Apple CEO Tim Cook has once again made TIME Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People List today after appearances last year and back in 2012 when he first took over the CEO job.

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Filed under: AAPL Company Tagged: 2016, Apple, Bob Iger, CEO, most influential people list, Tim Cook, TIME 100, TIME Magazine

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TODAY’S CAN’T MISS DEALS:

Apple 12.9-inch iPad Pro 32GB Wi-Fi in all colors: $650 shipped (Reg. $799)

Apple iPad Air 16GB Wi-Fi in Space Gray or Silver $249 shipped (Orig. $399)

Adonit Jot Pro Fine Point Stylus for iPad, iPhone & Android devices: $22 Prime shipped (Reg. $30)

JayBird X2 Sport Wireless Bluetooth Earbuds in multiple colors: $100 w/ in-store pickup (Reg. $130), more

Readdle’s Calendars 5 for iOS goes free for the first time in years (Reg. up to $7)

App Store Free App of the Week: Space Marshals goes free for the very first time ($5 value)

Upgrade Your Mac with 3 Great Apps: Scapple $9 (Orig. $15), STAMP Premium $5 (Orig. $10), Ghostnote $7 (Orig. $10)

Apple offers Day One 2 iOS journal app for free ($10 value)

The best accessories for Apple’s 12-inch MacBook: USB-C cables, hubs, flash storage, more

Apple drops the price on refurbished 12-inch MacBooks, now start at $929 shipped

Review: Are these third-party $11 Apple Watch Sport bands any good? Turns out, they aren’t too bad.

MORE NEW GEAR FROM TODAY:

Save $10/month by owning your cable modem: NETGEAR DOCSIS 3.0 $47 (Reg. $60), more

• LG ChromeBase 22″ 1080p All-in-One Cloud Desktop: $229 shipped (Reg. $300)
• Smartphone Accessories: HooToo 3D Virtual Reality Headset $22 (Reg. $35), more
• Simplehuman Stainless Steel Trash Cans: Semi-Round 30L Step $85 (Reg. $100), more
• Daily Deals: Onkyo 7.2-Channel Network A/V Receiver w/ AirPlay $500, more
• Give Google Express a try with this $40 credit for $12 with email delivery (70% savings)
• Games/Apps: Tomb Raider for Mac $15, Don’t Starve iOS $3, freebies, more
• Amazon adds new color options and storage to its insane $50 7-inch Fire Tablet lineup
• Time to change your lunch plans: $1 Subs from Jimmy John’s – Today Only!

MORE DEALS STILL ALIVE:

Audio-Technica ATH-M40X Over-Ear Headphones + FiiO E6 Amp: $82 shipped ($105 value), more

Smartphone Accessories: Pad & Quill Timber Catchall Stand for Apple Watch in cherry wood finish $64 (Reg. $99), more

• Seagate 2TB USB 3.0 Expansion Portable Hard Drive $60 shipped (Reg. $84)
• Green Deals: Leviton 12-ft. 5kw Electric Vehicle Charger $350 (Reg. $400), more
• LeapFrog Reading and Writing System $17 Prime shipped (Reg. $27+), more
• Smartphone Accessories: Omaker M4 Bluetooth 4.0 Outdoor/Shower Speaker $19, more
• Internal 2.5″ Solid-State Drives: Mushkin 1TB $205 (Reg. $245), SanDisk 120GB $36 (Reg. $45+)
• Polk Audio MagniFi One 240W Bluetooth Soundbar w/ Wireless Subwoofer: $180 (Reg. $250+)
• Home: Philips Electric Toothbrush w/ glass charger $170 (Reg. $200), more
• Smartphone Accessories: Arc-shaped Apple Watch Charging Stand $21, more
• Sennheiser HD 600 Open-Back Pro Headphones + $150 Amazon gift card: $400 ($550 value)
• PSN Digital Games up to 60% off: GTA Trilogy for PS4 from $19, more
• Harman Kardon 7.1-Ch. 4K A/V Receiver w/ AirPlay: $298 shipped (Orig. $800)
• Green Deals: Philips 100W A21 Dimmable LED Lightbulb $13 Prime shipped (Reg. $22), more
• Fashion: Banana Republic 50% off sale items, more
• Gift Cards up to 20% off: Babies/Toys R Us, Old Navy, CVS, more
• Displays: Dell 24-inch 4K $361 (Reg. $400+), LG 27-inch 1080p $180 (Reg. $299)
• DJI Phantom 3 Standard Quadcopter w/ 2.7K Camera: $399 shipped (Reg. $499)
• GoPro HERO4 Silver Action Camera w/ Accessories Bundle: $280 w/ .edu ($375 value)
• Amazon launches standalone $9/month Prime Video subscription, but it isn’t really a deal
• Grab a $5 Kindle eBook credit at Amazon w/ download of select free Android titles
• Green Deals: Anker’s new PowerHouse 400Wh Inverter $400 (Reg. $500), more
• Google Chromebook Pixel Touchscreen 1.8GHz/4GB/32GB: $400 (Reg. 650+)
• LG Music Flow P7 20W 2-Channel Bluetooth Speaker: $43 shipped (Orig. $150)
• Grab this RCA 32-inch 1080p 60Hz LED HDTV for only $150 shipped (Orig. $209)
• LEGO Star Wars Buildable Figurines from $17 including Luke Skywalker, more
• Google Play MP3 albums for $1: Notorious B.I.G. Life After Death (Remastered), more
• Stay online when the power goes out with the APC Back-UPS Power Supply for $20 (Reg. $30)
• TarDisk Pear solid-state expansion drive for MacBook 15% off
• Free two-month Audible trial for new customers (Reg. $15/mo.), more

NEW PRODUCTS & MORE:

Edelkrone wants to replace your tripod with its slick new camera stand

• VIZIO introduces the new M-Series with an updated design and 4K HDR displays
• DJI’s new professional-grade drone is incredibly powerful and intelligent
• Samsung goes big with the “world’s first” bezel-less curved 4K Ultra HDTV
• LEGO reveals a massive 1,600 piece Minecraft set loaded with zombies, more
• Improve your kitchen skills with the best under $10 utensils
• Some of the best SNES games of all-time hit Nintendo’s 3DS eShop
• Amazon’s new $290 Kindle Oasis is a slim, luxury e-reader with months of battery life
• The Lycan Powerbox is a robust solar generator with a swappable battery system
• Impossible Project reveals its Polaroid-style analog camera with iOS connectivity
• JBL’s new Reflect Aware C noise cancelling headphones are powered by USB Type-C
• You probably won’t own Lytro’s new 755MP Cinema Camera but you’ll enjoy its benefits
• GoPro’s new Omni Virtual Reality rig leverages six HERO4 Black action cameras
• Epson’s latest ‘Small-in-One’ printer weighs in at a fraction of the competition

Filed under: Tips and Tricks Tagged: 12.9-inch, 32GB, Adonit Jot Pro, App Store Free App of the Week, Bluetooth Earbuds, Calendars 5, iPad Pro, iPad stylus, JayBird X2, Space Marshals, Wi-Fi

The Information is reporting that Apple’s efforts to build out its own cloud infrastructure are being held back by company politics. Apple wants to overhaul its cloud services backends to rely on new technologies built in-house but is facing several roadblocks, attributable in part to power struggle between the Siri group and another group handling other Apple services like iMessage and iTunes.

According to The Information, one engineering manager has already resigned with more likely to follow.

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Filed under: AAPL Company, iOS, iOS Devices, Tech Industry Tagged: Apple, icloud, iOS, iOS devices

QR code-based payments have their benefits like tying debit and credit card transactions to store reward cards and saving receipts in one step, but they still don’t beat the convenience of NFC-based methods like Apple Pay which are less finicky and more secure. Major retailer Walmart, however, is pushing forward with its plans to make checking out smarter using its own QR code-based system called Walmart Pay. And although the two systems could both be options, Walmart continues to resist other digital wallets including Apple Pay.

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Filed under: Apple Pay, Apps Tagged: Apple pay, Walmart Pay

I’m a fairly tough sell when it comes to iPhone and iPad cases. I’ve mostly not used a case on my iPhone, and my iPad lives uncased at home and attached to my Brydge keyboard when on the move. But I had to admit that the cases NY-based Burkley had on offer appeared to live up to their claimed ‘premium leather’ label, so I decided to check them out.

The Antique Camel Leather looked particularly attractive, so I tested cases for the iPhone 5/5S/SE and iPad Air 2/9.7-inch Pro. For the Watch, the only matching bands were Hermès-style ones – which is not my thing at all – so I tried the Sacco Tan one instead …

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Filed under: Reviews Tagged: Apple Watch band review, Burkley, Burkley leather, Burkleycase, iPad case review, iPhone case review, Leather Apple Watch band, Leather Apple Watch strap, Leather iPad case, Leather iPhone case

Siri for Mac with OS X 10.12, iTunes and App Store redesigns, improved iCloud encryption, and original programming for the Apple TV. These are just a few of the projects Apple has reportedly been working on and they are also likely candidates for stage time at its upcoming WWDC press event and developer conference. Add in the last of the Macs that are due for updates and the usual dose of new developer tools, and we already have a lot to look forward to at WWDC slated for June 13-17.

Below we take a look at the latest rumors and reports for all of the expected product updates and new features in the cards for the event.

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Filed under: AAPL Company, iOS, Mac Tagged: 10.12, Apple TV, iOS 10, iTunes, MacOs, OS X, roundup, rumor, Siri for Mac, streaming, what to expect, WWDC

Virtual Private Networks are becoming increasingly handy things to have, offering greater security on public Wi-Fi networks, making it harder for websites to track you and accessing content only available in particular countries. Usually you have to pay for these, but the latest developer version of the Opera for Mac has one built right into the browser, and it’s completely free to use.

Until now, most VPN services and proxy servers have been limited and based on a paid subscription. With a free, unlimited, native VPN that just works out-of-the-box and doesn’t require any subscription, Opera wants to make VPNs available to everyone.

If accessing content from other regions is your primary interest, the browser currently allows you to virtually travel to the USA, Canada and Germany, but more regions will follow once the feature makes it into the stable version.

Opera’s developer browser is a free download. Once installed, follow the instructions below to activate the feature.

Mac users just need to click the Opera menu, select “Preferences” and toggle the feature VPN on. A button will appear in the browser address field, from which the user can see and change location (more locations will appear later), check whether their IP is exposed and review statistics for their data used.

Filed under: Apps Tagged: Opera, privacy, VPN

Filed under: AAPL Company, iOS Devices Tagged: CIRP, iPhone market share, iPhone market share USA, iPhone U.S. market share

We’ve been hearing mixed reports about iPhone SE sales in general, but Apple’s latest 4-incher does appear to be a big hit in China. After a previous report claimed third-party retailers in the country received 3.4M preorders before the phone went on sale, a new supply-chain report says that local brands like Xiaomi and Huawei are being hit hard by Apple offering its cheapest-ever iPhone.

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Filed under: iOS Devices

With Apple widely believed to be planning to drop the headphone socket in the iPhone 7 in favor of Lightning-connected and wireless headphones, a patent application published today describes how a single set of headphones could switch smoothly between wired and wireless modes without any interruption of playback.

There’s of course nothing new in headphones that support both wired and wireless use – many Bluetooth headphones come supplied with a plug-in audio cable that allow them to fall back to wired use if they run low on battery power or you just want the higher quality a wired connection typically delivers.

But switching between wired and wireless use typically has a couple of issues, and Apple’s patent aims to solve both of them …

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Filed under: AAPL Company, iOS Devices Tagged: Apple Lightning headphones, Apple wireless headphones, iPhone 7, Lightning headphones, wireless headphones