At this point, it’s almost certain that Apple will release the iPhone 13 next month. But while we won’t know the official date the phone will go on sale, an accidental e-commerce listing hints that the next-gen iPhone might launch on Sept. 17.
In a couple of weeks, Star Trek is celebrating its 55th birthday, and it’s doing so in style with a new event, bringing together icons from across the franchise’s past… and giving us a glimpse of its future.
QLED-loving thieves, beware: Samsung revealed on Tuesday that its TVs can be remotely disabled if the company finds out they’ve been stolen, so long as the sets in question are connected to the internet.
When singer Niall Horan interviewed Lizzo Tuesday night, she turned the exchange into more of a flirty speed date.
Many fans have noted the similarities between Rodrigo’s “Good 4 U” and Paramore’s 2007 smash single “Misery Business.”
There’s no lack of Discord music bots out there – bots that you can add to a server that will then play music in voice channels – but unfortunately, Google is shutting down one of the most popular bots around. Groovy Bot, which often pulls songs from YouTube to play them in Discord, has received a cease and desist letter … Continue reading
The folks at Liquid Death have made a deal with skateboarder Tony Hawk in order to acquire his blood. The blood- the literal, actual blood from his body – was added to the ink for a limited run of skateboard decks. Don’t worry though! The blood was sanitized before it was added to the ink (the red ink, obviously) that … Continue reading
This week the next Apple smartphone release date was teased weeks before actual official reveal. The next iPhone will likely be called the iPhone 13, and is expected to be sold as iPhone 13, iPhone 13 Mini, iPhone 13 Pro, and iPhone 13 Pro Max. Further, the leak today suggests that the Apple AirPods 3 will be released inside the … Continue reading
Google is bringing its handy Smart Replies to Google Docs comments in the coming days. You’ll see suggested responses just underneath the reply box in comment threads. You can still type your own comments or edit a suggested one, but opting for a Smart Reply could save you a little time if Google proposes one that does the trick.
Smart Reply will be enabled for all Docs users by default, though you can switch it off through the Preferences section of the Tools menu. The feature is only available in English for now.
Google has added the AI-powered Smart Reply and Smart Compose features to several of its products over the past few years, perhaps most notably in Gmail. Since January, those who add comments in Docs have been able to use Smart Compose and autocorrect, so Google is effectively completing the circle here.
Smart Replies might not always have that personal touch, but they often get the job done since Google takes context into account when it offers suggestions. They might also help you avoid lashing out when someone proposes cutting a perfect joke from your document — not that I’m speaking from personal experience or anything.
Companies using a Rapid Release Workspace domain should start seeing the feature over the next couple of weeks. Google plans to roll it out to everyone starting on September 13th.
This post contains major spoilers for episode three of What If…?
After two fun, zippy stories that focused on the idea of swapping one character for another, What If…? pivots to a darker outcome in its third installment. This time, the entire Avengers slate is wiped clean, with Nick Fury left to sort out the mess. It’s a nod to the animated series’ comic inspiration, plus a sign that the show isn’t willing to settle into a routine.
The original comic book, also called What If?, often see-sawed between silly and serious scenarios, like what would happen if Spider-Man had joined the Fantastic Four, Gwen Stacy had lived or if Dazzler became Galactus’ herald. With no need to follow continuity, the creative teams of each issue in the anthology were free to take the story wherever they wanted, often in dark turns that ultimately illustrated why the original timeline was the best.
However, the What If…?Disney+ series has taken the opposite tack, showcasing one scenario where things are largely the same level of good and bad (for Captain Carter) and another where events went decidedly better (unless you’re Peter Quill). It’s likely the creators didn’t want to immediately scare away casual viewers with anything too grim, keeping the stories as light and breezy as their cinematic inspirations.
The third episode doesn’t just change this course by featuring a more pessimistic scenario, however, it also steps away from telling us upfront why things are like this. The first two episodes had Uatu explicitly pointing out the moment of divergence. This time around, we know something is different — the prospective Avengers are being murdered — but exactly how and why is a mystery.
It actually makes for a more interesting show because rather than playing a half-hour game of “spot the difference,” we become engaged in speculation about why this is happening. We know things would be vastly altered if Tony Stark or Bruce Banner dies, but now we get to play detective, plumbing our knowledge of the Marvel Cinematic Universe for suspects and motives. Instead of a straight-up adventure tale, this episode was a murder mystery.
Whether it’s a successful mystery, I’m not entirely sure. Hank Pym is not someone I had considered as a suspect, even with his distaste for SHIELD and the Starks in the main timeline. The point of divergence turns out to be Hope Pym joining SHIELD and being killed on a mission, which leaves Hank alone and bitter. Why he chooses to kill five uninvolved strangers in an attempt to hurt Nick Fury is murky at best. I’d originally pegged the murder of the Avengers as a Hydra plot, which would have actually help shore up the retcon from Captain America and the Winter Soldier of SHIELD being taken over by Hydra — it’s rarely explored why Hydra let the Avengers get as far as they did in the main timeline, rather than strangling that potential opposition in its cradle.
Ultimately, the point of the episode is to set the viewer up for even darker stories to come — at least one future story is focused on zombies, a nod to the rather successful line of “Marvel Zombies” comics from over a decade ago. It also does some tidying up for the main continuity as well, reminding the viewers that three of the early MCU films took place in the same week, and that Loki is stilla jerk. It may not be essential viewing, but What If…? is certainly a useful footnote.
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
