Episode 98 - Hello CES 2017
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Welcome to episode 98 of Geek Bytes Podcast.
I’m Ramon Mejia and I’m Edgardo 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.
Quick shoutout to Patreon supporters Jay Taylor and Gregg Horlock. Jay has raised his pledge from $3 to $5 a month, and Gregg has pledged $15 a month as a new supporter.
In Geek News this week, we’ll talk about Drew Barrymore’s Zombie show, Carrie Fisher’s Episode IX role, the best and weirdest tech out of CES, and what we’re looking forward to in 2017.
Now let’s Begin our show with Geek News
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Geek News
We begin with…
Drew Barrymore Zombie TV series
Drew Barrymore, star of film and stage, has an upcoming Netflix comedy series, Santa Clarita Diet.
Sheila (Barrymore) and Joel Hammond (played by Timothy Olyphant), are married realtors in the Los Angeles suburb community of Santa Clarita.
In the series premiere, we learn that Sheila goes a “dramatic change” as she dies and comes back as a flesh-eating zombie. It's explained that "while they tend to their open houses and teenage daughter, the couple must sate Sheila’s unbridled id and undead hunger, first with raw meat and, eventually, the human kind."
http://geektyrant.com/news/drew-barrymores-new-netflix-comedy-is-a-zombie-series
Charmed Reboot
The CW is looking to bring back one of the signature drama on predecessor the WB. The network has ordered a script for Charmed, a reimagining of the original Aaron Spelling series. The new show will be set in 1976 and feature a new trio of witches.
https://deadline.com/2017/01/charmed-reboot-series-the-cw-jane-the-virgin-team-1201879231/
Carrie Fisher role in Star Wars VIII and IX
(Spoilers Ahead)
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Fisher was originally supposed to have an even larger role in Episode IX than she will in Episode VIII. The report noted that scenes featuring Leia’s reunion with her brother Luke Skywalker, and her confrontation with her son Kylo Ren were planned to take place in the franchise, though we have no indication just yet of which film will feature either or both of these sequences. It’s possible that the Skywalker reunion was already set for Episode VIII, but that could still mean that we won’t see Leia take on her fallen son.
http://nerdist.com/report-lucasfilm-weighs-leias-star-wars-episode-ix-role/
Thor- Ragnorok plot synopsis leaked
Imprisoned on the other side of the universe, the mighty Thor (Chris Hemsworth) finds himself in a deadly gladiatorial contest that pits him against the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), his former ally and fellow Avenger. Thor's quest for survival leads him in a race against time to prevent the all-powerful Hela (Cate Blanchett) from destroying his home world and the Asgardian civilization.
http://www.ign.com/articles/2017/01/06/thor-ragnarok-plot-synopsis-released
Best Tech of CES
There are the usual suspects at CES this year.
Ford, Toyota, BMW and most other car manufacturers had concepts cars that were self driving and electric.
Thin, Curvy, High Definition TVs
Acer’s 17.6-pound 21-inch Predator 21X laptop will cost $8,999 when it ships in February, among the highlight specs at that price are 64 GB of RAM, dual GTX 1080 video cards, Tobii eye tracking4 512 GB solid state drives in a RAID stripe. The company also introduced the $2599 Predator 17X with only one GTX 1080, and a refresh of the Aspire V Nitro laptops. http://www.theverge.com/2017/1/3/14126754/acer-predator-21-x-gaming-laptop-announced-price-release-date-ces-2017 https://www.engadget.com/2017/01/03/acers-new-gaming-notebooks-wont-break-the-bank/
Nvidia also announced GeForce Now cloud gaming service for Windows and Mac machines. Users will pay by the hour starting at $25 for 20 hours coming in March. http://www.pcmag.com/news/350812/nvidia-puts-ai-in-cars-gaming-rigs-in-the-cloud
Check out Razer's Project Ariana projector
(Play Video 1)
Project Ariana is a prototype video projector meant to provide ambience through Razer’s Chroma system, which also powers those color-shifting lights in Razer’s keyboards and mice. It’s a concept with no price or release date, but we’ll be able to check it out at this year’s CES.
Razer confirmed to us that Project Ariana can be used as an ordinary 4K projector, but that’s not its primary purpose. Instead, it’s supposed to give the impression of extending your monitor across an entire room. It uses a 155-degree fisheye lens and two depth-sensing cameras, which let Ariana detect things like furniture and tweak the image to avoid distortion.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDAfxOFnhZM
Razer’s Project Valarie
(Play Video 2)
Why would you want to buy a laptop that weighs more than 11 pounds? Well, because those are the sacrifices you’ve gotta make for a laptop with three 17-inch screens. Once you open the laptop, you can slide two full-size peripheral screens out from the sides of the main monitor and lock them into place.
These aren’t rinky-dink additional displays, either. Each of the laptop’s three monitors is a 4K IGZO display,
Blink Home Security Camera lasts 2 years on two AA batteries
XT looks fairly similar to its predecessor, maintaining the same square form factor, but sporting a new black coat of paint. The camera also maintains the stated two-year battery life of the earlier version, (using two AAs) quite possibly the simple camera’s strongest selling point.
The new version bring an IP-65 waterproof rating – a necessity for any outdoor product, along with infrared shooting to catch activity at night. The camera shoots in 1080p and uses the same cloud-based software solution as its predecessor, so those who own an indoor Blink can add this to their existing home system.
$119
https://techcrunch.com/2016/12/05/blink-xt/
Weirdest Tech of CES
Kuri Robot Nanny and Security Guard
(Play Video 3)
Mayfield Robotics began taking preorders for its $700 Kuri robot for shipping later in the year. It roams the house with a 1080p camera, dual speakers, 4 mics, WiFi and Bluetooth as well as support for IFTT.
http://fortune.com/2017/01/03/kuri-robot/
Fridge Cam
Tracks expiration dates, and suggests recipes based on food in your fridge.
VR Chanclas
(Play Video 4)
Japanese firm Cerevo is looking to take VR peripherals one step further. The company has revealed a set of VR shoes that let the wearer feel the world through their feet. The idea behind the footwear is to provide more of an immersive experience for those exploring digital worlds by generating the sense of stepping on the ground in virtual spaces (desert, grassland, water etc.)
A.I. Toothbrush
Kolibree announced the Ara toothbrush with embedded AI that analyzes how long you brush and what teeth you hit and sends you an analysis once a week. Preorder for $80, $130 at retail in March.
http://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2017/1/4/14164206/smart-toothbrush-ara-ai-kolibree
Withings and L’Oreal have a WiFi and bluetooth hairbrush with accelerometer and gyroscope to track how much you brush your hair, how hard, and how much hair breakage you inflict. It’s around $200 shipping mid-2017. http://www.theverge.com/ces/2017/1/3/14128510/withings-loreal-smart-wifi-hair-brush-announcedces-2017
Willow's smart breast pumps
(Play Video 5 )
Willow's smart breast pumps are two individual, motorized cups that mothers can slip into their nursing bras and go about other tasks instead of sitting down and waiting till they're done. Wireless, Hands free, On the Go
Smart Underwear- Spartan's radiation-blocking boxers
They claim to keep your manly bits safe from cell phones by incorporating silver fibers that create an electromagnetic shield.
GeniCan makes it easier to build your grocery list through a scanner on your trashcan
(Play Video 6)
Through a partnership with Amazon’s Dash Replenishment Service, GeniCan can also automatically order popular items, like diapers, paper towels, and snacks, once they have been thrown away or recycled. When you run out of a product, you can scan the item before throwing it away to quickly add it to a grocery list. Items without a bar code can also be effortlessly added by holding the item in front of GeniCan for a couple of seconds and using voice recognition technology to instruct the device.
Things most looking forward to in 2017
Most anticipated Games of 2017
http://www.gamesradar.com/new-games-2017/
Ramon:
Mass Effect Andromeda (March 21st)
https://youtu.be/JRStRzbBD_g (video 7)
Horizon Zero Dawn (February 28th)
Persona 5 (April)
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (TBA 2017)
https://youtu.be/vDFZIUdo764 (Video 8)
Prey (TBA 2017) - Sci Fi Space Shooter, hunt aliens
Days Gone (TBA 2017) - Zombie survival shooter2
Detroit: Become Human (TBA 2017) - Detective Rewind
Vampyr (TBA 2017) - Vampire shooter (like vampire masquerade bloodlines??)
Marvel V Capcom Infinity
Red Dead Redemption 2 (TBA 2017)
Movies of 2017 - Pick 2 most looking forward to
https://io9.gizmodo.com/io9s-guide-to-all-the-movies-you-give-a-damn-about-in-2-1790731612
Ramon
Alien: Covenant
https://youtu.be/H0VW6sg50Pk (Video 9)
Star Wars: Episode VIII
Spider-Man: Homecoming
Wonder Woman
Justice League
Thor: Ragnarok
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
Logan
Ghost in the Shell
The Dark Tower
Jake, who is still reeling over the death of his hero dad, a first responder on 9/11 who succumbed to toxic exposure, has a series of terrifying and apocalyptic visions that have made him doubt his own sanity. But when Jake narrowly avoids being abducted by terrifying creatures in human form, he escapes into another world. In this strange new reality, Jake teams with weary and disillusioned hero, Roland Deschain (Elba) roams an Old West-like landscape in search of the dark tower, in the hopes that reaching it will preserve his dying world and avenge himself against his age-old nemesis the Man in Black (McConaughey).
Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets
That’s it for the show
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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/