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Being the world's largest technology company has its perks, including a stream of almost limitless cash. But the law of large numbers also starts to kick in, and a company of Apple's size doesn't seem capable of doing super productive things with all this money. Tim Cook seems to be implementing an intelligent two-pronged strategy to use the cash. Part one is to return some of the cash to shareholders. Apple now pays a healthy dividend of about 2%, or $1.88 per year. They've also bought back a bunch of stock. Buying back your own stock is effectively the same as returning money to shareholders because the buyback decreases the number of shares outstanding. The reduced …

Google has quietly released a version of its Chrome web browser for OS X that finally supports the 64-bit version of the OS, just a few days after it released a version for Windows 7 and 8 PCs. Google has yet to officially announce the launch of its OS X 64-bit beta test, but the company has apparently put in the updated build in its Canary and Dev Channels. In theory, the browser should offer users with 64-bit Mac systems better performance along with more multi-tasking support. However, since it's still being tested, it may be a while before users will be able to get the full benefits of the improvements as Google updates the browser. What do you think of Google…

Every iPhone and iPad comes with a restrictions section built in, also known as parental controls. Aside from doing things like blocking in-app purchases, you can also restrict features such as the ability to use Siri, AirDrop, and CarPlay. Just enable restrictions and choose what features you want to block. How to block Siri, AirDrop, and CarPlay with restrictions for iPhone and iPad Launch the Settings app on your iPhone or iPad. Tap on General. Tap on Restrictions. Tap on Enable Restrictions at the top if you don't already have them turned on. If you do, skip down to step 6. Choose a password that you'll use to turn restrictions on and off. Only you should k…

The TV Show is like app or game reviews for television episodes. Whether you're watching on the console in your living room or streaming to your phone or tablet, follow along for the week of TV that was. On this episode Dave and Rene talk about Doctor Who season 5, cracks in time, the girl who waited, angel rules, Vincent, and Big Bang theories. Support the TV Show: Go to backblaze.com/thetvshow and get unlimited backups for just $5 a month per computer. You owe it to your peace of mind. Subscribe via RSS Subscribe via iTunes Download Directly Follow on Twitter Shows we spoil Doctor Who season 5 - iTunes | Amazon | Netflix Hosts Dave Wiskus of Bett…

Every day dozens and dozens of new and updated apps and games hit the iOS and Mac App Stores. It's impossible to keep up with them all, but it's not impossible to pick out the very best. Here they are! Today we've got an important update to Uber for professionals who depend on the service, great iOS and Mac game deals and more! New and updated iOS apps Airbnb 4.1.0: Stay in apartments and homes instead of hotels when you travel. Photo resolution improved, previous trips added to My Trips section, improved reviews, easier to compare listings to the Map view, bugs fixed. Free - Download now GoodReader 4.3.0: Robust PDF reader app with support for annotations…

A group of Russian cyber criminals attacked 500 million email addresses and stole 1.2 billion usernames and passwords. According to US cyber security company Hold Security, the gang has the largest cache of stolen data in the history of cyber crime. In a blog post written by Hold Security, the company said it took seven months of research to track down the data breach. The company nicknamed the Russian gang CyberVor (“vor” means “thief” in Russian). The company claimed CyberVor hacked over 420,000 web and FTP sites to obtain over 4.5 billion records, 1.2 billion of which “appear to be unique”. Of the 420,000 websites, the hackers didn’t target just large compa…

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Element Case is having a crazy blow-out sale in preparation for the new iPhone coming out later this year. Each week they are discounting some of their high-end cases as much as 50% off. This is a one time event, and it will never happen again. If you love Element Case as much as we do, you're going to want to check this sale out. To register for the sale and to get the exclusive discounts, you can just head over to the Element Case website and sign up to get the discount codes via email. On top of this amazing sale, Element Case is giving you guys all a shot at taking home a grab bag of prizes worth up to $250! That means you can pick anything you like from their we…

After having landed on the iPhone and iPad, Kim Kardashian: Hollywood is now ready to bring her "khaos" to Apple's Mac with an OS X version of the famed fame game. As with the iOS version, the goal of the game is to take on the persona of Kim Kardashian and help your own aspiring celebrity "rise to fame and fortune." Whether this game is a welcomed installation on your system or a vapid virus that is infecting your computer is your own judgment call to make. Though the game is free, be wary of in-app purchases to win fame. In order to rise to prominence, users must either outfit their inner divas with clothes, find a hot date to increase their fame, or appear in p…

Apple partner GT Advanced Technologies announced its financials for the second quarter of fiscal 2014 and noted that its sapphire producing facility is ready for volume production. The company announced a loss of $86 million as it winds down orders for other partners and reorganizes facilities to partner with Apple. Both Apple and GT Advanced had invested in a facility for production of sapphire glass in Mesa, Arizona. "The build-out of our Arizona facility, which has involved taking a 1.4 million square foot facility from a shell to a functional structure as well as the installation of sapphire growth and fabrication equipment, is nearly complete and we are commenci…

Last night I watched Snowpiercer. I'd heard good things about it online, I like to support simultaneous releases on iTunes, and it had a whopping 95% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. I was hugely disappointed. It wasn't a terrible movie. It wasn't a great movie either. But that 95% had set such an expectation for me that when I watched it, the massive flaws made it so much worse, perceptively, that if I'd gone in thinking it was a 40% to 60% movie. I watch all sorts of silly sci-fi, and enjoy it. I just go into it expecting silly sci-fi. How the rating influenced by perception and enjoyment of the film got me thinking. How do we rate things on iMore, and how can we do it better…

Looking for the best iPhone apps to help you stay more organized both on the job site and off? General contractors have a lot of tasks to juggle on a day to day basis. From submitting bids to cutting invoices and estimates, there's a lot of paperwork to get through. On the job site staying on schedule is essential for both you and your client. Luckily, there are lots of App Store apps available to not only help you reduce the amount of paperwork you have to deal with, but stay more organized and on task while on jobs, which saves everyone time and money. If you're only interested in the absolute best iPhone apps for general contractors, these are the ones you need to down…

Margaret L. (Peggy) Johnson has been named executive vice president of Business Development, reporting to Microsoft chief executive officer Satya Nadella, it was announced Tuesday. Johnson joins Microsoft from Qualcomm, where she most recently served as executive vice president of Qualcomm Technologies and was president of global market development. In that role, she was responsible for commercializing new business opportunities and developing strategic relationships. To learn more, read the press release. Suzanne Choney Microsoft News Center Staff Continue reading...

Apple has hired Musa Tariq, formerly of Nike and Burberry, apparently in an effort to help boost the company's social marketing efforts which until now has taken a back seat in Apple's promotion efforts. Tariq worked directly with Apple's current retail and online stores leader Angela Ahrendts when both worked at Burberry and it's likely that both of them will be working closely again now that Tariq is at Apple. When he worked at Nike, Tariq was the company's social marketing head and also worked on social networking efforts with Nike's many endorced athletes. It will be very interesting to see what Tariq can do at Apple. The company hasn't done a lot to promote i…

Every day dozens and dozens of new and updated apps and games hit the iOS and Mac App Stores. It's impossible to keep up with them all, but it's not impossible to pick out the very best. Here they are! Today we've got a great new weather app for iOS, price cuts on a popular game and a Dr. Seuss activity app, an update to a terrific Mac music app and more! New and updated iOS apps Clima: Beautiful weather app with gesture based design; switch between hourly and daily forecast. $0.99 - Download now Next 1.3: Track expenses and finances on your iPad. Updated to work together with new Mac version. $2.99 - Download now Plex 3.5: Stream videos, music, pho…

Apple has released a new version of OSX Yosemite for developers today. Yosemite developer preview 5 is now ready for action and is available for developers from the Mac App Store or Mac Developer Center. We've seen some new and tweaked features with each release along the way, so this one is certain to be better than the last. This version is only for registered developers, however a public beta is available as well for anyone looking to get in on the action. Continue reading...

Apple has released IOS 8 beta 5 to app developers today, which contains a number of bug fixes and improvements for the operating system that will likely be officially released for the iPhone and iPad later this fall. The 269 MB download, which can be accessed via the iOS Developer Center, is just the latest in a string of developer updates for iOS 8 since it was first released a couple of months ago. We will update this post with more infomation about what is contained in beta 5 as soon as we learn more. Some of the changes include new icons in the Health app for Body data and Data Exporting, a new iCloud option to download iPhone optimized versions of photos whil…

Wondering if the extra $249 - $349 for AppleCare is worth it for your MacBook? Here's my take I've had my 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro for about a year and three months; three months longer than the standard Apple warranty. So when it started to develop problems with the trackpad recently, I was doubly grateful that AppleCare was part of the original purchase. MacBooks are great, but at least in my house, they get used and moved around a lot. I take them outside constantly — with me to appointments, to meetings, to Starbucks. And things wear down, just in general. And as long as it's not user-inflicted damage or what Apple considers a "wearable" part (like a battery…

2K Games has announced that the first game in the acclaimed BioShock series will be released for the iPhone and iPad sometime later this summer with optimized touch controls and full Made for iPhone (MFi) game controller support. 2K Games states: "BioShock delivers a true triple-A first-person shooter game experience on the iOS platform, by sending players on an underwater adventure to explore the submerged Art Deco city of Rapture, fighting deranged survivors of a failed objectivist utopia and genetically modifying their own DNA to gain superhuman powers." BioShock was first developed by Irrational Games and was released for the PC and Xbox 360 in 2006, f…

The iPhone 6 may be the hot new Apple device most of us are waiting on, but we shouldn't forget that there will probably be new iPads at some point this year too. Case in point, the images up top purport to show to the rear shell of the next iteration of the iPad Air with some subtle design changes. If indeed this does belong to the "iPad Air 2" then we could be looking at a number of small tweaks including recessed volume buttons, a repositioned, rear facing microphone and larger speaker holes down the bottom. It also doesn't appear to have a cutout for the mute switch, but since we don't know for sure – at least, not until Tim Cook holds it up on stage – whether th…

In Crazy Taxi: City Rush you'll play a taxi driver in Bay City, a town where pretty much anything goes and there are no rules. Insane driving skills earn you extra points, and cash from your customers. Start completing missions in order to rack up some cash in order to keep adding to your taxi fleet, which you'll have to do in order to take on more clients. In order to excel you'll need to upgrade your cars regularly and trick them out to attract more customers. Spending your in-game money wisely is key to succeeding in City Rush. That's why we've put together a list of the top 10 tips, hints, and cheats we think you need to know in order to level up and unlock items fast…

The Photos app is a repository for all the pictures and videos you shoot or save to your iPhone or iPad. Not only can you use the iOS Photos app to organize and find those special moments and memories you've recorded, but you can use it to share them directly, through social networks, on the big screen, as prints, and more. You can also edit them to enhance their looks, add filters, fix redeye, and crop them just so. And coming soon with iOS 8, you be able to do even more, including much more advanced, granular editing, and Photos Extensions so other apps and their editing tools can hook right in. Whether you're new to iPhone or iPad and want to get started, or you just w…