May 10, 2014
Written by Jim Dalrymple
Many thanks to Smile Software for sponsoring The Loop’s RSS this week with PDFpen Scan+. PDFpen Scan+ 1.3 offers a redesigned user interface to make scanning simpler. Cropping is fast and precise. Bulk scanning is quicker with post-process image editing. OCR and preview the results, then copy the text for use elsewhere. Share your scanned PDF, with embedded OCR text, by email or via your favorite cloud service. PDFpen Scan+ is universal for iPad and iPhone and is available on the App Store.
Written by Shawn King
Motherboard:
Snood itself is a lot like Puzzle Bobble. A turret presides over the bottom quadrant of the screen, and you, the player, move this turret with your mouse in an arc from left to right. Pick a trajectory, click the mouse button, and another snood ejaculates onto the playing field, making a satisfying “thoonk” not unlike the pneumatic “thoonk” from an arcade’s air ball cannon. Match three snoods of the same color and type, and they vanish. Knock other snoods away with them—a “two birds with one stone” type of play—and they drop from the screen with a little triumphant fanfare.
I’ve been addicted to this game for years.
Written by Jim Dalrymple
In a 69-page decision (you can read it below), the three-judge panel ruled that Oracle can pursue copyright claims against Google for the parts of Java that it used in creating Android. Oracle has argued that Google used the code without authorization.
Google’s not out of the woods yet.
The Internet turned itself inside out last night with reports that Apple was in talks to purchase Beats Electronics for $3.2 billion. It’s an interesting rumor, to be sure, but it has also baffled everyone.
Why would Apple need a headphone-maker? This is a great question, especially if you consider that many people don’t seem to like the quality of the headphones. Perhaps we’re not looking deep enough.
In my experience, acquisitions occur for a number of reasons:
The product: The acquiring company feels strongly that they can’t compete with the other product, so they purchase the company. They could also be expanding their current product line-up and an acquisition is easier than building from scratch. I doubt that Apple is interested in Beats headphones, but Beats does have a music service that is supposedly very good.
The people: This is an important one—sometimes more important than the product. Every once in a while, a company assembled an incredibly talented team of people that a company wants to work on its own products. In the case of Apple buying Beats, I’d say the talent acquisition is Jimmy Iovine—he’s a powerhouse in the music industry.
The technology: This is another important one. Apple, and other companies, often buy companies with the sole purpose of integrating the acquired technology into its own. Apple has done this on many occasions over the past few years.
The brand: Sometimes brands can complement each other in a particular market. I think this matters most when considering the younger age groups. This is where the headphones could make sense.
Most people seem to be focused on Beats as a headphone-maker that Apple is buying, but there is more to the acquisition than hardware.
Written by Dave Mark
Yeah, I know, this sounds like made up craziness. But wait.
> Tzukuri has implanted a solar-powered 3mm BLE chip into the frame of each pair of sunglasses, which then allows you to pair your sunglasses to your iPhone (no mention of Android, yet). > > Why is this useful, you might ask? Well, similar in concept to Tile, Tzukuri hopes to help you solve a particularly irksome problem when it comes to eye wear – buying a fashionable, expensive pair of shades only to lose them when you are out and about. You should check out the glasses online store https://www.glasseshut.co.uk/ for the most fashionable eyeglasses and sunglasses. > > Once your phone is paired to your shades, your phone will notify you if they ever become separated by a distance of more than 16 feet- indicating that you might have left your phone behind. Or, conversely, if you happen to be wearing your sunglasses but walking away from your cell phone, their app will pick up on this movement and ring loudly, reminding you to retrieve your phone.
I think this sounds useful and, I suspect, a feature that expensive sunglasses will standardize on in the future. Or you can just get the $15 sunglasses off the rack at the drug store.
Written by Dave Mark
Oops. That’s a pretty big thing to get wrong.
Lots has been written about Apple’s potential acquisition of Beats. This is my attempt to gather some of the facts in a single place.
The company behind the Beats products is Beats Electronics LLC. From their web site:
Formally established in 2008 as the brainchild of legendary artist and producer Dr. Dre and Chairman of Interscope Geffen A&M Records Jimmy Iovine, Beats Electronics (Beats) comprises the Beats™ by Dr. Dre™ family of premium consumer headphones, earphones, and speakers as well as patented Beats Audio™ software technology and streaming music subscription service Beats Music™. Through these offerings, Beats has effectively brought the energy, emotion and excitement of playback in the recording studio to the listening experience and has introduced an entirely new generation to the possibilities of premium sound entertainment.
Additionally, Beats reaches consumers through strategic product partnerships that include Chrysler Group automobiles and Hewlett Packard computers and monitors.
Led by Co-Founder & CEO Jimmy Iovine, Co-Founder Dr. Dre, and President Luke Wood, Beats Electronics is based in Santa Monica, CA.
This is a potential acquisition, not a formally announced deal. The Financial Times broke the story and it moved across the internet like a wave.
The supposed acquisition price is $3.2 billion. The last cash injection into Beats Electronics was $500 million by Carlyle Group, a private equity placement firm. The money was placed last September (2013). Once the money was placed, the company was valued at $1 billion. A valuation increase from $1B to $3.2B in a little over 6 months is quite a leap. That said, I suspect Apple can add a lot to the Beats brand.
Beats has a streaming music service that appears to be part of the deal. Currently at about 200,000 subscribers, this does not seem to be a huge impact in the streaming space, but there certainly is potential there.
This would be Apple’s largest acquisition ever.
Bottom line, there is a lot of teeth gnashing and hand wringing from analysts over this deal. That doesn’t bother me at all. If it happens, I feel certain Apple has thought this through from soup to nuts and will turn this acquisition into an asset whose value exceeds the purchase price.
Written by Jim Dalrymple
Apple is stocking up on talent. I hope this guy can help the iPhone camera take better night shots.
May 8, 2014
Written by Jim Dalrymple
The Neve 1073 Channel Amplifier is easily the most revered preamp and EQ circuit ever designed. Introduced in 1970, this hallowed class-A, transistor mic/line amp with EQ epitomizes the beautiful “Neve sound,” with unparalleled clarity, sheen, and bite.
I love the Neve gear—it’s my favorite.
Written by Jim Dalrymple
In a somewhat surprising move, Apple is rumored to be in talks with Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre’s Beats Electronics that could see the audio accessories and music streaming service acquired for $3.2 billion.
Under the supposed deal, Apple would gain control of Beats’ audio hardware division as well as the firm’s subscription-based music streaming service. The Beats management team would report to Apple CEO Tim Cook.
This is getting interesting.
Written by Jim Dalrymple
The vast majority of the new threats found was on Android (no surprise there), which accounted for 275 out of 277 new families we saw in this period, leaving 1 new malware apiece on iOS and Symbian.
I don’t understand why people keep buying this shit. Get off the bus and take a plane.
Ozzy and Zakk are such a great team. Beautiful song.
Written by Jim Dalrymple
Graham Spencer for MacStories:
Today I am back to revisit the topic of entertainment services. The purpose, as was the case last time, is to see the international availability of entertainment services from Apple, Google, Microsoft and Amazon. Not only have we updated the information on all of these, but we have also added data about the availability of Rdio, Spotify, Deezer, Netflix, Hulu, Kobo, and Nook.
Great story with lots of good information.
Written by Jim Dalrymple
Let’s remember one of the cardinal rules of social media. Out of 100 people, 1% will create the content, 10% will curate the content, and the other 90% will simply consume it. That plays out on this blog, that plays out in Twitter, and that plays out in most of the services we are invested in.
Very interesting post from Fred Wilson.
Written by Jim Dalrymple
Some good thoughts from Om Malik on how Apple can change iTunes. I don’t know that I agree with everything, but there is no doubt that iTunes, which started as the center our media files, has become bloated.
Perhaps even making the iPhone/iPad, when connected, a system service instead of opening iTunes. Removing some of this from the app may help it focus again.
Written by Jim Dalrymple
Thanks to Khoi, I feel old too.
Written by Jim Dalrymple
London black-cab drivers are planning to cause gridlock in the city to protest against car service Uber.
The Licensed Taxi Drivers Association complains that Uber’s drivers are using a smartphone app to calculate fares despite it being illegal for private vehicles to be fitted with taximeters.
This is one of the few instances where I like both parties.
Written by Jim Dalrymple
Some good advice from Chris Barylick. The Mac is not a major target, but it never hurts to check.
Written by Jim Dalrymple
So, the man responsible for copying everything Apple has done, got the boot.
Written by Jim Dalrymple
Ben Thompson:
the truth is that Apple doesn’t sell phones (or computers or tablets); they sell iPhones. And iPhones are not just hardware, but also the software that runs on them. But even that is missing the whole picture. To buy an iPhone is to buy into an experience that includes everything from advertising to following the news to visiting a store to buying a phone to unboxing to downloading apps to visiting a genius and so on and so forth.
It’s no accident that the Apple Store appears twice in that sequence. It’s a critical part of the Apple experience that increases the value of an iPhone (and Mac and iPad) and works in a very specific way to counteract over-serving and help prevent disruption.
The main part of Ben’s article wasn’t really about the Apple experience, but this stood out to me. It’s this experience that Apple’s competitors can’t replicate, no matter how hard they try. When you combine that with the infrastructure of services that Apple has setup for its products, it becomes difficult to understand how it can be matched.
May 7, 2014
Written by Shawn King
Wired:
The modern Formula 1 car is among the most amazing machines ever made. And when you’re going wheel-to-wheel with someone like four-time world champ Sebastian Vettel at 180 mph, you can’t take a hand off the wheel to do, well, anything. Every task a driver might need to do, every bit of information he might need to know, is quite literally at his fingertips. The modern Formula 1 steering wheel is, therefore, the most amazing ever made. It is, in every way, the nerve center of the car.
How insanely complicated does that steering wheel look?
