Director Martin Scorsese can count on Siri. Even more so than in the past. Photo: Apple
Siri doesn’t have all the answers, but Apple’s digital assistant continues to get smarter.
Loup Ventures fires 800 questions at the leading digital assistants for its twice-a-year IQ Test to measure the practical use of voice as a means of computing input on smartphones. They are all improving, but not at the same rate.
Coming soon to an iPhone near you. Photo: The Pokémon Company
The folks at The Pokémon Company are sure taking the “Gotta Catch ‘Em All” catchphrase to heart — at least when it comes to hooking preorders for its latest mobile game.
With two weeks to go until Pokémon Masters launches on iOS and Android, the game already racked up 5 million preorders.
This sturdy stand can turn any desk or tabletop into an adjustable standing desk. Photo: Cult of Mac Deals
Many of us spend tons of time at the computer. That’s bad for your neck, back, wrists — pretty much every part of your body — so it’s no wonder standing desks are catching on. Unfortunately, they often prove super-expensive. However, there’s another way.
Some big changes may be coming to iPhone... Photo: Apple
This week on The CultCast: A Foxconn insider spills big iPhone 11 secrets. Plus: the pros and cons of Apple Card, and Apple’s new maps start rolling out across the country. And finally, a strange twist in the MoviePass story unveils the unbelievable shenanigans the company pulled to stayed in business — and they are far worse than we ever imagined!
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Huawei this week delayed its first foldable smartphone … again. The Chinese company says there is “no possibility” of the Mate X making its debut in September.
The exciting new handset was originally scheduled to launch in June. Huawei pushed back its launch and admitted it was taking a “cautious” approach after Samsung’s struggled with the Fold.
Pre-orders started this week. Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac
18 months after it first went on sale in the U.S., Apple’s HomePod speaker is finally launching in Japan.
Having teased that it would launch sometime this summer, Apple has now revealed that HomePod will be available to buy August 23. The Siri-powered device opened for pre-orders this week.
Company that ported iOS to browsers hits back at Apple Image: Corellium
Apple is suing Corellium, a company founded by former iPhone jailbreakers whose product lets users run iOS firmware in a web browser.
“There is no basis for Corellium to be selling a product that allows the creation of avowedly perfect replicas of Apple’s devices to anyone willing to pay,” Apple’s lawyers argue in the suit.
Employees at Finisar in Texas will soon start shipping to Apple lasers used in Face ID. Photo: Apple
Directly or indirectly, Apple is responsible for 2.4 million American jobs. The company says 450,000 of these are at the thousands of US companies that supply components for Apple computers, phones and tablets.
iOS 13 might show when the iPhone 11 Pro will be unveiled. Photo: iHelp BRM/Cult of Mac
Developers hunting through the just-released iOS 13 beta apparently found a reference to the exact date Apple will introduce the next iPhone. A screenshot, labeled “hold for release” and buried in the beta, has a date on it: September 10.
Switch off those pesky Apple Card notifications Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
Are you enjoying your new Apple Card? Isn’t running up debt great when it is accompanied by a titanium card and a stylish app? But what you might not be enjoying are the Apple Card notifications that started to pop up on your iPhone.
Here’s how to stop them. But beware: It’s an all-or-nothing proposition that clearly illustrates an annoying problem with iPhone notifications.
The DottedSign e-sign service boasts a friendly UI for people who rely on smart devices and travel a lot. Image: Kdan Mobile
This post is presented by Kdan Mobile.
Keeping everyone in a team on the same page is complicated on paper and in the cloud. For startups, small- to medium-size businesses and even individual freelancers, staying on top of contracts while on the move can prove overwhelming.
That’s why a good electronic signature service can be a powerful ally for any digital pro. A new e-sign service, DottedSign, just launched for iOS, Android and web. It’s a complete system of e-signature solutions that expedite your business flow with a legal and secure signing process.
Apple has made great strides in debugging iOS 13. Screenshot: Apple
Apple just seeded the seventh Developer beta of the next iOS and iPadOS version. This is the latest stage of a debugging process expected to end in September.
UPDATE: iOS 13 Public beta 6 just launched as well, so anyone who wants to try this new version can. The same goes for iPadOS Public beta 6.
“Distraction-free” apps are ridiculous. They don’t help at all. In fact, if you have trouble focusing on the task on hand, then the problem isn’t the app. The problem is you.
Removing clutter from an app’s interface won’t stop you from flipping to Twitter every five minutes. A carefully chosen font won’t stop you from whipping your iPhone from your pocket every time a question pops into your head.
The problem is not even distraction. The problem is overstimulation, and it’s going to take some effort for you to fix it.
Pick a sky that wasn't there when you took the photo. Photo: Skylum
Imaging software company Skylum markets its photo editing tools as huge time savers. Just click a preset look or move a few slider bars and you have a beautifully styled final image within minutes.
Skylum was on message when it announced an upcoming AI tool for instantly replacing the sky. The company declared, “The days of spending a lot of time manually creating a complicated mask to replace skies in an image are over.”
Yet the debate over artificial intelligence’s role in photography is only beginning. In the week since Skylum announced and demoed AI Sky Replacement, photographers have spent considerable time in online forums drawing lines between ethics and creativity.
Apple Watch is dominating in the United States. Photo: Leander Kahney/Cult of Mac
Apple Watch continues to storm ahead of the competition in the North American wearables market. In the second quarter of 2019, it carved a 37.9% market share, according to new figures released by Canalys.
The market research firm claims that Apple shipped 2.9 million units during the quarter. That’s considerably more than those shipped by Fitbit, Samsung, Garmin, or others.
Apple had quite the industrious year. Photo: Apple/Cult of Mac
Apple was granted the equivalent of almost six patents per day in 2018, racking up more than 2,000 over the year.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office ranks Apple No. 11 on a list of companies awarded the greatest number of patents. So, who beat Apple at the patent game in 2018?
Drinks are a whole lot cheaper, though. Photo: XXNU/Flickr CC
Apple Music boasts some 50 million songs in its catalog. That’s the equivalent of almost two miles if it was a heap of CD-based albums piled on on top of the other.
To help make sense of all of this, Apple hosts a wide variety of hand-selected playlists. Now, thanks to two of the hottest clubs in EDM capital Ibiza, they’ve gotten some more. It’s like a vacation in your pocket!
This massively discounted tutorial bundle covers all of Adobe's industry standard Creative Cloud apps. Photo: Cult of Mac Deals
Adobe’s creative apps are the industry standard for all kinds of visual creative professionals. But being so powerful, they’re also super-complex. And they can be pretty intimidating to learn. That makes this massively discounted bundle of Adobe Creative Cloud lessons extremely enticing.
Apple's got a whole heap of iPhones ready to unleash on customers. Photo: Ian Fuchs/Cult of Mac
Apple is readying 75 million 80 million iPhones ahead of next month’s iPhone 11 launch, says Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives.
Despite some of his gloomier peers “yelling fire in a crowded theater” about Apple, he’s confident about Apple’s future. That’s even with the ongoing U.S. vs. China trade tensions looming menacingly in the background.
Apple is on the hunt for big new offices in Manhattan, aiming to increase its footprint in the New York City area.
According to a new report, Apple is searching for up to 750,000 square feet of office space. It has already looked at some of the most prestigious locations in the area. As of now, however, it’s not yet locked anything down.
Corning and OtterBox say their screen protector is 5x more scratch resistant than their rivals’. Photo: Corning/OtterBox
Amplify screen protectors use scratch resistance technology developed by Corning, and the latest version also has this company’s proprietary DX tech to make an iPhone easier to see in bright sunlight.