KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo is back with another report outlining his belief that Apple will launch a stylus as an optional accessory for the company’s rumored 12.9-inch “iPad Pro”. With the new iPad’s larger screen, it will likely prove popular with enterprise and creative users who tend to have more need for a stylus and Kuo believes Apple will fill that need with an in-house solution.

A stylus may work for creatives, but I think using a finger will still be the preferred method for the majority of people.

SplashData has announced its annual list of the 25 most common passwords found on the Internet – thus making them the “Worst Passwords” that will expose anybody to being hacked or having their identities stolen. In its fourth annual report, compiled from more than 3.3 million leaked passwords during the year, “123456”and “password” continue to hold the top two spots that they have held each year since the first list in 2011. Other passwords in the top 10 include “qwerty,” “dragon,” and “football.”

Sweet Jesus, you deserve to be hacked.

Úll is a conference for people who build and love great products. We focus on great product businesses, presented through an Apple-shaped lens. We treat the conference itself as a product: with a deep emphasis on the attendee experience.

This is the best conference that I’ve ever attended and I’ll be speaking again this year. See you there!

“Samsung has been delaying the launch of this Tizen phone for a long time and when they finally did it, it turned out to be an under-powered phone,” said Mumbai-based filmmaker Samir Ahmed Sheikh as he shopped for a new phone for his wife.

The 3.15 megapixel primary camera and 300,000 pixel front camera are “like a phone from 2010”, he said.

Oh dear.

It’s designed for both novice and professional scrapbookers. iScrapbook manages the entire scrapbooking process from page design to album organization.

This looks like a fun app and the new update adds a ton of new features.

Profiler Remote is the quintessential foot controller for your Profiler. We’ve spent a tremendous amount of time to create a versatile and yet easy to operate floor board. The tight integration in between Profiler and Remote allows you to control, administer and program without any knowledge about MIDI or delving through cryptic data sheets.

This is fantastic. I need to get me hands on the Kemper system and try it out.

Was this company started by ex-Samsung people?

Shares of Netflix shot up 12% in after-hours trade Monday, after the video streaming service reported a fourth-quarter profit that was well above expectations, and provided an upbeat outlook for net subscriber additions.

Great news, I really like Netflix.

The XDJ-RX, is a DJ console that incorporates two separate digital players, a mixer, and a built-in monitor. The uniquely designed DJ system is intended for users of the popular Pioneer rekordbox music management software, which enables DJs to quickly play prepared music stored on a USB device, eliminating the need to connect or carry a separate computer for use as a music source.

Fascinating.

Fender is planning on selling direct to customers and bypassing dealers:

Direct-to-consumer sales are expected to be a topic of intense discussion as buyers meet with Fender representatives. Some shop owners are so concerned that they plan to buy less merchandise from the manufacturer, said retailers, many of whom did not want to be named for fear that speaking publicly could damage relations with Fender.

Some are considering not re-upping as Fender dealers.

Guitars are one of those items that you really need to touch and feel to appreciate. I don’t think ordering online really works for buying a high-end guitar like a Strat or Tele. Fender is doing some damage here.

Six Colors:

Rogue Amoeba has announced the release of Audio Hijack 3, the successor to the venerable Mac sound utility Audio Hijack Pro. This is a huge update—the first major one for Audio Hijack in ten years—and so comprehensive that this feels more like a successor to the old Audio Hijack rather than a continuation.

Rogue Amoeba has always made good, high quality software especially on the audio side.

Re/code:

The key rule in evaluating the flood of new hardware and software that’s constantly being hawked at you is this: If you’re happy with what you already use, if it works well for you, don’t upgrade.

Yes, the tech industry employs a massive marketing machine to get you on the upgrade treadmill and keep you there, but you don’t have to do so. Resistance isn’t futile.

Lack of funds may have something to do with it but I no longer need to be the first to have all the latest and greatest software and hardware. If what I use works and the new version doesn’t offer tangible benefits, I’ll stick with what I have.

Kirk McElhearn walks us through some iTunes features that have since been retired. My favorite:

Ah, Ping, we hardly remember you. This “social network for music” was one of Apple’s biggest failures with iTunes. It was added in September, 2010, to iTunes 10, and was pretty much universally derided.

Rene Ritchie:

Here’s how notifications work on the Apple Watch: When a new one comes in, the “taptic engine” — a linear actuator — literally taps you on the wrist to let you know about it. There’s no loud buzzing to draw anyone else’s attention, just a subtle but recognizable tap, designed for you and you alone. Meanwhile, the “short look” for the notification provides a minimum of information. Nothing that anyone could oversee — just the icon for the app and a brief bit of context as to who or why.

If you lower your wrist, it goes away. Keep your wrist raised or tap the notification, and it expands into a “long look” to give you more details. It’s the kind of staging that respects that with greater intimacy comes greater responsibility. And I hope it’s a sign of more features to come.

Details. Apple understands the critical importance of the detail work.

Be My Eyes pairs visually impaired and sighted people in video link sessions that let the sighted person help sort out a specific problem.

For example, you might help someone know if they are on the correct side of a train platform, if their bread is moldy, if they have the right tickets. If you are visually impaired, launch the app and touch the screen to get in the queue, waiting for help. If you are sighted, launch the app and tap the “I am sighted” button to get in the helper queue. Once you are paired off, one screen is linked to the other device’s camera, an audio connection is established, and you work through whatever help is needed.

Note that the app needs access to your camera and microphone, as well as the ability to send you push notifications. You can turn all these things on and off in Settings.

Watch the video below to get a better sense of how this works. [via iHeartApple2]

These really take me back. Nicely put together. [via DF]

Macworld:

While the amount of stuff you need to protect has shrunk enormously in the last few years, with Facebook and Twitter encrypting by default, and Google and others upping their game, a VPN still buys you peace of mind.

A well written article from Fleishman. How many of you use VPN on a regular basis?

The Verge:

Maybe it’s a good thing that Amazon is so slowly rolling out the Echo to customers — you can only get it by invitation, and if you do so you should know what you’re getting into. Right now, once the honeymoon ends, I suspect most people will stop using the Echo for anything other than occasional music and podcast listening. After a few days of trying to come up with things to ask Alexa just for the fun of the thing, my Echo became mostly a slightly faster way to set a timer or do quick conversions while I cook. It’s great for those things, but those are small things.

Yet this is the future, I’m sure of it.

I think the Echo is an interesting product and likely points the way to the future. Whether the Echo is part of that future or not is debatable.

Google, like Apple, posts their mobile OS adoption rates. This one was updated on January 5th.

As you can see, Lollipop, Google’s latest rev of Android, is not even on the list. Kit-Kat, the version before Lollipop (Android 4.4) is at 39.1%. Jellybean (Android 4.1.x through 4.3) is, collectively, at about 46%. Lollipop is just not making a big enough dent to make the list.

It’s important to note that the Android data is gathered by monitoring checkins to the Google Play app store. In this case, the latest chart was built using checkins over a 7 day period ending on January 5th. A different approach than Apple’s, but it does give a sense of the numbers.

From the linked ExtremeTech article:

Slow adoption of Android is a fact of life, and things are still better now than they used to be. A slow start to Lollipop’s deployment isn’t the end of the world, and it doesn’t point to user discontent. Lollipop isn’t something people go out and buy, it’s delivered to them whenever an OTA is ready.

The Android distribution model is naturally fragmented (because different vendors ship their own custom version of the OS) and there are competing, forked versions of Android that are competing for adoption with the mothership (Samsung’s Tizen is a prime example).

As reported a few weeks ago, Apple’s numbers (as of January 5th) show iOS 8 at 68%. A world of difference.

7Online:

A video of a bald and burly Delaware police officer enthusiastically lip-syncing to Taylor Swift’s “Shake it Off” is getting global attention.

The video, posted to the Dover Police Department’s Facebook page Friday, shows Master Cpl. Jeff Davis in uniform and driving a patrol car while lip-syncing to the popular pop song – sassy head rolls and finger-pointing included.

What a hilarious video. I especially love the moments like at 1:20 when he sees someone he recognizes and “becomes a cop” again. The rest of the time, he’s just an average father of four who knows “Shake it Off” because of his 10-year-old daughter.

The downside of watching the video is that I’ve now finally listened to my very first Taylor Swift song. Thanks to my friend Lesley for the link.

Craig Grannell:

Within the pages of MacUser, you’d not find a great deal of templated fare, and sometimes not even a great deal of content directly about the Mac. What you would find was interesting opinion and analysis about technology, brilliant insight into design and creativity, and in-depth features on all kinds of creative fare. All this was wrapped up in stunning design and layout work that let the content breathe and positively begged you to explore every page.

I never read MacUser on a regular basis but when I did, I always enjoyed its unique sensibility and writing style. A shame it’s shuttering its doors.

I wrote this over two years ago on my personal site, but my opinion hasn’t changed.

Uber said in a statement that the South Carolina Public Service Commission’s order directed at Raiser LLC, an Uber subsidiary, was unexpected and issued despite the company’s close work with state regulators.

I wonder if Uber’s antics in other cities/states/countries weighs in on decisions like this.

Power and Precision. Speed and Aggression. Brutal and Insane. Your metal drum tracks deserve nothing less than what you bring to your music. Your music deserves the real thing – live drum brutality to take your songwriting to the next level. Your music needs Double Bass Mania VIII.

Double Bass Mania is my favorite series of drum loops ever. I’ll be getting this set to go along with all the others I have.

Very interesting wording from Philips in response to Kelly Guimont’s question regarding their support for HomeKit.

Update: Philips updated its statement and said it was a misunderstanding. To be honest, this makes sense to me because HomeKit shouldn’t need a separate launch.

Both systems suffered long outages over Christmas after a major distributed denial of service (DDOS) attack. A hacking group calling itself Lizard Squad, which had attacked the two networks earlier last year, claimed responsibility.

I wonder what they’ll do with him? Will Microsoft and Sony get a say in the matter? This will be interesting.