CultCast #317 - The $400 butt cleaner 🤔

 

This week on a very fun, educational, and addictive CultCast:

 

 

Build a beautiful, responsive website quick at Squarespace.com.  Enter offer code CultCast at checkout to get 10% off. Squarespace—Build it Beautiful.

 

From how to become more productive and professional to how to read body language, network, and negotiate, the Art of Charm podcast covers anything that will help you become a high-performer at home and at work.  Check it out at theartofcharm.com/podcast.

 

CultCloth will keep your iPhone X, Apple Watch, Mac and iPad sparkling clean, and for a limited time use code CULTCAST at checkout to score a free CleanCloth with any order at CultCloth.co.

 

@erfon / @bst3r / @lkahney / @lewiswallace

 

Apple apologizes with $29 iPhone battery replacements

• Apple confirmed last week that it lowers CPU performance. But they say they do it because as batteries age they can’t meet peak CPU draw demands, especially when the battery is low. When this happens it causes the device to restart, so Apple added an algorithm that curves CPU demands as batteries age.
• STATEMENT: 
  • “First and foremost, we have never — and would never — do anything to intentionally shorten the life of any Apple product, or degrade the user experience to drive customer upgrades,” the company says on its website. “Our goal has always been to create products that our customers love, and making iPhones last as long as possible is an important part of that.”
• Apple also says it will come out with an iOS update in early 2018 that will give users more visibility into the health of their iPhone’s battery. Third-party apps like coconutBattery can also be used to check an iPhone’s battery status.
• Devices affected by the throttling include the iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, and iPhone SE. Apple notified customers today that it will reduce the price on out-of-warranty iPhone battery replacements by $50, putting the cost at just $29.
• There was a rumor going around that Apple would only replace batteries for phones that didn’t pass a battery diagnostic test, but an internal Apple memo apprehend by French Tech Blog iGeneration states that the Genius bar should allow battery replacements for all who ask
• If you’re wondering if you should replace your battery, Apple can run a diagnostic on your phone's battery remotely – you don't need to visit an Apple Store.  Just contact their customer service via chat or email.

 

 

‘Steve Jobs’ could be Italy’s hottest new fashion line

• An Italian clothing company going by the name of “Steve Jobs” has won its long-standing legal battle with Apple for the right to sell jeans with Jobs’ name on them.
• The company — founded by brothers Vincenzo and Giacomo Barbato — was created back in 2012 when the two noticed that Apple hadn’t filed for a trademark on the name Steve Jobs. They decided the tech icon’s name would be perfect for their new fashion brand and slapped it on their first line of jeans.
• Apple quickly filed a lawsuit against the Steve Jobs fashion company which uses a stylized J with an apple leaf at the top and a bite mark on the right side. According to la Repubblica Napoli, Apple lost its case because it unsuccessfully attacked the company’s logo itself, not Jobs’ name.
• The Italian court ruled that because the letter “J” isn’t edible the mark on the side can’t be considered a bite, therefore it’s not ripping off Apple’s own logo.

 

Tim Cook will take home $102 million this year

• Apple has had a great year, and CEO Tim Cook is being rewarded accordingly. According to a new report, Cook will take home a massive $102 million this year, composed of both his $3.06 million salary and an equity award of $89.2 million.
• For security reasons, the Apple board now stipulates that Cook use private planes for all business and personal travel. His personal security costs in 2017 were calculated at $224,216, while he ran up a $93,109 bill for traveling on private planes for non-business trips.
• Apple’s latest filing reveals that Cook’s top five lieutenants — including Luca Maestri, Angela Ahrendts, Johny Srouji, Dan Riccio, and Bruce Sewell — each received bonuses of $3.11 million. Including salary and stock options, this meant they earned around $24.2 million each, depending on if they stay at Apple long enough for all of their awarded stock options to vest.
• Apple does not reveal how much it paid to Chief Design Officer Jony Ive, who recently returned to his job running Apple’s design team after two years working on the Apple Park headquarters project.
• Tim Cook has previously said that he will donate his fortune (which currently stands at close to $1 billion) to charity — after paying for his 12-year-old nephew’s college education.

 

iMac Pro’s space gray accessories fetch silly money on eBay

• The iMac Pro is the same size and shape as any other iMac. But to differentiate it from its more affordable siblings, Apple gives it an exclusive space gray paint job — and throws in space gray accessories to match.
• Adopters get a space gray Magic Keyboard with Numeric Keypad, a Magic Mouse 2, a Magic Trackpad 2, and a Lightning cable. If you buy these separately from Apple, they’re only available in white.
• The combo is going for 500-$650 on eBay.
• If you forget to buy one of the accessories during checkout, you can’t buy it separately.

 

 

The $400 Toto Washlet C200 butt cleaner

 

Parrot Zik 3 headphones 

 

Synology 418Play NAS 

 

Otterbox Venture 45 cooler