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The Big Lebowski comes to Blu-ray in Limited Edition trim August 16th
More than four years after it came out on HD DVD The Big Lebowski is finally going to be released in a newly remastered version on Blu-ray August 16th. Universal's packing plenty of extras into this limited edition release, with its usual slew of BD-Live related enhancements plus at 28-page book full of stills and quotes, a picture-in-picture mode with interviews and behind the scenes footage and an integrated trivia game. Viewers can also create custom playlists of the songs in the movie and buy them from iTunes, or watch featurettes like The Dude's Life, The Dude Abides - The Big Lebowski Ten Years Later and more. There's a full list of all the extras in the press release after the break, but no price tag, yet.
Sony joins EMI and Warner in Apple cloud music service
Three down, one to go. Just a day after CNET suggested that EMI joined Warner Music Group in allowing Apple to distribute their music over a cloud-based service, now Bloomberg is claiming that Apple has also officially inked a deal with Sony Music. That leaves just one of the big four music labels -- Universal Music Group -- left to sign on with Apple. And as Bloomberg states, Universal is supposedly close to signing with the iPod maker soon. As I mentioned yesterday, getting all four major music labels to sign on to a cloud-based service is seen as a serious win and another vote of confidence for Apple's rumored streaming media services. Both Google and Amazon launched their online music services without any major music label support. Apple's cloud music service, expected to be dubbed iCloud, may be unveiled at WWDC on June 6.
Apple gets cozy with EMI, Universal, and Sony over cloud music licensing (updated)
Ah, so it's all coming together now. Following a report on Warner Music inking a cloud streaming deal with Apple, CNET is back with fresh information that sees three more major record companies jumping on board. Citing "multiple music industry sources," we're told that EMI is the latest addition to Apple's cloud music portfolio, while Universal and Sony are close to sealing the deal to permit this rumored iCloud service. If true, such endorsement will no doubt add pressure on Google and Amazon over their cheeky, license-free cloud streaming offerings -- not a bad way to fend off competition, though it's not clear how much money's involved. Guess we'll know more at WWDC next month. Update: Bloomberg is citing multiple source who claim that Sony has inked a deal with Apple leaving only Universal to play coy. Two sources claim that Apple's cloud music service won't require users to upload their music.
Animal House, Blues Brothers, Dazed & Confused and Fast Times at Ridgemont High coming to Blu-ray
Universal is bringing some of the funniest flicks of the 70s and 80s out on Blu-ray this summer when it delivers Animal House, Blues Brothers, Dazed & Confused and Fast Times at Ridgemont High. They're getting a pretty good treatment as well, with some HD extras, u-control and other bonus tie ins. Only only real question is what took so long? Animal House and Blues Brothers arrive July 26th, while Dazed & Confused and Fast Times at Ridgemont High are scheduled for August 9th - details and specs follow after the break.
YouTube seals deals with major studios to compete with iTunes
Google-owned YouTube plans to expand the premium on-demand video rental services offered through its website. Earlier this week, Google and YouTube reportedly closed deals with Sony Pictures Entertainment, Warner Brothers, Universal and Lionsgate to offer filmed content from these studios as streaming rentals -- including access to new releases the same day as competing movie-on-demand services. YouTube's new service is expected to compete with market leaders in the online video rental market: Apple and Amazon. In an effort to generate revenue with professionally produced content, YouTube began offering premium video rentals on its website about a year ago, starting with a limited number of films from the Sundance Film Festival, Weinstein Co. and MGM. But the Google subsidiary has struggled to transform its 130 million monthly users into a sizable audience for its paid and ad-supported feature films. This week's licensing agreements that expand YouTube's library of rental titles may help more customers see value in paying the website for access to Hollywood films and make it a more competitive rival to Apple's iTunes and Amazon's Instant Video services. Google isn't the only big brand making big moves in the streaming video business. According to The Hollywood Reporter, both DirecTV and Dish Network are exploring subscription streaming service businesses to challenge Netflix and iTunes. Meanwhile, cable television provider Comcast is trying to negotiate deals to offer premium video-on-demand options that would allow cable subscribers to enjoy new movies only 6–8 weeks after their theatrical release dates.
Theater owners ready to fight over $30, 60-day window VOD movies
While we're not exactly in a hurry to spend $30 each on 60-day delayed movie rentals, theater owners are quite upset by the whole premium video-on-demand plan apparently being pushed by Warner, Sony, Fox and Universal. The most active objector so far appears to be AMC Theaters, which announced yesterday (press release after the break) it would notify studios that it plans to "adapt its economic model" regarding movies bound for p-VOD. What it wants is likely a bigger slice of the revenue and also a heads up on which movies will be getting the earlier releases. Rival theater chains Regal and Cinemark have already expressed plans to cut promotion and screens for movies headed to p-VOD, but without any official announcement it's still not clear which movies those will be. Of course, cutting down promo and screens cuts into the theater's own revenue, so we'll wait to see who blinks first. (Hint: it won't be us -- we wouldn't pay $30 to watch The Adjustment Bureau on Mars, much less in our own living rooms on DirecTV, Vudu or Comcast.)
DirecTV, Comcast, Vudu could start offering 'premium VOD' $30 movie rentals in April
Despite the questionable appeal of watching movies two months after they come out in theaters for $30 a pop, The Hollywood Reporter reports Warner Bros., Sony, Fox and Universal are going ahead with their premium video on-demand scheme. According to the always helpful unnamed insiders, DirecTV will be launching the service nationally at the end of April, with Walmart-backed Vudu and a regional launch by Comcast soon after. Company Town mentions movies like The Adjustment Bureau, Paul, or Just Go With It could be among launch titles. There's no word on DRM although apparently Paramount has taken a pass specifically due to piracy concerns -- theater owners aren't happy either -- so we'll just wait and see if the quality of scene rips suddenly make a jump by this time next month. Either way, expect some new variation of Gregor and his lap giraffe to make an appearance soon.
Turing machine built from wood, scrap metal and magnets, 'geek' achievement unlocked (video)
We take it for granted nowadays that thumbnail-sized silicon chips can crunch through the most complex of calculations, but early last century, mathematical tasks were still being carried out by humans. It was around that time that one Alan Turing, Enigma code breaker and general computer science pioneer, came up with what was essentially a thought experiment, a mechanical machine capable of simulating and solving algorithms just like a grown-up CPU. Well, you know where this is going by now, one British software engineer decided to build just such a device, out of old bits and bobs he had lying around his geek lair, producing a working model that was recently shown off at the Maker Faire UK in Newcastle. The only downer, as he points out, is that it'd take "months to add two numbers together," but all good things start off humbly. Video after the break.
Scarface Limited Edition Blu-ray says hello September 6th (trailer)
Yet another classic arrives in HD this fall when Universal releases the Scarface Special Limited Edition Blu-ray. It's getting a premium treatment too, with Steelbook packaging, 7.1 DTS-HD MA audio, art cards, and even the 1932 original version of Scarface on DVD. Universal's packed in the extras on the disc too, including a couple of U-control add-ons that keep track of both F-bombs dropped and bullets fired, plus picture-in-picture breakdowns with director Brian De Palma, Al Pacino, Screenwriter Oliver Stone and more. Check after the break for the press release with all the details -- except price, and it's not on Amazon yet either.
Violet strikes again in the Mystery Next Door: an interactive iOS children's book
Our friend Violet is back in the third original installment of this excellent modern series of interactive children's books from My Black Dog Books LLC. Violet and the Mystery Next Door (US$3.99) is a universal app that looks great in landscape mode on any iOS device. The book tells the story of how Violet finds a mysterious new neighbor, just her age, and goes about finding more about him in the snow. The Violet series has added more play value with each story, and this one adds branching. At two points in the story, you are asked a yes or no question. Depending upon your answer, you are taken to a number of pages that follow that line, eventually ending up at the same place and continuing the story. This adds much more variety for small children since they can follow a number of branches, making the book shorter or longer. Eventually, kids will take all the paths, causing them to spend more time with Violet and her world. This was an excellent design decision and really adds a lot to the book. Another good choice was to put a book icon in the upper left that lets you scroll to any page in the book. In one branch, you are asked if the mysterious boy sees Violet sneaking up on him. Answering no causes the boy to go into his house, where you see that he has a lot of toys. Then he runs outside to make a snow angel and vanishes, so Violet has to find him. When she does find him, they have an interactive snowball fight. If you tell the app that the boy did see Violet, she chases him to his Clubhouse, where you'll find an empty snowman. You can build the snowman by moving his eyes, nose, buttons and some other things onto it, providing even more play value. Violet and the mysterious boy eventually wind up at the snowball fight, and the story takes off from there. %Gallery-118930%
Report: Doom movie reboot in the works at Universal
While we all can agree the world ill needs to sit through another Doom movie, Hollywood is apparently keen on giving it another go. A new project is in the earliest stages, so says Hollywood Insider's What's Playing. This new film is supposedly a reboot and ignores the events of the Dwayne Johnson vehicle from 2005, plus will be in 3D (of course). The piece says that Universal is shopping around for somebody to come up with a script right now. May we suggest anybody but the guy who wrote the first movie?
iMovie and Garageband now available for iPad
As expected, iMovie and GarageBand are now available on the App Store for the iPad 2 when it releases later on this week. iMovie is actually just a universal update, since the app was already available for the iPhone, but it won't run on the original iPad (GarageBand will, however). Both apps are available for $4.99. Note that the GB download is pretty big -- GarageBand will run you 370 MB, so if your iPad is already pretty full, you'll have to delete some apps or media. GarageBand offers up all of those great in-app instruments to record with, so if you have an iPad 1 or 2, it's probably a must-get. iMovie's improvements for iPhone users have yet to be tested, but it's bound to be a big hit tomorrow once the iPad 2 units hit the street.
Apple working on unlimited downloads of purchased iTunes music, setting MobileMe free?
You know all that rumor and speculation about Apple launching a subscription-based streaming music service? Forget it -- at least until the next rumor comes along. Bloomberg is citing three people with knowledge of private talks between Apple, Universal Music, Sony Music, and Warner Music to make purchased music more easily accessible to iTunes users. Two sources claim that an agreement could be announced by midyear. Contrary to popular speculation aroused by Apple's purchase of Lala, they're not talking about streaming music from Apple's new North Carolina data center scheduled to come online in the spring. According to Bloomberg's sources, Apple is instead, planning to offer unlimited downloads to any device linked to the same iTunes account. So, purchase a track on your iPhone and download it again for free to your iPad without having to go back and tether the mobile device to your PC or Mac for a sync. Hard disk crash? No worries, there's a permanent backup in the cloud. Of course, there's nothing preventing Apple from providing unlimited downloads in parallel with a streaming service except for the labels and artists who prefer the higher revenues paid out by download services. Then again, if it was left to them we'd still be buying our music on $15 CDs. Incidentally, one Bloomberg source was also caught blabbing about Apple's plans to overhaul the MobileMe service to store pictures, video, and other online content sometime this year. Better yet, it could drop from $99 per year to free -- something already reported by the Wall Street Journal a few weeks ago.
Comcast CEO talks about the merger, 'cool new devices' like the iPad and why he doesn't fear Netflix
Now that the world has had a few weeks to get used to the new Comcast/NBC collabo (but not that ugly purple logo), CEO Brian Roberts talked to the Wall Street Journal about plans for the future, including his claim that Netflix is actually a good thing for his company. Roberts referred to Netflix as the new version of reruns, and explained his view that it raises the value of NBCUniversal's content while reiterating statements made earlier about lower-than-expected subscriber losses being tied more to the economy than anything else. Beyond the soft jabs, he discounted the possibility that Comcast might launch its own internet video service for non-cable subscribers, pushing the vision of adding internet video streaming options for existing customers and explaining how they'd "be able to use the devices that are cool and new, that they typically purchased themselves, to now control and interact with the device they also love, which is a brand new high def 3-D TV." Of course, it doesn't look like we're closer to choosing our own UI for browsing content, but with nicely designed apps for tablets, phones and connected TVs maybe the platform for future innovation he references has something for us to look forward to after all -- we'd consider new cable boxes that don't suck to be a good start.
Adult Swim releases free universal app with full episodes in the app
Cartoon Network's Adult Swim programming division has been surprisingly Mac-friendly -- not only has it produced a number of great iOS games already, but its shows have included a number of Mac references as well (always in the service of comedy, of course). I guess it's no surprise that Adult Swim released a universal app of its own. Like many television apps, there are some extras, including a schedule of shows, and clock, weather and calendar features. But the real draw here is that you can watch full episodes of Adult Swim shows in the app, from Tim and Eric Awesome Show Great Job to Family Guy (reruns), Aqua Teen Hunger Force and, one of my favorites, The Venture Brothers. And the best part is that the app is completely and totally free. If you're an Adult Swim fan at all, you'll definitely want to go get it off of the App Store right now. Great to see such a solid strategy from these guys on iOS -- I guess they definitely know where their audience is.
Jurassic Park preview: Triceratops in the headlights
Jurassic Park represents an obvious departure from the games regularly associated with Telltale. It's not humorous, the graphical style exchanges whimsy for something more realistic, and it's even driven by some action sequences. Having played a brief demo of the game (the first episode is due in April), I think Telltale can successfully break out of its pattern. It's not hard to see the aforementioned influences from Quantic Dream's Heavy Rain in Jurassic Park's reliance on quick-time events and context-based interactions. However, unlike Heavy Rain, you don't march your character through the environment -- instead, you move the camera and highlight points of interaction within your field of view. Select one, and a small cutscene shows the result of your action. %Gallery-117120%
Sony Music Unlimited now streaming tracks to the US
Let's hope Sony's new streaming music service -- just launched today for the US, Australia, and New Zealand -- isn't as unwieldy to use as its "Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity" moniker suggests. The service features six million tracks from Sony Music Entertainment, Universal, EMI, and Warner and is available on Sony's own devices including the PS3, Blu-ray disc players, Bravia televisions, and VAIO PCs. It'll also be available on Android smartphones soon with an iOS app coming later this year, assuming Apple's new subscription debacle doesn't derail Sony's plans. A basic membership provides an interactive radio experience for $3.99 per month while a premium $9.99 per month service gives subscribers on-demand access to the Music Unlimited library with the ability to manage your music through playlists and the like. Sony also provides a useful service that scans your local library and playlists to "jump start" the organization of your Music Unlimited collection. Wonder how it'll work on the NGP and PlayStation tablet?
European Union's 'One charger for all' starts sampling, coming this year
It was way back in summer of 2009 that Nokia, Apple, RIM, and the rest of the mobile world agreed to make micro-USB the connector around which all future European chargers would be built. Since then, most of those companies have transitioned their hardware to micro-USB without further prompting, but the European Union is still pushing ahead with a universally compatible charger standard to make sure everything is nice and harmonized. The details of what's expected of these chargers were published in December and now the first samples of the new hardware have been produced. The EU expects all manufacturers to have chargers adhering to the new guidelines by the end of 2011 -- and if you're wondering about how Apple, one of the signatories to this agreement, will handle it, there's a note to say that adapters will be allowed on phones without a micro-USB port. Full press release after the break.
TUAW's Daily App: Super Soviet Missile Mastar
Hail, comrades of Unofficial Weblog of Apple! Our kind and generous comrades at gaming developer The Behemoth (crafters of the great Castle Crashers entertainment for Xbox Live) have blessed the people of Mother Russia with a free iOS arcading game, available at the current time in your stores of Apps. Super Soviet Missile Mastar allows you to guide secret missile of Russian destiny past American helicopters, capitalist pig birds and disgusting Western airplays towards missile's final landing place on soil of dirty United States. Game is very simple, but as charming as hot chocolate vodka on cold USSR's winter's day, with extremely retro graphics and music to cheer you on to people's victory. And speaking of people, the game also has full Game Center integration, so you and other comrades can band together over leaderboards and "ments of achieving." Fly on, Russian missile of doom! Universal app is a free download for all who believe in power of Mother Russia! Thanks to comrades at Behemoth for free distraction from standing in bread lines, and great glory to USSR and her peoples!
Doodle Jump makes deal with Universal, gets movie tie-in
Here's an interesting story out of Macworld this week. Doodle Jump, recently featured as the Top Paid App of all time, is going to Hollywood, but not quite in the way you might think. Rather than a Doodle Jump movie, the movies are instead coming to Doodle Jump, as Universal has announced a deal to put the main character of its upcoming film, Hop, in the popular iOS game as a promotional download. The movie comes out April 1, but in February, Doodle Jump will get an Easter-related level, with the official Universal character in the app as a bonus. Sure, it's probably not the most exciting iOS tie-in -- the film was directed by the same guy who did the recent Alvin and the Chimpmunks movies, and unless you brought kids, it wasn't much to write home about (and even then, we hear it wasn't all that great). But still, this is an iOS title that's making a major deal with a Hollywood studio -- very impressive for the folks over at Lima Sky, and it's probably an indication that we'll see more collaboration between indie iOS developers and other forms of entertainment in the future.
