It's widely known that Apple co-founder Steve Jobs had a dark side, so why not go straight to The Dark Knight himself to play the iconic CEO on the big screen? Our Thursday Morning Report includes details on Sony's ambitious biopic, as well as Apple's pending retail invasion of China, plus Google's new take on email.
Apple Planning 25 More Stores in China Within 2 Years
Apple CEO Tim Cook is in China this week, and The Wall Street Journal reported today that Cupertino is planning to increase the number of retail stores in that country from 15 to 40 within the next two years. Speaking to Chinese news portal Sina.com, Cook announced the ambitious plans, which were confirmed by an Apple spokeswoman.
“In the future China will become Apple’s biggest revenue contributor,” Cook prognosticated. “It’s just a matter of time.”
The report noted that the "Greater China" region cited by Cook also includes Hong Kong and Taiwan, suggesting that not all of the forthcoming 25 stores could wind up being located in mainland China.
It's Official: Christian Bale Leaps from Batman to Steve Jobs
After Ashton Kutcher was announced as the lead in an unauthorized biopic on the life of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs more than two years ago, we tossed out a handful of actors we'd rather see cast in that role, which included Pirates of Silicon Valley star Noah Wyle, who actually portrayed Jobs twice — one in the aforementioned TV movie, and again during a 1999 Apple keynote alongside the iconic CEO himself.
Our top choice at that time was none other than Christian Bale, who Bloomberg today confirmed as now starring in the official adaption of Walter Isaacson's 2011 biography. Penned by the same writer who brought us The Social Network (screenwriter Aaron Sorkin), the Steve Jobs biopic is scheduled to begin shooting "in the next couple of months," and should prove to be a new challenge for the artist formerly known as Batman.
“He has more words to say in this movie than most people have in three movies combined,” Sorkin teased. “There isn’t a scene or a frame that he’s not in. So it’s an extremely difficult part and he is gonna crush it.”
Bale has widely been rumored as a contender for the coveted role in recent months, and Sorkin himself considered the actor the best "on the board in a certain age range," noting that Bale didn't have to audition for the role. (Can we officially brag about calling it back in April 2012 now?)
Danny Boyle, of Slumdog Millionaire fame, is reportedly directing.
Google Opens Invite-Only System for New Inbox Email App
The Google Official Blog announced Wednesday a new email solution called Inbox. Currently available by invitation only, Inbox comes from the same team behind Gmail, but is being billed as "a completely different type of inbox, designed to focus on what really matters." The app, which will be available for both iOS and Android, includes unique features like Bundles (for automatic organization) and Highlights (important information at a glance), but also combines to-do features like reminders, assists, and snooze all in one place. Eager Google lovers can send an email to inbox@google.com to speed up the invitation process, and once invited, will be able to bring friends into the fold as well.
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