King games have been downloaded on 500 million mobile devices, almost one game for every person in Brazil and the U.S. What’s more, about 408 million of those consumers play at least one game a month; some 124 million play every day.
Those are staggering numbers. But is this success long term?
Very interesting piece (behind free reg-wall) on Google’s slow move into sports broadcasting, an area traditionally dominated by the major networks and satellite/cable conglomerates.
In response to Apple’s release last week of their Supplier Responsibility report, Greenpeace posted this comment:
“Apple’s increased transparency about its suppliers is becoming a hallmark of Tim Cook’s leadership at the company. Apple has flexed its muscles in the past to push suppliers to remove hazardous substances from products and provide more renewable energy for data centers, and it is proving the same model can work to reduce the use of conflict minerals. Samsung and other consumer electronics companies should follow Apple’s example and map its suppliers, so the industry can exert its collective influence to build devices that are better for people and the planet.”
[Via Peter Cohen]
Google is trying to change the rules of login with their acquisition of the sound-based password firm SlickLogin.
A little slanted, perhaps, but still a very interesting read. Interesting take on the timing of Tim Cook’s hiring in 1998. No argument that Apple has been better in the Tim Cook era.
As the music industry races toward a future of digital streams and smartphone apps, its latest crisis centers on a regulatory plan that has been in place since “Chattanooga Choo Choo” was a hit.
Since 1941, Ascap and BMI, the two giant licensing organizations that dominate music publishing, have been governed by consent decrees with the Justice Department. These agreements were made to guarantee fair royalty rates for songwriters and for the radio stations, television networks and even restaurants and retail shops that play their music.
But with the industry struggling to make money from digital music, this system has come under attack. The streaming service Pandora is squaring off against Ascap in a closely watched trial over royalty payments. Big music publishers like Sony/ATV and Universal are calling on the government to overhaul the system, and technology companies are accusing the publishers of trying to skirt federal rules meant to protect them.
The outcome could reshape the finances of a large part of the industry.
Another potential game changer for an already disrupted market.
The installation of 65 iBeacons at Dodger Stadium, home of the Los Angeles Dodgers, and San Diego’s Petco Park, home of the Padres, will be followed by similar work at more than a dozen and a half other MLB stadiums, the league said. The plan is to have more than 20 ballparks in total equipped with the technology by Opening Day in late March. The Padres host the Dodgers on Opening Night on March 30.
I’m really looking forward to giving these iBeacons a try.
The Stop Bad Patents web site is a resource to learn about patent trolls and patent abuse. Worth a look.
Some people are about to have the chance to get very rich. Twitter insiders have been prevented from selling their stock, by agreement. That all changes tomorrow.
This is a great, insightful take on the stresses faced by indie developers.
Dong Nguyen is a young guy. He wrote a game for fun, put it out there, and found himself at the target end of a massive wave of attention, much of it negative. I can’t stress enough how insanely terrifying this can be, and he wasn’t ready.
Microsoft is faced with a difficult decision on whether to keep Office as Windows only. Tough position to be in, tough call to make.
Around half of U.S. consumers are hoarding their old iPhones in cupboards and sock drawers — representing an inventory worth around $13.4 billion in total.
Guilty as charged. I’ve got three.
According to the annual “Mobile Mountain Study” conducted by research group OnePoll for resale site SellCell.com, this figure is down from the 55% of people who admitted to holding onto their old smartphones last year — although the total amount of money being left on the table is up from last year’s sum of $9 billion, thanks to the growing smartphone market.
Interesting analysis from Seeking Alpha (free reg-wall) makes the case that Tim Cook has just set a floor for the price of Apple stock with the recent Apple buyback and Carl Icahn’s reversal of his pursuit of a much larger buyback.
Apple’s Supplier Responsibility report, with comments.
Seems like this will be a tough sell from an antitrust standpoint.
Verge reports that Microsoft will pursue Android running on both Windows and Windows Phone. A curious turn.
Insightful marketing post from the Harvard Business Review on the difference between sharing as much information as possible versus just sharing the very best, keeping the bar really high. [Via Andrew Ellard]
Lots to chew on here. To me, the most interesting of these charts is the R&D expenditure as a percentage of net sales. Some pretty wild swings there.
Now you can run 64-bit Windows on your Mac.
Apple issued two versions of its Boot Camp Support Software on Tuesday, both of which contain Windows Support Software (Windows Drivers) needed to run 64-bit versions of Windows 7 and Windows 8 on Intel-based Macs.
Last week saw a blog post (and no, that’s not me) intimating that Verizon was throttling Netflix streams.
Now there’s an update from a Netflix analyst, quoting Netflix CEO Reed Hastings.
That update comes to us via a note from J.P. Morgan analyst Doug Anmuth, who says he’s been talking to Netflix CEO Reed Hastings and CFO David Wells, and they told him they don’t think cable and telco companies are hampering the company’s video streams.
Anmuth doesn’t have much to report on the topic, so here are his comments in their entirety: ”Netflix does not seem overly concerned regarding Net Neutrality, and continues to believe that violations would be escalated quickly. Netflix also indicated that it has no evidence or belief that its service is being throttled.”
From Apple:
“We are excited that Denise Young Smith will expand her role to lead Apple’s worldwide human resources organization,” [spokesperson] Huguet wrote in an e-mail. “Apple University is an increasingly important resource within the company as we continue to grow, so Joel Podolny will be focusing full-time on developing and scaling the University he helped establish.”
“Flappy Bird was designed to play in a few minutes when you are relaxed,” says Dong Nguyen, in an exclusive interview, his first since he pulled the plug on the app. “But it happened to become an addictive product. I think it has become a problem. To solve that problem, it’s best to take down Flappy Bird. It’s gone forever.”
Fascinating how much this story has grown beyond the traditional Apple press blogs.
The Mac Pro ship date has slipped to April, first internationally, then domestically. Some bad, news, but mostly good news.
In an open letter to Apple shareholders, Icahn expressed disappointment that proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services recommended that Apple shareholders vote against the $50B buyback and will drop his proposal. The text of the letter is in the post.
Under the tagline “The New Connected Chevrolet Equinox”, Chevy’s ad shows off their new Siri integration. Continue to the post for the video.
Apple takes on the patent trolls. There are quotes from a public filing with the FTC as well as from an amicus brief on a patent fees case. Apple makes its position quite clear.
Yesterday, we posted about developer Dong Nguyen’s intent to take the wildly successful app Flappy Bird down from the App Store, tweeting:
I am sorry ‘Flappy Bird’ users, 22 hours from now, I will take ‘Flappy Bird’ down. I cannot take this anymore.
Seems Nguyen followed through on his promise. Flappy Bird is gone.
The overwhelming success of Flappy Bird has caused its developer to threaten to take down the app. Is that the right move?
Bill introduced by SF district attorney, opposed by industry trade association.
Ed Bott uses corporate quarterly reports to build pie charts that show where each company gets its revenue.