Galaxy S 4—Ready for Take-off

There's never been a better time to make the switch. Easy Mode, Smart Pause, and Smart Switch are just some of the innovative features that make up the Galaxy S 4. To learn more about all the features that make the Galaxy S 4 The Next Big Thing, join the community at www.facebook.com/SamsungMobileUSA.

Samsung Mobile USA Galaxy S4 – Ready for Take-off

A new promoted video by Samsung America has been posted. According to Samsung there’s never been a better time to make the switch. Easy Mode, Smart Pause, and Smart Switch are just some of the innovative features that make up the Galaxy S4. Our question for you. Do you use all these kind of smartfunctions of the Galaxy S4? When I check my Galaxy S4, I only use Smart Stay and Smart Rotate.

http://www.sammobile.com

Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom Unboxing (Clove)

The S4 Zoom is a smartphone and camera that have been merged to create a unique proposition.

Heavier and bulkier than a traditional smartphone, the S4 Zoom isn't your average product as it has a dedicated camera shutter button, 10x optical Zoom and tripod mounting option.

Watch the video to find out what you get in the box and what the product is like to handle as a phone and camera.

LG Optimus GJ hands-on

This is a brief unboxing and user interface video of the LG Optimus GJ.

TV Commercial - Sprint - Samsung Galaxy S4 - Personal Tutor

Sprint has the latest phones and is currently offering a BOGO deal on the new Samsung Galaxy S4 smartphone
Buy a Samsung Galaxy S4 smartphone and get another one free

Deal: Buy one Sprint Galaxy S4 on two-year contract, get another S4 absolutely free

In what is perhaps one of the best deals you’re ever going to find on a flagship device, those who purchase a Galaxy S4 from Sprint on a two-year contract for $199.99 will get another Galaxy S4 absolutely free(after a $50 mail-in rebate).

The offer is part of Sprint’s Back to School promotion, and will be available till August 15th, which gives you a lot of time to jump in on the deal. Giving away two Galaxy S4s for the price of one is the best promotion Samsung could have for its 2013 flagship, as flagships from other manufacturers look on in jealousy as even more Galaxy S4s fly off the shelves.

The Galaxy S4 sports a 5-inch 1080p Super AMOLED display, beastly Snapdragon 600 processor with 2GB of RAM, a 13-megapixel camera, 16GB of inbuilt storage and a microSD slot, Wi-Fi, HSPA+, LTE, and NFC connectivity, a 2,600mAh battery, and Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean with Samsung’s TouchWiz UI, which includes features such as Air View, Smart Pause, and Multi-Window split-screen multitasking.

Hit the source link to take advantage of this awesome deal.

P.S: You will have to enter a 2-year agreement on the free Galaxy S4 as well, either a new one or as an upgrade over your previous device.

http://www.sammobile.com

41Reasons Why You Should Buy A Nokia Lumia 1020

#1 – The 41-megapixel sensor

Following in the footsteps of the Nokia 808 PureView, the Nokia Lumia 1020 comes armed with a massive 41MP sensor that let’s you do some really amazing things never before possible with a smartphone.

#2 – Zoom, reinvented

Forget about getting closer to your subject when taking photos; stand back and let the lossless zooming of the Nokia Lumia 1020 do all the work. You can discover details in photos you never thought existed.

#3 – Digital Vs. optical zoom

The Nokia Lumia 1020 takes snaps at a huge initial resolution, so you don’t lose any details when up close. It can also beat most optical zooms – which feature a smaller aperture setting the closer you get – letting in a constant amount of light, providing brighter and sharper images.

#4 – Reframe your photos

Thanks to ‘dual capture’ on the Nokia Lumia 1020, you have the freedom to reframe all of your photos. This means that you can go back to photos you’ve already taken, zoom in, zoom out, or rotate to create new memories from different perspectives.

#5 – Six lenses

Nokia worked with optics manufacturer ZEISS to introduce six lenses for the Nokia Lumia 1020, with rivals offering four or five. The additional lens helps to produce sharper images, directing light crisply and cleanly towards the 41MP sensor.

#6 – Glass is better

Five of the lenses on the Nokia Lumia 1020 are molded from high-performance plastic, but Nokia has gone the extra mile with the sixth, manufacturing it from high-precision glass. It’s tougher, will stay scratch-free for longer, and help you to shoot even better photos. 

#7 – Largest BSI on smartphone, ever!

Because the Nokia Lumia 1020 has a bigger sensor, it can accommodate more pixels, producing sharper details. Nokia used a Back Side Illuminated sensor (BSI) with a design that significantly reduces the amount of visible noise in your photos.

#8 – Optical Image Stabilization  

The Nokia Lumia 1020 gets a completely new image stabilization technology, keeping your photos free from blur when you’re shooting in testy conditions.  The Optical Image Stabilization will automatically counterbalance unwanted camera shake, keeping your snaps pin-sharp.

#9 – Floating Lens

While competing systems usually just move one lens to counteract handshake, the Optical Image Stabilization in the Nokia Lumia 1020 uses tiny magnetic motors to move all of the optics. Even shaky hands can produce super-sharp images.

#10 – Clever engineering you can hear

The lens system is being kept in place by small ball bearings and actively moved to counteract unwanted camera movement. If you lightly wobble the Nokia Lumia 1020 you can actually hear the system at work, absorbing the shaking of your hand.

#11 – Excellent low-light performance

The Nokia Lumia 1020 uses a design where a much larger amount of light can reach the image sensor, and the Optical Image Stabilization allows for exposure times 3-5 times longer compared to traditional mobile cameras. In short: you can take amazing images in a dark room or at night.

#12 – Two flashes give the right light in any situation

The Nokia Lumia 1020 is one of the only smartphones with two flashes. The LED video light illuminates your videos and Xenon flash captures motion for the perfect still photo, every time.

#13 – ZEISS optics

Nokia is the only mobile phone maker that sports a ZEISS lens for true-to-life images and video. The Nokia Lumia 1020 features not just one but six ZEISS lenses!

#14 – Shoot blur-free Full HD video

Sure, most smartphones can shoot HD video. But the Nokia Lumia 1020 shuns blurry HD videos and captures your memories without making viewers seasick.

#15 – Silent zoom on video

Because zooming while capturing video on the Nokia Lumia 1020 is done with no mechanical parts, it’s silent, smooth and intuitive.

#16 – Rich recording with stereo sound

The Nokia Lumia 1020 features dual high-range mics and Nokia Rich Recording for high quality, distortion free audio to accompany your Full HD videos.

#17 – Freelancer grip

With the Nokia Lumia 1020 combined with the Pro Camera Grip, you can charge your phone while snapping away with the 1,000 mAh battery in the grip.

#18 – Pro Camera App makes you an instant expert

The Nokia Lumia 1020 comes with the Nokia Pro Camera app, making anyone a photography expert and capable of composing the perfect shot, every time.

#19 – Exposure Value (EV)

Exposure Value (EV) influences the brightness of a photograph, and the ability to change EV settings using the Nokia Lumia 1020 is great when you’re shooting an object in the shade. It’s also ideal for creating artistic-looking photos.

#20 – ISO

The Nokia Lumia 1020 offers manual controls traditionally associated with high-end cameras. The ability to adjust ISO is one option, letting you amplify light from the sensor. A higher ISO makes a huge difference in low-light conditions, or shooting fast-moving objects.

#21 – Focal length

It’s easy to get pin-sharp photos with the Nokia Lumia 1020, thanks to the ability to set a focal length manually between 15cm to infinity.

#22 – Nokia Smart Camera app

Not only does the Nokia Lumia 1020 come loaded with Nokia Pro Camera, you also receive the Nokia Smart Camera app. With it, you capture 10 rapid-fire photos, which can be used to create unique, mind-blowing masterpieces with different effects.

#23 – Best Shot

One of the unique features of the Nokia Smart Camera app is the ability to pick the best photo out of 10. Rather than taking photo after photo to capture the best snap on the Nokia Lumia 1020, Best Shot delivers a truly great image to you – first time.

#24 – Remove Moving Objects

There will be times when you want to take a photo of something and somebody photobombs your shot. Remove Moving Objects in Nokia Smart Camera is so clever, that it can have that person deleted from the frame, leaving no trace of them. 

#25 – Action Shot

Action Shot is part of the Nokia Smart Camera app and with it you can capture moving objects in a non-static way. Rather than capturing just one photo of your subject, Action Shot overlays several images into one frame to give you a trail of movement.

#26 – Bye bye motion blur

With its ultra-fast PureMotion HD+ screen, the Nokia Lumia 1020 eliminates motion blur in quick moving apps such as games and when making screen transition between screens.

#27 – Pocket to post in seconds

The Nokia Lumia 1020 has quick posting abilities via the Share menu, so you can share your latest photo masterpiece to social networks, messaging or email quickly and easily.

#28 – Easily share files with NFC / Tap+Send

Using the Tap+Send feature on your Nokia Lumia 1020, you can (almost-instantly) share files, such as your favorite photos, with another device running Windows Phone 8, as well as tablets or PCs running on Windows 8.

#29 – Dual capture saves the day

Because the Nokia Lumia 1020 saves every image it captures in 5mp and 38mp file sizes, you can pick the perfect file size for the situation. If you’re posting to a social network, use the 5mp file and if you want to hang the print on the wall, you’re set with the 38mp version!

#30 – All the cloud storage you need

For all those stunning images you’ll capture on your Nokia Lumia 1020, store them in the cloud with either SkyDrive or AT&T Locker!

#31 – Images big enough for large format printing

The Nokia Lumia 1020 can shoot images that are suited for large prints. Shoot away and see which photos you want to put on your wall!

#32 – Windows Phone OS – putting people-first design

Windows Phone offers a truly personalized experience for everyone that uses it, making it the ideal platform for the Nokia Lumia 1020. Keep your favorite photos on your Start screen, and quickly share with your social networks. 

#33 – Robust and growing Windows Phone app ecosystem

There are more than 160,000 apps & games in the Windows Phone store, with great new titles from brand names and up-and-coming indie developers being released every day, including incredible imaging apps that make the most of the Nokia Lumia 1020.

#34 – Exclusive Hipstamatic Oggl PRO App

During the launch for the Nokia Lumia 1020, Hipstamatic showcased Oggl PRO, an exclusive imaging app that offers the most advanced smartphone camera controls to anyone with a flair for the creative.

#35 – Apps to take imaging to new heights  

Given the imaging capabilities of the Nokia Lumia 1020, it’s no surprise that there are amazing apps to bring your photos and videos to the next level. Look for new apps from coming soon from Flipboard, Path, Vine, Vyclone, Yelp, and many more.

#36 – Never be lost again with HERE Maps and HERE Drive+

Summer road trips can get derailed with a bad set of directions. Find your way with our amazing HERE navigation apps that are on every Lumia, including the Nokia Lumia 1020.

#37 – Free yourself with wireless charging

With the wireless charging cover for the Nokia Lumia 1020, you can use our many wireless charging accessories to keep your battery topped up throughout the day.

#38 – Dive in to mobile photography

When it comes to learning how to become a photo master with your Nokia Lumia 1020, we bring you the best tips and tricks, updated constantly!

#39 – Display and Gorilla Glass 3

The Nokia Lumia 1020’s high-resolution AMOLED screen features the latest Corning Gorilla Glass 3 technology. It’s incredibly resilient, proving damage resistance under most conditions, and it’s ideal for showing off your photo without details being lost under scuffs and scratches.

 #40 – Adds color to your life

Are you more traditional or do you like to stand out from the crowd? Nokia Lumia 1020 comes in black, white and yellow for the more adventurous types.

#41 – Priced to impress

When compared to Digital SLR and even point and shoot cameras, the Nokia Lumia 1020 is more handsomely equipped and is a better value. When you #Switch to Lumia, take advantage of our trade up program to get cash for your old smartphone.

http://cdn.conversations.nokia.com.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Lumia-1020-Infographic.png

New Exynos 5 Octa (5420) crushes Nexus 10 in benchmark

Yesterday, Samsung announced the new Exynos 5 Octa (Exynos 5420) chip based on ARM Mali-T628 silicon. The new AP is 20 percent more faster than its predecessor (Exynos 5410), claims Samsung. However, the most significant change is the graphics processing unit, it’s the industry’s first SoC to feature a six-core GPU.

Engadget got some hands-on with a prototype device featuring the new Exynos 5420 SoC over at SIGGRAPH 2013. Samsung put the prototype up against a Nexus 10 in a benchmark fight, and the prototype crushed it! Currently, Nexus 10 is the only device to pack the most powerful GPU, packing an Exynos 5 Dual (5250) SoC with Mali-T604 GPU, so comparing the Exynos 5420-packed prototype with a Nexus 10 was certainly the right choice.

As you can see from the video, the prototype scored almost double the points as of the Nexus 10. During the benchmark, the prototype was smooth as silk with no issues whatsoever, while the Nexus 10 was a struggling. We are looking forward to seeing the new Exynos 5420 go up against the Exynos 5410 and the Snapdragon 800 SoCs.

http://www.sammobile.com

Nokia Connects MVC award

Yesterday we invited Mark Guim, Jenifer Hanen,Clinton Jeff, Jason Goh and Jay Montano to join us at Nokia House in Espoo. They had no idea why we invited them until this morning. Now it’s time to share the news with you!

For years we’ve been blown away by the support, creativity and involvement of the Nokia community. We’ve built amazing friendships, seen jaw-dropping videos and some extraordinary feats of fan dedication.

Liking and sharing all of this isn’t enough though. We want people who are doing amazing things with Nokia to be recognised and appreciated as our Most Valued Connectors (MVCs). We’ll be picking an MVC every month starting from today, and to show our love for them we’ll be taking them on amazing and bespoke experiences… made by Nokia just for you!

That’s where the guys currently in Espoo come in, who will be referred to as our MVC judges from now on, because, that’s right, they will be judging all MVC nominations, not us! So to start things off we have nominated four people for our judges to consider…

1. First up we have Davis Barbars who was a winner of one of our early #NokiaLumiaChallenge competitions, the Nokia paper challenge. As you can see he didn’t waste any time making a scale sized Nokia Lumia. Instead he went all out and turned a door into a giant Nokia Lumia, amazing!

   

2. Next up we have Germain, a French BMX rider who you may have seen us post about before. What’s cool about this is that Germain came to us saying he wanted to make a video with the Nokia Lumia 800… but we had no idea just how much time and effort was going to go into it, not to mention how talented he is!

3. Now we move onto something huge. You may remember back in April we featured Mansel Kersey who was “Scaling new heights” with a Nokia Lumia 820, by attempting to become part of the first team of climbers the UK to earn the prestigious Snow Leopard Award. For more information about the challenge head over to our interview with Mansel from earlier in the year.

4. Finally here’s something a little different but still a story that we love. It all started on our Trial a Nokia page, where Cliff reached out to us because he was thinking about switching to Lumia. We then helped him out with a trial Nokia Lumia, which not only resulted in him switching, but a number of his family too!

And there you have it, the nominations for the first ever MVC award. We will be announcing the winner on Monday so stay tuned for that. Moving on from Monday it will be up to you to supply Nokia Connects and the judges with your nominations for the MVC award. To nominate yourself or somebody else for the MVC award please either:

• Send a tweet to @Nokia_Connects with the url to the piece you are nominating + the #NokiaConnectsMVC hashtag (for images, videos or tweets)
• Send and email to Paul with the title “#NokiaConnectsMVC nomination” (for anything that requires more explanation or back story)

Capture & relive: How Nokia Lund grew out of Scalado

Exactly one year after many of the Scalado team became a part of the Nokia family, co-founder Sami Niemi talks to Conversations

The launch of the Nokia Lumia 1020 in New York capped off a remarkable year for Sami Niemi, one of the co-founders of Scalado, a company based in Sweden which had been renowned for its innovative mobile imaging experiences.

In a deal that was completed in July 2012, Nokia acquired Scalado’s key technologies and intellectual property, and many of its employees transferred to Nokia, including Sami, who became Nokia’s director of Capture & Relieve software product management.

Within months, Nokia Smart Shoot was released and an alpha version of PhotoBeamer was being demonstrated to operators. It didn’t stop there either.

In their first year, the former Scalado team, at Nokia Lund, in the southern Swedish town where the 70 or so employees were already based, also made enhancements to Creative Studio; provided the core technology for Nokia Smart Camera and is responsible for the amazing reframing feature of the Pro Camera application on the Lumia 1020 as well.

All this was achieved, says Sami, even though before the deal was signed, “95% of the team had never used Windows Phone before!”

In New York for the unveiling for the Nokia Lumia 1020 superphone, Sami found the time to sit down with Conversations to look back on a whirlwind first year.

Can you tell us about the history of Scalado? 

Four of us founded Scalado in 2000. We worked on a technology for streaming high-resolution images on the web. It allowed us to view great product images on a low bandwidth.

Then the business idea of Scalado changed quite a bit because there were other tools like Flash competing and the web industry took a dramatic downturn in 2002. 

What was your big breakthrough in mobile imaging?

We approached a mobile phone company who wanted to do a panorama app because we had done some stitching technologies for another product.

We discovered that their device had less memory than a remote control. It wasn’t possible to stitch a panoramic image in real time with 60kB of memory and an 8-bit processor.

So we had to figure out a way of doing everything in a compressed form. That was the starting point, where we managed to create the first ever panorama in a device with those constraints. This was in 2003 and the initial development work was done on a Nokia 7650, one of the first cameraphones.

This was around the time mobile imaging started becoming a big deal… 

We’d invented this technology that did things really efficiently and at the same time the megapixel race started.

You could say that without Scalado’s innovations it wouldn’t have been possible to put high megapixel cameras into devices. 

We were selling to more than a billion devices and every OEM was using our imaging technology and expertise. Then we moved to creating differentiating experiences that were really high tech and appealed to many of the companies.

Why did the deal with Nokia make sense?

We were recognised as a leading and creative company with a clear vision of what we wanted to achieve, but often we didn’t have the full means to do it.

We were creating certain fragments for one OEM and then another bit for another OEM. So it was our customers who created the applications but we provided them with the technology that made it all work.

We didn’t have the creative control or the means to really make them the way we wanted. That was what Nokia offered us. We would become part of a core team that was strategically very important to Nokia. We could make our vision come true.

How well has Scalado been integrated with Nokia?

I think this must be one of the most successful integrations. The evidence is that within months we had brought out some of the key experiences.

Culturally, the Finnish and Swedish teams are fairly similar and all of us are very passionate about photography. Everyone is able to share their passion and the profiles are quite distinct, but it’s very clear what the role of each site is. 

I have programme managers both in Helsinki and Sweden and they have to travel a lot but it helps the integration.

Nokia was quite a different company three years ago before the shift to Windows Phone. We had noticed it previously when we were dealing with Nokia. What we have now is a real challenger mentality where we have such passion to achieve our dreams.

Tech Talk: Service Provider-Software Defined Networking

Ignacio Más of Ericsson, explains the key architectural concepts behind SP-SDN and clarifies in simple terms the different aspects of the SP-SDN architectural framework.

Service provider networks are experiencing an architectural evolution so that they become more dynamic and programmable in nature. Software Defined Networking (SDN) is one of the key components of this evolution and Ericsson's vision for Service Provider Software Defined Networking (SP-SDN) sets the direction towards a flexible network ready for the Networked Society.

In this video, Ignacio Más, one of Ericsson's Experts working in the Chief Technology Officer office, explains the key architectural concepts behind SP-SDN and clarifies in simple terms the different aspects of the SP-SDN architectural framework. Ignacio also highlights the challenges that current IP networks face in order to accommodate the demands of users and enterprises in the Networked Society as well as the way SP-SDN addresses those challenges.

http://www.ericsson.com/news/130725-tech-talk-service-provider_244129227_c

Sony Xperia ZR hands-on

This is a brief unboxing and user interface video showing off the Sony Xperia ZR.

AOSP 4.3 running on Xperia Tablet Z

A few hours after Google released the source code for Android 4.3, we got AOSP 4.3 to run on Xperia Tablet Z (all functionality is not supported). Go to http://developer.sonymobile.com for more information.



https://github.com/sonyxperiadev/device-sony-sgp321

Nexus 7 featuring Virtual surround sound from Fraunhofer

Nexus 7 now features stereo speakers and virtual surround sound from Fraunhofer (the inventors of the MP3 format), giving you rich and immersive audio.

DOCOMO and LINE to Collaborate in Voice Calls and Messaging for Smartphones

NTT DOCOMO, INC., a personalized mobile solutions provider for smarter living, and LINE Corporation, a free voice call and messaging application provider, announced today that they agreed to a business collaboration aimed at enhancing the convenience of voice and messaging applications for DOCOMO smartphones on May 14.
Expected results of the agreement include:
An original LINE application, designed specifically for Raku-Raku SMART PHONE owners who are new to or unfamiliar with smartphones, that prevents accidental purchases of additional LINE products and games by limiting transaction amounts (to be launched by the end of 2013).
An original LINE application running on the AndroidTM operating system featuring a new Call button that directly accesses DOCOMO's high-quality mobile voice network for extra-clear voice calls. XiTM LTE subscribers can use this button to call other DOCOMO users free anytime (to be launched by September 2013).
Reduced traffic load on DOCOMO's network.
NTT DOCOMO
CEO Kaoru Kato
Head office Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan
Capital 949.6 billion yen (as of March 31, 2013)
Established July 1, 1992
Employees
(consolidated) 23,289 (as of March 31, 2012)
Business
Mobile phone services (Xi & FOMATM), packet communications services, international calling services, satellite phone services, sales of devices for services, etc.
Other mobile-related services
LINE Corporation
CEO Akira Morikawa
Head office Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, Japan
Capital 12.6 billion yen (approx.)
Established September 4, 2000
Employees 644 (as of April 1, 2013)
Business
Web-services businesses (LINE, NAVER & livedoor)
Xi and FOMA are trademarks or registered trademarks of NTT DOCOMO, INC
Android is a trademark of Google Inc.
About NTT DOCOMO

NTT DOCOMO provides innovative, convenient and secure mobile services that enable smarter living for each customer. The company serves over 61 million mobile customers in Japan via advanced wireless networks, including a nationwide 3G network and one of the world's first commercial LTE networks. Leveraging its unique capabilities as a mobile operator, DOCOMO is a leading developer of cutting-edge technologies for NFC mobile payments, mobile GPS, mobile TV, intuitive mobile assistance, environmental monitoring, smart grids and much more. Overseas, the company provides technical and operational expertise to eight mobile operators and other partner companies. NTT DOCOMO is listed on the Tokyo (9437), London (NDCM) and New York (DCM) stock exchanges. Please visit http://www.nttdocomo.co.jp/english/ for more information.
About LINE Corporation

LINE Corporation provides comprehensive Internet services and places the core of its business upon the LINE application which provides free calls and messages to over 150 million users worldwide. Additionally, the corporation has developed and operates its own search service, "NAVER", curation platform "NAVER Matome", the "livedoor" news site and Japan's most popular blogging service, "livedoor Blog". LINE Corporation is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, with Akira Morikawa as CEO. Please visit (Page will open in a new window.)http://www.linecorp.com for more information.

Google I/O 2013 keynote now available on YouTube

Google I/O 2013 keynote now available on YouTube

http://blog.gsmarena.com/google-io-2013-keynote-now-available-on-youtube/

Nokia Lumia 925 hands-on

This is a brief hands-on video showing off the Nokia Lumia 925.

Sony Takes Worldwide Rights To Angry Birds Movie, Will Release It In 2016

Rovio announced feature-film plans for its money-printing game back in December, tapping Despicable Me producer John Cohen as producer. Former Marvel Studios boss David Maisel, who came aboard the gamemaker as a special adviser in June 2011, is now an exec producer on the movie, which Sony Pictures has now landed. The Angry Birds assault includes a 52-episode animated TV series that rolled out worldwide in March. The 3D pic will be the first for Rovio Entertainment, which is producing it in-house. Here’s the official release:

Sony Pictures Entertainment has won the exclusive worldwide distribution rights to the eagerly anticipated Angry Birds animated film, making it one of the most high-profile deals of the year. The 3D film is being developed, produced, and financed by Rovio Entertainment and will be released worldwide by Sony Pictures on July 1, 2016. Several major studios pursued the global film rights in recent weeks, with Sony Pictures Entertainment emerging as the winner.
Michael Lynton, Chairman & CEO of Sony Pictures Entertainment, Amy Pascal, Co-chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment, and Mikael Hed, CEO of Rovio Entertainment jointly announced their partnership today. John Cohen and David Maisel – producer of Despicable Me and executive producer of Iron Man, respectively – are both on board for the new Angry Birds feature film. Cohen will serve as producer and Maisel is executive producer.
Commenting on the announcement, Mikael Hed said, “Sony impressed us with their great attitude, determination, and professionalism. They convinced us that we have found the right partners and team to help us market and distribute our first motion picture. Michael, Amy, Jeff Blake, Sony’s marketing and distribution head, and their teams will be the best possible collaborators as we get set to take our franchise to the next level.”
Lynton and Pascal said, “Every studio in town would love to add Angry Birds to their slate. There are few titles out there that bring this kind of excitement, brand awareness and built-in audience to the table. We’re thrilled to be distributing this film and we hope this is just the beginning of what will be a long relationship with Rovio as we look for ways to work on future projects together.”
David Maisel and John Cohen said, “We are very excited to join with Sony Pictures in presenting this movie to the world in 2016 and we will have many more announcements as we begin production in the coming months.”
Angry Birds is one of the world’s biggest entertainment franchises, starting in 2009 with the original mobile game that remains the number one paid app of all time. Angry Birds has expanded rapidly into entertainment, publishing, and licensing to become a beloved international brand.
Angry Birds has been praised for its great value and simple, casual gameplay. Players use a slingshot to launch birds at green pigs in an attempt to get their eggs back, with the game setting the model for what is possible in terms of game development and commercial success. To date, the Angry Birds and Bad Piggies games have been downloaded more than 1.7 billion times across platforms and versions.
The upcoming movie marks Rovio Entertainment’s first foray into feature films, although fans have already been introduced to the Angry Birds world with the weekly Angry Birds Toons animated series. Rovio launched the series in March through its Angry Birds apps as well as on select video-on-demand channel providers, Smart TVs, connected devices, and on select TV networks around the world. Paving the way for a full-length feature film, Angry Birds Toons has been a massive success for Rovio clocking in over 150 million views from the Angry Birds apps alone within the first six weeks.
While known for distributing world renowned motion picture franchises such as Spider-Man, Sony Pictures has been building a strong reputation in contemporary animation through its house production unit, Sony Pictures Animation, and hit films including Hotel Transylvania, The Smurfs, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Surf’s Up, Open Season, and Aardman’s Arthur Christmas and The Pirates! Band of Misfits.

Angry Birds iPad Magic – Abra-Ca-Bacon!

The “Angry Birds” are a true internet phenomenon. The MIT Entrepreneurship Review called it “the largest mobile app success the world has seen so far”. And in fact the Angry Birds Game dominates the all time charts published by Apple in May 2013 as the most successful of all paid apps.

The game has been downloaded an estimated 1.7 billion times across all platforms, the YouTube Channel counts one billion views and almost 25 million fans gather on Facebook. In charge for this immense success is the entertainment company Rovio from Finland. Before I tell you all about our cooperation lets have a look at my iPad clip for the new Angry Birds Seasons Update.

Rovio and myself have certain similiarities. Unfortunately I don‘t refer to their revenue of over 150 million Euros in 2012, but the fact that the company from Espoo near Helsinki also achieved breakthrough thanks to the Apple devices iPhone and iPad. My career as well has developed superbly since my first iPad Magic video. Performances around the globe, recently in Kuwait, Muscat and Toronto, illustrate the effects that viral video clips can have. You could call it “word-of-mouth 2.0?.

We are very very serious at Rovio when we say we want to surprise and delight our fans. We really mean what we say! Simon’s incredible iPad magic is perfect for our Angry Birds Season Abra-Ca-Bacon update, which is why Simon has now become the Official Angry Birds Magician! We expect incredible and magical things from this fresh partnership. – Peter Vesterbacka, Mighty Eagle, Rovio – Angry Birds

The title of the update “Abra-Ca-Bacon” emphasizes further mutualities. Numerous enquiries lead one to suspect that my iPad Magic is quite appealing in making content even more attractive and interesting to Angry Birds fans – particularly in this case where the Bad Piggies, the opponents of the Angry Birds, have developed magical powers.

In April, during an engagement at the Hanover exhibition, I reveived an email from Rovio, not to mention on my iPad. “We’ve seen your videos on YouTube and think they are fantastic! We‘re cooking up something and we‘re hoping to talk to you about it.”

As a fan of the Angry Birds I don‘t hesitate at all and take the next opportunity to jump onto a plane to the headquarters of “Angry Birds”. At the entrance a huge fan shop welcomes visitors with pretty much all the merchandise products you can imagine. Thousands of items carry the branding. Even a feature film is being planned.

Angry Birds Shop

The meeting takes place in a conference room stuffed with Angry Birds toys. My first drafts were well received and our deal is settled with a handshake. The new features of the Angry Birds game provide the basis for my iPad magic. Birds are launched out of the iPad with the slingshot and the magical portals teleport the Angry Birds from one iPad to the other.

Simon Pierro – Official Magician of Angry Birds

There will be new Angry Birds Seasons Updates. Whether we will cooperate again of course depends on the click rates of this iPad clip. Therefore off to YouTube, and lets hit the million mark! And by then the new iPad effects will of course also be part of my live show.

Here is the link to the new Angry Birds

http://www.simonpierro.com

Magician uses iPad to create Angry Birds magic - Simon Pierro with Abra-Ca-Bacon!

Simon Pierro, the Official Angry Birds Magician, uses his iPad to show off the new Angry Birds Seasons "Abra-Ca-Bacon" levels. Download here: http://rov.io/18HNNV7

All tricks shot in one take and without editing.

See more of Simon's magic...