Coinstar, the company behind DVD-kiosk service Redbox, today announced it had acquired NCR for as much as $100 million. NCR, once the central rival to Redbox through its Blockbuster Express brand, operates roughly 10,000 movie-rental kiosks throughout the country which will now come under Redbox and Coinstar’s control. They boast more locations than McDonald’s and Starbucks combined.

The announcement comes on the heels of another company announcement earlier today that Redbox would be partnering with Verizon for a subscription-based streaming competitor to Netflix. Now, with NCR under its belt and a digital service in the works, Redbox is in a strong position to shakeup the industry, especially with its 35,400 point-of-sale kiosks already dotting the landscape. And as if today’s announcements aren’t enough, Coinstar also reported that its quarterly profit had doubled today, jumping to $31.5 million.

Zach Borst, a 26-year-old filmmaker from Long Island, N.Y., wrote, produced and assembled a one-minute ad about a graduate getting a Chevrolet Camaro as a gift for a Chevrolet competition. When you see it, you’ll realize why Chevy picked it to air in the upcoming Super Bowl to an audience of 110 million people.

Borst may be a homegrown filmmaker, but he’s been shooting video since he was seven, and has several quality commercials online. He’d also won a previous Chevrolet competition at the Tribeca film festival; knowing what the client wants does usually help in advertising. For the “Happy Grad” ad, Borst used friends for actors, camera help and locations.

“Happy Grad” — filmed by Borst and company in four hours — beat out 198 other video submissions and 400 scripts in the contest. To air, Chevy will spend at least $3.5 million for 30 seconds of air time.

Firefighters rescue a family from a car dangling over a bridge after a fiery crash on Highway 101, California, US.

This is a cockpit view landing approach of a commercial airliner at Los Angeles airport (30 minutes compressed into 3 minutes, which is 10 X faster than normal speed.)

A very colorful and unique perspective of the city lights from the cockpit of a commercial jet as it makes some final turns before landing at LAX. The song is Los Angeles by Sugarcult.

The Sadde Six Arrival is from the northwest into Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). The downwind leg is entered over the Santa Monica (SMO) VOR and roughly follows the 10 freeway. The base leg turn is made along the 710, and final approach into runway 24R parallels the 105. Initial altitude is 10,000 feet and the runway elevation is approximately 125 feet.

A compilation of the most awesome bicycle, snowboard, ski, snowmobile, parkour, diving, rallycar and skate sports clips of 2011.

Apple could be set to rush soccer broadcasting into a new era with a revolutionary, multi-billion dollar bid for television rights to the English Premier League.

The technology giant is interested in acquiring exclusive rights to screen EPL games in England when the next package (for the 2013-2016 seasons) is tendered. The Cupertino, Calif., company is set to wade into a bidding war with established television heavyweights such as Rupert Murdoch-owned Sky Sports, ESPN and Al Jazeera.

This is would of course be a major push for its platform of Apple TV, which costs less than $100 which allows users to stream internet content on their television screens. The company already showcases properties from Major League Baseball, the National Hockey League and the National Basketball Association. But this is way different.

By going for the full British television rights to the EPL, one of the most lucrative sports products in the world, Apple could be signaling the start of an assault on true broadcast television.

Apple’s interest was first revealed by Charles Sale of London’s Daily Mail newspaper and was confirmed to Yahoo! Sports by Apple sources this week. The company is still in the early stage of formulating its bidding plans, but is keen to expand its sports packages and it sees soccer as a valuable way to gain a stronger footing in the British market.

The flurry of excitement surrounding the Apple news was further intensified due to the ongoing rumors in the technology field of a new, secret Apple television product that may be released at some point over the next two years.

A 60 Minutes piece from last year looks at the life of the richest man in Russia, Mikhail Prokhorov. Very interesting story and how luck + timing can be your biggest friend.

How can a business of any size stand out and profit anywhere in the world? It’s all about currency - Brand Social Currency that is. Vivaldi Partners, an international brand consultancy, just put out its Social Currency 100, which ranks the social branding efforts of companies across the Americas, Europe, and Asia. From cars to confections, luxury goods to toys, the firm compiled a list of campaigns that made their mark on the web, social networks, mobile or location-based platforms, microsites, or even in print, over the past three years.

Franky Zapata uses a flyboard to zoom in and out of the water and leap through the air, kind of like a dolphin. Report by Jeremy Barnes.

Let us introduce you to the first ever girlband to win The X Factor UK. They made X Factor history today and they are called Little Mix!

Charlene Soraia is a folk artist doing very well in the UK Charts right now. Yes we said UK! This song “Wherever You Will Go” is currently in the Top.20 National BBC Radio 1 Chart. Her debut album is called MOONCHILD.

Born in Sydenham (an area and electoral ward in the London Borough of Lewisham, United Kingdom) to hardcore hippy parents, Charlene first picked up a guitar at the tender and impressionable age of 5. It belonged to her dad but she secretly plucked away at it until the strings broke. She didn’t own up. But by then she had fallen head over heels in love with the instrument and her dad knew it. So he bought her a guitar of her own and Charlene spent hours teaching herself to play and honing her innate talent. And she was good. So good in fact that she performed in public for the first time aged just 8 years old. She hasn’t looked back since. By the age of 10 her life ambition, if the music career failed, was to become a luthier (how many 10 year olds even know what that is?) and after a few years practice she rebuilt a 1973 Japanese 335 guitar when she was 17.

It was around age 9 that Charlene first fell in love with David Bowie. By 10 she discovered the experimental sounds of The Beatles and got deep into ‘60’s psychedelia and intricate jazz guitarists before exposure to artists like Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and King Crimson led to her encyclopedic knowledge and deep love of prog rock. I kid you not. This girl is as far from the run of the mill singer songwriter as you can get.

Charlene’s love of the guitar and the above musical genres has developed her distinctive fret flexing style that is incredible to listen to and mesmerizing to watch. Her unique talent and hippified individuality also won her a coveted place at the Brit School, where her peers were Adele, ROX and Kate Nash. Even at such a young age she has captivated sufficiently to be invited to tour with the likes of Stephen Fretwell, Howard Elliot Payne, Kami Thompson and Jon Allen.

Keep an eye on this girl – as we think you’ll be hearing her name in 2012.

For more info click HERE
or follow her on Twitter: @CharleneSoraia

Quite a few Apple HDTV rumors have been talked about today, although this time it comes from renowned Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster, who took to the stage at IGNITION: Future of Media conference this morning. According to his predictions, Munster is certain that there will be an Apple TV launching next year. He basically told everyone in the audience that if they were thinking of purchasing a new TV to wait, as it’s going to be amazing. Sounds awesome!