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Tim Cook’s alleged stalker tried to give Apple CEO flowers, champagne

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TimCook
Tim Cook allegedly faced threats and harassment from a San Francisco man.
Photo: Salesforce

A San Francisco man accused of stalking Tim Cook allegedly trespassed at the Apple CEO’s home twice in the last three months and threatened various Apple employees, according to court documents obtained by Cult of Mac.

Rakesh “Rocky” Sharma, 42, also purportedly posted sexual imagery to his Twitter account, tagging Cook, and engaged in other inappropriate acts.

As a result, Apple received a temporary restraining order earlier this month mandating that Sharma stay at least 200 yards away from Cook as well as Apple security officer William Burns and other Apple employees.

Apple spitballs iPhone with wraparound display

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Every bit of this concept iPhone is covered in wraparound display.
Apple’s own designers dreamed up this iPhone with a completely wraparound display.
Photo: Apple

Apple designed an iPhone that’s all touchscreen. Front, back, top, bottom and sides — every bit of the exposed surface is a wraparound display.

And the description shows engineers put quite a bit of thought into the proposal.

Upgraded Apple Maps backpack rig uses iPhone 11 Pro for image capture

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Have you seen one of these guys walking around your city with an upgraded Apple Maps backpack with iPhone 11 Pros?
Have you seen one of these guys walking around your city?
Photo: Cult of Mac

Cult of Mac spotted an Apple employee wearing an updated data-gathering backpack powered by iPhone 11 Pros on Thursday in Silicon Valley. The wearable rig, presumably used to collect images and data for Apple Maps, looks similar to one seen in 2018. But it features a new hardshell cover — and at least three of Apple’s latest iPhones, apparently used to capture images from the backpack’s sides.

Take a look at how it compares to the old setup:

Twitter considers orange color as fake news warning

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A Twitter posts with fake news gets a big warning sign.
Warning messages like this one could soon appear on Twitter posts with fake news.
Photo: Twitter/Cult of Mac

Twitter is looking for ways to notify its readers when posts by politicians are judged to be factually untrue. The social-networking service is considering attaching large, orange “harmfully misleading” warnings to posts that are fake news.

Most Americans say they won’t buy a folding smartphone

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Xiaomi foldable phone
We're not exactly clamoring for one.
Photo: Lin Bin/Xioami

Someone thinks a foldable smartphone is a good idea. That person, for now, is not the consumer.

In a survey of 11,374 Americans, a whopping 82 percent of the respondents said they have no plans to purchase a foldable smartphone. That doesn’t mean companies need to shut the lid on the idea.

How to wash (and dry) your hands properly

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dirty sink
This is a lot cleaner than many public bathrooms I've been in.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

With the COVID-19 coronavirus spreading around the world, it’s worth taking a moment to learn how to wash your hands. Official government advice says that touch is not the most likely way for transmission of the deadly virus. But in general, touch is more likely to spread disease than kissing, according to Bill Bryson in his latest book, The Body. Which means that washing your hands is one of the best ways to guard against catching a cold or something worse.

You probably wash your hands plenty of times throughout the day. But unless you’re a surgeon, you probably don’t do it properly.

AirPods parts makers ramp up production despite coronavirus

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They AirPods Pro fit in their case like nothing ever happened.
Apple literally can't make AirPods fast enough.
Photo: Cult of Mac

Production of some AirPods components has managed to stay at normal levels despite the COVID-19 virus causing problems with Apple’s supply chain and stores in China.

AirPods Pro supplies were constrained months before the coronavirus outbreak in China. Tim Cook told investors that he couldn’t predict when production would finally catch up, but a new report gives some encouraging signs that things could get back to normal soon.

Podcast app Castro now rips YouTube audio to your queue

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Castro is clean and beautiful.
Castro is clean and beautiful.
Photo: Supertop

Castro, one of the top two or three podcast apps for iOS, now lets you side load YouTube videos into the app. It’s audio-only, so this isn’t a way to download videos for offline viewing. But it’s a sweet feature for anyone who just wants to listen to a presentation/lecture/etc. instead of having to watch it.

Microsoft Defender antivirus is expanding its reach … to iPhone?

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Microsoft Defender
But why?
Photo: Microsoft

Microsoft Defender, the built-in antivirus software that you would typically find baked into Windows, is coming to iPhone.

Defender has already started making its way to macOS, where it provides full virus protection and the ability to scan your system for any malicious software. We’re expecting a very different experience on iPhone, however.

Apple TV+ pauses production on Shantaram to seek new showrunner

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Apple TV+ series Shantaram seeking incentives in India
Shantaram has been published in 39 languages and sold 6 million copies.
Photo: St. Martin's Griffin

One of the most high-profile projects in development for Apple TV+ is already running into some huge problems while shooting its first season.

Apple reportedly shut down production on its TV series adaptation of the popular novel Shantaram in Australia. The reason: the writers can’t churn out scripts fast enough.

D’oh! Samsung sends out accidental ‘1’ message to Galaxy users around the world

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Galaxy S10+ camera
Samsung managed to send out the odd message to many users.
Photo: Samsung

Earlier today, Samsung engineers managed to send out a notification to Galaxy smartphone owners all over the world.

The notification, which simply read “1”, was reportedly sent out as part of an “internal test” of Samsung’s Find My Mobile feature. The South Korean tech giant has said it is “sorry for the inconvenience.” It’s also reassured customers that the message has “no effect” on the devices in question.

Score an awesome, affordable alternative to AirPods Pro [Deals]

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GSK True Wireless Headphones with Charging Case
GSK True Wireless Headphones deliver active noise cancellation at an incredibly affordable price.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

These days, wireless earbuds are the way most people listen to tunes and podcasts and make calls. If you’re an iOS user, you might think that requires getting Apple’s expensive AirPods Pro. But that’s not so — and these awesome but affordable alternative earbuds prove it.

Compact, comfy and with cutting-edge Bluetooth technology, these earbuds are high-tech and low-fuss. They even come with active noise cancellation, so you can take calls and listen to your content without distraction.

We are with you: Tim Cook posts message of support on Chinese social media

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Tim WWDC
Tim Cook has a message of support to people in China during coronavirus outbreak.
Photo: Apple

Tim Cook has posted on Chinese microblogging platform Weibo, saying that Apple is happy to “welcome back employees and customers” to its Apple Stores as they continue to reopen across China.

Cook also reiterated that Apple has doubled its donation to battle the coronavirus outbreak. The virus has so far resulted in the deaths of at least 2,126 people. The vast majority of these have been in mainland China.

Police hunt men who robbed 2 Apple Stores within 30 minutes of each other

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A security camera image from the Mayfair Apple Store in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, shows alleged thieves in action.
A security camera image from the Mayfair Apple Store in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, shows alleged thieves in action.
Screenshot: CBS 58

Wisconsin police are on the hunt for three thieves who stole $17,000 of merchandise from Apple Stores.

Two robberies took place January 30, within half an hour of each other, at Apple Stores in Mayfair Mall in Wauwatosa and Bayshore Town Center in Glendale. Those locations are approximately 20 minutes’ drive from one another.

Apple ‘discussing’ plans to allow third-party browsers, email apps to be defaults on iOS

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close all tabs
You might not be stuck with Safari for much longer.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple is finally “considering” giving users the ability to set third-party web browsers and email clients as defaults on iOS, according to a new Bloomberg report. It could also open up HomePod to rival music streaming services.

iPhone and iPad owners can already install third-party alternatives, but iOS currently does not allow them to override Apple’s built-in services. That could change as Apple faces increasing pressure over the tight control it imposes over its mobile devices.

Coronavirus will hit iPhone-maker Foxconn hard in 2020

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Foxconn Wisconsin
Foxconn has admitted that coronavirus is going to hurt revenue for 2020 as a whole.
Photo: Foxconn

Apple supplier Foxconn says that it expects its full-year 2020 revenue to take a hit as a result of the outbreak of coronavirus in China.

Foxconn, the world’s largest electronics manufacturer, plays a crucial role in assembling products for Apple. Foxconn’s admission about the impact of coronavirus follows Apple’s decision to pull its previous forecast for fiscal second quarter earnings as a result for the second time in 15 years.

Apple Music’s real-time lyrics feature is coming to Mac users everywhere

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Streaming services like Apple Music dominate the US music market
Soon you'll be able to sing along to Drake on your Mac, too.
Photo: Apple

Apple Music’s lyric visualizer has arrived on Mac with the second beta release of macOS 10.15.4 Wednesday.

The feature, which gives users scrolling, karaoke-style song lyrics, was introduced as a much-lauded feature with iOS 13. Now Apple is porting it bringing it to macOS users as well.

This beautiful leather iPad sleeve doubles as a stand [Review]

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Picaso Lab iPad Pro leather sleeve review
The Picaso Lab iPad Pro leather sleeve is both a case and a stand.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Picaso Lab’s new iPad Pro leather sleeve does more than protect your valuable tablet. Its designers built in an innovative stand, while the leather exterior gives a very stylish look.

I tested this hand-made case for the iPad Pro to see how it stood up to real-world use.

Genre-bending drama Swan Song heads for Apple TV+

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Mahershala Ali is starring in a film for Apple TV+.
Mahershala Ali was in True Detective, and now he’s headed for Apple TV+.
Screenshot: HBO

Swan Song, a new film starring two-time Academy Award winner Mahershala Ali, is being produced for Apple TV+. It was written, and will be directed, by another Academy Award winner, Benjamin Cleary.