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Hands on with OS X’s new Photos app

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Photos for Mac is coming this spring. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Photos for Mac is coming this spring. Photo: Stephen Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple’s upcoming Photos app will give Mac users powerful new tools to manage, tweak and share their favorite images. While it won’t be released until later this year, we got a chance to play around with the beta version now available to developers, and we found it to be an easy-to-use and streamlined piece of software.

For a detailed and visual look at this new iOS-influenced app, check out the video below for a quick run through some of Photos’ hottest new features.

As compact discs die off, so does a piece of me

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A Yamaha CD-555 with the CD carosel stopped. Photo:  Leo-setä/Flickr
A Yamaha CD-555 with the CD carousel stopped. Photo: Leo-setä/Flickr

I stood in the doorway, still teary-eyed from goodbyes with my parents. There, before me, sat the first lesson of my freshman year in college.

Peter Otto had a blond mohawk and twirled a shiny butterfly knife. He had already adorned his side of the room with posters of his favorite bands: The Meatmen, Dead Kennedys and Siouxsie and the Banshees.

“I guess I’m your roommate,” I said and he pointed to the lower bunk. I was chubby, an Eagle Scout and a mama’s boy. But I had one cool card I could play — a boombox that played compact discs, a relatively new music format.

But with only two CDs — a synth-pop album by Kenny Loggins and the debut record from Bruce Hornsby & the Range — there would be no cool, not then anyway. Otto wound up being the best roommate I ever had during two college tours. Some of his music made it into my CD collection, which accelerated in the fall of 1985, but I doubt he ever took to Loggins.

Nearly 30 years later, I keep reading stories that eulogize the CD, report plummeting album sales and lay out how the music industry is now taking its product directly to customers through social media, streaming services or direct downloads from a group’s website.

Petite and powerful: PicoPro projector puts a movie theater in your pocket

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PicoPro projector. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
PicoPro projector. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
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Like most things that come in small sizes, pico projectors have always been a big disappointment.

Called “pico” because of their portability and battery power, the diminutive projectors in this class have typically been underpowered and underwhelming. Almost by definition, projectors need to be big and bright enough to throw a lot of light at the screen.

So it’s a big surprise that Celluon’s new featherweight pocket-size PicoPro is a heavyweight champ. I was prepared for it to suck — but was surprised and delighted when it turned my living room wall into a 150-inch cinema screen.

5 cases to keep your iPhone 6 safe and stylish

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iPhones are expensive, and leaving your new, shiny iPhone 6 or 6 Plus without a case on is akin to driving a car without insurance. Why risk it?

In today’s video, I run down my five favorite cases for Apple’s current-generation iPhones, selecting the ones that will keep your phone both safe and stylish at the same time.

How to stream the Super Bowl for free to your iPad or iPhone

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You don't need cable to watch the game on your iPad. Photo: NFL
You don't need cable to watch the game on your iPad. Photo: NFL

This year’s Super Bowl will be streamed for free over the internet in full HD, no cable subscription required. Completely unbundling the big game is an effort on NBC’s part to promote its TV Everywhere service, which ironically requires a cable subscription.

11 hours of content will be streamed for free on game day, February 1. That includes the full game, commercials, halftime show with Katy Perry and Lenny Kravitz, and even an episode of The Blacklist.

iTunes’ outdated business model is getting eaten alive

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iTunes downloads have fallen on hard times. Except for the App Store, of course. Photo: Apple
iTunes downloads have fallen on hard times. Except for the App Store, of course. Photo: Apple

Everyone at Apple should be patting themselves on the back after a record-shattering Q1 2015 financial quarter, in which the company raked in $74.6 billion in revenue and an impressive $18 billion in net profits.

But business unit was conspicuous in its absence from Apple’s celebratory earnings call and press release: iTunes.

Now that Apple has filed its 10-Q quarterly report with securities regulators, we now know why: Outside of the App Store’s continued success, iTunes was one of the few areas of Apple business that declined over the last three months. How badly? Read on to find out.

8 apps that will help you survive Snowmageddon 2015

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Winter is coming. Photo: Roey Ahram/Flickr
Winter is coming. Photo: Roey Ahram/Flickr

The biggest snowstorm to ever hit New York City is pounding the Northeast today, and it doesn’t look like the blizzard is going to let up any time soon.

More than 2 feet of snow are expected to hit the area. NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio has already canceled school for tomorrow and the state announced all highways will be closed by midnight tonight. But before you hole up with your loved ones for the next few days, make sure to download these eight apps that will help you make it out alive.

The App Store makes more money than Hollywood

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App Store is now the world's top entertainer. Photo: Buster Hein
App Store is now the world's top entertainer. Photo: Buster Hein

Hollywood has long been the sparkling gem of entertainment in the U.S., but when it comes to making money, Apple is schooling the entertainment industry on how to bring in the cash with the App Store.

In 2014, iOS app developers earned more than Hollywood did from U.S. box office revenues, reports top Apple analyst Horace Dediu. According to Asymco’s number crunching, apps are now a bigger digital content business than music, TV programs, movie purchases and rentals combined.

Apple paid out approximately $25 billion total to developers, which means that not only is the App industry healthier than Hollywood, but also on an individual level, some developers are out earning Hollywood stars. The median income for developers is also likely higher than the median income for actors. If you’re looking to strike it rich, forget becoming the next Brad Pitt. Be the next Dong Nguyen.

Check out the chart below:

Create your own Adventure Time game in this great iOS app

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Fed up of iOS games? Why not create your own! Photo: Cartoon Network
Fed up of iOS games? Why not create your own! Photo: Cartoon Network

Cartoon Network’s Adventure Time isn’t just a popular kids’ show, it presents one of the richest and most surreal animated landscapes I can remember seeing on a TV show.

In other words, it’s perfect for sparking and unlocking young people’s imagination and creativity.

That’s the concept behind the newly-launched Adventure Time Game Wizard, which lets you use your iOS device and a few sheets of paper to draw and play your own video game levels. And much like Adventure Time itself, it’s really quite addictive.