Houston called out iCloud’s “bizarre limitations,” saying that no iPhone or iPad user can easily share iCloud documents with an Android device.

I see iCloud and Dropbox as different types of services — maybe they shouldn’t be, but I think they are. There are plenty of things I could say that iCloud does better than Dropbox, but it wouldn’t make sense to do so. Just like this doesn’t make sense in a some ways.

I’d like to thank G8R Software for sponsoring The Loop this week with CaptureNotes 2 and CaptureAudio.

CaptureNotes 2 for iPad is the full featured notetaking and audio recording application that provides users with the ability to write, type, Flag audio with markers and annotate PDFs during classes or meetings. Launching soon, CaptureAudio delivers more than a simple voice recording app, bringing the unique Flag marking feature of CaptureNotes to the iPhone. Notebooks are easily shared among team members. Likewise, recorded audio sessions can conveniently be shared between the two Apps, supporting both iPhone and iPad users!

CaptureNotes 2 & CaptureAudio are brought to you by G8R Software.

Gadling:

we’re all familiar with the rampant theft of towels and linen from hotel rooms – in fact, the problem is so widespread that some hotels have resorted to inserting tracking devices in their linens to stop the thievery.

However, it seems some hotel guests will steal just about anything that’s not nailed down (and some things that are). A poll of Britons uncovered a surprising array of goods pilfered regularly from hotel rooms.

I get the occasional towel and certainly the toiletries but the curtains? And who the hell steals the Bible!? Which part of the Commandment “Thou shalt not steal” is unclear to these people?

Popular note-taking service Evernote has reset all user passwords after information including usernames, email addresses, and encrypted passwords was stolen in a security breach.

Ruh-roh!

Before you freak out, though, know that the passwords were hashed and salted, so you probably don’t face any immediate danger. Still, make sure to reset your Evernote password as soon as you can.

Nobody was ever driven into bankruptcy by unreliable Wi-Fi, but that’s the Ron Johnson Era in a nutshell. Instead of building on what the people who like JCPenney liked about JCPenney, he undertook a series of essentially arbitrary changes that alienated some without drawing anyone new in.

I like JCPenney. It’s one of the only major department stores that sells good-looking and well-made clothes in sizes I can wear. But it was that way before Ron Johnson came in, and he hasn’t done anything to improve the one department I care about since he’s been there.

One of Johnson’s big changes, and the one he’s being raked over the coals for, is the “no discounting” policy that has removed coupons from the equation. As a long-time JCPenney customer, I counted on those coupons to take percentages off purchases I made. Now I just wait for clearance sales and seasonal markdowns instead. That translates into fewer trips to JCPenney that we used to do. The balance sheets speak for themselves: many other customers like me simply aren’t spending money at JCPenney like they were before, and new customers who like the other changes that Johnson has made aren’t replacing them fast enough.

I think Ron Johnson should just admit this isn’t working and move on to something better. Remember, he is heavily invested in seeing JCPenney succeed.

Judge Lucy Koh, the federal judge presiding over two Apple v. Samsung cases in the Northern District of California, has just entered an order striking (or, more precisely, vacating) $450,514,650 ($450 million) from a $1,049,343,540 ($1.05 billion) damages award determined by a jury in August 2012.

Veteran writer and longtime Mac user Ian Betteridge takes an in-depth look at Google’s Chromebook Pixel.

I don’t know how many people manage so many Apple TVs, but Stephen Hackett does.

Now that we’re being called thieves in a public forum, we feel we must respond in public as well: we cannot let Dietmar Kerschner trash our hard-earned reputation with baseless accusations that can’t withstand even the most basic level of scrutiny.

Disclosure: We at The Loop used to work with Rob Griffiths at Macworld and use some of Many Tricks’ fine products.

To help protect users from a recent vulnerability, Apple has updated the web plug-in-blocking mechanism to disable older versions of the web plug-in: Adobe Flash Player

Makes sense.

Einhorn’s Greenlight Capital on Friday withdrew the suit it brought against Apple over a proxy proposal that would have allowed shareholders to vote on eliminating preferred stock from the company charter.

I’m glad that’s over.

Java is at the center of yet another security storm after Polish security researchers found not one, but two new separate zero-day flaws in the Web plug-in software.

sigh

Dave Hamilton at TMO has some good thoughts to share on the new “Six Strikes” punishments American ISPs are getting ready to inflict on consumers who download copyrighted content. Make no mistake, this is bad policy. Like, War on Drugs bad.

I agree that punishing BitTorrent users places emphasis on the wrong thing, much in the same way that arresting drug users does absolutely nothing to get drugs off the street. And I think the studios can be doing a better job of getting content to users in a timely, reasonable and affordable fashion. And big strides have been made there – like Dave, I have a wealth of options for getting content I want to watch: cable TV and “On Demand” service, Apple TV, Netflix, TiVo, Redbox.

So I mostly agree with everything that Dave writes.

But I get impatient with Dave’s conclusion, addressed to the content producers: “I’d love to have the convenience of not stealing from you.”

There are lots of things I want that I can’t have because I lack the resources like a Viking range, a BMW X5 and washboard abs. Doesn’t mean I’m allowed to go out and steal them. Same goes for music, movies and video games. Just because I want the content and it’s convenient to steal doesn’t mean I should.

There’s right, and there’s wrong. Stealing stuff is just plain wrong. We learn this as children, yet somehow we make elaborate excuses for it as we get older, like “Well, I’m just copying bits. I’m not really stealing.” Or “If it weren’t so hard for me to get legitimately, I wouldn’t have to steal it instead.”

When the studios make it hard for you to have content you want, you should just live without it, or reward other content providers who make it easier for you to do business with them.

Consumers have to stop expecting to have everyone kiss their ass just because they want something. This is the warped, misguided reason why “Six Strikes” policies are created to begin with.

In closing, I’m gonna let Mick and the boys speak for me:

Groupon lost 12 cents per share in the fourth quarter, far worse than analysts expected. Its shares sank 26% in premarket trading, mimicking what happened after the previous quarter’s similarly dismal results.

Tonight Groupon CEO Andrew Mason told the troops that he was out the door:

After four and a half intense and wonderful years as CEO of Groupon, I’ve decided that I’d like to spend more time with my family. Just kidding – I was fired today. If you’re wondering why… you haven’t been paying attention. From controversial metrics in our S1 to our material weakness to two quarters of missing our own expectations and a stock price that’s hovering around one quarter of our listing price, the events of the last year and a half speak for themselves. As CEO, I am accountable.

Respect due for Mason’s reference to the NES classic game Battletoads near the end of his letter – be sure to check it out.

Matthew Panzarino gives us one good example of what’s wrong with writers these days.

I chuckled a few times reading this.

When the fights are live on SPIKE, this app is your companion, allowing you to participate in the on-air broadcast. The fight is in your hands, as you become The 4th Judge. Score the fight as it happens using comprehensive real-time fighter analytics you can only get in this app. Developed from the ground up to make watching LIVE fights richer, Bellator MMA allows you to compare fighters and historical statistics to make your pre-fight picks, watch exclusive videos, and dig deep into robust bio pages.

That’s very cool.

The Tokyo District Court rejected the request as Samsung hadn’t negotiated “sincerely” with Apple over licensing data- sending patents, Judge Ichiro Otaka said in a ruling today. The court also ruled that Samsung doesn’t have the right to seek damages from Apple.

Now AT&T wants approval to convert all of this to an all-IP system. And because of the FCC’s flawed view of IP, this move would jettison all of the public interest protections that govern common carriers like AT&T. (The centuries-old “common carriage” concept applied to entities like railroads, shippers, and telecoms that transport goods often using public rights-of-way; since these functions are critical to commerce, common carriers are usually regulated even if they don’t operate in monopoly markets).

Get ready to grab your ankles, folks. And don’t expect so much as the courtesy of a reacharound.

Absolutely crazy.

According to Fortune they are No. 1. That should piss off the Wall Street Journal, but don’t worry they’ll try to spin it into bad news for Apple.

Apple is the most profitable, can’t make enough products to meet demand, is the most admired by its peers, yet it is doomed. Reality distortion field.

The facts don’t line up with the picture being presented by the street and the headline seeking mainstream media. And the most unfortunate thing about it is that it is affecting many who aren’t stuck in the reality distortion field. Apple’s shareholders.

Ben nails it.

Onboard storage of SIM cards & eject tool. Use any standard credit card or membership card as a stand. Sleek, low profile design.

I love the fact that it has storage for SIM cards. This is perfect if you travel and swap out your SIM in other countries.

Another lackluster Apple event…

No you moron, it was a shareholder meeting, not an event where things get announced.