Following Apple CEO Tim Cook being honored with Auburn University’s College of Human Sciences Lifetime Achievement award last December, the university in Alabama from which Tim Cook graduated has shared a video profiling the Apple CEO and his impact at Auburn.While the video was first posted in March and surfaced today, it features commentary and interviews from other notable Apple figures including Jeff Williams, Senior VP of Operations, and Bob Iger, Disney CEO and Apple board member. Expand Expanding Close
The ties between Apple and Disney are tightening even more thanks to their unprecedented collaboration on the new Movies Anywhere app. This ambitious project has been percolating at Disney for years and aims to make purchasing and viewing digital content easier than ever.
A direct shot at UltraViolet, the Movies Anywhere app allows users to purchase and play movies within the app or through any device with access to your iTunes library. Previously purchased films on DVD, and Blu-ray can be added to the app if they shipped with a digital redemption code. All past iTunes purchases are eligible.
Users can simply connect their iTunes account to their Disney Movies Anywhere account to begin populating their Disney digital movie locker and watch movies online and on their devices. Featuring simultaneous access on multiple devices, Disney Movies Anywhere enables consumers to stream and download Disney movies on their iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch and Apple TV (through iCloud or using AirPlay).
Today, Apple has issued an over-the-air update to the Apple TV that brings several new content apps. Notably, in line with expectations, an app for the Vevo Music Video service has arrived. Also new are Disney Channel and Disney XD apps.
With Apple’s deep partnership with Disney, it is about time that Disney has been fully integrated into the Apple TV. Apple TV users will now also be able to access Weather information via a new app from The Weather Channel. An app for the Smithsonian is also now present.
The Disney apps require cable provider authentication, while The Weather Channel, Smithsonian, and Vevo are available immediately for all users.
Earlier this year, the Apple TV was updated with ESPN, HBO Go, and SkyNews. Time Warner Cable integration is reportedly in the works for later this year.
One of Pixar’s early employees, John Lasseter, accepted a Disney Legends award for Steve Jobs. The awarded was accepted and presented yesterday at Disney’s D23 conference. The Disney Legends award is granted to key people in the growth and success of Disney. As Pixar’s creator and a former Disney Director, Jobs certainly made a positive impact on Disney. Lasseter’s speech recounts several encounters and experiences that he shared with Jobs over the course of their time together. A video from another angle is below:
To accompany its latest feature film set to hit theatres today, Disney has just released “The Lone Ranger” game for both iPhone and iPad on the App Store. The iTunes page describes the game as a full 3D role-playing game with quests, duels, and the ability to “Level-up to unlock new weapons, tools, and horses.” The screenshots look promising, so we’re hoping its better than the typical Hollywood movie tie-in. The good news is you won’t have to pay to find out as the full game is available for free on both iPhone and iPad.
Saddle up and take the reins as one of the greatest Texas Rangers in the Wild West. Embark on a thrilling adventure as you protect the town of Colby, face-off in epic showdowns, and bring infamous outlaws to justice. Fight against greed and corruption in this 3d, role-playing adventure!
· Interact with known allies and outlaws throughout your journey: With allies like the Lone Ranger and Tonto on your side, prepare to take on the villainous Butch Cavendish and his unwieldy gang.
· Restore peace to the town of Colby: Protect the citizens of Colby, and embark on legendary quests to end greed and corruption.
· Duel outlaws and bandits: Face-off against wanted outlaws with your best weapons and equipment, and bring them to justice.
· Level-up to unlock new weapons, tools, and horses to aide you on your journey.
· More languages coming soon! Play The Lone Ranger in Italian, German, and Spanish starting late July.
Big news from the New York Times this evening. ABC, a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Company, will begin streaming live content to iOS devices later this week in Philadelphia and New York City using a new button on their app called ‘live’. Users will be able to live stream all the programming from ABC’s local stations there, ‘the first time that any major broadcaster has turned on such a technology.’
For the first six weeks the service will be free to anyone with an iOS device according to GigaOM. Before you go grabbing the scissors to cut that cable cord, be warned that the live stream will eventually be available only to paying subscribers of cable and satellite providers, even though the stations’ signals are available free over the public airwaves.
ABC, a unit of the Walt Disney Company, said the live stream would be available in the other six cities where it owns stations sometime this summer. It is also in talks with the companies that own ABC’s more than 200 affiliates to make the “live” button work in their markets.
Also, not all shows have beencleared for streaming so there might be some discrepancies between the live feeds and the stream. The news comes as a service called Aereo (which we’ve reviewed) is place shifting broadcast signals to the internet, making live channels available to portable device owners. Expand Expanding Close
Ahead of the official May 3rd launch of the Iron Man 3 feature film, today Gameloft has released the iOS app tie-in taking place after the events of the movie. According to the game’s iTunes page, Iron Man 3 sees the player take up the role of peacekeeper playing as Tony Stark in an “additive, endless 3D runner”.
Last year we posted a photo that originated from a Pixar employee showing the animation company had renamed its main facility “The Steve Jobs Building” in honor of its co-founder and former CEO. Today, PixarTimes points us to the image above showing a tree on the Pixar campus just outside The Steve Jobs Building that has been recently dedicated to Steve:
Dedicated With Love And Gratitude To
Steve Jobs
Our Partner, Mentor, And Friend
Pixar has honored Jobs’ contributions in others ways too, such as the credits of the 2012 film ‘Brave’ which happened to include the same text as the plaque above.
Steve Jobs was CEO of the animation studio until being acquired by Disney in 2006, in turn making Jobs the largest individual shareholder with a seat on the board of Disney. Jobs was also credited as an executive producer of the 1996 blockbuster Toy Story.
Bloomberg BusinessWeek published a lengthy piece today on “How Disney Bought Lucasfilm- and Its Plans for ‘Star Wars'” and within we get some some insight from Disney CEO Bog Iger on his relationship with Steve Jobs. According to Iger, after becoming a Disney board member and the company’s largest shareholder, Jobs would sometimes call him to say his movies “sucked.”
The transaction gave Disney a new source of hit movies. Jobs also became a Disney board member and its largest shareholder. Periodically he would call Iger to say, “Hey, Bob, I saw the movie you just released last night, and it sucked,” Iger recalls. Nevertheless, the Disney CEO says that having Jobs as a friend and adviser was “additive rather than the other way around.”
Before I started doing this blogging thing, I was an Apple IT guy/web developer for some mid-sized creative firms in New York and abroad (three cheers if you ever had to deploy OD/Active Directory integrated environments!). This month, I will attend my first MacTech Conference where like-minded Apple technology professionals gather to hone their skills and learn best practices for doing what we do (well, did in my case; MacTech didn’t exist when I was doing IT).
MacTech Conference is a three-day, immersive, technical conference specifically designed for Apple developers, IT Pros, and Enterprise. “The whole idea of MacTech Conference is to allow members of the Apple community to meet and exchange ideas,” said Conference Chair and Executive Editor of MacTech Magazine Edward Marczak. “This will be spurred on by presentations from some of the best and well-known experts in the community.”
MacTech Conference will have two separate tracks: one focused on programming / development, and the other on IT/Enterprise and consulting. Sessions will focus on desktop and mobile, as well as OS X and iOS.
Since 9to5Mac is a media sponsor this year, we have some exciting discounts to offer folks who are thinking about making the trip out to L.A. in two weeks: We can get you $100 off PLUS a MacTech subscription worth another $50 by using this link. That’s $899 for the L.A. conference and $295 for the bootcamps. There are also some fun activities planned throughout the three-day event, aside from all of the free meals…
Disney launched three iOS apps today for the iPhone and iPad that offer live streams to premium content previously only accessible on cable.
Watch Disney Channel (iTunes), Watch Disney XD (iTunes), and Watch Disney Junior (iTunes) are free on the App Store, but users must confirm their Comcast subscription to view live-streaming content. The apps allow non-subscribers to watch a limited collection of episodes, however, which is a step up from competing apps like HBO Go that only authorize cable subscribers.
Comcast closed a streaming deal with Disney in January as part of the company’s TV Everywhere initiative to pioneer open access to cable channels across all of its devices. These three Disney apps are the most recent product of that vision.
There has always been a strong connection between Apple and the Walt Disney Company. Apple’s former CEO Steve Jobs served on the board of directors for Disney and was the head of Pixar, which Disney purchased to create some of the most memorable animated films ever. Jobs also used his knowledge from when he created the most profitable retail chain in the world to help Disney rejuvenate its stale retail experience. Disney’s CEO Bob Iger also now sits on Apple’s board.
Disney and Apple are set to grow even closer as Disney park employees are given iPads to handle guest relations.
The iPad will be the centerpiece for Disney’s revolutionary next-generation “FastPass” system. The current system allows Disney park goers to receive passes, return to popular attractions at a future time, and then bypass the lengthy lines. Today, Disney World employees began training on a new system that will utilize RFID technology and the iPad to take the park goer experience to the next level.
Over the next couple of weeks, guests selected —in advance to their trip— will help Disney test this new process. The guest will book popular rides and attractions for specific times in the future—even before they leave for Florida. According to @DisneyProjects, when guests arrive at the ride for their reserved time, they will then wand their RFID band by a sensor, which will subsequently send their reservation information to a nearby Cast Member’s (Disney Employee) iPad.
This pilot program will run for the next couple of weeks, which is enough time for Disney to gauge its effectiveness. There is no current timetable for a full rollout. However, you can be sure it is coming, because Disney went through the effort of installing RFID zones at several key attractions. Disney has used the iPad in revolutionary ways before, like when it introduced “AppMATes.” This is just another connection between the two great American companies.
Apple has announced that Arthur D. Levinson, former CEO of Genentech, has been named as Chairman of the Board and will continue serving on the audit comitee. Apple has also announed that Disney’s CEO Bob Iger has joined the Board. Tim Cook commented:
“Art has made enormous contributions to Apple since he joined the board in 2000. He has been our longest serving co-lead director, and his insight and leadership are incredibly valuable to Apple, our employees and our shareholders.”
After Steve Jobs stepped down from his role as CEO, he became the company’s first Chairman. Levinson has now taken Jobs’s seat, after the inspirational founder passed away October 5, just a day after the company’s team of executives announced the iPhone 4S at a media event in Cupertino. Since 2005, Levinson served as co-lead director with Andrea Jung. Levinson has been known for pushing Apple to allow third party applications into Apple’s platform and guiding Jobs through Apple’s antenna problems with the iPhone 4.
In 2009, Levinson was forced to resign from Google’s Board of Directors. Levinson was serving on both Google and Apple’s Board, and once Google and Apple began moving into the same space, he was forced to resign from one Board. Consequentially he chose to be part of Apple.
Bob Iger is currently the President and CEO of Disney, and is joining Apple’s board and will serve on the audit committee. Iger and Jobs had a close relationship with one another while Jobs served as Chairman of Disney/Pixar’s Board. Tim Cook commented:
“Bob and I have gotten to know one another very well over the past few years and on behalf of the entire board, we think he is going to make an extraordinary addition to our already very strong board. His strategic vision for Disney is based on three fundamentals: generating the best creative content possible, fostering innovation and utilizing the latest technology, and expanding into new markets around the world which makes him a great fit for Apple.”
Before I started doing this blogging thing, I was an Apple IT guy/web developer for some mid-sized creative firms in New York and abroad (three cheers if you ever had to deploy OD/Active Directory integrated environments!). This month, I will attend my first 
