HomeKit products to begin shipping next month

“HomeKit has been available for just a few months and we already have dozens of partners who have committed to bringing HomeKit accessories to market and we’re looking forward to the first ones coming next month,” Apple spokeswoman Trudy Muller said in a statement.

This is great news!

Amplified: I Was Told There’d Be No Math

Jim and Dan talk about Pixelmator for iPhone, Scott Forstall is producing a Broadway musical, Apple Pay is creaming Walmart in the mobile payment war, how to back up your Apple Watch, Facebook begins testing instant articles from news publishers, the American Deluxe Stratocaster HSS Shawbucker, and more.

Sponsored by Squarespace (Use the code GUITARS for a free trial and 10% off).

Hullo — Your favorite pillow. Guaranteed.

My thanks to Hullo for sponsoring The Loop this week. Have you ever slept on a buckwheat pillow? It’s kind of like a beanbag for your head. Hullo includes…

  • Quality construction & materials.
  • Cool, comfortable support.
  • American-made craftsmanship.
  • Free shipping.
  • 60-Night money-back guarantee.

Drop what you’re doing—go and check out Hullo. Try it for 60 nights. If it’s not your favorite pillow, return it for a refund. No-brainer!

2015 Cartoon Art Museum Fundraiser: #NeXTEVNT

Hosted by longtime Objective-C hacker, Pixarian, and CAM board member (in order of seniority: 26 yrs, 22 yrs, 13 yrs) Dr. Michael B. Johnson, this lively evening will feature a number of special guests from back in the day, including former solidThinking developer and current VP of Tools at Pixar Guido Quaroni, ur-NeXTSTEP developer Andy Stone, and several others too shy to let us give out their names (some of whom might work at a local fruit company).

I went to this event last year and will try again this year.

Backing up your Apple Watch

Apple Watch content backs up automatically to your companion iPhone, so you can restore your Apple Watch from a backup. When you back up your iPhone to iCloud or iTunes, your iPhone backup will also include your Apple Watch data.

Some great information here from Apple.

Hullo — Your favorite pillow. Guaranteed. [Sponsor]

Have you ever slept on a buckwheat pillow? It’s kind of like a beanbag for your head. Hullo includes…

  • Quality construction & materials.
  • Cool, comfortable support.
  • American-made craftsmanship.
  • Free shipping.
  • 60-Night money-back guarantee.

Drop what you’re doing—go and check out Hullo. Try it for 60 nights. If it’s not your favorite pillow, return it for a refund. No-brainer!

hullo

Facebook may sue law firms over fraudulent lawsuit

The ruling came a week after what would have been the May 4 start of a criminal trial in Manhattan federal court of Ceglia, a 41-year-old wood pellet salesman from Wellsville, New York.

Instead, Ceglia removed his electronic ankle bracelet in early March and disappeared, along with his wife, two children and a dog. His whereabouts remain unknown.

Paul Ceglia forged documents and claimed Mark Zuckerberg owed him half of Facebook. Ceglia is now a fugitive and Facebook is suing the lawyers. I think it’s great.

Pixelmator for iPhone

Wow! One of my all-time favorite apps will now be available on all of my devices.

Apple’s new environmental initiatives in China

Apple today announced an expansion of its renewable energy and environmental protection initiatives in China, including a new multi-year project with World Wildlife Fund to significantly increase responsibly managed forests across China. The new forestland program aims to protect as much as 1 million acres of responsibly managed working forests which provide fiber for pulp, paper and wood products.

Apple is doing so much more than just releasing products.

A new website for designers and developers

My thanks to Designer News for sponsoring The Loop this week. A new and exciting website has recently been launched for web designers and developers.

You likely spend hours every morning browsing through hundreds of posts on your RSS feeds, hoping to stumble across relevant stories. Designer News was built to provide web designers and developers with a single location to discover the latest and most significant stories on the Web.

They search through hundreds of posts on blogs, social media, and news channels, to deliver the most essential stories of the day. The content covers quality news, fresh tools and apps, case studies, code demos, inspiration posts, videos and more.

With frequent updates throughout the day, you’ll always find something interesting and fun to read.

Click here to visit the Designer News website and subscribe to the newsletter for the latest stories of the day.

Uber bids $3 billion for Nokia’s mapping service

Uber has submitted a bid for Here, the main competitor to Google Maps, for as much as $3 billion, according to three people with knowledge of the offer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Here is owned by Nokia, the Finnish telecom giant, which announced last month that it was considering selling the business.

Makes sense for Uber, but there’s stiff competition to purchase the mapping service.

Amplified: Warm for a Canadian

Jim and Dan talk about Beats Music’s relaunch might hurt Spotify more than others, the new Apple TV remote’s probable touch pad redesign, Microsoft’s emoji additions, the Reserve Strap, Apple’s launch of the ‘Made for Apple Watch’ third-party band program, and more.

Applebot

Learn about Applebot, the web crawler for Apple.

Interesting.

RIP David Morgenstern

Among many other things, David Morgenstern was a long time Mac journalist. He was also a friend. Rest in Peace, David.

Talking watches with Tony Fadell

Tony made the iPod and worked on several versions of the iPhone before leaving Apple. This is when he founded Nest. I have a ton of respect for Tony and his thoughts on products. Note that this interview was done before the Apple Watch came out.

Universal Audio releases Marshall Plexi Super Lead 1959 and Neve 88RS collection

Developed by Softube — and available exclusively for UAD-2 hardware and Apollo audio interfaces — the Marshall Plexi Super Lead 1959 plug-in is an expert emulation of the 100-watt British classic that defined the sound of rock.

And

The Neve 88 Series is a paragon of large-format analog console design. Introduced in 2001, the 88 Series is renowned for its startling depth, airiness, and clarity — deftly encompassing the best of all Neve designs that came before it.

I love the Marshall amp plug-in. Truly great work from UA, again.