Batfleck Wants to Save the Day — And Detroit

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By Emily Coyle

Batfleck is brushing Detroit’s bankruptcy blues aside and is here to save the day. That’s right, Superman and Batman are officially heading to Motor City to shoot the sequel of Warner Bros’s (NYSE:TWX) blockbuster Man of Steel, and the good news is it only took a $35-million state incentive to get them there.

According to USA Today, the Michigan Film Office announced the news Thursday and told the largest city in Michigan to expect Batman and Superman on its grounds sometime in the first three months of 2014. The original Man of Steel hit U.S. theaters on June 14 of this year, and was a blockbuster success not only domestically, but also in theaters overseas with a worldwide opening of $196.7 million.

That means good things for debt-ridden Detroit, which will benefit from the $131 million worth of in-state expenditures that the film will require, as well as its widespread popularity and far-reaching audience. Officially announcing its bankruptcy earlier in the summer, the metro area needs all the help it can get to rebuild — help to regain consumer and investor trust, and make Detroit a more appealing place to live once again.

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Canon U.S.A. Announces New Cloud Connectivity App: PIXMA Printing Solutions

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New Canon PIXMA MG7120 and MG5520 Wireless Inkjet Photo All-In-One Printers Offer Robust Cloud Connectivity for Fast and Easy Access to Online Content

MELVILLE, N.Y., August 22, 2013 – Canon U.S.A., Inc., a leader in digital imaging solutions, today announced two PIXMA Wireless1 Inkjet Photo All-In-One (AIO) printers, the PIXMA MG7120 and MG5520, featuring a new cloud-based PIXMA Printing Solutions (PPS) app2. With this innovative and user-friendly platform, users can access the cloud directly from their compatible printer, mobile device or tablet and easily print and scan images and documents directly from several of the most popular online services such as Facebook®, Twitter®, Flickr®, Dropbox™, Picasa Web Albums™, Evernote®, Photobucket®, Canon iMAGE GATEWAY3, Creative Park Premium and Creative Park.

The Canon PPS app offers a unique way to interact with the cloud to unlock important images and documents that otherwise have been trapped on mobile devices and popular online services. Free for users of compatible iOS and Android mobile phones and tablets, the app allows users to wirelessly print from a mobile device or tablet with wireless capability from almost anywhere. After registering with PIXMA Cloud Link, users can log into the cloud function of the app, and then can access their images and documents on the above-mentioned online services to print using intuitive menus determining paper type, size and whether to print bordered or borderless images. PPS enables users to print multiple document formats including Word, Excel, jpeg and pdf, without having the original software loaded on a device. For added functionality, users can access the PPS cloud platform through the menu selections on the PIXMA MG7120 and MG5520 printer’s interface as well.

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Wii U getting price cut September 20

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By Eddie Makuch,

32GB model dropping to $300 effective next month in US and Europe; Wii U Basic model will be phased out; Wind Waker HD bundle revealed.

The Wii U is getting a price cut on September 20.

Nintendo announced today that the struggling system will drop to $300 for the 32GB version in the United States and Europe. The $250 8GB Wii U Basic model will be phased out.

In addition to the price cut, there will be a new Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker HD Wii U bundle, which will debut on September 20.

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Filmmaker Lucas Purchases $10 Million in Starbucks Shares

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By Miles Weiss

George Lucas, the “Star Wars” creator who reaped $4 billion selling his company to Walt Disney Co. last year, invested a fraction of his fortune in Starbucks Corp. (SBUX), the world’s largest chain of coffee shops.

A trust controlled by Lucas bought almost $10 million of Starbucks shares, according to a filing yesterday by Mellody Hobson, the billionaire’s wife and a member of the Starbucks board. The couple married in June at Lucas’s Skywalker ranch in Marin County, California, and announced the birth of their daughter, Everest Hobson Lucas, this month.

Lucas, 69, in December sold Lucasfilm Ltd., whose movie franchises include “Indiana Jones” as well as “Star Wars,” to Disney for about $4 billion of cash and stock. The next month, he announced his engagement to Hobson, the president of Ariel Investments LLC, a Chicago-based money-management firm with $6.3 billion in assets as of June 30.

Hobson, 44, didn’t immediately return a telephone call seeking comment. Connie Wethington, a Lucas representative, said in an e-mail that “no comments or statements will be issued with regard to stock inquiries.”

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Steve Ballmer’s Mixed Legacy

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Gates’s Successor Helped Build Behemoth, but Missteps Leave Microsoft Vulnerable

By DON CLARK and SHIRA OVIDE

MSFT +7.29% Steve Ballmer tried new operating systems, new gadgets and new management structures. But the times caught up with a man who helped build one of the greatest companies of the 20th century.

Mr. Ballmer’s surprise retirement announcement Friday follows years of criticism about the waning growth and stagnant stock price of Microsoft, a force in the personal-computer era whose power was once so great that U.S. regulators sought to break up the company.

PC sales—the lifeblood of Microsoft’s business—are on a steady decline. Business and casual users alike are switching to devices and services offered by Apple Inc. AAPL -0.39% and Google Inc. GOOG -0.40%

Investors cheered the news, pushing Microsoft shares up 7%, or $2.36, to $34.75, in 4 p.m. trading Friday on the Nasdaq Stock Market.

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Read Steve Ballmer’s Retirement Announcement to Microsoft Staff

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By Tim Molloy

Microsoft Corp. CEO Steve Ballmer announced his retirement Friday. Here is his email to employees:

I am writing to let you know that I will retire as CEO of Microsoft within the next 12 months, after a successor is chosen. There is never a perfect time for this type of transition, but now is the right time. My original thoughts on timing would have had my retirement happen in the middle of our transformation to a devices and services company focused on empowering customers in the activities they value most. We need a CEO who will be here longer term for this new direction. You can read the press release on Microsoft News Center.

I am proud of what we have achieved. We have grown from $7.5 million to nearly $78 billion since I joined Microsoft, and we have grown from employing just over 30 people to almost 100,000. I feel good about playing a role in that success and having committed 100 percent emotionally all the way. We have more than 1 billion users and earn a great profit for our shareholders.

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Ben Affleck to Play Batman in Man of Steel Sequel

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Warner Bros. has announced Affleck is the new Dark Knight.

August 22, 2013

Ben Affleck is set to star as Batman in Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel sequel, Warner Bros. has announced.

“We knew we needed an extraordinary actor to take on one of DC Comics’ most enduringly popular Super Heroes, and Ben Affleck certainly fits that bill, and then some” said Greg Silverman, President of Creative Development and Worldwide Production at Warner Bros. earlier today. “His outstanding career is a testament to his talent and we know he and Zack will bring new dimension to the duality of this character.”

“Ben provides an interesting counter-balance to Henry’s Superman,” added director Snyder. He has the acting chops to create a layered portrayal of a man who is older and wiser than Clark Kent and bears the scars of a seasoned crime fighter, but retain the charm that the world sees in billionaire Bruce Wayne. I can’t wait to work with him.”


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Sorry, iPad Mini Fans–Once Again, Google Has The Better Tablet Than Apple

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Robert Hof

*Update: On reflection and the reasonable comment of a reader, I changed the headline to say Google has the “better” tablet, not the “hotter” tablet. In contrast to a year ago, when Google’s new Nexus 7 got attention for its smaller form factor and sold out (admittedly on an undisclosed level of sales), we can’t yet say the new Nexus 7 is “hotter.” But most reviewers seem to lean toward calling it the better one at this point in time.

As soon as Google GOOG -0.26% announced its new Nexus 7 small tablet on July 24, the natural question emerged: How does it stack up against the Apple AAPL +0.55%‘s industry-leading iPad mini?

The answer, according to a number of reviewers: Pretty darn well. In fact, several reviewers place the Nexus 7 ahead of the iPad mini, and at least one recommends it over the iPad mini thanks to a combination of features that beat its rivals’:

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Superman to battle Batman in Man of Steel sequel

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Sunday, Jul 21, 2013, 8:56 IST | Place: SAN DIEGO | Agency: Reuters

After announcing the plan to bring the two superheroes together, Snyder issued a statement via Warner Bros. saying the two would be fighting each other, and conceded this might surprise some.

A sequel to last month’s hit Superman film Man of Steel is not only in the works, but will feature two of DC Comic’s best-known caped crusaders – Superman and Batman – facing off against each other, director Zack Snyder said on Saturday.

Snyder, who directed British actor Henry Cavill as Superman/Clark Kent, was a surprise addition to the end of the Warner Bros. film panel at San Diego’s Comic-Con, an annual comics convention, and received thunderous applause from the 6,000-plus in attendance.

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