The likes of Facebook, Google and Apple are increasingly facing an uncomfortable truth: it is Europe’s culture of tougher oversight of companies, not America’s laissez-faire attitude, which could soon rule their industry as governments seek to combat fake news and prevent extremists from using the internet to fan the flames of hatred.
Tech Giants Find Themselves Hitting Limits
Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Microsoft, Alphabet and other tech giants are pushing deeper into cultural industries — and stumbling in ways that suggest a certain cluelessness
The Wall Street Journal reports that Apple is betting on acclaimed director and producer Steven Spielberg for its first major foray into creating original video content. Journal subscribers can read the full story here. The deal with the Jaws and Jurassic Park director’s Amblin Television, along with Comcast-owned NBCUniversal’s TV production arm, is to develop new episodes of Amazing Stories, which originally aired between 1985 and 1987 on NBC.
While tech giants like Facebook, Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Apple have already stepped up their lobbying efforts, some say the companies will have to pay even more attention to policy in the coming years as regulators across the globe increase scrutiny.
Why Apple Should Buy Sony
Access to superior image sensors, a giant entertainment library and the PlayStation ecosystem — by any measure, Apple acquiring Sony makes a lot of sense.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai today urged Apple Inc. to activate FM radio chips installed in iPhones that would allow Americans to get access to life-saving information when a natural disaster causes wireless networks to go down. NAB CEO Gordon Smith praised bipartisan backing for activating the chips. “We urge Apple to acknowledge the public safety benefits of local broadcasting on SmartPhones and to light up the FM chip,” he said.
Exclusives
The world’s biggest company is officially taking meetings as everyone from Jennifer Aniston to Steven Spielberg salivates over selling the first big show. One studio chief says, “Who wouldn’t want to be the Mad Men or House of Cards on Apple?”
With a price starting at $999 and a host of new features, the phone will be a big test for both Apple and consumers. Will people be willing to shell out really big bucks for a relatively fragile device that’s become an essential part of daily life? On Tuesday, CEO Tim Cook called the iPhone X “the biggest leap forward” since the first iPhone.
Apple has recruited four TV veterans to join its burgeoning video content team. Kim Rozenfeld, formerly head of current programming at Sony Pictures Television, is joining the tech giant as its future head of current and the lead executive on documentary series development. Two more Sony veterans, Max Aronson and Ali Woodruff, are joining Apple as development executives. And former WGN America head of publicity Rita Cooper Lee has joined Apple to lead communications for the new video content unit.
Apple is planning to unveil a renewed focus on the living room with an upgraded Apple TV set-top box that can stream 4K video and highlight live television content such as news and sports, according to people familiar with the matter.
We are in the midst of a technological revolution that has altered the flow of information. Just a few companies have taken control, and this concentration of power—which Americans have acquiesced to without ever really intending to, simply by clicking away—is subverting our democracy.
The arrival of Apple, Facebook and Google means that the world of scripted TV is going to become even more competitive.
Movie studios are considering whether to ignore the objections of cinema chains and forge ahead with a plan to offer digital rentals of films mere weeks after they appear in theaters, according to people familiar with the matter. Some of the biggest proponents, including Warner Bros. and Universal Pictures, are pressing on in talks with Apple Inc. and Comcast Corp. on ways to push ahead with the project even without theater chains, the people said. After months of negotiations, the two sides have been unable to arrive at a mutually beneficial way to create a $30 to $50 premium movie-download product.
Former WGN America President Matt Cherniss has joined the tech giant and will serve as a chief lieutenant to new co-heads of video programming Jamie Erlicht and Zack Van Amburg. His role is being described as chief creative/head of U.S. programming as Erlicht and Van Amburg eye a split of duties between domestic and international.
“I want the humans to be able to hold their own against the strength of the machines.” That was perhaps the most ominous line spoken from the stage at the summer Television Critics Association press tour, and it came not from an actor or showrunner but FX Networks chief John Landgraf. He wasn’t describing the plot of a new scripted drama. He turned to the classic science fiction trope as a metaphor for the situation that he and other cable programming executives now find themselves in as Netflix, Amazon, Facebook, and Apple engage in a “titanic struggle” — Landgraf’s words — for domination in the video entertainment marketplace.
The company’s hiring of two respected leaders — Zack Van Amburg and Jamie Erlicht — who cultivated shows like Breaking Bad at Sony Pictures Television, signaled to Hollywood that Apple is serious about original programming.
With the launch of Apple’s first series, Gwyneth Paltrow and Jessica Alba’s Planet of the Apps, agents and producers are eager to help the tech giant become a major player in original programming: “We’ve got stories to tell,” says the company’s Eddy Cue.
Apple, like Google, is using its position in the browser market to try to control elements of the advertising market.
Apple isn’t done trying to sell you pay TV. Here’s the company’s latest proposal: It wants to sell consumers a premium TV bundle that combines HBO, Showtime and Starz. Apple already sells each of those channels individually. But it has approached the three networks about rolling them up into a single package, as conventional pay TV operators sometimes do.
The company is testing a new Apple TV capable of streaming ultra-high-definition 4K. It may not be enough to take on Amazon and Roku.
The technology giant said it would introduce its first two shows this spring. However, others, including scripted dramas, are in the pipeline.
Tim Cook is the apple of Goldman Sachs’ eye. Goldman is trying to persuade Apple to make a rival bid for Time Warner, a source with direct knowledge of the situation said. “They are freaking out trying to convince Apple to come in,” the source said. Goldman has been left on the sidelines in advising on AT&T’s $85 billion agreement to acquire Time Warner.
Today, Apple will launch a next generation TV guide concept during a product event in California. “The idea is that Apple wants to make it easier to find and watch video content without requiring users to sift through a bunch of apps,” Peter Kafka reports. The feature will work on the Apple TV streaming box as well as on other iOS devices like iPhone.
Apple CEO Tim Cook told investors that his company sees a “great opportunity” to become more active in creating and owning original content.
Apple has hired former Time Warner Cable executive Peter Stern as a VP working on cloud services, which includes the technology company’s subscription offerings such as Apple Music and a potential streaming television service.
Apple has scrapped the idea of selling its own TVs and is looking into building a digital TV guide that would work with Apple TV and other proprietary devices. “The idea is to let users see what kind of programming is available in video apps made by the likes of HBO, Netflix and ESPN, without having to open up each app individually, and to play shows and movies with a single click,” Peter Kafka writes.
Last year, Apple brought up the idea of buying Time Warner during a meeting between the two companies, but the plan never got off the ground. Now, Apple may be interested in purchasing Netflix. Apple has been trying to set up an internet video subscription service, but hasn’t made the necessary deals with content providers. With $230 billion in cash, it can certainly afford Netflix, which is valued at $43 billion.
Apple has put plans for its own “skinny” streaming bundle on hold, but the tech giant could expand its presence in the television space with the acquisition of DVR maker TiVo, according to an analyst with Albert Fried. Reports surfaced in late March that TiVo was in talks to be acquired by Rovi, a supplier of interactive program guides. While the analyst says that deal has merits, a TiVo acquisition by a consumer electronics company like Apple, Amazon or Microsoft is more attractive.
Facebook, Amazon, Verizon and Yahoo (at least in a perfunctory gesture) have all submitted bids to the NFL for the rights to stream up to 18 regular season games. Apple, however, doesn’t think the draw is strong enough to set its Apple TV box apart from the rest, and is abstaining.
Apple is making its first original television show. The technology giant is backing a top-secret scripted series starring one of its own executives, Beats co-founder and rap legend Dr. Dre. Multiple sources say the 50-year-old mogul is starring in and executive producing his own six-episode vehicle, dubbed Vital Signs, and the production is being bankrolled by Apple.
CBS CEO Les Moonves says that streaming talks with Apple have stopped since “awhile back,” though the network’s “phone is always ringing” with other potential partners in a Netflix-like streaming service. Nodding to a rapidly-changing business, CBS is spreading its digital bets, including its own streaming service.
NEW YORK (AP) — Apple is adding Retina displays to its iMacs, which will enhance the text and the image quality of photos and videos. The Cupertino, California-based company said […]
Changes to the inner workings of a new crop of iPhones unveiled Wednesday will make a big difference to users, including camera improvements and new sensors. Old functions have been sped up, including maps and messaging. Here’s a rundown of what has improved.
As expected, Apple debuted a bigger-than-ever iPad with a 13-inch screen called the iPad Pro on Wednesday, along with a redesigned Apple TV box revolving around apps and voice controls starting at $150.
