Spotify is planning to introduce a new “gated access” model that will make its free streaming plan a lot less attractive, according to a new report. Those who choose to opt out of paying for the service could see it become extremely limited, with access to just one or two songs from big album releases.
Apple Metal, introduced at last year’s WWDC, gives developers low-level access to the GPU to maximize the graphics and performance potential of their games. Now Android gamers are going to get a taste of that, too.
No, Apple isn’t bringing Metal to Android — but Google is adopting an alternative called Vulkan.
Google just dropped a bombshell announcement that the operating structure of the company is getting seriously shaken up. To start, co-founder Larry Page broke the news of Alphabet: a new holding company which Google will operate under moving forward. Page will operate as the CEO with Sergey Brin as President effective immediately.
If you’ve been itching to get your hands on Apple’s latest public beta for iOS 9, you’re in luck. With new proactive features for Siri, public transit directions in Maps, and a supercharged notes app, not to mention new multitasking and keyboard features for newer iPads, iOS 9 is looking pretty great.
Plus, now that we’re getting closer to the actual Fall release, the iOS 9 beta (release 5) is probably more stable than it was when it first released to the public in July. Of course, all beta software can mess up your iPhone, so don’t apply it unless you’re willing to put up with possible glitches and maybe even a bricked iPhone.
If you’re good with that, though, here’s how to get the iOS 9 beta onto your iPhone (or iPad) right now.
Apple isn’t going to repeat its Bendgate error for a second year, according to a video posted by Lewis Hilsenteger of Unbox Therapy, aka the man who famously bent an iPhone 6 Plus with his bare hands.
Hilsenteger got hold of an iPhone 6s backplate, courtesy of renowned Apple leaker Sonny Dickson, and compared it to the original iPhone 6. As he points out, Apple has made key changes to the iPhone design with the aim of learning from its past mistakes.
Check out his video below:
New graphic novel Steve Jobs: Insanely Great recounts the late Apple leader’s life through 225 pages of gorgeously geeky illustrations, taking readers through his work at Apple, Pixar and NeXT as well as his time away from business.
The iPad mini 3 was disappointing in its lack of improvements, but according to a leaked CAD drawing from the usually reliable @OnLeaks, the iPad mini 4 is going to take a step in the right direction by offering a radically thinner design.
Check out a video showing a mock-up of the new device below:
It’s the weekend, which means (we hope) taking a day off from the usual grind to relax, mow your lawn, have a lie-in, and check out the hottest apps to hit the App Store over the past seven days.
And, man, have we got some good picks this week — from Apple Watch email clients to excellent comedic weather apps!
Check them out below:
As a fitness tracker, Apple Watch is currently little more than a fancy pedometer. It only tracks distance and calories — the quantity, not the quality, of your movement. That’s a problem because fitness is about more than burning calories.
However, an interesting patent from Apple — plus a new technology claimed to be “Siri for understanding human movement” — suggests that Apple Watch could soon be adding weightlifting to its repertoire. Which would be good news for gym-goers and CrossFitters everywhere.
iPhone 6s rumor season is in full swing, but we won’t have to wait much longer until Apple reveals the real deal.
A fall iPhone 6s launch event is being planned for September 9, according to a new report that also reveals other products that will share the stage with Apple’s new smartphone.
Following the lead of other carriers, Verizon Wireless is killing subsidized phones and will streamline its data plans. New subscribers will no longer have the option to get a new iPhone subsidized when signing up for a two-year contract.
With the iPhone 6s launch likely two months away, this might sound like bad news for Apple, a company that has gotten fat off carrier-subsidized iPhones over the last eight years. But the death of subsidized iPhones could be a really good thing for Apple.
For better or worse and depending on your political leanings, Donald Trump is said to have won Thursday night’s debate for the Republican presidential nomination.
Trump also scored a bit of a victory on social media. Whether celebrated or reviled, he was talked about more than the other candidates. Compare the buzz to the professional wrestling term known as heat. Heat can mean cheers for the heroes, but also represent the boos for the heels. Heat in any form is the measure of popularity.
Is it the kind of heat you can warm to or is it just hot air? Either way, the commentary on Twitter and Instagram is entertaining and with a record 24 million viewers watching the debate, the Teflon Don will take all the heat he can get.
After the discovery of several dangerous flaws in a few short weeks, Android’s security — or lack thereof — has been big news. Google has acted quickly to eliminate the Stagefright flaw that left 95% of Android devices vulnerable to attack, but others have since wormed their way out of the woodwork.
Now fans are asking how these flaws made their way into public Android releases, compromising the security of more than 1 billion users worldwide. Could Google be doing more to prevent it? And are its hardware partners doing all they can to patch holes in their own software?
Join us in this week’s Friday Night Fight between Cult of Android and Cult of Mac as we fight it out over these questions and more!
Cult of Mac’s Photo Famous series introduces you to the groundbreaking photographers featured in Apple’s “Shot on iPhone 6” ad campaign.
Mobile photography’s most mobile photographer was on the Skeleton Coast in Namibia and didn’t want to be weighted down.
Jen Pollack Bianco traveled with her usual DSLR equipment — all 26 pounds of it — but when the time came to go on an elephant safari, she left the heavy gear behind. This was a bold choice, considering such encounters rarely happen more than once in a lifetime.
The travel blogger carried her new iPhone 6 and the camera inside proved it could handle a charging elephant.
This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: Looks like the radically improved Apple TV we’ve be waiting for lands in September — we’ll tell you what to expect. Plus: Apple is not going to be your next wireless carrier; more Beats Radio stations are in the works; and don’t miss our picks for the “best of the worst” Apple accessories.
Google will finally launch Android Pay, its brand new mobile payments service, alongside a refreshed Nexus 5 from LG in October, a new report claims. The Apple Pay competitor will take advantage of Android M’s native support for fingerprint scanners.
Samsung has been mercilessly copying Apple’s software, hardware and marketing for years, but the most unoriginal company in tech has taken its copycat ways to an all new level by ripping off Steve Jobs’ signature look.
In a recent promotional headshot for his upcoming appearance at the DMEXCO conference in Germany, Samsung VP Georg R. Rötzer not only copied Jobs’ dark outfit and round spectacles — he also aped the Apple co-founder’s pose from the cover of Walter Isaacson’s biography.
The brand-new beta of iOS 9 brings an entirely new set of wallpapers, some welcome improvements to Apple Music and more new treasures. These are some of the most exciting changes yet to Apple’s upcoming mobile operating system (the previous beta brought back Home Sharing and delivered lots of tiny design tweaks).
Let’s run through all the changes in iOS 9 beta 5, which was made available to developers today.
Nintendo has been incredibly slow to embrace mobile gaming, but this Wii M concept design has me wishing the company would get serious and make their own smartphone.
This mockup is so beautiful I think I’d gladly give up my eight-year membership in the iPhone club to have a portable gaming device like this at all times.
If you close your eyes, the iPad drummer known as Appleman sounds like he is tearing up a real set of skins. What you see in his YouTube videos, in which he covers the drumming parts of rock classics like Marilyn Manson’s “Beautiful People,” contradicts what the ears hear.
But how would he do against a drummer on an analog kit? Fast fingers met fast sticks recently as the anonymous Appleman went mano a mano with 17-year-old drumming phenom Yamachika Takuto.
By the sounds of the exchange of solos and the cheers from the audience, the two battled to a draw.
Apple Music is all about curated playlists from Apple’s growing list of experts. But according to a new patent application published today, a future iTunes feature could let users get in on the act by composing “digital mixtapes” for their friends.
The patent describes how users would be able to name their album, select the songs and play order, and even augment them with extra audio files, images, movies, and personalized messages.
When Lars Magnus Ericsson installed a telephone in his car, he proved you could communicate from the road. But while the first mobile phone was indeed mobile, it was anything but simple to use.
Ericsson drove around Sweden and, when it was time to place a call, he would pull off to the side of the road next to telephone poles. Then his wife, Hilda, would take out two long sticks and hook them over a pair of telephone wires. Ericsson would then crank a handle on the phone to get a signal from the operator.
Pretty slick for 1910.
Loyal iPhone fans will argue iOS is much better than Android, but many have never even used Google’s platform. That’s proven in the hilarious video below, in which Apple fanboys are fooled into thinking Lollipop running on an iPhone is the iOS 9 update that’s coming this fall.
Steve Jobs’ life is about to get yet another retelling — this time in the form of an opera entitled The Revolution of Steve Jobs, coming to The Santa Fe Opera as part of the company’s 2017 season.
Remember the time Jobs broke into song while firing the MobileMe team? Soon you will.
The Apple Watch just went on sale in Russia on July 31, but if you’re looking to get something extra special to celebrate your favorite Russian dictators leaders, luxury design firm Caviar has the perfect timepiece for you.