Google retail stores

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Seth Weintraub:

An extremely reliable source has confirmed to us that Google is in the process of building stand-alone retail stores in the U.S. and hopes to have the first flagship Google Stores open for the holidays in major metropolitan areas.

Here’s what I don’t understand — Google hates talking to its customers, so what are they going to do in a retail store? Obviously, they will have workers in those locations, but having retail stores means having an infrastructure of people. Sometimes people that have to talk to customers.

HTC One

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“We think it’s time to shake things up in the smartphone space,” Mike Woodward, President of HTC America, told ABC News in an interview. “We have decided to come out and reinvent the smartphone.”

HTC is using “Generation Feed,” or those of us keep looking at out phones.

Apple’s consumer technology revenue

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Apple’s revenue [19.9%] easily beat out rival Samsung, which came in second with 9.3 percent, up from 7 percent in 2011. The rest of the top five saw their share of revenue fall in 2012: HP dipped from 8.9 percent in 2011 to 8.2 percent last year, while Sony and Dell both slid to 4.4 percent and 3 percent, respectively.

That is an incredible number.

App.net and its incentive program

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The slowdown was unsurprising for a network with roughly 30,000 users. So, in order to keep revenue coming, Mr Haddad made Netbot free. But rather than sell his users out for a pittance to online ad men, he took advantage of App.net’s incentive programme. Each month the social network currently divvies up $20,000 in cash among its most active developers, based on usage patterns and a monthly survey of users’ opinion.

Very smart.

BBEdit [Sponsor]

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BBEdit 10.5 from Bare Bones Software — The leading professional HTML and text editor for the Mac just keeps getting better. Now with Retina support and many other improvements — download the demo and see for yourself!

I’ve been using the app since 1994.

Skeuomorphism and busting myths

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Not everything that Apple does in software design can be classified as Skeuomorphism. Louie Mantia does a good job of explaining it.

Loyalty

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Seth Godin:

Some organizations demand total fealty, and often that means never questioning those in authority.

Those organizations are ultimately doomed.

Totally agree.

Iconic Ocean Way Studio sold

Written by

Bobby Owsinski:

Ocean Way has a long history in the music world. Starting as one of the first independent recording studios in 1957, the studio was called United (then later United Western) and was originally owned by audio pioneer Bill Putnam (inventor of the UREI line of audio gear) with the backing of superstars of the day Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby.

Some of the best albums in the world were recorded at Ocean Way. I visited the studio a couple of times and it is an amazing place — I hope they keep it open, not only for recording, but because of its historic significance.

Squarespace

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My thanks to Squarespace for sponsoring this week’s RSS feed on The Loop.

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Jonathan Ive gets gold Blue Peter badge

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The BBC’s Blue Peter programme has honoured Apple’s design chief Sir Jonathan Ive with its highest accolade – the gold Blue Peter badge.

Congrats Jony.

Toontrack Blues drumkit

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The Blues EZX comes with two complete kits; a 1970s Gretsch and a calfskinned Swedish Levin set from the 1940s. On top of that, it features contemporary Paiste and Sabian crashes, vintage Zildjan A and K series cymbals as well as extras such as a suitcase and a set of calfskinned tambourines.

I love Toontrack’s drums.

Being a great designer

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Daniel Eden:

Let me begin by telling you the single most important thing you can do for yourself — recognise your fucking self worth. If you can’t value your own work, then who the hell will?

[Via Michael Mulvey]

Microsoft has no “Plan B” for Surface

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Given Microsoft’s lack of success so far, he was asked if there was an alternative strategy or ‘Plan B’ in reserve.

“It’s less ‘Plan B’ than how you execute on the current plan,” said Klein. “We aim to evolve this generation of Windows to make sure we have the right set of experiences at the right price points for all customers.”

I have a lot of respect for a company that is so confident in its product line that it goes all in. Having a “plan B” means that in some way you aren’t fully committed to the future of the product.

Of course, if you do that, you better be right. In this case, I’m not sure Microsoft is right.

Apple comments on iPhone passcode bug

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Reports of a bug in iOS 6.1 that would allow users to gain access to an iPhone by entering certain keys on the device have come out over the past couple of days. Apple responded on the issue today. […]

iOS 6.1 Passcode bug

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Yesterday, Jailbreak Nation highlighted a bug with iOS 6.1 that allows users to bypass a passcode lock on an iPhone to access the phone function and contacts on the device. While the bug allows only limited access to the device and can require several attempts to achieve the correct timing to exploit, it is gaining significant attention today.

Having this kind of bug in the OS is certainly not good and Apple needs to fix it ASAP. I still don’t understand how do people figure this stuff out?

Hedge funds responsible for Apple stock decline

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Some of the biggest hedge funds that helped make Apple Inc a stock market darling lost faith and dumped their stakes in the fourth quarter, fueling the massive drop in the iPhone maker’s share price.

Noted stock pickers including Leon Cooperman and Thomas Steyer unloaded billions of dollars of Apple shares between Sept. 30 and Dec. 31, according to disclosure documents filed on Thursday.

Apple files response to shareholder lawsuit

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Apple filed its formal response to the lawsuit initiated by Greenlight Capital’s David Einhorn and blasted the complaint as being without merit and nothing less than an attempt to hold shareholders “hostage” by forcing Apple to acquiesce to a specific plan for the issuing of preferred shares that would primarily benefit Greenlight Capital.

This is going to be interesting.

Don’t be evil Google

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Let me make this crystal clear, every App purchase you make on Google Play gives the developer your name, suburb and email address with no indication that this information is actually being transferred.

Perhaps “watch” is the wrong word

Written by

Dave Caolo:

Imagine that Apple isn’t specifically designing a watch, but the next step in its portable devices. Something that does much of what iOS devices do today, only in a novel way, and is smaller than current devices.

Some great thoughts.

Stupid Xbox

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Nat Brown, one of the founders of the Xbox, rails on Microsoft.

This is one crazy-ass analyst

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Cult of Mac put together some of Jefferies analyst Peter Misek’s predictions over the past couple of years. How does this man still have a job?