Game of Phones

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A kickstarter based on a deck of custom cards and a group of friends with smartphones. Great idea.

Amazon and HBO ink exclusive content deal for Amazon Instant Video

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This is a big deal for Amazon and a bit of bad news for Netflix.

Amazon.com, Inc. today announced a content licensing agreement with HBO, making Prime Instant Video the exclusive online-only subscription home for select HBO programming. The collection includes award-winning shows such as The Sopranos, Six Feet Under, The Wire, Big Love, Deadwood, Eastbound & Down, Family Tree, Enlightened, Treme, early seasons of Boardwalk Empire and True Blood, as well as mini-series like Band of Brothers, John Adams and more. Previous seasons of other HBO shows, such as Girls, The Newsroom and Veep will become available over the course of the multi-year agreement, approximately three years after airing on HBO. The first wave of content will arrive on Prime Instant Video May 21. This is the first time that HBO programming has been licensed to an online-only subscription streaming service. This programming will remain on all HBO platforms.

A smart move for Amazon and Fire TV.

Tim Cook publicly thanks Peter Oppenheimer for years of service

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One last bit from the results call:

Finally, before we start the Q&A, I would like to take a minute to talk about my dear friend and colleague Peter Oppenheimer. As you know, Peter will be transitioning from the CFO role in June. Peter has been Apple’s CFO for 10 years and the list of his accomplishments is immense. Apple is now more than 20 times the size it was when Peter became our CFO and his expertise, leadership and incredibly hard work had been instrumental to the company’s success. I’d like to thank him very publicly for his contributions to Apple, from the very bottom of my heart and wish him all the best in his approaching retirement at the end of September.

And I’d also like to recognize him that he has never missed guidance in the 10 years as CFO which must be an all-time record for CFOs. We’re really happy and fortunate to have someone with Luca’s talent on Board to replace Peter. He has over 25 years of experience, building and leading finance teams in global companies and has an exceptionally broad international background, which you might be able to detect from his accent. He’s been managing most of Apple’s financial functions since coming on Board last year and has done an outstanding job. I’m looking forward to working with Luca even closer as Apple’s next CFO.

This marks a true public transition from Peter Oppenheimer to Luca Maestri, handled with grace by Tim Cook.

Apple announces seven way stock split

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There was a lot to digest in yesterday’s earnings conference call. One item that was mentioned, almost as an afterthought, was Tim Cook’s announcement of a seven way stock split. Read the original post for details.

Transcript of Tim Cook and yesterday’s Apple earnings call

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Want all the detail of yesterday’s call?

Here’s a link to Macworld’s edited transcript, focused on Tim Cook’s comments.

And here’s a more complete transcript from Seeking Alpha (free reg-wall). The Seeking Alpha transcript includes Tim’s comments, as well as those from Nancy Paxton (Senior Director, Investor Relations) and Luca Maestri (VP of Finance and Corporate Controller) as well as the Q&A that followed.

Samsung buys two patents to compete in its patent war with Apple

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The Verge:

After weeks of playing defense against five Apple patents, Samsung this week went after Apple with two of its own patents: one it says is infringed when people make FaceTime calls, and another that covers the photo gallery feature found on iPhones, iPads, and some iPods.

Trouble is, the five Apple patents are actually Apple patents. Samsung’s two patents are both purchased patents, not Samsung innovations.

Apple’s new “Powerful” ad

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[VIDEO] I love the construction of this video (embedded in the original post). Lots of little pieces, all tied together to support Gigantic, by The Pixies. So well done. Be sure to check out Apple’s Powerful iPhone 5s web page, which showcases some of the apps used in the video.

Yum.

Netflix is about to get more expensive

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Last time Netflix tried to raise their monthly rate, the company took it on the chin, hemorrhaging customers and taking a stock nose dive. This time they are being a little more cautious.

Tim Cook narrates Apple’s “Better” environmental impact video

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Tim Cook does a terrific job narrating this heartfelt video (embedded in the original post). You can feel the passion in his voice.

At Apple, we strive to reduce our impact on climate change, find ways to use greener materials and conserve resources for future generations. This video was shot on location at Apple Facilities. Now more than ever, we will work to leave the world better than we found it.

Amen, Tim.

Life without WWDC

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If you’ve ever been to WWDC, give this a read. I feel your pain, James.

Samsung’s portrayal in the media

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Yesterday, USA Today ran the linked article discussing Samsung slugging it out with Apple for customers. To me, it read almost like a love letter to Samsung, full of appreciation for a scrappy underdog. For example:

In this escalating slugfest, Samsung has become tech’s Joe Frazier to Apple’s Muhammad Ali, less flashy but tenacious in battering its opponent with a flurry of new products. Apple’s product arsenal remains select — by design.

I find this sort of assessment hard to digest. Did Samsung copy Apple’s design efforts? A federal jury certainly ruled that to be the case. And based on what I’ve read, this seems to be a fair finding.

So why the love for Samsung? Where’s the indignation? I just don’t get it. Samsung as Joe Frazier? Really? Yeesh.

NY Times compares Samsung S5 to iPhone 5s

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While there are probably some people who go out to shop for the best Android phone, I suspect that most people want to know which phone is best of all, whatever operating system it runs. In other words, how does the Galaxy S5 compare to the iPhone 5S, Apple’s six-month-old flagship device and the champion to beat?

The answer: Not very well. I’ve been using the new Samsung for about three weeks, and while I do think it is the best Android phone you can buy, it sure isn’t the best phone on the market. By just about every major measure you’ll care about, from speed to design to ease of use to the quality of its apps, Samsung’s phone ranks behind the iPhone, sometimes far behind. If you’re looking for the best phone on the market right now, I’d recommend going with the iPhone 5S.

No surprise there.

Friction free parking

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Über succeeded by reducing the friction from the process of getting a taxi. You pick up your phone, tap a few times, your car is on its way. If you like, you can text or call your driver directly and watch the driver’s progress on a map built into the Über app. When you are done, leave your wallet in your pocket. The billing is done automatically with an electronic receipt arriving in email to complete the process.

There have been a number of efforts at bringing that same friction reduction to the process of public parking. The linked article explores one system that shows how far we’ve come, how far we still have to go.

Space X rocket taking off and landing in same spot

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[VIDEO] By far, the largest cost in a rocket launch is the cost of the rocket itself. By making the first stage of the rocket reusable, Space X can drop the price of a rocket launch from the traditional $100-$250 million all the way down to $55 million. That number will likely drop even further as reusability improves over time.

Ultimately, reusability will bring the cost low enough to make the Mars Colonial Transporter (another Space X project) a reality.

The video embedded in the main post was shot with a hexacopter. One of the keys to reusability is having the booster separation occur early enough in the launch so the rocket is still moving relatively slowly. Amazing to watch.

Facebook’s unfriending problem

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Interesting read. And, I think, an opportunity for a social network that recognizes the unfriending problem and that offers a more sophisticated friend curation solution.

Yahoo spends $58 million to fire its chief operating officer

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Washington Post:

$58 million for 15 months of work.

That’s what Yahoo’s chief operating officer Henrique De Castro got in severance pay when he was sent packing on Jan. 16, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing made public on Wednesday.

Ouch.

Fat Men From Space

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Ever hear of Daniel Manus Pinkwater? If you have kids, or ever were one yourself, you owe it to yourself to check out Pinkwater’s books. Books like Lizard Music, The Snarkout Boys and the Avocado of Death and, my favorite, Fat Men from Space.

The good news is, these books, long out of print, are now finally available as eBooks. Huzzah! Thank you for this wonderful news, BoingBoing.

Problem with the latest version of Flash? Read this

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Overthought.org:

This morning, Adobe kindly alerted me of an update available for Flash to take it to version 13.0.0.182.

The update breaks Flash.

DO NOT run this update, at least until Adobe solves whatever is causing the plugin to fail.

Several readers of Overthought.org have reported that this update completely breaks Flash for Safari on OS X 10.9 Mavericks. I have also personally experienced this issue.

If you run into a problem with your newly updated Flash install, read the rest of the post. Hopefully, it will help. [Via @stumark and @jordanmerrick]