Yearly Archives: 2012

A Kindle at every price

512 Pixels:

In preparing for tomorrow’s podcast, I decided to type up a list of Amazon’s pricing for the Kindles. Here’s the complete list.

I won’t steal the pertinent information from the site (others will though) but before you click through, take a guess at how many price points Amazon has for the Kindle and then guess how many Apple has for the iPad. It’s hard not to imagine that Amazon is creating their own “Paralysis of Choice“. Thanks to Matthew Panzarino for the link.

BlueToad was the source of Apple device IDs leaked last week

. BlueToad:

A little more than a week ago, BlueToad was the victim of a criminal cyber attack, which resulted in the theft of Apple UDIDs from our systems. Shortly thereafter, an unknown group posted these UDIDs on the Internet.We sincerely apologize to our partners, clients, publishers, employees and users of our apps. We take information security very seriously and have great respect and appreciation for the public’s concern surrounding app and information privacy.BlueToad believes the risk that the stolen data can be used to harm app users is very low.

Well….that’s embarrassing.

Apples and Orange: the Kindle Fire HD

TUAW:

…last week…Amazon introduced its new, larger HD (Kindle Fire). With low-cost, built-in LTE, and a $50/year data plan that gives users 250 MB of data per month, it provides a budget alternative to the iPad.No matter how you look at it, the Fire is a bargain.

Agreed but the line “I’ve used the Kindle Fire for a year now. It’s fine. The Android-based OS isn’t particularly horrible” is certainly damning with faint praise.

Oscar Mayer proposes bacon as currency

New York Times:

(Here) comes an actor, comedian and writer, seeking to make his way across the country in the next two weeks with only a dream and, oh, yes, instead of a dollar, a trailer filled with 3,000 pounds of a new bacon.The actor, Josh Sankey, will embark this week on a promotion for the Oscar Mayer division of Kraft Foods that is being called the Great American Bacon Barter.

This is just yet another lame attempt by Corporate America to leverage social media (and use the mainstream media as a promotional tool) and turn something viral. It rarely works and often blows up in their faces.

On the other hand – Bacon. So there’s that.

SonicPics [Sponsor]

Sponsoring The Loop this week is SonicPics.

SonicPics is a fun and engaging digital storytelling app for iOS. Turn your photographs into narrated movies to share with your family and friends!

Check out SonicPics today on the app store.

Do our gadgets really threaten planes?

Wall Street Journal:

On Aug. 31, the Federal Aviation Administration requested public comment on its longstanding policy of prohibiting the use of personal electronics during takeoffs and landings. The restrictions date back to 1991 and were motivated in part by anecdotal reports from pilots and flight crews that electronic devices affected an airliner’s navigation equipment or disrupted communication between the cockpit and the ground. Over the years, however, Boeing has been unable to duplicate these problems, and the FAA can only say that the devices’ radio signals “may” interfere with flight operations.

Gadgets may not but the near constant whining of people who can’t use their iPads and Kindles and can’t entertain themselves for a few minutes might drive some of us insane. Our parents seemed to get along just fine on airplanes without needing to be constantly distracted by electronic gizmos.

Hermit Crab Migration

Steve Simonsen:

This morning I received an urgent telephone call from my good friend Pam Gaffin. She was terribly excited about an event that was happening before her eyes. Pam told me it was a migration of soldier crabs also called hermit crabs and there were millions and millions of them she likened it to the migrations of Serengeti.

At what point do you watch this video and think, “That’s really….CREEPY!!”

Anthrax guitarist turned master watchmaker

Dan Spitz, former lead guitarist for thrash metal band Anthrax, has sold more than 15 million albums, been nominated for 3 Grammy’s, created over 10 studio albums – and now he is recognized as one of the best watchmakers in the world.

That’s just awesome.

Rip-off

People have been comparing the similarities between Apple products and older Braun products. However, there are big differences between that and what Samsung has done. […]

Pro Tools|HD Native Thunderbolt interface

With its elegantly implemented Thunderbolt connectivity, the Pro Tools|HD Native Thunderbolt interface gives producers, engineers, and mixers the incredible sound quality, low latency, and sheer power of the award-winning Pro Tools|HD Native system in a mobile-based hardware solution…

Dragonfly

My buddy Corey Tamas is getting set to record his first album and he has a campaign up on Indiegogo where you can help. Support independent artists, I did.

Ben & Jerry’s sues porn copycats

Ice cream maker Ben & Jerry’s is suing porn makers for trademark violation, after they produced “Boston Cream Thighs” and “Peanut Butter D-Cup.”

Weather 2x

I’d like to thank Weather 2x for sponsoring The Loop’s RSS feed this week.

A distinctively different kind of weather app for iPad and iPhone with stunning Retina-quality visuals and a refreshingly fun and touch centric UI.

Weather 2x is the perfect balance of aesthetics, intuitive functionality and the right amount of detail.

Check out the latest version with great new features including iCloud sync, Twitter & E-mail sharing, local weather detection, and images of Jim’s igloo for when it reaches those sub-zero temperatures.

I’ve been using Weather 2x since it first came out and love it.

Samsung investigated for antitrust violations

South Korea’s antitrust watchdog said Thursday it has launched an investigation into whether Samsung is abusing its dominant position in the wireless market to disadvantage Apple.

It’s been a bad couple of weeks for Samsung.

John Gruber

Businessweek did an article today focusing on Daring Fireball’s John Gruber. Besides being a friend, John has helped me with advice and encouragement when I was redesigning The Loop. There is no doubt he has had a big impact on blogging.