Movies

Watch ‘Steve Jobs’ scene with Woz confronting Steve over impending launch of NeXT Computer

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 9, 2015

The high-profile 'Steve Jobs' biopic, based on Walter Isaacson authorized biography of Apple's mercurial co-founder, released today in select theaters across the United States and Universal posted a full scene on its YouTube channel to celebrate the launch.

In it, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak (played by Seth Rogen) warns Steve (played by Michael Fassbender) that the launch of NeXT, Jobs's overpriced, cube-shaped workstation computer created during his wilderness years, will go down in history “as the single biggest failure in the history of personal computing.”

Apple Music, iTunes Movies and iBooks make their long-expected debut in China

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 30, 2015

Apple on Wednesday announced that users in China can now enjoy Apple Music, as well as browse and download their entertainment from the iTunes Store and iBooks Store, marking the first time customers in the 1.33 billion people market will have access to Apple’s entertainment ecosystem with music, movies and books right at their fingertips.

“Customers in China love the App Store and have made it our largest market in the world for app downloads,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services. “One of the top requests has been more great content and we’re thrilled to bring music, movies and books to China, curated by a local team of experts.”

Watch the first full-length trailer for the official Angry Birds movie

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 23, 2015

Angry Birds is coming to the silver screen next summer and now Sony Pictures and Rovio have published the first full-length teaser trailer for The Angry Birds Movie, the official 3D animated movie based on the famous bird-flinging franchise.

Starring Jason Sudeikis as Red, Josh Gad as Chuck, Danny McBride as Bomb and Bill Hader as the villainous pig Leonard, the movie promises to reveal why the famous birds are so angry in the first place.

Check out all-new trailer for Universal’s upcoming ‘Steve Jobs’ biopic

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 17, 2015

Following the inaugural 'Steve Jobs' trailer published this summer and a follow-up video released in August, Universal is now drumming up publicity ahead of the film's theatrical release next month with yet another official trailer.

Directed by Danny Boyle with screenplay by Aaron Sorkin, ‘Steve Jobs’ debuted last week at the Telluride Film Festival and will be shown at the New York Film Festival on October 3 ahead of its scheduled theatrical release on October 9.

Review: WALTR for Mac converts & transfers any video to iPhone and iPad, no iTunes required

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 7, 2015

Getting DivX and MKV movies, FLAC audio files or audiobooks onto your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad is an incredibly cumbersome multi-step procedure, one that involves third-party apps like Handbrake to transcode “foreign” media files into iOS-friendly formats before importing them into iTunes for syncing with your iOS gadgets.

I've tried many, many apps which promise to get the job done before deciding to settle on WALTR by young European startup Softorino.

Now, I'm not exaggerating when I say that WALTR is an absolutely incredible piece of software. This nifty program literally takes the pain away from transferring media to iOS devices without worrying about file types.

Its lightning fast algorithm is hands down the best I've ever seen, on any platform, ever. I've been happily using WALTR for months now and couldn't be happier with it. And trust me when I say that you should be using WALTR, too, especially if you aren't jailbroken and want the simplest solution possible for transferring media to your device without going through iTunes.

Why Netflix won’t offer offline viewing

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 7, 2015

Amazon recently delighted its iOS-toting users by allowing offline viewing of Prime Instant Video movies and television shows, but don't count on Netflix offering the same feature anytime soon.

Gizmodo reached out to Netflix and asked the company why it won't change its firm stance that it's not going to offer offline downloads through its mobile applications and the official company line is eyebrow-raising.

New documentary ‘Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine’ hits theaters and digital platforms

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 4, 2015

‘Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine,’ a provocative documentary that focuses on the dark side of Apple's late co-founder Steve Jobs, is hitting theaters and video-on-demand services today.

The 120-minute documentary is about the impact of Jobs’ work on modern society while cunningly playing off the controversies that had surrounded Jobs’ persona for many years.

Apple said to be exploring original programming

Cody Lee ∙ August 31, 2015

Apple is exploring getting into the original programming business, reports Variety. Citing sources familiar with the matter, the outlet claims the company has held "preliminary conversations" in recent weeks with Hollywood executives to suss out their interest in producing entertainment content.

It's unclear how large Apple's ambitions are at the moment, but one source says the endgame is to set up development and production divisions that would churn out long-form content in a bid to compete with Netflix, and the like. They say these divisions could be operational as early as next year.

A new ‘Steve Jobs’ trailer depicts meticulous product launch preparations and other tidbits

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 7, 2015

Aaron Sorkin and Danny Boyle’s’s 'Steve Jobs' film is scheduled to hit movie theaters in the United States on October 9 so movie producers began airing a brand new TV trailer on television in an effort to drum up publicity for the forthcoming flick.

The 60-second video flashes between scenes depicting Steve's meticulous preparations for Apple's carefully choreographed product presentations and ones reflecting on his troubled relationship with Lisa, Jobs's first daughter who appears to be the ”heroine of the film” as the director put it.

Watch the first trailer for the provocative ‘Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine’ documentary

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 24, 2015

A new movie about Apple's legendary co-founder, titled 'Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine,' is scheduled to open in select theaters in less than two weeks and Mashable today released the first official trailer which provides an early look into the forthcoming documentary.

In addition to exploring the impact of Steve Jobs’ work on the society and our embrace of computers and technology, the 120-minute nonfictional documentary plays off the controversies that had surrounded Jobs' persona for many years.

Directed by Alex Gibney, it apparently paints the picture of a “bold, brilliant and brutal” Steve Jobs, the description which did not sit well with Apple's Senior Vice President of Internet Software and Services, Eddy Cue, who called it “an inaccurate and mean-spirited view of my friend” and ”not a reflection of the Steve I knew.”

TodoMovies 4 adds Apple Watch app, custom lists, richer views, tabbed navigation and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 23, 2015

As a longtime fan of TodoMovies, an excellent movie tracker by German developer Taphive, I've been using the app to keep tabs on the movies I wanted to watch.

Since its March 2014 App Store debut, developers have constantly updated the app with meaningful feature additions like Motion Posters in TodoMovies 2, a revamped design in TodoMovies 3 and lots of other goodies.

Previously a $1.99 download, TodoMovies went the freemium route and it did help widen the app's user base. And as of Thursday, TodoMovies 4 is available in the App Store with tons more perks.

For starters, it now offers a nicely designed Apple Watch app for your wrist. On the iPhone side, enhancements include custom lists, a richer movie details view, tab-based navigation, support for the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus screens and more.

Read on for a quick review based on my brief hands-on time with the new version.

Universal releases full trailer for ‘Steve Jobs’ film

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 1, 2015

Following a teaser trailer for the Steve Jobs movie we saw back in May, Universal on Wednesday released the full official trailer for the forthcoming flick.

“Set backstage at three iconic product launches and ending in 1998 with the unveiling of the iMac, Steve Jobs takes us behind the scenes of the digital revolution to paint an intimate portrait of the brilliant man at its epicenter,” teases Universal Pictures.