The CultCast
This week: Macbook Pro about to get its biggest refresh ever!  Plus: Apple’s plans to rival Amazon’s Echo; Apple gets serious about iCar charging stations; more great stories from the Cult of Mac; the state of gaming in OS X, iOS, and tvOS; and we set aside our agendas to discuss YOUR topics in an all-new As You Wish.
 
This episode supported by
 
Freshbooks, the easy-to-use invoicing software designed to help small business owners get organized, save time invoicing and get paid faster.  And I can vouch for this from experience, it also makes tax time a cinch.  Get started with a free trial at Freshbooks.com/cultcast, and please enter “CultCast” in the “How did you hear about us?” section!
 
TunnelBear, the simple privacy app that makes it easy to browse privately and enjoy a more open internet. Visit GetTunnelBear.com to get your free TunnelBear today.
 
We also want to give Kevin MacLeod at incompetech.com a  thanks for the great music you hear on today's show.
 
On the show this week
 
Apple plans to make Amazon Echo rival by opening Siri
  • Apple is reportedly planning to make a rival to the Amazon Echo, but the in order to compete with the device’s incredible array of features and services, Apple plans to open up Siri to third-party apps.
  • According to The Information, Apple to open up Siri to apps made by others. And it is working on an Amazon Echo-like device with a speaker and microphone that people can use to turn on music, get news headlines or set a timer.
  • Opening up its Siri voice assistant to outside app developers is the more immediate step [to competing with Echo],” reports the Information. Apple is supposedly preparing to release a Siri SDK that could arrive at WWDC 2016 
 
MacBook Pro to get Touch ID in biggest ever refresh
  • Apple is set to give its MacBook Pro lineup their “most significant upgrade ever,” according to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities.
  • New Macs will be thinner and lighter
  • Will also include Touch ID and an OLED display touch bar to replace physical function keys on the keyboard, Employ the same metal injection molded hinges and butterfly mechanism keyboard seen on the 12-inch MacBook.
 
Apple is already working on charging stations for iCar
  • Apple appears to be preparing the ground work for its charging infrastructure, according to a new report claiming the company is scooping up engineers that specialize in electric charing stations.
  • “Apple is investigating how to charge electric cars, talking to charging station companies and hiring engineers with expertise in the area,” reports Reuters
  • Apple has hired at least four charging specialists to help it create a competitive charger, including former BMW 
 
If you’ve broken your iPhone, Parry Gripp’s music will comfort you
 
Leander’s been testing out the Eero router and talked about the Luma too
Direct download: CultCast_233_-_Mr._Meme.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:50pm PDT

This week: Apple makes a curious investment in China’s version of Uber; iPhones that charge wirelessly in your pocket; Siri is coming to a Mac near you; more weird and wacky stories from the Cult of Mac; and we tell you what we like (and what we don’t) about the gadgets we’re currently testing in an all-new Under Review.
 
This episode supported by
 
Freshbooks, the easy-to-use invoicing software designed to help small business owners get organized, save time invoicing and get paid faster.  And I can vouch for this from experience, it also makes tax time a cinch.  Get started with a free trial at Freshbooks.com/cultcast, and please enter “CultCast” in the “How did you hear about us?” section!
 
TunnelBear, the simple privacy app that makes it easy to browse privately and enjoy a more open internet. Visit GetTunnelBear.com to get your free TunnelBear today.
 
We also want to give Kevin MacLeod at incompetech.com a  thanks for the great music you hear on today's show.
 
On the show this week
 
Intro: Your future computer, The Knowledge Navigator
 
Apple invests $1 billion in Chinese Uber rival
  • Apple has invested $1 billion in Chinese Uber rival Didi Chuxing
  • Tim Cook says the deal “reflects our excitement about their growing business … and also our continued confidence in the long term in China’s economy.”
  • Cook told Reuters: “We are making the investment for a number of strategic reasons, including a chance to learn more about certain segments of the China market,” 
  • Jack Kent of tech analytical firm IHS Technology said partnering with Chinese companies is a common way for international companies to get into the massive Asian market.
 
  • In the last four months Apple has hired two former uBeam engineers with expertise in wireless charging and ultrasonic technology
  • The Verge did some investigating, and discovered that in fact the in the last two years Apple has hired more than a dozen staffers with expertise in wireless charging.
  • Earlier this year Bloomberg reported that Apple was hoping to add wireless charging to the new iPhone it releases in 2017.
  • According to Bloomberg's sources, Apple wants to implement a much more advanced technology that would allow you to walk around a room and have your phone charging the entire time.
  • Is the smart dock a stop gap?
 
Siri for Mac icons leak ahead of WWDC
  • Apple’s digital assistant Siri is expected to finally arrive on Macs later this year with the next OS X update
  • Cool icon in dock, plus accessible via the menu bar and Hey Siri option
 
Buster’s reviewing the Garmin Phoenix 3
 
Leander’s been listening to the Moshi Avanti on-ear headphones
 
Erfon’s lighting his house with the illumi smart bulbs
 
 
The three Apples that changed the world, featuring Jimmy Page and Fiona Apple
Direct download: CultCast_232_-_Techno-Utopian_Baloney.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:02pm PDT

This week: Apple aims to end music downloads; you can now live stream your aerial drone flights to iDevices worldwide;  staggering facts about who’s making money in the app store; creators of Siri demo an even smarter AI; the ridiculous resale value of old Apple tech; and we reveal our Lust List of the gadgets we currently coveting.
 
This episode supported by
 
Freshbooks, the easy-to-use invoicing software designed to help small business owners get organized, save time invoicing and get paid faster.  And I can vouch for this from experience, it also makes tax time a cinch.  Get started with a free trial at Freshbooks.com/cultcast, and please enter “CultCast” in the “How did you hear about us?” section!
 
TunnelBear, the simple privacy app that makes it easy to browse privately and enjoy a more open internet. Visit GetTunnelBear.com to get your free TunnelBear today.
 
We also want to give Kevin MacLeod at incompetech.com a  thanks for the great music you hear on today's show.
 
On the show this week
@erfon @lkahney / “At” David Pierini
 
Intro - Introducing, iPod
 
All the maidens shall be mine!
 
  • 1903: Wright Brothers. 1907: Model T
  • Now you can stream live from your drone when you take to the skies with Periscope, Twitter’s service that lets you broadcast live video, provided you have the app on iOS and a DJI drone.
  • You’ll be able to narrate the broadcast from your iPhone, and even Sketch right on the broadcast itself to annotate your flight.
 
Apple Aiming to End iTunes Music Downloads in Two Years [Update: Apple Says 'Not True']
  • Citing sources with "close and active business relationships" with Apple, Digital Music News says Apple allegedly has an aggressive plan to "terminate" music downloads from iTunes within two years
  • their sources say, "keeping [iTunes music downloads] running forever isn't really on the table anymore." 
  • Apple rep Tom Neumayr contacted Recode and said the report that Apple would stop iTunes music downloads in two years is "not true."
  • Apple's iTunes business continues to bring in hundreds of millions of dollars each year, but it is on the decline due to the rise of streaming music services
 
94% of App Store revenue goes to just 1% of publishers
  • 94 percent of App Store revenue generated in the U.S. went to just the top 1 percent of app publishers, according to SensorTower
  • SensorTower found that around $1.34 billion of the estimated $1.43 billion in net revenue generated went to just 623 publishers.
  • That means the other 61,677 publishers had to share the remaining 6 percent of the revenue, which was approximately approximately $85.8 million. If it was divided equally, they’d have made less than $1,400 each.
 
Siri’s sequel beats the heck out of Apple’s AI assistant
 
The value of old iPods could be music to your ears
 
Direct download: CultCast_231_-_Age_of_wonder.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:16pm PDT

This week: why the iPhone 7s could have features you’ve never dreamed of"; Apple’s woes in China cause their stock to plummet; the community of fans keeping Apple’s history alive; our favorite Apple Watch faces; embarrassing stories of dates gone wrong; and Kool and the Gang steals our girlfriend!
 
This episode supported by
 
Build a beautiful, responsive website quick at Squarespace.com.  Enter offer code CultCast at checkout to get 10% off. Squarespace—Build it Beautiful.
 
Casper’s American-made mattresses have just the right amount of memory foam and latex, and people everywhere love them.  Learn why and get $50 towards any mattress at Casper.com/cultcast.
 
We also want to give Kevin MacLeod at incompetech.com a  thanks for the great music you hear on today's show.
 
On the show this week
 
Submit your CultCast intro, win some CultCloth!
 
Intro - What is Newton?
 
The Light Camera is a slim cam with 16 sensors (16!)
 
Kool and the Gang will steal your girlfriend
 
Tim Cook promises iPhone features you’ve never dreamed of
  • Apple CEO appeared Monday on Mad Money in an effort to abate the company’s bleeding stock price
  • Future iPhones are going to be so amazing, you probably haven’t even thought of the features Apple is going to add, Tim Cook claimed in a recent interview.
  • Next year is the iPhone’s 10th anniversary
 
Apple stock suffers longest loss streak in 18 years
Buster
  • Apple’s meager Q2 2016 earnings report is continuing to wreak havoc on the company’s stock price, leading to the longest streak of losses since 1998.
 
Apple could get shut out of China
  • China has already become the second largest market for Apple in terms of sales, but the iPhone-maker could find itself banned from the country just like Facebook due to its privacy strategy that has already come under fire from government regulators.
  • iTunes and Apple Music launched in China 6 months ago, but the government decided to force Apple to shutdown the iBook Store and iTunes Movies last week after the government changed its mind.
 
Apple Forced to Share 'iPhone' Trademark in China With Leather Accessory Maker
  • Apple no longer has the exclusive rights to the "iPhone" trademark in China after the Beijing Municipal High People’s Court ruled in favor of leather goods manufacturer Xintong Tiandi Technology, who sells an “iPhone Case"
  • Apple filed for a trademark of the iPhone name in China back in 2002, specifically centering around computer software and hardware, but Xintong Tiandi didn't do the same for leather goods until 2007
  • Apple took them to Chinese court, but lost.
 
Mega-investor Carl Icahn gives up on AAPL
  • Apple’s biggest cheerleader on Wall Street, Carl Icahn, is getting rid of all of his AAPL shares after the iPhone-maker reported its first year-over-year decline in revenues for the first time in 13 years.
  • Investors’ fears of troubles in China aren’t unfounded. Growth in greater China dropped 26% last quarter. The country also recenty banned iTunes Movies and the iBookstore
 
Direct download: CultCast_230_-_The_MacGyver_Factor.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:13am PDT

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