Apple starts App Store subscriptions service
Apple has announced the start of a subscription service which will be available to all publishers of content-based apps sold though the iOS App Store.
The service was first introduced with the release of “The Daily,” a collaboration between News Corp and Apple available on the iPad.
Publishers can now sell subscriptions to publications weekly, monthly, bi-monthly, quarterly, bi-yearly or yearly.
Apple takes its customary 30 percent from all app and content sales made through iTunes.
Says CEO Steve Jobs (via PR):
Our philosophy is simple—when Apple brings a new subscriber to the app, Apple earns a 30 percent share; when the publisher brings an existing or new subscriber to the app, the publisher keeps 100 percent and Apple earns nothing. All we require is that, if a publisher is making a subscription offer outside of the app, the same (or better) offer be made inside the app, so that customers can easily subscribe with one-click right in the app. We believe that this innovative subscription service will provide publishers with a brand new opportunity to expand digital access to their content onto the iPad, iPod touch and iPhone, delighting both new and existing subscribers.
Blockbuster in talks to sell itself?
According to a new report, bankrupt movie rental company Blockbuster will put itself up for sale, following a disagreement with its creditors.
The report claims that a bidder would likely offer $300 million, as well as assuming all debt and leases.
Blockbuster went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy last year in an effort to restructure debt and give it a chance to reemerge later. By doing so, the company has kept 3300 stores open but has almost wiped out shareholders and junior bondholders. The company had $1 billion in debt when it filed for bankruptcy.
The leading contender to win Blockbuster in auction is investor Carl Icahn and a consortium led by Monarch Alternative Capital, a large hedge fund. The group and Icahn own about 80 percent of Blockbuster’s senior notes and gave Blockbuster $125 million to help fuel the turnaround.
Apparently, the company had poor holiday sales and therefore expects it will need more money. The hedge fund is not willing to pay more than the $125 million invested.
OnLive gets $40 Million investment from HTC
HTC has invested $40 million in cloud video gaming service OnLive, in an effort to strengthen gaming capabilities on smartphones (and likely tablets).
The Taiwanese company has quickly become a very profitable smartphone maker, bringing in $500 million profit for the last quarter, alone, on revenue of $3.6 billion.
HTC was the phone maker behind the first-ever Android device, the T-Mobile G1 and has increased its lineup significantly since.
CEO Peter Chou said earlier this year it wants to use its $2.5 billion it has in cash to boost “strategic investments” in digital content, and it appears, cloud-computing.
Earlier in the week, HTC invested in Saffron Digital, a mobile and Web-based media company.
More details of the OnLive investment are upcoming at the MWC next week.
Nokia close to deal for Windows Phone 7
According to multiple sources, Nokia is very close to announcing a partnership with Microsoft that will have Windows Phone 7 added to Nokia smartphones.
Nokia CEO Stephen Elop apparently had talks with Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and Google’s former CEO Eric Schmidt but chose WP7 over Android.
Additionally, Nokia has already pulled funds and time from MeeGo (its Symbian successor), likely leaving it to Intel.
Elop, hired in September to turn the company around, will unveil the strategy tomorrow at an event in London.
Nokia has a tiny presence in the United States, and is quickly losing its lead in the smartphone market to Android and Apple.
‘Angry Birds’ confirmed for Nintendo Wii, 3DS
Rovio Mobile has announced this week that Nintendo fans will be getting ‘Angry Birds,’ as well, with Wii and 3DS versions confirmed.
Furthermore, the company announced a Valentine’s Day version, and a “secret” Rio-based level for the game.
Rio is an upcoming animated movie telling the story of a Macaw and his adventures.
Rovio did not give a specific date for the Nintendo version, except to say “later this year.”
The Angry Birds mini-game, with 63 levels, hit the PS3 and PSP last month.
Rovio says the Valentine’s Day levels will be an update to Angry Birds: Seasons, which is $1 on the iPhone and free on Android.
LG wants to block import of PS3 into U.S.
LG has filed a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission this week, asking the ITC to block the import of the Sony PlayStation 3.
The company is claiming that the Blu-ray drive in every PS3 console violates multiple LG patents.
Sony, Sony Corporation of America, Sony Electronics, Sony Computer Entertainment and Sony Computer Entertainment America are all cited in the complaint, says Cnet.
The patents in question relate to “the way a Blu-ray player reproduces data from a Blu-ray disc” and how it “reproduces multiple data streams by way of multiple camera angles.”
Finally, LG says Sony is violating a patent relating to the display of subtitles in Blu-ray films.
LG’s choice, over 1500 days after the PS3 launched in the U.S., seems like a direct retaliation for Sony’s complaint filed with the ITC late last year over patent violations in mobile phones.
Engadget shows off the Xperia Play (PlayStation Phone)
Engadget has posted an in-depth preview of the upcoming Sony Ericsson PlayStation Phone, dubbed the “Xperia Play”, which should be unveiled officially at the MWC next month.
The Xperia Play has a 4-inch display with 854×450 resolution and will run on Android 2.3 Gingerbread. Although unconfirmed, the device’s multitouch screen will allegedly be powered by a Sony Bravia engine for smoother video playback.
Under the hood, the device appears to run on a single-core processor clocked at 1-1.2GHz, an Adreno 205 GPU and 512MB RAM.
As is standard, the smartphone/handheld will have 802.11n WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1 with EDR, and an FM receiver plus transmitter.
Physically, the smartphone has 4 buttons, Back/Menu/Home/Search, a 1500mAh battery, USB port, microSD slot and 5MP camera which lacks 720p recording.
For now, the site only has a prototype so not all features (especially the gaming aspects) are fully clear and the editor says the firmware is still very buggy, but everything should be become clearer next month at the Mobile World Congress event.
Tiny group of pirates responsible for most of unauthorized file sharing
Spanish researchers at the Carlos III University of Madrid have posted interesting results today in regards to filesharing.
The researchers say a tiny fraction of users are responsible for over two-thirds of all content published, and over three-fourths of all downloads.
Using the names, ISPs and IP addresses of uploaders and downloaders to 55,000 torrents published to Mininova and the Pirate Bay, the group concluded that just 100 users were behind 67 percent of the uploads and 75 percent of the downloads.
Google buys up movie recommendation site Fflick for $10 mill
Google has purchased Twitter movie recommendation service Fflick today for $10 million, with the deal expected to close by the end of the month.
Fflick uses Twitter “sentiment” to rate movies, showing positive and negative comments, as well as how many people are Tweeting about a certain film.
For example, on the front page is “The Green Hornet,” which is showing an 81 percent “like” rating on 66,000 tweets.
By signing in with your own Twitter account, you can see comments from anyone in your own network.
Furthermore, you can use the service to buy tickets, add movies to your Netflix queue, and retweet any post you see.
It is unclear what Google will use the service for.
official HTC Flyer tablet specs leak
HTC’s upcoming Flyer tablet has seen its unofficial specs leaked today, although the company has not even announced the tablet yet.
The tablet will have a seven-inch screen, 1024×600 resolution, Android 2.3 (upgradeable to 3.0), a 1GHz Snapdragon processor and LTE support.
Additionally, the device will have a 5MP rear camera, a 1.3MP front side camera, and pre-installed Skype.
The standard camera will have LED flash and facial recognition.
Finally, the tablet will have HDMI-out, DLNA wireless streaming and a USB port.
