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AUG 07, 2015
19/
ANTASTIC FOUR
STELLAR
ADVENTURE
LATEST SUPERHERO FILM:
SERIES TO BE REBOOTED
FACEBOOK
READY
"BIGGER. BADDER. BIRDIER.'
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ONLINE VIEWERS WON'T MISS SUPER BOWL ADS SHOWN ON TV 16
YAHOO TRIES TO GET MORE FASHIONABLE WITH POLYVORE PURCHASE 38
APPLE SLUMP DEEPENS ON IPHONE, CHINA CONCERNS 42
NETFLIX TO MAKE ASIAN DEBUT WITH SEPT. 2LAUNCH IN JAPAN 68
MAKER OF HACKED RADIO SAYS SYSTEM IS UNIQUE TO FIAT CHRYSLER 90
SCIENCE: CHALLENGER, COLUMBIA WRECKAGE ON PUBLIC DISPLAY FOR 1ST TIME 94
HEALTH: TAX FILING PROBLEMS COULD JEOPARDIZE HEALTH LAW AID FOR 1.8M 104
TOYOTA ROBOT CAN PICK UP AFTER PEOPLE, HELP THE SICK 122
MICROSOFT SAYS 14 MILLION COMPUTERS oe:
FACEBOOK READYTO | “BIGGER. BADDER. BIRDIER.”
TEST GIANT DRONE FOR — BUT IS THIS ENOUGH FOR ANGRY BIRDS 2?
TOP 10 APPS 7
iTUNES REVIEW /
TOP 10SONGS 171
TOP 10 ALBUMS 7
TOP 10 MUSIC VIDEOS 1
TOP 10 BOO
= = a
FACEBOOK READY
TO TEST GIANT
DRONE FOR
INTERNET SERVICE
Facebook says it will begin test flights later this
year for a solar-powered drone with a wingspan
as big as a Boeing 737, in the next stage of its
campaign to deliver Internet connectivity to
remote parts of the world.
Engineers at the giant social network say they’ve
built a drone with a 140-foot wingspan that
weighs less than 1,000 pounds. Designed to fly
at high altitudes for up to three months, it will
use lasers to send Internet signals to stations on
the ground.
Though Facebook is better known for online
software that lets people share news with
friends, watch viral videos - and view commercial
advertising - engineers in a unit called the
Connectivity Lab are working on a different set
of problems.
For one thing, they are designing a laser
communications system they hope will be
accurate enough to hit a target the size of a
dime at a distance of 11 miles, said Yael Maguire,
director of the unit, which is responsible
for drones, satellites and other high-tech
communications projects.
“There’s a lot of moving parts here that have to
work in concert,” said Maguire, during a press
briefing at the company’s headquarters.
The project is part of a broader Facebook
effort that also contemplates using satellites
and other high-tech gear to deliver Internet
service to hundreds of millions of people living in
regions too remote for conventional broadband
networks.
Other tech companies have launched similar
initiatives. Google is experimenting with high-
altitude balloons as well as drones and satellites.
Microsoft has funded a project that will transmit
Internet signals over unused television airwaves.
rs
Facebook also has a separate but related
initiative that works with wireless carriers to
provide limited mobile Internet service at no
cost, in countries where residents are too poor
to afford traditional wireless plans.
But the company invited reporters Thursday
to hear an update on its effort to provide
service to about 10 percent of the world’s
population who live in regions where it’s not
practical or too expensive to build the usual
infrastructure for Internet service.
Facebook’s drone was developed in part
with engineering expertise that joined the
company when it acquired a British aerospace
startup, Ascenta, last year. Facebook
engineering vice president Jay Parikh said the
team created a design that uses rigid but light-
weight layers of carbon fiber, capable of flying
in the frosty cold temperatures found at high
altitudes, for an extended period of time.
10 |
The plan calls for using helium balloons to lift
each drone into the air, Parikh said. The drones
are designed to climb to 90,000 feet, safely
above commercial airliners and thunderstorms,
where they will fly in circles through the day. At
night, he said, they will settle to about 60,000
feet to conserve battery power.
Each drone will fly in a circle with a radius of
about 3 kilometers, which the engineers hope
will enable it to provide Internet service to an
area with a radius of about 50 kilometers.
For the plan to work, Facebook’s engineers are
also counting on a recent breakthrough they’ve
made in laser optics, which Maguire said would
allow them to transmit data at up to 10 gigabits
per second. That’s comparable to fiber networks
on the ground but about 10 times faster than
standard laser signals, he said.
Facebook is designing the drones to transmit
signals from one aircraft to another, so they
can relay signals across a broader area on the
ground, he added.
While Facebook has built and tested smaller
prototypes at a plant in the United Kingdom, it’s
looking at a site in the United States for testing
the full-sized drone, said Parikh, who declined to
be more specific.
Facebook hopes to share the technology with
telecommunications carriers and development
agencies, which it hopes will build and operate
the drone networks, Parikh said. “We’re not
going to operate this ourselves,” he added.
“We're focused on finding ways to drive the
industry to move faster.”
CEO Mark Zuckerberg has acknowledged
Facebook’s business will benefit in the long run
if more people gain Internet access, but he says
the effort isn’t driven by profit-seeking. Instead,
he has said it’s based on the conviction that
Internet service can bring a variety of economic
and social benefits to developing nations.
125|
MICROSOFT
SAYS 14 MILLION
COMPUTERS
NOW RUNNING
WINDOWS 10
Microsoft says its’ new Windows 10 operating
system is now running on more than 14 million
computers, two days after the software was
released as a free download.
That’s a far cry from the company’s goal of
getting Windows 10 onto a billion devices within
three years. Microsoft says it’s releasing the
software in waves to make sure downloads go
smoothly.
In a blog post late Thursday, Microsoft said it has
not yet delivered Windows 10 to everyone who
requested a free upgrade for computers running
older Windows versions. Microsoft says the 14
million includes some copies installed on new
computers sold in stores.
Reaction has been mostly favorable, with
reviewers calling the new Windows an
improvement over the last version, known as
Windows 8.
#windows10
RESEARCHERS WARN OF BOGUS EMAILS
OFFERING WINDOWS 10
Some hackers are exploiting Microsoft’s offer
of free upgrades to its new Windows 10
operating system.
Security researchers are warning about a
wave of bogus spam emails with malicious
attachments, labeled as if they’re legitimate
copies of the new program.
The attachments contain a “ransomware”
program that, when opened, locks all the
data on a computer and demands payment to
release them.
Researchers at Cisco Systems say the emails are
designed to look like an official upgrade notice
from Microsoft Corp., but several words have
random, out-of-place letters and punctuation.
Another important clue: Microsoft says its
update mechanism provides computer owners
with a notice on their screens - not via email -
when a direct Internet download is available.
Experts warn against clicking on files that come
with unsolicited emails.
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Next year, you won't have to worry about
missing the buzziest commercials of the Super
Bowl if you can’t get to a TV.
In the past, not all advertisers bought online
time along with a pricy 30-second spot during
the most-watched TV event of the year. That
meant online viewers had to go to a Super Bowl
ad repository, such as Hulu and YouTube, to
watch what they missed on TV. Broadcasters
sometimes ran substitute ads online instead.
This time, CBS says it’s making all advertisers buy
an online spot with their on-air time, so ads seen
during the online simulcast will be the same as
the ones on TV.
CBS is broadcasting the next Super Bowl, which
will be held in Santa Clara, California, on Feb. 7.
It’s not known whether this policy will continue
after that, as CBS rotates the broadcast with
Fox and NBC.
| 17
The Super Bowl is one of the rare times people
watch ads rather than avoid them, as marketers
try to reach more than 110 million Americans
at once with ads designed to shock or make us
laugh. During this year’s game, 30-second ads
were selling for $4.5 million. CBS is aiming to
increase that to $4.7 million, not including what
they can get for online playback. CBS wouldn’t
say how much it gets for online.
As with previous years, the online version will
have a slight delay because of the time it takes
for the broadcast signal to get converted into
computer bits and travel to your device. So
when you hear laughter or cheering in the next
room, you might want to check your phone,
tablet or laptop to watch it when the online
video catches up.
wy Apple
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The most sophisticated blockbuster i
since The Dark Knight Rises?) |<.
ANOTHER
PROMISING —
MARVEL (3
ADVENTURE
ON THE WAY >
WITH THE
22 |
24 |
One of life's near-certainties, it seems, is that
as long as there's a summer, there's a raft of
superhero films gathering plaudits left, right
and center. Surely enough, with us having only
just recovered from the thrills of Avengers:
Age of Ultron and Ant-Man, there's now yet
another promising comic book adaptation in
the form of the rebooted Fantastic Four. And,
after a few less-than-fantastic false starts, the
foursome could finally be getting the stellar
adventure that they have been waiting for.
A RATHER UNORTHODOX
CRIME-FIGHTING TEAM
Since their comic book debut in 1961, the
Fantastic Four have proven themselves
a somewhat unconventional superhero
team. Comprised of super-stretchy leader
Mr. Fantastic, sole female member Invisible
Woman, literally fiery Human Torch and
intimidating stony-fleshed Thing, the four
are prone to squabbles and yet maintain
effectiveness as team players to rival the
Avengers. They have yet, however, to match
the Avengers in big screen popularity - though
it hasn't been for want of trying...
THE FANTASTIC FOUR HAVE LONG
WAITED FOR A FANTASTIC MOVIE
Think of many of the enduring comic book
icons conceived in the twentieth century and
it likely won't be long before you can also
think of a classic movie franchise adapted
from each of them. With Superman, there's
the Christopher Reeve series of the late
25
and 1980s, while Batman was shed of his
previously established camp persona to
deliciously dark effect in the Tim Burton and
Christopher Nolan films. And then there are
the various Marvel stablemates, including
lron Man, Captain America and Thor, who
have much more recently been catapulted
from relative obscurity into mainstream
stardom on the back of excellent films.
For the Fantastic Four, however, the wait for
any comparable golden moment has been
long... too long. The very first live-action
Fantastic Four film, called The Fantastic
Four, was made in 1992, but only a small
number of very discerning Fantastic Four
fans and movie buffs have even seen it.
That's because it was never actually released
to theaters or on video; Stan Lee, the original
creator of the characters in the comic books,
said in 2005 that German producer Bernd
Eichinger had opted to quickly make the film
on a meager budget only in order to keep
the Fantastic Four film rights, the cast left
completely unaware during shooting.
Eichinger was, however, involved in the
production of the first big-budget live action
adventure for the quartet. This movie,
called simply Fantastic Four, was thankfully
brought to theaters in 2005, where it
amassed about $330,579,700 globally. The
cast, which included Jessica Alba as Sue
Storm and the future Captain America, Chris
Evans, as Johnny Storm, was certainly more
starry than its obscure predecessor's, but
this did not save the film from a disparaging
critical reception.
| 27
28 |
IT'S THAT WORD AGAIN: REBOOT!
That film's main cast and director, Tim Story,
returned for a sequel, Fantastic Four: Rise
of the Silver Surfer, two years later - but
another slew of less-than-positive reviews
was this time accompanied by a poorer
box office return for 20th Century Fox. It is
understandable, then, that the studio later
decided that a reboot of the franchise was
the step forward. Reboots of other comic
book movie franchises have differed in their
success, but there is good reason to believe
that the new Fantastic Four film could join
Batman Begins among the relatively few
reboots to have breathed whole new life into
a wilting cinematic series.
For a start, the studio appears to have chosen
the new director carefully. If casual comic
book fans are unlikely to recognize the name
of Josh Trank, dedicated film buffs certainly
should; he was responsible for 2012's science
fiction thriller Chronicle, which topped the
US box office upon its release and attracted
positive reviews. Renowned late critic
Roger Ebert remarked that it "grows into
an uncommonly entertaining movie that
involves elements of a superhero origin
story, a science-fiction fantasy and a drama
about a disturbed teenager".
There are worthy parallels to be drawn here
between Trank's emerging stature as a young
director and that of Christopher Nolan in the
early 2000s - when, as avid film buffs will
not need to be reminded, he was handed
the job of completely starting over with
the Batman franchise. The Dark Knight had,
30 |
metaphorically-speaking, sheepishly slinked
back to the Batcave following the disgrace of
one of the most famous flops in movie history,
Batman & Robin, in 1997. It had taken several
years for him to regather the confidence to
pull back on the cloak and return to Gotham's
streets - but when he did...
| 31
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A MORE GROUNDED APPROACH TO
THE FANTASTIC FOUR
If you reckon that we are brave to liken Trank
to the young Nolan at this early stage, we
should point out that we are far from merely
gleefully engaging in hyperbole. In its Critics
Consensus, the film review compilation
website Rotten Tomatoes could almost be
recalling contemporary attacks on Batman &
Robin when it deplores that The Rise of the
Silver Surfer is "a juvenile, simplistic picture
that has little benefit beyond its special
effects." With Batman Begins, Nolan had
firmly returned the focus to the bread-and-
butter of good filmmaking: good storytelling.
Signs abound that Trank has taken a similar
approach in retooling the Fantastic Four as a
cinematic property.
At the time that we write this, not a single top
critic has publicly had their say about the film.
This leaves us, for discerning what you should
expect from a movie that will be in theaters as
you read this, very reliant on the two teaser
trailers that the studio has so far released.
Even with these trailers, however, meaningful
insight into how the adventure will pan out
remains thin on the ground. The first trailer
is so sketchy that, following its release in
January, one Newsarama contributor, Zack
Smith, implied that it could pass as a trailer
for sci-fi epic Interstellar.
Z | 33
34 |
Nonetheless, most press reactions to this
trailer, including our own, are positive.
Anyone who watches it should be able to see
the merits of our Batman Begins comparisons;
that movie's director, incidentally, also
having been at the helm for Interstellar. The
cheesiness and reliance on special effects
that characterized the Tim Story efforts have
apparently been largely banished in favor of
greater focus on characterization and dialog
and an all-round brooding atmosphere.
Could we be about to see the most intelligent
blockbuster to arrive in theaters since Nolan
left the world of Batman behind?
A WHOLE NEW FRANCHISE WITH
WHOLE NEW STARS?
Should this Fantastic Four indeed prove a
classic to launch a whole new cinematic
superhero franchise, a whole new level of
stardom could be in store for the young
lead cast. Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans
and Chris Hemsworth all owe much of their
current stardom to their established roles
as, respectively, lron Man, Captain America
and Thor in brilliant Marvel blockbusters.
There is no obvious reason why Miles
Teller as Mr. Fantastic, Michael B. Jordan
as Human Torch, Kate Mara as Invisible
Woman and Jamie Bell as Thing could not
take their own treasured places in Marvel
history - provided, crucially, that the new
movie, and not just its leading characters,
can now authentically be called fantastic. m
by Benjamin Kerry & Gavin Lenaghan
Image: Ben Rothstein
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38 |
YAHOO TRIES
TO GET MORE
FASHIONABLE
WITH POLYVORE
PURCHASE
Yahoo is buying style-tip specialist Polyvore in
its latest attempt to become a more fashionable
place to advertise.
Financial terms of the deal announced Friday
aren't being disclosed, signaling the price of the
acquisition isn’t considered to be significant.
Polyvore is an 8-year-old startup that specializes
in connecting merchants with consumers
browsing for ideas on clothing, health, beauty
and home decor products. Good Housekeeping
magazine once dubbed the service a
“fashionista’s playground.”
| 39
40 |
Yahoo plans to tap into Polyvore’s taste-making
skills and loyal consumer following to sell more
ads in its digital magazines focusing on style and
beauty. The acquisition will join dozens of other
mostly small deals that have been engineered by
Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer during the past three
years in an attempt to boost advertising sales.
The results have been lackluster so far, barely
budging Yahoo’s revenue.
Earlier this week, Yahoo released a financial
forecast calling for little or no growth in its
revenue, after subtracting ad commissions,
during the current quarter that will end in
September.
The acquisition, which hasn’t closed yet, will
mark a homecoming for three of Polyvore’s co-
founders, Jianing Hu, Guangwei Yuan and Pasha
Sadri. They are all former Yahoo engineers.
Polyvore’s website will continue to operate after
the deal is completed, according to Yahoo.
APPLE SLUMP
DEEPENS ON
iPHONE, CHINA
CONCERNS
Apple is slumping as the usually high-flying
tech stock struggles with the burden of raised
expectations.
The world’s most valuable public company
saw its stock price drop for a fifth straight
day on Tuesday, falling as much as $5.19, or
4.4 percent, to $113.25 as investors fret over
China’s economy and whether Apple can keep
growing at the pace it’s maintained over the
last few quarters.
Apple shares closed Tuesday at $114.64 - down
14 percent since hitting a record $133.60 in
February. That puts Apple in a “correction,”
which is Wall Street jargon for price declines of
10 percent or more from a peak. The slide has
wiped out more than $96 billion in market value.
The stock also dropped below its 200-day
moving average, a technical indicator that
traders use to gauge momentum. And as a
sign of Apple’s outsized role in the market, its
| 43
decline Tuesday accounted for more than half
of the 47-point drop in the Dow Jones industrial
average for the day. Apple is also by far the
biggest component in the Standard & Poor’s
500, making up 3.6 percent of the index, which is
a benchmark for most mutual funds.
Apple sold more than 47 million of its signature
iPhones in the last quarter, or 35 percent more
than a year earlier. That drove the company’s
profit and earnings above Wall Street estimates.
But demand for the iPhone and Apple’s new
smartwatch still fell short of some analysts’
more bullish predictions, and executives gave
a forecast for the current period that was
also lower than some analysts expected. That
has sent the stock into a decline since Apple
reported earnings on July 21.
Shareholders are also worried about recent
hiccups in China’s economy, because the country
is viewed as one of Apple’s biggest markets for
expansion, said Daniel Ives, a managing director
and senior analyst for FBR Capital Markets.
He added that investors are looking ahead to the
December quarter, which is traditionally Apple’s
strongest. The company sold 74 million iPhones
during that period last year, a 46 percent jump.
But with a much larger volume to compare
against, it will be more difficult for Apple to show
that kind of year-over-year growth again.
But new products like Apple Pay and the
expected release of new iPhone models this fall
could give the company a boost, Ives said.
Apple’s current slump isn’t as severe as an
earlier slide that began almost three years ago,
in a period when investors worried that the
Cupertino, California, company had run out of
ideas to counter growing competition from other
smartphone and tablet makers. Apple shares fell
45 percent from a split-adjusted peak of $100.72
in September 2012 to a low of $55.01 in April
2013. By June of that year, however, the stock had
embarked on a steady climb upward again.
| 45
46 |
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48 |
On 30 July, Rovio Entertainment launched
Angry Birds 2, the first direct sequel to the
original Angry Birds - a puzzle game which
developed from what initially seemed an
amusing, if addictive, distraction into a
world-conquering cultural phenomenon,
encompassing not only games, but also
cartoons, foods and even theme parks.
However, since the franchise's peak of
popularity in 2012, more and more cracks
have been forming. With Angry Birds 2, has
Rovio Entertainment just - ahem - hatched
the remedy for a franchise in danger of
fading into irrelevance?
FROM TINY ACORNS... BLOB-SHAPED
CARTOON BIRDS GROW
All of this started with just one game: a
modest-looking puzzler called Angry Birds
released as a cheap iOS game, available in an
App Store that was then not yet two years
old, in December 2009. Its premise, when
introduced in an article like this so many years
later, still comes across as utterly crackers: the
player uses a slingshot to fire flightless birds at
pigs to stop them stealing eggs. These pesky
pigs use wooden, metal and glass houses as
their shields, but the player can tweak the
power and direction of their shots to wipe out
the structures.
Even back then, however, the idea wasn't
exactly world-shaking. In a review published
just two months after its release, IGN's Levi
Buchanan acknowledged its close similarity
to another mobile game, Crush the Castle,
but declared that "Angry Birds outstrips that
Image: Gary He
| 49
addictive puzzler in personality". He added
that, "thanks to precise controls, great puzzle
designs, and excellent atmosphere, Angry
Birds is outrageously addictive."
The rapid growth in the popularity of Angry
Birds soon after its earliest release led to the
kind of lucrative franchising that had long
seemed a practical possibility only for much
more firmly-established cultural properties
like Star Wars and Batman. This has only
been encouraged by the little blob-like avians
appearing in successive Angry Bird games -
some adhering to the original's gameplay,
others moving into genres including action,
racing and role-playing.
| 51
52 |
ANGRY BIRDS' SUCCESS IS ROVIO
ENTERTAINMENT'S SUCCESS
Given the staggering cultural reach, let alone
mere commercial success, of Angry Birds, it
could seem peculiar that it is only now that a
proper sequel to the original game has been
uncaged. However, it begins to make a lot
more sense when the general trajectory of
the franchise is studied more closely. As the
long term decline of Angry Birds threatens
to also undermine Rovio Entertainment, the
launch of the series' first direct sequel is a
serious statement of intent by the company
the future of which could be heavily reliant
on its success.
However precarious the company's
standing might currently be, however, it
has clearly built a huge prestige that could
help cushion it against any fall. Rovio
Entertainment began in very inconspicuous
circumstances in 2003 - when, under the
name Relude, its intentions were very much
those of simply a mobile games developer,
and a fledgling one at that. In fact, the
company, which changed its name to Rovio
Mobile in 2005, made over fifty games
before it finally turned its attention to the
game which would utterly dwarf the rest of
its portfolio in mainstream popularity and
commercial success: the original mobile
game of Angry Birds for iOS.
In July 2011, the company changed its name
again, this time to Rovio Entertainment.
This was a telling reflection of how much
the success of Angry Birds as a cultural
force, not merely a series of games, had led
the business to shift its overriding focus. In
June 2014, one of Rovio's most high profile
staffers, Peter Vesterbacka, insisted that
it was no longer just a games developer,
but instead now an entertainment and
education company - apparently driven by
the fact that merchandising and licensing
was responsible for about half of its 2013
revenue of $216 million.
FROM MORE GAMES, TO CARTOONS,
TO EVEN PARKS
It seems a good moment, then, to look more
closely at that merchandising and licensing.
Naturally, huge demand for the original
Angry Birds game made further Angry Birds
games an easy sell for Rovio. Perhaps due to
a desire to stick to what the company must
have then perceived as a winning formula,
many of the early Angry Birds follow-ups
did not actually stray from the first game's
fundamental mechanics. Instead, the big
changes were cosmetic, as Angry Birds Rio,
Angry Birds Star Wars and Angry Birds Star
Wars II tied in with popular films.
However, once a few years had passed and
the Angry Birds brand had become more
familiar, the situation must have seemed
ideal for branching out into other genres.
Hence, there was the arrival of another
tie-in, Angry Birds Transformers, which is a
side-scrolling shooter with the wonderful
catchphrase of "Birds Disguised as Robots in
Disguise". There was also Angry Birds Go!,
the wingless wonders’ answer to Mario Kart.
| 57
58 |
Given the birds' cute appeal, placing them in
their own animated adventures must have
seemed like a no-brainer. Surely enough,
such animated adventures, including Angry
Birds Toons and Angry Birds Stella, can be
watched through ToonsTV - the online video
network that Rovio launched in March 2013
and has proved yet another success for the
firm, having attracted 4 billion views by the
following year's end. These programmes have
obvious appeal for children, who can also
enjoy the official Angry Birds parks that have
opened in various places, including public
spaces in Finland and the British theme park
Lightwater Valley, which operates an Activity
Park with slides and touchscreen devices
running the game.
HOPES PLACED IN ANGRY BIRDS 2
AND A BIG MOVIE NEXT SUMMER
These all read like pleasing developments
for Rovio, but one serious dilemma that
has emerged particularly recently has
been that of the Angry Birds apparently
losing popularity - and, with it, revenue. In
September 2014, it was reported that the
number of monthly active players of Angry
Birds had fallen to 200m, from a cited peak
of 263m at the end of 2012. This was a
drop of 24% - and, in March, Rovio reported
that its revenues in 2014 totaled €158.3m,
compared to €173.5m the year before.
Much poorer sales of the Finnish company's
consumer products, which include Angry
Birds merchandise, were responsible for the
overall decline in revenue.
| 59
Still, the firm's recently-appointed CEO,
Pekka Rantala, has eyed the upcoming
Angry Birds feature film for new licensing
opportunities, reporting that it is "getting
very positive reactions from major retail and
license partners as well as from consumer
focus groups". As this movie, which will
count Jason Sudeikis, Josh Gad and Peter
Dinklage among its cast, will not be arriving
in theaters until May 2016, it seems too early
to judge how well it will likely be received by
the public and critics.
Regardless of its quality, however, it could
gain a valuable boost in attention should
Angry Birds 2 take off in the time before the
movie's release. The chances of that look
promising; at the time that we type these
words, the game is topping the chart for free
iOS games, and has already amassed almost
4,000 ratings just a few days after launching.
The game's average rating, by the way, stands
at four stars out of five. How much new life
this game will breathe into the Angry Birds
brand remains to be seen. However, it's safe
to say that, pending a great reception for that
film, however Rovio Entertainment feel about
the performance of their impressively diverse
Angry Birds portfolio as a whole this time next
year, it is unlikely to be angry. m
by Benjamin Kerry & Gavin Lenaghan
| 61
AT&T, AS NEW
OWNER OF
DIRECTV, OFFERS
TV-WIRELESS
DISCOUNT
AT&T customers will save $10 a month and get a
single bill for their TV and wireless services under
a new package the company is offering after its
$48.5 billion purchase of satellite TV company
DirecTV 10 days ago.
Under the new package, customers will get a
single number to call for customer service. And
employees at AT&T stores will be able to set up
customers’ phones so they can start watching
TV through apps right away, even before service
is installed in the living room. But the content on
phones - a subset of what’s available on regular
TVs - won't differ from what DirecTV customers
have already been able to get on their apps.
The changes aren’t huge, given that AT&T and
DirecTV already had deals as separate companies
to sell each other’s services. But Monday’s
announcement is “the first step of what’s to
come,” said Brad Bentley, AT&T’s chief marketing
officer for entertainment and Internet services.
| 63
64 |
All
Movies
Kids & Family
Music
TV Series
High-Def
Sports
Interests
Adults Only
_ Browse by Chan
Roger Entner, an analyst at Recon Analytics,
said TV as a stand-alone business is dead, as
consumers see TV as part of their overall media
and telecommunications experience. So far,
AT&T is the only company able to provide both
mobile and TV services. Rivals are limited to
partnerships, which Entner said don’t work as
well for consumers and the companies.
“It’s a beginning, but an important beginning,”
Entner said of the new package.
Moody’s analyst Mark Stodden said the
package “is a good first step but not the type
of innovative product offer that the company
DIRECTV On Demand needs to differentiate its services.” Without
Over 10,000 Movies and Show offering new capabilities, such as unique content
Demand from DirecTV, AT&T will have to keep prices low
because of intense competition, Stodden said.
“The question remains as to whether AT&T can
deliver this product innovation and how long it
will take to bring that to the market at scale,”
Stodden said.
Bentley said more service integration is coming,
but he wouldn't provide details.
Other than the $10-a-month discount, the
promised savings aren’t unusual.
At AT&T, TV services will cost $50 to $125 a
month for the first 12 months, after which
regular prices take effect. AT&T says that’s a
savings of roughly $35 a month. But traditional
TV providers already offer these types of
promotions for the first year or two.
Wireless companies also have been offering
all sorts of deals to lure customers from rival
carriers. AT&T is offering $100 for each line
switched from a rival, plus a $200 credit per line
for trading in an old phone.
In the wireless industry, deals have become
routine as carriers fight for each other’s
customers, given that most Americans already
have cellphones. Just last week, T-Mobile said
| 65
customers will keep the $15 monthly price for
leasing an iPhone 6 and $19 for a 6 Plus if Apple
releases new models, possibly in September.
Sprint announced a family plan offering four lines
with 10 gigabytes of data to share for $20 less
than what it charges for 1 gigabyte.
AT&I’s offer starts Aug. 10, and customers can
choose any level of TV and wireless service to
qualify for the $10 discount. The company also
is extending the offer to customers of U-Verse,
which is the traditional TV service AT&T delivers
over wired lines in 21 states. Specific channels
will differ, though, and a package of football
games called Sunday Ticket will be available on
DirecTV only because of the nature of DirecTV’s
deals with the NFL.
66 |
68 |
NETFLIX TO MAKE
ASIAN DEBUT WITH
SEPT. 2 LAUNCH IN
JAPAN
Netflix will expand into Japan next month to give
the Internet video service its first presence in Asia.
Japanese subscribers will be able to start
watching Netflix on Internet-connected devices
beginning Sept. 2.
Netflix already sells its services in dozens of other
countries outside the U.S. as part of its ambition
to be available throughout the world by the end
of next year.
The costs of the international expansion have
been holding down Netflix’s profits, but investors
haven’t minded because the company has been
quickly winning over new customers. Netflix
now has about 65 million subscribers, more than
twice as many as it had three years ago.
Netflix’s stock surged to a new high of $122.79
during Tuesday’s trading and has more than
doubled so far this year.
#01 — Facebook Messenger
By Facebook, Inc.
Category: Social Networking
Requires iOS 7.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
This app is optimized for iPhone 5, iPhone 6, and iPhone 6 Plus.
#02 - SpongeBob Moves In
By Nickelodeon
Category: Games
Requires iOS 5.1.1 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
This app is optimized for iPhone 5, iPhone 6, and iPhone 6 Plus.
#03 - Facebook
By Facebook, Inc.
Category: Social Networking
Requires iOS 7.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
This app is optimized for iPhone 5, iPhone 6, and iPhone 6 Plus.
#04 - Instagram
By Instagram, Inc.
Category: Photo & Video
Requires iOS 6.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
This app is optimized for iPhone 5, iPhone 6, and iPhone 6 Plus.
#05 - YouTube
By Google, Inc.
> | Category: Photo & Video
Requires iOS 6.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
iS e 5 This app is optimized for iPhone 5.
#08 - Agar.io
By Miniclip.com
Category: Games
Requires iOS 6.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
This app is optimized for iPhone 5, iPhone 6, and iPhone 6 Plus.
#10 — musical.ly
By Jun Zhu
. : 4
Category: Photo & Video
| Requires iOS 7.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
This app is optimized for iPhone 5
70 |
#01 - OS X Yosemite
By Apple
Category: Utilities
SX 10.6.8 or later
ooVoo Video Call, Text and Voice
By o0Voo LLC
Category: Social Networking
Compatibility: OS X 10,7 or later, 64-bit processor
mee
72 |
#01 — Minecraft - Pocket Edition
By Mojang
Category: Games / Price: $6.99
Requires iOS 5.1.1 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
This app is optimized for iPhone 5.
#02 - Heads Up!
By Warner Bros.
Category: Games / Price: $0.99
Requires iOS 6.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
This app is optimized for iPhone 5.
#03 - Goat Simulator
By Coffee Stain Studios
Category: Games / Price: $0.99
Requires iOS 6.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
This app is optimized for iPhone 5.
#04 - Facetune
By Lightricks Ltd.
Category: Photo & Video / Price: $3.99
Requires iOS 6.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPhone 5c,
iPhone 5s, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPad, and iPod touch. This app is optimized for iPhone 5,
iPhone 6, and iPhone 6 Plus.
#05 — Mods for Minecraft Pocket Edition
By JK2Designs LLC
Category: Entertainment / Price: $1.99
Requires iOS 6.1 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
This app is optimized for iPhone 5.
07 - Plague Inc.
By Ndemic Creations
Category: Games / Price: $0.99
Requires iOS 4.3 or later. Compatible with i
This app is optimized for iPhone 5.
#08 - Afterlight
By Afterlight Collective, Inc
Category: Photo & Video / Price: $0.99
Requires iOS 6.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
This app is optimized for iPhone 5, iPhone 6, and iPhone 6 Plus.
#09 - THE GAME OF LIFE Classic Edition
By Electronic Arts
Category: Games / Price: $0.99
Requires iOS 5.1.1 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
This app is optimized for iPhone 5.
#10 - Akinator the Genie
By Elokence
Category: Entertainment / Price: $1.99
Requires iOS 7.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
This app is optimized for iPhone 5.
#05 — Final Cut Pro
By Apple
Category: Video / Price: $299.99
Compatibility: OS X 10.10.2 or later, 64-bit processor
#06 — Logic Pro X
By Apple
Category: Music / Price: $199.99
Compatibility: OS X 10.8.4 or later, 64-bit processor
- The Sims™ 2: Super Collection
#08 — OS X Serve
By Apple
Category: Utilities / Price: $19.99
Compatibility: OS X 10.9.5 or later
#09 - BetterSnapTool
By Andreas Hegenberg Vx
Category: Productivity / Price: $1.99
Compatibility: OS X 10.6 or later, 64-bit processor 5 ee AN ‘ ug ds
#10 — FaceTime
By Apple
Category: Social Networking / Price: $0.99
Compatibility: OS X 10.6.6 or later
Pe erremrtr errr)
&
‘ite
mentary
8, The LEGO Group has made
) billion bricks - and, in that
Ss grown considerably
It has also been used
riety of unorthodox
eman narrates this playful
ich looks at Adult Fans of
is being put to educational
and therapeutic uses, and much more.
[ ne ) FIVE FACTS:
4 4 1. This feature was released in theaters and on
iTunes on the same day: July 31, 2015.
by Ries Dawidsmn & “2. The narrator is an animated Lego
Daniel Junge ° cae E
Genre: Kids & Family minifigure voiced by Jason Bateman.
Released: 2015
Price: $14.99 3. Adult Fans of LEGO have become
commonly referred to as AFOLs.
4. The original title was Beyond the Brick: A
Lego Brickumentary.
5. Co-director Daniel Junge has responded to
y complaints about the film's uncritical stance
towards the little plastic bricks by pointing out
= that “Lego had no editorial control over the
film” and so “the love that you see in the film is
coming from us as filmmakers.’
Rotten Tomatoes
@ 53:
See more in
iTunes
175
Director Interviews
76 |
77
Hot Pursuit
Straight-laced San Antonio Police Department
officer Rose Cooper (Reese Witherspoon) is
endeavoring to keep safe Daniella Riva (Sofia
Vergara), drug boss Filipe Riva’s (Vincent
Laresca) alluring and outgoing widow. The
two women are on the run through Texas,
while crooked cops and violent gunmen
remain in - yes - hot pursuit. What will the
fle O ‘grasp?
FIVE FACTS:
1. The movie has attracted widespread
derision from critics; the Critics Consensus on
Rotten Tomatoes reads:“Shrill and unfunny,
Hot Pursuit bungles what should have been
an easy opportunity to showcase Reese
Witherspoon and Sofia Vergara's likable odd-
couple chemistry.’
2. Rob Kazinsky, who plays Randy in this film,
had been set to play Fili in Peter Jackson's
The Hobbit trilogy, but dropped out “for
personal reasons’, according to Jackson.
ij
3. A particularly revealing blunder for Apple
fans is that, when Daniella’s iPhone is run over
and its screen becomes detached early in the
film, the home screen remains showing. A
genuine iPhone's screen would actually
have gone black upon incurring damage.
4. Remarkably, this film's US release date came
exactly 28 years after that of the 1987
John Cusack movie of the same name.
5. The original title was Don’t Mess with
Texas - and this title can still be seen in the
URL of Hot Pursuit’s page on Rotten Tomatoes.
78 |
nN
y)
T
S| Tomatoes
mo OS»,
Trailer
Interviews with Reese Witherspoon,
Sofia Vergara and Anne Fletcher
Oc
Genre: Alternative
Released: Jul 31, 2015
11 Songs
4
Price: $9.99
el
9 Ratings
Marks to Prove It
Marks to Prove It
The Maccabees
This is the long-awaited new studio
album from the British indie rock band
The Maccabees. The band received little
exposure with their very first single, “X-Ray’,
back in 2005 - but, since then, have amassed
more fans and acclaim through positive
word of mouth. Their last studio compilation,
2012's Given to the Wild, was even Mercury
Prize-nominated and certified gold in their
native UK.
FIVE FACTS:
1. This is The Maccabees’ fourth studio
album.
2. The band members grew up in London,
where the band itself was formed in 2004.
3. The Maccabees decided on their band
name by flicking through a copy of the
Bible and choosing a word in it largely at
random.
4. The band started working on this album
as early as the start of 2013.
5. Explaining in January 2014 why progress
on the album had been slow, guitarist Felix
White said: “We've got a lot of songs but
every time you write something new, it raises
the standard”
See more in
iTunes
| 83
84
86 |
Simply Eva
Eva Cassidy
The American vocalist and guitarist has
become popular for her interpretations of
musical classics in various genres, including
jazz, gospel and country. Tragically, however,
she had little fame outside her native
Washington, D.C. before her death in 1996.
Simply Eva has just been released on iTunes
and is great listening for people who want to
hear Cassidy's guitar-playing in an acoustic
environment.
FIVE FACTS:
1. Cassidy was born on February 2, 1963 in
Washington, D.C.
2. She was given a guitar by her father,
who also taught her how to play chords,
when she was nine years old.
3. She died of melanoma, the deadliest form
of skin cancer, in Bowie, Maryland, aged 33
on November 2, 1996.
4. Honors that Cassidy received during her
short lifetime included three“Wammies”
from the Washington Area Music
Association.
5. Anglo-Georgian singer Katie Melua’s
first album, Call Off the Search, includes
a song called “Faraway Voice” that pays
tribute to Cassidy.
—
iTunes Preview |
J LAly)
Genre: Pop
Released: Jul 31, 2015
12 Songs
Price: $9.99
eB
We have not received enough
ratings to display an average for
this album.
Songbird
89
Over the Rainbow
j=)
(op)
MAKER OF HACKED
: RADIO SAYS
SYSTEM IS UNIQUE
TO FIAT CHRYSLER
J > PO
- =
lndindnn ei)
«.%, +4
The company that makes car radios that
friendly hackers exploited to take control of
a Jeep Cherokee says its other infotainment
systems don’t have the same security flaw.
Harman International CEO Dinesh Paliwal
said Tuesday that the hackers used a cellular
connection to get to the radio, which they
used to control critical functions such as
brakes and steering.
The hack by Twitter security expert Charlie
Miller and Chris Valasek, who heads auto
security for a consulting firm, touched off
the recall of 1.4 million vehicles from Fiat
Chrysler to patch software holes. On Saturday,
the government announced that it would
investigate the Harman Kardon radios to see
which other manufacturers use them and
whether they had the same vulnerabilities.
The hackers, who informed Fiat Chrysler of
their findings, were able to control the Jeep
remotely with a laptop computer, sending
the auto industry scrambling to make sure
its systems are secure. They were to release
specifics about their attack at a hackers’
conference in Las Vegas this week.
| 91
92 |
But Paliwal said the radio system that was
hacked, with an 8.4-inch touch screen, was
developed about five years ago and doesn’t
have as many security safeguards as current
models. “We believe based on our assessment
with all other customers we supply our system
to that the Chrysler system is the only one
exposed to this particular experimental hack,”
Paliwal said on the company’s fiscal fourth-
quarter earnings conference call. “So it’s a
unique situation.”
The hackers, he said, were able to get from
cellular connection into the radio and then to
a network that handles commands for critical
functions. “Once you go through an open port
in a network, it’s like leaving a door open ina
secure house,” he said. “Once you get in, then
you can mimic as if you are one of the authorized
messengers, you start to send messages.”
Miller and Valasek released some of their
findings last week, but Paliwal said Harman
was told about the hack late last year and
worked with Fiat Chrysler on a software fix. He
also said Harman engineers are cooperating
with the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration investigation.
NHTSA said it is investigating about 2.8 million
Harman radios. “If sufficient similarities exist,
the investigation will examine if there is cause
for concern that security issues exist in other
Harman Kardon products,” the agency wrote.
The vulnerability was exposed last week in
a Wired magazine story. Fiat Chrysler said it
sealed off a loophole in its internal cellular
telephone network with vehicles to prevent
similar attacks. Owners will be sent a USB drive
that they can plug in and fix the software issue.
Harman International Industries Inc., which
makes infotainment systems and designs
software, on Tuesday reported earnings of
$100 million, or $1.37 per share, during its fiscal
fourth quarter, up 14 percent from a year ago.
CHALLENGER,
COLUMBIA
WRECKAG
-_
- ON
PUBLIC DISPLAY
p@eeio! TIME
195
96 |
NASA is offering up wreckage from the
Challenger and Columbia for public view after
hiding it from the world for decades.
Anew exhibit at Kennedy Space Center
features two pieces of debris, one from each
lost shuttle, as well as poignant, personal
reminders of the 14 astronauts killed in flight.
It is an unprecedented collection of artifacts
- the first time, in fact, that any Challenger
or Columbia remains have been openly
displayed.
NASA's intent is to show how the astronauts
lived, rather than how they died. As such,
there are no pictures in the “Forever
Remembered” exhibit of Challenger breaking
apart in the Florida sky nearly 30 years ago
or Columbia debris raining down on Texas 12
years ago.
Since the tragic re-entry, Columbia’s scorched
remains have been stashed in off-limits
offices at the space center. But NASA had
to pry open the underground tomb housing
Challenger’s pieces - a pair of abandoned
missile silos at neighboring Cape Canaveral
Air Force Station - to retrieve the section of
fuselage now on display.
The exhumation was conducted in secrecy.
Everything about the exhibit, in fact, was kept
hush-hush during the four years it took to
complete the project, out of respect to the
dead astronauts’ families.
June Scobee Rodgers had never seen an actual
remnant of her husband’s destroyed shuttle,
Challenger, until previewing the exhibit just
before its low-key opening at the end of June.
Displayed in a dimly lit room: a 12-foot section
of the left side body panel of Challenger,
standing vertically and bearing the gouged and
scraped but still brilliantly colorful U.S. flag,
and the charred frames for Columbia’s cockpit
windows, seemingly floating at eye level.
ty
| 97
98 |
“Sad, yes,” to see the wreckage but it is
“a wonderful memorial” to the shuttles,
Scobee Rodgers said. The items representing
the astronauts, on the other hand, are a
“truly fitting” reminder of who they were as
individuals.
Challenger commander Francis “Dick”
Scobee’s display case, on the left side of the
exhibit’s main corridor, contains the leather
helmet from the Starduster biplane he and
June used to fly, and his blue “TFNG” T-shirt
from the Astronaut Class of 1978, nicknamed
the Thirty-Five New Guys.
Across the hall on the right are Columbia
commander Rick Husband’s scuffed cowboy
boots and well-worn Bible opened to
Proverbs. There’s a display case for each
astronaut, filled with personal items, although
not all families contributed, including
schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe’s.
“Forever Remembered” is a permanent
exhibit, part of a larger display centered on
the retired space shuttle Atlantis. NASA opted
to keep Atlantis at Kennedy, the shuttle launch
site, after Atlantis closed the program with the
final mission in 2011.
The entrance to the new exhibit is directly
beneath the nose of Atlantis, which is
suspended with its payload bay doors wide
open as though perpetually orbiting Earth.
One recent afternoon in July, tourists filled the
predominantly blue hallway, pausing in front
of the astronaut display cases. One woman
wondered aloud which shuttle burned up
and which one blew up. A few young children
scampered about, their parents shushing them
given the solemnity of the place.
A few weeks after visiting the exhibit, Scobee
Rodgers noted in a phone interview that much
of the world’s population wasn’t even born yet
when Challenger went down in 1986.
| 99
100|
“It’s mostly history for the general public. It’s
very personal for us,” she said.
Amber DiSalvatore - an Apopka, Florida,
resident touring the space center with her
husband and two children - was 4 years old
at the time of Challenger. Seeing the actual
wreckage - along with Husband’s Bible -
brought tears to her eyes.
The astronauts sacrificed their lives for
exploration, said DiSalvatore, “so it’s
something that everybody - every human
being - should know.”
In the aftermath of the Feb. 1, 2003, Columbia
accident, NASA meticulously stored the 42
tons of debris in Kennedy’s iconic Vehicle
Assembly Building and made them available
for research. The space agency displayed a
remnant or two of Columbia in a restricted
area of the space center and, for the fifth
anniversary, organized a traveling in-house
exhibit. The relics were intended as safety
reminders for the workforce. The three
surviving shuttles - Discovery, Atlantis and
Endeavour, Challenger’s replacement - still
were flying then.
After Challenger’s accident, NASA wanted
it out of sight and out of mind. The Jan. 28,
1986, launch disaster unfolded on live TV
before countless schoolchildren eager to see
an everyday teacher rocketing toward space.
And so Challenger’s wreckage - all 118 tons of
it, salvaged from the Atlantic - was buried in
the pair of former missile silos, 90 feet deep.
The chamber containing this particular
fuselage section, in fact, had never been
opened - until the “Forever Remembered”
exhibit began to take shape.
Determined to avoid any hint of
commercialism or sensationalism, NASA took
charge of the memorial effort at the visitor
complex, which is run by an outside company.
1101
102|
The job fell to Michael Ciannilli, a shuttle engineer
and test director who had become responsible for
the Challenger and Columbia debris.
“Our biggest concern the whole time was doing
the right thing,” Ciannilli said. “Is this the right
time? Is this the right thing?”
As the conversations unfolded over the months
then years, Ciannilli entered the underground
storage silos to find the proper display piece to
represent Challenger.
“| was hoping to find something that would
show the beauty of Challenger, the dignity of
Challenger, the strength of Challenger, and these
are words | don’t use lightly,” Ciannilli said.
The 12-foot section of fuselage with the flag
fit the bill. For Columbia, he chose the cockpit
window frames. He said it’s like gazing into the
eyes of Columbia and thus its soul.
Ciannilli tapped the same preservation
company that had worked on the Titanic, for
the Challenger and Columbia relics. He sought
out soothing, uplifting music for the exhibit.
And, yes, he deliberately kept out real-time
scenes of the shuttles disintegrating.
“There’s more to this story” than those awful
final moments, he said. “Great pains were
taken not to have anything sensationalized or
exploited.”
Above all else, Ciannilli wanted the end result to
be respectful.
“| can’t stop thinking about it,” Evelyn
Husband-Thompson, the widow of Columbia’s
commander, confided in a NASA interview.
“As you walk in, you know that you’re in a
special place.”
Online:
Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex:
https://www.kennedyspacecenter.com/
103
104|
TAX FIL
PRL
COULD
JEOPARDIZE
HEALTH LAW
NG
EMS
AID FOR 1.8M
106|
About 1.8 million households that got
financial help for health insurance under
President Barack Obama’s law now have
issues with their tax returns that could
jeopardize their subsidies next year.
Administration officials say those taxpayers
will have to act quickly.
“There’s still time, but people need
to take action soon,” said Lori Lodes,
communications director for the Centers for
Medicare and Medicaid Services, which runs
HealthCare.gov.
The health care law provides tax credits
to help people afford private insurance.
Nationally, that aid averages $272 a month,
covering roughly three-fourths of the
premium. By funneling the aid through the
income tax system, Democrats were able to
call the overhaul the largest middle-class tax
cut for health care in history. But they also
spliced together two really complicated areas
for consumers: health insurance and taxes.
Confusion has been the result for many.
Consumers who got health care tax
credits are required to file tax returns that
properly account for them, even if they are
unaccustomed to filing because their incomes
are low. Unless they follow through, “they
will not be able to receive tax credits to help
lower the cost of their health insurance for
2016,” Lodes explained.
Treasury officials said 1.8 million households
are at risk of losing subsidies for next year,
and that number breaks down as follows:
-About 710,000 households that have
not filed a 2014 tax return, although they
were legally required to account for health
insurance tax credits that they received.
-Some 360,000 households that got tax
credits and requested an extension to file
their returns. They have until Oct. 15.
-About 760,000 households that got tax
credits and filed their tax returns omitted a
new form that is the key to accounting for the
subsidies. Called Form 8962, it was new for
this year’s tax filing season.
“| think it was definitely confusing for \ apr
people,” said Elizabeth Colvin of Foundation Health ; ©
Communities, an Austin, Texas, nonprofit
that helps low-income people with health
insurance and taxes. “It could have been
worse, quite honestly. | think a lot of tax
preparers didn’t know how to do these
(forms) either.”
The 1.8 million households with tax Welcome to t
issues represent 40 percent of 4.5 million
households that had tax credits provided on
their behalf and must account for them. The Marketplace
rest had their returns successfully processed
by the IRS as of the end of May. Earlier this
summer, a Supreme Court decision preserved
health care tax credits for consumers in all
The Health Insurance Marketp
is open! Enroll now in a plant
50 states, turning back a challenge from
conservatives opposed to “Obamacare.” covers essential benefits,
Because of the law’s built-in complexity, some pre-existing conditions, and m
of those consumers may now be at risk of
Plus, i i
losing their assistance. » See if you qualify for lower costs.
Administration officials say they’re working
hard to prevent that. An estimated 16 million
people have gained health insurance since
HealthCare.gov opened for business in late
2013, and the White House does not want
any slippage.
The IRS has started reaching out to consumers CHOOSE YOUR STATE AND
with tax issues. HealthCare.gov is reporting .
an increase in tax-related calls to its consumer WE LL TELL YOU YOUR
assistance center. That telephone number
is 1-800-318-2596. The Health and Human NEXT STEPS
Services department plans another outreach
campaign in the fall, coordinated with the
start of the 2016 sign-up season on Nov. 1.
“What the IRS is doing here is sending these
people a not-so-gentle reminder that they
108|
Get Insurance
Small Business O
4 _ 1 | - amilies
i
, pin SSS
FZ “-
need to file or they will put their subsidy at
risk,” said Mark Ciaramitaro, vice president
for tax and health care at H&R Block, the
tax preparation company. He cautioned
that many consumers will find the process
cumbersome, so they should waste no time
getting started.
Despite a thinning out of taxpayer services
due to budget cuts, IRS Commissioner John
Koskinen says the tax-filing season went
relatively smoothly, even with the health care
law added. Nonetheless, he acknowledged
that there’s a learning curve for everybody on
health care.
“This is the first year for this new provision,”
Koskinen wrote in a letter to lawmakers
last month. “We expect that taxpayers will
continue to better understand this process as
it becomes more routine.”
The administration and the health law’s
supporters could be doing a better job
educating consumers, said Judy Solomon of
the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities,
which advocates for low-income people.
“There is definitely room for improvement to
make sure people understand how it works,”
she said. “They are getting an advance
payment of a tax credit, and to finish the
process they need to file a tax return. They
have to look at it
as a process that is a year long and has
multiple steps.”
Online:
HealthCare.gov: https://www.healthcare.gov/
taxes/marketplace-health-plan/
111
SONGS
CAN'T FEEL MY FACE
THE WeEKND
CHEERLEADER
(FELIX JAEHN REMIX RADIO EDIT)
Om:
WATCH ME (WHIP/NAE NAE)
SWLENTO
FIGHT SONG
RACHEL PLATTEN
GOOD FOR YOU (FEAT. ASAP ROCKY)
SELENA GOMEZ
LEAN ON (FEAT. MO & DJ SNAKE)
Musor Lazer
HONEY, I'M GOOD.
Awnpy GRAMMER
SHUT UP AND DANCE
WALK THE MOO
KICK THE DUST UP
Luxe BRYAN
WHERE ARE U NOW (WITH JUSTIN BIEBER)
SKRILLEX & DIPLO
1113
WOMAN
Jit Scorr
1989
TayLor SWIFT
NOTANAPOLOGY
Bea Miter
KILL THE LIGHTS
Luxe BRYAN
MONTEVALLO
Sam Hunt
BLURRYFACE
TWENTY ONE PILOTS
THE BLADE
AsHLey Monroe
COVERED: ALIVE IN ASIA (DELUXE VERSION)
Israel. & New BREED
X (DELUXE EDITION)
Eb SHEERAN
KILL THE FLAW
SEVENDUST
(115
TVSHOWS
MEETING CAIT
/Am Carr, SEASON 7
ALONE AND UNAFRAID
THe Last Sip, SEASON 2
FORT DEFIANCE
THE STRAIN, SEASON 2
EPISODE 5
HUMANS
TOE TO TOE
Suits, SEASON 5
NON-ESSENTIAL PERSONNEL
FALLING SkiES, SEASON 5
MEI MEI
Heut On Wueets, SEASON 5
OBROTHER, WHERE ART THOU
Pretty Lirrte Liars, SEASON 6
EPS1.4_3XPLOITS.WMV
Mr. Rosor, SEASON 7
ARICKLE IN TIME
Rick AND Morty, SEASON 2
/119
GREY
EL James
PAPER TOWNS
JOHN GREEN
THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN
Pauta HAWKINS
GO SETA WATCHMAN
Harper Lee
THRILL ME
Susan MALLERY
CIRCLING THE SUN
Pauta McLain
BADLANDS
C.J Box
CODE OF CONDUCT
Brab THOR
LUCKIEST GIRL ALIVE
Jessica KNOLL
NEW ENGLAND SOUP FACTORY COOKBOOK
Marzorié DRUKER & CLARA SILVERSTEIN
|121
TOYOTA ROBOT
CAN PICK UP
AFTER PEOPLE,
HELP THE SICK
Toyota’s new robot that glides around like R2-D2
is devoted to a single task: picking things up.
HSR, short for “human support robot,” comes
with a single mechanical arm that can grasp
objects of various shapes and sizes and also pick
up smaller items with a tiny suction cup.
It doesn’t have other tricks in its repertoire,
except for a computer panel on its head for
surfing the Internet. A person can also access the
robot from another computer and use it like a
camera-phone.
Kouichi Ikeda, its engineer, is serious about
using it to help around regular homes. First
people with disabilities, and then for the elderly
in general. Picking up is especially challenging
123
124|
for people with spinal disorders and other
ailments that hamper the ability to stoop down
and grab, he said.
“Although it can only do one simple task of
picking up, it’s already making disabled people
quite happy. We're just getting stated, but
eventually we want it to enter people’s homes,”
Ikeda said at an exhibition of health care
technology in Yokohama, southwest of Tokyo.
Nearly 40 percent of Japan’s population will be
65 or older by 2060, and with the rest of the
developed world and some developing nations
following that track, Toyota is banking on the
demand for robot helpers to grow.
“People feel more comfortable asking a robot to
pick up after them than asking a human helper,”
said Tadashi Hatakenaka, manager and engineer
at the Yokohama Rehabilitation Center.
A robot like HSR is also ideal to replace service
dogs, which go through special training to help
people with various disabilities, including those
who use wheelchairs, have balance issues or
may be prone to seizures, he said.
Toyota came up with the basic concept model
for HSR in 2012.
The revamped model, announced this month,
is ready to enter universities, research facilities
and businesses from next year, in partnerships
to develop more applications, so the robot can
enter homes as quickly as possible.
One drawback is cost. Mass production is
needed for the price to come down. Toyota
declined to give the current price.
Ikeda showed how HSR can be controlled
relatively easily by tapping on a tablet device, to
fetch a TV remote-controller.
The 135 centimeter (four-foot-four) tall robot
has several cameras, including two on its head
that look like its eyes, and sensors on its body. It
scoots quietly around in all directions.
Unlike the robotic arms at auto-assembly plants,
HSR’s grip and bumps are designed to be soft so
they can’t hurt anyone. But it can pick up items
weigh up to 1.2 kilograms (2.6 pounds).
There was no attempt to make its design cute,
like the Pepper childlike robot that recently
went on sale in Japan from Japanese Internet
company Softbank Corp.
Toyota has long been working on robots,
including a human-shaped one with fingers
dexterous enough to play the trumpet. Another
plays the violin. Fs
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