Australian government may be the data source for Maps debacle

Written by

Richard Chirgwin at The Register:

To be blunt, there is a place called Mildura whose location is given as exactly where Apple put it – at least, there is in an authoritative source for such a location.

[…]

In this case, the Australian Gazetteer – the authoritative list of 300,000-plus placenames, complete with coordinates – includes two Milduras. One is the “real” town, the other is an entry for “Mildura Rural City”, coordinates -34.79724 141.76108.

This just keeps getting crazier.

Apple updates Maps, fixing one problem in Australia

Written by

Charles Arthur for The Guardian:

Apple has updated its new maps system after police in Mildura, Australia, said a number of people trying to find the town of 30,000 people became hopelessly lost in the bush in scorching temperatures.

Great that this problem was fixed because it was so serious. I hate to think how many others are still out there.

iPhone 5 gets 300,000 pre-orders in China

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China Unicom is one of two mobile carriers in the country that will be selling the device, and has about 232 million mobile subscribers.

This is huge for Apple.

Pageview Journalism

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This is exactly why Peter, Shawn and I do our best to bring fresh links and articles. We aren’t focused on pageviews, but rather posting things that interest us. Of course, the hope is that they’ll interest you as well.

My thought is that if we continue to provide things worth reading, you will come back. So far, that has proven to be true.

Owning your mistakes

Written by

Brian Lam demonstrates how to own your mistake and move on.

Much respect Brian.

Android malware detector works… 15% of the time

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The latest version of the Android operating system has been called one of the most bug-ridden releases since Honeycomb, although it has also been recognized as the safest version yet.

[…]

Google’s app verification service was found to identify malicious apps only 15.32% of the time, compared to various anti-virus programs that varied from 51% to 100% accuracy.

You have to love progress at Google.

Pantone Color of the Year 2013: Emerald

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Emerald, a vivid verdant green, enhances our sense of well-being further by inspiring insight as well as promoting balance and harmony.

I like purple. They should have chosen purple.

Om Malik talks with Matt Mullenweg

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We discussed a variety of topics, but the conversation kicked off with our growing disgust with the un-customer centric approach of social networks.

Microsoft Silverlight shattered

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Silverlight.net now redirects to a page on MSDN. Some but not all of the content has been migrated to MSDN, but Microsoft has not bothered to redirect the URLs, so most of the links out there to resources and discussions on Silverlight will dump you to the aforementioned generic page.

That’s one way to end a technology.

Redesigning Notification Center

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Alex Saretzky took a shot at redesigning the Notification Center for Mac and iOS. I really like some of his ideas. Tip: Click on the iPhone to play the movie and click on the links to see animations of his ideas.

Doxie Mobile Scanners – Starting at $149 [Sponsor]

Written by

Go paperless with Doxie – the tiny and beautifully designed mobile scanner for Mac & iPad. Doxie scans your paper: simply, automatically, and with no computer required. To scan, just push the button and insert your sheet. Doxie scans anywhere with a simple, elegant design that starts at just $149.

Readers of The Loop get free U.S. shipping and Guaranteed Christmas Delivery for all orders placed through December 19th.

Now available: the cordless Doxie One for just $149, and the rechargeable Doxie Go for just $199.

Apple’s new Causeway Bay, Hong Kong retail store

Written by

Eric Slivka:

The new store will cover three levels and has been reported to encompass approximately 20,000 square feet of space, with the facade including 30-foot tall glass windows currently covered by the curtain graphics. Playing upon the large facade, Apple’s tagline for the premiere is “An opening you simply can’t miss.”

Wow.

Australian police warn tourists not to use iOS 6 Maps

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Mildura Police are urging motorists to be careful when relying on the mapping system on the Apple i-phones operating on the iOS 6 system after a number of motorists were directed off the beaten track in recent weeks.

Local Police have been called to assist distressed motorists who have become stranded within the Murray-Sunset National Park after following directions on their Apple i-phone.

My parents are heading to Australia on vacation in January for more than a month. They will be driving around the country, but I’ll have to recommend they purchase a different mapping system. This is just terrible.

Order one iPad, get five

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Alexa’s boyfriend got an iPad for Christmas from his mother. Well, that’s not quite true. His mother ordered one iPad, and had it shipped to him. What arrived on their doorstep was a very large and heavy box that was big enough to hold five iPads. Because it did.

Thanks Best Buy.

More on “the Steve Jobs patent”

Written by

Matt Macari for The Verge:

The internet was abuzz yesterday with reports that Apple’s infamous “bounce-back” patent, US 7,469,381, was “tentatively invalidated” by the US Patent Office. That’s one of the patents Samsung was found to infringe, and any action by the USPTO will have major consequences. Unfortunately, all those reports were extremely premature —patents can’t be “tentatively invalid,” just like people can’t be “tentatively dead.”

Great explanation of what’s going on and the process involved.