Oct 31
An outbreak of fungal meningitis has been linked to steroid shots for back pain. The medication, made by a specialty pharmacy in Massachusetts, has been recalled.
Latest numbers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:
Oct 31
Though the full extent of the damage caused by Hurricane Sandy is still being assessed, it appears that TV production in New York is slowly starting to resume. According to The Hollywood Reporter, a number of NYC-based studios are reopening their production offices as of Wednesday, October 31, and trying to reschedule filming that had to be postponed as a result of the storm.
Sandy had a disruptive effect both behind the scenes and on-air, with a number of networks preempting new episodes in favor of repeats or news specials.
According to THR, Steiner Studios — home of hotly anticipated midseason dramas “The Carrie Diaries” and “The Following” — escaped the storm “unscathed,” while a Warner Bros. spokesperson confirmed that the studio’s other dramas, including “Person of Interest,” “666 Park Avenue,” pilot “The Secret Lives of Husbands and Wives” and midseason drama “Golden Boy,” were reopening their production offices Wednesday.
Read More…
More on Hurricane Sandy 2012
Oct 31
It should be pretty obvious by this point that Halo is a huge franchise, but today Microsoft is giving us an idea of just how huge it actually is. According to the company, the Halo franchise has hit 46 million sales worldwide, which certainly isn’t anything to scoff at. Those 46 million sales have generated a whopping $3 billion in revenue, so don’t expect Microsoft to lay off the franchise anytime soon.
$3 billion in revenue might seem a little on the low side for a popular series that has been running for more than a decade (especially when held up against Call of Duty‘s insane numbers), but it’s important to remember that Halo has been exclusive to just one console for its entire run. When everything has been tallied up, Microsoft says that players have created 120 million pieces of content – maps, screenshots, machinima, gameplay videos – and the Halo community has spent a staggering 5 billion hours playing one Halo game or another on Xbox Live.
These numbers will probably begin another significant climb next week, when Halo 4 is released to the eager masses. If we’re not counting Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, which was an HD remake of the very first Halo game, players have been waiting since 2010′s Halo: Reach for a new entry in the series. Many are interested in seeing what 343 Industries can do with the Halo universe, but some are worried that 343 might not be able to deliver on the same scale that Bungie did.
Microsoft has to tread carefully moving forward, because fans are understandably hesitant about a Halo game that isn’t made by Bungie. To tell the truth, we’re pretty excited for Halo 4, and the best part is that we don’t much longer to wait before it arrives – Halo 4 will be launching next Tuesday, November 6. Are you picking it up on launch day, or are you going to wait for the reviews to come in?
Halo series tops 46 million sales worldwide is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Oct 31
It’s time for the directors and writers to chime in on the idea that Star Wars Episode 7, that taking place in the storyline after the first 6, will be made and released in 2015. This news came this week concurrently with the fact that George Lucas had sold the entirety of LucasFilm (his own production company) to Disney along with the rights to Star Wars itself. Lucas will remain part of the universe as a creative consultant, and the 7th, 8th, and 9th movies have been confirmed all at once – several big names in the film industry have commented in the short time since this announcement was made.
It was none other than Robert Rodriguez who made the comment about how quickly the film needed to be made. The excitement that many current big-names in directing and writing are feeling is a direct result of them having been draw into the industry originally by the first trilogy of Star Wars films. Rodriguez is certainly of age to remember the explosive nature of the first time Star Wars came into our universe.
“What an amazing world and legacy George Lucas has created — and it needs to continue in capable hands. I do think Disney is the best studio for the job and the fact that they brought in Kathleen Kennedy? I can’t imagine a better scenario. And 2015 can’t get here fast enough.” – Rodriguez
Kathleen Kennedy was up until now second in command at LucasFilm, and she’ll be in charge of operations now once the company is owned by Disney. Director J.J. Abrams had similar feelings about the situation, having once noted that it was difficult to pull Star Trek out into a major motion picture now in the present while Star Wars was still big, saying now that he’s pumped: “Part of me? Thrilled. Part of me? Terrified. Most of me? Thrillified.”
Disney also acquired Marvel Comics back in 2008, and since its acquisition made several films possible: Iron Man, Iron Man 2, The Incredible Hulk, Captain America, Thor, and The Avengers. Director of Iron Man Jon Favreau spoke up about the situation as well, noting that “The idea of another trilogy that further shrouds the Force in mystery as its secrets are lost to time – that’s extremely compelling. “I want so bad for it to be good. Can you imagine?”
We’ll be waiting too – and SlashGear will be running with no lack of insight on the goings-on inside LucasFilm and Disney as the next three years pass before Star Wars Episode 7 – prepare yourselves, readers!
NOTE: The image at the head of this post is a section of the cover art for Heir to the Empire, one of many possible next-episode storylines that will be followed by the ongoing Star Wars saga. Read it today!
[via Entertainment Weekly]
Star Wars Episode 7 “can’t get here fast enough” is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Oct 31
With Microsoft’s latest operating system officially official now, we can certainly expect a massive wave of Windows 8-tailored peripherals to be ready to meet most consumer needs. Naturally, Korean electronics giant LG is expected to be one of many manufacturers leading the way, and thus it’s no surprise the outfit has announced its Touch 10 ET83 monitor. According to the Optimus G maker, this 23-inch, touchscreen-enabled IPS panel will be a perfect choice for folks utilizing Windows 8, allowing them to take full advantage of Redmond’s hefty implementation of gesture-based controls within the OS. The Touch 10’s set to be available in Korea in November (mum’s the word on pricing), while availability in other markets around the globe is expected to be sometime shortly thereafter.
Continue reading LG announces 23-inch Touch 10 monitor with Windows 8 optimization
Filed under: Displays, Misc, LG
LG announces 23-inch Touch 10 monitor with Windows 8 optimization originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 31 Oct 2012 17:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Oct 31
French mobile computer maker Archos announced a new tablet today, and it seems like a low end-affair, sporting Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, a dual-core processor of unknown origin, and 8GB of expandable storage. But what may be the most interesting part is that the Archos 80 Cobalt features a 8-inch (7.85-inch panel), 1024×768 pixel display, which, hey, is larger and lower resolution than either the Nexus 7 or the Kindle Fire HD. Sound familiar? It’s the same size and resolution as Apple’s new iPad Mini screen. (more…)
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Archos 80 Cobalt Android tablet announced, Archos has more ideas for new generation of Android tablets,
Oct 31
Here’s something to do if you can’t get enough Halloween: go to Google, search for your favorite scary movie, and watch the bats fly. Not content with an interactive Google Doodle on the front page today, it has also thrown in a fun easter egg: if you search for a term that brings up the Google knowledge graph box, three bats will perch and fly away when your search results come up. It’s not perfect–I searched for Evil Dead 2, one of the finest horror movies of all time, and there wasn’t a knowledge graph box and there weren’t bats. It also didn’t work for any Chucky-related search. However, it worked for I Know What You Did Last Summer, The Shining, and a whole host of other undiscovered search terms. See what the most obscure horror movie you can get it to show up for at Google.
When you do the same thing over at Bing, your screen will start bleeding.
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Google Doodle Shows Off Star Trek With Cute Animations, Android secret codes revealed,
Oct 31
Nexgen Skins officially launches with custom 3D coverings for smart devices
Posted in: Today's ChiliEarlier this year we happened upon a group that had a completely wild idea for protective skins for smart devices of all kinds: customizable 3D graphics that literally change the way you feel your day-to-day technology. Now Nexgen Skins is ready to launch for real, bringing on a “spare no cost” mentality for the next generation of gadget users. The folks at Nexgen Skins are now happy to announce that they’re officially ready to take orders and make custom-designed 3D skins for a massive amount of devices: everything from your MacBook to your HTC smartphone and back out to your massive desktop machine.
At the moment, Nexgen Skins is working with mostly Apple products outside of the smartphone world, this including iMac, Thunderbolt displays, and even the Apple TrackPad. They are however bringing on skins for the Barnes & Noble NOOK, Amazon Kindle, Samsung tablets, and the iButton by Daulphinz too! Inside the smartphone universe, all bets are off – they’re even making skins for Palm devices.
These skins are able to provide you with a tactile feel to your devices not available in any other protective solution, and aid in shock absorption with thicker material than most other “skin” protective groups – especially if you get one of the really thick designs. You can customize your order or you can select from one of the many pre-made designs they’ve got ready in the lab. Utterly odd they are: Gothic Heiress, Alligator, La Blue Girl, as well as some really fine looking bits like Carbon Fibre and Hardwood.
Have a peek at our talk with Nexgen from CTIA earlier this year:
You can pick your own skin up right this minute over at Nexgen Skins and/or create your own customized skin with their lovely customizer. If you’ve got a device they don’t have, be sure to let them know as well, and get pumped up about the possibility of putting a giant 3D gopher face on the back of your Android device. It’s going to be fabulous!
Nexgen Skins officially launches with custom 3D coverings for smart devices is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Oct 31
Apple releases sales numbers, but none of the major Android manufacturers do, so market share comparisons–especially of the tablet market–are hard to do. Which is why it was interesting when Asus executive David Chang let this goodie slip to the Wall Street Journal:
“At the beginning, [Nexus 7 shipments] was, for instance, 500K units a month, then maybe 600, 700K. This latest month, it was close to 1 million.”
Wow! One million Nexus 7 tablets sold in a month–that’s a lot, but nothing compared to Apple’s 100 million iPads sold. From Chang’s context, it’s difficult to know whether this figure refers to tablets shipped or whether it refers to tablets sold. Shipping counts are often used to inflate and conflate sales numbers: Asus may have shipped a million tablets, but 900,000 could be languishing on shelves. Still, that’s an impressive number, and probably makes the Nexus 7 the most widely adopted Android tablet–except for the Kindle Fire, which, of course, we have no idea how many have sold either.
Google’s spokesperson said the company hasn’t released official sales figures.
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Google’s Nexus 7 tablet reportedly selling nearly 1 million units every month, Chromium OS Nexus 7 port,
Oct 31
The Samsung Galaxy Note II is coming to a carrier near you soon, and one fact that seems to have slipped under the radar for many is that it comes with not just a massive display, but a gaming-ready quad-core Exynos processor as well. Samsung’s own Exynos quad-core architecture inside this phablet unit makes for a fluid experience only otherwise available on Android with the LG Optimus G or the LG Nexus 4, both of which use Qualcomm’s quad-core processor Snapdragon S4 Pro. Let’s have a peek at what Samsung’s double-punch of both the chassis and the chipset made by them for you.
Of course there’s always the international flavor of the HTC One X with the NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad-core processor under the hood, but that device trades its motor in for a dual-core Snapdragon when it comes over the sea to AT&T. So here it is: the Galaxy Note II, with what may very well be the most powerful set of innards in a smartphone in the USA. This is the Galaxy Note II working with the game Asphalt 7: Heat.
You’ll see not just relatively swift loading times here, but undeniably fluid and lag-free transitions as well as gameplay throughout the race. This game is a racing game primarily, but also has many quick transitions between live-action gaming and cut-scenes as you crash into walls or crush your opponents into those walls to advance. The Samsung Galaxy Note II makes sure there’s no waiting to matter what you’re getting into.
We’ve got a full review of the Samsung Galaxy Note II as it appears here in the USA as well as a review of the Samsung Galaxy Note II international edition. They’re both essentially the same, as it were, with different apps and some different features included on each different iteration. The benchmark results we’ve been seeing with this device, again regardless of carrier, have been suitably impressive as well: it’s only competition has been the LG Optimus G (see our full review here) – but of course that device has a smaller display, too.
Judge for yourself with a bonus video of the LG Optimus G playing Asphalt 7: Heat as well! It’s a fight! Notice that all of the swiftness remains just as hot here with only slight variations in how each processor and machine run by said processor handles the load. You’ll have both options available to you very, very soon at AT&T, as it were – can’t wait!
Samsung Galaxy Note II hands-on with quad-core gaming is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
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