Month: March 2015

Austrian businessman, Werner Rydl was apprehended yesterday in the town of Varzea Grande, Brazil for attempting to board his plane with a 23-ounce gold bar.  This gold bar is referred to as a “good luck charm”, which Rydl has kept by his side throughout his travels worldwide.

Rydl’s lawyer states, “He’s travelled the world with this bar of gold and till now nothing had happened”

Brazilian authorities claim that it is not permitted to travel with that amount of gold without a receipt.  Customs requirements vary depending on where you travel.  Precautions like these are implemented to prevent criminal activity such as smuggling.  In the case of Rydl, I trust he won’t forget to bring the necessary documentation along with his gold bar next time he’s in Brazil.

Jay Z announced this morning that he will be unveiling his new music streaming service “Tidal”.   This service will stand alone as the only streaming music provider to offer high-res audio instead of compressed mp3 like rival providers such as Spotify.  This will of course come at a higher cost to the consumer, who will decide if the upgrade to higher quality vs. standard quality is worth the service fee. Tidal’s services start at $9.99 for a Premium subscription.  Membership will feature exclusive content and access to music & video.

In the past 3 years, Snapchat has grown from a simple photo/video sharing application aimed towards teenagers, into a multi-functional resource for communication,  live global events, and updates in world news.  Unlike Instagram & Facebook, pictures and videos are temporary, leaving a maximum of 10 seconds to be viewed.  The idea is, there doesn’t need to be a good reason to “snap” a picture/video, because it’s temporary.  This concept has people “snapping” nearly anything that occurs throughout their day, from a morning cup of coffee to a selfie among friends.

Snapchat’s most recent development is a feature called “Discover”.  With the discover option, users can view the latest trends within categories from various popular networks such as CNN, ESPN, National Geographic, etc.  The Discover feature will create a one stop shop for users to check the news, sports updates, upcoming events, and of course interact with friends and family through pictures/video.

 

Fans and shareholders of Nintendo products will be happy to hear that the popular gaming franchise has expanded into the mobile universe.  Devices such as smart phones and tablets will offer Nintendo brand games in the near future.  This announcement has caused a surge in Nintendo’s stock price a whopping 28% overnight.  Expect to see your favorite Nintendo apps available for your iOS & Android devices in the next few years.  What games are we most excited to see on our mobile devices?

 

Will Ferrel has played some memorable sport’s characters in his acting career;  A competitive boy’s soccer coach in “Kicking and Screaming”; basketball team owner, Jackie Moon in “Semi-Pro”;  Figure skater, Chazz Michael Michaels in “Blades of Glory”; and of course NASCAR driver, Ricky Bobby in “Talladega Nights”.

Ferrel’s most recent sports act took him into the realm of professional baseball, and not just one position, but EVERY position within ten teams… 

Within one day, Ferrel traveled to 5 different cactus league ballparks and suited up to play a few positions for each team.  These were only spring training games so Ferrel’s participation will not impact the teams in the regular season.  The event #Ferreltakesthefield was documented for an HBO special and dedicated to the fight against cancer.  All in all, a pretty classy move from Mr. Ferrel.

 

The clock is ticking… The dawn of the Apple Watch era is nearly upon us.  Apple is ready to enter its first model into the smart watch game, which has aroused speculation that is anything but certain.  How will it fare against other smart watches?  What will it introduce to make it a quintessential Apple product? And is it a concept that Apple can make soar as they have in the past with laptops, phones and tablets? – We are forced to sit in anticipation until the release of the product on April 24th.

This is a fresh young branch that has stemmed from Apple’s “tree” of technologies.  At this stage, we really don’t know how it will be implemented among other devices.   What will create the demand for this product?  Will it replace every watch I own? Will I be able to leave my iPhone at home when I wear it?  These are questions I look forward to asking on April 24th.