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Apple wins “Brand of the Year” in three categories

While many have questioned the post-Steve Jobs fate of Apple, the company continues to hold its spot as a top technology brand across three mainstream categories, according to findings from the 2013 Harris Poll EquiTrend (EQ) study. In its first full year under Tim Cook’s stewardship, Apple took home repeat Brand of the Year distinctions in three categories – Computer, Tablet and Mobile Phone – in the annual study, which measures the perceptions of 38,500+ American consumers on more than 1,500 lifestyle, product and service brands across over 155 categories.

Well that settles it, Apple is doomed.

Instagram ads are coming

During his company’s quarterly earnings call today, Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg discussed how Instagram will be monetized. The answer isn’t too surprising: there is a big expectation for the app to one day be profititable, and advertising will be the name of the game.

Not a big surprise. You are the product being sold.

Ember

Realmac has been making great apps for years; Ember is another great example of why they’re a successful company.

More layoffs at BlackBerry

Not a big surprise, but I always feel bad for the workers. I hate seeing anyone lose their job, especially when it’s because a company is being mismanaged.

No

Nathan Conyngham:

Just say No. Don’t use fluffy, doublespeak language. Just say it.

No.

Sometimes it is the right thing to do.

DOOOOMED!

Yes, the articles saying Apple is doomed are back, but Bryan Chaffin takes one to task for clearly not paying attention.

Misleading sales

I think we’ve all suspected this happens at some stores, but not doubling the price. At least I didn’t think they went that far.

Fission Means Simple & Lossless Audio Editing [Sponsor]

Fission makes audio editing easy.

meetFS2

Crop and trim audio, paste in or join files, or just rapidly split one long file into many. Fission is streamlined for fast editing. Plus, it works without the quality loss caused by other editors, so you can get perfect quality audio even when editing MP3 and AAC files.

If you need to convert formats, Fission can do that too! You can rapidly export or batch convert files to the MP3, AAC, Apple Lossless, FLAC, AIFF, and WAV formats.

Download a free trial of Fission, then buy it in the App Store or directly through our store.

3D printing to explode in 2014

Here’s what’s holding back 3D printing, the technology that’s supposed to revolutionize manufacturing and countless other industries: patents. In February 2014, key patents that currently prevent competition in the market for the most advanced and functional 3D printers will expire, says Duann Scott, design evangelist at 3D printing company Shapeways.

It will be interesting to see where this goes in the next couple of years.

PDFpen

Many thanks to PDFpen for sponsoring The Loop’s RSS feed this week. PDFpen is the all-purpose PDF editor. Version 6 now includes Microsoft Word export, an editing bar for faster workflow, Retina graphics, and more.

If you work with PDFs, you need PDFpen, the multi-purpose PDF editor. PDFpen can make changes, fix typos, resize images, fill and save forms. It can perform OCR (optical character recognition) to digitize scanned documents as part of a paperless workflow. It can even redact sensitive information by removing it permanently and completely from a PDF.

Jim’s note: PDFpen saved me in the past, so I am a loyal user.

Trolling

Daniel D’Addario for Salon:

But for a word that’s tossed around so frequently, its meaning seems to evaporate into air when grasped at. Trolling is bad. Trolling provokes a reaction, usually negative. Trolling is apparently quite easy to do. But, if only to better gird one’s own defenses against it — what is trolling?

We’ve all come across this on the Internet.

The Loop Magazine Issue 6

In this issue, Matt Gemmell looks at the gadgets we carry around and choosing the right one for you; Philip Michaels takes you through the drinkers code of conduct in a way that will make you laugh out loud; Patrick Rhone may be the only African-American in the room, but it doesn’t faze him anymore; Monique Dalrymple explains the reasons she fosters dogs; and Michael Mulvey considers Zelda when starting a new project.

You can preview the entire issue online or download the app for iPhone and iPad from the App Store and get a free 7-day trial.

The-Loop---Choosing-The-Device---v2

Of Beards and Men

A new kickstarter project:

“Of Beards and Men” is a labor of love for graphic designer and photographer Joseph D.R. OLeary. Over the past 18 months, he’s photographed 130+ bearded men. Each portrait is an exploration into that man’s passions, personality and unique individuality.

Why wasn’t I photographed?