Also: Deutsche Telekom may merge Metro PCS and T-Mobile USA; the ‘lost’ Steve Jobs speech.
MoviePass debuts an unlimited movie service that may just save cinemas [VENTUREBEAT]
Here’s how it works: For a flat monthly fee (between $24.99 and $39.99, depending on where you live), MoviePass grants you access to one free movie ticket a day. To use the ticket, you simply need to head to a movie theater, check in using the MoviePass app on your iPhone, and then pay for the ticket with your MoviePass payment card. To the theater, it looks like you’re paying with a normal credit card, which means MoviePass will work at any cinema that accepts credit card payments.
Deutsche Telekom confirms talks to combine Metro PCS and T-Mobile USA [ALL THINGS D]
“Deutsche Telekom is holding talks with the listed company MetroPCS with the aim of operating its subsidiary T-Mobile USA and MetroPCS within one company in which Deutsche Telekom would hold the majority of shares,” the carrier said on its Web site. “The talks are at a stage where significant issues have not yet been finalized, contracts have not yet been signed and the conclusion of the transaction is still not certain.”
Where Facebook is looking to grow: COO Sheryl Sandberg [CNBC]
Sandberg acknowledged that the stock’s slide has not been great for employee morale, saying “obviously employees are disappointed that the stock price has gone down.” But she said that Facebook attracts employees who tend to be “mission focused,” so they’re continuing to focus on building social products.
Frog’s Mark Rolston: the ‘Minority Report’ interface is a ‘terrible idea’ [THE VERGE]
“But really, it’s a terrible idea. Few people are going to stand up and wave their arms around like that to operate a computer. In the movie, Tom Cruise is doing a lot of object selection, sorting, and editing. Those things work best with small hand movements. We require more motor control for that kind of work.”
The “lost” Steve Jobs speech from 1983; foreshadowing wireless networking, the iPad, and the App Store [LIFE, LIBERTY, AND TECHNOLOGY]
He states that in a few years people will be spending more time interacting with personal computers than with cars. It seems so obvious now, but hardly a given back then.
He equates society’s level of technology familiarity to being on a “first date” with personal computers. He recognized that technology would continue to evolve in the near future as would people’s comfort level with it. In hindsight, once it became dominant the PC industry stood relatively still while Jobs was busy planning “the next big thing”.
Rdio to pay musicians $10 for each new subscriber they attract [FAST COMPANY]
Artist Program, which launches today, will let participating artists turn to social media to share songs–which can be either their own tracks, or other artists’–with their fans online via trackable song links and embeddable music players. For each fan who becomes a subscriber, Rdio will pay the referring artist $10. Rdio will also provide artists with a dashboard that reflects real-time stats on where and how they’re getting fans to sign up for the service.
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