Currently up to 135 million members, from 90 million at the end of 2010
Sony to buy Sony Ericsson, turn into subsidiary
Sony buys out Ericsson partnership –
Super coup: Wilmington lands ‘Iron Man 3’
WILMINGTON North Carolina’s race to catch up with states that have lured film projects with better financial incentives has paid off with a major motion picture production commitment.
“Iron Man 3,” starring Robert Downey Jr. as a comic book superhero, will be produced from beginning to end in this state, Gov. Bev Perdue announced at EUE/Screen Gems Studios on Thursday.
“My top priority is creating jobs, and this film production will mean high-quality, well-paying jobs for North Carolinians,” Perdue said. “I pushed hard to get the revamped film incentive passed, with the help of a number of lawmakers, and now we see that initiative doing exactly what it was designed to do.”
The Perdue administration estimates that over the next 10 months the project will bring more than $80 million into the state, create 550 crew jobs and more than 1,000 positions for actors.
It will be the largest production ever to shoot in North Carolina, according to the state’s film office.
“It’s a huge, huge win for the state,” said Jordan Kerner, a longtime Hollywood producer who also is dean of filmmaking at the UNC-School of the Arts in Winston-Salem.
Kerner has worked quietly with the governor and Aaron Syrett, director of the N.C. Film Office, to lure the film industry back ever since he moved to North Carolina to take the position at the university in 2007.
Wilmington became star-struck in the 1980s after legendary producer Dino De Laurentis moved Screen Gems Studios there, sparking the state’s reputation for film production. But North Carolina quickly lost ground as other states offered increasingly expensive financial incentives.
In recent years, the state has lost more than one major movie project to a competing state. Kerner pushed for a tax credit of no more than 25 percent and urged leaders to explore public-private funding options to build more production facilities.
In 2009, the state upped the tax credit to 25 percent, and last year it increased the cap on the credit for each production from $7.5 million to $20 million. The state also ended the corporate income tax on the incentives.
There was $73 million in direct spending from movie and TV productions in the state in 2010, and already $200 million this year, Syrett said.
Negotiations over “Iron Man 3” began about six months ago.
Michigan hoped to land the film. But its 40 percent tax incentive that had successfully lured film projects was brought to a halt by newly elected Republican legislators.
Read more: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2011/10/28/2728142/a-super-coup-wilmington-lands.html#ixzz1cVLqVd3X
Facebook – Timeline application
It’s a wonderful life
Facebook Timeline, a complete overhaul of personal profiles that is being rolled out in the coming weeks, is built around a similarly simple and powerful idea: what if you could see your whole life in one place?
Timeline is a way of visualizing your life (or rather your life as it has been lived on Facebook). You can easily scroll through and see the friends you made, the photos you uploaded, your relationship statuses, and even your illnesses and surgeries–if you choose to share them. You can see highlights from a particular year or bore down to individual months and days.
It’s a beautiful–and beautifully designed–vision, and it makes me wish my grandparents had magically used Facebook their entire lives so I could go back and scroll through their Timelines to learn more about them now that they’re gone. I could easily see photos of when my parents were born, what my hometown looked like 50 years ago, and what it was like to be a fledgling beekeeper in Eastern Oregon during the Great Depression.
If Facebook’s vision comes to pass, Timeline could be a visual catalog of every life ever lived, from the ordinary to the extraordinary. We could see the benchmarks in our friends’ lives, watch people age, see their old prom and wedding photos and the birth of their children.
In the words of Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg, “It’s all here, it’s your whole life.”
Sony’s new products doomed to mediocrity (so say MSNBC)
By Wilson Rothman (at gadgetbox at MSNBC)
Sony just revealed a flank of products intended to help the beleaguered brand retake the personal electronics world. The trouble is, it all adds up to a pretty weak play. Let’s take it bit by bit:
Tablets: As MSNBC Suzanne Choney reported, the awaited Sony Tablet S and weirdly foldable Tablet P were unveiled Wednesday. Many immediately noted that the S has specs and pricing similar to Apple’s hit iPad. The tablets run the Android Honeycomb tablet operating system, meaning that while they won’t suffer the isolation of HP’s TouchPad or RIM’s BlackBerry PlayBook, they must contend with the throng of competitors — some of whom are already engaging in a price war.
Sony Tablet S
Some say Sony was late to the party on Android tablets; I don’t think that’s the case. Right at this moment, it’s actually a terrible time for anybody except Apple (and perhaps Amazon) to enter the tablet market.
Sony sent pre-production units of the Tablet S to reviewers. Our friends at Laptop seemed dismayed by the fact that the tablet “isn’t finished.” They mentioned that there’s still a lot to learn about the books, music and movie media service, not to mention the PlayStation-branded gaming, all of which have yet to be launched. Gizmodo’s verdict was equally reluctant — they criticized the iPad-level pricing, saying “the build quality doesn’t seem up to snuff” and the speed of software running on it was “a mixed bag.”
Whoever decided early reviews were a good idea seems not to have paid much attention to the tablet business lately. These may very well end up in the $99 discount bin — but only if they’re lucky.
Sony Ericsson
Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc S
Smartphones: This smartphone business has been tricky for joint venture Sony Ericsson, especially as it balances its own Xperia flavor with the larger Android movement. The trick is to not stick out so bad people complain, but to not get lost in the shuffle either. The Sony Ericsson Arc S is a powerful phone that bucks the trend with a 1.4 GHz single core processor (most phones are going with 1 GHz and 1.2 GHz dual-core processors). Its got a healthy 4.2-inch screen and an 8-megapixel camera — all top specs. It even has the Music Unlimited and Video Unlimited cloud media services that Sony will be using to try to compete with Apple, Amazon, Google, Microsoft and the rest of those big dogs.
But where’s the PlayStation? Seriously, Sony, if you don’t understand that PlayStation is your best bet at differentiation, something’s wrong. Every Sony Ericsson smartphone from now on should have a PlayStation hub, and certainly any smartphone with a crazy hot processor. How is that not obvious?
Sony Reader Wi-Fi
E-readers: For the company that basically created the category of e-ink e-book reader, Sony has really lacked a competitive edge. With the newly announced Reader Wi-Fi, it’s got something that hits the sweet spot of consumer demand — 6-inch e-ink touchscreen, Wi-Fi-only networking.
Still, it is coming in with a price tag that’s $10 higher than the bestselling Amazon Kindle and Barnes & Noble Nook. There is a wee bit of hope for Sony, though: It has partnered with J.K. Rowling’s Pottermore e-book service, and will let Reader buyers download the first installment of the Harry Potter series for free “when it becomes available.” At least you know where that extra $10 goes.
Portable media: Just after Sony announced not one but three Walkman music and video players, they teased a fourth — shown here on CNET. It runs Android, can support all kinds of Android apps, and puts the current lineup to shame. Let me say that again: A month after Sony announces its not-yet-shipped portable media players, it shows off their replacement, which is nicer (but still not as nice as an iPod Touch).
Sony is joining the cloud craze by offering its Music Unlimited service for its devices, and I applaud Sony for offering a free half-year of the service to Walkman buyers — assuming any happen along.
Sony HMZ-T1 video goggles
3-D: A final item from Sony’s lineup absolutely leaps out at you: The HMZ-T1 goggles, with tiny high-definition OLED screens for each eye that let you see a massive wall of 3-D TV, even if you’re locked in a coffin. Watching the video on Sony’s press site, I want nothing more than to have this glorious, innovative object. Hands-on reviews have been enthusiastic to say the least, and Gizmodo’s Mat Honan suggests that the goggle format might actually help the many people (like me) who have a hard time enjoying 3-D on screens.
But then I have to shake myself out of my daze. This is a distraction — an $800, probably Japan-only one at that — from the reality that Sony is losing in every battle it’s currently engaged in. It’s behind on TV sales, it has no phone or PC strategy to speak of, it’s behind Apple, Amazon and pretty much everybody else in media distribution, and has yet to make amends for the personal security nightmare it dragged its devoted gamers through this year.
Maybe I’m in a pessimistic mood today, so let’s ask, what would I have liked to have seen in the Sony strategy? For starters, a real media and gaming powerplay: Every new product getting PlayStation certification, and a full line-up of games and services. I’d like to see an entire ecosystem where a single account sets you up with books, movies, music and gaming, with all devices cooperating to the best of their ability.
The hardware is no longer the point, and to hold back on the software and services is bad. But when it comes to the hardware, Sony can do a little bit of housekeeping.
I would like less emphasis on multiple options, like the three MP3 players, and the nonsensically foldy tablet, and more unification of product lines (yes, fanboys and haters alike, a la Apple).
Sprint’s huge bet on iPhone is a Winner or Disaster ?
By Larry Dignan | October 3, 2011, 12:43pm PDT
Summary: Sprint’s future largely rides on the iPhone. If the bet works, Sprint will be in a better position. If Sprint stumbles it will be on the financial ropes.
Sprint is getting the iPhone, but it’s going to cost the company about $20 billion in an all-or-nothing bet Apple’s iconic device.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Sprint has agreed to buy at least 30.5 million iPhones over the next four years. That is a staggering number of iPhones. Sprint is likely to lose money until 2014.
If Sprint is correct in its bet, the iPhone will put the carrier in a better position to gain customers and the recurring revenue they bring. If Sprint’s bet is wrong the company will find itself on the ropes.
Great debate 3 p.m. EDT Tuesday: iPhone Yes vs iPhone No
For Sprint’s bet to work, it will have to sell nearly 8 million iPhones a year. What’s unclear is whether Sprint can activate that many iPhones. For instance, Verizon activated roughly 2 million iPhones in its two quarters since acquiring the device. AT&T activates more iPhones a quarter—3.6 million in the last two quarters—but that includes the iPhone 3GS, which runs $49.99.
If Sprint sells two iPhones—a premium and lower cost one—its bet may pay off. However, Sprint will face iPhone demand spread across all three carriers. Sprint may keep its current customers, but not land new ones. If Sprint is forced to change its iPhone mix for the Apple deal it will be swapping profitable Android phones for a loss leading iPhone.
Toss in the Sprint costs to acquire the iPhone as well as the potential network costs and the carrier is making a bet with the devil. It’s not clear that Sprint’s balance sheet can take the hit.
As of June 30, Sprint had long-term debt of $17.3 billion and cash of $4.27 billion. Sprint’s return on equity is -20.97 percent while Verizon’s is 13.7 percent and AT&T’s is 18.78 percent.
And if you consider Sprint’s Clearwire potential financial time bomb, the iPhone bet looks a bit crazy.
J Edgar Trailer released
Warner Bros today released the theatrical trailer for J Edgar, with Clint Eastwood directing star Leonardo DiCaprio. WB plans a limited release on Nov. 9 before going wide two days later.
Does Leo seem like the right guy for this?
Avatar comes to Disneyland
Fans of Avatar, the 2009 hit movie, will get an experience that goes beyond even IMAX 3D when Walt Disney World launches rides based on the film in 2017 or so, according to a report.
Disney has lined up exclusive agreements with Avatar distributor Twentieth Century Fox and Lightstorm Entertainment, director James Cameron’s production company, reports The Wall Street Journal. Construction on the $400 million project will begin in 2013 in Disney World’s Animal Kingdom. Disney ride designers, a.k.a. “Imagineers,” will be collaborating with Cameron on the effort.
Cameron, who appeared at a press conference Tuesday, said the rides will recreate environments from Avatarand possibly two sequels planned for 2014 and 2015. Full terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, but Cameron is set to collect a fee, rather than a percentage of ticket sale. He will also get royalties on merchandise, food and beverages.
The Avatar rides will join other attractions based on movie franchises at Disney, such as Star Wars and Indiana Jones.
October 4: Apple’s next big event; iPhone 5 expected to be unveiled
Reports are circulating around the media wires this morning that Apple’s new chief executive, Tim Cook, will take to the stage and announce ’something’.
John Paczkowski with the Wall Street Journal’s AllThingsD network, says that Apple’s next event will be held on October 4, where it is most likely that the next-generation iPhone 5 smartphone will be unveiled.
Hedging on the side of caution, Paczkowski has long claimed through sources of his own that thelaunch will be in October. Sources say that the iPhone will be made available for purchase within a few weeks after the announcement.
There has been wide speculation over the device, which is believed to have changed in screen size and dimensions. Other leaks point to a radical new design, whereas leaked device cases show that the smartphone will remain widely the same.
The truth is: Apple has done it again. We have no real idea what the next-generation iPhone will look like.
But while consumers will be looking for the new iPhone, as the highly anticipated Christmas and holiday season seller of the year, analysts and journalists will be looking at Tim Cook, who replaced Steve Jobs over the summer after he resigned from the company.
Cook will be in charge of the event, and no doubt will take to the stage as Apple’s new chief executive to announce the device. He has to be — he’s the boss. But Cook has never done this before, and will no doubt be aided by other executives to make their own announcement.
But as this may be Cook’s first presentation to the world, it has not been his first major challenge as chief executive.
studio systems group 