Office 365 Personal allows iPad editing

Today we’re announcing that it’s available for purchase–$69.99 USD/year or $6.99 USD/month (ERP)1–online at Office365.com, at Microsoft Stores and through online and retail partners.

An Office 365 Personal subscription allows for one PC or Mac, and one tablet (including iPad) to be connected to the service, and is the best option for individuals interested in using Office 365.

Microsoft is trying, I’ll give them that. It’s a good move on their part.

Pioneer owners can upgrade to Apple CarPlay

Pioneer Corporation today announced one of the first aftermarket in-dash car multimedia systems to provide Apple CarPlay, allowing consumers the ability to upgrade the vehicle they already own to the smarter, safer and more fun way to use iPhone® in the car. CarPlay compatibility will be available in early summer 2014 via a firmware update to the five 2014 NEX in-dash multimedia receivers.

CarPlay is gaining momentum.

Samsung designer denies Apple was an influence

Did Samsung steal its slide-to-unlock feature from Apple’s smartphone software?

“Absolutely not,” said Samsung senior UI designer Youngmi Kim, who has worked on user experience strategy on the Samsung design team since 2004.

Bullshit.

The Lexus Design Award

The Lexus Design Award provides an opportunity for young innovators to showcase their works while receiving feedback from world renowned professionals in the area of design. Through this initiative, Lexus hopes to nurture and support world-enriching creators. 1,157 submissions were received during the application period from August 1 to October 15, 2013. After careful consideration by six judges, 12 winners have been selected. Read on for more information on the designers and their winning entries. The designers of two winning entries will create prototypes of their designs in close collaboration with mentors Arthur Huang or Robin Hunicke.

Backblaze: Backup your data online for $5 a month [Sponsor]

Back up all your data with Backblaze online backup. It’s unlimited, unthrottled, uncomplicated, and unexpensive. At just $5/month for all your data it’s a no-brainer.

Don’t risk losing your music, photos, movies, code, docs and whatever else you’re working on or editing. Backblaze continuously and securely backs up all the data on your computer and external hard drives.

Accessing and restoring files is easy. Quickly download and share files with the iPhone app. Need more of your data back? Use any web browser to download it or have Backblaze FedEx you a flash key or USB hard drive. Whether it’s a broken hard drive, lost external, or a stolen computer, data loss happens all the time. For less than a cup of coffee, just $5/month, Backblaze can back up all the data on your computer. 
It’s easy. Stop putting it off. Start your free trial, and get your backup started today.

BlackBerry seeks to halt sales of Typo keyboards

BlackBerry said in a filing last Friday that the injunction is needed now. “Typo has contradicted its prior sworn statements and has significantly changed the way it does business in an attempt to flood the market with infringing keyboards before entry of the injunction,” BlackBerry said in a filing with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

They should be banned from selling the keyboards. BlackBerry is right on this one.

Lying Google bastards

Remember last week when Android engineering VP, Hiroshi Lockheimer, testified in the Apple vs. Samsung trial and lied his ass off saying, “Google did not look to copy the iPhone when it designed Android.” Lies.

Android.before.iPhone

Betterment: Elegant, straightforward online investing from the “Apple of finance” [Sponsor]

Many thanks to Betterment for sponsoring this week’s RSS feed on The Loop. Imagine if poring over your finances were as easy as using your favorite app, or smartphone. – “The Apple of finance,” Quartz.

Now it is, with Betterment.

Betterment is the most preferred online financial advisor, integrating technology and years of investment expertise in one elegant application already being used by over 30,000 customers. Betterment has eliminated the unnecessary costs and complications of investing intelligently. It’s straightforward investing for all, whether you have $10,000 or $10 million.

Betterment lets you manage multiple investment goals in one delightful place. Our UX and UI are adored by design enthusiasts, separating us from the red tape of other investment providers. Betterment is slick on the outside, with killer technology under the hood, and our free iPhone and Android apps help you stay connected to your diversified portfolio at all times.

Ready to invest? We’re excited to offer readers of the Loop three months of Betterment investment management for free.

420screenshot

A big pile of Google bullshit

A top Android executive testified on Friday that Google did not look to copy the iPhone when it designed Android.

“We like to have our own identity,” Android engineering VP Hiroshi Lockheimer said, testifying in an Apple-Samsung lawsuit currently before a jury in San Jose, Calif.

So before the iPhone, Android looked like the BlackBerry. After the iPhone, Android looked like iOS. Total fucking accident.

Amazon’s smartphone

The company has recently been demonstrating versions of the handset to developers in San Francisco and Seattle. It intends to announce the device in June and ship to stores around the end of September, the newspaper cited the unidentified sources as saying.

This will throw a wrench into the smartphone market. There’s a lot of things we don’t know, like the hardware and which version of Android (I assume) it will use. I have a feeling it will be a low-priced phone, which will put more pressure on other Android handset makers than it will Apple.

Reeder 2 for Mac public beta

I love this app. I’ve been using the beta for maybe a week and it’s solid, although features are still being added.

Samsung caught lying about tablet sales

This week we learned, thanks to a February 2012 internal Samsung document marked “top secret” and unearthed by Apple as part of its ongoing patent infringement proceedings, that we were right and those more credulous news outlets were wrong.

When Strategy Analytics was telling the world that Samsung sold 2 million Galaxy Tabs in six weeks, the truth was that it took Samsung all of 2011 to sell half that many.

Lying, cheating, bastards.

OS X facelift

An interesting article by Peter Cohen on whether OS X should get more of a flat design. It makes sense to me.

BBEdit update

This is one of my favorite apps of all time.

Google opening Glass to the public

Next Tuesday, April 15th at 6am PDT, we’re opening up some spots in the Glass Explorer Program. Any adult in the US* can become an Explorer by visiting our site and purchasing Glass for $1500 + tax – and it now comes with your favorite shade or frame, thanks to feedback from our current Explorers. The number of spots available is limited, so mark your calendar if you want to get in.

Don’t do it.

Amazon acquires comiXology

Amazon.com today announced that it has reached an agreement to acquire comiXology, the company that revolutionized the digital comics reading experience with their immersive Guided View technology and makes discovering, buying, and reading comic books and graphic novels easier and more fun than ever before.