miércoles, 20 de marzo de 2013

iPad By Davis: “MacBreak Weekly 342: Rib iPhone” plus 18 more

iPad By Davis: “MacBreak Weekly 342: Rib iPhone” plus 18 more


MacBreak Weekly 342: Rib iPhone

Posted: 19 Mar 2013 10:33 PM PDT

Leo Laporte, Andy Ihnatko, Alex Lindsay, and I discuss whether or not Apple lost the war of words with Samsung, a new iPhone web ad campaign, OS X 10.8.3, and more.

Download or subscribe: TWiT.tv



How do you type on the iPhone: Portrait or landscape? [Poll]

Posted: 19 Mar 2013 09:38 PM PDT

How do you type on the iPhone: Portrait or landscape? [Poll]

Last night we asked you how you grip the iPhone while typing, and tonight we're continuing our typing series by asking you about your orientation -- portrait or landscape?

Apple says they designed the iPhone with one-handed ease of use in mind, and maybe that's why it took them until iOS 3 to make landscape mode persistent across most of the built-in apps. But for a lot of people, the extra-wide, Cadillac-style typing experience of landscape is exactly what they want, number of hands it takes to hold and use it be damned.

For others, it might depend on the app. Portrait for on the go or quick stuff, landscape for speed-texting or longer-form writing.

When you want to get your type on, which orientation do you hold your iPhone? Portrait or landscape? Vote in the poll up top and give us the details and why you do what you do below!



Loop Attachment Mummy case for iPhone 5

Posted: 19 Mar 2013 09:00 PM PDT

I've been using the Loop Attachment Mummy case for iPhone 5 for a couple of months now and while it isn't as shiny or bejeweled as some of my previous case picks, it's amazingly protective and comes in very handy.

The Mummy case is made of silicone and that, combined with its unique design, let it stretch to hold anything from credit, debit, or ID cards, to cash, to a mini stylus. That does make it a little loosy-goosey around the edges, and that might bother some people, but I like that it's easy to take on and off.

Although it's protected my iPhone 5 from numerous bumps and drops, the Mummy case has worn slightly around the edges. Those edges also do project up over the screen slightly, but not enough to hinder swiping through apps and games.

It wasn't a case I expected to like, but the Mummy Case from Loop Attachment has lasted longer on my iPhone 5 than any other. If you want something light and fun, but still functional and useful, check it out!

Loop Attachment Mummy case for iPhone 5



Adding dependency to Apple

Posted: 19 Mar 2013 06:24 PM PDT

Adding dependency to Apple

Apple, given their history, is acutely aware of the pain that can result when their destiny depends on companies outside their control. Microsoft, Adobe, Google, Hollywood, AT&T, Nuance, and the list goes on. In yet another thoughtful piece on his blog, Hypercritical, John Siracusa argues that despite all this, Apple might do well to consider a few more dependencies.

An unfortunate side effect of doing everything yourself is that every other company starts to look like an enemy. Realistically, Apple can't do everything—or can't do everything well, anyway. Online services are only going to become more important with time, so it's understandable that Apple wants to be the master of its own destiny in this area. But it needs to improve much more quickly if it wants to even remain competitive, let alone catch up to Google. Failing that, it needs to find some partners that aren't mortal enemies. (I'm sure Marissa Mayer would take Tim Cook's call.)

It's an interesting quandary. Apple ultimately suffered from their partnerships with Microsoft, Google, and Samsung. In essence, they taught their partners how to become their competitors. Apple is currently partnering with Nuance for Siri's voice detection, yet Google's in-house voice services are providing far better service. If Apple had voice in-house, would it be more competitive? Is Apple's lack of experience with services in general better served by partnerships or acquisitions?

Siricusa looks at the history and the current situation, and also at Samsung and Google, their dependencies, and how they compare and contrast with Apple's.

It's great to see Siracusa blogging more regularly again, and as usual, the whole article is a fascinating read. check it out.

Source: Hypercritical

(Along with Marco Arment and Casey Liss, John Siracusa is also podcasting about technology again. You can find their new show -- which has been excellent, so far -- at Accidental Tech Podcast)



Unibody aluminium iPhone competitor HTC One gets reviewed

Posted: 19 Mar 2013 05:30 PM PDT

Unibody aluminium iPhone competitor HTC One gets reviewed

Android Central's Alex Dobie has posted his definitive HTC One review. While he bewilderingly managed to misspell aluminium, Dobie otherwise did a fantastic job looking at the almost Apple-class unibody hardware, stunning 1080p LCD display, and the interesting if more divisive HTC Sense 5 interface. His conclusion:

he HTC One is an exquisite piece of design and engineering. From the hardware to the software, HTC's new handset incorporates some of the very best design work in the industry. If there's something to be disappointed about, it might be the much-vaunted "UltraPixel" camera. Which is not to say it's bad per se -- in fact, it's pretty good. But it's a long way off being the silver bullet to cure all your mobile photography woes, and though its low-light performance is fantastic, it still lags behind the competition in some other areas.

In spite of this, is it HTC's best phone yet? Without question. And on balance, is it the best Android phone you can buy? For the moment, absolutely.

I had an HTC G1 and an HTC Nexus One, and to date they've made my favorite Android hardware by a long stretch. The HTC One looks far better built than either the Nexus 4 I currently own, or Samsung's just-announced Galaxy S4. I use my phone all day, every day, so how it feels is incredibly important.

But then again, so is software, and that sounds like it's still a challenge for HTC. At least the interface sounds smooth, though, which would be fantastic if it holds true day in day out, app in, app out.

If you're interested in seeing aluminium and glass at 4.7-inch scale, along with some great speakers, audacious camera technology, and... curious button and Home screen choices, check the Dobie's full review. Then come back here and let me know if there's anything about the HTC One you'd like to see Apple incorporate into future versions of the iPhone.

Source: Android Central



iWatch as gesture control interface

Posted: 19 Mar 2013 04:59 PM PDT

iWatch as gesture control interface

With rumors of an Apple iWatch swirling, speculation over potential feature sets and use cases are swirling with them. Designer Neven Mrgan has an interesting one:

Today it occurred to me that it could have an interesting use: acting as a gestural, accelerometer-based, Kinect-like remote.

Or like a wearable Wii-mote or PlayStation move. Go read the rest of it to see how Mrgan thinks it could be used.

Source: Neven Mrgan



PDFpen 6 for Mac Review

Posted: 19 Mar 2013 04:02 PM PDT

PDFpen 6 for Mac Review

Smile Software has released a new version of PDFpen, a full-featured PDF editor. PDFpen 6 includes the ability to export in MS Word format, a new editing bar, and more.

The editing bar in PDFpen includes the ability to add text, notes, links, shapes, highlights, and photos. You can also chose to edit any text even though the file you're working with is technically a flattened PDF. You do this with the "Correct Text" tool and simply highlight the block of text you wish to change.

Another great feature of PDFpen is the ability to add commonly used imprints and characters used by teachers and editors when adding notes to a paper. These look like they are handwritten and you can upload your own as well.

PDFpen also does Optical Character Recognition (OCR) so that you can edit scanned documents. Scanned documents with text are technically just an image of text, but with OCR, PDFpen is able to convert that image into usable text with the help of the OmniPage OCR engine.

Some other features of PDFpen include the ability to add and edit images, combine PDFs, re-order pages, fill out interactive PDF forms, password protect your document, and more. PDFpen also support Dropbox and iCloud sync as well as the ability to save your document as a MS Word file (.doc or .docx).

The good

  • Add text, images and signatures to PDF
  • Correct text in original PDF with editable text blocks
  • Move, resize, copy and delete images in original PDF
  • Redact or erase text, including OCR text; use search-and-redact or search-and-replace
  • Adjust resolution, color depth and contrast in an image or scanned document
  • Scan directly from Image Capture or TWAIN scanners
  • Perform OCR (Optical Character Recognition) on scanned documents
  • Insert and remove pages; re-order pages in a PDF by drag & drop
  • Combine PDFs
  • Insert page numbers and specify positioning and format, including Roman numerals and Bates Numbering
  • Fill out interactive PDF forms
  • Add (and print) notes and comments
  • Mark up documents with highlighting, underscoring and strikethrough
  • Save frequently-used images, signatures, objects and text in the Library and sync that Library via iCloud
  • Save PDFs directly to Evernote
  • Password protect a document
  • Export to Microsoft® Word (.doc, .docx) format
  • Use iCloud or Dropbox for seamless editing with PDFpen for iPad and PDFpen for iPhone

The bad

  • When cropping a photo, you can't lock the aspect ratio
  • Effect tab has a bug. The first time you visit it, the previews display fine, but if you go to another tab and come back, the previews do not show.
  • Highlighter tool is a bit buggy

The bottom line

PDFpen is a great PDF editor for the Mac that is full-featured and easy to use. Personally, I prefer to do most of my annotating with an iPad (and there's a version of PDFpen for iPad), but I will definitely be turning to PDFpen for Mac for my other PDF editing needs like filling out forms and editing documents.



Adobe CTO Kevin Lynch leaving to join Apple

Posted: 19 Mar 2013 02:44 PM PDT

Adobe CTO Kevin Lynch leaving to join Apple

Adobe's CTO, Kevin Lynch, is leaving the Photoshop and Flash maker to join Apple. CNBC's Jon Fortt got the statement from Adobe:

Kevin Lynch, Adobe CTO, is leaving the company effective March 22 to take a position at Apple. We will not be replacing the CTO position; responsibility for technology development lies with our business unit heads under the leadership of Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen. Bryan Lamkin, who has recently returned to Adobe, will assume responsibilities for cross company research and technology initiatives as well as Corporate Development. We wish Kevin well in this new chapter of his career.

No mention of what Lynch's role would be at Apple. Given Adobe's recent focus on software-as-a-service with Creative Cloud, perhaps online in Eddy Cue's division would be an obvious place. Apple tends to subsidize software costs with hardware, however, so the subscription part could likely be much less important than the cloud part.

More if/when Apple or Lynch comments, or his new role leaks. In the meantime, speculate away!

Update 1: CNBC has updated their story, and reports that Lynch's title at Apple will be VP of Technology, reporting to Bob Mansfield, SVP of Technology. Mansfield runs the hardware guts at Apple, including chipsets, which, if accurate, seems like an odd place for a software guy like Lynch.

Update 2: According to AllThingsD, Lynch will be coordinating between the software and hardware teams.

Source: CNBC, AllThingsD



The cost of relying on free apps

Posted: 19 Mar 2013 02:04 PM PDT

The cost of relying on free apps

The true costs associated with free apps isn't limited to free-to-play-games, or the consequences to just our wallets. Michael Jurewitz, who up until last year worked as a developer evangelist at Apple, has outlined another profound cost on his blog, Jury:

Last week brought a couple high profile announcements in the tech world. Google announced it would shutter Google Reader on July 1 and Dropbox announced it had acquired the hugely-popular-but-how're-they-gonna-make-money Mailbox app. At face value, these were two separate and unconnected events but they bear a lesson for all of us to take to heart: Running a sustainable business requires generating sustainable revenue. Charge money for what you create.

Both during and after his stint at Apple, Jury has been a consistent voice on this. Make a great product. Charge a fair price. Align your interests with your customers. It's a virtuous cycle.

Free can be done well and done right. But free is also a dependency for everyone involved. Companies that make free products cede control of their own destiny to venture capitalists and those who would acquire them. Customers who use free products cede control of their data to servers that are more likely to change hands, perhaps multiple times, or disappear entirely.

With Google Reader, we ultimately lost out to their Google+ agenda. With Mailbox, their customer was ultimately Dropbox and not us. Something even better could replace Google Reader. Dropbox could make Mailbox the email client of the future. But we didn't buy either of them, and ultimately we got what we paid for.

Whether you're a developer or a customer, read Jury's piece and think about whether investing your money is better deal than investing your time and/or data.

Source: Jury



iPad Insight & March Madness – Join Our Bracket

Posted: 19 Mar 2013 01:07 PM PDT

Simple Bracket app

March Madness tips off today, so we've got 3 weeks of fantastic college hoops action coming up. I'm excited about the beginning of the tournament and ready to have fun seeing how my brackets hold up.

I'm hoping we have some March Madness fans here – and hoping you might want to join in a bit of bracket fun. I saw the Simple Bracket app mentioned by John Gruber at Daring Fireball this morning and installed it based on his recommendation. It's a nice little app – and super simple to use, living up to its name.

I created a bracket more quickly than I did on some other online pools, with just a few taps and swipes.

I also created a Pool, so I can match picks and predictions with any of you who care to join it. The pool is called 'Madness Insight'.

Madness Insight Pool

All you need to do is grab the Simple Bracket app for 99 cents – here's an App Store link for it – fill in your...

Read the whole entry... »

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Apple TV update brings bug fixes, redesigned Hulu Plus

Posted: 19 Mar 2013 12:18 PM PDT

Apple TV update brings bug fixes, redesigned Hulu Plus

The Apple TV has been updated to software version 5.1.2 with fixes for a number of security bugs, but the big news in this update is the Hulu Plus app which has been completely redesigned.

When opening Hulu Plus, content categories can be found across the top of the screen, separating TV, Movies, and Kids programming for quick access. There is now a "Shows You Watch" section on the first screen of the app for easier navigation to the programs you watch regularly. Hulu also added a couple of small but very useful tweaks for controlling playback. First, when you find the show you want to watch, just highlight it and press play to start playing the latest episode. Finally, during playback, hold down the "Select" button on your Apple TV remote to bring up the Subtitles and Audio options.

To update your Apple TV firmware to the latest version, go to Settings > General > Update Software.

Source: Hulu



How to use Twitter lists to replace Google Reader

Posted: 19 Mar 2013 10:28 AM PDT

How to use Twitter lists to keep up with news

Twitter is not only a great place to converse with others that have the same interests as you, but to stay current on all kinds of news. Since Google Reader is getting canned this summer, lots of folks are left to find other ways of keeping up with news feeds. If you don't fancy learning a new app or finding another RSS service to take its place, you can use the Twitter account you already have to stay up to date on news via the lists feature.

Here's how.

How to create, follow, and view lists with Twitter.com and the official Twitter app for iPhone and iPad

If you use the official Twitter app for iPhone, you'll need to jump on Twitter.com from your computer in order to create or follow lists. Once you do that, you'll be good to go on your iPhone or iPad and you'll be able to view your lists from there. If you don't already have the official Twitter app installed on your iPhone or iPad, you can hit the link below directly from your device to grab it.

To create a list, follow these steps:

  1. From your computer go to www.twitter.com and sign in with your Twitter username and password.
  2. Once you are signed in click on View my profile page in the upper left hand corner.
  3. Now in the left hand navigation, choose Lists.
  4. Under the main lists sections, choose the Create List option.
  5. Fill out the information about the list that you want to create and then hit Save list.
  6. You will now be taken to a search page where you can search for Twitter users to follow. You can type in search terms like "iOS", "mobile news", or anything else you're looking for.
  7. When you find a Twitter account you'd like to add to your list, click on the icon that looks like a person to the left of the follow button and choose the option for Add or remove from lists...
  8. Now just select the box for the list you'd like to add them to and close out the popup. That's it.

To follow another Twitter user's list, follow these steps:

  1. Open a web browser on your computer and log in to www.twitter.com with your Twitter username and password.
  2. Once you're logged in, search for the user that has the list you'd like to follow.
  3. In the left hand navigation, click on the Lists option.
  4. You'll now see all the lists that person has created or followed. Click on the list name you're interested in.
  5. Towards the top left hand side, click on the Subscribe button. That's it. You're now subscribed to that list. If you ever want to unsubscribe, you can do so by repeating the same process and choosing the unsubscribe option.

To access your lists in the official Twitter app for iOS, follow these steps:

  1. Launch the Twitter app from the Home screen of your iPhone or iPad.
  2. In the bottom navigation, tap on the Me menu option.
  3. Scroll down a ways and tap on the Lists menu.
  4. Here you'll see a list of all the lists you've created or subscribed to. Just tap into any one of them to filter tweets based on that list.

How to create, follow, and view lists with Tweetbot for iPhone and iPad

Tweetbot, a fan favorite among Twitter clients, not only lets you view lists natively but create, follow, and manage them. If you dont fancy logging in to Twitter.com every time you want to make changes to a list, Tweetbot is a great option since you can do all that right from the app. If you don't have Tweetbot installed already, you can pick it up by hitting the follow links directly from your device.

To create a list with Tweetbot, follow these steps:

  1. Launch the Tweetbot app from the Home screen of your iPhone or iPad.
  2. In the main navigation along the bottom, choose the List option. If you don't see it, tap and hold on the last icon so it brings up more options. The list option looks like 3 horizontal lines.
  3. Here you'll see lists you already belong to, if any. In the upper right hand corner, tap the Edit button.
  4. Now a plus sign will appear in the upper left hand corner. Tap on it.
  5. Enter the info on the list you'd like to create and then tap Save in the upper right hand corner.
  6. You'll now be taken to that list. Tap the Edit button again in order to start searching for users to add to that list. After you find them, just select them and they'll automatically be added to the list you've chosen.

To follow another Twitter's user's list with Tweetbot, follow these steps:

  1. Launch the Tweetbot app from the Home screen of your iPhone or iPad.
  2. Navigate to the user's profile who has the list you'd like to follow.
  3. In the lower navigation menu, tap on the Lists icon in the far right corner.
  4. Find the list you'd like to start following and tap on it.
  5. Here you'll see a list of all the members in that list. In the bottom right hand corner, tap on the gear icon.
  6. Now tap on Follow list. That's it. The list will now show up in your lists on Twitter.

To access your lists in Tweetbot, follow these steps:

  1. Launch the Tweetbot app from the Home screen of your iPhone or iPad.
  2. Choose the Lists option from the navigation menu along the bottom of the screen. If you don't see it, hold down on the last icon to reveal more options. The list icon looks like three horizontal bars.
  3. From here you have access to all your lists. Tapping any one of them will bring up tweets for that list. That's all there is to it.

How to create, follow, and view lists with Twitterrific for iPhone and iPad

Twitterrific is another favorite among many Twitter users and also allows you access to your lists. While Twitterrific doesn't allow you to create and subscribe to lists, does let you view your lists that you've created once they're set up. It's still a great app and those who want a beautiful interface will immediately love Twitterrific as it's got one of the best experiences out there. If you don't already use Twitterrific, you can hit the following link to pick it up for either iPhone or iPad.

To access your lists with Twitterrific, follow these steps:

  1. Launch the Twitterrific app from the Home screen of your iPhone or iPad.
  2. Tap on your display picture in the upper left hand corner to slide out the main menu.
  3. Scroll down to the LIsts section.
  4. Tap on the name of any list you'd like to view and you'll be brought to the tweets from only users in that list. That's it.

Your favorite lists?

Everyone likes a good Twitter list, especially if it's about mobile news or iOS. If you follow any good lists that you think other readers would appreciate and want to follow, feel free to drop it in the comments below!



Gramatica for iPhone and iPad review

Posted: 19 Mar 2013 10:01 AM PDT

Gramatica for iPhone and iPad review

Gramatica is an Instagram client for the iPhone and iPad that lets you hide and filter unwanted photos. You can create lists of tags and people, or you can simply hide a photo that you come across in your stream. Gramatica also supports multiple accounts, pinch to zoom, and more.

Gramatica features a dark-themed social stream with all photos shared by your friends, but different from the official Instagram app, Gramatica reveals additional columns when you swipe left or right. Swiping to the right slides open a toolbar on the left with more tabs and options. Swiping to the left reveals your stream in thumbnail view so that you can quickly see 18 photos at a glance (on the iPhone 5).

With each photo on the stream, the username, avatar, and location associated with it appear just below. Tapping the avatar or user name will open the user's profile, and tapping the location slides open a little map in place of the photo. Similarly, tapping on the comment bubble or heart will slide in all the comments/likes with the ability to add your own. When adding a comment, tap a previous comment to tag that user. Double-tapping a photo will mark it as a favorite.

One of the unique and main features of Gramatica is the ability to hide photos and filter specific people and tags. You can also create lists of people and tags to add to your left sidebar for quick access. When viewing a user's profile, you can choose to hide or block the user or add them to a list you created. If you come across a photo in your timeline that you'd rather never see again, holding your finger down on it will reveal options to hide photo or user.

The good

  • Filter and hide people, photos, or tags you don't want to see
  • Make lists of users or hashtags
  • Support for multiple accounts
  • Like, comment, view on a map, and filter all without leaving the gallery
  • Double-tap to like a photo
  • Pinch to zoom
  • Unread comments indicator
  • Last viewed photo indicator
  • Ability to tab URLs in comments
  • Thumbnail view on iPhone
  • Universal for iPhone and iPad
  • Keep all of your filters, lists, unread comment and last viewed photo information synced between devices with iCloud

The bad

  • Can't upload photos (not the fault of Gramatica; this is a limitation of Instagram API)
  • Using the word "filter" to describe something other than a photo filter in an Instagram app can be a bit confusing

The bottom line

I seriously love Gramatica. The interface is beautiful, I get to hide the occasional ugly photo, and best of all, it's available on the iPad!



Apple releases iOS 6.1.3

Posted: 19 Mar 2013 09:45 AM PDT

Apple releases iOS 6.1.3

Apple has released iOS 6.1.3 which contains a fix for the passcode bypass bug as well as improvements to Maps in Japan. This is the third minor update since the release of iOS 6.1 in late January.

The update is available over the air and through iTunes. Go to Settings > General > Software Update, or connect your device to your computer through USB.



Review: ZAGGkeys Mini 9 Keyboard Case & Cover: Not Recommended

Posted: 19 Mar 2013 09:11 AM PDT

ZAGGkeys Mini 9 keyboard case for iPad mini

The ZAGGkeys Mini 9 is a new iPad mini keyboard case and cover combo from the team at ZAGG. In the past, ZAGG keyboard cases have been my favorite for the iPad, largely due to their excellent keyboards with generous key spacing.

For the iPad mini ZAGG recently released two variants of the ZAGGkeys Mini – the ZAGGkeys Mini 7 and Mini 9. The Mini 9 offers a standard sized ZAGG keyboard, the Mini 7 has a 'compact' keyboard layout. I had been looking forward to seeing ZAGG release a keyboard case for the iPad mini and eagerly awaited the arrival of my ZAGGkeys Mini 9 (which I'll just refer to as the Mini 9 from here on) – and unfortunately it's been all downhill and disappointment ever since it arrived on my doorstep.

Notes

Here are some of the notable features ZAGG lists for the ZAGGkeys Mini 9:

    • Great for the iPad mini
    • Identical keyboard size, design, and layout...

Read the whole entry... »

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AT&T to offer larger data plans for businesses

Posted: 19 Mar 2013 08:03 AM PDT

AT&T to offer larger data plans for businesses

AT&T is rolling out new, large data plans aimed at businesses. The new plans start at $300 per month for 30GB of data, with 40GB going for $400 per month, and 50GB for $500. Devices like feature phones, laptops, and tablets can all be added to these plans as well. These new plans, under the Mobile Share umbrella, also come with unlimited talk and text, as well as tethering for smartphones. AT&T says:

The new plans are ideal for businesses, as well as consumers who need more data, and build on AT&T's existing Mobile Share plans with expanded options of 30 GB, 40 GB and 50 GB, including unlimited calls and texts. In addition, AT&T is offering new Mobile Share – Data plans for businesses and consumers and new Business Pooled Nation for Data plans for business customers.

Each plan is also limited by the number of devices it can add to these plans. For the 30GB plan, a business can add 15 devices, while 40GB and 50GB can ad 20 and 25 devices, respectively. Businesses that need to add more devices can use the AT&T Business Pooled Nation for Data plans, which have options ranging from 300MB to 10GB per month. Finally, AT&T is adding data-only plans for consumers and businesses, starting at $30 per month for 4GB, going to $335 for 50GB. Each of these plans will be available beginning this Friday, March 22.

Source: AT&T



Apple investors: How to stay sane by staying long

Posted: 19 Mar 2013 07:54 AM PDT

Apple investors: How to stay sane by staying long

Earlier today I had a quick chat with iMore's editor-in-chief, Rene Ritchie about all the crazy rumours and bad journalism that Apple has had to deal with lately. But more to the point, we talked about how this stuff can hurt small time investors if they don't know how to deal with it. So that's what we'll talk about here.

Let's look at an example. Remember the recent stock split rumour? It came from this tweet by Doug Kass, president of Seabreeze Partners. This is a guy who used to have a senior position at hedge fund giant Omega Advisors, so obviously if he passes on a rumour people are going to see it and pay attention. Exactly 101 people retweeted that rumour.

I have no idea if he traded on this rumor or not -- I'm not going to even go there -- but the facts are this: the stock started moving higher right after the tweet was posted.

To be clear, if he hears the rumor and passes it on without knowing if it's true or not, there is nothing illegal about it. But it opens the door to a lot of potential short term manipulation. It makes it too easy to profit by having a following. Based on my understanding of the law, you could hear a rumor that you think people would react well to if it was true. You could then take a long position (equity or options) and pass on the rumor. The bigger your following, the bigger your potential profit will be from this because your actions can move the market temporarily.

Whatever happened, or didn't happen, in this specific case, in general it's impossible to avoid accusations when it does happen.

If a simple tweet can move a stock, how about big headline in the Wall Street Journal? You want to really move a stock? Find a way to plant your full-of-crap story in the biggest financial newspaper in the world. Remember this WSJ story talking about the supposed cuts to iPhone 5 parts orders by Apple?

How would a reader know that this story might have no truthful foundation? Look at the sources. In financial journalism, whenever someone wants to be as vague as possible about a source, they'll just say "people familiar with the situation".

Sometimes these "people" are real and have actual information. An investment banker may speak to the media secretly about a pending takeover deal. It turns out to be true. But when it comes to supply chain checks like this, the "people" could just as easily be hedge fund managers who convince the WSJ that they have legitimate information which is completely fabricated. Or they could have real information that they stretch beyond reality. For example say you have a contact at a screen supplier that lost business from Apple. If you can convince the WSJ reporter that this information is real, you could just as easily stretch it to suggest that it means the iPhone 5 is not selling well. This would be in contradiction to the actual truth, of course, since Apple reported its best ever quarter following that story. And it was only one of many.

At the end of the day this stuff can hurt investors. But you can protect yourself. How?

Follows these simple tips:

  1. Realize that you will never have an information advantage over the pros. Most information is geared to short term results anyway. Just don't pay attention to short term news and rumours when it comes to investing. It won't help you.
  2. Buy a stock for your own reasons and sell when those reasons are no longer true. This will stop you from making emotional decisions and trading on rumours.
  3. Start to notice the wording that journalists use when they talk about information sources. If the source is vaguely referenced, there is a much higher chance of the information being complete crap. Refer back to rule number 1 and 2.

It's easy to lose your mind, much less your money, in the modern age of investment. Staying above the rumors and the manipulations is a good way to stay sane.



Deal of the Day: 55% off Ballistic Hard Core (HC) Series Case for iPhone 5

Posted: 19 Mar 2013 06:45 AM PDT

Today Only: Purchase the Ballistic Hard Core (HC) Series Case for iPhone 5 and save $32.99!

The Ballistic Hard Core (HC) Series Case is engineered with five layers of protection, including a built in screen protector, shock absorbent polymer, impact resistant polycarbonate, water resistant mesh over all speakers and an extremely durable rotating holster. This case offers security from drops, fingerprints, scratches, dust, and more.

List Price: $59.99     Today Only: $27.00

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How Apple reduces duplicative efforts and complexity

Posted: 19 Mar 2013 06:09 AM PDT

How Apple reduces duplicative efforts and complexity

Don Melton, who ran WebKit and Safari for Apple until last year, has been sharing his insights for a while now on his personal blog. His latest post delves into the canard of fake projects and loyalty tests, but in dispelling it, Melton also sheds light on why Apple's corporate culture makes such things outlandish to begin with. From donmelton.com:

Clearly, duplication of effort is not big in Cupertino. Even with two operating systems — iOS and OS X — the idea is to share technologies that make sense and keep those technologies from diverging too much. Otherwise it becomes really complicated to coordinate releases. It's not perfect, but anyone who's attended an Apple developer conference knows the company takes reducing even that kind of duplication seriously.

In stark contrast to competitors who sometimes have 3 versions of the same service, or multiple layers of middle management, or committees of engineers, Apple runs not like the enormous mega-corporation it is, but an almost cell-like structure of small, lean, stay-hungry startups.

There's no better way to keep secrets than not to provide people with information they don't need in the first place, and no better way to keep loyalty than to empower people with meaningful work.

Logic, understanding, and experience cuts through a lot of noise. Check out the rest of Melton's post for more.

Source: donmelton.com



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