November 9, 2011
∞ Lion's app Exposé ∞
Steve Lyb:
If you’ve got four-finger swipe down set to App Exposé on your Magic Trackpad or MacBook’s trackpad like I do, hover over a dock icon of a running app and swipe.
Cool find.
∞ Intuit and AT&T laid an egg ∞
Matt Drance:
Intuit and AT&T have formed what Engadget calls “an unholy alliance” to create a poor, twenty-two-months-late ripoff of Square’s credit card reader for mobile devices. Go ahead and watch the video on Engadget’s site, and compare it with the experience that Square debuted two Januaries ago. Intuit and AT&T knew exactly what they had to rip off, had almost two years to do it, and still laid an egg.
∞ The Loop ranked as one of the Top Rising Blogs of 2011
In its “State of the Blogosphere 2011,” Technorati Media ranked The Loop as one of the top rising blogs of 2011.
In fact, The Loop finished as the third top rising blog, coming behind Netflix and Google Analytics. Technorati currently indexes over one million blogs.
You can read the rankings of the top rising blogs on Technorati.
Thank you to all of the readers, I really appreciate your continued support.
∞ Greenpeace ranks RIM dead last ∞
Is there anything that RIM doesn’t rank dead last in?
∞ Journalism is about trust and respect
All this talk in the past couple of days about how journalists should retweet got me thinking about my chosen profession. For me, it comes down to trust and respect.
I believe that for me to be successful, my readers have to trust that what I write and post is honest. If I gain their trust, they will come back. If I’m constantly proven wrong, they won’t.
It seems pretty simple, but it’s really not. Some journalists don’t make their views known to their readers, often toning down their stories so nobody gets offended.
Some media companies don’t want journalists to publicly endorse one product over another for fear it will upset an advertiser.
I look at things like this just the opposite. I want to be honest with the people that read my stories or tweets. If I don’t like something, I’m going to say I don’t like it. If I really like a product, I’ll say that too.
People come here for my opinion — if I withhold my opinion from them, what is it that I’m really offering? Stale words on a web page.
Sometimes I’ll post a link to something just because it’s funny, or very interesting. It could be about design, guitars, video or Apple. As long as it catches my eye, it has a chance to get posted.
Having respect for a writer doesn’t mean that you have to agree with everything they write. There are plenty of people that disagree with my opinions, but they continue to read the site. That’s respect.
That’s the way it should be. I can’t be afraid to post what I feel is right and readers will have their say on Twitter or in the forums.
As Melanie Coulson said this morning, “we are professionals” and we can think for ourselves.
In the end it’s the readers that must decide if a journalist is worth investing their time in. If you don’t like what a writer has to say, or you have no trust or respect for them, it’s time to stop reading and find someone that you do like to read.
I don’t see retweeting by journalists as a problem, but rather an added bonus. If people want to know my opinion, I’m going to give it to them — good or bad.
∞ Google will support Android partners in legal disputes ∞
Reuters:
The support takes the form of information sharing, industry expertise and access to Google’s patents for licensing and legal purposes, Schmidt said.
Google trying to comfort its partners, but it’s a significant olive branch.
∞ Nvidia Tegra 3 quad-core mobile chip to up the tablet ante ∞
Wired:
The Tegra 3 is the world’s first quad-core ARM A9-based processor, and features a 12-core GeForce graphics unit. Nvidia says the Tegra 3 offers three times the performance of its previous dual-core Tegra generation, and boasts improved multitasking, better web browsing, and smoother app performance.
It’s an impressive technical feat, and Asus plans to release a tablet using the chip sometime near the start of 2012. Nvidia’s Tegra 2 made inroads to the tablet and smartphone markets. The company is continuing to leverage its core strength – a strong rapport with software developers, especially game developers – to remain an important component source for tablet makers as Android-based devices continue to flood the marketplace.
∞ On journalists retweeting ∞
Melanie Coulson on how journalists should retweet:
I too, am going to propose something radical.I propose that we trust journalists to think for themselves. We are professionals, after all.
I agree. I’ve always said that if you don’t trust the journalists you follow or read, move on. Find people you do trust and you won’t have a problem.
∞ Apple storefront photos ∞
Nice gallery.
∞ China Mobile wants App Store revenue ∞
John Paczkowski:
Foremost, the iPhone is already killing it in China without China Mobile. And as much as Apple would like to put the iPhone on the world’s largest wireless carrier, it’s not going to do so unless it gets the terms it wants. And right now there’s some disagreement between the two companies over App Store revenue.
This should be interesting. Apple is notoriously tough in negotiations. I can’t see them giving up any kind of revenue.
∞ On the demise of mobile Flash
Editor’s Note: Matt Alexander is the owner and editor of ONE37.net, a writer, a technology enthusiast, and a contributing writer for The Loop.
Mobile Flash is, and always has been, pointless.
Regardless of platform, Mobile Flash absorbs battery life, heats phones, and provides an unquestionably lackluster end-user experience.
And yet, hardware manufacturers continue to tout Mobile Flash’s relevance. Best Buy clerks try to sell you on the advantages of Flash over sans-Flash platforms. Ads flaunt the apparent benefits of a Flash-enabled web on your tablet and phone. Meanwhile, reviewers across the web grapple with its usefulness and buggy implementation. So, the question is, why has there been such prominent exposure of one feature?
Simply put, Mobile Flash has been an excuse of a “feature” for platforms in the face of iOS.
In the face of the ever-growing App Store, hardware manufacturers have used Flash compatibility as a cheap way out. With the uneven distribution of media apps like Netflix and Hulu Plus on Android, Mobile Flash has provided vague, unfounded hope to the uninformed consumer.
Realistically, the majority of media outlets block Mobile Flash, thus rendering any hope of watching Flash video as limited to obscure situations, or victim to bothersome workarounds. The primary use for Mobile Flash has largely become rendering aging Flash-based ads, and older web interfaces.
Whether you agree with this assessment or not, Adobe seems to have sensed the pointlessness of the endeavor, and that speaks volumes.
The rise of web standards has cast renewed focus on the modernization of the Internet. With focus on HTML5 and responsive web applications, both Flash and Mobile Flash have stood out as the stubborn, pointless protectors of uninspired, 1990s-esque web design, and today, one of them at least, has taken a welcome, final bow.
Adobe has made a mature and sensible decision here. Let’s hope this is a pattern they choose to follow in future.
As for Apple’s Flash-offering rivals, how might they choose to account for this? Having pushed Mobile Flash as such a key differentiator, they’re looking at dealing with a whole host of confused and misinformed consumers.
This ought to be interesting to follow.
∞ Greenpeace ranks Apple fourth ∞
Matt Brian:
Greenpeace’s Guide to Greener Electronics, now in its 17th year, ranks the world’s top 15 technology companies on their green policies and practices, on how products and processes impact the climate. Apple climbed five places to rank fourth, behind HP, Dell and Nokia, with the all four of the companies improving their green impact over the year to march up the charts.
Don’t get me wrong, I think this is great, but with all of the information that Apple makes available about its environmental efforts, it seems a bit odd that they would only rank fourth. It’s like Greenpeace is the Consumer Reports for the environment.
∞ Adobe stops development of mobile Flash ∞
Jason Perlow got this from his sources. It’s announcement that Adobe will make:
Our future work with Flash on mobile devices will be focused on enabling Flash developers to package native apps with Adobe AIR for all the major app stores. We will no longer adapt Flash Player for mobile devices to new browser, OS version or device configurations. Some of our source code licensees may opt to continue working on and releasing their own implementations. We will continue to support the current Android and PlayBook configurations with critical bug fixes and security updates.
Good scoop by Jason. An inevitable move by Adobe.
November 8, 2011
∞ Khoi Vinh: On the Grid ∞
The Color Machine:
We sat down with Khoi Vinh, former Design Director of NYTimes.com to discuss the subject that has made his work most noteworthy: the grid. And in his case, the “g” almost deserves to be capitalized. The result is an illuminating conversation about Khoi’s plans for the future, first interest in the field of design, and even the grid’s complex relationship with emotion.
I have a tremendous amount of respect for Khoi. Well worth a couple of minutes to watch the video.
∞ Consumer Reports seems suspicious ∞
Marco Arment:
I’m looking at their full test results (I’ve been a CR website subscriber for six years), and I’m really not confident in the metrics and priorities that they seem to be using. Even some of the measurements seem suspicious to me.
Me too.
∞ iOS or Android, which came first?
There’s been a lot of talk today about Eric Schmidt’s statement that Android pre-dated Apple’s iOS, so it couldn’t possibly be a rip-off.
People have been quick to point out that Android started in 2003 and was bought by Google in 2005. That’s two years before Apple released its first iPhone in 2007.
However, it would appear that nobody considered the fact that Apple didn’t just pull iOS out of its ass in 2007. They worked on it for years prior to releasing it in the first iPhone.
Using the introduction date of the iPhone is completely ignoring the development time that Apple put into iOS, the iPhone and iPad.
As John Gruber points out, versions of Android in 2007 resembled the BlackBerry. It’s only after the release of iOS that Google’s strategy was to copy everything that Apple does.
∞ Adobe to cut 750 jobs ∞
MarketWatch:
Adobe Systems on Tuesday said it is cutting about 750 jobs, mainly in North America and Europe as part of a restructuring of the company. The company said it expects to record about $87 million to $94 million in pre-tax restructuring charges.
∞ DigiTech uses iPad for guitar pedalboard ∞
The iPB-10 Programmable Pedalboard sets a new standard for guitar signal processing. By harnessing the power of the iPad, it combines the simplicity of a pedalboard with the flexibility of a multi-effects. The iPB-10 unleashes the ability to create and control guitar effects like never before.
Very cool.
∞ Online music revenue to reach $6.3 billion in 2011 ∞
Worldwide online music revenue from end-user spending is on pace to total $6.3 billion in 2011, up from $5.9 billion in 2010, according to Gartner, Inc. Online music revenue is forecast to reach $6.8 billion in 2012, and grow to $7.7 billion in 2015. By comparison, consumer spending on physical music (CDs and LPs) is expected to slide from approximately $15 billion in 2010 to about $10 billion in 2015.
And Apple is leading the way.
∞ Researcher finds security bug in iOS ∞
Reuters:
A software flaw in Apple Inc’s iPhones and iPads may allow hackers to build apps that secretly install programs to steal data, send text messages or destroy information, according to an expert on Apple device security.
Here is a video from the researcher Charlie Miller:
∞ Poorsquare serves up Foursquare freebies ∞
Lifehacker:
Currently offered for NYC only, but coming to 100 US cities soon, Poorsquare takes Foursquare’s location and deals database and reveals the best offers by location. You can filter by free only, free with purchase, or all discounts.
Sheer genius.
∞ Marilyn Monroe memorabilia up for auction ∞
Before she was Marilyn Monroe a young Norma Jeane Dougherty wrote to her foster mother, Grace Goddard, to describe a meeting with army photographers, specifically David Conover and her burgeoning modeling career. The eight-page letter gives insight on Norma Jeane’s marriage to “Jimmie” Dougherty, her work at the Radioplane Company, and her hopes of a better career. The letter which comes up for auction the very first time at Juliens Auctions is estimated to bring $30,000-$50,000.
∞ Tout sends email templates from Mac or iPhone ∞
With Tout’s templates, you’ll be able to quickly insert the repetitive information into your email, then spend your time personalizing it for the recipient.
They have an iPhone app and it integrates with Gmail.
∞ Feral to release Tropico 3 for Mac in January
Feral Interactive announced Tuesday plans to release Tropico 3: Gold Edition for the Mac in January, 2012. It will cost $34.99, available for download from the Mac App Store and other sources.
Tropico 3: Gold Edition is a strategy-based city building game in which you assume the role of El Presidente, the leader of a banana republic, managing infrastructure, the economy and keeping competing factions at bay. It’s up to you how to run your mini-empire, as a police state, vacation paradise or industrial power.
System requirements call for a 2.0 GHz or faster Intel-based Mac with 2.0 GB RAM, 256 MB or better graphics card and Mac OS X 10.6.8 or later. Additional video requirements exist, so check the Web site for details.
∞ Nokia's comeback strategy ∞
NY Times:
The opening for Nokia, Mr. Elop explained, depends on Nokia’s ability to exploit the rapidly shifting market in smartphones, to profit from its new alliance with Microsoft and to develop services based on its own assets, like the company’s advanced mapping and location data technology.
With the exception of Microsoft, aren’t those the same challenges that Nokia faced before and failed?
∞ Steve Jobs biography listed in Amazon's Best Books of 2011 ∞
Few in history have transformed their time like Steve Jobs has. In this timely book, Isaacson paints a vivid, compelling portrait that pulls no punches — the end result is satisfying, complete, and gives insight into a man who managed to turn his contradictions into potent strengths.
∞ Journalists and retweeting ∞
Poynter.org:
Every so often a journalist draws criticism for something he retweeted. And whether that criticism is justified or not, it discourages some journalists from using Twitter effectively.
Jeff Sonderman outlines the way that journalists are now using Twitter to retweet information, and some of the pitfalls each of the methods has when it comes to erasing the appearance of bias.
Ultimately, Sonderman suggests a new class of retweets for journalists and others who want to relay information on Twitter without specifically endorsing or offering the appearance of an endorsement: a “neutral retweet.”
It’s an interesting concept. But in practical terms, I doubt even that is enough to dissuade some readers with an axe to grind to assume the journalist has a bias, anyway.
∞ Consumer Reports recommends iPhone 4S ∞
Electronista:
Consumer Reports partly changed its tune on Apple and recommended the iPhone 4S on Tuesday. It claimed that the dual, auto-switching antenna system on the newer Apple phone had solved the ‘death grip’ problem cause by covering up the bottom-left antenna gap. It also didn’t notice the battery life issues reported by some and saw iOS 5.0.1 covering those might have problems.
Lest we forget, Consumer Reports’ complaints about the previous model, the iPhone 4, helped set in motion the “Antennagate” controversy, suggesting that the iPhone 4 was prone to reception problems.
It’s good to see Apple’s won Consumer Reports’ endorsement – for those buyers who value the opinion of the publication, anyway.
∞ Discarded iPhones ∞
Horace Dediu doing his magic.