LA Times:

With Apple poised to announce the long-awaited iPhone 5 on Wednesday and reap heavy sales from it, analysts and software developers are looking beyond the product launch to whether Cook can set his own course at the company after the death of its co-founder.“I think we are definitely still riding Steve Jobs’ stewardship,” said Matt Brezina, chief executive of mobile start-up Sincerely Inc. “Tim needs to define what kind of leader he is externally. As a developer on their platform, I’m not quite sure what kind of leader he is yet.”

I can guarantee you that Tim Cook doesn’t give a rat’s ass if people can’t figure out what kind of leader he is.

I know it’s a blue shirt and a lanyard, but does everything have to look like Apple did it?

Andrey Doronichev on the official YouTube blog:

For all you diehard YouTube fans out there who can’t get enough YouTube on your mobile, we’ve got some great news: starting today, you can download the official YouTube app for iPhone and iPod touch from the App Store, bringing you more of the videos you love and more ways to share them with the people you care about.

The new app features access to more videos, a new channel guide, predictive search suggestions, sharing on Google+, Facebook and text message and more. It’s a free download.

This is a replacement for the “built-in” app included with iOS 5, which will go away with the next major iOS release.

512 Pixels:

In preparing for tomorrow’s podcast, I decided to type up a list of Amazon’s pricing for the Kindles. Here’s the complete list.

I won’t steal the pertinent information from the site (others will though) but before you click through, take a guess at how many price points Amazon has for the Kindle and then guess how many Apple has for the iPad. It’s hard not to imagine that Amazon is creating their own “Paralysis of Choice“. Thanks to Matthew Panzarino for the link.

BlueToad:

A little more than a week ago, BlueToad was the victim of a criminal cyber attack, which resulted in the theft of Apple UDIDs from our systems. Shortly thereafter, an unknown group posted these UDIDs on the Internet.We sincerely apologize to our partners, clients, publishers, employees and users of our apps. We take information security very seriously and have great respect and appreciation for the public’s concern surrounding app and information privacy.BlueToad believes the risk that the stolen data can be used to harm app users is very low.

Well….that’s embarrassing.

TUAW:

…last week…Amazon introduced its new, larger HD (Kindle Fire). With low-cost, built-in LTE, and a $50/year data plan that gives users 250 MB of data per month, it provides a budget alternative to the iPad.No matter how you look at it, the Fire is a bargain.

Agreed but the line “I’ve used the Kindle Fire for a year now. It’s fine. The Android-based OS isn’t particularly horrible” is certainly damning with faint praise.

Mike Isaac for All Things D:

Web hosting company GoDaddy experienced a period of company-wide outages on Monday morning, taking down a slew of Web sites that rely on the company for hosting services.

A person who claims an association with the hacker collective known as “Anonymous” is claiming credit for the kill.

New York Times:

(Here) comes an actor, comedian and writer, seeking to make his way across the country in the next two weeks with only a dream and, oh, yes, instead of a dollar, a trailer filled with 3,000 pounds of a new bacon.The actor, Josh Sankey, will embark this week on a promotion for the Oscar Mayer division of Kraft Foods that is being called the Great American Bacon Barter.

This is just yet another lame attempt by Corporate America to leverage social media (and use the mainstream media as a promotional tool) and turn something viral. It rarely works and often blows up in their faces.

On the other hand – Bacon. So there’s that.

Great photos.

[Via 9to5Mac]

Sponsoring The Loop this week is SonicPics.

SonicPics is a fun and engaging digital storytelling app for iOS. Turn your photographs into narrated movies to share with your family and friends!

Check out SonicPics today on the app store.

If you’re going to buy a Mac, why not get a little something extra.

Nope, never seen anything like this before in my life.

Wall Street Journal:

On Aug. 31, the Federal Aviation Administration requested public comment on its longstanding policy of prohibiting the use of personal electronics during takeoffs and landings. The restrictions date back to 1991 and were motivated in part by anecdotal reports from pilots and flight crews that electronic devices affected an airliner’s navigation equipment or disrupted communication between the cockpit and the ground. Over the years, however, Boeing has been unable to duplicate these problems, and the FAA can only say that the devices’ radio signals “may” interfere with flight operations.

Gadgets may not but the near constant whining of people who can’t use their iPads and Kindles and can’t entertain themselves for a few minutes might drive some of us insane. Our parents seemed to get along just fine on airplanes without needing to be constantly distracted by electronic gizmos.

If you’ve been put off by the (arguably obtrusive) Special Offers on the Kindle Fire HD, Amazon has just announced that they will allow users to pay $15 to opt-out of the ads for the life of the device.

Okay, skinny jeans had to go.

Tricia Duryee for All Things D:

PayPal President David Marcus responded to mounting criticism from customers by promising that things are changing at the online payments company.

Marcus’ comments come on the heels of some well-publicized criticism of PayPal from Eliot Jay Stocks, a designer who created a magazine called 8 Faces. Stocks posted to his blog about how he would never use PayPal again after repeated incidents of them freezing the funds in his account.

Marcus posted to a discussion thread at the Hacker News Web site, noting “there’s a massive culture change happening at PayPal right now. If we suck at something, we now face it, and we do something about it.”

Of course, it’s one thing to promise change. It’s another to deliver it.

Dan Spitz, former lead guitarist for thrash metal band Anthrax, has sold more than 15 million albums, been nominated for 3 Grammy’s, created over 10 studio albums – and now he is recognized as one of the best watchmakers in the world.

That’s just awesome.

They killed the Mac version of the official Twitter client.

You’d definitely get candid shots with this.

With its elegantly implemented Thunderbolt connectivity, the Pro Tools|HD Native Thunderbolt interface gives producers, engineers, and mixers the incredible sound quality, low latency, and sheer power of the award-winning Pro Tools|HD Native system in a mobile-based hardware solution…

My buddy Corey Tamas is getting set to record his first album and he has a campaign up on Indiegogo where you can help. Support independent artists, I did.

Associated Press, via Huffington Post:

The ice cream maker that introduced the flavors Schweddy Balls and Karamel Sutra sued the maker of “Ben & Cherry’s” X-rated DVDs Wednesday, saying the “hardcore pornographic” films have smeared its reputation.

Caballero Video has produced titles like “Boston Cream Thighs” and “Peanut Butter D-Cup,” and has packaged them to imitate Ben & Jerry’s containers.

Philips new cordless phone.

Great rundown on what you’ll need to build your own style guide.