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New magnetic charger lets you juice up iPhone wirelessly

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The STACK PACK takes the cord out of charging your iPhone.
The STACK PACK takes the cord out of charging your iPhone.
Photo: STACKED

We are wireless, but not quite wire-free. One company wants to help iPhone users cut a couple of cords with a magnetic charging solution called the STACK PACK.

It’s all capital letters for a product that sounds more like workout vitamins. The STACK PACK promises to pack just as much power as that soon-to-be obsolete charging cord — except with shorter charging times and a satisfying feeling as your iPhone magnetically clicks onto a battery or charger.

Pro Tip: Access your Apple Music playlists anywhere

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Apple Music
Great playlists deserve to be on all my devices.
Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac

Pro_Tip_Cult_of_MacI made an Apple Music playlist of Paste’s top 50 albums of 2015 via iTunes on my Mac. I was able to share it out on Facebook and to my friends via Messages, but I wasn’t able to see the playlist on my iPhone.

I made sure that I was logged in to my iTunes account on both my Mac and my iPhone, I signed in and out of iCloud, and I even force-quit Apple Music on my iPhone to try and fix the issue. None of these options worked.

After a bit of searching on the internet, I figured out what the problem was.

Here’s what you can do if you’re having the same issue.

This cheap hack puts a glowing Apple logo on your iPhone 6

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Get ready to illuminate your Apple logo.
Get ready to illuminate your Apple logo.
Photo: David Cogen

We love seeing Apple’s glowing logo every time a MacBook lid opens, so wouldn’t it be awesome to have the same feature on your iPhone?

Making your iPhone 6 stand out in a sea of other iPhones is now a whole lot easier, thanks to an inexpensive new LED logo kit that brings an illuminated Apple logo to the back of your device. The hack is reversible and supposedly won’t drain your battery — but it might void your warranty.

Here’s how to do it:

4-inch iPhone 6c may pack Apple Pay and powerful A9 chip

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Will the iPhone 6c be a flop like the 5c?
Will the iPhone 6c be a flop like the 5c?
Photo: Gadgetmac/Flickr

The upcoming 4-inch iPhone that has been picking up steam in the rumor mill the last few weeks won’t be a weakling when it comes to processing power, according to a new report that claims Apple’s new A9 chip will power the device.

Apple expert Ming-Chi Kuo at KGI Securities told investors today that his sources indicate the iPhone 6c is definitely real, and that it will look more like the iPhone 5s than an iPhone 6.

Bored with stocking stuffers? An iPhone laser can probably fix that. [Deals]

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The Juiceboxx Charger Case is just one of the stocking stuffers that should be on your list.
The Juiceboxx Charger Case is just one of the stocking stuffers that should be on your list.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Candy canes are great and all, but in this day and age we’ve come to expect something more when digging into our stockings. Thankfully some of the neatest stuff for stockings, whether portable power, phone-mounted lasers or hands free mounts — is also super affordable. The following are just a few of the awesome stocking stuffers we’ve gathered at Cult of Mac Deals.

iPhone is most popular camera among Flickr’s 112 million photographers

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Canon cameras
The iPhone has been the top choice among Flickr photographers beginning in 2015.
Photo: Flickr

The longtime Kings of the Camera must know their kingdoms are shrinking. If Canon or Nikon need further evidence, Flickr’s 2015 Year in Review shows the popular tool of choice for an engaged and global photography community is not a dedicated camera. It’s first and foremost a phone.

Apple’s iPhone was the popular device used by the Flickr community, according to an analysis of the EXIF data on pictures uploaded to the site. iPhone cameras accounted for 42 percent of the photos on the site, compared to the DSLRs of Canon, 27 percent, and the Nikon, 16 percent.

Temple Run 2 gets largest expansion yet, ‘Frozen Shadows’

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Wish you were here.
Wish you were here.
Photo: Imangi Studios

With over 1 billion downloads, Temple Run and it’s sequel, Temple Run 2, are the very definition of mobile gaming success.

It’s even better that husband and wife developers and co-founders Keith Shepherd and Natalia Luckyanova are such incredibly nice people. Their startup, Imangi Studios, has found the gold at the end of the rainbow, and they’ve no intention of stopping.

“Frozen Shadows” is the latest (and largest) free update to the franchise yet, giving you new characters like Guy Dangerous and Scarlett Fox to run through a brand-spanking-new ice world. You’ll also get new artifacts, winter costumes, and an absolutely terrifying new demon monkey to run from. Yikes!

“We’re really trying to expand the Temple Run universe,” Shepherd told us on the phone, “in much the same way as a novelist or storyteller would.”

How to play Crossy Road on Apple TV with your iPhone

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Play Crossy Road with a pal, even without a second controller.
Play Crossy Road with a pal, even without a second controller.
Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac

Once Apple brought games to the Apple TV, it was a no-brainer that we’d all want to play them together on the couch in our living room.

Apple requires developers to support the new Siri Remote, but they can also allow third-party game controllers to move stuff around on the screen, too.

Crossy Road, the excellent Frogger-like hit iOS game with the seemingly endless supply of cute creatures to play as (that was also an Apple TV launch title), goes one step further. If you want to play with a buddy and don’t have a second gamepad, you can have your pal play Crossy Road on Apple TV with just their iPhone.

Here’s how.

Futuristic straps could do way more than keep your Apple Watch on

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apple-watch-reserve-strap
Your next Watch strap could get a serious high-tech boost.
Photo: Apple

Apple has a range of different Apple Watch straps available — but, aside from letting you pick the perfect strap to suit the rest of your attire, they all serve exactly the same function: keeping Apple’s debut wearable safely strapped to your wrist.

That may change in future iterations of the Apple Watch, with a new patent application published today describing how future Watch straps (or straps for other Apple devices) may include flexible displays woven into the material, offering another way of presenting user messages or notifications.

Apple designs its own multicolor 3-D printer

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Screen Shot 2015-12-03 at 13.17.43
Could Apple build a mass-market 3D printer for consumers?
Photo: Apple

Apple hasn’t released a new printer since the heady days of the LaserWriter 8500 in 1997, but a new patent application suggests the company is working on a new printer — and it’s no ordinary one, either.

Published today under the name “Method and apparatus for three dimensional printing of colored objects,” the patent application describes a 3-D printer capable of not only printing amazing three-dimensional structures, but doing so in multiple colors.

Ultra-affordable cloud storage for your whole hard drive and then some [Deals]

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Zoolz Cold Storage offers ultra affordable lifetime storage for up to a terabyte of your most valuable data.
Zoolz Cold Storage offers ultra affordable lifetime storage for up to a terabyte of your most valuable data.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Cloud storage has matured into a reliable and sensible solution for keeping data secure and accessible. Also reliable is the high cost of that storage. Thankfully there’s a way to significantly drop the price just by reducing the access speed, like with Zoolz Cold Storage. They’re offering a terabyte of storage for life for just $39.

Klipsch on-ear headphones deliver crisp, clear, booming sound

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These lightweight cans deliver heavy sound.
These lightweight cans deliver heavy sound.
Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac

Best List: Reference R6i On-Ear Headphones by Klipsch

Sometimes you just need a solid, great-sounding set of wired headphones. They don’t need to charge up like my Bluetooth favorites do, nor do they require pairing (or repairing, like several models I’ve used).

Earbuds are great, too, but for extended listening sessions, I prefer on-ear headphones. They are less sound-isolating — I don’t need to hear my own breathing all the time.

Cut down on countless wasted keystrokes with TextExpander [Deals]

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TextExpander 5 helps save time and be more efficient by cutting out needless keystrokes.
TextExpander 5 helps save time and be more efficient by cutting out needless keystrokes.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

If you spend any time behind the keyboard (and let’s be honest, if you’re reading this you probably do), you’re probably wasting a lot of time. The wide menu of commonly used terms, names, phrases and information that we take time to type out add up to minutes and hours that can be saved by using TextExpander. It turns your most regularly used terms into quick keystrokes for populating documents and images, an invaluable time saver that you can get for just $22.

Apple may give Samsung the boot for iPhone 7 chip orders

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apple-vs-samsung
Samsung may be passed over for iPhone 7 chip orders.
Photo: Cult of Mac

After the “chipgate” event of the iPhone 6s — in which Samsung-manufactured A9 processors were rumored to perform worse than those built by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) — a new report suggests that Apple may give its South Korean frenemy the boot, and award 100 percent of its iPhone 7 A10 chip orders to TSMC.

Google breaks promise to not collect student data

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google-breaks-promise-to-not-collect-student-data-image-cultofandroidcomwp-contentuploads201512Google-offers-Chromebooks-to-educational-institutions-as-a-low-cost-way-to-bring-students-online-jpg
Google breaks its privacy promise. Photo: Google
Google breaks its privacy promise. Photo: Google

Google has been accused of breaking its student privacy pledge by collecting data and browsing habits from Chromebooks used in schools and Google Apps for Education.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has called upon the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) to investigate Google’s conduct, and to prevent it from using the data it has collected so far.

Need a name for your newborn? Try an Instagram filter

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Sure you could name your girl Rose. But why not Lark or Juno?
Sure you could name your girl Rose. But why not Lark or Juno?
Photo: David Pierini/Cult of Mac

Excuse the dad for checking his Instagram feed when the nurse brings the newborn into the room. He might be trying to find a name for the kid.

Naming a baby after an Instagram filter is a hot trend according to the annual Baby Names Survey, sponsored by the Baby Center.

Play Darth Vader with Siri and get some hilarious responses

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The popularity of selfies made them the Oxford Dictionary's
Hey, Siri...
Photo: Star Wars

The whole tech world is losing its mind with Star Wars mania, and Apple’s no exception. Hidden within Siri is a neat reference to George Lucas’ epic space opera — accessible when you use the iconic “I am your father” line from the end of The Empire Strikes Back.

Check out some of Siri’s best responses below.

Pro Tip: How to speed up your Apple Watch

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Apple Watch
Get your Apple Watch ready for your new iPhone.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Pro_Tip_Cult_of_Mac Apple Watch is becoming second nature to me after several months of owning it. It’s gotten to the point where I feel like something’s missing when I don’t strap it to my wrist in the morning before starting my workday.

Thing is, the Apple Watch has so many animations on it that I sometimes feel like getting things done takes too long. I just want to find and use apps, with a minimum of fuss and bother.

Luckily, you can turn off those animations on Apple Watch to make it all feel a bit snappier.

Apple Pay was a massive flop on Black Friday

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Apple Pay
Is Apple Pay struggling to make an impact?
Photo: Apple

Apple may have kicked butt on Black Friday, with reports of its strongest Friday sales in history and more online purchases made using iOS devices than Androids by a giant margin.

There was one area of Apple’s business where Black Friday wasn’t a day of triumph, however, and that’s Apple Pay. According to a new report, only half the total percentage of Apple customers who used Apple Pay at last year’s Black Friday used it during this year’s sales bonanza.

Stunning iOS puzzler Monument Valley goes free for first time

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Monument Valley
Monument Valley is one of my favorite iOS games.
Photo: ustwo

Tremendous iOS puzzle game Monument Valley has just gone free on iOS for the first time in its history.

Inspired by the surrealistic designs of M.C. Escher, the title is a triumph of isometric design, in which the player guides a princess through a series of impossible structures in a game that Apple lyrically described as, “akin to a walk through a museum or listening to a music album.”

Seriously, download it now.

The 4-inch iPhone 6c: Coming in time for Valentine’s Day?

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An iPhone 6c concept.
An iPhone 6c concept.
Photo: iPhonesoft

There are many who claim that the iPhone 5c, Apple’s plastic-backed “budget” iPhone, was a disappointment, especially compared to the sales of iPhone 6/6s/Plus. Yet rumors continue to circulate that the iPhone 6c will be released next year.

Here’s another rumor to throw on that fire: Supply chain sources within Foxconn are allegedly saying the iPhone 6c is on track for a February 2016 debut.

iPhone 7 concept video isn’t as crazy as it looks

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Iphone 7 concept video parachute system
Don't worry -- the Parachute System has this under control.
Photo: Sonitdac (via YouTube)

A tongue-in-cheek (we assume) iPhone 7 concept video shows a feature that may be too awesome to ever actually exist.

YouTube user Sonitdac has discovered a way to keep the sure-to-be-expensive device safe from even the clumsiest of owners. They call it the “Parachute System,” and we really wish it were real. Not because it would be useful or practical but because it would be a ton of fun to play with.

Check it out in computer-generated action below.