This is an incredible story and one of the reasons I love Apple so much. They care and they do things to help.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has assured law enforcement across the United States that it will help unlock mobile devices such as iPhones involved in investigations when it is allowed by law and policy.

I’m thinking local law enforcement expected a bit more cooperation than this.

I love Field Notes notebooks. Whenever I go to an interview or an event, this is what I take with me. Normally, I order the original 3-pack beige notebook. Today, I went crazy and ordered “Pitch Black.”

I recently went to Yosemite for the CoacoConf conference and took some pictures with my DxO ONE 20.2 megapixel camera for iPhone. I’m not a great photographer by any stretch, but I do love this camera. I thought I’d share some of the pictures I took on my walk. […]

Holy shit, the thief got pissed off and emailed the company he stole the software from. People are absolutely crazy.

Volvo’s North American CEO, Lex Kerssemakers, lost his cool as the automaker’s semi-autonomous prototype sporadically refused to drive itself during a press event at the Los Angeles Auto Show.

“It can’t find the lane markings!” Kerssemakers griped to Mayor Eric Garcetti, who was at the wheel. “You need to paint the bloody roads here!”

I doubt this will get fixed any time soon.

Releasing the new iPhone SE was a clever business move from Apple that will satisfy a segment of customers that didn’t want the larger iPhone 6 design. I believe it will also satisfy many of the customers that did upgrade to the larger iPhones when they were released. […]

Zakk is one of the most amazing guitarists I’ve ever had the pleasure to spend time with. As his new acoustic album shows, he’s also one of the most versatile singer/songwriter/guitarists in the business.

Moments after successfully unlocking the San Bernardino iPhone, the F.B.I. rendered the phone permanently useless by spilling a glass of water on it, an F.B.I. spokesman confirmed on Tuesday.

I nearly chocked because I was laughing so hard.

I love the quality of the company’s products. I have several bags from them for my MacBook and other devices.

The U.S. Department of Justice will disclose over the next two weeks whether it will continue with its bid to compel Apple Inc to help access an iPhone in a Brooklyn drug case, according to a court filing on Tuesday.

I suspect they’ll try the same method they used with the San Bernardino and go from there. As others have said, this battle is from over.

Whether it’s calling mom or ordering take-out, we rely on our phones to help reach the people and things that matter. And while mobile phones have pushed us toward the future, home phone service is still important to many families. Landlines can be familiar, reliable and provide high-quality service, but the technology hasn’t always kept up. That’s why today, we’re introducing Fiber Phone as a new option to help you stay connected wherever you are.

This isn’t something that appeals to me, but I can see how it’s still important to a lot of people.

I love my iPads and I use them all the time for work, and while I’m lounging around, but still want to stay connected. There is no doubt that the 9.7-inch iPad Pro is very powerful, but there are some things, for me, that made this a standout release. […]

Here is the statement Apple provided to me tonight. I think it says all that needs to be said:

From the beginning, we objected to the FBI’s demand that Apple build a backdoor into the iPhone because we believed it was wrong and would set a dangerous precedent. As a result of the government’s dismissal, neither of these occurred. This case should never have been brought.

We will continue to help law enforcement with their investigations, as we have done all along, and we will continue to increase the security of our products as the threats and attacks on our data become more frequent and more sophisticated.

Apple believes deeply that people in the United States and around the world deserve data protection, security and privacy. Sacrificing one for the other only puts people and countries at greater risk.

This case raised issues which deserve a national conversation about our civil liberties, and our collective security and privacy. Apple remains committed to participating in that discussion.

Though Apple hasn’t announced any official sales figures, preorders for the iPhone SE are said to have exceeded 3.4 million so far in China alone, according to data from local retailers.

These aren’t official numbers, but they are very strong preorder sales.

The guys at Pro Tools Expert take a look at Pro Tools 12.5 and its new Cloud Collaboration feature. It seems to work better than they expected.

“We need your help!” the Federal Bureau of Investigation said in a confidential “Flash” advisory that was dated March 25 and obtained by Reuters over the weekend.

Ransomware is malicious software that encrypts a victim’s data so they cannot gain access to it on their computers, then offers to unlock the system in exchange for payment.

Sometimes I get confused. The FBI wants us to be safe and secure, but other times they want a dangerous master key which would make us all less secure.

This week, Jim and Merlin talk about the recent Apple event, including Apple’s messaging on environmental improvements and user privacy. Also, some talk about the evolution of Apple’s Health initiatives, why Merlin’s wearing two watches, and why your hosts like sitting down.

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links

• Apple, the environment, and our health
• Apple – Press Info – Apple Advances Health Apps with CareKit
• “TED CRUZ” — A Bad Lip Reading – YouTube
• Heaven & Hell (band) – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
• Heaven and Hell (Black Sabbath album) – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I took this picture in the hands on area after the Apple event on Monday. It’s actually the Space Black watch with the Space Black Milanese band, but the way the lighting was in the room, it turned into total gold. I thought it was interesting.

Apple Inc said the U.S. Justice Department’s new attempts to unlock an iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino shooters without the tech giant’s help could eliminate the government’s need for its assistance in a similar dispute in New York.

And

“On the other hand, if the DOJ claims that the method will not work on the iPhone here, Apple will seek to test that claim, as well as any claims by the government that other methods cannot be used,” Apple said in the letter.

If there is a flaw in its encryption, Apple wants to know what it is so it can lock it down. Makes perfect sense.

My Thanks to Marketcircle for sponsoring The Loop this week. Marketcircle develops small business apps exclusively for Mac & iOS. Daylite is a CRM & Project Management app. Billings Pro is a time-tracking and invoicing app. Daylite and Billings Pro are great for solopreneurs and SMBs from freelance designers to consultants and law firms. Work offline. Sync in the cloud. Visit Marketcircle’s website to learn more.

The Journal quoted Netflix as saying it had limited its videos to most wireless carriers across the globe, capping them at 600 kiliobits-per-second, to “protect consumers from exceeding mobile data caps.”

Okay, certainly not good without letting people know, but if you’re watching on a phone, you probably wouldn’t notice a quality difference.

“We’re outraged to learn that Netflix is apparently throttling video for their AT&T customers without their knowledge or consent,” Jim Cicconi, AT&T senior executive vice president of external and legislative affairs wrote in an email.

That made me laugh out loud. AT&T would probably do the same thing if they thought they could get away with it.

Apple, in a statement given to Rene Ritchie:

Updating some iOS devices (iPhone 5s and earlier and iPad Air and earlier) to iOS 9.3 can require entering the Apple ID and password used to set up the device in order to complete the software update,” an Apple spokesperson told iMore. “In some cases, if customers do not recall their password, their device will remain in an inactivated state until they can recover or reset their password. For these older devices, we have temporarily pulled back the update and will release an updated version of iOS 9.3 in the next few days that does not require this step.”

There’s also a support article.

I never really considered all of the data these cars would collect and how it would be used.

I remember beta testing OS X. That first demo that Steve Jobs did on stage was amazing, but it took a few versions to reach its full potential.

U.S. officials said on Thursday that they are hopeful they will be able to unlock an iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino shooters without help from Apple Inc, but said the national debate over privacy and encryption must still be resolved.

I still think that if the government thought it could have won the case, it wouldn’t have vacated the court date. Either way the judge rules, it will set a precedent. It seems to me the government wasn’t confident enough to move forward.

One of my favorite bands of all time. Dave Mark sent this to me this morning and I couldn’t stop watching it.

Like most people on Monday, I was focused on the hardware product announcements at Apple’s special event, but there were some other very significant announcements by Apple executives, Lisa Jackson and Jeff Williams. […]

You can now watch yesterday’s keynote address on Apple’s Website.

iOS 9.3 also adds support for playing video encoded with Dolby Digital Plus audio streams with support for multichannel output using the Apple Lightning® Digital AV Adapter.

This is significant news that slipped my attention yesterday. Listed in the iPad Pro press release under “Pro audio” is support for Dolby. I love Dolby and always have—I can’t wait to see how this sounds.