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Of all the people that posted reviews today, Gruber is the only one I really trust. If you’re going to read a review, make it this one.

Duncan Robson makes YouTube supercut videos and is taking to Patreon to seek funding to keep making them. What’s a supercut video? Watch.

A series of photos have surfaced on social media today that provide a first look at what could be the retail packaging for the Apple Watch and individual bands. Instagram user Jeremy Gan posted the photos to his profile, which he has since switched to private, this afternoon. The photos appear to show a 42mm stainless steel Apple Watch with Milanese Loop propped on a stand within its official packaging, alongside a brown leather band in a separate box.

Gan works for the Daily Mail, so the pics could very well be genuine. Somehow I don’t think he was supposed to post these pics to social media.

Re/code:

Foxconn is eager to present a different face, and agreed to give Re/code a tour of a sprawling manufacturing facility in Shenzhen in the south China province of Guangdong were it makes iPads and Macs. To be clear, we were not allowed unfettered access. A special assistant to CEO Terry Gou traveled from Shanghai to escort us on a tour that appeared to paint a picture of workers being treated well. We weren’t permitted to observe the factory floor — an unidentified customer wouldn’t allow that.

I think it’s fair to assume we all know who the “unidentified customer” was.

Despite continued losses, Samsung’s projected earnings are actually an improvement from the last two quarters, when sales fell 36 percent in the fourth quarter of 2014, and a whopping 60 percent in the quarter before that.

Here’s the way it’s gone for Samsung over the past few years: They shamelessly copied Apple and made a boatload of money; Apple sued the hell out them, so Samsung changed it’s designs thinking it had consumers locked up; They didn’t and profits began to fall dramatically when they released phones not copied from Apple; The new Galaxy S6 shamelessly copies Apple’s iPhone 6.

Samsung is hoping for two things: 1. Apple doesn’t sue the shit out of them again. 2. People are too stupid to recognize the points I listed above and will buy the piece of shit.

Guitarists are always looking for great tones. AMPLIFi is a Bluetooth speaker and guitar amp in one. Now, with AMPLIFi Remote for Apple Watch, you can pick your favorite guitar sound right from your wrist. And when it’s time to tune up, you’ll see which note you’re playing and whether it’s sharp, flat, or in tune.

I can’t wait to try this out.

First announced during the Apple Watch event in March, HBO NOW is available to Apple customers today. You can sign-up using your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch or directly on Apple TV.

HBO is offering a 30-day trial to new HBO NOW customers who sign-up through Apple. You can learn more about the programming available by visiting Apple’s HBO NOW channel.

Good letter. Much better than the drivel Ballmer wrote.

Perfect for webcasting, podcasting, gaming and music production, the AG03 and AG06 hybrid mixing consoles/USB interfaces have unique features that make your computer-based audio tasks easier and better. The AG Series offers high-resolution (24-bit/192kHz) audio recording and playback, iOS compatibility and battery operation.   The intuitive “TO PC” switch allows users to route selected inputs back to a desktop or iOS device. The “Dry CH 1-2” allows computer or iOS recording of inputs 1 and 2, while the “INPUT MIX” switch routes all inputs to the computer or iOS device via USB for music production applications. The “LOOPBACK” switch routes all inputs to the stereo USB output along with the USB input from the computer — perfect for podcasters   Gamers will appreciate the headset/mic interface and direct hardware control of game and voice level, perfect for adding professional audio to videos or TwitchTV broadcasts.   The AG series “1-TOUCH” effects utilize programmable digital signal processing like Reverb, Compression, EQ and even Amp Simulation, adding the final professional stroke to your music productions.

This could be a handy document to bookmark.

Not so funny now, is it Samsung.

This is pretty damn funny.

This is a lovely bit of analysis on Lionel Messi and Wayne Rooney and their respective approaches to soccer.

Five years ago today, Apple unveiled iPad, a device that would change the way many people thought about computing, me included.

That all changed back in June when Lanier started playing around with an iPad with the help of her tutor Morgan Tyner.

“The first thing she said was “hi, thank you for releasing my voice”, and there was something about the power of being able to express her voice, her thoughts. It’s really priceless” says Morgan and the next thing Lanier typed out was “Tell my mother I love her.”

According to Leslie “I have never heard her say I love you and later that same day she wrote, tell my dad I love him and that he’s my hero.”

If this doesn’t bring a tear to your eye, nothing will.

My thanks to SnapPower for sponsoring The Loop this week. SnapPower’s Charger — the power outlet cover plate that your home should’ve been built with. A no-hassle, wire-free install that takes just seconds. A flush, 1-amp USB charging port for smartphones, phablets, and tablets. An unbridled sense of joy from never having to hunt for a wall wart ever again. Available now on Kickstarter.

During Samsung’s Galaxy S6 launch, the company had a good time making jokes at Apple’s expense. […]

Turns out Photoshop has a built in money detector. Read on for the details.

Liz Gannes:

A who’s who of leaders from companies such as Yelp, Square, Twitter, Lyft, Airbnb, eBay, PayPal and others signed their names to a petition today urging legislatures to forbid discrimination or denial of services to anyone, saying, “Discrimination is bad for business.” Petition leader Max Levchin, a PayPal co-founder and currently CEO of finance startup Affirm, told Re/code: “I am asking all CEOs to evaluate their relationships and investments in states that do not specifically protect LGBT people from discrimination.”

That’s great and even admirable, except that here on the home front, Silicon Valley has its own very obvious discrimination problems. Gender is a big one. Race is another.

Good read.

After successfully introducing a vending machine that dispensed MacBooks for 24-hour student use, Drexel University in collaboration with the Free Library of Philadelphia is introducing an iPad vending machine. Located in the University’s Dana and David Dornsife Center for Neighborhood Partnerships, the kiosk will make a dozen iPads available to local residents and Drexel students.

I love seeing organizations using iPad in unique ways. This is a great program.

Apple couldn’t have asked for better news: Sales of iPhone in urban China accounted for 27.6 percent of the smartphone in that country, according to new data released by Kantar Worldpanel ComTech. […]

Jim and Dan talk about the MacBook Pro, the legacy of FireWire and Thunderbolt, updated thoughts on the Apple Watch, podcast recording gear, and more. Also Jim is still in his car.

Sponsored by lynda (Visit the link to get a free 10 day trial and access to their 3,000+ courses).

This looks like a great app from Adobe, although it does remind me a lot of Storehouse.

I really like AltConf and everything they do during WWDC.

The Commission is concerned that Apple would use it size, influence and relationships to get music labels to abandon rivals such as Spotify, which rely on licensing with music companies for their catalogue, the FT said.

I don’t understand why regulators are so concerned about Apple, when they are so far behind in the streaming race.

The Verge:

On Thursday, April 4th, 1985, a blast of dystopian satire hit the UK airwaves. Max Headroom: 20 Minutes into the Future was a snarky take on media and corporate greed, told through the eyes of investigative journalist Edison Carter (Matt Frewer) and his computer-generated alter-ego: an artificial intelligence named Max Headroom.

I loved the character in the short snippets we saw. If you ever want to show your kids how weird the 80’s were, you can start by having them watch Max Headroom bits.

I woke up this morning to see that The Loop Magazine was no longer available for download on the App Store. This comes at a time when I’m trying to get the magazine back on track, and it was working. The magazine was climbing the charts on Newsstand and was No. 1 in downloads and No. 3 in grossing for the Computers and Internet section. We’re trying to track down the problem.

Worse, some subscribers were sent the following letter today. All I can ask is for you to check your subscription and make sure it’s active. For a publication that doesn’t offer any ads, I rely on the subscriptions to pay for it every month. I appreciate the support.

Farhad Manjoo for The New York Times:

The S6 phones are made out of aluminum and glass rather than the plastic in Samsung’s older phones. Both the S6 and S6 Edge strongly resemble Apple’s iPhone. The S6 in particular looks like Apple’s brother from another mother. Samsung has also co-opted many of the design ideas for which its fans have long criticized Apple. The new Galaxys no longer offer a removable battery, for example, or a slot for add-on storage cards, and unlike the Galaxy S5, the S6es aren’t waterproof.

And

But if the new phones are beautiful and functional, they are still something of a pain to use. The S6 and S6 Edge run Samsung’s modified version of Google’s Android operating system. Despite Samsung’s engineers’ efforts to clean up the software, the phone’s interface is a hodgepodge of odd design decisions and overly complicated functions.

Hot for Teacher, Eruption/You Really Got Me and if you were wondering why Dave has a bandage on his nose

CBC:

Usually a “mean tweets” video ends in laughter, but this one ends in tears.

A new campaign by the non-profit organization Raising the Roof features people dealing with homelessness reading the mean things people have said about them on social media aloud.

The goal? To get people to see that those who have nowhere to live are human beings too.

Having been homeless myself for a period of time, I felt the pain these people went through as they read these cruel and pointless tweets. If you can help, please do. If you can’t, leave these people alone.