IK Multimedia releases Saturator X

The effect of Saturation, or the introduction of harmonic distortion, on an audio track or mix can add that certain special “flavor” and “warmth” that only magnetic tape, tubes, transformers or transistors can deliver. The T-RackS Saturator X delivers that classic analog saturation and takes you on a trip back in time to the birth of “modern” recording before computers and opens your recordings to the mysterious, elusive and warm world of analog saturation.

There really is something special about saturation.

Dorico: Steinberg’s new music notation software

Dorico redefines the gold standard in scoring software. Its musical intelligence is like having an expert assistant by your side, while its intuitive workflows help you focus on each aspect of score preparation. Dorico’s output equals the finest music engraving, and brings music to life through Steinberg’s award-winning audio engine.

Steinberg has year’s of experience in the music industry—I expect good things from them with this software.

Associate: Simple Affiliate Linking for Amazon

With the Amazon Associates program you can link to products sold on Amazon to earn commissions on purchases made with those links. The trouble is, creating those links is a hassle on iOS. Associate fixes that with easy to use search and link conversion.

The developer, John Voorhees, is a great guy that develops great software.

Apple set to invest in India as Tim Cook visits

Apple Inc is set to announce plans to expand its Indian software development center and build an accelerator program for local start-ups, two sources aware of the investment said on Tuesday, hours before Chief Executive Tim Cook’s maiden visit.

Cook, who arrives in India late on Tuesday, is making his Indian debut just as the country emerges as one of the last large growth markets in the smartphone world, while sales in the United States and China begin to taper off.

This is a big investment trip for Apple. First China, now investments in India. It’s smart to become part of the economies where they want to sell products.

China targets Apple, U.S. tech companies in security reviews

Apple and other companies in recent months have been subjected to reviews that target encryption and the data storage of tech products, said people briefed on the reviews who spoke on the condition of anonymity. In the reviews, Chinese officials require executives or employees of the foreign tech companies to answer questions about the products in person, according to these people.

This must be worrisome for foreign companies. This isn’t an Apple specific issue, so I hope people don’t overreact to this news.

Apple Pay rival CurrentC postpones rollout

As merchants like Walmart move ahead on their own mobile payment strategies, a consortium that once counted Walmart — along with a number of other big retailers and brands — behind it, has taken a step back. Merchant Customer Exchange (MCX) today announced it would postpone a nationwide rollout of CurrentC, a smartphone payment initiative originally conceived as a mobile wallet rival to smartphone-led services like Apple Pay and Android Pay. As a result, MCX said it would lay off 30 people as it shifted its focus to working with financial institutions.

It’s dead, just cancel it.

Twitter to stop counting photos and links in character limit

The change could happen in the next two weeks, said the person who asked not to be named because the decision isn’t yet public. Links currently take up 23 characters, even after Twitter automatically shortens them. The company declined to comment.

Of all the changes that Twitter has talked about, I love this one. It’s a small, but significant change.

Tim Cook visiting India this week

Cook’s visit, following a trip to China, comes at a crucial time as Apple looks for new growth markets after posting its first ever decline in iPhone sales, and as India has denied it permission to sell refurbished phones – a move seen as key to appealing to price-sensitive local consumers.

This makes perfect sense considering how much Tim has talked about India lately.

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway takes $1 billion stake in Apple

The gamble hints at Berkshire’s confidence in Apple’s ability to create new products that reignite revenue growth. That may either come with the iPhone 7, set to be introduced later this year, or in new product categories such as autonomous driving or virtual reality hardware.

I think that’s a good bet.

Apple updates iTunes

You can get the new Mac version by opening the Mac App Store and checking for updates. Version 12.4 adds some navigation and menu changes that Apple characterizes as a “simpler design.”

Google faces $3.4 billion fine in Europe antitrust case

The European Union has accused Google of promoting its shopping service in Internet searches at the expense of rival services in a case that has dragged on since late 2010.

Several people familiar with the matter told Reuters last month they believed that after three failed attempts at a compromise in the past six years Google now had no plans to try to settle the allegations unless the EU watchdog changed its stance.

The Podcast Digest episode with Jim

I joined Dan Lizette on The Podcast Digest last week. We had a great discussion about podcasts, history, and some other interesting topics.

UK working on putting your drivers license in Apple’s Wallet app

It looks like drivers in the UK could soon be able to store their driver’s license within Apple’s Wallet app on iPhones as CEO of the country’s Driver Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) today shared the image of the work in progress feature above.

This is pretty cool.

IK Multimedia releases VocaLive 3

VocaLive lets you create amazing vocal effects by chaining up to 4 effects procesors into a single effects chain, just like you would in the studio. Use VocaLive on stage as your own personal controllable vocal effects processor adding lush reverbs, delays, multi-part harmonies, creative effects and more, all at your fingertips. VocaLive also lets you record up to 8 tracks of audio simultaneously and is perfect for tracking vocals with multi-track class compliant USB audio interfaces.

IK makes some great software and hardware for iOS and Mac.

Apple’s shorter app review times

Apple Inc. has cut the approval time for new submissions to its App Store from more than a week to less than two days.

Phil Schiller.

Facebook’s guide to how its ‘Trending Topics’ tool works

Instructions in the documents appear to contradict Facebook’s earlier denials of a Gizmodo article that said Facebook editors directly inserted headlines into the trending news widget. It also contradicts what Facebook told Recode last summer.

Facebook’s bias Is built-in

Farhad Manjoo:

Facebook is the world’s most influential source of news.

That’s true according to every available measure of size — the billion-plus people who devour its News Feed every day, the cargo ships of profit it keeps raking in, and the tsunami of online traffic it sends to other news sites.

But Facebook has also acquired a more subtle power to shape the wider news business.

It’s scary how powerful Facebook is these days.

Uber, Lyft leave Austin

Having lost a referendum over whether they would be regulated by the local government, the ride-sharing companies Uber and Lyft followed through on their threat to effectively fire 10,000 drivers and strand thousands of customers who had come to rely on them for transportation in this hot, spread-out, car-centric city.

I love Uber and Lyft. I use both services quite often.