Apple planning event for end of January

Written by

Kara Swisher:

According to sources close to the situation, Apple is planning an important — but not large-scale — event to be held in New York at the end of this month that will focus on a media-related announcement.

Yep.

Instashuffle

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Many thanks to Instashuffle for sponsoring this week’s RSS feed on The Loop. Instashuffle is a way to browse Instagram in an endless image stream. And it is now free. On the App Store for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad with iOS 5 and later.

Can you hear me now?

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Dwight Silverman: The wireless carrier [Verizon] has dropped plans to charge $2 for payments made on its website or over the phone. Verizon announced Thursday it would charge the fee, but backed off a day later in the wake of … Continued

Apple’s Jonathan Ive awarded knighthood

Written by

BBC:

Jonathan Ive, Apple’s head of design, has been awarded a knighthood in the New Year Honours list.Mr Ive, who can now style himself Sir Jonathan, has been made a Knight Commander of the British Empire (KBE).

Very nice, congrats to Jonathan.

MTD Bass All-Star Benefit Concert and Charity

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MTD Bass (a.k.a. Michael Tobias Design) announced the creation of its new charitable non-profit organization, MTDLYFE, Inc.. MTD will host The First Annual MTD Family Reunion Benefit Concert and CD release party at The 2012 NAMM Show on Saturday, January 21st, 2012 at JT Schmid’s in Anaheim, CA. All proceeds will benefit non-profit organizations that provide support for musicians, MusiCares and H.E.A.R. Contributions from the musicians, manufacturers and vendors, include support from Bass Player Magazine, Dana B. Goods, Epifani and Gallien-Krueger, MTD Bass will feature many of the company’s most notable artists, including Andrew Gouche, Bubby Lewis, Norm Stockton, Jerry Watts, and more performing live, plus on the double CD set available during the event.

I know people at MusiCares and H.E.A.R. This is a cause that is well worth your support. There is a PayPal link on the site where you can donate as much as you want — even a couple of dollars would help.

I plan to attend the benefit concert next month.

Idiot

Written by

Ben Brooks:

That’s not that hard to understand and the fact that Wasserman can’t understand that shows why is opinion isn’t really that interesting. He then devolves to talking about Kelly Clarkson and Ron Paul… yay?

I love it that Ben speaks his mind.

Review: Line 6 Pod HD500

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I’ve been using Line 6 gear for many years and have watched them grow into one of the best amp modeling companies in the business. The Pod HD500 stompbox is yet another success in the Line 6 arsenal.

The HD500 is a lot of things bundled in one box. It’s an audio interface to your computer; an amp modeler; effects modeler; and a stompbox that can connect to your amp or PA. Basically, it’s a unit that’s built to do it all […]

Kindle sales: The devil is in the details

Written by

Marco Arment:

In fact, all Amazon has said is:
  • They’ve sold at least 4 million Kindles, total, this month.
  • The Kindle Fire is the top-selling model.
But the Kindle has between 5 and 10 models, depending on how Amazon counts them.

The devil is in the details.

A Guide to Backing Up Pinboard

Written by

Marcelo Somers:

So with so much dependency on all this, I knew I needed to save this stuff. If Pinboard disappeared tomorrow, I need a way to access this stuff I’m saving. Maciej Ceglowski, developer of Pinboard, gives you the option at any time to export all your items as HTML, XML, or JSON. Data portability is good. However, there’s no automated option to do this.So I came up with a way to automate everything. This is an idiot’s guide to do it, since I’m by no means a pro at this stuff – I just poke around until I can make it work.

Businesses will flock to iPads in 2012

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“The iPad, just as it is in the consumer market, is synonymous for ‘Tablet’ in the business market,” he wrote in Thursday’s e-mailed press release, “leaving Apple poised to take advantage of the increased spending intentions of these SMBs. NPD’s research shows that iPad purchase preference is higher among larger firms than smaller ones, which is an important indicator that Apple is gaining traction far outside its typical consumer space.”

Van Halen announce 2012 Tour

Written by

Rolling Stone:

Van Halen may still be cagey about whether they will release a new album on Interscope sometime in 2012, but they have announced plans to tour through the year with original frontman David Lee Roth.

Van Halen with David Lee Roth was one of the best bands of all time.

Review: BFD Eco drum software instrument

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I’ve been using BFD Eco for the last few weeks as my main drum software instrument. Eco is FXpansion’s scaled down version of BFD 2, the company’s flagship product and one that I have used for many years.

Typically when someone says scaled down, people automatically think crippled. In a lot of cases, you would be right, but not so with BFD Eco. I was very impressed with the features, interface and the way the software worked for me in Pro Tools 10 […]

Apple top online electronic retailer

Written by

AppleInsider:

Among electronics retailers, Apple was first with a score of 83, followed by Newegg.com with 82 points. The Cupertino, Calif., company also took the top spot among electronics retailers last May.

Not a big surprise.

Infographics and lazy journalism

Written by

TNW:

I’m not saying that infographics should be banished from the Web. There are plenty of great ones being created by the likes JESS3, and startups often publish ‘Here’s how fast we’re growing!’ visualisations which are newsworthy and well worth sharing, but until journalists and bloggers stop being lured by the quick hit of sub-par infographic, without being 100% certain they know what they’re linking to is correct and well-researched, the plague will continue.

Definitely some good points in there.

Apple could get $10 per Android phone sold, but would lose its edge

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Bloomberg posted an article today saying that Apple should start looking at settling its many patent lawsuits or lose out on potential income from licensing.

The company could probably collect as much as $10 in royalties for every device sold, more than the amount analysts speculate Microsoft (MSFT) receives from Samsung and HTC, which use its mobile technology, said Rivette at 3LP.

I don’t agree with the premise at all […]

Designing for your target audience

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Your business and your clients depend on the visuals you make—if they end up being non-effective, that tends to be a direct reflection of your work. Once again, you want to make sure you are working smart (by doing your research and utilizing it), rather than working hard (creating a bunch of blind visuals hoping someone picks it up).

Getting your Mac news from a guy that dresses like a hobo

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Macworld posted its Pundit Showdown XIV today and as always, it’s worth a listen. This show is a little different, at least for Peter and I, as Macworld’s Phil Michaels describes what it’s like getting his “Mac news from a guy that dresses like a hobo.”

He also mentions the beard and something about Peter’s pants. The part about Peter and I is at about 16:00 in, but listen to the who thing and have a laugh.

10 Good Minutes

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On today’s The Loop, Jim Dalrymple posted a story called “Disagreements and comments. I found it interesting if only because I’m a big fan of a web site that has a well run commenting system.Jim agreed to do 10 good minutes with his thoughts on commenting in general and on The Loop specifically.

Italy fines Apple for misleading customers

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Italy’s anti-trust body has fined units of U.S. technology group Apple Inc a total of 900,000 euros for failing to adequately inform customers about their rights to product guarantees and assistance.

‘Say good morning to Jimmy Hoffa, boys’

Written by

New York Post:

“When Tony Jack passed the middle point of the bridge… he nodded toward the huge tower’s foundation,” Humphreys writes.“Say good morning to Jimmy Hoffa, boys,” he said.