Captain America twist

With the release of Captain America: Steve Rogers #1 this week, Marvel has revealed that Cap has operated as sleeper agent for Hydra, the fictional terrorist organization closely associated with the Nazis.

In an interview with Time, Marvel executive editor Tom Brevoort said that the plan to make Cap a villain has been in development since 2014, and aims to capture some of what's happening in politics today — particularly when it comes to discovering the ugly sides of our beloved public figures.

The author of the new Captain America comic, Nick Spencer, is getting death threats on Twitter over making Captain America a villain.

Pokémon Go Beta tests in US

Pokémon Go, the augmented reality game that let’s you live out your Pokemon dreams, is finally available for beta testers in the US as of today.

• There will be more than a hundred different Pokémon to capture out in the real world and players will get a notification when a Pokemon is detected near them.

• Pokeballs can may be purchased at PokéStops, or found in locations like monuments, historical locales, or public art installations.

• Players can capture Gyms by battling then leave their own pokemon to defend the gym from others.

• There is still time to sign up as a beta tester.

No Man's Sky Delayed

Kotaku reports that the highly anticipated video game No Man’s Sky is not going to make their June 2016 release date. GameStop has confirmed that they have yet to receive any promotional material for the game with the June release date and have instead been told to tell people that it’s “coming soon”. This isn’t the first time the game has reported delays but it’s still disappointing.

Fullmetal Alchemist--Live!

Warner Brothers has officially announced that a live-action film adaptation of Hiromu Arakawa's Fullmetal Alchemist manga is in the works and is slated to premiere in Japan in winter 2017. Filming is scheduled to begin in Italy at the beginning of June, and wrap up in Japan in the second half of August.

https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2016-05-23/fullmetal-alchemist-manga-gets-live-action-film-in-winter-2017/.102420

Netflix gets exclusive Disney deal

Starting this September, Netflix will get exclusive access the Disney catalog including the right to stream hit movies like the Jungle Book, Captain America:Civil War, Finding Dory, and Rouge One. That means you won’t see those movies on  Amazon or Hulu. Even though Netflix is paying millions of dollars for this deal, this definitely gives Netflix the edge in the streaming wars.

CBS to drop fan film lawsuit

JJ Abrams has confirmed that Star Trek: Into Darkness director Justin Lin was outraged that Paramount and CBS were suing the makers of the fan-film Axanar. Lin pushed the studio and according to Abrams the lawsuit will be stopped “within the next few weeks.” CBS and Paramount told Buzzfeed reporter Adam Vary that the studios were in settlement talks. Axanar’s executive producer Alec Peters said new fan film guidelines will be handed down in the next few days.

India launches reusable shuttle

The Verge reports that this week India's space agency has successfully launched a reusable mini shuttle model into space, marking an important development in its low-cost space program. An unmanned prototype of the Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV-TD) launched Monday morning reaching an altitude of 43 miles before returning to Earth. The project has been in development for more than 10 years, on a reported budget of just $14 million. Compare that to the US space shuttle, which cost about $450 million per launch (NASA)

Creating a reusable low cost space shuttle is a huge step in any space progam. India is competing with space agencies in Europe, Japan, and Russia as well as private companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin.

Pebble 2 announced

Pebble announced not one, but three products this week: the Pebble 2, the Pebble Time 2, and the Pebble Core. A software update include with new products adds an actions list for faster access to certain app features.

The Pebble 2 and Pebble Time 2 are both smart watches that focus on health and fitness with built-in heart rate monitors. The Pebble 2 is very similar to the original Pebble with slightly beefed up hardware, a 7 day battery life, and a thinner look. The Pebble Time 2 has a color e-paper display, boasts a 10-day battery life and boasts a screen that is 50 percent bigger than the original.

The Core is a small device that clips onto your clothing and is geared towards runners. It has built-in GPS so you can track your distance and pace, as well as step tracking. The Core also acts as a music player with 4GB of storage for up to 1,000 songs.

At retail the Pebble Core will cost $99, the Pebble 2 is $129, and the Time 2 is $199.  

All the devices are available for a discount on Kickstarter with the watches shipping in September and the clip-on Core shipping in January.

Pepper the Robot at Pizza Hut

SoftBank's Pepper robot has been employed in the past at hotel desks. Now though Pizza Hut Asia is partnering with MasterCard on a trial that will use Pepper in their restaurants. By the end of 2016, Pepper will be able to interact with customers, take orders, and even take payment information. Once customers pair their MasterPass account, they can do everything from paying for your meal to asking about the calorie count.

Looks like Pepper may be putting some Pizza Hut employees out of work soon.

Google I/O news

Google made a slew of announcements this week on new projects, updated plans, and what’s next for Google. Here are the most interesting announcements of the week.

Google’s next operating system, code named Android N, is apparently far enough along that Google thinks it's ready for more people to try it out. This third beta release is out now. If you want to opt in, you'll be able to do so at Android's website. You can also submit what you think the “N” in Android N should be since Google is taking name submissions.

Google announced a voice-activated device called Home that has a speaker in the base and integrates with other cast devices like Chromecast Video and audio, and supports home networking systems for Home Control. Google Home won't arrive until later this year so Amazon’s Echo doesn’t have to worry until then.

Google also announced a messaging app called Allo.  It includes a the voice-activated smart assistant and an incognito mode that offers, end-to-end encryption, discreet notifications and permanent deletion of messages. It's coming to iOS and Android this summer. https://youtu.be/QJ3WV8N92Hs

Google also announced VR Mode in Android N and the Daydream platform for VR development which gives VR apps exclusive access to the device’s processor cores. Looks like Google’s recognized the success of the GearVR and wants all devices running android to be able to get VR now. https://youtu.be/KNR4j1DJ4Cc

Google’s VR Head Clay Bavor confirmed Google will sell its own version of DayDream VR gear saying on stage at I/O, “And, by the way, it’s not just going to be partners building from the reference design, we, Google, are also going to build a controller and a headset and make it available.” Google is partnering with Epic Games and the Unity on the motion-sensing controller.

Buckaroo Banzai TV

On episode 246 of the Kevin Smith’s podcast Hollywood Babble On, he confirmed that he’s in talks with MGM to create a TV version of the cult movie Buckaroo Banzai. Apparently, the episode of the Flash he directed aired MGM approached him with the opportunity. Kevin Smith accepted citing the project as a dream writing project.

Save Agent Carter

Last week we reported that ABC canceled the Marvel tv show Agent Carter after less than stellar ratings this season. However, fans have started a petition on Change.Org to save the show and bring it to Netflix. They already have over 90,000 signatures and a goal of 150,000. Netflix has done amazing things with the Marvel titles they’ve made and we hope they can save the amazing show Agent Carter.

Harley Quinn Spin Off Movie in Works

Everyone is already in love with with Margot Robbie’s portrayal of Harley Quinn in the upcoming Suicide Squad movie. So much so that there are reports that Margot Robbie and Warner Brothers are already working on a Harley Quinn spin off movie. Some other characters that might be apart of the film include Batgirl and the all female superhero team Birds of Prey.

Transformers 5 gets Title

Paramount Pictures has announced that the official title for the fifth installment of director Michael Bay's Transformers film franchise will be titled Transformers: The Last Knight

Production on the new Transformers movie is scheduled to start on June 6th in Detroit and will be followed by a Bumblebee spin-off film set to come out in 2018 and then Transformers 6 arrives in 2019.

Tetris Movie in development

According to Deadline the Tetris movie project is eyed as an $80 million China-U.S. co-production under Threshold Global Studios,Threshold Global Studios, a new banner formed by Bruno Wu and producer Larry Kasanoff. Threshold has been working with The Tetris Company for over a year, presumably to flesh out story details and really make sure they were nailing the deep, rich mythology of blocks falling into rows.