A couple of days ago, it was reported that Apple had bought HopStop, a mapping app that specializes in transit directions. Apple confirmed the acquisition shortly after the news surfaced. HopStop is currently a top navigation app in the iOS App Store.

Now HopStop’s Windows Phone app has vanished. Big shocker, right?

Google copied pretty much every aspect of iOS when it came up with Android, so I suppose we shouldn’t be surprised that the Search Giant is now shamelessly copying Apple’s patents… right down to the drawing.

As noticed by Patently Apple, on the left you have Apple’s already granted patent for a wider MacBook trackpad that would be able to use the Facetime camera to detect whether someone was just resting their hands on the trackpad, or actually using it.

On the right? A new Google patent for a Chromebook that can detect a user’s presence based upon the forward-facing camera. Notice the line drawings used for both are essentially identical. Ballsy, Google!

Source: Patently Apple

Since Apple launched the iPhone in 2007, smartphones have really taken off , and more than 1 billion people worldwide now own one. Last year alone, smartphones generated $293.9 billion in sales, but the cost of the average smartphone has begun falling.

More than half of cellphone owners in the U.S. and other developed markets already own a smartphone, and those in emerging markets such as China and India aren’t able to pay for high-end devices like the iPhone. As a result, cheaper options are becoming increasingly popular.

Wow. Animated GIFs are everywhere now… even on a vintage Apple II Plus!

Nathan Griffith put together an awesome bit of code that makes it possible to display animated GIFs on an Apple II+ with only 64K of RAM.

Let’s be honest…pecking away at a smart screen is okay when you’ve gotten used to it but it doesn’t replace the feel and speed of a true keyboard. Now – thanks to Cult of Mac Deals – you can get complete enjoyment out of your Bluetooth-enabled devices with a real keyboard: The Ultra-slim Bluetooth Keyboard from Urge Basics.

This ultra-slim and sleek bluetooth keyboard is compatible with the iPad, Samsung Galaxy Tab, and most Bluetooth-enabled tablets and devices — so you’re pretty much covered across the board. Plus, when powered with 3 AAA batteries (not included) you’ll get up to 80 powerful hours of usage time so you won’t have to worry about running out of juice any time soon.

And for a limited time you can get your hands (and fingers) on this keyboard for only $21.99 – a savings of 68%!

Apple announced Logic Pro X last week, and alongside it an iPad companion app called Logic Remote that allows users to record, mix, and play virtual instruments remotely. The Cupertino company has now moved to trademark the app’s icon.

Just a friendly note. Apple has so far been releasing new betas of iOS 7 and OS X Mavericks every other Monday, like clockwork. But with the iTunes Developer Center, down for almost four days now (because of a hack that might have been committed by a researcher) and no end in sight, if you’re expecting iOS 7 Beta 4 and OS X Mavericks Beta 4 to drop today, you might not want to hold your breath: if Apple can’t get the Developer Center up and running this afternoon, releasing a new beta isn’t likely.

Apple’s Dev Center mysteriously went down for several days last week, and the Cupertino company revealed over the weekend that “an intruder attempted to secure personal information of our registered developers.” The site was closed immediately so that the potential for further threats could be eliminated.

It looked like Apple’s website had been hacked by someone trying to obtain our personal data, but according to one security researcher, it was his discovery of 13 bugs in the system which prompted the company to take action.

Sometimes, when using the Recent Items feature of the Apple menu, you might like to find a specific file or app without opening it. Maybe you just want to find it, and then copy it or move it to a different drive, or email it to a friend.

It’s super simple, and it works in both Mountain Lion and the new OS X Mavericks beta, as well.

Apple has refunded Briton Lee Neale £4,000 ($6,131) after his 8-year-old daughter Lily spent the cash on virtual items in her favorite iPad game. Lily knew the password for her father’s iTunes account, but no one expected her to use it to rack up a huge bill on in-app purchases.

I don’t know about you, but I spend a lot of time deleting spam messages from my inbox — despite using a junk mail filter. But the issue is about to get a whole lot worse, with Google gearing up to deliver adverts to our Gmail inboxes. The messages will appear under the new Promotions tab that was recently introduced in a Gmail update, and Google is testing them on a small number of users now.

Dumb phones had a few advantages over today’s smartphones. First, their batteries lasted for what seemed like weeks between charges. And second, if the battery did die, all you lost was the ability to call and SMS people. You didn’t lose your e-mail, your camera, your iPod, the book you’re reading or the movie you were planning to watch on the train home.

So you carry a spare battery. But what if you could eliminate the need for that spare, and also ditch that creepy wrist-strengthener you insist on pumping all the time like some hyperactive pervert?

Good news! With the Mipwr Dynamo Case, you can do both.

This is the Cambridge Camera Bag, and it is supposedly inspired by the schoolbags of English children. Perhaps this was the case in past years, when only the privileged offspring of royalty and wealthy industrialists attended school, because these days English schoolkids drag their crap around in the same battered Eastpak backpacks as anyone else.

Not that this makes the Cambridge Camera Bag any less desirable. Quite the opposite, in fact, if you’ve ever met a genuine English hooligan.

A new experimental add-on for DSLRs brings Lytro-like refocus-able photos to any camera, and tosses in a few extra clever features for good measure. The KaleidoCamera, as it’s called, is a unit that sits between your lens and your camera and performs some clever magic on the light that streams into it.

UPDATE: Lucky Frame has provided us with some updated stats: Gentlemen! now has over 6,000 players on Android, with just 50 paid downloads.

Gentlemen!, a brand new title from Scottish development studio Lucky Frame, made its debut on Android and iOS last week. It’s been a pretty big success so far, with plenty of acclaim from reviewers, a mention in a British newspaper, and thousands of players worldwide.

But it’s not all good news for Lucky Frame. You see, only 20 of the players on Android actually paid Gentlemen!’s $4.99 price tag, the company revealed to Cult of Android.

The other 3,000 stole it.

Manything turns a spare iOS device into a cloud-connected security camera. Install the app, sign up for an account and leave the iPhone, iPad or iPod touch with its camera pointing at your desk, your yard or hidden in a plastic bag and pointing up from the bowl of your toilet.

For any unsuspecting visitors, it will be too late. You’ll have seen everything.

The Braven 855s is pretty good for barbecues, or what some folks call “grills.” How do I know? I tried it last night. And even when I spilled cow’s blood on my un-dyed leather loafers, the music kept on going. And it sounds pretty good too.

Oh Hasselblad. As if your absurd and hideous Lunar wasn’t bad enough, you’re about to compound the embarrassment with the Stellar compact, yet another Sony NEX camera dressed up with a stupid wooden grip and a huge markup. What happened to you?

Apple is prototyping larger versions of the iPad and iPhone, according to The Wall Street Journal’s supply chain sources overseas. Details are scare, but the report states that Apple is considering a 13-inch display for the iPad, which would be quite the increase from the current 9.7-inch display.

After days of being down, Apple has explained why its Developer Center is unavailable. The above message is being emailed out to registered developers and the press, revealing that the developer site was targeted by a hacker earlier this week.

Apple is saying there’s no evidence personal data was stolen, but the hack was serious enough to warrant a complete shutdown and internal restructuring of the site’s database.

Just because you talk out loud while you’re alone and hear voices in your head doesn’t mean you’re crazy.

And just because it’s Google Now you’re conversing with doesn’t mean you’re not crazy.

Crazy or not, we’re all going to have an invisible friend in the form of an everywhere, always-listening, always present Google Now.

Cult of Mac Deals has been dishing out deals and giveaways for a long time now, and this time around we’re going to up the ante a little bit. That’s because e’re giving each and every one of our Cult of Mac readers the chance to take home a brand new Mac!

You read that right. Cult of Mac Deals is giving away an all-new 13″ MacBook Air – valued at over $1000 – for free!

The Mac has become a media hub for many people. But even it could use some extra help now and again to make sure it stays organized and streamlined so that it can be a true entertainment powerhouse. Cult of Mac Deals has assembled 3 top-notch apps that aim to boost your Mac’s reputation as a media center with The Mac Media Mini Bundle.

Featuring Musictube, Minitube, and Musique, The Mac Media Mini Bundle has the ability to further innovate how it handles YouTube and simplify your music experience – which is no simple feat. During this limited time offer, you can get The Mac Media Mini Bundle for just $14.99 – a savings of 53%!

The people who believe Apple will sell a TV set are right. And the people who believe Apple won’t sell a TV set are also right. Here’s why.

This week on The CultCast: Logic Pro gets Pro’er with new features and iPad controls; Google Maps finally comes to iPad; Apple hunts for iWatch engineers; more iPad Mini retina rumors; Apple slangin’ TV deals with studios to kill commercials; we dish great computing tips on Tips Ahoooy!

Have a few laughs and get caught up on this week’s best Apple stories. Stream or download new and past episodes of The CultCast now on your Mac or iDevice by subscribing on iTunes, or hit play below and let the audio adventure begin.