∞ PlayBook reviews hit: It's not good news

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RIM’s PlayBook is due to hit stores next week and the first reviews from the big gadgets sites are in. It doesn’t look good for RIM, so far.

Before we take a look at the reviews, let’s take a quick look at how RIM views the PlayBook.

“The BlackBerry PlayBook is an amazing tablet. The power that we have embedded creates one of the most compelling app experiences available in a mobile computing device today,” said Mike Lazaridis, President and Co-CEO at Research In Motion.

Okay, there is our starting place. RIM thinks it’s amazing. Now let’s see what the reviewers say. I’ll take a few quotes from the reviews, so I recommend you go to each site and read the full review. Both reviewers had a few positive things to say too.

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∞ iPad blamed for decline in worldwide PC shipments

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Apple’s iPad isn’t just affecting the tablet market, it’s having an effect on the overall PC market too.

According to market research firm Gartner, worldwide PC shipments were 84.3 million units in the first quarter of 2011, a 1.1 percent decline from the first quarter of 2010. The reason, or at least a big part of it, is Apple’s iPad.

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∞ Apple's Mac market share grows 18.9% in first quarter

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Overall PC shipments fell in the first quarter of 2011 in the United States, but Apple gained.

In fact, Apple’s market share gains were the highest among the top companies, according to a new report from market research firm, Gartner.

Apple shipped 1.25 million Macs in the first quarter of 2010 and 1.49 million in the first quarter of 2011. The company’s market share grew from 7.3 percent in 2010 to 9.3 percent in 2011.

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∞ RIM CEO has another interview meltdown

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RIM co-CEO Mike Lazaridis wasn’t impressed with the way an interview was going with the BBC and terminated the interview.

As soon as the interviewer started asking Lazaridis about security issues with the governments in India and countries in the Middle East, the interview started to fall apart.

“That’s just not fair,” said Lazaridis. First of all, we have no security problems.

Lazaridis went on to explain why he feels people are focused on RIM.

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∞ Apple unveils 64-bit Final Cut Pro X

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Apple on Wednesday unveiled the next major version of its professional video application, Final Cut Pro.

Apple demoed the new software during the SuperMeet at NAB on Wednesday night. According to Macgasm, who has been following several Twitter people attending the event, Final Cut Pro X features full color management via ColorSync.

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∞ Get The Loop on Pulse for iPad

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Until recently the RSS feed at the Loop offered readers the ability to see a summary of a story, but we’ve been working hard to change that.

As many of you already noticed, the RSS feed has been expanded in more ways than one. Not only do we include more of the story, and in some cases all of the story in the RSS feed, we are also including images in the RSS now.

We worked with the folks at Pulse, who make the Pulse News Reader for iPad, to make The Loop’s RSS feed look better in its app. If you use Pulse, give The Loop’s new feed a try and see what you think.

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∞ Windows App Store screenshots leaked

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It’s hard to keep secrets these days. The design of Microsoft’s new Windows App Store is the latest project to be leaked on the Web.

TechCrunch posted supposed screenshots of the company’s Windows App Store that leaked onto the Web. The screenshots are not verified, but if they are real, it certainly shows some more copying of Apple.

It may also explain why Microsoft is fighting Apple so hard to make sure the term “App Store” remains generic.

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∞ Microsoft releases Office for Mac 2011 SP1

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Microsoft on Tuesday released Office for Mac 2011 Service Pack 1, fixing a number of issues and improving security.

According to Microsoft, the update includes fixes for vulnerabilities that an attacker can use to overwrite the contents of your computer’s memory with malicious code.

As outlined when The Loop spoke with Microsoft last week, the biggest new features of SP1 come in Outlook.

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∞ RIM's co-CEOs: 'Whine' and 'Denial'

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RIM shareholders were probably sitting back with their mouths hanging open yesterday as the interview with the company’s co-CEOs hit the Internet.

RIM is one week away from the release of the PlayBook, a product that could make or break the company, and instead of remaining quiet, the CEOs give an interview. Mistake.

I suppose giving an interview isn’t a bad idea if you are a masterful speaker like Steve Jobs, but if your name is Lazaridis or Balsillie, you should avoid interviews like the plague. In a moment of trying to be helpful, I actually recommended this to RIM a couple of weeks ago, but they didn’t listen.

So, what brilliance did we get from RIM? One week away from the PlayBook introduction, what wisdom did the co-CEOs impart on us? Let’s take a look at what Mike “Whine” Lazaridis had to say.

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∞ RIM CEO bitter towards Apple in interview

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The pressure of not being prepared for the tablet revolution may be catching up with RIM co-CEO Mike Lazaridis, as his bitterness shines in a recent interview.

“Why is it that people don’t appreciate our profits? Why is it that people don’t appreciate our growth? Why is it that people don’t appreciate the fact that we spent the last four years going global? Why is it that people don’t appreciate that we have 500 carriers in 170 countries with products in almost 30 languages?,” Lazaridis said in a New York Times interview.

That’s quite a bit of non-appreciation from consumers and market in general, but Lazaridis isn’t that concerned.

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∞ Report: iOS 4.3.2 will fix Verizon iPad 2 issues

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An upcoming update for Apple’s mobile operating system could fix an ongoing issues with the iPad 2 and Verizon.

BGR.com on Monday got its hands on the latest unreleased update, iOS 4.3.2, which it says fixes the Verizon issues. Apple said last week that it was “aware that a small number of iPad 2 customers have experienced connectivity issues with the Verizon 3G network and we are investigating it.”

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∞ Adobe releases Audition CS 5.5 for audio and video pros

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As part of its Creative Suite 5.5 announcements today, Adobe released Audition, its professional audio application.

Part of the Production Premium suite, Audition is a native Mac app that allows users to manipulate, mix and restore audio files. Adobe says Audition is a good tool for video editors, audio engineers, and interactive designers.

With a completely rebuilt audio engine, Audition multiple multitrack sessions and single file edits simultaneously. You can even open and import files in the background — even files that need sample rate conversion — while you continue to work on open projects, according to Adobe.

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∞ Adobe: We have 'no bias between HTML5 and Flash'

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Adobe and Apple’s public battles over HTML5 and Flash have quieted down recently, as Adobe rolls out new tools to work with Apple’s iPhone and iPad.

In announcing Creative Suite 5.5, and more specifically the new HTML5 features found in Dreamweaver, Adobe made it clear that it was all about the content.

Adobe said the new HTML5 tools were implemented “to help customers meet Adobe’s commitment to content. Adobe has no bias between HTML 5 and Flash,” Dave Burkett, Vice President and General Manager, Adobe Creative Suite Design and Web Segments, told The Loop.

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∞ Adobe launches subscription-based pricing for Creative Suite

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Adobe unveiled Creative Suite 5.5 today with lots of new features, but the company also launched new pricing plans.

Calling the new subscription-based pricing plans “affordable and flexible,” Adobe said the new pricing plans will be a good option for users that want to stay current on the new releases.

The new pricing plans will also be good for users that have specific needs for a new project and don’t want to purchase a full suite. Of course, there are many users that may want to try a full Adobe suite for the first time and this will give them that access.

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∞ Adobe announces Photoshop Touch Software Development Kit

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In addition to announcing Creative Suite 5.5, Adobe also unveiled a new Photoshop Touch software development kit (SDK).

According to Adobe, the new SDK allows developers to create mobile and tablet applications that interact directly with Adobe Photoshop CS5 and Photoshop CS5 Extended on the desktop.

Using its own SDK, Adobe developed three new apps for Apple’s iOS: Adobe Color Lava, Adobe Eazel and Adobe Nav. The apps will give developers an idea of what can be done using the SDK to link the tablet and desktop environments.

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∞ Adobe unveils Creative Suite 5.5, new CS release schedule

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Adobe unveiled the latest major release of its Creative Suite product line, introducing many new features in the applications. The company also changed the release schedule for future major releases of the suite.

Calling Creative Suite 5.5 a “mid-cycle product release,” Adobe said it focused on three main areas: Proliferation of Devices; Design and Interactivity; and Monetization.

“Our customers are faced with the opportunity to reach more customers through mobile devices than the desktop,” Dave Burkett, Vice President and General Manager, Adobe Creative Suite Design and Web Segments, told The Loop. “That’s a real game changer.”

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∞ The iPhone platform cycle

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John Paczkowski has an interesting article at AllThingsD today that says that Apple’s iPhone product cycle may be turning into a platform cycle. He also notes that a fall launch of the iPhone would fit in nicely with AT&T’s launch of its LTE network.

And, more importantly, it gives Apple a few more months to align the device with some significant upgrades to the iOS platform, which, as Caris analyst Robert Cihra observes, is increasingly becoming the real “what’s next?” for Apple.

iPhone Product Cycle Now More of a Platform Cycle [AllThingsD]

∞ Best Buy confirms 'upcoming promotion' for iPad 2

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Employees at Best Buy stores were told by managers that they were only to sell iPad 2s to customers that pre-ordered the devices. They were also told to misinform customers about holding the iPad 2 until further notice. In an email to BGR.com today, Best Buy said they were holding the iPad 2 inventory for an upcoming promotion.

Pre-announcing an upcoming Apple promotion is not such a good idea for Best Buy.

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∞ When is a product like the iPhone 5 actually delayed?

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The Internet has been buzzing with stories that Apple’s iPhone 5 has been delayed, but is it actually? Not really.

The Loop first reported last month that Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) would not feature any major hardware news. Instead, the conference would go back to its roots and showcase what’s new for iOS and Mac OS X. In other words, things that are relevant to developers.

Coupled with Apple’s recent history of introducing a new iPhone at WWDC, many news outlets have determined that Apple has delayed the iPhone 5.

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∞ Apple sued for sharing iPhone information with advertisers

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Apple is being sued by two iPhone users who accuse the company of sharing identifying information from their iPhones with third-party advertisers.

Filed in the District of Puerto Rico by Natasha Acosta and Dolma Acevedo-Crespo, the lawsuit claims that Apple and a number of app developers capture the iPhone’s Unique Device ID (“UDID”) — the unique identifying number that Apple assigns to each of its iPhones and iPads — and transmits that information along with the device’s location data to third-party advertisers.

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∞ BGR: BlackBerry Bold Touch hands-on

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Jonathan Geller had a look at the BlackBerry Bold Touch today over at BGR.com. I used the BlackBerry for a couple of years before the iPhone came out — once I made the switch, I never looked back. This one looks a lot like the phone I had years ago, except with a touchscreen.

The BlackBerry Bold Touch also uses a new battery from RIM, so hopefully the addition of a touchscreen to this famous BlackBerry form factor won’t have too much of a negative impact on battery life.

BlackBerry Bold Touch hands-on [BGR]

∞ Open or closed, what's better Android or iOS?

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Everyone seems to be debating the benefits of Google’s Android OS versus Apple’s iOS and which mobile operating system is better.

There are reasons that both sides contend make their operating system the best one to use, but for the most part it’s a personal choice to allow you to get things done. At least that’s what I thought.

I got a call from a friend of mine the other night and we talked for a while before the conversation turned to Google and why he thought it they made a better operating system. I’m paraphrasing, but the conversation went something like this.

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∞ RIM's PlayBook was delayed a month because of Apple

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A report on Monday says that RIM’s PlayBook tablet release was delayed because Apple bought all available touch screen displays.

RIM had apparently planned to release the PlayBook sometime in mid-March, but because Apple had already book all the touch panels, the company had to postpone the launch, according to DigiTimes.

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∞ Google's Andy Rubin defends Android, maintains it's open

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Google’s Vice President of Engineering, Andy Rubin, on Monday posted his thoughts on recent news that Google was clamping down on its partners that want to change Android.

Last week reports surfaced that Google now required a partners changes to Android to be approved by Rubin. The change affected many big names like Facebook and Verizon, but more importantly seemed to go against Google’s openness.

In response, Rubin says that device makers are free to modify Android, but then adds a caveat.

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∞ Zapd lets you create Web sites on your iPhone

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It’s not very often that you hear good customer service stories, so a friend told me how good he was treated by PressPlane, I decided to give them a shout out. The company makes an app called Zapd that allows you to make Web sites or “Zaps” directly from your iPhone. It’s a free app and they say that you can create as many sites as you like.

Zapd has over a dozen “themes” to choose from that change the website’s colors, fonts, layout and overall look and feel. New themes are released all the time. The results are gorgeous and are optimized for use on a phone, tablet, and of course, a computer.

Zapd on the App Store

∞ Line 6 unveils the Pod HD Desktop

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Line 6 on Wednesday introduced the newest device to its HD line of Pod products, the Pod HD Desktop.

The new Pod will be familiar to users of Line 6’s older units — it has the same shape, but newer technology. The uses the HD technology that Line 6 developed for its floor model HD units released late last year.

The Pod HD Desktop has the ability to deliver great tone with models of the Fender Twin Reverb, Hiwatt Custom 100, Supro S6616, Gibson EH-185, Divided by 13 JRT 9/15, Dr. Z Route 66, Vox AC-30 (Top Boost), Marshall JTM-45 MkII, Park 75, Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier, ENGL Fireball and many more.

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