Leander Kahney's Blog, page 97

‘Peak smartphone’ is why Tim Cook is so hot for switchers

Apple convinced us we couldn’t live without a smartphone. Now many of us have a smartphone in hand and Apple may be facing the curse side of the blessing — finding new customers for the iPhone. Credit Suisse recently issued a report to investors that further fuels speculation that iPhone sales will dip for the […]

(via Cult of Mac - Tech and culture through an Apple lens)

The first iOS 9.2.1 beta has arrived

Apple seeded the first beta of iOS 9.2.1 to developers this morning, coming nearly a week after Apple dropped iOS 9.2 to the public. Developers can grab the iOS 9.2.1 update from the Dev Center on Apple’s website. It appears that the beta isn’t available to public testers at this time, but should be available […]

(via Cult of Mac - Tech and culture through an Apple lens)

Pro Tip: How to get ready-made live wallpapers for iPhone 6s

Tired of the same old boring wallpaper on your shiny new iPhone 6s or 6s Plus? You can now grab a cool app that will let you put one of up to 40 different animated images on your iPhone lock screen that you can animate with 3D Touch. Here’s how to make it happen. Head […]

(via Cult of Mac - Tech and culture through an Apple lens)

The first guy to hack the iPhone built a self-driving car by himself

George Hotz made a name for himself at 17 years-old as the first person to hack the iPhone, but his next project could be headed on a collision course with Apple’s self-driving car. Using affordable electronics that any nerd on the street can purchase, Hotz revealed that he hacked an Acura ILX to become a […]

(via Cult of Mac - Tech and culture through an Apple lens)

Facebook is finally fixing its ‘real name’ problem

After some controversies and embarrassing missteps, social-media giant Facebook is trying to introduce tools to let its users go by the names they most identify with. The tools it’s rolling out today will change up both how account owners can both report on and respond to real-name challenges. “We’re firmly committed to [our real-name] policy, […]

(via Cult of Mac - Tech and culture through an Apple lens)

Pro Tip: Set your Mac to perpetual Do Not Disturb mode

Notification Center on OS X seems like a great idea, most of the time, until you get a ton of notifications about things you really don’t care about all at once. You’ve got to click all the little “close” boxes, or click and drag the Notification banners to the right. It can be downright disconcerting. […]

(via Cult of Mac - Tech and culture through an Apple lens)

Siri technology is coming soon to more apps, fridges and even robots

Your smart life is about to get even smarter with a new set of software development tools that will let coders include world-class speech recognition and natural language processing — the same stuff that powers Siri, Apple’s personal digital assistant — to thermostats, refrigerators, apps and, yes, even robots. The folks at Nuance have created […]

(via Cult of Mac - Tech and culture through an Apple lens)

It’s about time: Pebble Health app plays catch-up with Apple Watch

You no longer have to rely on third-party apps to track your fitness on a Pebble watch. Pebble is today rolling out a new update that adds Pebble Health, a new fitness and sleep tracking feature that wants to help you become fitter and healthier. Pebble Health, which is available on Pebble Time, Time Steel, and Time Round, […]

(via Cult of Mac - Tech and culture through an Apple lens)

Ekster special smart wallet keeps your cards safe and trackable

I would love a smart wallet that doubles my money. Tuck in a five spot and boom! Alexander Hamilton. That would be a magic wallet. A good smart wallet, though, can help protect you from losing your money. At least, that is the idea behind the ultra-thin Ekster Smart Wallet, which provides RFID blocking to […]

(via Cult of Mac - Tech and culture through an Apple lens)

Soccer coach equips players with iPads to overcome language barrier

With his ability to fire people up and get them motivated, Steve Jobs has been likened to a great football coach. And now to bring things full circle, a real football coach (or “soccer” to you American readers!) is using Jobs’ creation, the iPad, to help coach his players. The coach in question is Gary Neville, […]

(via Cult of Mac - Tech and culture through an Apple lens)