Apple Stores unify employee shirts as major customer service enhancements planned | 9to5Mac

Apple Stores unify employee shirts as major customer service enhancements planned | 9to5Mac: "Apple is taking a small-step to unifying the attire of its U.S.-based Apple Store employees this upcoming week: the black shirts worn by Apple Store Business Team members for several years will be going into retirement, and all Apple Store employees will begin wearing the same, classic blue t-shirts as normally seen on the store sales floors. "

This is easily the most important news I read today.

Google’s acquisition of Twitch for $1 billion reportedly confirmed | 9to5Google

Google’s acquisition of Twitch for $1 billion reportedly confirmed | 9to5Google
According to VentureBeat, citing sources familiar with the matter, Google has reached an agreement with Twitch to acquire the live streaming video platform for $1 billion. While the deal appears to have been finalized, the two companies have yet to make a formal announcement regarding the acquisition. Google’s YouTube division is reportedly in charge of the acquisition. 

This ain't yo mama's TV channel.

New Samsung ad says ‘we’ve had it for two years’ to those anticipating iPhone 6′s larger screen | 9to5Mac

New Samsung ad says ‘we’ve had it for two years’ to those anticipating iPhone 6′s larger screen | 9to5Mac: "Samsung is continuing its approach of pushing anti-iPhone ads on its YouTube channel. Today’s ad showcases two friends, an iPhone user and a Galaxy S5 user, speaking to each other about the upcoming iPhone 6′s larger screen."

Some might say, the second-mover advantage falls to the maker of the most popular smartphone. Only time will tell.

4.7-inch iPhone production to start third week of July, 5.5-inch second week of August as Foxconn confirms hiring of 100K workers | 9to5Mac

4.7-inch iPhone production to start third week of July, 5.5-inch second week of August as Foxconn confirms hiring of 100K workers | 9to5Mac: "Apple is set to begin mass production of the next-generation iPhone next week, the Economic Daily reported today. According to the report, the smaller 4.7-inch model will enter production in the third week of July, while the larger 5.5-inch variant will enter production in the second week of August. The bigger of the two models is said to be facing production setbacks that could lead to a much later launch date than its smaller cousin."

The phat lady cometh.

Rethink that $TWTR buy: Federal Reserve says social media stocks are overvalued | VentureBeat | Business | by Jon Christian and Ruth Reader

Rethink that $TWTR buy: Federal Reserve says social media stocks are overvalued | VentureBeat | Business | by Jon Christian and Ruth Reader
Social media and biotechnology firms may be overvalued by investors, warned the Federal Reserve today.

Yeah, you should invest in American blue chip stocks like AIG. Because that little SF startup that started the Arab spring is of no real consequence in the physical world.

MIT working with Google’s Boston Dynamics to develop shapeshifting robots | 9to5Google

MIT working with Google’s Boston Dynamics to develop shapeshifting robots | 9to5Google: "A team of eggheads at MIT are working with Boston Dynamics to develop next-generation shapeshifting robots built from simple materials like wax and foam. Not quite like Shang Tsung from Mortal Kombat, these pliable contraptions possess the ability to squish into smalls spaces, while maintaining their durability. "

Eggheads. The source of everything egg citing.

All hail the king: iPhone 5s is the world’s most popular handset | Cult of Mac

All hail the king: iPhone 5s is the world’s most popular handset | Cult of Mac: "According to new research from market intelligence firm ABI Research, the iPhone was the world’s most popular smartphone in Q1 2014, leaving competitors in the dust as the top-selling handset globally."

It's good to be the king. Except that everyone wants to kill you so they can be the king. Long live the king!

Apple begins receiving shipments of A-series processors from TSMC - report

Apple begins receiving shipments of A-series processors from TSMC - report: "Whispers that TSMC had begun manufacturing so-called 'A8' chips for Apple's next-generation iPhones and iPads surfaced in March. Those processors are though to be quad-core models, doubling the dual-core setup of the current-generation A7. "

Diversification in this regard can only be a good thing.

Sapphire 4.7″ iPhone 6 display put through its paces with knife and keys in new scratch test video | 9to5Mac

Sapphire 4.7″ iPhone 6 display put through its paces with knife and keys in new scratch test video | 9to5Mac: "Earlier today we got a quick look at a flexible iPhone 6 display, but a new video from YouTuber Marques Brownlee (embedded below) takes the supposed next-gen screen through a more complete durability test."

Apparently sapphire and aluminum are one of the most plentiful substances on earth.

City Ride helps Google Glass users find Citi Bikes in New York City | 9to5Google

City Ride helps Google Glass users find Citi Bikes in New York City | 9to5Google
The arrival of the bike sharing system Citi Bike aims to solve that problem, but New Yorkers still need to be able to track down these bikes for the program to be useful. Enter City Ride for Glass, an upcoming app that aims to be a simple and effective way of finding Citi Bikes using Google Glass.

This is such an inspiring image, I wanted to share it.

VirtualEyez - 3 Channel Video Switcher with Chroma-Keying for Mac

b-l-a-c-k-o-p™ - Mac Free Download | webcam Live Streaming Video Mixer | Graphic | Design | Art | Apple: Introducing VirtualEyez 2.0 - 3 Channel Video Switcher with Chroma-Keying for Mac - Free Download Apple/Mac/OSX
We're proud to present this new version of VirtualEyez for Intel Macs. It runs on all modern Macs with 10.6.8 and higher. The CMIO virtual camera driver is compatible with Mavericks and Safari, and the VDIG camera driver spans compatibility backwards to QuickTime(tm) camera apps. For this version of VirtualEyez, we wanted to distill the app down to its most valuable features and make those features as fast as possible. We ultimately dispatched with CoreImage in exchange for its faster and more primitive cousin, OpenGL.

If you're an iMovie fanatic like I am, you might want to check in to this live streaming app for the Mac that makes it possible to create a virtual set environment (like most desk-based comedy / news shows) and then broadcast the whole kaboodle live as a Google Hangout or direct upload to YouTube.

As far as I can tell it works with all the webcam apps that I use, including Flash streaming apps embedded in Safari.

Review: Transcend’s JetDrives add whopping 240-960GB SSD to MacBook Air at a great price | 9to5Mac

Review: Transcend’s JetDrives add whopping 240-960GB SSD to MacBook Air at a great price | 9to5Mac: "See that little $190 daughter card up there^? It houses 240GB of Transcend SSD and it could replace the 64GB or 128GB SSD that came in your MacBook Air in as little as 5 minutes. Even better, Transcend just released larger versions in 480GB and 960GB sizes to blow your SATA III MacBook Air or Pro into new worlds of space. "

The future is quite speedy and getting larger all the time.

GM and Philips nearly bought Pixar, but deal's collapse allowed Steve Jobs to invest

GM and Philips nearly bought Pixar, but deal's collapse allowed Steve Jobs to invest: "'We'd known from the outset that entering into a relationship with GM and Philips would likely put an end to our dream of making the first animated feature film, but that was a risk no matter who we joined up with,' he wrote."

Wonderful example of hindsight 20/20. Failure is not always a failure, it's a blessing.