide array of languages. The game presents each word as a puzzle, torn into between two and five pieces. It’s up to you, the player, to arrange them into a completed word. No timers, failures or high scores apply.

And you know what? It’s kind of addictive.

A game-changing Mac Pro just got a lot more affordable [Deals]

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Apple Mac Pro 3.7GHz Quad Core
The 2013 Mac Pro is a classic workstation with a powerful processor and a compact form.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

At the end of 2013, Apple released a completely reimagined Mac Pro. No longer the sleek silver tower we all knew so well, it had become a droid-like black cylinder. It was compact, powerful — and expensive. Like, $4,000 expensive.

If you always wanted to get your hands on a radically redesigned 2013 Mac Pro, but didn’t want to spend all that cash, now’s your chance. Thanks to this deal, you can snap one up for a fraction of its original price.

Coronavirus could cause mobile device shipments to ‘plunge’ in Q1 2020

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16-MacBook-Pro
Notebook shipments could fall by as much as 36%.
Photo: Apple

Coronavirus will cause mobile device shipments to plummet during the first quarter of 2020, according to a new report.

Production at major manufacturing plants throughout China is said to be at “way below normal levels” this week after workers returned to their posts last month. Smartphone shipments could slip below 1.3 billion units for the year.

2 Apple suppliers allegedly used Uighur Muslim forced labor in China

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China’s population of 1.4 billion makes it a huge potential market for Apple.
Both companies have factories in China.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Two suppliers that make components for Apple in China employ forced labor, according to a report published Sunday. The Washington Post says BOE Technology Group, which supplies screens to Apple, and O-Film, which makes iPhone cameras, both use Uighur labor, either directly or through contractors. Apple lists both companies on its latest supplier list.

The report describes how the Chinese government detained more than 1 million ethnic Uighurs from China’s western Xinjiang region in reeducation camps. And it says evidence indicates that authorities “are moving Uighurs into government-directed labour around the country as part of the central government’s Xinjiang Aid initiative.”

Flagship iPhones get more expensive in Apple’s biggest untapped market

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Slickwrap iPhone 11Pro
Apple has ramped up prices of the iPhone in India. For some devices, at least.
Photo: Ian Fuchs/Cult of Mac

Apple has raised the price of several iPhone models — including the top-tier iPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max — yet again in India, risking denting sales in the country that were just starting to take off.

The price hike is just under 2%, making it smaller than the sizable iPhone price increase Apple introduced in India in 2018. It follows increased import duties announced during India’s Union Budget 2020.

iPhone camera module plant in South Korea closes due to coronavirus

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iPhone-11-Pro-cameras
LG Innotek makes camera modules for iPhones.
Photo: Apple

iPhone camera module supplier LG Innotek closed one of its South Korean factories over the weekend after a worker tested positive for coronavirus.

LG Innotek has long been part of Apple’s supply chain, supplying camera components for iPhones. This year, it is also expected to manufacture 3D Time of Flight (ToF) modules for Apple’s next generation iPads and iPhones.

FlashDock multiport hub also adds 2TB of MacBook storage

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Commotron FlashDock is on Kickstarter
FlashDock is small in size but big in storage capacity. And look at all those ports.
Photo: Commotron

FlashDock solves two limitations in Apple’s MacBooks. Not only does it bring an array of legacy ports to Apple laptops, this very portable USB-C hub includes up to 2TB of storage.

And it does so for less than the cost of building additional storage capacity into a macOS laptop.

This one trick will make the Apple News app way better

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Scrolling Apple News on iPhone
Scrolling Apple News doesn't have to be about ignoring dozens of articles.
Photo: Ian Fuchs/Cult of Mac

Ever since its launch, people have mostly been dismissive about Apple News on iPhone, iPad and Mac. One big reason is the way it interacts with links on the web, boxing users into the News app instead of letting them visit the open web.

For me, that’s actually a pretty desirable thing, because I really like the News app. It’s much cleaner-looking than many ad-bloated websites, and far less emotional and combative than getting your news on social media.

But making the News app show you the things you care about, with less clutter and noise, requires one simple trick.

Get a lifetime of tools for learning 14 new languages [Deals]

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Beelinguapp Language Learning App- Lifetime Subscription
Learn up to 14 new languages by practicing with reading and listening at the same time.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Learning a new language is a precious gift to give yourself and the world around you. Apps have made it easy to carry our studies with us, so we can learn any place, and at any pace. Different language apps take different approaches, but this one might be one of the most effective.

Controversial Clearview AI iPhone app disabled for breaking App Store rules

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Clearview AI violated Apple’s terms of service.
Apple deliberately broke a facial-recognition iPhone app from Clearview AI.
Photo: Clearview AI/Cult of Mac

A facial-recognition application that has been the source of recent controversy has been taken offline by Apple. This came after a published report accused Clearview AI of evading the App Store by distributing its iPhone software to customers via tools that are only supposed to be used inside companies.

iPad trivia: 10 things you (probably) didn’t know [Cult of Mac Magazine 338]

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iPad trivia: 10 things you didn't know.
You think you know iPad?
Cover: Leander Kahney/Cult of Mac

It’s been a wild decade for the “Jesus tablet.” From colorful anecdotes to surprising stats, these 10 fast facts will cast the iPad in new light.

You can read our latest #10things list, “10 things you (probably) don’t know about the iPad,” in this week’s free Cult of Mac Magazine. It’s loaded with the latest Apple news stories, plus plenty of Mac and iOS how-tos and product reviews.

Finally, don’t miss your chance to get a limited-edition Cult of Mac Apple Watch band. They’re brand-new in the Cult of Mac Store, and they won’t last long.

February’s top sellers include cloud storage, wireless earbuds and more [Deals]

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Main Top Sellers
We've rounded up our best sellers for February, including massive cloud storage, wireless earbuds, and lots more.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Whatever happened this February, you can’t deny it was a great month for deals on tech. At least in the Cult of Mac Store, where there were crazy deals on massive cloud storage accounts, sleek wireless earbuds, extra laptop monitors and an intuitive website builder.

Apple dives into ‘The Baker’ in latest Little America featurette

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Little-america
If you haven't watched Little America yet, you should.
Photo: Apple

Apple is back with another behind-the-scenes look at one of the episodes of its critically acclaimed show, Little America.

The iPhone-maker’s latest featurette focuses on the sixth episode in the series, “The Baker.” Interviews with show co-creator Lee Eisenberg, director Chioke Nassor and the episode’s lead actress Kemiyondo Coutinho are combined with shots of the production and other characters to add more context to one of the most intriguing episodes of the show.

Take a look: