General Motors Inc (GM.N) said on Monday it will invest $500 million in Lyft Inc and laid out plans to develop an on-demand network of self-driving cars with the ride-sharing service.

The biggest single Detroit-Silicon Valley crossover deal to date comes as automakers work out how to respond to the rush of technology companies such as Apple, Alphabet and Uber – Lyft’s biggest rival – to control cars of the future and likely reshape the global auto industry.

I see why GM invested in Lyft, but I’ll be honest, I don’t trust the quality of GM cars or technology. I’d feel much better if it were Mercedes.

Yahoo Inc was ordered by a Chicago federal judge on Monday to face a class action lawsuit accusing the Internet company of sending unsolicited text messages to Sprint Corp cellphone users in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.

I hate unsolicited texts.

South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics Co Ltd said it expects a difficult business environment in 2016 due to weak global economic conditions and heightened competition in key businesses including memory chips and smartphones.

In a statement on Monday, Samsung said Chief Executive Kwon Oh-hyun told employees in a New Year’s address that low global growth will persist this year, with greater uncertainty stemming from issues such as financial risks for emerging countries.

No need to really say anything about this.

Future Toyota models will offer in-dash infotainment systems compatible with Ford’s SmartDeviceLink system rather than Apple’s CarPlay, the Japanese automaker announced on Monday.

Seems a bit odd considering Ford just starting adopting Apple’s CarPlay.

What if you could get 5% of your day back? What would you do?

You already have enough work to do today and shouldn’t have to waste time looking for the things you need to do your job.

Igloo makes it easy to find what you need, when you need it. And it’s not just for locating your traditional intranet stuff like HR policies and expense forms. It also helps you find experts, talk about problems and share content with your team. So stop digging through your inbox for that file from 3 months back and give yourself the tools you need to do your best work.

Try it yourself or send your IT guy to investigate Igloo, an intranet you’ll actually like.

Thanks to Carbon Copy Cloner for sponsoring The Loop this week. What’s your plan when your Mac’s hard drive dies? Plan ahead and get back to work in minutes with a Carbon Copy Cloner bootable backup. CCC—the app that saves your bacon.

Jim’s Note: I’ve used this app for many years. I trust and love it.

I want to take a minute to thank you all for your support over the last year. The sponsors, the members of the site, The Deck Network and every reader of what we write—we appreciate you all so much.

I’d like to thank Dave Mark and Shawn King for the work they do on the site. They bring another level of expertise and fun to The Loop that has helped the site continue to grow.

I hope you all have a great New Year’s Eve. Please be safe if you’re going out tonight. I want to see you all back here tomorrow, safe and sound.

Jim

Apple may offer higher-than-16/44 and/or lossless music downloads at some point, but it would be neither a scam nor an indicator that they believe in audiophile pseudoscience — it would simply be a response to strong demand from a very profitable market. And as long as Apple’s not serving their demands, they risk losing them to competing ecosystems.

Agreed. Also, If people care about the quality of their music, they should also invest in quality headphones. I use Ear Monitors from Future Sonics.

One thing I’ve learned over the years is preparing a session for your mix is very important. It lays out a clear foundation for what you want to do and puts everything in its proper place. You don’t have to follow these tips exactly, but rather use them, and others, to come up with your own plan.

This spring, with the iPhone 6 selling like hotcakes and the stock trading above $124, Ahmad raised his target (to $85) but not his rating. “We sense,” he wrote, “that the company is over-earning, over-loved and, in our view, the stock should be ‘over-and-out’ soon.”

I truly hate seeing people lose their job, but I am glad to see that there are consequences for analysts that don’t seem to know what they’re talking about.

In court papers filed on Wednesday, Apple Inc (AAPL.O) said Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (005930.KS) owes nearly $180 million in supplemental damages and interest.

These further damages relate to five Samsung devices that infringed Apple’s patents and were sold after a 2012 jury verdict finding Samsung liable in the dispute.

Good. Those thieves should pay every penny.

What’s your plan when your Mac’s hard drive dies? Plan ahead and get back to work in minutes with a Carbon Copy Cloner bootable backup. CCC—the app that saves your bacon.

Jim’s Note: I’ve used this app for many years. I trust and love it.

Thanks to Hullo for sponsoring The Loop this week. A buckwheat pillow is kind of like a beanbag for your head. The hull fill provides unique support that’s superior to soft traditional pillow types. Hullo’s features include:

• Quality construction & organic materials.
• Breathable fill that provides cool comfort all night long. No more flipping to the cool side in the middle of the night!
• American-made craftsmanship.
• Free shipping.
• 60-night money-back guarantee.

Drop what you’re doing—go and check out Hullo. Try it for 60 nights. If it’s not your favorite pillow, send it back to us for a refund.

Universal Audio are simply the best audio plug-ins on the market. They remain true to the analog versions, while giving you the flexibility to make the best music possible. This is all I use.

NSNorth is more than a tech-talk focussed event. It is designed to inspire you to learn something new amongst an encouraging and aspiration-driven group of friends.

I’ve heard great things about this conference. It takes place April 28-30, 2016.

Drum Werks IX is a powerful collection of slow and mid-tempo rock drum loops. A hard rocking addition to Beta Monkey’s versatile Drum Werks line of drum loops and samples, Drum Werks IX offers nearly 600 acoustic drum loops and samples in comprehensive Groove Sets™, from moody 60 BPM vibes through power rock stomping at 90 BPM.

I love Beta Monkey drum loops. They are played by real drummers and recorded in a studio, so your songs sound like your played with a real drummer—because they are. I’ve been buying loops from Beta Monkey for years.

This is kind of cool. You come across a video you want to watch and you bookmark it to Zinc using a Safari extension. You can then bring it up on your Apple TV or other device to watch it later.

“The creation of backdoors and intercept capabilities would weaken the protections built into Apple products and endanger all our customers. A key left under the doormat would not just be there for the good guys. The bad guys would find it too.”

Exactly right. The government—all governments—need to realize that leaving a door open is a door that’s open to everyone, not just law enforcement. They don’t seem to get that.

Good for Apple.

A lot of people have been asking me about guitars this Christmas, so I thought I’d show you the acoustic I’m using. If you’ve ever heard me talk about acoustic guitars, you know I love Taylor—I think they are the best.

The one I’m using is the 612ce 12-Fret. It has a smaller body, which makes it really easy to play, but it’s warm with a huge sound. I’d highly recommend this guitar.

Designed with simple controls, comfortable ergonomics and beautiful filters in mind, allowing you to take photos that are instantly ready to share with the world.

What makes a great camera stand apart is not down to features, per pixel sharpness or the amount of lenses in your bag. What matters is that the camera gets out of the way and lets you take the pictures you want.

I’ve been using this app since it was first released and love it.

.

A buckwheat pillow is kind of like a beanbag for your head. The hull fill provides unique support that’s superior to soft traditional pillow types. Hullo’s features include:

• Quality construction & organic materials.
• Breathable fill that provides cool comfort all night long. No more flipping to the cool side in the middle of the night!
• American-made craftsmanship.
• Free shipping.
• 60-night money-back guarantee.

Drop what you’re doing—go and check out Hullo. Try it for 60 nights. If it’s not your favorite pillow, send it back to us for a refund.

Thanks to Igloo Software for sponsoring The Loop this week. What if you could get 5% of your day back? What would you do?

You already have enough work to do today and shouldn’t have to waste time looking for the things you need to do your job.

Igloo makes it easy to find what you need, when you need it. And it’s not just for locating your traditional intranet stuff like HR policies and expense forms. It also helps you find experts, talk about problems and share content with your team. So stop digging through your inbox for that file from 3 months back and give yourself the tools you need to do your best work.

Try it yourself or send your IT guy to investigate Igloo, an intranet you’ll actually like.

The Deck Network is booking First Quarter and 2016 schedules now. There are efficient packages available for multi-month campaigns and The Deck can offer a nice price to first-time advertisers too. If you want to get your message in front of millions of curious and savvy readers, start your new year marketing right, and drop a note to The Deck.

I use The Deck here on The Loop because they deliver small, tasteful ads and they work with some of the best sites on the Internet.

Great find by Tina Roth Eisenberg. I have cables everywhere that could benefit from this.

Jim and Dan talk about the new Apple Smart Battery Case for iPhone and more Apple news.

Brought to you by:

lynda (Visit lynda.com/thebeard to get free 10-day trial access to their 3,000+ videos)

Braintree (To learn more, and for your first $50,000 in transactions fee-free, go to braintreepayments.com/amplified)

Squarespace (Visit the link and use the code GUITARS for a free trial and 10% off your first purchase)

You can get the new Sonos Controller app from the App Store and try Apple Music on your Sonos system beginning today. I’ve been testing it out for the last couple of weeks and it works just like the other services on Sonos.

Apple senior vice president of software engineering Craig Federighi joins the show for a wide-ranging half-hour discussion about Swift.

Great job.

What if you could get 5% of your day back? What would you do?

You already have enough work to do today and shouldn’t have to waste time looking for the things you need to do your job.

Igloo makes it easy to find what you need, when you need it. And it’s not just for locating your traditional intranet stuff like HR policies and expense forms. It also helps you find experts, talk about problems and share content with your team. So stop digging through your inbox for that file from 3 months back and give yourself the tools you need to do your best work.

Try it yourself or send your IT guy to investigate Igloo, an intranet you’ll actually like.

This is a great idea. I love Pandora’s service—whenever I play a station, I get hit after hit after hit. Brilliant service.

This is a very cool idea. I’m not sure how I feel about having it stuck to the fretboard or what residue might be left over, but this would allow you to make some cool sounds.