On Wednesday evening at CinemaCon in Las Vegas, Sony unveiled the first details of a new animated Spider-Man film, set to be written and produced by 21 Jump Street and The Lego Movie directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller. There's no word yet on who will be directing the film, providing Lord and Miller don't take on that job as well.
“To get 10,000 people enrolled in a medical study normally, it would take a year and 50 medical centers around the country,” said Alan Yeung, medical director of Stanford Cardiovascular Health. “That’s the power of the phone.”
“Just collecting lots of information about people -- who may or may not have a particular disease, and may or may not represent the typical patient -- could just add noise and distraction,” said Lisa Schwartz, professor at the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, in an e-mail. “Bias times a million is still bias.”
Google's Sundar Pichai, senior vice president of Android, Chrome and Google Apps, recently spoke about his company's relationship with Apple in an in-depth interview with Forbes . The executive discussed a few topics related to Apple, including the impact of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus on the high-end smartphone market and Google's long-standing search partnership with Apple that is rumored to be up in the air.Q: Your relationship with Apple is complicated. How concerned are you that you may lose them as a search partner on iOS?
A: There are areas with Apple in which we have always collaborated. We have had a long term search partnership. We work closely with them in areas like YouTube. When I look at search, largely the evolution depends on “are we bulding something which users need?” If we are building something that users need and there is a lot of value we are driving, I think how search manifests in iOS will work out just fine. We have a long term search partnership and are working together with them, and we’ll have to see.
Q: There’s a perception that as Samsung is going through some challenges, Apple is regaining share at the high end. Do you see that in the numbers?
A: Share is tough to assess. There is a lot of noise. Based on what we see things are healthy overall globally including the high end. Apple obviously has done very well with iPhone 6 and 6 plus, but we always expected that. We knew this would be a big upgrade cycle for them. To me looking at the momentum of having shipped a billion devices, people even on the high reporting high loyalty rates across Android, I haven’t seen anything to be concerned about. The bigger story here is a growing pie. All of us are doing well.
According to Google's own Android version distribution data, Android 5.0 Lollipop is only on 1.6% of Android devices that are currently in use. The actual figure is undoubtedly much smaller, as it doesn't take into account the millions upon millions of off-brand Android devices that don't ship with Google's apps and services installed.
While most of the world waits to enjoy all of the great new features Lollipop will bring when their phones are finally updated, a mysterious new version of Lollipop just emerged for the first time.
The proof is in the 800 million credit cards it already has on file -- comparably, Spotify has 15 million subscriptions and 60 million monthly users, although the service is growing, headed to an initial public offering.
In fact, integration has begun. Apple TV features a Beats logo, an update to Apple's iOS will include streaming and creative is in the works for new ads starring artists recruited by Iovine. But that may be the extent of Beats' involvement as Kondrk takes the lead on music. Like the Apple-centric design of its offices, the look and feel of Beats is likely to mirror Apple's aesthetic, not the other way around.
Additionally, featured-artist sliders, previously chosen editorially, may now be determined by sales velocity, leaving some to wonder if iTunes is becoming less like a Tower Records and more of a Target -- limited selection and a focus on hit titles. "Until now, iTunes has been good to the indies," contends one vet. Conversely, an Apple source says such case-by-case house-cleaning to eliminate duplicative and deceptive versions is routine.
It was obvious to just about everyone when Amazon launched its Fire Phone that the device was going to absolutely bomb. It didn't offer any truly compelling features compared to other Android phones on the market, it was priced at $199 on contract and it was an exclusive to AT&T. All told, it was a baffling misstep from a company that had long prided itself in delivering good value to consumers at the expense posting high profit margins.
The Lego Movie directors are working on an animated Spider-Man film for Sony