Reading Rainbow
Latest
'Reading Rainbow' will return in 2022 with an interactive component
After more than 15 years off the air, Reading Rainbow will return to TV in early 2022.
Joystiq Weekly: Bleszinski returns, Escape Dead Island, WildStar impressions and more
Welcome to Joystiq Weekly, a "too long; didn't read" of each week's biggest stories, reviews and original content. Each category's top story is introduced with a reactionary gif, because moving pictures aren't just for The Daily Prophet. Well, we did it. We used a ton of gun powder to make pretty shapes and colors in the sky, and we gorged on grilled food as it happened. Our self-appointed roles as Master Pyrotechnicians (read: the person hogging the lighter near a mound of fireworks) also left us without burns, so we're not sure the holiday could have possibly gone better. Just because the United States and Canada celebrated birthdays this week doesn't mean that everyone took time off though – heck, Cliff Bleszinski is about to end his extended vacation from the gaming industry! We've got details on his return, your last-minute hope to get in on the Evolve alpha, impressions from WildStar, a glimpse at Escape Dead Island and more, all waiting for you after the break!
$5.4M pot of gold at the end of Reading Rainbow Kickstarter
Take a look, it's in a book. Oh no, wait, you'll have to look on the internet if you want to find the Reading Rainbow Kickstarter, which has closed at $5,408,916, shattering its $1,000,000 goal. In addition to utterly destroying its base goal, cresting the $5 million mark satisfies a stretch goal that will see the Reading Rainbow app brought to video game consoles "like Xbox and PlayStation." The Reading Rainbow project, which began last month, crossed its initial $1 million goal within 11 hours of launching (inspiring a tearful speech from LeVar Burton himself). Reading Rainbow is now one of the top five most successful Kickstarters of all time, alongside the Pebble smartwatch, Veronica Mars, PonoMusic and, of course, the Ouya. All of the top Kickstarters partnered with Reading Rainbow to produce special rewards, including a limited edition "Butterfly-in-the-Sky Blue" Ouya. Now that the $5 million mark has been reached, the Reading Rainbow app is destined for Ouya as well (limited edition or no). [Image: Reading Rainbow]
Reading Rainbow reboot coming to Apple TV
Following a hugely successful Kickstarter campaign, LeVar Burton's Reading Rainbow will soon hit an Apple TV near you. The original series aired on PBS from 1983 to 2006, promoting reading and exploration to countless kids and young people. LeVar and Co. will now use proceeds from their Kickstarter campaign -- their original goal of US$1 million was dwarfed by the $5 million they took in -- to launch the show on Apple TV, Android, Xbox and more. Burton says that, in 2014, television isn't the best fit for the project. "...in 2014 TV is not that place anymore. Now, we're trying to reach a new generation of digital natives." The show, when launched (no date has been given) will be aimed at kids aged three to nine years. That's absolutely a demographic that has never experienced life without ubiquitous access to the Internet. I loved Reading Rainbow when I was a kid, especially the "field trips." Good luck to LeVar and everyone involved. They've got a massive project ahead of them.
Butterfly-in-the-sky blue Ouya fills out Reading Rainbow Kickstarter's color spectrum
Here's a collaboration we didn't see coming, and not just because we don't wear a VISOR like Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge: Ouya has partnered with LeVar Burton and Reading Rainbow to produce a sky-blue limited edition Ouya console, 500 of which will be signed by Burton. Ouya's offer is part of a Kickstarter celebration; now that the Reading Rainbow campaign has joined the top five projects of all-time, the four other most-funded projects are offering their own collaborative efforts. Alongside Ouya, Reading Rainbow has partnered with Pono Music, Pebble Watches and the Veronica Mars Movie Project. To get your hands on a signed version of the special Ouya, you'll need to back the Reading Rainbow Kickstarter at the $250 level. You can also get an un-signed version as an add-on reward for $175, or donate an Ouya to a school of your choice for $150. The Reading Rainbow Kickstarter campaign concludes at 3 p.m. EST, July 2. [Image: Ouya]
Reading Rainbow may fly twice as high on PlayStation, Xbox
While folklore might suggest a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow, it might actually be your PlayStation or Xbox. Reading Rainbow, the PBS children's series that recently found new life - and new funding - via Kickstarter has announced a new $5 million stretch goal that will bring the series to home game consoles. "When we reach our next goal of $5,000,000, we'll also be able to bring the service to mobile phones, Android, game consoles like XBOX and PlayStation, and set-top boxes like AppleTV and ROKU," updated text on the program's Kickstarter page reads. Unfortunately, we're not sure which PlayStation or Xbox systems LeVar Burton and crew are referencing, but seeing as how the crowdfunding campaign has already hit $3 million, it might not be long before we find out. Hopefully we gamers can keep it together should Mr. Burton and his program appear via our consoles. But we know it can be hard meeting your childhood heroes. [Image: Reading Rainbow]
Barely Related: Reading Rainbow makes big bucks
Are you ready, weekend? Because we're coming for you. Welcome to Barely Related, a conversational Friday column that presents the non-gaming news stories that we, the Joystiq staff, have been talking about over the past week. And no, we're not stopping our focus on industry and gaming news. Think of this as your casual weekly recap of interesting (and mostly geeky) news, presented just in time to fill your brain with things to discuss at all of those weekend shindigs. Grab a fresh drink, lean back in your armchair, and get ready to talk nerdy with us.
LeVar Burton on Google Glass: 'It disturbed me'
"It disturbed me. I was skeptical... [and] I'm a person that's very open to technology." That's the reaction LeVar Burton, the man best known from Reading Rainbow and Star Trek: The Next Generation, first had when encountering Google Glass backstage at Engadget Expand. Burton, a self-described edutainment pioneer, acknowledges the disruptive power new technologies can have on media and culture -- after all, he did help transform television into a worthy educational tool/babysitter with his PBS program. But even with that storied success, and his company's current inroads into digital with an iPad Reading Rainbow application, Burton still had a "knee-jerk" response when confronted with Glass. Although his celebrity status and the resulting paranoia could have something to do with it.
Live from Expand: LeVar Burton
For more than 20 years, LeVar Burton helped kids discover the magic of books through the beloved PBS show Reading Rainbow. Both Burton and the program have returned, albeit in a form more befitting of the early 21st century. The actor-turned-educator joins us on stage to discuss how technology can be used to expand young minds. November 9, 2013 1:15:00 PM EST Follow all of Engadget's Expand coverage live from New York City right here!
Re-Reading Rainbow: an interview with LeVar Burton
LeVar Burton has to take a moment. He pauses, dabs his eyes with a tissue, taking it all in: the washed-out white room, over-exposed by the sun, filled with journalists, industry reps and friends in rows of folding chairs, red, orange, yellow, green and blue. Large balloons hang from the corners of the room, dressed up like hot air balloons, carrying small, empty baskets. A guitar sits next to an amp off the corner of the stage while the Reading Rainbow logo beams on a flatscreen monitor, largely unchanged since its heyday a quarter-century ago. Burton, too, appears mostly unchanged since those days, aside from closer-cropped hair, more neatly manicured facial hair and a smart, mustard suit jacket. Reading Rainbow launches iPad app, we go hands-on The Engadget Show 34: LeVar Burton and weather balloons over Alaska There's plenty to be emotional about, of course, hitting the stage on the tail of an introduction by producer Mark Wolfe, who calls Burton, "my best friend." The return of Reading Rainbow - now in the form of an iPad app - has been a long time coming, the beloved children's series having been largely MIA since being pulled from the airwaves in 2009, after a 26-year run. "This is two years in the making," Burton begins in his familiarly gentle cadence as we sit down for an interview roughly an hour later, "and I'm really just overwhelmed with the response. It's like making a movie. You're just so close to it and you sometimes lose perspective, you can't see the forest for the trees, that sort of thing. There's so much that's gone into it, so much work, so much sweat, so much blood." A lot, certainly, has gone into the launch, Burton singling out theme song composer Steve Horelick and singer Tina Fabrique in the audience. "It's my first time meeting her in-person," he explains, extending a hand to bring her up on stage. "Butterfly in the sky," she begins, as though not a single day had passed in the last two and a half decades that she didn't wake up singing that line. "I can go twice as high," Burton joins in. By "take a look, it's in a book," nearly everyone in attendance adds to the chorus. It's a surreal sight placed up against the standard fare of tech press conferences, where bloggers elbow one another to shoot tablets on stands behind bulletproof plexiglass, and before the crowd finishes singing "a Reading Rainbow," Burton's eyes aren't the only misty ones in the house.
Distro Issue 48 arrives with the Nexus Q, Levar Burton and more
After a brief respite to recover from last week's hot dog and homemade ice cream comas, our tablet mag is back in action. Getting our e-publication affairs back in order, Brian Heater sits down with Levar Burton to chat about Reading Rainbow, a new iPad app and Star Trek gadgetry. Hitting on another bit of childhood nostalgia for many of us at Engadget HQ, Alexis Santos drops by NASA's Launch Control Center (LCC) for a tour after more than three decades of operation. On the review front, we roll up our sleeves and put both the Nexus Q and the Samsung Series 9 through the wringer while offering some in-depth impressions. "Eyes-On" takes a peek at the Google booty offered to I/O attendees, "Hands-On" our latest gadget outings and Gaikai's founder admits his reliance on the PowerPoint gods in the Q&A. Don't take our word for it. Snag your copy of the e-magazine with a few clicks on the download links that follow. Distro Issue 48 PDF Distro in the iTunes App Store Distro in the Google Play Store Distro APK (for sideloading) Like Distro on Facebook Follow Distro on Twitter
Reading Rainbow launches iPad app, we go hands-on (video)
The rainbow chairs, miniature hot air balloons and child care at yesterday's Reading Rainbow press event were a welcome change from the standard mood lighting and Adele songs that set the scene for most tech launches these days. Of course, this wasn't just any press event -- this was Reading Rainbow, the eagerly anticipated return of the beloved children's program cancelled by PBS back in 2009 after a 26 year run. Host LeVar Burton was clearly emotional when he hit the stage, dabbing tears before discussing the two-year journey that culminates today with the release of the Reading Rainbow iPad App. Burton gave a quick demo of the app on stage (including a little technical hiccup, resulting in the sly TNG nod, "I'm not an engineer, I just play one on television"), and after a brief, misty-eyed rendition of the Reading Rainbow theme song by its original singer, Tina Fabrique, the walls behind us opened up to reveal a group of kids sitting on beanbag chairs around a table, putting the app through its paces. We also managed to get some hands-on time with it, without having to elbow any small children in the process (not that we weren't willing to do what it took to get the story). Check out some impressions and video after the break.%Gallery-158604%
Reading Rainbow app coming tonight, will be subscription-based (updated)
If you're right around my age (a couple years past 30), you'll probably also have fond memories of watching Levar Burton's Reading Rainbow program on PBS all those years ago. Burton, in addition with his work on Star Trek, has remained a pretty well-known figure for both Trekkies and those in education. Late last year, he announced that Reading Rainbow would be coming back as an iPad app, and the app is arriving on the App Store this evening. The app isn't quite live yet as of this writing, but it will be a subscription affair for kids. For $9.99 a month (or slightly cheaper if you buy in six-month installments), the app will deliver books, interactive educational content, and other videos and information. Some of the books included (which have been supplied by a number of various educational partners) will be read by Burton himself, while some will be performed by other speakers as well (just like the original TV show). It might be a bit much for simple nostalgia, but if you have kids currently looking for this kind of content, it sounds like a great deal. The Reading Rainbow app is set to go live later this evening. Update: The app's now out, so head over to the App Store and check it out!
Reading Rainbow roaring back with RRKidz iPad app, 'disruptive' ebook technology in tow
LeVar Burton may best be known 'round these parts for his role in Star Trek, but he'll soon be known as the guy who made childhood reading relevant again. It wasn't that long ago that today's up-and-coming adults were soaking up all sorts of useful knowledge during their summers, glued to a PBS station and doing their darndest to climb inside of mum's CRT television. And now, their kids will be doing likewise -- but with an iPad. Burton has plans to produce an educational RRKidz iOS app that enables readers to "explore topics of interest in a multimedia-rich environment, with voice-over-enhanced children's books, familiar videos of Burton at real-life places, and games." In order to do so, he's planning a "disruptive" technology that'll bolster a conventional PDF book with basic animations, voice-overs and games "in a matter of hours." There's no specific time table on a release, but we're guessing Burton's moving along as usual pace: Mach 5.
Reading Rainbow to be rebooted for iPad
Reading Rainbow, a TV show geared toward encouraging children to read books, aired for over 20 years on PBS before the network's financial troubles forced the show to shut down in 2006. Reading Rainbow is coming back, but in a very next-gen fashion; rather than a TV show, Reading Rainbow will now be an iPad app. According to Fast Company, former Reading Rainbow host LeVar Burton has launched a for-profit venture, RRKidz, that will produce a multimedia twist on Reading Rainbow's old TV format. The venture's first project will be an iPad app. Featuring 300 books at launch, the app will include voiceovers, animation, games, and videos. According to Burton, RRKidz has technology at its disposal that will allow them to enhance a PDF children's book with multimedia content "in a matter of hours." When launched, the app will have a monthly subscription model, which Burton hopes will encourage children to explore more titles. App developers and ebook writers have already discovered that the iPad is an ideal device for getting kids excited about reading, so Reading Rainbow's move to the device is a welcome one.
Enter at Your Own Rift: Pre-launch checklist
I'll just come out and say it: The month or so right before the launch of a highly anticipated MMO is simultaneously ecstasy and agony, full of love and loathing. The waiting sucks, but the anticipation is delicious. The enthusiasm from the community is electric, but the heated emotions can be toxic. The discussion is fascinating, but the know-it-alls are annoying. Personally, I kind of wish we could be at launch-plus-one month right now, just so that the frenzy of insane opinions will have died down and we can just, y'know, play the game without feeling as though we were in the middle of a verbal rugby match. Like any MMO, RIFT's going to have its positives and negatives, but I feel that this launch is going to be something we haven't seen in a long time: a solid, stable MMO that offers up a complete package. That pleases the Justin. Since I can't whip out my magic remote control and fast-forward to April, I propose we do the next best thing. Let's open up our imaginary quest logs and run down a checklist of seven "To Dos" and a few "To Don'ts" to help us prepare for RIFT's release. Planning can be fun! Shut up, it can be!
