Porsche opens digital center in Silicon Valley

Sportscar maker Porsche is opening a digital technology center with 100 staff in Silicon Valley to forge new partnerships, cooperate with venture-capital companies and invest in new companies, it said on Friday.

This is a very interesting move for Porsche. They aren’t waiting to license technology in a few years when it matures, they are getting in on the ground floor where it’s being developed in Silicon Valley.

Imagination Technologies starts dispute process with Apple

Imagination said in April that Apple had notified the British firm it was developing its own graphics chips and would no longer use Imagination’s processing designs in 15 months to two years time.

I get why Imagination wants to hang on to Apple, but it makes a lot of sense for Apple to make its own chips. It has the facilities and technical people to make it happen. Doing so means that Apple doesn’t have to pay licensing fees to a third-party, which means it keeps more the money from each sale.

Beware of the Google Doc phishing attack

There are two reasons why this thing is so tricky. For one, it looks legit: An invitation to view a Google Document appears to come from an existing contact. But when a person clicks on the link, the attack immediately replicates itself—meaning, it has the potential to spam all of that person’s contacts with the same message. The second reason it’s so tricky is that it’s unclear what the attack is attempting to do. Phishing is often a way for bad actors to gain unauthorized access to a person’s email or other private accounts, but it’s not yet clear what’s motivating this attack.

I received this about 30 minutes ago. I didn’t open it.

Hulu unveils Live TV

Hulu joined the ranks of those companies offering Live TV through its mobile and Apple TV. I think I want to be a cord cutter, but maybe I’m not a good candidate. I just don’t find any of the offerings on the market that appealing. If this is something that interests you, have a look at Hulu’s page.

Uber fights for self-driving car future

The ride-services company is contesting Waymo’s accusation that former Waymo engineer and current Uber executive Anthony Levandowski took technical secrets from Waymo and used them to help Uber’s self-driving car development.

If it were proven that Levandowski and Uber conspired in taking the information, that could have dire consequences for Uber, say legal and ride-hailing industry experts. Uber’s $68 billion valuation is propped up in part by investors’ belief it will be a dominant player in the emerging business of self-driving cars.

The man at the heart of this dispute, Anthony Levandowski, was given $250 million worth of Uber stock the day after he left Google’s self-driving program. While suspicious, that in itself doesn’t mean Uber is guilty of anything. Google also says that Levandowski stole 14,000 confidential documents before leaving the company. That one could hurt.

Tim Cook to appear on CNBC today at 6pm ET

According to CNBC, Apple CEO Tim Cook will appear on CNBC’s Jim Cramer on “Mad Money” show which airs today at 6pm ET. While CNBC doesn’t specify what the two will chat about, it’s pretty obvious that Apple earnings will be the main topic. It’s always very interesting to listen to Tim talk about Apple and how he feels the company is doing, not just financially, but with its products, the environment, and the future.

Apple Watch, AirPods, Beats sales hit Fortune 500 level

Apple Watch sales, along with AirPods and Beats headphones have hit Fortune 500 level, which means they’re bringing in over US$5 billion to Apple’s “other products” category. Company CEO Tim Cook shared that detail during the company’s second fiscal quarter earnings report on Tuesday.

I know some people question whether these products are successful or not, but come on, That’s an incredible amount of sales. I vote successful.

Apple reports second quarter results

Apple on Tuesday reported its fiscal second quarter results. According to the company, it had quarterly revenue of $52.9 billion and quarterly earnings per diluted share of $2.10. These results compare to revenue of $50.6 billion and earnings per diluted share of $1.90 in the year-ago quarter.

Twitter announces 16 new live streaming partners

Another 16 sports, news and entertainment companies will soon be livestreaming content on Twitter as the company furthers its mission to be the go-to source for live content around the clock.

Twitter isn’t the place I go for live streaming, but maybe I’m wrong.

Uber CEO cancels Code Conference interview

Uber CEO Travis Kalanick is not the first exec to deal with sexual harassment and sexism issues. And he’s not the first to be accused of stealing technology. He’s also not the first to anger customers through cloddish statements. And he’s not the first to face significant doubts about his ability to manage a fast-growing startup.

But he is the very first speaker in the 15 years we have been putting on our tech and media events to cancel his interview due to the many embarrassing issues at his company. In this case, because the report from former Attorney General Eric Holder on Uber’s culture and management problems has been delayed until the week of Code at the end of May.

This clearly shows he wouldn’t be able to answer the tough questions Kara Swisher would have asked him.

Fyre Festival organizers hit with $100 million lawsuit

High profile plaintiff’s attorney Mark Geragos is taking aim at Ja Rule and Billy McFarland for their negligence regarding the catastrophic Fyre Festival, which was set to be held at a “private” island in the Bahamas from April 28-30 and May 5-7. The festival was canceled after the first day. Supermodels Bella Hadid and Emily Ratajkowski, and musical acts such as Tyga, Blink-182 and Major Lazer were set to perform before the entire event was shut down. Attendees, who paid up to $100,000 to attend the event are livid, and one concert-goer has hired Geragos, who has filed a $100,000,00 class action.

The organizers of this event are so screwed.

How to mix a song from scratch

This is a six part series from Graham Cochrane. He offers from great advice on mixing a song using out of the box plug-ins, which is a nice way to start off. Once you get used to what each plug-in does, you can purchase some of the industries best, like those from Universal Audio.

Apple AirPods get 98% customer satisfaction

Ben Bajarin:

The big story is customer satisfaction with AirPods is extremely high. 98% of AirPod owners said they were very satisfied or satisfied. Remarkably, 82% said they were very satisfied. The overall customer satisfaction level of 98% sets the record for the highest level of satisfaction for a new product from Apple. When the iPhone came out in 2007, it held a 92% customer satisfaction level, iPad in 2010 had 92%, and Apple Watch in 2015 had 97%.

That’s an absolutely incredible number. I’ve been using my AirPods since they were introduced last September and love them.

Release Notes conference this Oct. in Chicago

For the third year in a row, Release Notes will gather together the best and brightest in the iOS and Mac development community to share our experiences, our struggles, and our victories in the face of an ever-changing software market. Whether you work for yourself, a small team, or a large company, if you’re the type of person who is interested in learning how a technology business is built and maintained, you’ll want to spend time in Chicago with us this fall.

I attended the very first Release Notes and it was really well done. The conference itself was filled with great speakers and it was a lot of fun.

Apple, others propose changes to California’s self-driving car policies

In a letter made public on Friday, Apple suggested a series of changes to the draft policy that is under development and said it looks forward to working with California and others “so that rapid technology development may be realized while ensuring the safety of the traveling public.”

Google, Toyota, Ford, Uber, and Tesla also made suggestions for changes to the policies.

Zakk Wylde is back in Ozzy’s band

Ozzy Osbourne and Zakk Wylde have reunited! The guitarist has rejoined the Prince of Darkness’ band and they’ll be together onstage for Ozzy’s upcoming 2017 shows!

For fans of Zakk and Ozzy, there could be no better news than this. Ozzy has always had great guitarists in his bands throughout his career, but for me, Zakk is the man.

Fyre Festival turns to chaos as soon as it began

A supposedly opulent music festival on a private island in the Bahamas, which was plugged as an unprecedented V.I.P. event by Instagram influencers including Kendall Jenner and Emily Ratajkowski, descended into dysfunction and disarray as soon as it began on Thursday and has since been postponed indefinitely, organizers said.

Sounds like an incredible scam. Tickets sold for $1,000 to $12,000 for the festival.

Letter Opener: Open Winmail.dat, MSG and XPS files

My thanks to Letter Opener for sponsoring The Loop this week.

Letter Opener for macOS

Working together with Windows users shouldn’t be problematic at all. Still, some email messages can not be natively read by the Mac and are packed into Winmail.dat or MSG files that have to be extracted and displayed somehow. Letter Opener for macOS does that with a simple double-click!

Letter Opener for macOS Mail

The plugin to stop the Winmail.dat file flood for good.

If Winmail.dat files are a reoccurring problem, Letter Opener for macOS Mail is the solution. Installed into Mail it opens and displays the files directly inside Apples Mail application, so the user can forget about Winmail.dat files entirely.

Savage guitar jokes

I’ve heard a lot of musician jokes in my time, but there are a few new ones in here.

Inside Jimmy Iovine’s video plans for Apple Music

“A music service needs to be more than a bunch of songs and a few playlists,” says Iovine, 64. “I’m trying to help Apple Music be an overall movement in popular culture, everything from unsigned bands to video. We have a lot of plans.” Apple Music’s foray into video programming could be a temporary dalliance, but if Iovine succeeds, the world’s wealthiest company could increase its investment, routinely competing for top projects. “We have the freedom, because it’s Apple, to make one show, three shows, see what works, see what doesn’t work until it feels good,” Iovine says.

He’s right. Apple has the luxury to be very patient while it searches for the exact video strategy that works. They don’t have to fund new TV series just to jump into the mix with everyone else doing the same thing. Even those companies are watching to see what Apple will do.

Using an Apple Watch without an iPhone

I recently switched to the gorgeous new iPhone 7 Plus (PRODUCT)RED, but one thing I didn’t do is setup my Apple Watch with the iPhone. It was a simple oversight, but I realized very quickly how much I’ve come to rely on the Apple Watch/iPhone combination in my daily life. […]

Uber expects flying taxis by 2020

The company expects to deploy its flying taxis in Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, and Dubai by 2020, Chief Product Officer Jeff Holden said at the Uber Elevate Summit in Dallas on Tuesday.

Fuck no!

Low Rider: Cheech and Chong

I was just out for a drive and this song came on Pandora. I absolutely love this song, but I also remembered one of the funniest movies ever made—Cheech and Chong “Up in Smoke”. This is the opening scene of the movie.

“Today at Apple”

Apple today announced plans to launch dozens of new educational sessions next month in all 495 Apple stores ranging in topics from photo and video to music, coding, art and design and more. The hands-on sessions, collectively called “Today at Apple,” will be led by highly-trained team members, and in select cities world-class artists, photographers and musicians, teaching sessions from basics and how-to lessons to professional-level programs.

Sounds like an expanded version of what they used to do at the stores. I like it.

Letter Opener: Open Winmail.dat, MSG and XPS files

My thanks to Letter Opener for sponsoring The Loop this week.

Letter Opener for macOS

Working together with Windows users shouldn’t be problematic at all. Still, some email messages can not be natively read by the Mac and are packed into Winmail.dat or MSG files that have to be extracted and displayed somehow. Letter Opener for macOS does that with a simple double-click!

Letter Opener for macOS Mail

The plugin to stop the Winmail.dat file flood for good.

If Winmail.dat files are a reoccurring problem, Letter Opener for macOS Mail is the solution. Installed into Mail it opens and displays the files directly inside Apples Mail application, so the user can forget about Winmail.dat files entirely.

$1 million flying car ready for pre-orders

A Slovakia-based company unveiled the commercial design for a flying car priced at more than $1 million on Thursday, saying it was ready for pre-orders with first deliveries expected by 2020.

This may surprise some of you, but the flying car concept is not new. The interesting part of the puzzle here will be the regulations that it will have to overcome.