C450 AMG posted an internal document from Mercedes detailing which models would feature Apple’s CarPlay technology for 2016. I’m a big Mercedes fan and can’t wait to try CarPlay at some point.

Thanks to Marketcircle for sponsoring The Loop this week. Marketcircle has been developing Mac apps since 1999 that help small businesses do big things. Newly released is Daylite 6 with Cloud – manage your contacts, projects, to-dos, and schedule all in one app. Get the best of both worlds, a native app with the convenience of the cloud. Try it now on your Mac, iPhone & iPad, for yourself or with your team and take advantage of these great new features.

TidBITS:

I haven’t been able to determine why it’s happening, or if there’s anything to be done about it, and it’s certainly only a minor irritation. I’m technically proficient and relaxed about errors that don’t cause data loss, but I am concerned that inexplicable behavior like this could start to undermine an inexperienced user’s trust in iOS as a predictable, reliable system — Touch ID is in essence lying to the user through this error message. Technically there’s no real damage here, but psychologically, it’s a bad thing — it’s important for interfaces to communicate clearly, accurately, and reliably to build user trust.

I’ve been dealing with the same (minor) issues as Adam has for just as long. It seems to be very common. There’s no real concern (these issues aren’t deal breakers) but they certainly are annoying and frustrating when they occur for no apparent reason and have no apparent solution.

Christian Zibreg, writing for iDownloadBlog:

The new Apple TV introduced Apple’s fantastic new Aerial screensaver: a rotating selection of high-resolution footage of major cities from around the world, captured beautifully in smooth slow-motion by a very expensive drone.

It’s in addition to existing screensavers—such as Apple Photos, National Geographic and My Photos—that have been present on the set-top box since the 2nd gen model.

But did you know that you can also stream digital photos stored on your computer to the Apple TV? In this tutorial, we’ll be covering setting up your Apple TV and desktop iTunes so that you can create a screensaver with photos from your computer.

I’ll be working my way through this tutorial later today. Nice job, Christian.

Jacob Kastrenakes, writing for The Verge:

Tumblr’s iOS app now allows iPhone 6S users to add Live Photos to their posts, just as though they were adding any other photo. When someone on an iPhone comes across it in their feed, they’ll see the Live Photo icon in the corner, letting them know it can animate.

Use 3D Touch (or press and hold if you are on an older phone) to activate the Live Photo.

Android users appear to be out of luck, however. Despite receiving an app update today, Tumblr on Android just displays Live Photos as a still image. Same thing on the web.

This may be a limitation placed by Apple, or it could just be that support for other platforms isn’t ready. Either way, it means that Live Photos, while a lot more shareable today, are still locked into the iOS ecosystem. Getting support from Tumblr goes a long way to change that, but Apple’s going to need to make it so that almost anyone can see Live Photos before they’re really worth hanging onto.

The question here is, what is Apple’s intent? Is Live Photos only a thing for people on an iPhone? Seems logical to me to spread the ability to experience Live Photos far and wide, create a standard that can be experienced across all platforms.

Though it would be hard to lock Live Photo creation to the iPhone (there are already mechanisms to turn Live Photos into GIFs and GIFs into Live Photos), to create a Live Photo directly from your camera requires an iPhone. That should be enough of a lock-in to drive Live Photo enthusiasts into Apple’s arms.

Poison Maps is an outstanding mapping app, based on the OpenStreetMap database, with over 20 millions points of interest (POI, which is the POI in POIson).

Read the linked article for a walkthrough of the app. The app is a new spin on mapping and works really well.

But what I really love is the new one finger zooming/panning 3D Touch gesture. This is a bit hard to explain, so watch the video embedded below to get a sense of how this works. This so-called “context pan” gesture has uses outside of mapping. The UI folks at Apple should take a look at this.

There’s a free North American version (with an in-app purchase for more POI data), so there’s no reason not to give it a try. There’s also a more weighty (669 Megs) global version, which is the one I have installed on my phone.

Serial, a spinoff of This American Life, is the most popular podcast of all time. It was ranked #1 on iTunes at debut, was the fastest podcast to reach five million downloads.

The first episode of season two dropped yesterday.

Serial is hosted by Sarah Koenig. Here’s a link to a note from Sarah, laying out the plot for season two.

This came out a few days ago, but does a nice job of stepping through the features that are new in iOS 9.2.

In a similar vein, here’s a new article from Kirk McElhearn that digs in to the changes in Safari with El Capitan. Obviously, this post is not timely, but if you’ve never taken the time to learn about the changes in Safari 9, this is a solid read.

Ina Fried, writing for re/code:

Verizon plans in the next few days to start testing so-called sponsored data, the equivalent of toll-free calling for the Internet age.

“The capabilities we’ve built allow us to break down any byte that is carried across our network and have all or a portion of that sponsored,” Verizon Executive VP Marni Walden said during a wide-ranging interview this week.

Wow. This is like those podcasts where every single element is sponsored, tagged with a name like the “Subway Fresh Take Hotline”.

Sponsored data, as the name implies, allows consumers to access certain content without having to eat into their own data plans. Instead, a third party pays for it.

Verizon is working with just a few partners in the testing phase, but said next year this feature will be available to all comers at an affordable rate.

Sponsored data gives Verizon a chance to be first in line to collect ad revenue. Presumably, following a sponsored link would present content without ads, or with specific ads exclusive to the sponsor. One question is, will Verizon build their own version of the Google ad mechanism? Will they track you, present sponsored content targeted at your browsing habits?

Another great teardown. My favorite line:

The case features a “soft elastomer hinge design” is bendy above the battery bulge, to allow sliding the phone in and out.

I’ve used Mophie cases and this is definitely an improvement in terms of getting the case off and then on again.

Sarah Nassauer, writing for the Wall Street Journal [PAYWALL]:

The retail behemoth is adding a feature to its existing mobile app so consumers can pay at the register with any payment information stored in their Walmart.com account, including gift cards, debit cards or credit cards. The retailer plans to release the payment capability to its 4,600 U.S. stores in the first half of next year, company executives said on Wednesday.

But what about Merchant Customer Exchange (MCX) and their CurrentC payment system?

Wal-Mart’s offering marks a definitive move away from the Merchant Customer Exchange, or MCX, a band of retailers and restaurants that joined together in 2012 to build a mobile payment technology called CurrentC that would help them sidestep the billions of dollars spent on credit-card payments each year. MCX started testing CurrentC in some Columbus, Ohio, retail locations including Target Corp. earlier this year.

Mr. Eckert said the retailer remains committed to MCX and the CurrentC app, and said in the future, Wal-Mart’s app could integrate other mobile payment systems like CurrentC and Apple Pay as a form of payment as it does now with credit cards.

The technology behind WalmartPay:

With the new system called Walmart Pay, shoppers use Wal-Mart’s app and camera feature to scan a QR code at the register which then connects to the payment cards on file in their Walmart.com accounts. App users also can pay for part of their purchase with cash when using the mobile system.

Walmart still has not rolled out NFC terminals in its stores, so Apple Pay is not yet an option.

Walmart Pay’s QR code-based checkout process will involve opening the Walmart app, selecting Walmart Pay, activating the camera, scanning the code displayed at the register and waiting for the cashier to finish bagging your items. An electronic receipt will automatically be sent to the Walmart app.

Yeah, that’ll work.

Some great tips here from Brett Terpstra.

From the official Android blog:

In a family of music lovers, there’s a soundtrack playing throughout our daily lives. My husband likes to listen to The Smiths radio while he works; I like Entering Beast Mode stations when I hit the gym; and we listen to Michael Bublé as a family while we cook dinner. What can I say, we’re a pretty fun bunch! But it means my family ends up paying for multiple subscription music accounts which can add up over time.

For families like mine, we’re happy to start offering the Google Play Music family plan today. With the family plan, you and up to five family members can subscribe to Google Play Music – together – for just $14.99 per month. You’ll unlock all of the same features you’d get from having individual subscriptions, including ad free, unlimited access to more than 35 million songs and the ability for each family member to stream simultaneously on any device, all for one low price. Now, you can keep your listening experiences separate from your partner and get music recommendations tailored to the music you like. So, my husband’s Depeche Mode singles will never show up in my account – only my true favorites will be front and center. And a family plan on Google play will also get your family access to YouTube Red in the US.

Google has now matched Apple’s family pricing for Apple Music. This is a big step. Will Apple respond?

Benjamin Smith, writing for The Observer:

The second wave of the web is here.

Soon you will be asking friends if they are part of the Google plan or perhaps the Amazon plan. In fact, in the very near future, we might all be part of the Google, Amazon, or possibly Netflix and Facebook plan. In fact, it is very possible that our choice of plan will be part of how the coming generation defines itself.

What is the second wave? The second wave is the idea that the internet goliaths of the world are now playing for the $150 or so we spend with the cable companies each month. In an effort to justify and grow the monthly price of their particular content bundle, these Goliaths will acquire, roll up, and merge anything and everything into the offering.

This is an all-out war, and it’s all about who you pay each month for all of your entertainment.

That’s about right. Before the great TV disruption, the cable companies owned that $150 a month, the whole thing. Now other folks have figured out how to get their own little piece of that pie.

Peter Kafka, writing for re/code:

Industry executives say Apple has spent much of 2015 pushing for a “skinny” bundle of TV channels — limited to perhaps a dozen core networks — delivered over the Web, which would retail for no more than $30.

So while the price of the individual channels that Apple wants to package has been an issue, it’s the composition of the package itself — which channels go in and which don’t make the cut — that is just as important to both Apple and the programmers, according to sources.

If Apple gets its way, it means the traditional pay TV package, which averages around 100 channels, will get shrunk by nearly 80 percent. And while TV executives will say they understand that consumers don’t want to pay for channels they don’t watch, all of them will argue that their channels are must-haves.

It’s fascinating watching the brave new TV world unfold before our very eyes. We’re still very much in the “before” stage. But most of the pieces that will make up the future are starting to appear. There are the networks, the new content creators (HBO, Netflix, Amazon, etc.), the watch centers (places like Twitch, Periscope, etc., all designed for people to watch events over the net), and aggregators like YouTube, Hulu and, of course, Apple TV, just to name a few.

What’s not yet clear is how these pieces will be configured. Perhaps it will start as a free-for-all, a wild west of content with no discernible organization, where the only overarching TV guide is your search engine. But, I suspect, there will ultimately be a consolidation, an organizing mechanism that brings order to the chaos.

Interesting times.

From the AppFigures blog [As of Wednesday, December 9th]:

There are currently 2,624 apps available for download in the Apple TV App Store. That’s quite a number considering the store is just about a month old. With a pretty steady rate of growth so far, we estimate the store will be hitting 5,000 apps in about a month and 10,000 apps in early 2016.

And:

The Games category is the single largest category on the Apple TV App Store with 1,002 apps. This means Games make up roughly 38% of all Apple TV apps.

Lots more data, including some detailed charts. Good stuff.

Nilay Patel, writing for The Verge:

The biggest name in battery cases is Mophie, and Mophie has tons of patents on the design and functionality of these things. Reading through a few, it’s hard not to see Apple’s case as being deliberately designed around Mophie’s patents — including that unsightly bulge.

Interesting premise.

John Paczkowski, writing for BuzzFeed News, had the chance to interview Eddy Cue, Apple’s Senior VP of Internet Software and Services.

On the rise in apps for the Apple TV platform:

“We’re seeing tremendous developer interest,” Cue told BuzzFeed News. “Already we have over 2,000 apps live in the store. And on the customer side, things are going great. What we’ve found is that a little over half of transactions are coming from people upgrading from the last Apple TV and just about the other half are coming from new customers that are buying their first Apple TV.”

On the Apple TV as a gaming platform:

“When we first announced the iPhone, we didn’t tout it as a gaming device. But games became a huge part of iPhone, because it turns out that a lot more people than just hardcore gamers love games. We expanded the market. I think the vast majority of people around the world probably aren’t looking to buy an Xbox or PlayStation. But that doesn’t mean they don’t enjoy playing games. I think Apple TV expands the gaming market to those people.”

And the part I found most compelling:

And what of Apple’s ambitions to launch that long-in-the-offing subscription TV service? Cue wouldn’t say much, only that we can all expect to see “a lot more content creators and providers going direct to consumers next year.” He did say that he sees a big opening on Apple TV for election season programming, as there’s clearly a vast and eager audience of cord-cutters interested in finding such stuff easily.

This feels like a shot across the bow of the networks with whom Eddy Cue is now negotiating. Who needs to go hat in hand to the networks (or the cable companies) when you can build your own Apple TV app to bring your content directly to the people?

Yahoo announced Wednesday that it would spin off its core business into a separate, publicly traded company, a move that could make its popular but tired Web properties more attractive to suitors.

Members of Yahoo’s board said in a statement that they were abandoning a previous plan to spin off Yahoo’s massive and valuable stake in Alibaba, the Chinese e-commerce company, amid concerns that the deal would incur steep taxes on Yahoo. Those shares are estimated to be worth $35 billion.

Instead, company officials said they were exploring a “reverse spin-off” of Yahoo’s substantial Web properties, which include search, email, media and advertising units. By creating a separate company, the value of those businesses would be more apparent to investors — and easier to sell.

“A separation from our Alibaba stake, via the reverse spin, will provide more transparency into the value of Yahoo’s business,” said chief executive Marissa Mayer.

Their stake in Alibaba has long been the most valuable part of the company. If they sell it to finance the rest of their businesses, Yahoo would be faced with crippling taxes on the capital gain. No choice, really.

Mashable:

Apple’s first ever battery iPhone case has generated a range of reactions and emotions. Some people simply can’t get over the hump.

I caught up with Apple CEO Tim Cook, who was in town to participate in an Hour of Code event, to take his temperature on the $99 iPhone 6 and 6s case, with the noticeable battery pack hump on its back. We asked Cook if he is excited about the hump.

“You know, I probably wouldn’t call it ‘the hump,’” said Cook, who added he was aware of the comments surrounding the Smart Battery Case.

I find the Sturm und Drang over this case to be fascinating. I have no opinion about the design until I’ve seen it for myself but the amount of electronic ink spilled over this on both sides speaks to many things, not the least of which is Apple is under intense focus no matter what they do.

9to5Mac:

Apple Watch is at the top of many holiday wish lists this year and luckily for gift shoppers it’s received numerous discounts since Black Friday. In fact, Target and B&H are both offering significant Apple Watch promotions right now.

This morning Best Buy jumped into the fray with the best straight up Apple Watch deal we’ve ever seen: $100 off any Apple Watch Sport or Apple Watch model. More than 20 different watch configurations are eligible for this discount.

This looks to be the sweet spot for Apple Watch pricing. It’s also interesting that these deals are coming from the stores and not Apple. Will the lower price encourage you to buy an Apple Watch this holiday season?

Federico Viticci walks through Apple’s list of the best apps for 2015. Some great apps there. Looking forward to diving in to the game of the year!

Jonny Evans, writing for Computerworld:

Apple is on the cusp of gaining the kind of market command it has not held in over 20-years, with 67 percent of enterprise IT professionals believing the Mac will “cut into PC share over the next three years,” according to a JAMF Software survey.

This IDC chart confirms that Mac market share has already regained the market position it last enjoyed in 1995, regaining 8 percent of the overall market on significantly higher unit sales. Meanwhile, as the PC market overall contracts Apple’s overall share continues to climb. Ironically, it appears enterprise sales will drive Cupertino forward even as alternative platforms fade into the background.

Doomed.

If you need to update one of your devices directly, performing the update from iTunes, most likely with your device tethered to your Mac, this list will come in handy.

Each link in the list points to an Apple hosted (so you know it is legitimate) iPSW file for a specific iOS device. iTunes can use an iPSW file to update a specified device.

Worth bookmarking.

The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) ranked Apple as the number one most innovative company in the world. You can view the rankings, read the details here.

Interestingly, Forbes ran an article, entitled Is Apple the World’s Most Innovative Company?, to specifically refute these results. Seems that Forbes had published their own Most Innovative Companies list, and guess what? Apple did not make the top 100.

Draw your own conclusions. But clearly, someone is wrong here.