Samsung caught cooking the benchmark books

Written by

Anand Lal Shimpi & Brian Klug for AnandTech:

What this does mean however is that you should be careful about comparing Exynos 5 Octa based Galaxy S 4s using any of the affected benchmarks to other devices and drawing conclusions based on that. This seems to be purely an optimization to produce repeatable (and high) results in CPU tests, and deliver the highest possible GPU performance benchmarks.

Oh Samsung.

Responsive navigation trends

Written by

I just want the navigation on a responsive design big enough so my fingers don’t hit two or three buttons at a time.

Apple still leads mobile profits

Written by

Daniel Eran Dilger for AppleInsider:

Strategy Analytics is attempting to estimate mobile handset profit shares for both companies. While it generated a lot of coverage for its report, the numbers not only don’t reflect reality, but they were further mangled by sloppy reporting from a variety of major tech websites.

I’m shocked. It’s a great article.

An Apple lover selling his iPad

Written by

A lot of people sent me this article by Steve Kovach where he sold his iPad because he no longer used it. I think some expected me to lash out or something, but I don’t have a problem with someone selling their device because it no longer fits into their lifestyle. We all use devices differently and when one of them no longer fits, it’s time to cut it loose.

From LA to San Francisco in 30 minutes on the Hyperloop

Written by

Some of the world’s brightest minds have speculated that a vacuum tube is the only way to do it — but before that idea could even get off the ground, Musk said that the Hyperloop is not based on an evacuated tunnel. With that possibility ruled out, there aren’t actually that many ways of safely and economically propelling carriages at 700 mph (1126 kph). Furthermore, when you factor in Musk’s comments that the Hyperloop “can never crash,” has no need for rails, and is “immune to weather,” the architecture of the system becomes a real head-scratcher. Oh, did I mention that Musk envisions the entire system being self-powered by solar panels, and that it somehow stores energy inside the system itself, without the need for batteries?

The Hyperloop is from Tesla founder, Elon Musk. He is set to unveil the plan on August 12—I’ll be interested to see what it is.

Apple’s Mansfield no longer on Executive Team

Written by

“Bob is no longer going to be on Apple’s executive team, but will remain at Apple working on special projects reporting to [CEO] Tim [Cook],” company spokesman Steve Dowling told AllThingsD. He declined any further explanation, refusing to comment on the reasons behind Mansfield’s surprising move, whether he remains Apple’s SVP of Technologies or whether the company plans to appoint a new executive to that role.

Bizarre.

Eric Clapton

Written by

This is why Eric is one of the best players ever.

Fission Means Simple & Lossless Audio Editing

Written by

Thanks to Fission for sponsoring this week’s RSS feed on The Loop. Fission makes audio editing easy.

meetFS2

Crop and trim audio, paste in or join files, or just rapidly split one long file into many. Fission is streamlined for fast editing. Plus, it works without the quality loss caused by other editors, so you can get perfect quality audio even when editing MP3 and AAC files.

If you need to convert formats, Fission can do that too! You can rapidly export or batch convert files to the MP3, AAC, Apple Lossless, FLAC, AIFF, and WAV formats.

Download a free trial of Fission, then buy it in the App Store or directly through our store.

What. The. Fuck.

Written by

Amazon.com Inc shares hit a record on Friday after quarterly results increased optimism about the Internet retailer’s U.S. business.

The company reported a second-quarter net loss and weaker international growth on Thursday. However, its domestic business expanded quickly and profit in the region improved.

What kind of crazy upside down world are we living in when this happens.

Ballmer admits the Surface RT flopped

Written by

“We built a few more devices than we could sell,” admitted Ballmer when referring to the slow Surface RT sales. Microsoft recently cut the price of its Surface RT tablets by 30 percent worldwide, and Ballmer and Turner reiterated in the internal meeting that the huge writedown was a price adjustment that was necessary to sell Surface RT devices. While Ballmer didn’t provide a sneak peek at the next Surface, we’re told he confirmed new devices are currently being tested with incremental improvements.

So Microsoft took a $900 million writedown because the Surface sucks balls and in response the next version of the Surface will have “incremental improvements.” Perfect.

djay 2

Written by

I recently spent some time with the developers of djay 2], the next-generation DJ software for iOS users. I must say, I was very impressed with the software and the commitment these guys putting into making their software great. […]

Apple wins “Brand of the Year” in three categories

Written by

While many have questioned the post-Steve Jobs fate of Apple, the company continues to hold its spot as a top technology brand across three mainstream categories, according to findings from the 2013 Harris Poll EquiTrend (EQ) study. In its first full year under Tim Cook’s stewardship, Apple took home repeat Brand of the Year distinctions in three categories – Computer, Tablet and Mobile Phone – in the annual study, which measures the perceptions of 38,500+ American consumers on more than 1,500 lifestyle, product and service brands across over 155 categories.

Well that settles it, Apple is doomed.

Instagram ads are coming

Written by

During his company’s quarterly earnings call today, Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg discussed how Instagram will be monetized. The answer isn’t too surprising: there is a big expectation for the app to one day be profititable, and advertising will be the name of the game.

Not a big surprise. You are the product being sold.

Ember

Written by

Realmac has been making great apps for years; Ember is another great example of why they’re a successful company.

More layoffs at BlackBerry

Written by

Not a big surprise, but I always feel bad for the workers. I hate seeing anyone lose their job, especially when it’s because a company is being mismanaged.

Google Chromecast: No thanks

Written by

Dan Nosowitz for Popular Science:

The Apple TV costs $95 on Amazon–a lot more money, sure. But you get a lot more for your money (great interface, stellar hardware, support for the enormously popular Apple store, the combination of apps and a slinging feature), and it’s also important to remember that these gadgets can help you get rid of cable entirely. An Apple TV costs about as much as one month’s worth of cable. Suck it up, guys. It’s not that expensive.

This isn’t to say that I’m not excited by Chromecast; I think slinging is exceptionally cool, and I think it’s great that this hardware so cheap and small. But I don’t necessarily think that a device that does exclusively slinging, no matter how cheap it is, is a viable option for most people. It’s best as part of a larger whole.

I agree with Dan. Google basically implemented Apple’s AirPlay, but that’s all Chromecast does. People expect more from an entertainment device in their home and this doesn’t give it to them. That’s not to say Google won’t sell a lot of them—they will, but that initial interest will fade because it doesn’t solve the problem we have with cable TV using a simplistic solution that everyone can use.

Global Telecom injects JavaScript into Web sites when using 3G

Written by

What Globe Telecom is adding is what they call iToolbar. It’s basically an opportunity for them to track what you do, and inject ads into the sites you go to.

That’s just sleazy, but the best part is their answer to whether they will push unwarranted advertising.

Nexus 7 is the worst tablet

Written by

Dustin Earley for Android and Me in June:

I can’t find one person who has been using the Nexus 7 for an extended period of time, and hasn’t seen a massive downgrade in performance. Just what kind of downgrade are we talking here? I cannot pick up my Nexus 7 without experiencing problems like a lag of ten seconds, or more, just to rotate the display; touches refusing to acknowledged; stuttering notification panel actions; and unresponsive apps.

No wonder people don’t go online with it, they can’t even get it to work.