Apple’s latest acquisition could give Siri a better chance at competing against Amazon’s popular voice-power assistant, Alexa.

Pullstring, a San Francisco-based startup that specializes in helping developers design, prototype and deploy voice apps has reportedly been purchased by Apple. The company’s platform helps create voice apps for Alexa and Google Assistant, and will likely help Apple make more tools for Siri.

Depth Control is one of the best features on the new iPhones, but Apple shows that you might want to be careful about who you choose to use it on.

Apple just drop a hilarious new ad highlighting the new the feature that lets you adjust the amount of blur in a Portrait Mode photo. The funny 30-second ad shows two moms who start beefing with each other when one of them notices their child has been bokeh’d.

Get ready to giggle:

If I was still a stoner student, and I liked to “smoke out” and stare at something other than wildlife documentaries for hours on end, I’d be letting my baked brain cruise the world using the Apple TV’s Aerial screen savers. Or perhaps not. As a mind-expanding student, I probably would’ve spent all my cash on munchies, and not have anything left for the comparatively expensive Apple TV.

The Apple TV’s Aerials are great. But did you know that you don’t have to just sit back, spark up and stare? You actually have some control over them, unlike a weed-smoker’s control over their appetite.

Holding onto your old iPhone could be causing you to lose out on some serious 4G LTE speed gains made by carriers over the last few years.

A new study on the average iPhone 4G download and upload speeds in the United States found that iPhone 6 owners and earlier see seeds that are nearly 10Mbps slower than the latest iPhone models.

Dina Alfasi is like most commuters. As soon as she finds a seat on the train or bus, she pulls out her iPhone.

Alfasi may look like she is catching up with emails, streaming music or reading the news. Instead, Alfasi is making a discreet photograph of the person across from her.

Apple had third parties audit all its mineral suppliers to be sure none are using their profits to support armed conflicts. Last year, there were five companies who refused the audits and all were dropped from Apple’s list of suppliers.

The iPhone maker regularly tests to be sure the materials that make its computers and accessories are sourced responsibly.

Have you ever felt sick and thought to yourself, “I should diagnose myself based on a web search,” later wishing you’d sought a professional instead? How about taking on an extensive home-improvement project, only to call in a contractor after struggling to make any real progress?

Getting in shape or losing weight shouldn’t be something you are stuck doing on your own, either. That’s where a personal trainer comes in.

Insurance giant Allstate has purchased third-party smartphone repair company iCracked, giving the Right to Repair movement much-needed lobbying muscle.

Already, the insurance company has assigned a lobbyist to proposed legislation underway in New Hampshire, one of 15 states considering Right to Repair bills opposed by tech companies, including Apple.

Apple is being sued by a person whose husband died from injuries caused by a fire, allegedly started by a defective iPad.

The fire took place back in February 2017. It was reportedly, “caused by a defect in the subject tablet, specifically affecting the subject tablet’s battery pack.”

In good times, the “Warren Buffett effect” has caused Apple shares to soar — by showing everyone that the world’s most famous investor believes in Apple. However, the opposite is also true: An apparent second thought on the part of Buffett’s firm Berkshire Hathaway can cause shares to fall.

That’s what happened this week, when Berkshire Hathaway was revealed to have slightly reduced its Apple holdings. Responding to the news, Apple shares fell 0.5 percent in pre-market trading.

Taxes are a drag no what you do for a living. So why waste more time on them than you should? Even if you’ve already got a go-to tax app, you might want to switch to this tax-busting app.

This week on The CultCast: It’s all but confirmed — Apple’s holding a March media event to make some special announcements. We’ll tell you what we know. Plus: Apple’s all-time best-selling products may surprise you. And is it worth buying a 2018 MacBook Pro, or should you wait? We’ll tell you what we think.

Our thanks to Squarespace for supporting this episode. Easily create a beautiful website all by yourself, at Squarespace.com/cultcast. Use offer code CultCast at checkout to get 10 percent off your first purchase of a website or domain..

Do you want to show your undying loyalty (or, at least, $350 worth of loyalty) to your favorite NBA team? If so, you may want to check out Apple’s latest Beats brand launch. The new range offers its Studio3 wireless headphones in the colors of the top basketball teams.

Apple has reportedly snapped up U.K.-based digital marketing company DataTiger.

The company offers tools for optimizing companies’ “marketing flows for … customers in real-time across all channels.” This makes it possible to better target customers with relevant materials and advertisements.

Apple’s March 25 media event will be dedicated to services — and that will include the first glimpses of video content from Apple’s original TV series.

While we’ll get a look at some video clips, however, customers shouldn’t expect the series to debut immediately after the event.

Canadian rapper Drake reportedly spent $400,000 to have a case for his iPhone X covered in diamonds and white gold.

Drake is known to have a thing for bling, but this one appears off the charts. The case is 18k white gold and is covered with small blue diamonds. In the center is a white gold owl, the logo for his record company, with two big diamonds for eyes.

Lego is exploring the cutting edge of play with its Hidden Side sets. These include augmented reality (AR) ghosts that children catch on their iPhone or Android.

This upcoming offering from the toy giant is in line with all of AR, which combines the real world with the digital one. 

Apple and its fans still share a strong bond. But has the iPhone maker lost some of its touch?

Apple, named the top company for brand intimacy three years in a row, fell to second place to another brand known for tugging at the heartstrings of consumers, Disney.

Apple has added a shortcut to the latest versions of iOS 12 to make managing app subscriptions easier. Previously, you had to dig deep into your Apple ID settings to find the control panel for your subs. Now, it’s just a couple of taps away. On the surface, this looks like a simple tweak to make things easier for the user, but it’s more than that.

By making subscriptions easier for the user to cancel, it’s also making it more likely that people will sign up for them in the first place. That’s good for users, for developers, and for quality apps in general.

I don’t travel much, but when I do, I like to do it properly. And by “properly,” I mean with all my gadgets organized. Yes, you can drop your chargers into the bottom of your backpack or suitcase. Or you can stuff them into a pocket.

But they’ll get damaged, you’ll end up losing something, and if you need to take out one charger, adapter, dongle or cable, you’ll end up dropping the rest all over the floor of the departure lounge.

You need to get organized, and here’s one great way to do it.

Urban Armor Gear‘s Plyo Series doesn’t hide your fancy new iPad inside a bulky case.  It protects your expensive tablet but includes translucent plastic so it can still be seen.

This case, which also serves as a stand, is currently available only for the most recent 9.7-inch iPad models.

China is not the only part of the world where Apple’s iPhone is losing market share to hard-charging Chinese brands.

Sales of the iPhone are falling off in Europe and Thailand, the second-biggest smartphone market in Southeast Asia, where shipments fell by more than 50 percent.

Lee Clow, the founder of Apple’s creative agency TBWA\Media Arts Lab and TBWA global director of media arts, is retiring at the age of 73.

A friend of Steve Jobs for three decades, Clow played a crucial role in the creation of some of Apple’s most iconic advertising campaigns. (As well as a whole lot of other, non-Apple ads.)

Google has updated its excellent Gboard keyboard for iOS to add haptic feedback.

You will now feel subtle vibrations when you type, which help make on-screen keys feel more physical. Gboard is one of just a handful of third-party options on iOS that offer this feature.

Google is following Apple’s lead in investigating a controversial Saudi app which allowed men to follow the locations of their wife or daughters.

Tim Cook said yesterday that Apple was looking into the app to find out whether complaints made about it were accurate. Google has now told the New York Times that it plans to do the same.