Coded CSS icons have some significant advantages over icon fonts or static images. CSS icons are a part of the DOM and unless you’re using a CSS icon library like Icono, they don’t require another HTTP request. Just like font icons, CSS icons can be colored by CSS and You can also animate the icons in an easy, smooth way without much effort.

Low is live video texting you can do from anywhere without being overheard. More fun than plain texting. Less awkward than video chat.

We have some sponsorships available on The Loop, including a last minute cancellation for this week that I’ll sell at a great deal. If you want to get your product or service in front of the wonderful readers of The Loop, get in touch with me.

Jim and Merlin talk about procrastination, software privacy, and swap live-performance horror-stories.

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I understand that Macminicolo is looking for your business, but this article brings up some good alternatives if you want to get away from Google and its tracking.

Thanks to SVALT for sponsoring The Loop this week. The SVALT D Performance Cooling Dock is for anyone requiring the best performance from their Apple laptops, and wanting to create the ultimate professional laptop workstation.

Apple Inc’s financing plan for its new iPhones is likely to force U.S. carriers to work harder to win and retain customers.

Apple has done great things for customers when it comes to the carrier relationships.

Malicious apps that disable Android phones until owners pay a hefty ransom are growing increasingly malevolent and sophisticated as evidenced by a newly discovered sample that resets device PIN locks, an advance that requires a factory reset.

The has to be the most fucked up OS in history.

September 9 was a massive day for Apple. As I sat in the audience watching Tim Cook and Phil Schiller launching product after product, it struck me that Apple had really focused on the details with all of its latest releases—both software and hardware. That’s important for Apple because I believe that’s where one of the company’s main competitive advantages lies. […]

I used my 20 megapixel DxO One camera connected to my iPhone 6 Plus to take the photos at the Apple Event today. I ran them through Pixelmator to cut down the size—I think they turned out really good.

Wristly on Tuesday released its market research report on Apple Watch “era 1.0,” which is the time before WatchOS 2.0 is released. There are some fascinating findings in the report that tackle everything from whether or not respondents will purchase another band to their satisfaction with the watch. Interestingly, satisfaction for the watch is higher than that of iPad or iPhone.

Thanks to SVALT for sponsoring The Loop this week. SVALT D Performance Cooling Dock unleashes your productivity through active cooling that increases the performance of Apple Laptops.

Benedict Evans:

For as long as the idea of the ‘mobile internet’ has been around, we’ve thought of it a cut-down subset of the ‘real’ Internet. I’d suggest it’s time to invert that – to think about mobile as the real internet and the desktop as the limited, cut-down version.

He’s right. Even looking at The Loop’s stats, many more people access the site on mobile browsers than ever before—more than 50 percent. For many people, the mobile Internet is the real Internet.

This is the Apple Watch Charging Dock Apple should have released, check xylum out here.

Jim and Dan talk about the upcoming Apple event next week in San Francisco, the Apple Watch, the Apple TV, Apple Maps, DVDs vs. buying movies online vs. renting movies, bylines on The Loop, and more.

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A Fresno State student is lucky to be uninjured after an armed robbery near the campus in which a gunshot fired by the thief was blocked by the victim’s iPhone, police said.

Damn.

Back in the day, this was everyone’s RSS reader. Good to see it back and updated.

A group of artists recorded this song to benefit climate change. It’s available exclusively on iTunes and Apple Music with all proceeds go to Friends of the Earth U.S. and the UN Foundation.

Artists involved in the song are Paul McCartney, Jon Bon Jovi, Sheryl Crow, Fergie, Colbie Caillat, Natasha Bedingfield, Leona Lewis, Sean Paul, Johnny Rzeznik, Krewella, Angelique Kidjo, Kelsea Ballerini, Nicole Scherzinger, Christina Grimmie, Victoria Justice, and Q’Orianka Kilcher.

Good video if you were wondering about the differences between the two devices.

The new version is available to download.

This is a really cool experiment that shows how we associate colors with some of our favorite brands. While the logo remains the same, switching colors with a competitor makes a huge difference.

xylum has to be the most beautiful Apple Watch dock to date. The minimalistic design and matte body finish that features polished chamfered edges complements any setting perfectly. Whether on a nightstand, a desk or in the living room, it fits any style. xylum’s timeless accents transcend timekeeping into a new era.

This is a beautiful looking dock/stand. I can imagine this sitting on my desk, or anywhere in the house. They are clearly going for an elegant look and they achieved that.

Runeblade is a Fantasy Adventure Game tailored for Apple Watch. Stop the ancient evil threatening your world. Sharpen your blade, prepare your spells and secure your armour to fight the rising darkness!

This should be interesting.

Great version of a classic song.

Here’s what’s happening: when customers buy our unlimited 4G LTE plan for their smartphones we include a fixed amount of LTE to be used for tethering (using the “Smartphone Mobile HotSpot” feature), at no extra cost, for the occasions when broadband may not be convenient or available. If customers hit that high-speed tethering limit, those tethering speeds slow down. If a customer needs more LTE tethering, they can add-on more. Simple.

However, these violators are going out of their way with all kinds of workarounds to steal more LTE tethered data.

Sounds fair to me.

Glenn Fleishman has a look at some of the early reviews, which don’t seem that good.

The Apple TV’s existing NFL Now channel was today revamped, changing the name to “NFL” and adding support for Game Pass subscriptions. Through the updated channel, NFL fans who have a Game Pass subscription can watch on-demand NFL games and live out-of-market preseason games on the Apple TV for the first time.

Lovely.

Apple and Cisco today announced a partnership to create a fast lane for iOS business users by optimizing Cisco networks for iOS devices and apps, integrating iPhone with Cisco enterprise environments and providing unique collaboration on iPhone and iPad.

“iOS is the world’s best mobile platform, and nearly every Fortune 500 and Global 500 company today has put iOS at the center of their mobile strategy,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “iPhone and iPad have become essential tools for the modern workforce and are changing the way work gets done. Together with Cisco, we believe we can give businesses the tools to maximize the potential of iOS and help employees become even more productive using the devices they already love.”

Apple is serious about the Enterprise market, or at least making sure enterprise customers have access to everything they need. Good move by Apple.

Introduced in the late 1960s, the AKG BX 20 reverb was a high-water mark for AKG’s esteemed engineers. An ingenious assembly of mechanical and electronic componentry, the BX 20 offered the glorious depth and color of spring reverb without any of the limitations.

This is so nice—listen to the audio samples on the page. Another great plug-in from Universal Audio.

Jim and Dan talk about self driving cars, the Apple Watch, cutting the cord, the iPad Pro, and more.

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