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Moving World Wednesday

Your weekly round up of news and views from the tech, creative and business world.

Apple says helLowe

Surprise DJ/technology news as Radio 1 DJ and music producer Zane Lowe announced he is moving to Cupertino to work at a little place you may have heard of called Apple. Not much is known of the move, apart from that Lowe will be working on the iTunes Radio offer. Given his experience he could be enlisted to create a more curated approach to the service, which may include playlists and interviews.

This has raised questions regarding Apple’s plans to reconquer the music industry, with rumours of an on-demand music service being a major part of its future. With sales of digital music dropping, and streaming numbers increasing, it feels like the pioneers have now fallen behind and have some catching up to do with the likes of Spotify and Pandora. The addition of Zane Lowe follows a range of recent music acquisitions, which includes Beats, and with it Beats Music (a music streaming service) and co-founders Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre, who are now Apple employees.

Beyond Apple, it’s been a fun week for streaming news, as four NEVER HEARD BEFORE Spice Girls tracks were leaked online (although bad news for girl power fans – they’ve been taken down). They are probably not likely to reappear here… as Spotify let us know what music we’re all getting down to. There are 2.5 million user-made playlists titled ‘sex’. Two point five million… that’s a lot of getting down. ‘Intro’ by The XX is apparently the song most likely to appear, making us think the band should probably now change their name to ‘The XXX’.

iTesla

Recently it seems a week can’t go by without a car or Apple story hitting the press – this week we had the pleasure of a two in one.

Apple is working on an electric car, maybe; it’s codenamed ‘Titan’, and apparently looks like a minivan. The secret project has sent the Mac rumour mills into overdrive.

There are plenty of facts fuelling the fire. It’s said that ex-Ford engineer Steve Zadesky is heading up the 1,000 person strong team and if we look back to a 2012 court testimony there’s proof of ‘iCar’ plans that predate the iPhone. Plus according to Elon Musk, Apple is trying to tempt people from Tesla with $250,000 signing bonuses and 60% salary increases. Which is a little rich considering Tesla has reportedly hired 150 ex-Apple employees.

The Tesla vs. Apple news has broken at the same time as the UK government giving the green light to driverless cars. They’re more like driverless pods but it’s definitely a positive step towards a future with autonomous automobiles.

Before we get too excited, let’s just remember that Apple has many projects on the go that never see the light of day.

Tech gets hooked on vit D

Both Apple and Google have announced massive unprecedented renewable energy deals in the past week. The projects confirm the tech giants’ commitment to fighting climate change – not just good for the world but also for their bank balances.

In the solar industry’s largest ever purchase of power to date, Apple announced plans to spend $850 million over the next 25 years to build a 1,300 acre solar farm. This will go some way to powering its new campus, Apple Campus 2, that aims to be completely self sustaining.

Within 48 hours, Google announced a deal to purchase wind power from a San Francisco turbine park for an undisclosed amount. Google has now invested $1.5 billion in renewable energy.

These latest deals by Apple and Google are of considerable size and ambition in comparison to signed contracts by other large tech companies like Facebook, Amazon and Microsoft. They’re all looking to consolidate their ‘green credentials’, especially as high profile companies like Apple and Google are already paving the way.
 

LOLS

Criminal’s Facebook mishap.

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Moving Brands is an independent, global creative company. We partner with established and emerging businesses to design and transform their brands and experiences to thrive in the moving world.

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