Episode 65 – India’s Spaceship and the Evil Captain America
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I’m Ramon Mejia…….and I’m Edgar Acosta
Welcome to another episode of Geek Bytes Podcast.
Today is May 27th, 2016 and this is episode 65 of the podcast.
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 India’s Shuttle Launch, The Pizza Hut Robot, Rumors of New Xbox Ones and Macbooks, The Captain America Controversy, trailers of the week and much much more..
In our Discussion section we’re going to be talking a bit about our interview D. Wolfin, author of the End Online and Chronicles of the Eternal series.
Now let’s Begin our show with Geek News
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Geek News
We begin with…
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.
http://www.theverge.com/2016/5/23/11743096/india-reusable-space-shuttle-launch
New MacBooks coming soon
9to5 Mac reports it has corroborated a research note from KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo about new 13 and 15-inch MacBook pros coming in Q4 from Apple. Kuo says the new MBPs will be thinner and lighter, include Touch ID, and OLED touch bar above the keyboard for the function keys. There will also be metal injection molded hinges USB-C and Thunderbolt. A 13-inch version of the new 12-inch MacBook is also expected.
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.
http://www.engadget.com/2016/05/24/pebble-2-pebble-time-2/
Pepper the Robot works 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.
http://www.engadget.com/2016/05/24/pepper-robot-at-pizza-hut/
Xbox Spinoff rumors
Rumors from Arstechnica report that Microsoft will announce two Xbox spinoffs soon. One will be a $100 streaming stick that can stream games from an Xbox console. Another would be a lunchbox sized device that could stream but also natively play lightweight Windows Store games. Sams and Kotaku both have sources on an Xbox upgrade for next year that would support the Oculus Rift and a GPU that could do 4K and run up to 6 times faster than the current XboxOne.
E3 free
Polygon reports that E3 2016 will host a free 3-day gaming event open to the general public called E3 Live 2016. The event will take place from June 14 to the 16th at 800 West Olympic Boulevard, in Los Angeles and not the LA Convention Center where E3 2016 will be held. The event will have games, live music, dance competitions, demos, exclusive merchandise, and interactive demos. The free tickets are first come first serve. You can register at e3livela.com.
http://www.polygon.com/2016/5/23/11744712/e3-live-2016-event-free-tickets
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.
Angry Birds Soars at Theaters
Deadline reports that movie The Angry Birds Movie topped the charts domestically this weekend. The movie based on the mobile game made $38.1 million this weekend.
https://deadline.com/2016/05/angry-birds-neighbors-2-the-nice-guys-weekend-box-office-1201760146/
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.
http://nerdist.com/netflixs-exclusive-disney-deal-takes-effect-in-september/
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.
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.
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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.
http://www.engadget.com/2016/05/25/pokemon-go-beta-arrives-on-mobile-devices/
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.
http://kotaku.com/sources-no-mans-sky-delayed-1778797365
That’s it for Geek New.
If you like the podcast and want to help support us you can find out all the ways to do so at geekbytespodcast.com/support
Now We’ll move on to trailers of the week.
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…
Finding Dory
The second trailer for Finding Dory just touches us in our special place. The friendly-but-forgetful blue Dory is trying to find her long lost family in this sequel to Finding Nemo. We get to see old characters and new characters help Dory. June 17th this movie will be swimming its way into your heart.
Don't Think Twice
When a member of a popular New York City improv troupe gets a huge break, the rest of the group - all best friends - start to realize that not everyone is going to make it after all.
Starring: Keegan-Michael Key, Gillian Jacobs, and Kate Micucci. In theaters July 22.
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 find interesting that doesn’t fit in with the News section. This week we’re talking about…
Our interview with D. Wolfin author of the End Online series and Chronicle of the Eternal. We had a great interview and I enjoyed talking to immensely. Be sure to check out all his books on Amazon.
http://www.geekbytespodcast.com/reviews/2016/5/26/author-interview-d-wolfin
Book Links:
Chronicle of the Eternal: Volume 1
Website: https://endonline.wordpress.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/drunkenwolfin
Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/D.-Wolfin/e/B00TYY49QY/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1464112928&sr=8-2-ent
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13266643.D_Wolfin
That was just a clip but you can enjoy the full interview in our review section at geekbytespodcast.com
That’s it for the show.
Remember to check out our website, geekbytespodcast.com, for all the links from the podcast and our original content like author interview, reviews, and recommendations.
Thanks for watching and 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/