While you slept, innovation brushed up his resume and begged Google CEO Eric Schmidt to let him come home. Here’s today’s top innovation news:
- Next-gen iPhone rumors abound. Video camera, faster Net, can act as a DVR remote. Expect a mid-June announcement, which AT&T reportedly thinks is “becoming a tradition.” It ranks third in my house, just behind Thanksgiving and Apple Rumor Day, which is, of course, every freaking day. [Via The Boy Genius Report via Techmeme]
- Former Google CIO (and Fast Company cover boy) Douglas Merrill got fired from his post as EMI Music’s president of digital after less than a year with the ailing company. “I’m not a music professional, right?” he said in an interview when he got hired. That is correct. [via Peter Kafka]
- Baseball’s new MLB Network looks like a hit. Why? “It’s lean and its staff can put deals together very quickly and creatively.” [via NYT advertising column]
- Chicago’s stalled skyscraper The Spire from starchitect Santiago Calatrava (that’s the say-it-six-times-fast challenge for the creative class) may rise after all, if the developer can make a deal to have the AFL-CIO’s pension fund pay for it to secure five years of construction jobs. [via Chicago Tribune’s Mary Ellen Podmolik]
- This is my brain on frozen Coke.
The viral-marketing elves at Omnicom Group’s Freshworks/The Integer Group have created a Brainfreeze Laboratory for 7-11 in time for Slurpee season. Upload a pic and see what you look like under the influence of your favorite flavor. Do it now and feel smug in July when you see this all over Facebook. [via BizReport]