Engadget:

MP3, the format that revolutionized the way we consume (and steal) music since the 90s, has been officially retired — in a manner of speaking. The German research institution that created the format, The Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits, announced that it had terminated licensing for certain MP3-related patents…in other words, they didn’t want to keep it on life support, because there are better ways to store music in the year 2017. Rest now forever, MP3.

In its place, the director of the Fraunhofer Institute told NPR, the Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) format has become the “de facto standard for music download and videos on mobile phones.” It’s simply more efficient and has greater functionality, as streaming TV and radio broadcasting use the format to deliver higher-quality audio at lower bitrates than MP3.

Interesting development. I still use MP3 for all my audio needs.

Christopher Orr, The Atlantic:

A well-regarded hollywood insider recently suggested that sequels can represent “a sort of creative bankruptcy.” He was discussing Pixar, the legendary animation studio, and its avowed distaste for cheap spin-offs. More pointedly, he argued that if Pixar were only to make sequels, it would “wither and die.” Now, all kinds of industry experts say all kinds of things. But it is surely relevant that these observations were made by Ed Catmull, the president of Pixar, in his best-selling 2014 business-leadership book.

Yet here comes Cars 3, rolling into a theater near you this month. You may recall that the original Cars, released back in 2006, was widely judged to be the studio’s worst film to date. Cars 2, which followed five years later, was panned as even worse. And if Cars 3 isn’t disheartening enough, two of the three Pixar films in line after it are also sequels: The Incredibles 2 and (say it isn’t so!) Toy Story 4.

This is a scorching, but well-written read. Hard to deny the logic when there’s a sea of Pixar sequels in the works. That said, I loved Inside Out and I’ve heard very positive things about Coco, due out this November.

And that said, the next non-sequel after Coco isn’t due until 2020. Until then, it’s sequels all the way.

Long time iOS developer Adrian Kosmaczewski lays out the evolution of the iPhone and the App Store from the wild west earliest days through the ten years since.

This is a fantastic read, full of interesting details. No development background required. And smack dab in the middle of it is a book I wrote with Jeff LaMarche, complete with the very first of many fruit cross-sections to adorn Apress’ line of iOS/Mac development books.

I still remember reacting to the first cover shot they sent our way:

“Wait, you want to put a piece of fruit on the cover? Why?”

“It’s Apple related. So fruit. Get it?”

Many, many arguments later, that fruit cover stuck and turned out to be iconic in its own small way. The book sold, helped a lot of people get started, so ultimately it did its job. And Jeff and I had a helluva ride.

Jean-Louis Gassée digs into the mystery of the bell shaped iPad sales curve. From rollout in April of 2010 through the first quarter of 2014 the curve was rising. Since then, the curve has been steadily falling, though it is still too early to truly see the impact of Apple’s new, low-price iPad strategy.

A great read, with some thoughtful explanations (see the iPad’s “lean back” consumers and “elongated upgrade cycle”).

Microsoft Blog, on the WannaCrypt ransomeware attack:

The WannaCrypt exploits used in the attack were drawn from the exploits stolen from the National Security Agency, or NSA, in the United States. That theft was publicly reported earlier this year. A month prior, on March 14, Microsoft had released a security update to patch this vulnerability and protect our customers. While this protected newer Windows systems and computers that had enabled Windows Update to apply this latest update, many computers remained unpatched globally. As a result, hospitals, businesses, governments, and computers at homes were affected.

And:

This attack demonstrates the degree to which cybersecurity has become a shared responsibility between tech companies and customers. The fact that so many computers remained vulnerable two months after the release of a patch illustrates this aspect. As cybercriminals become more sophisticated, there is simply no way for customers to protect themselves against threats unless they update their systems.

Amen. This has long been a bugaboo shared by Windows and Android and to a far lesser extent by macOS and iOS. Getting your users to update to the latest OS is a non-trivial problem.

More from Microsoft:

This attack provides yet another example of why the stockpiling of vulnerabilities by governments is such a problem. This is an emerging pattern in 2017. We have seen vulnerabilities stored by the CIA show up on WikiLeaks, and now this vulnerability stolen from the NSA has affected customers around the world. Repeatedly, exploits in the hands of governments have leaked into the public domain and caused widespread damage. An equivalent scenario with conventional weapons would be the U.S. military having some of its Tomahawk missiles stolen. And this most recent attack represents a completely unintended but disconcerting link between the two most serious forms of cybersecurity threats in the world today – nation-state action and organized criminal action.

This should be a wake up call. But just as the OS installed base is hopelessly fractured, the decision making mechanic behind these exploits is similarly fractured, mainly due to the need for secrecy. What are the chances the NSA, CIA and Microsoft are going to collaborate to work towards a solution?

[H/T John Kordyback]

From the ManyTricks blog:

> Tonight we received notice that Moom is in violation of US patent number 8434019, Apparatus and method for positioning windows on a display. Yes, someone has patented positioning windows on a screen via a grid. Given we’ve been notified of a patent violation, we have no choice but to remove Moom from sale, effective immediately. > > Honestly, we have no idea how to proceed here—the notice arrived at 8pm on a Friday evening, meaning it will be a few days until we can even speak to an attorney about our options, if any. We’re not a big company by any stretch, and certainly don’t have the resources for a patent fight.

Moom is an awesome Mac window management tool that pops up when you roll over a window’s green zoom button. Here’s a link to the Moom product page.

I get the necessity, the importance of the patent system. But there should be some sort of accommodation for situations like this, a low cost review process that includes a grace period so a product can still be sold for, say, 30 days, without harm, while the patent is reviewed by someone at the patent office and a ruling is made to either grant an exception to the patent or to approve the takedown notice. Companies hire a patent attorney to help them secure their intellectual property rights.

Google recently started a program, called PatentShield (we wrote about it a few weeks ago) that allowed a company to use Google-held patents as a countermeasure to a takedown notice like this.

Another possible path would be to create a revenue threshold level. In other words, if you bring in less than, say, $100K from an invention, you could pay a percentage to a fund and not be subject to takedown notices for anything less than egregious violation (direct copying of a protected product, for example). The fund would be used to fund some form of review process.

None of these are the answer. But to me, the existing patent system has to evolve, especially when it stifles innovation, the opposite of its intended purpose.

[H/T Craig Grannell]

Satellite is all about bringing no-compromise audiophile sound to your daily life. Whether listening to streaming audio or digital remasters on your commute and at the office, or enjoying vinyl box sets at home, Satellite delivers iconic Blue studio sound wherever you go.

These over-the-ear headphones were released this week and they are great. I’ve been using them for a couple of weeks and will have a more detailed write-up coming out shortly.

A large number of hospitals, GPs, and walk-in clinics across England have been locked down by a ransomware attack, reports suggest. There are also some reports of a ransomware attack hitting institutions in Portugal and Spain, with telecoms provider Telefonica apparently hit hard. Further attacks have been reported in Russia, Ukraine, and Taiwan. Batten down the hatches: we might be in the middle of a global ransomware attack.

Open Culture:

Consistently popular through the 1960s and 1970s, the show began to falter in the following decade as tight budgets and questionable artistic choices took their toll. After its cancellation in 1989, Doctor Who “lived on through the ’90s, as science-fiction shows often do, in the wilderness genres of semi-official novels and radio plays.”

The best known of these Doctor Who radio plays, which you can hear on this playlist, come produced by a company called Big Finish. Having acquired a license from the BBC in 1999 (and recently renewed it into 2025), they’ve put out a range of audio dramas, both one-offs and series of various lengths, using not just the characters but many of the actual actors from the television show, including six of those who have taken on the iconic Doctor role onscreen.

I’ve never been a big Doctor Who fan but I am a fan of audio dramas. I’ll check these out this weekend.

Thanks to Jamf Now for sponsoring The Loop this week. Jamf Now is an on-demand mobile device management solution for the iPads, iPhones and Macs in your workplace. We make device management simple and affordable for everyone, so businesses can support their users; no IT required. Manage your first three devices for free and add more for just $2 per device per month. Get started for free today!

Gizmodo:

Every few months, as Apple’s stock price continues to rise and its cash coffers get more and more full, these calls for action crop back up. Just last week, Citigroup listed seven companies it thinks Apple should eye for takeover bids, including usual favorites like Netflix, Tesla, and Disney.

Apple is not a company that makes massive acquisitions, and as its financials continue to prove, it doesn’t need to be. And yet, every few months, articles abound about how Apple should spend its money, always with a focus on big splashy deals.

Many of the companies pundits think Apple should buy are patently ridiculous choices.

This is a great collection of videos, including this interview with Clair Torry, where she tells the story about coming in to the studio to record her vocals, getting no guidance from producer Alan Parsons, and basically winging it, coming up with one of the greatest off the cuff vocal performances of all time.

The video embedded below is a somewhat isolated mix which really highlights Clair’s performance. I just love this track. Feels like it just pours out of her soul.

Stolen Phone Checker:

CTIA’s Stolen Phone Checker – powered by the GSMA Device Check service – is a public service designed to limit the resale of lost and stolen mobile devices in the United States and to help consumers, businesses, and law enforcement agencies make informed decisions about the status of a mobile device.

Looking to buy a used phone? Go to this page and enter the IMEI/MEID/ESN and submit. Good idea.

[Via 9to5Mac]

Sarah Buhr, TechCrunch:

According to a study conducted through heartbeat measurement app Cardiogram and the University of California, San Francisco, the Apple Watch is 97 percent accurate in detecting the most common abnormal heart rhythm when paired with an AI-based algorithm.

The study involved 6,158 participants recruited through the Cardiogram app on Apple Watch. Most of the participants in the UCSF Health eHeart study had normal EKG readings. However, 200 of them had been diagnosed with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (an abnormal heartbeat). Engineers then trained a deep neural network to identify these abnormal heart rhythms from Apple Watch heart rate data.

The future is wide open.

Neil Cybart, Above Avalon:

According to Apple’s most recent earnings and management commentary, the company sold more than five million wearable devices last quarter. When combined, Apple Watch, AirPods, and W1 chip-enabled Beats headphones are now outselling Mac in terms of unit sales. More impressively, Apple wearables are tracking ahead of iPhone in terms of unit sales out of the gate. As competitors continue to approach wearables with caution, Apple is doubling down.

Unit sales, not total revenue, but still impressive. Nice job by Neil pulling this together. Take a look at the chart labeled Exhibit 2, which does a nice job putting all this into perspective.

CNBC:

According to FactSet, as of the end of the first quarter of 2017, Apple has taken on more than $98 billion in debt.

And:

Apple generates cash flows of nearly $40 billion every six months. It’s the richest company in the world, with more than $256.8 billion in cash and marketable securities sitting on its books.Why does such a rich company have to borrow money?

And:

As of the end of 2016, Apple had more than $230 billion stored overseas. That’s because, when Apple earns money from sales outside the U.S., it’s taxed once by the country where it makes those sales, then taxed again by the U.S. when it brings the money back home. As a result, Apple doesn’t bring that money home.

This from Tim Cook, in his recent interview with Jim Cramer:

If you sell globally, you earn money globally. If you earn money globally, you can’t bring it back into the United States unless you pay 35 percent plus your state tax. And you look at this and you go, ‘This is kind of bizarre.’ You want people to use this money in the United States to invest more. We are in a good position, but an unusual one. Our good position is we can borrow. And so to invest in the United States, we have to borrow. This doesn’t make sense on a broad basis.

Complicated problem. If that 35% rate is dropped to the rumored 10%, would that be enough to repatriate all that cash?

Citation: https://99bitcoins.com/cryptocurrency/next-1000x-crypto/

From Apple’s press release:

Apple today announced Corning Incorporated will receive $200 million from Apple’s new Advanced Manufacturing Fund as part of the company’s commitment to foster innovation among American manufacturers. The investment will support Corning’s R&D, capital equipment needs and state-of-the-art glass processing. Corning’s 65-year-old Harrodsburg facility has been integral to the 10-year collaboration between these two innovative companies and will be the focus of Apple’s investment.

And:

Apple has committed to investing at least $1 billion with US-based companies as part of the fund, which is designed to foster innovative production and highly skilled jobs that will help lay the foundation for a new era of technology-driven manufacturing in the US.

Logical investment in a company whose fortunes are tightly bound with yours.

Apple posted a new Web page showing you how to shoot a picture in different situations using the iPhone 7. This is a page I will definitely use.

John Paczkowski writing for BuzzFeed:

Sources in position to know tell BuzzFeed News that Amazon’s Prime video app — long absent from Apple TV — is indeed headed to Apple’s diminutive set-top box. Apple plans to announce Amazon Prime video’s impending arrive to the Apple TV App Store during the keynote at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) on June 5 in San Jose, CA. A source familiar with the companies’ thinking say the app is expected to go live this summer, but cautioned that the hard launch date might change. Amazon had previously declined to even submit a Prime Video app for inclusion in Apple’s Apple TV App Store.

John certainly knows his stuff and this has been rumored before. It would be great if Amazon and Apple could get things worked out, release a video app, and get the Apple TV back in the Amazon store again.

“We are taking a careful yet balanced approach to incorporating autonomous vehicles on our roads to reduce dangerous driving habits, decrease the number of accidents and save lives on New York roadways,” Cuomo said in a statement.

Says a lot about the driving habits of many on the roads today.

Companies in New York must have a $5 million insurance policy, submit reports to the state, be overseen by the state police and pay the state police for supervising each test.

Testing also cannot take place in construction or school zones – which take up huge swaths of land in New York City – and must adhere to a predesignated route shared in advance with the state.

No doubt there will be challenges or suggestions from the companies developing the technology.

PCWorld:

The Windows Store platform’s heating up now that Windows 10 S is here and restricted to Microsoft’s walled garden. At the Windows 10 S launch event last week, it was revealed that Spotify is on its way, and during Thursday’s Build 2017 keynote, Windows chief Terry Myerson announced that iTunes—yes, Apple’s crown jewel—is coming to the Windows Store.

Details beyond that are scarce; Myerson simply said that iTunes will include Apple Music and “full support for iPhone,” whatever that means for a Windows Store app.

It will be interesting to see how well (or how poorly) iTunes will be received on the Windows Store.

Macpaw:

Have you ever held a NeXTcube? It’s a tesseract. It’s an alien thing that was for no reason brought to us earthlings. Apple devices have always looked a bit out-of-this-world and that’s why we like them so much. So no wonder that when there’s a chance to get a huge collection of iconic Apple computers, you snatch it with the tightest grip.

As sad as I was to hear of Tekserve’s closing, I’m glad to see their wonderful collection of Apple computers has gone to a good home. Macpaw got a great deal – 39 pieces of Apple history for $47,000.

Mike Matthews, writing for TidBITS, walks through some solid background on iCloud Photo Library and some thoughts on the use of space on your iPhone and in the cloud.