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I can definitely see how this would be useful. I like the look of the templates too—that’s a nice idea.

This is an important step in Apple’s move to expand their reach into the gaming universe.

The MOGA Ace Power iOS game controller requires an iPhone with a lightning port. It includes a battery pack, so you can charge your iPhone while you play (or at least limit the drain on your iPhone’s battery).

Interesting that all the buttons are analog.

The biggest initial surprise of the MOGA Ace Power is that nearly all of the buttons are analog. Following rumors, and just how controllers typically work, I think we all expected the only analog controls to be the actual dual analog sticks themselves and maybe the outmost triggers. It turns out all of the buttons are analog. All of the triggers, the face buttons, even the D-Pad. In fact, the only non-analog gaming control on the whole thing is the pause button.

Unfortunately, as with all early adopter technologies, this device is ahead of developer testing cycles.

However, with surprise comes disappointment, and the main source of that disappointment is how incredibly obvious to us that all of the developers out there releasing updates to add iOS 7 controller support are doing so without actually testing on a controller. For instance, Dead Trigger 2 [Free] comes with default sensitivity settings that were so high there’s no way any human could play that way. Similarly, LEGO Lord of the Rings [$4.99] has controller support, but you can only move using the D-Pad, not the analog stick. Strange little inconsistencies like that are everywhere, and I’ve yet to find a game that recognizes analog button presses.

I expect this will change as developers get their hands on the controller. I can’t wait to get my hands on one.

As part of a settlement announcement on Monday, Google has agreed to pay out $17 million to 37 U.S. states, as well as the District of Columbia, for ignoring anti-tracking protocols baked in to Apple’s Safari Web browser.

I’m willing to bet they made a lot more than $17 million.

This week MightyDeals is offering a great deal on MotoPress. It’s a WordPress plugin that replaces the default WP editor and makes content editing a snap. It uses a super easy drag-and-drop method, that works on all devices thanks to its responsive design. If you use WordPress, you’ll love this. See how it works.

Squarespace released “Blog” and “Metrics” and released iOS 7 updates for its existing apps.

The guitar starts at 0:30.

The headline link is to the North American version of the FAQ. Here’s a link to the EU version of the FAQ.

Roadtrippers:

You’ve never seen hot air balloons like this before! A couple of weeks ago, Albuquerque, New Mexico held its 42nd annual International Balloon Fiesta. It’s a 9-day event where over 700 balloons see liftoff. It’s the largest hot air balloon festival in the entire world and we were on hand to capture the action.

I crossed “going up in a hot air balloon” off my bucket list a few years ago but a trip to the International Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque, New Mexico is still on it.

Mattebox is a fun way to discover, create and share photo filters. Make a filter in seconds, and share it with your friends—they’ll be able to use it right on the web!

Looks interesting. You can see the filters on Mattebox.net

My thanks to Smile Software for sponsoring The Loop’s RSS feed this week. Smile has released a new app in their PDFpen suite of PDF editing tools. PDFpen Scan+ lets you scan documents, articles, receipts, and more, using your iPhone or iPad camera.

PDFpen Scan+ includes OCR on the device, with support for 16 languages. The OCR is performed on the device, so you can use it even if you are not connected to the internet or if you have sensitive documents you can’t share with an online service.

Once OCR has been performed, the text in the scanned document can be copied and pasted into another document or the PDF can be exported with searchable text included. You can also open your scans in PDFpen for iPad or PDFpen for iPhone for further editing or share them via Dropbox, Evernote and other services for seamless editing on your Mac.

PDFpen Scan+ is available on the App Store at the intro price of $4.99. Check out the video demo to see all the powerful features packed into this indispensable tool.

Fascinating.

The analyst [Steve Milunovich] explained that he has been disappointed with Apple’s iPad sales and that tablets in general are at risk from sales of smartphones, phablets… and PCs. The tablet simply isn’t a “must-have” device, he explained.

Steve Milunovich… you’re a fucking moron.

This is one of my favorite Zakk songs ever.

Lessonator is a tool for creating beautiful music slideshow presentations on your Mac. It works like a mashup between Apple’s Keynote and Garageband, where each slide is an animated music score.

It just entered public beta, so go have a look.

Richard Fish’s widow donated some of his work to the Oviatt Library’s permanent collection.

Ben Thompson does a good job tearing the WSJ up. It’s almost like the WSJ doesn’t have a goddamn clue what they’re talking about.

The Atlantic: Each year, the McRib makes a brief visit to Earth. Its arrival elicits reactions ranging from horror to awe. And for good reason: this would-be rib sandwich is really a restructured pork patty pressed into the rough shape … Continued

Apple released an update for iOS 7 today that it says includes bug fixes and a fix that caused some FaceTime calls to drop. You can download the update on your iOS device by going to Settings > General > Software Update.

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes:

But now, other than for test systems and virtual machines, I carry out my day-to-day work on a variety of OS X, iOS and Android systems. I barely giving my Windows PC systems a second glance. My primary work system is a MacBook Pro, and in the ten months I’ve had it it’s flawlessly done everything I’ve asked of it, from run Microsoft Word to render 4K video. I’ve lost count of the number of notebooks I’ve owned over the years, but this MacBook Pro is, by far, the most reliable system I’ve owned, and I put part of that down to the fact that it doesn’t run Windows.

I don’t think Adrian is alone. Apple is continuously making its products easier to use, while Microsoft is going the other way. People have choices and they are exercising that freedom.

Patriot-News Editorial: Seven score and ten years ago, the forefathers of this media institution brought forth to its audience a judgment so flawed, so tainted by hubris, so lacking in the perspective history would bring, that it cannot remain unaddressed … Continued

I love to see Gruber go after Bloomberg’s stupid reporting like he did here and here, and another here, and finally here.

JPMorgan last week asked users of the popular microblogging site to send questions marked with the hashtag #AskJPM in advance of the session set for Thursday at 1 p.m. in New York.

I could have told you this was not going to end well.

Enrico Susatyo asked me if he could use my laugh in his new timer app for the iPhone—I said sure, scare the hell out of your customers. The app is free and was released yesterday.

Donovan Hutchinson did an amazing job with this.

Jim and Dan discuss Apple’s new spaceship headquarters, Amazon and USPS offering Sunday delivery, keyboard covers for iPads, the iPad mini with retina, the iPad Air, publishing on the go with iOS, composer names no longer included in an iTunes store downloads, and more.

Sponsored by Mailchimp, Shutterstock (use code DANSENTME1113 for 25% off), and Hover (use code DANSENTME for 10% off).

Mobile messaging startup Snapchat rejected an acquisition offer from Facebook Inc that would have valued the company at $3 billion or more, according to a Wall Street Journal report on Wednesday.

Facebook representatives reached out to Snapchat in recent weeks to discuss the all-cash deal, which would have been Facebook’s largest acquisition ever, the report said, citing anonymous sources.

I can’t imagine the conditions under which I’d refuse $3 billion.

With it, users can view their personal files in one tab, and their work files in another tab, without having to use multiple windows. If people already have separate business and personal accounts, they can pair them with the new tool. In a blog post, co-founders Houston and CTO Arash Ferdowsi explained, “It’ll be like having your house keys and your work keycard on the same keychain.”

Good idea.