Charlotte Henry

Netflix film Roma is hotly tipped in the best picture category Oscar at Sunday night’s Academy Awards. Were it to win, it would mark a significant moment for digital media in general, and Netflix in particular. Lucas Shaw wrote on Bloomberg News that it would be proof that the company has gone from being a techy outsider to Hollywood royalty. With increased investment in original content, it looks like a tech company will be winning an Oscar in the very near future.

“Roma” is the first nominee for best picture that was essentially a digital release — though it had a limited theatrical run — and Netflix would be the first technology company to clinch Hollywood’s top prize. Whether or not Netflix wins, an online movie will certainly be crowned best picture sooner or later, said Rich Greenfield, an analyst with BTIG LLC. Amazon.com Inc. and Apple Inc. are both spending billions of dollars on programming, and even Walt Disney Co. plans to release digital movies that won’t appear in theaters.

The much-discussed Apple car could actually turn out to be an electric van. That is according to a report in German publication Manager Magazin, picked up by Reuters. Apple engineers are reportedly working on an interior for the vehicle. Apple itself refused to comment on the speculation. The revelation about a potential electric van came Thursday, a day after Apple released a White Paper for drivers testing its automated vehicles.

Manager Magazin, citing multiple unnamed sources, said that prototypes painted in black and silver had been seen. The report, which did not provide further details, said that engineers at Apple’s Cupertino, California-headquarters were now working on the interior.

Israel is preparing to launch its first mission to the moon. The privately funded Beresheet robot will launch from Cape Canaveral on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.  The aim is that the rocket will land and then hop across the moon’s surface, remaining operating for around 2 days, according to a BBC News report.

The 1.5m-high, 585kg Beresheet will begin its mission with a ride to Earth orbit on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral in Florida. Once ejected from this vehicle, the robot will then use its British-built engine to propel itself to the Moon. The journey will take over two months to complete. SpaceIL, the non-profit behind the project, hopes Beresheet (“In the beginning” in Hebrew) will prove an inspiration to all those who follow its progress.

Mark Zuckerberg sat down with the Harvard Law Society as part of its Techtopia initiative. The Facebook CEO discussed a variety of issues including encryption, targeted ads, and whether his company should be considered an information fiduciary. Highlights of the fascinating discussion were written up and published by the HLS.

Zuckerberg argued that offering users different monetization models would mean offering them different data-handling models. “Are we going to let people pay to have different controls on data use than other people? And my answer to that is a hard no.” He described a forthcoming tool called “Clear History” which would allow users to clear some of the data that Facebook accumulates about them for ad targeting purposes.

News reports broke Wednesday that Apple is going to allow developers to submit one app that will work across iPhone, iPad, and Mac. On 9to5Mac, Ben Lovejoy explained why, despite slow progress, he thinks the project known as Marzipan will be a big deal and encourage more apps to be built for the Mac.

There are a lot more iPhones than there are Macs, so currently many developers target iOS first, and only create Mac apps if they are convinced there’s enough demand to make that a sensible use of their time. A more efficient process will mean a lot more Mac apps, and that’s good news for consumers as well as developers.

Over the last few months, there have been a number of changes in Apple’s top executive team. They include the departure of Angela Ahrendts and Bill Stasior, as well as the promotion AI boss John Giannandrea to the executive team. On their own, most of the moves are only somewhat interesting. When looked at together, they indicate a shift in focus for Apple, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.

The changes, which can be traced back to last year, have included high-profile hires, noteworthy departures, meaningful promotions and consequential restructurings. They have rattled rank-and-file employees unaccustomed to frequent leadership changes and led Apple to put several projects on hold while new managers are given a chance to reassess priorities, according to people familiar with the matter.

Apple’s so-called shift to services, largely prompted by falling iPhone sales, has been much discussed, not least here on TMO. However, there’s a reason for that – it matters, profoundly, to the future of the company. On March 25th a number of services are expected to be unveiled by the company at a special event. Axios reporters Sara Fischer and Ina Fried nicely summed up where the company is in this transition, why it is happening, and what we can expect next.

What started out as cloud storage and extended support contracts, Apples’ “services” revenue sector has expanded to include Apple Music and will soon likely expand further to news, video and gaming. Apple has made an aggressive push into media and entertainment over the past year, which has sparked rumors that it could one day sell a bundled subscription, where consumers could potentially pay one fee for an array of entertainment and media services.