Fake projects at Apple

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Don Melton sets the record straight on whether Apple actually assigns employees to work on fake projects.

Dave Grohl’s SXSW 2013 keynote

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Dave Grohl has become the unofficial Mayor of Rock ‘n’ Roll: a gregarious ambassador who wins armloads of Grammys and even directs a music documentary. Watch Grohl’s keynote address at the SXSW Music Festival in Austin, Texas.

Doctors turning iPhones into microscopes

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Dr. Isaac Bogoch, an infectious disease specialist at Toronto General Hospital in Canada, had seen reports from scientists who turned their smart phones into microscopes. “There were a couple of papers that showed how certain groups were attaching the little ball lenses to their iPhones in a laboratory setting, and they were saying, ‘Hey, you can magnify specimens pretty easily,’” Bogoch told NBC News.

iPads in business

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Since its founding more than a century ago, the company has worked on tens of thousands of landmark projects, including Hoover Dam, the Channel Tunnel, and entire airports in Hong Kong and Qatar.

“Bechtel projects by definition require innovation, because they are things that have not been done before,” says Walker Kimball, Bechtel Senior Vice President. Bechtel’s complex international operations demand powerful, flexible project management tools and support systems. iPad and an array of custom-built and third-party apps connect workers with essential information that helps them meet the company’s exacting efficiency, quality, and safety standards worldwide.

That’s impressive.

EA CEO steps down

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A few other mid and senior-level executives sounded surprised at the changes in just asking around so far. But EA suffered a big black-eye in the last few weeks with the botched launch of Sim City.

Home organization app BrightNest

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BrightNest will help you tackle important home tasks with easy-to-follow instructions, a personal schedule and helpful reminders. From basic maintenance to cleaning tricks to home design ideas, we deliver everything you need to shape up your home and simplify your life.

This could be a very helpful app.

Samsung now has three CEOs

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They appointed two co-CEOs after the Galaxy S 4 event. Apparently they must think that nightmare was a success. The two new co-CEOs will join the existing CEO.

Taking a page from RIM’s playbook (You see what I did there?).

Preschoolians: Where Barefoot Is Best

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I’d like to thank Preschoolians for sponsoring The Loop this week.

Preschoolians is a footwear company for children birth to five years of age. Our footwear most closely resembles being barefoot. Our footwear protects the feet while being sure to stay out of the way.

Our Visu-Fit is a clear panel on the bottom of the shoe which allows parents to know for sure if our footwear fits and when it is time for a new pair. Time Magazine awarded Visu-FIt Invention of the Year.

Our recently introduced E-Photo-Fit allows you to take a photo of the bottom of your child’s foot and know for sure which size to order. We have have the largest selection of footwear in the world for pre-schoolers; in fact billions of choices.

We are the only company which even allows you to custom design the colors using our Design Your Own.

Use the code: theloop to save 20% on your first purchase.

Google Reader’s creator reflects

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“When they replaced sharing with +1 on Google Reader, it was clear that this day was going to come,” he said. Wetherell, 43, is amazed that Reader has lasted this long. Even before the project saw the light of the day, Google executives were unsure about the service and it was through sheer perseverance that it squeaked out into the market. At one point, the management team threatened to cancel the project even before it saw the light of the day, if there was a delay.

Nice article from Om Malik.

Transitioning from Google Reader to Feedly

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I like the people at Feedly and the service. This could be a good alternative to Google Reader and they’ve promised to work with developers, so hopefully apps like Reeder will support the service as well.

Google removes ad blocking software from its store

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According to several sources, Google has started sending notifications to developers with ad-blocking software in the Google Play Store regarding these apps’ removal. Players like AdBlock, AdAway, AdFree and more are being whisked away.

Anyone surprised? Google will let all the Malware in the world in the store, but not ad blocking software.

Google Reader to shut down July 1

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We launched Google Reader in 2005 in an effort to make it easy for people to discover and keep tabs on their favorite websites. While the product has a loyal following, over the years usage has declined. So, on July 1, 2013, we will retire Google Reader. Users and developers interested in RSS alternatives can export their data, including their subscriptions, with Google Takeout over the course of the next four months.

One of Google’s most useful products. Gone.

About those IDC Android tablets passing iPad reports

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As with most numbers about products in the tech market, there should have been some caveats to every story that wrote about IDC’s report on Tuesday that Android-based tablets would overtake the iPad in 2013. Predictably there weren’t. […]

Amplified: Hee-Haw Folks

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Jim and Dan talk about truth in reporting, trusting the news and news agencies, android users in the air, twisting numbers, Rubin stepping down, “cheap” guitars, and more.

Sponsored by Hover (use code DANSENTME for 10% off), Shutterstock (use code DANSENTME3 for 30% off), and Squarespace (use code DANSENTME3 for 10% off).

CaptureAudio for iPhone

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Gone are the days of not being able to categorize your audio recordings and voice memos or remember important moments. With CaptureAudio, your audio recordings can be sorted into binders and notebooks. More importantly, during a recording you can quickly and easily mark significant moments with audio markers called “flags” to immediately start playing from that moment during playback.

I’ve been using this app for a couple of weeks and it’s great.

Riffstation: Great looking app for guitarists

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I’m downloading this today and giving it a try. You can slowdown a song to make it easier to learn how to play, which a lot of apps do, but the app will also show you the chords and when to change when you load an MP3 file into the app. I also like the feature for solos where you can isolate and mute the solo, which means you can play along with the song.

Apple’s Maps being updated often and significantly

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There is no doubt that Apple is working hard on improving its iOS Maps application in the past few months. The results can be seen in an update to the app this week in Japan, but Apple has been steadily releasing updates for countries and cities from around the world. […]