∞ A look at iPhone location data gathering

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This past week’s “LocationGate” imbroglio has left many iPhone users wondering how, exactly, the iPhone gathers the information it does about cell phone tower locations, Wi-Fi networks and other data. While Steve Jobs and others at Apple have explained it … Continued

∞ Continued PSN outage raises questions

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Sony’s PlayStation Network (PSN) serves as the intercommunications backbone for multiplayer games on the PlayStation 3, as well as an e-commerce system for downloadable content for PS3 and the PlayStation Portable (PSP) handheld console. So a protracted PSN outage of … Continued

∞ South Park season premiere entitled "HUMANCENTiPAD"

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We at The Loop are unabashed South Park fans, so we’re waiting with bated anticipation for the 15th season premiere of the offbeat, absurd (and frequently obscene) cartoon on Comedy Central this Wednesday, April 27th. What’s caught our eye, however, … Continued

∞ Child porn raids highlight open Wi-Fi security risks

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Some people prefer to let their Wi-Fi networks go without a password, either as a matter of convenience or to support their ethical convictions. Either way, they can run the risk of being misidentified by law enforcement officials, as underscored … Continued

∞ Barnes & Noble's $249 Nook Color adds apps

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Barnes & Noble announced Monday that it has enhanced its Nook Color e-reader with support for applications, improved Web browsing and new rich content. It’s still $249. The new features are available to existing Nook Color users through a v1.2 … Continued

∞ FileMaker Go adds signature capture, charts

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FileMaker on Wednesday announced an update to FileMaker Go, its iOS companion for its popular database for Mac OS X and Windows. The new 1.2 release is a free update from the App Store; it costs $19.99 for the iPhone … Continued

∞ LEGO Indiana Jones 2 headed to Mac April 28th

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Feral Interactive has announced the forthcoming release of LEGO Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues for the Mac. It’s coming on April 28, 2011 for $29.99, and will be available in boxed and downloadable formats.

∞ Game developers association warns against Amazon Appstore

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The International Game Developers Association’s (IGDA’s) Board of Directors have issued a strong warning to its members about putting software up for sale on Amazon’s new Android-based Appstore. The organization says that Amazon’s terms may ultimately have a “negative impact…on the game development community.”

Amazon’s Appstore has appeared recently as an alternative to the Android Market. It provides users of Android-based smartphones and tablets a way to purchase and download software for their devices, using their existing Amazon.com account information.

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∞ MacTech Boot Camps coming soon to Dallas, Boston

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MacTech’s traveling Boot Camps are coming soon to Dallas and Boston, with events also planned in Los Angeles and Chicago. Aimed at technicians and consultants who support home users, small offices and small to medium sized businesses, these one-day events … Continued

∞ Atari's Greatest Hits released for iOS

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While the brand has fallen by the wayside in recent years, Atari will always hold a special place in the hearts of gamers of a certain age. A new iOS game download called Atari’s Greatest Hits is bound to appeal to them and to many others with an eye towards video game history.

Atari’s Greatest Hits is a free download that comes with the classic game Pong, and for 99 cents more, you can download one of 25 separate game “packs” that include classic Atari coin-op arcade games and games originally designed for the Atari 2600 home game console – one of the first popular home consoles. If you want to buy them all in one fell swoop (18 arcade games, 92 Atari 2600 games) you can get them discounted for $14.99, all managed through in-app purchases.

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∞ Report: Apple ordered 12 petabytes of storage

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Storagenewsletter.com reports that Apple has ordered 12 petabytes of storage from Isilon Systems. Isilon, recently acquired by EMC, manufactures “scale-out storage” designed to be used by large enterprises, and has a client list that includes NBC, ABC, Paramount and many other companies.

“It’s probably the largest of its 1,500 customers recorded at the end of December, including 20% in Europe.”
The blog cites “an inside source at EMC” who indicates that Apple has ordered the storage to manage video downloads for customers using iTunes.

Apple Ordered 12PB (!) of Storage on Isilon’s Systems [Storagenewsletter.com]

∞ Analysts estimate Moto ships 100K Xooms

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Analysts with Deutsche Bank estimate that Motorola has shipped about 100,000 Xoom tablets since the device went on sale in February. If so, that would certainly be a fraction of the number of original iPads that Apple sold its first weekend when they went on sale in April, 2010 (Apple has not revealed iPad 2 sales numbers yet).

The Xoom is the first Android-based tablet to feature the Android 3.0 “Honeycomb” operating system, the first Android OS optimized specifically as a tablet OS.

The Xoom went on sale in late February for $800 (less if you agreed to a two-year data contract with Verizon Wireless).

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∞ GarageBand 6.0.2 supports GarageBand for iPad projects

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Apple on Thursday released an update to GarageBand, its music making software for Mac that’s included with iLife ’11. It corrects a problem that The Loop’s Jim Dalrymple first identified on March 10th.

GarageBand 6.0.2 makes fixes that improve overall stability and correct minor issues, according to Apple, but one change was worth breaking out – it now supports the ability to open projects imported from GarageBand for iPad.

The new release, GarageBand 6.0.2, can be downloaded either from Apple’s Web site or from the Software Update system preference.

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∞ Popular Science sells 10,000 iPad subscriptions

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Writing for AdAge.com, Nat Ives reports that Popular Science magazine has sold 10,000 subscriptions to its iPad edition. That represents only a small fraction of the magazine’s overall subscriber base (1.2 million), but it’s the first hard number we’ve seen … Continued

∞ Amazon launches "Cloud Drive" music service

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Amazon.com on Tuesday unveiled “Cloud Drive,” a new service that enables users to keep music available online. The service works in conjunction with a “Cloud Player” app that runs on Android devices; an app build using Adobe AIR is also … Continued

∞ Final Fantasy III comes to iOS

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Square Enix has announced the release of Final Fantasy III for iPhone and iPod touch. The game is available for $15.99. Square Enix has noted that an iPad version is due out in April.

∞ MacTech Conference 2011 set for Nov. 2-4 in LA

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MacTech magazine announced Friday that MacTech Conference 2011 is set to happen November 2-4, 2011 in Los Angeles, Calif. The second annual event gathers Mac IT professionals and developers for three days of conference sessions and in-depth information.

∞ Real Racing 2 HD to get 1080p video output

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Firemint has announced plans to add 1080p output support to Real Racing 2 HD. The new feature will be supported by the iPad 2 and will be available in the next major update (Firemint stopped short of announcing when that … Continued