This week on The CultCast: Just when you thought it was safe to close your wallet, Apple goes and announces yet another hardware event. Yessir, Oct. 16 is just days away, and if you’re eyeballin’ a new Mac or iPad, don’t miss our event-day predictions. Plus—-ever wonder what it’s like to have a brand new iPhone 6 Plus stolen right out of your hands? Well we can tell you firsthand, and we want your help to catch the crooks.

Chuckle your way through each week’s best Apple stories! Stream or download new and past episodes of The CultCast now on your Mac or iDevice by subscribing on iTunes, or hit play below and let the chuckles begin.

Our thanks to lynda.com for sponsoring this episode! Learn virtually any application at your own pace from expert-taught video tutorials at lynda.com.

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Look, I’m not gonna like to you—we get weird on this week’s CultCast. But, before the wheels fall off completely, we do work in some great Apple news stories and topics such as: why iPhone 5S could have two flashes; how the iOS game controller could change everything; new Thunderbolt displays on the way; the guy who sold the iPhone 4 prototype recounts the tale; iOS 7 gets shinier in beta 2; and Tim Cook gets a back massage with Erfon after brunch.

Have a few laughs and get caught up on this week’s best Apple stories! Stream or download new and past episodes of The CultCast now on your Mac or iDevice by subscribing on iTunes, or hit play below and let the audio adventure begin.

Show notes up next.

Look, every once in a while a Mac app comes along that’s so incredibly useful, it becomes one of those rare staple apps no Mac should go without. On this week’s CultCast, we’ll introduce you to the incredibly talented Alfred, and reveal all the time-saving totally amazing feats this little bit of code can perform for you.

Plus! Word on the streets is T-Mobile’s getting the iPhone and their new plans could give the industry a shake down. We’ll tell you the pros and cons of big T’s contract free “uncarrier” plans and explain what makes them different from the pack.

All that and more on this episode of the CultCast! Subscribe now on iTunes to download our new episodes or just hit play below.

This week on The CultCast—finally—it’s time to talk iPhone 5S and iPad 5! We’ll tell you why April and August might be bringing you the tasty new iDevices, and if they’ll be drastically different than the models we’ve already got.

Then, is Apple is a innovation lull? Ex-Apple CEO John Scully thinks so. We’ll tell you what we think is really going on.

Subscribe to The CultCast now on iTunes to download our newest episode, or easily stream new and previous episodes via Apple’s free Podcasts App.

Show notes up next!

Borderlands 2 from Aspyr is now available to download at the Mac App Store, almost exactly a month after it debuted on Steam — and there’s good news and bad news.

Think Tank’s new Airport Commuter camera bag ($199) is something of a paradox: Though it’s the size of a normal backpack, it manages to fit an abnormal amount of glass, gear, a full-size a Macbook Pro, and an iPad.

But could such a compact bag hold so many precious items in harmony? I packed it up, strapped it on, and set out to find out.

At long last, a full year after its iPhone debut, the Call of Duty Elite app (free) has finally made its way to the iPad. I can finally view my Xbox Live carnage on my iPad 3’s big, beautiful, retina display screen. But besides peeping kill counts, this freshly minted app also introduces some very interesting new features.

Phiaton’s new Moderna MS 200 earphones ($149) sound good and have great sound isolation, sure, but what’s more important is how good they look plugged in to your new iPhone 5.

At this year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas, the only thing I was hunting down more than free drinks and after-parties, was power outlets. Yes sir, I love my purdy white iPhone 4S, but on days of heavy use, I find I need to charge it two times or more before the day is through.

The Dual USB Power Bank from Verbatim (about $65), provides a a massive amount of portable power that should keep anyone from outlet-hunting in the inky-shadows of Vegas convention halls. But the question is, how does it perform while charging two connected devices or the power-hungry new iPad?