They say that Macworld doesn’t break news as much as soft launch it: Cult of Mac Magazine
begs to differ. This week, we bring you news you won’t find elsewhere from the Moscone floor.

Degauss Labs’ new Pocket earbuds cost $35, which puts them on the cusp of “quality possibility” (a term I just made up) – they might sound good, or they may just use the same crappy old internals of every other cheap earbud under $50.

But what this Swedish-designed gadget does have is style, and that’s probably the most important spec in this price range.

Long-time gamers know that nine times out of ten getting excited about a movie tie-in will in end in disappointment. At the same time, the last few years have been pretty good when it comes to comic book titles making their way onto consoles, computers, and mobile devices.

Do you like Facebook’s Chat Heads as a notification system for Facebook messages? On Android, Chat Heads can run universally in any app, but on iOS, they only show up in Facebook, Paper or Facebook Messages. It’s in-app only. But if you have a jailbroken device, a new tweak will allow you to break Chat Heads out into the rest of the iOS operating system.

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Before iOS 7 came along and Apple borrowed its approach to multitasking wholesale, Auxo was one of the best reasons to jailbreak your iPhone or iPad. Since iOS 7 took many of its tricks, though, we’ve been waiting to see what, if anything, an updated version would look like.

We’ve just gotten our hands on the first trailer of Auxo 2, and while it’s just 30 seconds long, it’s enough of a look to get us excited. Featuring iOS 7’s advanced animations, a beautiful new split-paned Control Center view, the ability to close all running apps at once, and much, much more, Auxo 2 is shaping up to be just as revolutionary to jailbroken iOS devices as Auxo was to iOS 6 devices.

It looks as if Auxo 2 will be released on Cydia on Wednesaday, April 2nd. There’s no word on pricing yet, although the original tweak cost $1.99. We’ll let you know when it’s out!

Google recently started requiring Android handset and tablet makers to add a very specific “Powered by Android” graphic to the boot animation when you power up an Android phone. It’s part of the revised Google Mobile Services agreement for new Android phones.

The penalty for handset makers’ non-compliance is banishment from access to the Play Store by users of those devices.

The move is no doubt intended to raise user awareness about Android and brand the platform.

Unfortunately, it could backfire. Here’s why.

SAN FRANCISCO — Moscone North has been packed with exhibitors for the last three days as they peddle their latest wares to the Apple faithful. We combed through all the booths, and while there were a ton of underwhelming products, Macworld 2014 did feature some really cool stuff and a couple surprises.

After some fierce debate among the Cult of Mac editors, we’ve settled on seven things that are truly deserving of a “Best of Macworld 2014″ title. So without further adieu, here they are:

SAN FRANCISCO — Cult of Mac is on the ground for Macworld/iWorld 2014 at the Moscone Center. We’ll be roaming the show floor and sitting in on workshops all day to bring you the coolest Apple-related stuff we can find.

You can follow us throughout Macworld on the liveblog below. No need to refresh the page; new posts will appear automatically!

Whether virtual-reality technology really takes off in a big way remains to be seen. But with Facebook having just dropped $2 billion acquiring Oculus Rift, a whole lot of people — some of them with very large checkbooks — are confident it will.

Both Apple and Google have have shown interest in virtual reality, but what exactly does it have the potential to change in our lives?

Here are seven answers:

It’s billed as the “Ultimate iFan Event” and definitely doesn’t disappoint.
We spotted some old friends and made some new ones while roaming the floor at Moscone this year.

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Look who we ran into — Raines Cohen — co-founder of the legendary BMUG (Berkeley Mac User Group) and a colorful character.

He is wearing a vintage BMUG shirt. Look what it says on the back.

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These two are hardcore Macworld fans. They’ve been attending the shows since 1983 and they’ve both worked at Apple. The gentleman on the left is related to Elmer Baum, the oldest employee at Apple who loaned $5000 to the two Steves to build the Apple I.

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This is brother Gabriel Mosher, he comes to Macworld to explore the “crossroads where the Catholic nerds and the agnostic nerds meet.” He’s also on Twitter.

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I convinced these brothers to pose with the MacKeeper robot. I told them to do the robot dance, but they weren’t very enthusiastic. The robot gets just as much attention as a booth babe — if not more. Plus it’s cheaper.

Seven seconds of fame at the New York Times flipboard booth. Photo David McSpadden.

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Buster and Erfon, playing it cool at the Cult of Mac table during 6 About to Break contest.

Shopping for new toys. Photo David McSpadden.