StarTrek
Latest
What's on your HDTV: 'OITNB,' 'Star Trek' 4K Blu-ray, NBA Finals
The NHL has awarded its Stanley Cup, and this week the NBA Finals will wrap up -- maybe even tonight. Later this week Netflix has season four of Orange is the New Black ready for your bingeing pleasure, as new summer series come to TV like Uncle Buck, Wrecked and Guilt. The last two Star Trek films have been remastered for Ultra HD Blu-ray, however we don't have many new games while all the developers are busy this week at E3. Look after the break to check out each day's highlights, including trailers and let us know what you think (or what we missed).
'Star Trek Bridge Crew' puts you inside a VR starship this fall
While the news leaked before Ubisoft's big E3 showcase, the games company brought together several Star Trek alumni (from all over the series) to play-test its debut VR title Star Trek Bridge Crew, which will be coming to Oculus, Vive and PS VR systems this fall. (Alas, no concrete date just yet.) The game involves collaborating with other players to ensure your starship runs smoothly and fight off enemies or simply escape from them. According to the teaser, a captain and tactical and engineering players will all work together, communicating what each person has to do, which looks like it could descend into cries of "Maximum warp!" and "Shields up!" -- but if LeVar Burton is in the room, then, heck, why not? Take a closer look after the break.
The first 'Star Trek' VR game arrives this fall
If you're a Star Trek fan, the odds are that your dream game (outside of a Holodeck) involves helming a starship as if you were really on the bridge. Well, you're about to get your wish: Ubisoft has teased Star Trek: Bridge Crew, the sci-fi series' first-ever virtual reality game. The title is set in JJ Abrams' Star Trek universe, and has you taking on the captain, engineer, helm or tactical stations of the remarkably Enterprise-like starship Aegis as it resettles what's left of the Vulcan population. Think of it as a very sophisticated VR version of Spaceteam -- you have to coordinate with the rest of your crew to explore the galaxy and fight off enemies.
Paramount will end its lawsuit against 'Star Trek' fan film
Lawyers from Paramount/CBS have been pursuing the makers of a crowdfunded Star Trek fan film, Axanar, for months, but according to JJ Abrams, they're finally going to back off. Abrams made the announcement at an event last night on the studio's movie lot where the studio dedicated a street to the memory of Leonard Nimoy, premiered the second trailer(which you can watch below) for Star Trek: Beyond, showed about 15 minutes of footage from the movie, and announced plans to screen the flick on an outdoor IMAX screen at Comic-Con.
CBS All Access' second show is a 'The Good Wife' spinoff
At CBS' Upfronts presentation it had some news about its All Access subscription streaming service to reveal. Beyond the flash of a new logo and a brief teaser trailer for the Bryan Fuller-produced Star Trek show that will try to lure subscribers in January, it also revealed its second exclusive show will be a spinoff of the recently-concluded The Good Wife. The new show will arrive in the spring of 2017 featuring actresses Christine Baranski and Cush Jumbo reprising characters from the original.
Celebrate 50 years of 'Star Trek' at NYC's Intrepid museum
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of boldly going where no-one has gone before, the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space museum in NYC will host "Star Trek: The Starfleet Academy Experience." From July 9 to October 31, you too can explore the 26th century brought to life by modern-day tech like Leap Motion and voice recognition.
'No Man's Sky' lore comes from classic sci-fi and comics
"We always said we shouldn't have a narrative, but we should have a lore," says No Man's Sky mastermind Sean Murray. And honestly, with a procedurally generated universe that's staggeringly gigantic, it'd be impossible to create a traditional video game story with things like cutscenes. But to make the world feel more alive and less like a giant empty sandbox, Murray says the team at Hello Games turned to artist Dave Gibbons of Watchmen fame and scribe James Swallow who worked on the writing for Star Trek and Deus Ex: Human Revolution.
Recommended Reading: Is Instagram ruining our vacations?
Instagram Is Ruining Vacation Mary Pilon, Backchannel Instagram users, myself included, share many daily activities with the social channel's filter-driven photography and videos. That habit is only amplified when we go on vacation, nabbing photos of sights, meals and more. Is our desire to snap a picture actually ruining our ability to tune out the world and relax when we're away? It sure seems like it.
The last two 'Star Trek' films are coming home in 4K June 14th
While you and BB-8 cuddle with a 1080p Star Wars: The Force Awakens Blu-ray, Paramount is readying its first Ultra HD Blu-ray releases with Star Trek and Star Trek: Into Darkness. We're not sure that the extra resolution, HDR or Atmos will actually make either film better than you already thought, but they will certainly be better looking and sounding than ever. According to the press release, both have been digitally remastered with new 4K UHD transfers, unlike mastered-in-2K movies like Mad Max: Fury Road. If you're curious, a list of mastered in 4K (or higher) Ultra HD Blu-ray discs is being maintained here.
A 'Star Trek' Holodeck in Steam VR was inevitable
Let's face it: if you grew up watching Star Trek: The Next Generation, you probably see virtual reality as just a stepping stone toward the Holy Grail of simulation, the Holodeck. It's no surprise, then, that Reddit users illogical_cpt and Bradllez have found a way to bring the Holodeck to VR. Thanks in part to work from Psyrek, they built a Holodeck grid for Steam VR that serves as an extremely appropriate background while you're between games. It's not going to be as vast or immersive as the "real" thing, and you'll need a compatible headset (like the HTC Vive) to even give this a try. Still, it's a pleasant reminder that science fiction and reality are much closer than they used to be.
Paramount says 'Star Trek' fan film's Klingon violates copyright
Ever since CBS and Paramount Pictures sued the makers of the Star Trek fan film Axanar, fans have been wondering: what alleged copyright violations were so onerous that lawyers had to get involved? Unfortunately, the studios are more than happy to explain. They've filed a modified complaint that details what they believe the crowdfunded project is doing to run afoul of copyright law... and some of the claims aren't going to rub enthusiasts the right way. For one thing, it believes that speaking Klingon is a violation -- yes, just shouting "qapla'" could get you in trouble. There have been concerns that Paramount might crack down on Klingon use before, but this is the first time it's taking action.
Explore the skies with this new USS Enterprise drone
At this year's Toy Fair Spin Master showed off its latest drone creation: a USS Enterprise quadcopter. It may not travel at warp speed, but it'll still arrive right on time for Star Trek's 50th anniversary this fall.
ICYMI: Ripples in Spacetime, brain jolts to learn and more
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-917098{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-917098, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-917098{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-917098").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: Researchers at the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory confirmed Einstein's theory that ripples in the fabric of spacetime do, in fact, exist. They spotted the gravitational waves made when two black holes collided.
New 'Star Trek' has a showrunner from the final frontier
Star Trek fans have had a tumultuous last few months. But it seems that amid the recent ups and downs (a fan film getting shut down by CBS and Paramount most definitely qualifies as the latter), news of the upcoming streaming exclusive finding a showrunner with Trek in his blood should ideally register as a win. Whether you count yourself among the Rodenberry faithful or are just a TV addict, the name should ring a bell: Bryan Fuller. He wrote for Deep Space Nine and Voyager in addition to working outside of the final frontier where he's been a scribe and executive producer on the criminally short-lived Hannibal.
'Star Trek' owners sue to stop a crowdfunded fan film
If there's one thing that CBS Studios and Paramount Pictures are good at, it's showing how much contempt they have for Star Trek fans. The co-owners of the sci-fi property have shoved a proud middle finger at the creators of a fan-made film, demanding that the project be shut down. Axanar, unlike other revival efforts, was the subject of a crowdfunding campaign that raised more than a million dollars across Indiegogo and Kickstarter. It was pitched as the first fan film to hire professionals who'd worked on the show behind the camera, hence the need for serious financial backing.
Google experimented with a Star Trek-style Communicator badge
Did you ever watch Picard's Star Trek and hope that someday, we too might communicate with just the touch of a lapel-worn gadget? No, we didn't really, either -- Bluetooth headsets quickly poured water on that fire. But, Amit Singhal, senior vice president and software engineer at Google did, and the company even made a prototype. In a report in Time, Singhal describes the never-before-known wearable as a simple Bluetooth device controlled by touch, just like on the show. Once activated, your voice command would be passed to your handset, with feedback delivered by either a small speaker, or headphones.
ICYMI: Trekkie health scanner, car vending machine and more
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-924600{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-924600, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-924600{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-924600").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: A vending machine for cars (by Carvana) just launched in Nashville, removing the necessity of talking to a car salesman -- or anyone, really -- before driving off in a new ride. Stanford engineers made a health scanner device that can detect a tumor in your body based on the energy vibration that it sends out. And two crowdfunded devices aim to help snoring sleepers put a sock in it. The first, Nora, comes with a pillow that deflates or otherwise moves, to reposition the offending sleeper's head. The other, Silent Partner, is a nose wearable that allegedly creates a quiet zone around the sleeper by sending out canceling sound waves.
Recommended Reading: The gadgets and cocktails of James Bond
Recommended Reading highlights the best long-form writing on technology and more in print and on the web. Some weeks, you'll also find short reviews of books that we think are worth your time. We hope you enjoy the read. The (James) Bond Index Bloomberg Business With the latest installment in the Bond collection debuting this weekend, Bloomberg Business offers a guide to the drinks, gadgets, clothes and one-liners of the secret agent. The interactive piece is not only a handy reference tool, but it's rather fun to scroll through, too. It's certainly a must-read for the Bond trivia nerds.
I'm not paying CBS to watch 'Star Trek' online
Yesterday I got the best birthday present a lifelong Trekkie could hope for: Star Trek is coming back to television -- kinda, sorta. It's been over a decade since Star Trek ended TV production and, while fans have had two successful films to enjoy (or despise), corporate infighting between CBS and Viacom has kept the franchise from its rightful home on the small screen. However, it looks like the two companies have hugged it out with the news that a new Star Trek series will return to "television" in early 2017. And while this would normally be cause for celebration among Trekkies, the announcement doesn't come without a few caveats in terms of who's making it and how it's being distributed: The show will be produced by the team in charge of the recent films, and it will only be available via CBS' subscription streaming service, CBS All Access. It's a bit of a no-win situation (a Kobayashi Maru scenario, if you will) for die-hard fans who wanted to see Star Trek back on television. Star Trek may be back, but it comes at a cost: both figurative and literal.
'Star Trek' (kinda) returns to TV in January 2017
CBS has announced that it's going to make a brand new Star Trek TV series that'll begin airing in January 2017. The corporation has shoved a big pile of money in the face of Star Trek and Into Darkness co-writer Alex Kurtzman to be in charge of this new series. If you're eagerly soldering your TV's remote to make sure it can never be switched away from your local CBS affiliate, we'd suggest holding off for just a second. That's because only the first episode or two will air on broadcast TV, with the rest of the series becoming an exclusive for CBS' homegrown online subscription service, All Access.
