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My thanks to Iconic for sponsoring The Loop this week. Looking for a special gift for that mega Apple enthusiast in your life? How about the newest edition of an absolutely stunning coffee table book that features lush, beautiful photographs of Apple devices? ICONIC: A Photographic Tribute to Apple Innovation is Iconic uses vivid color and detail to document Apple’s journey in design, form and function—and looks back at over 35 years of Apple innovation. Four years in the making, the author captured over 150,000 photos of nearly every product Apple has made, including rare prototypes and even packaging. With a foreword from Steve Wozniak and The Loop’s own Jim Dalrymple and hundreds of amazing quotes from other Apple pundits—ICONIC is the ultimate coffee table book for every Apple fan, and the perfect gift for any Apple owner who ever wanted to explore and discover the true roots of their favorite iMac, iPod, iPad, or iPhone. With free global shipping, see the different editions and use the coupon code THELOOP on checkout for 10% discount.

Jim’s Note: In addition to writing the foreword for this book, I also own two and love them!

ABC News:

Apple engineers, managers and developers have been secretly volunteering for the past year in this state-of-the-art lab to participate in rowing, running, yoga and many more fitness activities in order to collect data for the Apple Watch’s inner workings.

“[The employees] knew they were testing something, but they didn’t know it was for the Apple Watch,” said Jeff Williams, Apple’s senior vice president of operations. “We hooked them up with all the masks and so forth, but we would put on an Apple Watch covered up.”

You can watch the video of this story tonight on “Nightline” at 12:35 a.m. ET.

Quartz:

Apple didn’t just take a heritage watch case, add a screen, and shove in a microchip and a bunch of sensors. Trying to integrate one company’s microchip with another’s operating system and app ecosystem, then reconciling that combination with your company’s century-old design ideals is going to require some major compromises.

I don’t think the Swiss watchmakers have “no chance” but they are definitely behind a giant 8-ball and don’t seem to understand why. That’s lethal to their desires in this segment of the market.

From an article I wrote for Fortune:

The fact that none of these guys brought up or seemed at all concerned about cybertheft may tell you more than any headline that contains the words Apple, Pay and Fraud.

There’s too much fear-mongering going around these days.

Pixelmator:

We’re super excited to finally let you know that the new and awesome Pixelmator for iPad update is out now.

Just to remind you—Pixelmator for iPad is the best image editor on the iPad and it is one of the most innovative and technologically advanced iOS apps ever built. And oh, if you are a Mac user and not that interested in iOS, just listen for a sec: All the cool things we now make for the iPad are coming to the Mac. But more on that later.

In the meantime, read on to find out what we’ve packed for you in Pixelmator for iPad 1.1 Aquarelle.

Along with Snapseed, Pixelmator is my go to app for editing photos on the iPad. I’m really excited to start playing with the new features in this version.

TidBITS:

“The new MacBook’s single port comes with a major security risk,” proclaims The Verge. Gizmodo took The Verge’s story a step further with, “The NSA Is Going to Love These USB-C Charging Cables.” So what’s the big deal, and is there any fire behind all this hot air?

These articles are pure clickbait.

As always, when it comes to Macs and security, always wait for Rich Mogull to weigh in before going off half cocked. I’m looking at you, Tech Media.

On May 17, 2011 we reinvented calendaring; On March 25, 2015 we’ll reinvent Fantastical itself.

I’ll say this: you’re going to love this new version.

Mobile games maker Rovio reported its operating profit fell 73 percent last year due to a drop in its licensing business, a latest sign its breakthrough Angry Birds brand is losing its appeal.

Ouch.

Winclone 5 is the most complete solution for protecting your Boot Camp Windows system against data loss. Winclone is the most reliable cloning solution when migrating Boot Camp to a new Mac. The all new Winclone Backup feature provides scheduled, incremental snapshots of your files so you can retrieve earlier versions or accidentally deleted data.

Looks like a great utility if you have a Boot Camp partition.

Casey Liss lays out the reasons he chooses to use DuckDuckGo as his search engine.

Smile, the developer of productivity applications for Mac, iPad and iPhone, has released PDFpen Scan+ 2.0, a new version of their mobile scanning and OCR app for iPhone and iPad. This new version has a redesigned camera screen with auto-scan mode, which will take the scan, automatically crop, and assign editing presets—all without a tap.

I love Smile’s software.

The Atlantic:

Houshi Ryokan was founded in 718. It is one of the oldest family businesses in the world; 46 generations have managed the ryokan in its 1,300 years. Filmmaker Fritz Schumann profiles the current caretakers, Zengoro and Chizuko Houshi, as they struggle to determine the ryokan’s future after the death of their only son.

Such a sad story about a family seemingly trapped by the weight of their own history and traditions.

LOL.

Just like its predecessor, the new iRig 2 plugs directly into the mini jack input of a mobile device. It lets musicians send an instrument signal to apps, such as IK’s AmpliTube, while also providing on-board output for real-time monitoring.

iRig 2 now comes with gain control, which lets users precisely adjust the input gain of their instrument to match their mobile device. This means that it can be customized to always provide the best sound, no matter what type of guitar, bass or line-level instrument or device is used.

Its new 1/4″ amplifier output, in addition to its traditional 1/8″ headphone output, allows iRig 2 to be plugged directly into a guitar amplifier or powered speakers without an adaptor. This helps to keep all cable connections tidy and organized.

A new FX/THRU switch allows iRig 2 to send either a wet or dry signal through the device. This means that guitarists can play live with an amplifier and use their mobile device with a tuner app, such as IK’s UltraTuner, or a recording app, such as IK’s iRig Recorder, to record a dry signal for further processing.

I’ve been an IK Multimedia user for many years. From the Mac to my iOS devices, the company’s software and hardware has always been close to my guitars and ready to go. I’ve been playing around with the iRig 2 and like what I’ve seen so far, especially with the option to adjust the input gain and go out to an amp or speaker. I’ll have a more full-featured review in the coming weeks.

Website advertisement companies have found a way to circumvent the protections introduced in iOS 8 to stop users from being kicked to the App Store because of certain cleverly-coded JavaScript advertisements.

Ugh, watch the video. This would drive me crazy.

Cameron Moll:

I don’t know what to expect of Meerkat’s viability, permanence, or lasting utility. But if the hype is any indication, they’re ripe for acquisition. They’re also ripe for lawsuits and traditional media backlash, e.g. live-broadcasting televised events.

I feel like we are all in the same boat as Cameron with respect to Meerkat. We’re all fascinated, but we don’t know where it’s going yet.

Neil Hughes, reporting for AppleInsider, quoted an analyst saying the price would be $30 and $40 per month.

A key factor in pricing, of course, is exactly what channels Apple’s service would offer. Reports have suggested that Apple is in talks with broadcast networks ABC, CBS and Fox, as well as other cable networks owned by Viacom and Discovery, though apparently talks have stalled with Comcast-owned NBC.

Of course, the stations are an important factor, but just as important are the hoops—or lack thereof—that I have to jump through. I don’t want commercials, I want to be able to fast forward and rewind, I want it all in HD, and I want to be able to watch an entire series anytime my little heart desires, on any device I desire. I understand that a new, ongoing series will come out on a weekly basis, and I’m okay with that.

If I can get something usable, I’d subscribe in a heartbeat.

This sounds pretty handy if you have to test your new design.

Jim, Shawn and Dave talk about fitness, Steve Jobs, Apple rumors and riffing on the guitar!

Sponsored by lynda.com. (Start learning something new in 2015 by visiting the link to get a 10-day free trial and access their 2400+ courses)

I love watching Eddie play.

One major corporate user has banned Android devices on its network. “We simply cannot cope with managing the plethora of Android devices and apps on our network. We are happy to support iOS 8.x and Windows Phone 8.x – and apps from their stores but that is it!” This company uses a Symantec mobile management suite to control personally owned devices as well as access to company data and email.

There is no word on who the users is, but we do know that fragmentation has been a problem in the past. The fact that older versions of Android are not updated, and older devices can’t update to the newest version of the OS, causes some concern.

Apple has removed the award-winning healthy eating app The Whole Pantry from the App Store and its featured Apple Watch apps page amid allegations that its creator Belle Gibson committed fraud, according to The Sydney Morning Herald. The report states that Gibson is accused of making false claims about her cancer diagnosis and failing to donate thousands of dollars collected during fundraisers to charities.

This is just awful in every possible way.

Under the final judgement, Comcast must treat online video services as essentially equal to cable companies. Comcast is required to give those services access to the same NBCUniversal content that it sells to cable providers, under the same terms and conditions.

Additionally, if an online video service strikes a deal with one of NBC’s peers — such as CBS — Comcast is obligated to license “comparable” content at “economically comparable” rates. For example, if Apple’s new service were to carry first-run CBS programming, Comcast must makes its own first-run programming available at roughly the same rates as those negotiated between Apple and CBS.

It looks like there is some leeway there, but I didn’t realize the details of Comcast’s deal to buy NBC. That will piss them off.

I will be getting this book.

CBC:

Liam English lost some moose meat, and quite a bit of it.

English, who was home in St. John’s last week for a family funeral, decided to stock up on about 11 kilograms of moose meat to bring back to Ottawa.

Before heading to the airport on Sunday, English put the meat in a hard shell suitcase, along with a brand-new suit and other personal belongings. However, when he arrived at the airport in Toronto, where he had a four-hour layover before a connecting flight to Ottawa, his luggage was nowhere to be seen.

“I had four moose roasts, four moose steaks, three packs of ground moose and four packs of moose sausages,” he told CBC Radio’s St. John’s Morning Show on Wednesday.

You’ve heard of “First World Problems”? This is definitely a Newfie Problem.

Mike Ramsey for The Wall Street Journal

Mr. Musk has said Tesla plans to be the first company to offer customers an autopilot feature. “I think we will be the leader in autonomous cars that you can actually buy,” he said.

I still don’t know how I feel about this, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see Musk be the first to market.

It looks really easy and you can even use it on iOS with Touch ID.

As a response, Meerkat plans to introduce new tools for discovering people, Rubin said.

Twitter “escalated our decision-making a little bit forward,” the CEO said. “We need to provide users a way to discover more people and search more people.”

This is going to get really interesting. I’ve never seen so many people as excited about a new tech in such a short time as I’ve seen with Meerkat.

Google was wrong to let expectations about its Glass wearable gadget get overheated, the head of the Google X research lab said on Tuesday.

Google made a lot of mistakes with Glass. However, don’t forget that Tony Fadell, the man who made the iPod and founded Nest after leaving Apple, is now in charge of Google Glass.

The jury deliberated for about five hours before delivering its verdict on Monday night. The company, whose patents were originally held by Nokia Corp, was seeking $100 million in damages at trial. It said it was entitled to a portion of Apple’s device sales, and of similar, future devices. Apple pegged damages, if any, at less than $1 million.

The jury also rejected Apple’s claim that Core Wireless breached its obligation to license its patents, which are considered essential in the industry, on fair and non-discriminatory terms.

So what happens to these patents now? Apple basically said it would be happy paying under $1 million, but the jury said they had to pay nothing. Are the patents worthless? Oh the patent system is so confusing.