October 31, 2011
Written by Jim Dalrymple
Toby Pitman for macProVideo.com:
I’m a good example of a guitarist who is really into synths but finds triggering these sounds from the piano interface very frustrating as technically I’m just not good enough on the piano. As soon as I got a MIDI system put into one of my guitars it was like a revelation. I could now play all these great sounds from an instrument I understood and had the technical ability to play.
I’m the same as Toby — I can’t play the piano well enough to trigger sounds reliably. Luckily, much of the music I write doesn’t use synths, so it’s not a big deal for me. The times I do use it to add orchestral instruments, I just have to practice my triggers and timing.
There are some really funky choices in Toby’s article. Fun stuff.
October 30, 2011
Written by Jim Dalrymple
Steve’s sister Mona Simpson published her eulogy in the New York Times today.
Written by Jim Dalrymple
John S. Wilson, a health policy analyst, talking about how Siri could revolutionize our 911 system.
Once the word “emergency” is spoken to Siri, a range of beneficial activity could commence. First, the phone could video call 911 utilizing Skype or a similar VoIP video service. This would allow first responders to have a much better context of the emergency at hand. Armed with a live video and audio feed of the event, visual cues could assist the first responders as they deconstruct the problem. Second, Siri could send the GPS location of the caller.
I’m not sure how far off in the future something like this would be or how practical it would be. What if you spoke “emergency” by mistake? Interesting thoughts though.
Written by Jim Dalrymple
A well thought out piece from Shadoe Huard on what he would like to see from digital publications and what would make him part with his money to pay for them.
October 29, 2011
Backblaze, the cloud-based backup service, introduced a 2.0 release this week. CEO Gleb Budman describes 2.0 as “unlimiting unlimited” in a blog post.
With Backblaze, you can back up your entire Mac’s contents to a secure online repository, for safe offsite storage and recovery in the event of a catastrophic failure.
The service hasn’t put limits on the maximum archive size or the bandwidth customers could use to back up content, but 2.0 improves performance and is “more unlimited” than before. Specific enhancements include:
- Unlimited single file size, removing a previous 9GB maximum.
- Unlimited file types, with support for backing up VMware, Parallels and other virtual machines, ISO images and every other file type as well.
- Maximum performance – an “automatic throttle” has been added that helps users configure Backblaze to use its Internet connection more efficiently. File batching speeds the transfer of small files, hardware acceleration has been added, RAM use has been optimized, and more.
New customers get 2.0 right away; existing users will be transitioned to the new service “over the next few weeks,” according to Budman.
Pricing starts at $5 per month, with discounts available if you go on annual or biennial plans.
Telltale Games has announced the “gold master” status of Jurassic Park: The Game, coming to four platforms including the Mac on November 15, with an iPad version expected to be released shortly thereafter.
The game is based on the enormously popular movie that spawned two sequels (with a fourth one rumored to be in development for years), focusing on what happens when scientists create dinosaurs from ancient DNA.
The game returns players to Isla Nublar, site of the original movie, though the story takes you in a different direction than what’s seen in the movie, though the creatures and locations will be familiar. Telltale says the game combines action, exploration and puzzle-solving.
Rated T for Teen, the game is available for pre-order; players who pre-order the Mac/PC version can get $10 off the “Deluxe” edition. The Deluxe Edition includes all four episodes of the game on disc and comes bundled with a patch, map, badge and exclusive digital content.
October 28, 2011
Written by Jim Dalrymple
John Gruber:
Imagine watching a baseball game on a TV where ESPN is a smart app, not a dumb channel. When you’re watching a game, you could tell the TV to show you the career statistics for the current batter. You could ask the HBO app which other movies this actress has been in.
As usual Gruber has some nice thoughts on how a future Apple TV may work. Of course, you can also factor iCloud into the equation so content and apps (channels) would be available on multiple TVs.
Written by Peter Cohen
Los Angeles Times:
At the Sept. 12 tablet launch, the publisher predicted that the first batch of 5,000 units would sell out in a week. Six weeks later, only about half of the narrow black computers have moved. “In the exuberance of the promotion, I got a little bit carried away,” said Osberg, predicting, still, that the venture “will be profitable within two years.”
The Philadelphia Inquirer offers subscribers to its digital edition the Gingerbread-equipped tablet for $99 if they purchase a two-year digital subscription. So far, there haven’t been many takers. I wonder how different it would be if they sold discounted iPads instead.
Could be worse. Could be Playbooks…
An email sent to The Loop reader Michael today:
Dear Michael,Making sure customers have a positive experience when they purchase our products is a priority for us. In some cases, limited inventory makes it challenging to fulfill all customer orders. As you signed up for updates on the HP TouchPad, we wanted you to know that we are officially out of stock. Some retailers will have some stock available, but our online inventory is depleted.Thank you for your interest in this product and the feedback you provided. Your input plays a critical role in defining our product roadmap and will help us continue to bring innovative products to market.Sincerely, HP
Written by Jim Dalrymple
I’d like to thank Tumult Hype for sponsoring this week’s RSS feed on The Loop.
Tumult Hype lets you create animated HTML5 content that will wow your website’s visitors. Its output works on all modern browsers and mobile devices like iPhones and iPads. No coding necessary.
Tumult Hype has a trial available, and can be purchased on the Mac App Store or its own Tumult Store for $29.99.
Written by Jim Dalrymple
Talking to Siri introduces you to Siri. This short, focused book teaches you how to use Siri from the ground up. You’ll learn how to achieve the the highest recognition rate as you talk. You’ll discover which categories Siri responds to and find out how to make the most of each category in your conversations. You’ll discover practical how-to mixed with many examples to inspire as well as instruct.
The book was written by Erica Sadun and Steve Sande from TUAW.com.
Apple has been incredibly successful over the last decade, but yet there are people out there that always think they know better.
Jason Perlow for ZDNet talking about what Apple must do:
If we have learned anything at all from the company’s most recent 3rd quarter sales figures, we must ultimately recognize that Apple’s revenue is highly based on an annuity or semi-annuity model of repeat customers. Repeat customers are bread and butter, but it does not create growth.
Clearly Apple has not grown at all over the last 10 years. They don’t rule the smartphone market, iTunes doesn’t sell any songs or movies, and the App Store is sure to fail any day now.
This is just ridiculous. What we learned is that the news cycle was able to convince people that a new iPhone was coming in June, July, August and September — but it didn’t come until October. Apple’s quarterly sales have been solid for years, and that’s in all product categories.
Sometimes it’s hard to even find an iPhone or iPad.
Post-Jobs, Apple must exist in a world of constantly improving commodity technology being created by its competitors and enterprises seeking next generation, integrated mobile and desktop solutions that the company is not currently offering: Products which are arguably more open and can more easily attract the partners needed to create solutions.
Why would they need to do that? Apple can continue making the products it does and innovate the markets it enters without lowering itself to making the crappy products its competitors do.
It’s Halloween weekend and the fun is about to begin. You don’t need to go out to enjoy yourself, you can visit Apple’s iTunes store and pick up movies, apps, music and other media to help you celebrate.
There is no better time of the year than Halloween to watch a creepy movie. Apple has almost 40 movies available this weekend for 99 cents.
From Amityville II: The Possession to Poltergeist II: The other side and Silence of the Lambs, there is something in there that is sure to give you a scare.
iTunes Essentials capture just about all of your Halloween music needs. Two of my all-time favorites are in there — “Monster Mash” and “The Purple People Eater.”
How can you not love those songs?
There are other albums too, including “Horror Movies” that has “Nightmare on Elm Street” theme, as well as “The Addams Family” and “The Shining.”
Of course, there’s an app for that.
There are three categories of Halloween apps available from iTunes. “Harrowing Halloween Apps,” “Picks for Kids,” and “Gruesome Games.”
Apps include Angry Birds, Plants vs. Zombies, CostumeDecider, Twilight, and Paranormal Agency HD. There are over 40 apps in the three categories.
Enjoy your Halloween!
Message from Jim: Earlier today RIM began offering a “buy 2, get 1 free” PlayBook deal. I thought it would be appropriate to help the company come up with some other special offers. I contacted Darby Lines, aka The Angry Drunk, to work some of his magic.
Take it away Darby:
The Sampler package: Buy 4 PlayBooks and get a Samsung Galaxy Tab, a Motorola Xoom, an HP TouchPad and a Dell Streak. Enjoy the full range of crappy tablets.
The Content Creator’s Package: Buy a PlayBook and get a free Etch a Sketch. One guess which one you’ll create more content on.
The Executive package: Buy 100,000 PlayBooks and you will be appointed as RIM’s tri-co-CEO. We need to bump up those sales figures – and face it, we need all the decision-making help we can get.
The Canadian Pride package: Buy 10 PlayBooks and get a lifetime supply of poutine. We’re good at things, really!
The Communicator package: Buy 2 PlayBooks and get an iPhone so you can check your email during one of our massive BBM outages.
The Financier package: Buy 3 PlayBooks and get a toaster. Hey, it worked for the banks.
The Entertainment package: Buy 1000 PlayBooks and get Celine Dion. Two Canadian turkeys for the price of one.
The Philanthropist package: Buy 20 PlayBooks and we’ll feed a starving child in Africa for a year. You’re not going to let this poor kid starve are you?
The Animal Lover package: Buy 5 PlayBooks or the puppy gets it.
The Spiritualist package: Every time you buy a PlayBook an angel gets its wings.
The Road Warrior package: Buy 30 PlayBooks and get a sawed off shotgun and 100 gallons of gasoline. In a post-apocalyptic wasteland the gun and gas will come in handy, and the PlayBooks can be converted into a crude body armor.
The OccupyWallStreet package: Buy 200 PlayBooks and get a round trip ticket to New York City. Use the PlayBooks to construct a nice urban yurt in Zucatti Park.
The Innovator package: Buy 7 PlayBooks and get a copy of “Steve Jobs” by Walter Issacson. Learn how to produce a tablet people actually want.
The Pragmatist package: Buy 3 PlayBooks and get an iPad. Face it, you’re going to get one anyway.
and last but not least
- Order now and receive a free 8×10 autographed glossy portrait of the Beard. A collector’s item your children are sure to cherish for years to come. Operators are standing by.
There are a lot of reasons to love the iPod nano. Apple’s diminutive device has been part of my music listening arsenal since it was first released and still is.
The first thing I noticed about the new iPod nano was the interface. It’s much improved over previous versions because the navigation is so quite a bit easier.
My previous nano had a number of touch buttons on the screen, but the new one only shows one button at a time. Considering the size of the screen, it’s much easier to get to the item you’re looking for.
The touch buttons on the nano scroll onto the screen much like Apple’s Cover Flow albums work in iTunes. Very sleek animations and then a simple touch launches that section.
Of course, the nano is also now being used as a watch. With its 18 different watch faces, there is pretty much something for everyone.
Me, I chose to rock a Kermit wristband and an Animal clock face. I actually thought using the nano might be a bit awkward as a watch, but it worked great. It’s quite a conversation starter too.
The wristband that I have automatically adjusts to the size of your wrist, so there are no worries about picking up the wrong size. That also makes it easy to get on and off.
This, in turn, leads to another problem — since it fits all wrists, I’ve had a hard time keeping the watch to myself. I’ve regularly found my new nano watch on my kid’s wrists and my wife’s too.
Even with the iPod nano in the wrist band, there is still adequate room to use the device’s touch interface and access all of the buttons. A small hole in the bottom gives you access to the headphone jack so you can listen to music.
People often ask why I don’t use my iPhone to listen to music. I rarely listen to any music on the iPhone — I use that for calls, email and Web surfing.
I take my iPod nano on trips and listen to it on the plane and during walks when reach my destination. It’s so small that it easily fits into my bag and you don’t even notice it. Now, with the wristband, I can just wear it.
Those that exercise regularly will love the built-in Fitness app, which is done with Nike. The great thing about the nano is that it’s ready to track your workout out of the box. There is no dongle or extra piece of equipment that’s needed.
Turn it on, press “Start” and you’re done.
The Apple supplied headphones comfortably reached from my wrist to my ears while walking normally without pulling. An enjoyable experience.
The iPod nano is a great device that I would highly recommend to anyone. You should pick up a wristband too, especially if you exercise or travel.
The Internet is buzzing this morning with news that Samsung has overtaken Apple as the worlds leading smartphone vendor. The problem is, there are no numbers to actually back up the claim.
Here’s an example of how it’s being reported. From GigaOM:
Samsung had a very strong quarter, according to numbers it revealed on Friday to investors. Its shipments (which it doesn’t provide specific numbers for) jumped more than 40 percent during the third quarter. Strategy Analytics estimates that amounts to total sales of nearly 28 million devices, while Apple moved 17 million during the same period.
Wait a minute. Samsung doesn’t provide specific numbers, so we are going to take their word that shipments jumped 40 percent? To make matters worse, Strategy Analytics “estimates” sales of 28 million devices.
Where the hell did they get that number?
Every one of the stories I’ve seen based their numbers on Strategy Analytics. So, let’s take a quick look at that report.
According to Strategy Analytics, Apple sold 17 million iPhones, which is equal to a 21 percent growth rate over the same quarter last year. Those numbers are publicly available in Apple’s own earnings press release.
Note the big difference?
Apple “sold” 17 million iPhones and Samsung “shipped” some number that Strategy Analytics pulled out of their ass.
You cannot compare shipped numbers to sold numbers and come up with a conclusion that one company is beating another. You can’t. A research firm should know that, and I’m sure they do.
I have no doubt that Samsung sold a lot of phones, but until they release actual figures on the number they sold, Strategy Analytics report is meaningless.
Samsung could ship 100 million phones, but that doesn’t tell us how many they actually sold.
Written by Jim Dalrymple
Marco Arment:
In the past, I’ve always recommended the Kindle over other e-ink readers, and buying Kindle books instead of iBooks on iOS, because Amazon had the biggest library of relevant titles and strongest content ecosystem.But Amazon’s advantage is no longer as clear in my casual searching.
I just buy from iTunes. Apps, music, books, movies, videos, TV shows. Everything. Convenience rules.
Written by Jim Dalrymple
Bill Gates on being a billionaire:
“I can understand wanting to have millions of dollars, there’s a certain freedom, meaningful freedom, that comes with that. But once you get much beyond that, I have to tell you, it’s the same hamburger. Dick’s has not raised their prices enough,” he said, referring to the Seattle-area fast-food chain. “But being ambitious is good. You just have to pick what you enjoy doing.”
Anytime you want to throw a few billion my way Bill…
Purdue University:
Purdue University has continued to see a decline in BlackBerry devices using its BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) since Jan. 1, 2011, and, after Dec. 31, 2012, will no longer support Exchange synchronization with BlackBerry devices.The combination of a 33-percent decrease in BES use, a subsequent increase in per-unit cost and a proliferation of the use of non-BlackBerry devices influenced the decision.“Allowing a full two-year cycle prior to discontinuation offers the maximum opportunity for personal BlackBerry users to replace their devices through individual cellular service providers,” says Mike Rubesch, ITaP executive director of systems and operations.If a faculty or staff member currently uses a University-provided BlackBerry for campus business, the University will replace the device with a non-BlackBerry device as it comes up for renewal.All users currently reading email on and synchronizing Exchange calendar and contacts information to a BlackBerry device will not be affected until Dec. 31, 2012. After that date, faculty and staff using personal BlackBerrys will only be able to connect to Exchange email through BlackBerry Internet Service (BIS) — the same service allowing connection to personal email. However, BIS will not support calendar or contacts synchronization with Exchange.ActiveSync-capable smart phones — such as iPhone, Android or Windows devices — support full Exchange synchronization without requiring additional hardware, software or licensing costs. More than 8,000 such devices currently synchronize with Purdue’s Exchange, compared to 284 BlackBerry devices, down by more than 300 since January 1, 2011.
In other words, RIM sucks and the iPhone is kicking ass. We’ll support the iPhone and every other device in the world.
So, instead of having one PlayBook that can’t send email, you can have three. I could not make this stuff up if I tried. Here’s the deal.
October 27, 2011
Written by Jim Dalrymple
Air Users Blog:
So, whilst some users were hoping for a price cut, it is sobering to think that some very good people have lost their job, some of whom are people I know personally. One in particular is a hero who has helped tens of thousands of the people in the Pro Tools community over the years, often taking the bullets from us guys over Avid management decisions. You will be missed.
I hate seeing people lose their job.
Written by Jim Dalrymple
It’s free to download for iPhone and iPad.
Written by Jim Dalrymple
Everyone with bejeweled jeans will definitely have one of these.
Written by Jim Dalrymple
Gary Ng:
After you’ve added the Emoji keyboard, or any other keyboard, you’ll notice Siri’s dictate key beside the spacebar changes from dark to light grey. What’s up with this change in colour?
I would never have found this.
Written by Jim Dalrymple
Jon Fingas:
Motorola Mobility pained a dark picture for its tablet strategy with its results on Thursday. The company shipped just 100,000 Xoom tablets in the summer, or less than a quarter of the 440,000 from the spring and less still than the 250,000 from the winter launch. Motorola gave no explanation for the drop.
A possible explanation is that they suck balls.
Written by Jim Dalrymple
HP today announced that it has completed its evaluation of strategic alternatives for its Personal Systems Group (PSG) and has decided the unit will remain part of the company.
As John Gruber said, HP might want to buy Netflix or not. You might even want to throw RIM in there.
Written by Jim Dalrymple
Michael DeGusta:
I went back and found every Android phone shipped in the United States up through the middle of last year. I then tracked down every update that was released for each device – be it a major OS upgrade or a minor support patch – as well as prices and release & discontinuation dates. I compared these dates & versions to the currently shipping version of Android at the time. The resulting picture isn’t pretty – well, not for Android users:
Wow. That’s all I got for that one.
Written by Jim Dalrymple
An excerpt from John Buck’s book “Timeline”:
Jobs approached Adobe Systems, and asked them to create a consumer version of Premiere that Apple could bundle with the unreleased Mac code-named Kihei. With Apple’s future still uncertain, and Premiere sales growing on the Wintel platform, Adobe said no.
Like so many other things, Jobs was driven by a belief that he was right. When Adobe said no, Jobs created the applications division at Apple that gave us so many great apps over the years.
Written by Jim Dalrymple
While maximizing native iPad capabilities like multi-touch and page swiping, SoundCloud’s app takes full advantage of the iPad interface to allow users to touch the newly designed waveform of the sound captured, allowing for a more social experience, which also includes more space for scrolling comments. In addition, users can now record private messages and send them directly to other people on SoundCloud.
I really like what SoundCloud has been doing lately. First the integration with Pro Tools, and now a new iPad app. It’s putting SoundCloud everywhere I am and giving me the ability to use the service without having to think about it. Never underestimate convenience.
