Episode 58 – Twitter Scores with NFL and HTC Vive
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Welcome to another episode of Geek Bytes Podcast.
I’m Ramon Mejia…….and I’m Edgar Acosta
Every podcast we bring you the roundup of the week’s best Geek and Tech news, then we discuss that news and anything else we’re interested in that week.
In Geek News this week, we’ll talk about the Tesla 3, Twitter and the NFL, the HTC Vive, New Doctor Strange Photos, Sherlock Season 4, the best Trailers of the Week and More…
In Our Discussion Section we’ll talk about Wrestlemania 32
Now let’s Begin our show with Geek News
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Geek News
Tesla 3 announced
This past weekend Tesla Motors revealed the latest edition of their all electric vehicle, the Model 3. Tesla fans have gone wild for the latest Tesla vehicle.
The Model 3 will get at least 215 miles of range beginning at just $35,000. All Model 3 cars will include support for Tesla's auto drive feature and the high-speed Supercharging network.
Before the announcement was even over fans were lining up outside Tesla centers waiting to put their $1,000 pre-order deposit. Within 72 hours after the first US dealerships began taking deposits, Elon Musk tweeted that Tesla has taken 276,000 preorders. That's $276 million in deposits, and, according to Musk's estimates, $11.5 billion worth of cars at a predicted average selling price of $42,000.
http://www.theverge.com/2016/4/2/11353146/tesla-model-3-preorder-update-elon-musk-tweet
WhatsApp Upgrades
WhatsApp announced Tuesday that end-to-end encryption has been applied to all communications.
Messages already received such encryption but now photos, videos, files, voice messages, and group chats do too.
Take that FBI!
https://blog.whatsapp.com/10000618/end-to-end-encryption
Twitter to stream NFL
Twitter will stream 10 Thursday Night Football games “to a global audience” in 2016 for free without authentication. That’s Huge for the NFL.
- Twitter paid around $10 million according to Bloomberg’s source (beating out Verizon, Yahoo, Amazon)
- CBS and NBC paid $225mm for 5 Thursday games each — Verizon has rights to stream to wireless phones
- Twitter video will be embeddable. Include pregame Periscope streams from players and teams
- Available on the Twitter PC, phone, and Xbox app
Facebook adds Periscope like features
Facebook is adding a live streaming button to the middle of its iOS and Android apps leading to a dedicated page and a map of live streams. You can choose to stream to groups or events now and viewers can use all Facebook reactions. Comments and reactions will replay when viewed later. Facebook is paying some publishers to stream on the platform. The new button and features should roll out to users over the next few weeks.
http://techcrunch.com/2016/04/06/facebook-video-tab/
HTC Vive ships
This week the HTC Vive, the main Oculus VR competitor, has begun shipping this week. While the fervor in the media has not been quiet as high as Oculus’ release last week, the reviews have been good. Most reviews admit the Oculus Rift is more comfortable and the screen is slightly better, the Vive’s hand controls and the ability to move around a room are more immersive.
However, Endgadget reports that both Oculus and HTC are shipping their new VR headsets slower than expected. Oculus told Rift pre-order customers that the delay is due to a component shortage. Oculus will update preoders on April 12th and give free shipping. Some HTC Vive orders were declined by credit card companies causing some folks to lose their order or be bumped to the end of the waiting list. HTC says it is working to put everyone back in the right order.
http://www.engadget.com/2016/04/02/oculus-rift-and-htc-vive-order-trouble/
PS4 now streams to PC and Mac
Sony will released System Software 3.5 for PlayStation 4 Wednesday according that allowed users to install Remote Play apps on PCs and Macs. Remote Play allows PS4 owners to stream gameplay to their computer at resolutions of 360p, 540p or 720p with frame rates of 30fps or 60fps. You'll need to connect a DualShock 4 controller to the PC or Mac as well.
http://www.theverge.com/2016/4/5/11368312/sony-playstation-4-game-streaming-pc-mac-update
New Doctor Strange Photos
This week while filming Doctor Strange in NYC, Benedict Cumberbatch stopped by a local comic book store to pick up the latest issue of the Doctor Strange comic book, in full costume. He tweeted some photos of his time there and the shop owner was understandably excited. Additionally, we get a look at Cumberbatch posing for Coming Soon! Magazine in full Doctor Strange regalia.
http://www.slashfilm.com/new-doctor-strange-photo/
Dave Batista Joins Blade Runner Sequel
As he gears up for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Dave Bautista is taking on another high-profile sequel. He is joining for the untitled follow-up to Blade Runner, which stars Ryan Gosling, Harrison Ford and Robin Wright. As was the case with Wright’s casting last week, there are no details on Bautista’s character.
Freeform Orders ‘Marvel’s Cloak And Dagger’ Series
Disney is expanding its Marvel TV. Production company Freeform has ordered a new series with Marvel’s Cloak and Dagger, a straight-to-series live-action drama based on the Marvel characters, which is aimed at young adults.
Marvel’s Cloak and Dagger follows the interracial romance between Tandy Bowen and Tyrone Johnson, two teenagers from very different backgrounds, who find themselves burdened and awakened to newly acquired superpowers while falling in love. Tandy can emit light daggers and Tyrone has the ability to engulf others in darkness.
Sherlock Season 4 starts filming
Filming has begun in the UK on the much anticipated Season 4 of the BBC One/Masterpiece drama Sherlock. Three new episodes are afoot promising “laughter, tears, shocks, surprises and extraordinary cases,” the networks said today. Benedict Cumberbatch returns as the high-functioning sociopath alongside Martin Freeman as Dr. John Watson and Amanda Abbington as his wife Mary. The latter two will be preparing for the arrival of their first child.
Cumberbatch said he’s “genuinely thrilled to be back filming Sherlock with all the cast and crew. I can’t wait for everyone to see season four.
https://deadline.com/2016/04/sherlock-season-four-starts-filming-climax-cumberbatch-1201732842/
That’s it for Geek New
We’ll move on to trailers of the week.
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In our Trailers of the Week section we discuss the best trailers that came out this week. Remember you can watch the full trailers at geekbytespodcast.com; We begin this week with…
Rogue One
Rogue One is a Star Wars prequel set right before Episode 4. It is the story of the Rebel team sent to steal the plans for the first Death Star. The latest trailer shows a dirty dozen style team infiltrating and battling the Empire. Jinn Asa, a rebel among rebels, leads the team. We also see a bounty hunter, a samurai, a pilot, and Forest Whitaker as a veteran fighter.
The BFG
Finally, a full trailer has been released for The BFG. It was worth the wait. The mostly CG film has tons of heart and has me wanting to be swept away by a kind giant.
Synopsis: A girl named Sophie encounters the Big Friendly Giant who, despite his intimidating appearance, turns out to be a kindhearted soul who is considered an outcast by the other giants because unlike his peers refuses to eat boys and girls.
In theaters July 1st.
Swiss Army Man
This is a weird, charming mash up of Castaway and Weekend at Bernie’s. We love it! Harry Potter, aka Daniel Radcliff, is a corpse found by a lost traveler that he uses to survive. While this sounds kina gross, the trailer shows that corpse Daniel Radcliff starts talking, gaining abilities, and even a fart based rocket power.
Release date: June 17, 2016 (USA)
Blackway
An ex-logger comes to the aid of a woman who returns to her hometown in the Pacific Northwest and finds herself harassed and stalked by a former cop turned crime lord.
The trailer is surprisingly suspenseful. It’s Ray Liotta versus Anthony Hopkins and Julia Stiles on June 10th, 2016.
That’s it for Trailers of the Week
Now onto our Discussion section
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In our discussion section we talk about anything we’re interested in this week, and this week we’ll begin our discussion with…
Wrestlemania 32 – The Superbowl of wrestling
AT&T Stadium in Dallas, Texas with over 100,000. Best social media presence of any Wrestlemania in my memory. I saw reports from the Verge, ESPN, the AV club, and of course comments all across Twitter and Facebook.
Highlights
- Shaquille O’Neal versus the Big show – 7’1” versus 7’
- Return of The Rock and John Cena
- The League met its match with the legendary trio of "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, Mick Foley and Shawn Michaels
Thanks for listening.
For the Geek Bytes Podcast I’m Ramon Mejia and I’m Edgar Acosta. Now Go Geek out about something.
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Music Credits
"Happy Bee", "Movement Proposition", "Theme for Harold (var.3) ", "Take the Lead"
Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/