Lego Makes AR instantly Accessible

After a demo at WWDC earlier this year, LEGO launched the LEGO AR Playgrounds app for iPhone and iPad. 

The app uses ARKit to put digital LEGO characters into real-world environments and to interact with physical LEGO sets. It is a great way to introduce AR. A kid playing with the LEGO app can select various physical characters such as Ninjago Dragon Hunters and then interact with pre-selected sets in augmented reality. The two sets currently available that work well with AR include the LEGO Ninjago Dieselnaut (70654) and the Lego Ninjago Dragon's Pit (70655). 

ARKit enables multiple users so two people can play using the same playground. Two players can team up to battle against Dragon Hunters and figure out their attacks and how to win.

"Children today are mastering the art of finding new moments and forms of play and LEGO Playgrounds will provide a 'live' opportunity to test and learn directly with them. It's truly a unique way to engage with them in a fun and experimental way and bring them close to our innovation process. Having this direct-link to users creates a win for everybody – sharing the latest play experiences is great fun for children and highly useful for our LEGO design and development teams who can take their feedback and use it to make launch experiences even better and more engaging."

Augmented reality demo from Lego, Tech Crunch interview with Lego’s director of innovation, Martin Sanders about how they're building AR into the company strategy.

You can play up to five levels without a physical set. You will just nee a flat surface to play on. The app is free to use and free of ads, marketing messages and in-app purchases. To use the AR features, you will need at least an iPhone 6s with the latest iOS version. More information is available at Lego.

Apple Holds Talks with iHeartMedia for Possible Acquisition

The Financial Times reported earlier this month that Apple held talks with iHeartMedia, an American radio company, about investing in the radio company this year. iHeart Media has faced looming financial troubles and filed for bankruptcy, but nonetheless has remained the largest, most popular radio station owner in the country with over 850 FM and AM radio stations.

Image via iHeartRadio

While no deal has yet been formally announced, it appears that Apple may be considering different options such as buying a stake in the radio company and signing a marketing partnership to leverage iHeartMedia’s experience in traditional radio to help promote Apple Music and Beats to their established audience of 120 Million registered users. iHeartMedia has also actively embraced apps, with both Apple and Android versions available for smartphones, tablets, desktop computers, laptops, automotive displays and even Apple TV.

Image via iHeartRadio

Image via iHeartRadio

Image via iHeartRadio

Earlier this year, Apple acquired music recognition app Shazam for $400 million, to improve Apple Music’s recommendations and a few other smaller purchases by acquiring radio app Swell for $30 million and Semetric, a data analytics company that runs the Musicmetric tool for an undisclosed amount. Musicmetric was launched in 2008 to track data on sales, BitTorrent downloads and social networking statistics for their artists.

iHeartMedia went private via an $18 billion leveraged buyout before the financial crisis of 2008 at a time when millions of Americans still listened to old fashioned, land-based radio. While iHeartMedia made $3.6 billion in revenue last year, and stated that it reached over 270 million people a month on the radio and 100 million users via its streaming radio and music service, it still struggled with debt for a long time. The company paid $1.4 billion in interest last year. iHeartMedia also has had other interested investors such as John Malone’s Liberty Media that pulled their investment offers of over $1 billion after the company failed to meet their expectations.

As radio listeners increasingly turn to online options, iHeart Media could bridge the gap for Apple in reaching these audiences. This in turn could help Apple convert these audiences to Apple Music users. Apple Music’s user base has also grown each year, up to 56 million subscribers in November, a six million increase in subscribers just from May. Apple Music is now the largest music streaming service in use in the United States, surpassing Spotify. Spotify however has the largest number of subscribers worldwide at over 87 million subscribers worldwide for its service, and 191 million monthly active users as of November 2018.

Apple Taps Indie Studio A24, Known for Oscar Winner 'Moonlight', 'Lady Bird' and 'Ex-Machina'

Scene from Ex Machina (2015)

Multi-Year Agreement for Multiple Years

Apple has signed on independent studio A24 to produce films in a deal that is expected to be part of Apple's long-rumored video streaming service that may launch in 2019.

While few details of the deal have been shared publicly, Variety has proposed that the deal spans multiple films for multiple years. Whether these films will be available via streaming only or will also have a theater release are unknown. The financial terms of the agreement are unknown, but the partnership does not have an exclusivity agreement or ‘first-look agreement,’ meaning that studio A24 can remain independent and produce other content, meet existing deals in place with Direct TV and Amazon and act without restriction.

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Promotional image for Oscar-winning Moonlight (2016)

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A24: Young and Pioneering

Compared to older established studios, A24 is new as it was founded in 2012. However, the independent studio has made a name for itself with numerous successes. In the last three years, A24 has released numerous films that garnered Oscar nominations and surprisingly, more box office successes, competing head to head with well known, large Hollywood film companies. While A24 does not specialize like Disney’s high budget, elaborate worldwide productions or intellectual films by other independent or smaller studios, it has established its own niche of prestigious films loved by audiences and critics alike.

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A24 Is Raking in the Oscar Nominations

Moonlight won the Oscar for Best Picture in 2016. A surprising sleeper hit in 2017, Lady Bird won five Oscar nominations. Other acclaimed films include Ex Machina, The Disaster Artist, The Florida Project, It Comes at Night, The Witch and more in just the past three years alone. A24 has also partnered with major media companies for theatrical releases while remaining completely independent.

Lady Bird (2017)

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Apple Invests $1 Billion in Original Content and New Shows

For a while now, Apple has been rumored to be creating its own streaming video service, with the service expected to go live in 2019, using the Apple TV app and available in over 100 countries. Apple’s new service is expected to be family-friendly content. Several shows have already been lined up, including an untitled series based upon a morning show involving Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston, Defending Jacob, a story featuring Chris Evans and a revival of Time Bandits, the popular 1980s fantasy film by Terry Gilliam.

Image via Apple

The timing of the new agreement is interesting as large media consolidations are happening everywhere. AT&T got federal court approval to acquire Time Warner. Comcast attempted to win over 21st Century Fox with an all cash offer, but was bested by Disney who acquired Fox, becoming a 70 billion mega Hollywood company with a slew of known box-office hits. Streaming services will be competitive, as Disney now has its own Disney+ channel arriving in late 2019, as it severs its ties with Netflix and Amazon.