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Giveaway: SteelSeries Apex M800 Mechanical Keyboard

SteelSeries Keyboard Giveaway

Last week, we reviewed the SteelSeries Apex M800 Mechanical Keyboard. The review was largely positive, citing the keyboard’s Mac-centric keycaps, individual LED lights and tactile key switches.

The SteelSeries Apex M800 is one of the more unique keyboards that we’ve tried, as each individual key can be customized with key bindings and LEDs. With SteelSeries’ Engine 3 software, customization is only a few clicks away.

We’re giving away this $170 keyboard to one of our fabulous readers. Check inside to learn how to win.
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iPod creator Tony Fadell talks about his journey to the iPod, iPhone, thermostats, and Nest

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Image Credit: Christina Samuelson

Image Credit: Christina Samuelson

Last week, the Silicon Valley Forum held a Visionary Salon Dinner event with Tony Fadell. Kevin Surace, Appvance’s CEO, interviewed Fadell on his past accomplishments and journey through technology. An edited transcript of the conversation shows just how in-depth the conversation went. Fadell’s interview is a personal look at what drove the creator forward while building the iPod, the iPhone, and the Nest Thermostat.


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Mac Pro case clone Kickstarter is perfect for your next DIY gold Hackintosh project

Dune Case (Featured Image)

We’ve seen DIY solutions in building a Mac Pro-style Hackintosh out of actual trash cans, but others who aren’t as inclined to follow a DIY route may be excited to hear about the Dune Case. Dune Case is currently running a Kickstarter campaign of its Mac Pro-inspired PC case. The case would allow anyone to get a Mac Pro look at a fraction of the cost at only $189. Boasting a design that helps support airflow, strikingly similar to the Mac Pro, the Dune Case comes in either a black or gold color options.


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Donald Trump calls for boycott on Apple … while tweeting from iPhone

Tim Cook

Update: In a conference call with reporters, Apple responded saying, Trump’s call for Apple boycott puts the company in standing with other good people he has criticized

Okay, this may be my favorite “via Twitter for iPhone” gaffe yet. It’s Friday afternoon so presidential candidate Donald Trump has called for a boycott on all Apple products. His announcement follows this week’s FBI request that Apple help it unlock the San Bernardino gunman’s iPhone, which Tim Cook says would set a dangerous precedent.


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Here’s what happens to your old iPhone under Apple’s ‘Reuse & Recycle’ program

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Apple's New Big-Screen iPhones Draw Long Lines As Sales Start

New details on Apple’s ‘Reuse and Recycle’ trade-in program have surfaced in a new Bloomberg report. Tim Culpan details the break down and destruction process that each iPhone, Mac, and iPad receives at one of the many Apple recycling contractors’ plants. With over 50 agreed upon regulations and requirements, the contractors have a heavily imposed process to adhere to.


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How-To: Stream the 58th Annual Grammy Awards on your Mac, Apple TV, or iOS device for free

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58th Annual Grammy (Featured Image)

The 58th Annual Grammys are broadcasting tonight and thanks to CBS All Access, nearly anyone can watch it for free without a cable subscription or TV set. The show starts at 8PM ET, with a pre-telecast red carpet show at 7PM ET. Viewers can catch the show on CBS’s site, or by using the iOS or Apple TV app. Here’s how to do it for free:


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Apple execs Eddy Cue & Craig Federighi talk Apple Music, App Store & more in new interview

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Eddy Cue Craig Federighi

John Gruber surprised podcast listeners today by getting Apple’s own Eddy Cue and Craig Federighi on The Talk Show to discuss a variety of topics behind Apple. Since Tim Cook took leadership at Apple, it hasn’t been unheard of for Apple execs to appear on Gruber’s show. The first occurrence was last June when Phil Schiller met John Gruber on stage during WWDC to discuss Apple’s recent announcements and decisions over the past few years. This marks the second time that Federighi has been on the The Talk Show, and Cue’s first.


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TestFlight updated with support for watchOS 2.2 and iOS 9.3

TestFlight 2-1

Apple’s TestFlight iOS app has received an updated today with support for watchOS 2.2 and iOS 9.3, as well as the standard “stability and performance improvements.” Upon first glance, users who were having trouble installing beta apps from TestFlight onto the latest watchOS 2.2 betas won’t see much more success with today’s TestFlight update.


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Anova Culinary Bluetooth Precision Cooker for sous-vide cooking works with iPhone, on sale $139 (reg. $179)

Image showing Anova Precision Cooker inside a pot

Learning chefs that want to get a start on cooking sous-vide and get restaurant quality results, take a look at Amazon’s Gold Box deal today with the Anova Culinary Bluetooth Precision Cooker currently available at $139 (normally $179). Anova’s precision cooker clamps to the side of any deep pot or tank and continuously circulates the water inside to ensure that food is cooked evenly throughout. Connect the Anova to an iPhone via Bluetooth, and you can then wirelessly control and monitor food easily, even finding new recipes to use.


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Apple set to open largest Florida retail store in new Miami shopping center

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Rendering of the new Brickell City Centre in Miami

Apple is set to open its largest Florida-based Apple Store yet in Greater Downtown Miami, according to a new report. Sources close to The Real Deal and South Florida Business Journal have confirmed that Apple has signed a lease with Miami’s new Brickell City Centre to open the new retail location.


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iTunes, App Store, and other services experiencing outage preventing purchasing [U: Resolved]

Apple Services Down (Featured Image)

A list of App Store and iTunes services are currently down preventing users from processing downloads, making purchases or in some cases even streaming their music from iTunes in the Cloud. Apple’s system status currently (as of 10:52AM EST) lists App Store, Apple TV, iBooks Store, iTunes in the Cloud, iTunes Match, iTunes Store, Mac App Store, and the Volume Purchase Program as potentially being unavailable for some users.


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Apple finally gets US sales ban on some Samsung phone features, but the ruling is practically meaningless

Men are silhouetted against a video screen with Apple and Samsung logos as he poses with Samsung S3 and Samsung S4 smartphones in this photo illustration taken in the central Bosnian town of Zenica, August 14, 2013. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic (BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA - Tags: BUSINESS TELECOMS) - RTX12L6W

Apple has finally managed to secure a sales ban over some Samsung phone features that infringe on its patents and intellectual property. However, the victory is effectively meaningless despite the milestone in its continuing patent litigation suit with Samsung in ever-longer court battles.

Apple’s ban resides over three features encumbered by its patents: the controversial ‘slide to unlock’ patent, predictive text technology and autocorrect. Getting a ban is a huge symbolic achievement, but the effect it will have on day-to-day business of the two companies is minor. The ban is effectively useless as FOSS Patents explains …


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Digital property after death issues continue as Apple requires court order for widow to get late husband’s Apple ID password

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CBC News is reporting that Apple would not disclose Apple ID passwords to a widow after presenting her late husband’s death certificates and her will. Instead, Apple demanded Peggy Bush, 72, to attain a court order in order to gain access to the account. See the video after the jump for the full story.

Initially, Apple said that a death certificate would suffice but the company changed its mind on followup calls, making this situation even more frustrating for Bush. She just wanted to play her iPad freemium card game in peace. Law regarding digital assets after death is murky, although Bush points out that death certificates enabled her to transfer pensions and benefits, making it seem ridiculous that Apple would also not cooperate with the same information.


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Apple announces free ad-supported iTunes Radio stations going away on January 29th, will require Apple Music subscription

Screen Shot 2016-01-16 at 00.24.04

In an email circulating to customers, Apple has announced that the ad-supported iTunes Radio stations available in the US and Australia are going away on January 29th. Beats 1 will be the ‘premiere free broadcast’ going forward. All other radio station features, i.e. the algorithmic stations like Charting Now or Pop Workout, will require an active Apple Music subscription.

The full email is included below …


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Intel’s 2nd-gen Compute Stick is a faster, better iTunes media server

computestick2

One year after introducing the original Compute Stick, a version of which was featured in our guide to building a $150 iTunes media server, Intel today announced the 2nd-gen Compute Stick ($159-$499) with many noteworthy improvements. Still shaped like a pack of gum, the new Compute Stick fits a full-fledged PC into a small black enclosure, elongated modestly to accommodate a second USB port and new wireless hardware. This year, Intel is offering Atom, Core M3 and Core M5 versions, though even the $159 quad-core Atom version has enough power to serve as a full-fledged iTunes media server…


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Jeremy’s 5: Apple and Accessories at CES, Siri Remote Loop, Akinator + F2P Games

Welcome to the latest edition of Jeremy’s 5, my latest quick roundup of 5 interesting little things that aren’t big enough for full articles, but are still worth sharing with you.

My first edition of 2016 looks at two separate topics related to this week’s 2016 CES: first, Apple’s continued absence from the show, and second, the annual event’s seemingly declining interest to Apple fans. I also wanted to share some additional thoughts on Apple’s Remote Loop for the new Apple TV’s Siri Remote, the classic (but ever-evolving) iOS app Akinator the Genie, and the continued scourge of free-to-play games…


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Reader Brawl: Did Apple blow Apple TV 4 by leaving out 4K Ultra HD?

apple-tv-siri-2

Every time we post an Apple TV-related opinion piece, the comments show that some people are still really upset that Apple left 4K Ultra HD support out of the fourth-generation model when new Roku and Amazon boxes included it. It seems like merely mentioning the new Apple TV is enough to start fights, which commenters have spread from article to article without resolution. So we wanted to give everyone with opinions (strong or otherwise) a place to share their thoughts on this subject — hopefully to spark an intelligent, well-reasoned discussion.

Does 4K support matter at this point, given how many/few 4K TV sets are in use today? It’s been suggested by some that it really should have been included in the new Apple TV, given that 4K video recording was a major new feature for the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus. But there are also a few reasons 4K support might have made the set top box impractical to release this year…


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Review: Booq’s Slimpack gives DSLR-toting MacBook users another all-in-one bag option

slimpack-0

Ever since I upgraded from an 11″ MacBook Air to a 13″ Retina MacBook Pro, I’ve been hunting for the perfect hybrid computer and camera bag — a compact backpack that could hold my laptop, DSLR, lenses, and accessories at the same time. Six months ago, I covered several MacBook/camera bags from Incase, including the DSLR Sling Pack I’ve loved for years, and larger “Pro” options for bigger laptops. Each hybrid bag makes different compromises: for my needs, the Sling Pack’s too small, and the Pro bags are too large. But users of 11″ MacBooks might find the Sling Pack “just right.”

Seeing potential in a new alternative, I jumped at the opportunity to test Booq’s upcoming Slimpack ($195), a MacBook-sized evolution of its earlier iPad/DSLR backpack $145 Python Slimpack. Booq makes excellent bags, but apart from offering a multipurpose camera/headphone compartment in Boa Flow, it hasn’t taken a deep dive into the camera-laptop hybrid category. While the new Slimpack’s laptop compartment is just a hint too small for the 13″ MacBook Pro and iPad Pro I’m currently using, it’s right-sized for 12″ or smaller MacBooks, as well as 10″ or smaller tablets, any of which can be paired with a full-sized DSLR, three or four lenses, and accessories. Bundled with a rain shield and Booq’s standard Terralinq loss recovery protection system, it’s a very nice bag, and one I would certainly use if I switch to a 12″ MacBook next year…


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Banksy uses Steve Jobs as an example of Syrian immigration at a refugee camp in France

banksy

With the Mediterranean refugee crisis as much a hot-button issue in Europe as it is in the U.S., famous graffiti artist Banksy has used Steve Jobs as a subtle reminder of the benefits immigrants can offer to a country. Steve Jobs was the son of a Syrian migrant.

The artwork appears at a refugee camp in Calais, where many Syrian refugees are among those hoping to enter Banksy’s home country, the UK. The image depicts him carrying a bag with one hand and a Macintosh (sadly with very inaccurate proportions) in the other.

Earlier in the crisis, more than 15,000 people retweeted a photo posted by tech entrepreneur David Galbraith with the caption ‘A Syrian migrants’ child.’

[tweet https://twitter.com/daveg/status/639167370091720704 align=’center’]

Back in September, Apple supported humanitarian aid efforts by making its own ‘substantial’ donation to relief agencies, inviting iTunes users to donate to the Red Cross, and by offering to match employee donations. Earlier this week, Tim Cook mentioned the refugee crisis in a speech to the RFK Center.

[tweet https://twitter.com/krishgm/status/675318860313178112 align=’center’]

Kate Winslet, Michael Fassbender among Golden Globe nominees for roles in Steve Jobs movie

michael-fassbender-as-steve-jobs

Aaron Sorkin’s Steve Jobs biopic ultimately may not have performed so hot in theaters with reports saying the film likely lost money, but Michael Fassbender who portrayed the title character in the movie is being recognized for his performance. Earlier today the Golden Globe Award nominees were announced with Kate Winslet, Michael Fassbender, and Aaron Sorkin among the list of nominees credited for their roles in the Steve Jobs movie.


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