Want to hear Siri swear at you and your beloved mother? Ask her for the definition of your favourite parent. She'll initially reply with a common definition, but she also offers another slightly more suspect explanation. "Do you wanna hear the next one?" she asks, and if you innocently reply "yes", she provides a brief suggestion that it's, uh, "short for motherfucker". This little bug or Apple employee inside joke was discovered by Reddit this past weekend. And it seemingly works with all versions of Siri, from MacOS to iPhones as old as the 5 and as new as the X. It's extremely...
For a brief moment on Wednesday, Apple's voice assistant Siri thought that the national anthem of Bulgaria was "Despacito". When asked "What is the national anthem of Bulgaria?" Siri responded with an info page for the Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee song, and the definitive answer: "The national anthem of Bulgaria is Despacito". The Verge's Tom Warren was among the first to notice the issue. Siri’s switch to Google went well then... pic.twitter.com/bbG5hI9hQA — Tom Warren (@tomwarren) October 4, 2017 While Siri wouldn't be far off judging by the song's viral popularity -- the video does boast over 3.9-billion views at the time of...
Today at its headquarters in Cupertino, Apple announced a refreshed product lineup including a number of new iPhones, a new Apple TV and a shiny new Apple Watch, and Twitter users were (sure enough) reporting live from their armchairs. For all the technical specifications and more, you might want to visit our sister site Gearburn. But over here, we took a deeper, introspective look at social media's reaction to Apple's launch event, from start to finish. Sit back, and enjoy the memes, joy and jibes from the bleachers. The buildup... The hype pre-event was palpable, with many readying getting those stacks of dollars. #AppleEvent Tim...
At its first product launch event at the new Steve Jobs Theatre, Apple debuted a slew of new devices. One of them was the Apple Watch Series 3. But while you can catch all the technical specs of the Watch over on Gearburn, on Memeburn we're more concerned by one particular detail: Apple Music will be available on the device. Apple punted its music service's 40-million tracks, which will all be streamable from the wrist, thanks to the Watch's new electronic SIM system, that can connect to cellular networks. While the electronic SIM was only demoed using an AT&T network, this is...
South Africans are slowly taking over the US entertainment industry. First Trevor Noah's big gig on The Daily Show, and now Apple's Beats 1 has recruited Black Coffee to host a radio show on its platform. The news broke early Wednesday, but only began impacting South Africans later that evening when the DJ formally announced the move on Twitter. Subsequently the hashtag (and name of the upcoming show) #Beats1BlackCoffee began trending. He becomes the first South African to host a show on Apple's live streaming radio service which launched in mid-2015. I'm the newest @Beats1 host. Hear the sounds of global underground...
In honour of World Emoji Day, Apple has announced a bunch of new emoji coming to its major operating systems before 2018 makes its presence felt. These operating systems include the iPhone and iPad's iOS, Apple Watch's watchOS and macOS, running on its laptops and workstations. "With thousands of emoji available on iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Mac, there are many ways to add personality to every message," the Cupertino company notes in a press release. As for the new emoji, there are over 15 heading for users' devices, including a number of completely new icons. A breastfeeding emoji, a woman with headscarf...
As smartphones become more complicated, manufacturers are finding novel ways to educate their consumers. Apple's new video campaign does just that, shedding light on some of the basic ways to shoot with an iPhone 7. But there's something particularly noticeable about some of these videos. Especially for South Africans. Available to view on Apple's official site and on YouTube, the video series showcases a few landmarks that Cape Town residents would instantly recognise. One is undeniably Table Mountain, looking across from Lion's Head. Another is of Muizenberg Beach's famous colourful changing huts. While those two are definitely filmed on South African soil, we...
While its latest quarterly figures were less than impressive, Apple's persistent market growth remains undoubted. The Cupertino-based technology company is the first in the United States to smash though the US$800-billion market cap barrier, sitting at US$802.8-billion at the time of writing. That fatter market cap is primarily thanks to its strong performance during Tuesday's trading, with shares gaining 0.6% in value to end the day at US$153. That number might not sound large, but multiply that by its 5.21-billion shares... More impressively though is when the company hit this figure. Apple's US$800-billion market cap cements its place as the world's valuable publicly-traded...
Smart tracking technology has taken off in recent years, with wearables and internet of things gadgets featuring more prominently in homes across the world. One of the companies better placed in this space than most is Apple. Recently hitting its fattest market cap figures ever, the Cupertino-based tech giant has reportedly acquired sleep tracking company Beddit for an undisclosed fee. First reported by CNBC, the acquisition was innocuously announced by Beddit itself in a subtle change to its on-site privacy page. "Beddit has been acquired by Apple. Your personal data will be collected, used and disclosed in accordance with the Apple Privacy...
While Facebook and Google make most of their money from advertising, Apple's in an altogether different boat. The company published its Q2 2017 financial results Tuesday, revealing its rises and falls in bank balance over the previous three months. "We are proud to report a strong March quarter, with revenue growth accelerating from the December quarter and continued robust demand for iPhone 7 Plus," Apple CEO Tim Cook states. "We’ve seen great customer response to both models of the new iPhone 7 (PRODUCT)RED Special Edition and we’re thrilled with the strong momentum of our Services business, with our highest revenue ever for...
If you're looking to put your free product in the iOS App Store, you're going to have to settle for the simple "Get" button Apple uses to denote a free app. For the past month the company has been rejecting all apps that advertise their price -- or lack thereof -- in their titles, VentureBeat reports. Apps with names like "Extreme Sail Simulator FREE" or "FREE Daily Meditation" are often called that so when users search for "free" apps, they appear higher up in the results. But now the apps will have to rely on the pull of the products' names rather than their prices. While Apple...
Apple didn't have the greatest fourth quarter results last year, but the new iPhone has done massive business for the brand. "The company posted all-time record quarterly revenue of $78.4-billion and all-time record quarterly earnings per diluted share of $3.36. These results compare to revenue of $75.9-billion and earnings per diluted share of $3.28 in the year-ago quarter," read an excerpt of the Q1 fiscal year earnings report. The firm added that 64% of their revenue came from international markets. "We're thrilled to report that our holiday quarter results generated Apple's highest quarterly revenue ever, and broke multiple records along the way....
Discovery Vitality's Apple Watch deal is undeniably tempting. You buy Cupertino's latest wearable packed with swanky tech, and exercise to drop the eventual price. It sounds like a complete steal in many ways, but is it really? That's what Capetonian and SwimGeek author Joe Botha set out to discover. While he does note that the offering itself is a mixed bag -- the deal will be beneficial and cheaper to different people -- it's definitely not as clear-cut as it seems on paper. "It seems you just have to assume you will get to a 900 points per week goal very soon...
Great news for those of you too lazy to open a web page. Ookla, the company behind popular internet benchmarking tool Speedtest, has this week announced a new Desktop app for Windows and Mac OS users. The company explains that the app's existence is thanks to today's modern world of "text expanders, ordering buttons and digital assistants". The app simply aims to make checking your internet connection speed as quick and easy as this. "By embedding Speedtest on your desktop (and skipping all that typing), we can save you almost all the effort of figuring out your download and upload speeds,"...
Apple Music's student additions are now available in 30 more countries, including South Africa, the Cupertino company announced. The student membership, which gives those attending tertiary institutions a discount for up to four years. Users will be required to log-in through the "school's Wi-Fi network when you join Apple Music to validate your student eligibility". Apple will also enroll the aid of UNiDays -- a student discount company used by the likes of Spotify. Apple Music users enrolled at university will receive sizeable discounts The countries added to this list now include Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Chile, Colombia, Finland, France, Hong Kong,...
Black Friday: these are Cell C, MTN, Telkom and Vodacom’s data specials
Polokwane’s a more popular destination than Cape Town, new study suggests
Craziest Black Friday deal? Makro offers R150k off this bottle of whisky
Dolce & Gabbana offends China, then claims its Instagram was hacked
WhatsApp will soon let you listen to voice notes back to back
Twitter recounts ‘horror movie’ aftermath of Global Citizen Festival
Memeburn focuses on everything digital in the emerging markets sphere. More about us here
