Linked List: June 14, 2011

Tuesday, 14 June 2011

Samuel L. Jackson Reads ‘Go the Fuck to Sleep’ ★

Audible is giving the audiobook away for free. Perfect.

Bloomberg: Comcast Is Already Violating Conditions of NBCU Merger ★

Sam Gustin:

News giant Bloomberg has filed a formal complaint with the Federal Communications Commission, accusing Comcast of violating conditions it agreed to as part of its merger with NBC Universal, which created a $30 billion entertainment colossus.

Bloomberg argues that Comcast, the nation’s largest cable operator, has exiled its financial news television network to cable-dial Siberia, far away from the “existing news neighborhoods” where it groups major news channels like MSNBC, CNBC, and Fox News.

Very surprising.

HTC Desire Won’t Get Gingerbread ★

HTC, on Facebook:

Our engineering teams have been working hard for the past few months to find a way to bring Gingerbread to the HTC Desire without compromising the HTC Sense experience you’ve come to expect from our phones. However, we’re sorry to announce that we’ve been forced to accept there isn’t enough memory to allow us both to bring Gingerbread and keep the HTC Sense experience on the HTC Desire. We’re sincerely sorry for the disappointment that this news may bring to some of you.

Very surprising.

Paul Thurrott on iOS 5 and Lion ★

On iOS 5:

Best features were literally copied from other mobile platforms.

True!

On Lion:

Since making the transition from its buggy Mac OS past to the more durable and reliable Mac OS X, Apple has delivered a decade’s worth of minor, purely evolutionary updates, and Mac OS X 10.7 “Lion” is just the latest.

True!

One could argue that these are purposefully antagonistic ways of saying these things. Or, perhaps better said, purposefully belittling. With Mac OS X in particular, to my recollection, Thurrott has had this same take for every single major (i.e., new cat name) release. Every single one, he’s considered to be “minor” and “evolutionary”. The insinuation I always get from Thurrott’s takes on big-cat Mac OS X releases is that Apple can’t or at least doesn’t attempt sensational mind-blowing new releases, but yet through marketing trickery they convince the press and a large and ever-growing audience of enthusiastic fans of the company that these (to Thurrott’s mind) incremental upgrades are in fact sensational major new upgrades.

I’ll just say this. Compare Lion side-by-side with Mac OS X 10.0 (“Cheetah”) and you’ll weep with joy at how much better it’s gotten. This is how Apple rolls — steady, relentless, incremental progress.

Putting His Money Where His Job Is ★

From the J.C. Penney press release announcing Ron Johnson taking the job as CEO:

As a demonstration of his confidence in J. C. Penney’s long-term potential, Mr. Johnson requested and has committed to make a personal investment of $50 million in the Company through the purchase, at fair market value, of 7 1/2-year warrants on 7.257 million shares of J. C. Penney Company stock. The warrants cannot be sold or hedged for the first six years of their term and have a strike price of $29.92, the closing price of the stock on the business day prior to Mr. Johnson’s commitment to purchase the warrants.

So instead of merely being given stock, he’s also buying it.

Horace Dediu: ‘Why an Unlocked Phone in the US Matters’ ★

Horace Dediu:

The way to think about it is that the iPhone has just become more “liquid” and it can now flow to parts of the world where it has been difficult to acquire. The iPhone was already liquid to some degree with unlocking and sales through Hong Kong/UK, but the US market’s retail footprint and the lower costs that result will boost liquidity dramatically and probably increase volumes substantially.

Makes sense. In other words, these unlocked iPhones sold in the U.S. aren’t for the U.S. — they’re for the parts of the world without carrier deals with Apple.

Apple Now Selling Unlocked GSM iPhone 4 in the U.S. ★

$649/749 for 16/32 GB, respectively. But why now? What doesn’t make sense is that there are only two GSM carriers in the U.S., AT&T and T-Mobile, and they don’t use the same 3G band. So if you buy one of these to use on T-Mobile you’ll be stuck on EDGE, right?

Apple Retail Executive Ron Johnson Leaving for J.C. Penney ★

Elizabeth Holmes and Joann Lublin, reporting for the WSJ:

J.C. Penney Co. is tapping Ron Johnson, head of Apple Inc.’s iconic retail stores, as its new president and eventual chief executive, people familiar with the situation said.

The company is expected to announce Mr. Johnson’s appointment later today. Mr. Johnson will become CEO in the next few months, succeeding long-time leader Myron “Mike” Ullman. He joined Apple from Target Corp., where he was vice president of merchandising for stores.

Johnson has been at Apple since the outset of its retail stores.

Update: Look at the jump in Penney’s stock price this morning on this news.

Florian Mueller on the Apple-Nokia Settlement ★

Florian Mueller:

The fact that Nokia has demonstrated its ability to defeat Apple — after the most bitterly contested patent dispute that this industry has seen to date — is a clear proof of concept. Other companies whom Nokia will ask to pay royalties will have to think very hard whether to pay or pick a fight.

This is also very significant with a view to Android. Given that Android is in many ways a rip-off of Apple’s operating software, Android-based devices are highly likely to infringe on largely the same Nokia patents that Apple now felt forced to pay for.

Nokia Beats Apple in Patent Dispute ★

Nokia PR:

The financial structure of the agreement consists of a one-time payment payable by Apple and on-going royalties to be paid by Apple to Nokia for the term of the agreement. The specific terms of the contract are confidential.

“We are very pleased to have Apple join the growing number of Nokia licensees,” said Stephen Elop, president and chief executive officer of Nokia. “This settlement demonstrates Nokia’s industry leading patent portfolio and enables us to focus on further licensing opportunities in the mobile communications market.”

Walt Disney Explains the MultiPlane Animation Camera in 1957 ★

Using technology to tell better stories, and make better movies. He’d have loved Pixar. (Via Coudal.)