The New York Post reports that Apple is in advanced talks to secure a 60,000 square foot office space in the ultra-premium Hudson Yards area of Manhattan. The rumored office space is set to be housed at a building which is still under construction, and Apple would join other luxury business tenants such as Point72 Asset Management, private equity firm Silver Lake, and various law firms.
Apple agreed to acquire Beats for several reasons: for the streaming music service, for the headphones, for the speakers, and to bring Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine into the Cupertino fold. But the New York Post believes that Apple is seeking help from the Beats team for another important area of the Apple business: advertising. It’s no secret in the technology and advertising world that Apple could not be anymore displeased with the services as of late from longtime ad partner TBWA, and unnamed ad agency executives are said to believe that the Beats team could improve Apple’s ads:
The New York Post reports that a 21-year-old woman has died after falling in front of a subway train while trying to catch the iPad she had dropped.
The woman who was crushed to death by a subway train at Union Square on Saturday lost her balance after fumbling with her iPad, causing her to fall onto the tracks, officials said.
Police said that it appeared the woman had lost her grip on the iPad and made a grab for it as it slipped, losing her footing and falling onto the tracks just as a train was arriving. The conductor reportedly spotted the woman on the rails but was too late to stop the train.
Cautionary note: the linked report has a photo which appears to show some of the remains of the victim – we’ve cropped it out of the above photo.
Photo: R Umar Abbasi/New York Post
The New York Post reports that the flagship Fifth Avenue Apple Store in Manhattan was flooded following heavy rain in the city this morning due to a leak in the retail store’s roof. The flood apparently began shortly after opening at approximately 8 a.m while around 15 customers were shopping in the store. According to reports from NY Post, employees blamed construction completed on the location last year for the leak:
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We have seen Apple’s Find My iPhone app come in handy in more than a few situations. It allows police to locate and retrieve stolen iOS devices, and so the app has proven to be an invaluable tool for combating iPhone thefts. However, over the weekend, a New York City man named Nadav Nirenberg took a bit more of a creative approach.
As reported by New York Post, after leaving his iPhone in a cab on New Year’s Eve, Nirenberg discovered the following morning via email alerts that someone was using his iPhone to message women with the dating app OkCupid. Rather than using one of the methods we’ve heard of in the past (Nirenberg likely didn’t have Find My iPhone set up), he decided to pose as a woman and offer the iPhone thief a date.
While not recommended, the idea was apparently effective with the thief arriving at Nirenberg’s apartment only to be greeted with a $20 bill and a hammer:
Little did he know that on his way up the stairs I would pop out behind him, calmly give him $20 for my phone (it was in his hand) and tell him the cops were on the way (with a hammer in my hand). RETRIBUTION! The look of immediate shame on his face was priceless, homie was shook and must feel like an idiot. Dude was all dressed up, had a bottle of wine and stank of cologne. As he was walking away I was surprised I said “You smell great tho”.
News Corp’s AllThingsD reports that News Corp will discontinue its Daily iPad app publication.
News Corp CEO Rupert Murdoch said of the closure:
“From its launch, The Daily was a bold experiment in digital publishing and an amazing vehicle for innovation. Unfortunately, our experience was that we could not find a large enough audience quickly enough to convince us the business model was sustainable in the long-term. Therefore we will take the very best of what we have learned at The Daily and apply it to all our properties. Under the editorial leadership of Editor-in-Chief Col Allan and the business and digital leadership of Jesse, I know The New York Post will continue to grow and become stronger on the web, on mobile, and not least, the paper itself. I want to thank all of the journalists, digital and business professionals for the hard work they put into The Daily.”
Apple’s Eddie Cue shared the stage with News Corp representatives, including Murdoch (Steve Jobs was originally scheduled to attend), when the Daily launched as the iPad’s first dedicated news publication. Rumors of the closure began in July.
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Eddie Cue (left) on stage at the Daily launch with Rupert Murdoch, (center) and Daily CEO
The app was hampered by poor technology that made navigation much slower than lighter magazine apps. It also was hampered by the lack of compelling content that couldn’t be found elsewhere on the web for free.
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New York state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli’s latest audit suggested the Metropolitan Transportation Authority gave Apple an unfair advantage last year when the company bid for a spot in Grand Central Terminal.
According to The New York Post:
- A fresh audit by state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli says the MTA last May allowed the California-based tech giant to set a daunting hurdle for rival bidders to clear in a tight, 30-day window — namely, that they be willing to front $5 million in cash.
- “The competitive process followed by MTA . . . was at a minimum severely slanted toward Apple,” reads the report, submitted to MTA officials Friday and expected to be made public today.
- DiNapoli’s report notes that Apple had been in private talks with the MTA for more than two years leading up to the bidding process.
- In a saucy move that was rejected by the MTA, Apple even tried to get reimbursed by taxpayers for the initial $2 million it had paid the restaurant Metrazur to vacate the balcony atop the historic commuter hub, the report found — a deal that ultimately was worth $5 million.
MTA Chairman and CEO Joseph Lhota told The New York Post that DiNapoli’s report is overtly “bias against the MTA and Apple,” and he said the audit is “not fact-based, and, accordingly, their opinion is worthless.”
“The MTA’s lease process with Apple was open, transparent and followed both the spirit and letter of the law,” Lhota contended.
Apple opened its doors in Grand Central’s last winter and pays $1.1 million in rent for 2012, which the audit noted is below market, and the company notably does not share a percentage of its sales with the MTA. It is the only retailer at the station with such a deal.
On the plus side, there is an awesome Apple Store with free Wi-Fi in Grand Central Station!
[The full audit does not appear to be online as of press time.]
Reuters reported today that Apple has been in talks since earlier this year to stream films owned by premium TV channel EPIX to Apple TV set-top boxes and potentially its much-rumored upcoming HDTV product. Three major studios including Paramount Pictures, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and Lionsgate back the channel:
Apple Inc began talks earlier this year to stream films owned by EPIX, which is backed by three major movie studios, on devices including a long-anticipated TV, according to two people with knowledge of the negotiations… Apple is widely expected to unveil a full-fledged TV product later this year or in early 2013 to drive its next phase of growth and potentially revolutionize the industry.
According to the report, Apple’s attempts to acquire the content could run into trouble due to EPIX’s $200 million agreement with Netflix that gives the service streaming rights through September of this year.
In March, the New York Post reported Apple plans to launch a new TV streaming service in time for Christmas of this year, despite troubles signing up major content partners. The report claimed content providers had “largely balked” at Apple’s unwillingness to negotiate on pricing. It also stated Apple wanted content providers to offer their channels through iOS and Apple TV-like apps. Earlier reports from analysts indicated Apple could partner with its existing carrier partners, such as AT&T and Verizon, to take advantage of their programming for upcoming streaming services.
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[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3F22LtYYx6U]
There isn’t much here that you didn’t see yesterday but it is satisfying to see the MTA’s pride in the accomplishment, which may also be in response to concerns that Apple got a ‘sweetheart deal‘.
Update: Apple posted some choice shots to their gallery as well (below)
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Abdulfattah John Jandali – Steve Jobs’ Biological Father
In the tumult following Steve Jobs’ resignation, the New York Post and others (here’s a good one translated from Arabic) have been digging up interviews with Steve Jobs’ biological father, Abdulfattah John Jandali, who is a Syrian-born Vice President of a casino in Reno, Nevada. He’s an 80-year old workaholic who is trying to avoid retirement at all costs (sounds familiar).
The Syrian immigrant says he is overcome with guilt for his treatment of Jobs and only learned recently that the child he gave up for adoption was the famous CEO.
“This might sound strange, though, but I am not prepared, even if either of us was on our deathbeds, to pick up the phone to call him,” Jandali said.
“Steve will have to do that, as the Syrian pride in me does not want him ever to think I am after his fortune,” he said.
“Now I just live in hope that, before it is too late, he will reach out to me, because even to have just one coffee with him just once would make me a very happy man,” he said.
Jandali says although he was in love with his now ex-wife Joanne, her father was a tyrant and would not allow her to marry him since he was from Syria. Joanne then upped and moved to San Francisco to give birth to Jobs without her family or Jandali knowing.
“She did not want to bring shame onto the family and thought this was the best for everyone.”
It is a pretty emotional story overall. The short of it is that they’ve never talked and, although he has sent Jobs a few emails (haven’t we all?), he’s afraid to call Jobs. Because of this, he fears they never will communicate.
It was our natural inclination to see what this guy looked like but Google images didn’t return anything. Therefore, we decided to dig a little deeper.
Without trying to offend anyone, below are some more public pictures of Jobs’ biological father we found on the net. There is definitely a resemblance!
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The News Corp.-owned New York Post started blocking iPad readers who use Safari today. Instead of showing content on the iPad, it gives a link to the NYPost App with the following statement:
Thanks for coming! NYPOST.com editorial content is now only accessible on the iPad through the New York Post App. If you are a current New York Post App subscriber, please visit the App Store and download the latest version to access NYPOST.com through the INDEX. If you are not a current New York Post App user and would like to subscribe, please download from theApp Store. Thank you.
Subscriptions run $6.99 per month, $39.99 for six months or $79.99 for the year, with no option for single-issue digital purchases. News Corp also launched The Daily magazine earlier this year, the first Tablet-only daily magazine.
If the NYPost wasn’t total garbage anyway, I’d be upset. Hopefully the backlash from this move discourages others from copying this game plan.
Interestingly, Skyfire and Opera Mini still work (below).
