This week we’ve got the newest version of Motorola and AT&T‘s line of powerful smartphones, this time dubbed Atrix HD due to its ultra high resolution display. This device also runs on AT&T’s 4G LTE network and closely resembles the device on Verizon known as the DROID RAZR. Here we’ve got a white casing surrounding a lovely curved-edges-having reinforced glass-covered display that’s no less than 329 PPI, that being a resolution that’s only beaten by 3 other devices on the market today, none of them having the build that this one does. In addition, Motorola is letting us know that they’ve dubbed this device as having 720p HD ColorBoost technology – we’ll see how that plays out soon enough. For now, we sure as heck know it’s bright.
At first glance, this device appears to suffer from a bit of the ol’ stormtrooper syndrome with the white plastic surrounding its frame combined with the blacks on its front and back. Once you’ve got your hands on it, on the other hand, you’ll find it to be more than high quality enough to tote around on a regular basis. As it was with the RAZR, so too do you have reinforced kevlar on the back and splash protection throughout, this meaning that even though there are a couple of ports (microHDMI and microUSB) up on top, you won’t have to worry too much about talking on this device in the rain.
You’ve got the AT&T globe up front along with the Motorola logo, on the back you’ve got FCC info and the Motorola logo M, an 8 megapixel camera, single LED flash, and a speaker grille near the top as well. The battery inside is not removable in the least bit at all, the right side has a power button and volume up/down made with silver metal with ridges, and the left side has a door that covers your micro SIM card and microSD card slot. The whole device is relatively thin and fairly light at 0.33″ thick and 4.94 oz (140 g).
The display, again, is 4.5-inches and inside you’ll find Android 4.0.3 Ice Cream Sandwich working with Motorola’s latest rendition of the software. Motorola has their own unique take on Android which includes a ring/vibrate switch at the lockscreen as well as four options for lockscreen shortcuts. Inside you’ll find a lovely new widget that Motorola is touting as a first, it having data usage, weather, date, and time in one set of circles.
Motorola continues their love affair with different modes of use with this device, showing off their Drive Smart abilities with an on-off switch for the environment on the first homescreen. Inside you’ll find a simple set of controls that updates their system that we’ve seen on several Atrix and Atrix-related devices in the past.
This device will cost you $99 USD on a 2-year contract with AT&T, and we’ll be giving you a full review of it soon, so stay tuned!
If you head to a Target store anytime between now and somewhere around the end of October, you’re going to have a tough time finding yourself a tablet that isn’t also an iPad. SlashGear has learned from several tipsters (including two Target employees) that they’ll not be carrying any tablet computers, other than the iPad, until late in the year, much closer to the year-end holiday season. This of course includes the ill-fated Kindle Fire which you’ll no longer find online and is being blown-out on the end-caps at Target stores nationwide.
Online sales of tablets from several well-known tablet manufacturers such as ASUS, Acer, and Sony, will continue while in-store sales will be completely cut off at all or nearly all Target stores in the USA. This comes not least of all, we must assume, because of less-than-stellar offline sales over the past few months. We spoke with one employee earlier today on the subject, and though he wished to remain anonymous due to the nature of the subject, he was quite open about the situation:
“We had [tablets] out for a while, the iPad is still out, but they wont be out now at least in this area now until Christmas. … We sold just a couple back when they were out here, some Acer tablets, they sold to people who specifically were real anti-Apple, other than that not much [as far as tablet sales go.]” – Anonymous Target Employee
This should come as no surprise for a couple of reasons to SlashGear readers, first of all because Target made a statement on the Kindle lineup back in May:
“Target continually evaluates its product assortment to deliver the best quality and prices for our guests. Target is phasing out Kindles and Amazon- and Kindle-branded products in the spring of 2012. We will continue to offer our guests a full assortment of ereaders and supporting accessories including the Nook.” – Target
Above: Target’s previous tablet selection in-stores circa Spring 2012
This past month, SlashGear got the opportunity to speak with the rogues gallery of stars from the biggest comic book sci-fi action film in the theater right this minute: The Amazing Spider-Man. Amongst these actors and actresses were none other than two of the most well-known actors in the business: Martin Sheen and Sally Field. These two play Uncle Ben and Aunt May, the guardians of Peter Parker, aka Spider-Man, and holders of the keys to this young man’s past.
It was a bit of a strange encounter with this pair of acting legends as Sheen entered the room first while Field ended up being a couple of minutes later gracing the room with her presence. As such, Sheen took the opportunity to warm the audience up, standing in front of the room aside the stage he’d soon take to do the talk with Field. He stood next to approximately 12 recording devices that’d been set in front of the chairs that would soon hold him, amongst these the highest tech digital recorders down to tape recorders and over to a couple of smart phones as well…
[Martin Sheen] Now what’s this all about? *laughter*
How many of you have seen the film? The rest of you can leave… How many of you saw the film and loved it? The rest of you can leave… How many of you have the most important question you’ve ever wanted to ask anyone your entire life? The rest of you can leave…
What are all these cell- some people have lost their cellphones en masse here!
Did you all come in for this, or did you fly in? Really? Where did you all come from?
Los Angeles, San Francisco, Idaho, Minnesota – oh Minnesota? Saint Paul? Garrison Keillor is one of my heroes. Clevland? My wife went to highschool there. They closed down the place, she couldn’t go to her reunion. Closed the joint. It was that awful shooting. She grew up on Ukeland. I was over there just last week working for Senator Brown. In Ohio. Good man.
When are they gonna stop picking on the unions over there? What is that about? You know who’s working that crowd, is… what’s that fascist’s name… Karl Rove. You know exactly – when I say fascist, you say Rove! *laughter*
Isn’t it true? Man and they reward that kind of fascism. Give me a break, Wisconsin, Walker, they can keep Walker. Somebody from Wisconsin?
*Field enters the room*
[MS] Ladies and gentlemen, Sally Field. *applause*
Martin Sheen and Sally Field pose for press photos at the NYC junket for The Amazing Spider-Man
[Sally Field] Oh my god it’s, it’s the Marty show.
[MS] I’ve warmed them all up. Those who didn’t like the show have left. They’re an eclectic crew.
[SF] Oh you already know them all? You know where they came from, where they live, how many children they have.
[MS] Sally and I have to make a commission.
[SF] I don’t know where you’re coming from with this…
[MS] Neither of us have seen the movie, so…
[SF] Oh an ADmission, yes. You said commission.
[MS] Oh, it’s show business, they know what I mean. I didn’t get the chance to see it yet, when did you guys see it? Just last night? How was it? I wasn’t invited. But I didn’t get a chance to see it, and I feel badly about that, so I cannot respond specifically to what you saw. – I know I’m in the film, I assume I’m still in it?
[SF] I don’t know, I don’t think they’d be talking to someone who weren’t in the film, you might not be in it very much?
[MS] So if there’s any specific references, you’ll have to refresh my memory, so sorry.
Spider-Man’s first appearance in Amazing Fantasy (1962)
[Q] Have either of you read a comic book or seen a movie with a Spider-Man character?
[SF] Ah no, I didn’t – I read Little Lulu. And I haven’t seen them make that into any thing yet. Little Lulu was mine, that was my girl. So I can sing that song “Little Lulu, Little Lulu” no never mind, I’m not gonna do it. But no, I just, I didn’t – I loved comic books, I was a real comic book freak when I was a kid. Except they were the girl ones. I read Archie, I read those, but my brother read all the Spider-Man.
My brother, who is a world-renowned physicist, he’s one of the finest physicists in the world, he’s almost 3 years older than I – he’s so excited about this movie that I’ve… finally I’ve arrived. I’m in this movie because my brother used to read all of those. So I was and am familiar with the movies but I never have, still, to this day [read the comics.]
Little Lulu, as read by Sally Field
[MS] Yes the same is true for me, I was a big movie fan –
[SF] You read Little Lulu? *laughter*
[MS] Ah no, but I did read Sluggo and Nancy and ah, Archie comics, but my passion for movies was always the, ah, Saturday afternoon, the Zorro or the western or sports or what have you. But no I was, as far as Spider-Man is concerned, specifically? I’m 21 years older than he is, so I missed him, totally. But I do recall the afternoon cartoon, “Spider-Man, Spider-Man, [does whatever a spider can]” and my kids would rush to the TV to see him, but that was as close as I ever got.
Sluggo and Nancy, as read by Martin Sheen – image via MyComicShop
[Q] Mister Sheen, when you’re working on a big budget Hollywood movie, do you miss being out in the jungle with a rebel director going crazy?
[MS] What ever are you referencing? *laughter*
Nah ah, I don’t know how to answer that.
[SF] Just say you don’t remember any of that.
[MS] I don’t remember any of that. You know at my age, at this time in my career, I’m lucky to be living, let alone working. So I give thanks and praise each day that I’m able to get up and walk around. And to still be able to work and to make my living doing the thing I love the most – I’m delighted. So if it’s big budget or small budget, I’m delighted to still be on the team.
[SF] And we’re delighted to have you.
[MS] Well thank you very much.
Martin Sheen on set for Apocalypse Now (1979)
[Q] At this point in both of your careers, how do you feel about putting yourselves on screen in a project for the first time? Do you feel like it’s better to see it in an intimate setting, or especially with a big blockbuster film such as this, do you prefer to see it with a big audience in a theater? And also if you could talk about behind the scenes – did Marc let you see any dailies, and did you want to see dailies?
[SF] I don’t like watching myself at all. I never liked watching myself.
[MS] I like watching you.
[SF] Awww, thank you. But I know a lot of actors, most actors have difficulty watching themselves, but now, as I’ve reached an age, it’s really hard to look at yourself – so I really may not ever see it! I shouldn’t tell you. It’s just a really selfish reason, it’s like ahgh! You know, it’s 3D, for God sakes. I wasn’t good with myself on a television screen.
[SF] So I don’t know, I grapple with it because part of me says, ‘oh Sally, come on, get over it, you want to see Andrew, you want to see Marc’s work,’ and it’s such a small, you know, such a vain little thing that – but that’s true, I admit it, it’s out there.
But also – about watching dailies: Marc didn’t have anyone watching dailies. It’s really not a good idea for actors to watch dailies, it’s an acting faux pas, ever, because the whole task of an actor is to not have any actual mental vision of yourself outside of yourself. Because then you start imitating yourself.
And that is the difficult thing even about watching a film that you’ve done, because you become aware of your own physicality in a way that isn’t good for you to have in your mind. You see actors who start out, young actors who start out and seem so free and easy and natural. Then all of a sudden, third or fourth movie down the line, they look posey, they’re all careful with what they’re doing. Like Marty, for instance. *laughter*
[MS] I was so good until I got successful. *laughter*
[SF] Yeah so sometimes, and Marty will answer this question, I’m sure he feels similar things about watching dailies. I don’t think it’s ever comfortable.
[MS] I agree that it’s a mistake, in this case it was interesting because they would run back a scene almost immediately for technical reasons. You know, you do a take, and they’ll say ‘something was in the frame’ and they’d go down and they’d have just… a row of working computers, these computer geniuses –
[SF] The technology was unbelievable.
[MS] In order to see a playback or a rush, by the way I never saw any of them and I agree with Sally It’s never a good idea for actors to continue to see themselves. The thing is you fall in love with one take, and that’s not the one that’s in the film, and so you’ve already foreclosed any hope of being satisfied.
I once heard an artist say that they did not display their own paintings in their home because they didn’t want to be influenced by themselves. It’s the same thing.
Watching myself on television, for example, I always warned the family what was coming. Like we would gather to watch a “West Wing” episode or some movie of the week, and I’d say, ‘Now this is gonna happen, and you have to feel this way about it.’ *laughter*
I could control the audience when a television came on. With movies, I prefer to go after it had opened, for good or ill, and see it with an audience to get an honest reaction.
[MS] I remember one time I was driving someone up to Bakersfield in the middle of a hot summer day, and on the way back I –
[SF] Why?!
[MS] I had to drop them off!
[SF] Why would you do that?
[MS] Because the bus was late, and, I don’t know.
[SF] Was it someone you’d just met or
[MS] It was someone I knew very well, yes.
[SF] No no, if you’ve just met Marty, I swear to god, if he’d seen some people on the corner and that said ‘I just spent my bus money’ he’d say ‘gosh, where were you going? Look, I’ve got a couple hours, let me drive you!’ *laughter*
I swear!
[MS] Well if I’m going in the same direction. By the way if any of you people are going along PCH… anyway.
At any rate, I was coming back, I was going back to Bakersfield, and I was passing a shopping center, and they had the movies listed. “Major League” was playing. This was about two weeks after it’d – I had never seen it, and so I thought ‘ah this is nice’ and it was so hot. So I went in and it was air conditioned in the theater, and there were two other people besides me. And I watched Major League, which I loved, in the moment where Charlie [Sheen] comes in from the bullpen during the big game, they started playing “Wild Thing”, and I started to weep, and I said, “Go get ’em, kid!” And I wanted to tell the whole audience, all two of them, that that was my son coming in to pitch for the Indians.
So it’s not a good idea, you know, to get so personally involved.
[SF] It’ll cause you to act foolishly in Bakersfield.
[MS] Just – what was the question? *laughter*
[Q] Your characters really ground this story in reality, and I was just wondering about how you were almost in a different movie, like you were doing a family drama while all this action was going on elsewhere.
[MS] I think Sally will confirm that our great director, Marc Webb, wanted us to be as simple and direct and honest with each other and just enjoy each other’s company and not to play any image of the characters, who are very well known. To forget all that and make contact with each other and enjoy what we were doing and make it alive and personal. Because if it’s not personal, it’s impersonal and if it’s impersonal, who cares? We knew those relationships would ground the whole story and that was important.
So that, for my part, that’s all we focused on. And watching this young man — and I know Sally would agree — that this is a very, very special guy, Andrew Garfield, who is now launched and rightly so. But watching him work was so gratifying. He was so generous with us because he had to do some very heavy emotional work and, boy, the set was on fire when he went to those places. But then he would do an equally intense performance off-camera for our reactions. For me that was an enormous leap of generosity to his fellow actors. That really endeared him to me and Sally, too.
But yeah, we took it personal and we had a lot of fun, we were laughing a lot.
Martin Sheen, Sally Field, Andrew Garfield, and Emma Stone pose at NYC junket for The Amazing Spider-Man
[SF] We laughed a lot. And basically all my work in the film – and I don’t know how much of it is actually in the film – I too have not seen it at this point – but it was always with Andrew and Marty, that’s all that I was in the house and around that, I had one scene outside it, I don’t know if it’s still in there.
[SF] So all I knew of the movie, really, was that. We had a table read so certainly knew what was going on, but the interesting thing about we doing this Spider-Man movie is that it is more contemporary, in a sense, in that it’s a metaphor for how hard it is anytime, but especially today, to… the coming of age, you know? And the darkness that this young man carries with him and that troubled soul that he is.
[SF] It certainly is different from any of the ones before, and Mary and I knew our task is that family. That it was a 3D movie was odd because, I said before in an interview, where some of the scene that Andrew and I had together where Uncle Ben was no longer there…
[MS] I’ve gotta see this movie!
[SF] It gets very heated, it’s very troubling what’s going on. As far as we knew, we were shooting a little kitchen drama. And what was bizarre for me, because I’ve been doing this a long time, is that we were shooting a kitchen scene in a very confined atmosphere with a handheld 3D camera. And that means, first of all, that it is enormous, and that it is being held up on a bungee cord by guys up above that are helping. The hand-held camera, notoriously why it was used is so that it can move around with the actors – it’s not on a dolly, it’s not stationary.
[SF] And it moves where we go, if we decide to go this direction or we go that direction, it can go there with you. And you learn as an actor how to, sort of, work with that. But I’d never worked with a 3D camera – first of all the lens is halfway across the room, and it was bizarre… to be doing that. And there was, yes, at least a little part of me going ‘Oh sweet mother of god. This is a 3D camera this far away from my face. I am never going to see this movie as long as I live.’
[SF] It’s kind of amazing, and Andrew and I, to do the fight scenes that he had, to not lose your focus. We were maneuvering around this huge piece of equipment that this phenomenal operator is also trying to, you know, maneuver around us and… the furniture… It was technically fascinating. And in a lot of other ways, as well.
[Q] Mister Sheen, you recently came off of doing voice work for Mass Effect going straight here to The Amazing Spider-Man…
[MS] You, you gotta explain what Mass Effect is, most of em never heard of it.
[Q] Mass Effect is a Science Fiction video game series, ah, and…
[Q] What is it about genre entertainment, about science fiction and fantasy that appeals to you as an actor?
[MS] I’m drawn to characters, you know, if I can relate to them personally, all the better, because for an artist, any artist, if something is not personal it’s impersonal. If it’s impersonal, nobody cares. I’m challenged by playing villains which I think Mass Effect is what I’m playing. I’ve never seen it because I don’t have a computer and I’m not computer savvy. I’m very sorry. I have not seen them. I don’t have a clue what it is.
[SF] What?! What, you don’t have a computer?
[MS] Naw and there was a guy who came to fix my wife’s computer who said that I was the guy in Mass Effect and he was just over the moon. And I said, “I’m doing another one. Would you like to come?” And he ended up as an advisor for it.
[SF] And then he drove him to Bakersfield. *laughter*
Martin Sheen shares a warm moment with Andrew Garfield at the NYC junket for The Amazing Spider-Man
[MS] I’m attracted to things that appeal to me personally, whether its a villain or a hero. In this case, what attracted me to the show was, you know, frankly, was the lady next to me, she was the only one – well, Dennis Leary, I didn’t have any scenes with him but I’ve worked with him before and I’m really fond of him. And Campbell Scott [playing Peter Parker’s father], I knew, these guys, and I was very fond of the lady next to me particularly, so I knew it was going to be a sweet ride.
I got to play a character that I’m a father, I’m a husband, and a grandfather so I have some familiarity with raising kids and grandkids, albeit not always successfully.
Never mind. I’ll take a rap for it.
But I think one of the things that really fascinated me about Spider-Man the character is that he is dealing with what all young people today, particularly in our society, are just absolutely fractured by, and that is peer pressure. And he’s saying, bottom line, is when you hear that voice inside that’s calling you to step up, to be your better self, it’s going to cost you. But that’s the only way you can become free and that’s the only way you can become yourself. But anything worthwhile has got to cost you. If it doesn’t, then you’re left to question its value. So he’s really saying to young people…
Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) throttles a bully (the character Flash Thompson played by Chris Zylka) after he’s gained Spider-Man powers
[SF] I have to say, I agree with you mostly, but I think that it’s not only peer pressure. I really think it’s not only a metaphor for how difficult the world is, I mean, when you look at what’s happening to the world, and he’s using, metaphorically, these villains that come in – in some ways it offers the Peter the possibility to step up and push his own envelope and to, sort of, fight for the right thing. And to threaten your existence in doing it, in other words lose every safe place you ever thought you had to do the right thing.
And, boy oh boy, if the younger generation could have the feeling that we have to step up, and make things right, no matter how much it costs me, it would be a different world. And you see a lot of different countries, you know, lord knows, grappling with this: how do you make change? How do you make enormous change? Well, obviously, it doesn’t come easy.
And in some entertaining way, I think that’s what the metaphor is. It’s a really, really difficult world right now.
[MS] I gotta see this movie.
[SF] It’s playing in Bakersfield!
[Q] I was wondering how the project came to you both, I thought about how Webb was basically a newbie to feature films, but both of you are familiar with new directors or directors who suddenly become really huge. I wonder if that was part of the appeal? And do you seek that out to keep your careers fresh with new talent? New writers, new projects, and new challenges?
[SF] For me, I have one main big reason why I did the movie, but I loved the idea of Marc. I saw his first film which I thought was just exquisite. And I met with him and he is who he is, and I had no doubts he was going to, you know, push his envelope, and I had no doubt that it was going to be exciting, and fresh, because that’s what this film was. So that was never an issue at all, I was very eager to do that, and the cast, and the script was very good. It was dark, and really very different.
But for me the reason that I absolutely had to do it was that my first producing partner was Laura Ziskin and we produced Murphy’s Romance together. It was her first film, and my first film that I produced. She was a good friend. She is, was a spectacular hero. Really a spectacular hero. She is Spider-Man. She really is. I say is because the work that she started is really continuing the fight against cancer. She asked me to do the movie, would I come in and do it, and I said ‘absolutely’ before I read it, before I knew who was involved in it, before I met Marc, before I knew Marty was there. Because my instinct was she wasn’t going to do another one after this, so I would have done it no matter what so I am very proud to have been a part of her first film and her last film. And she was a hero.
Have a peek at the rest of our interviews from the cast and crew of The Amazing Spider-Man in the timeline below, and be sure to stay tuned as more are indeed on the way! We’ve got everyone from Andrew Garfield to Dennis Leary to Emma Stone and back again! We’ve also got Rhys Ivans – playing Curtis Connors, aka the Lizard, coming up soon, the same goes for Sony Pictures Imageworks Senior Visual Effects Supervisor Jerome Chen. Don’t miss it!
Today Google has been so kind as bump up their official Google+ app for iPhone (and iPad) that’ll allow people around the world to explore the social network with great ease. This version of Google+ is made for iPhone, but is perfectly suited for the iPad‘s larger display as well. Graphics come through sharp and well-tuned for the most part, with only a few bits and pieces left for a future version to clean up – gray borders around small images, and other such small matters.
This version of Google+ is the first made for iPad AND iPhone and takes on a form not unlike what we saw at Google I/O 2012 when we got our first look at the updated Android mobile version of the environment. We’ve got circles for icons, large and separated blocks for updates and shares, and even access to Hangouts, too! Have a peek first at the newsfeed as it appears on the iPad – for the iPhone you’ve got a similar setup, only with one column instead of two.
Then there’s the Hangouts situation – you certainly can hang out with your friends using your own front facing (or back facing) camera on your iPhone or iPad, but that’s about it. You wont be watching YouTube videos or editing documents from this app in this iteration. It’s also rather plain looking if you’ve got no friends to chat with – awww:
You can share photos to Events, turn on instant upload to instantly upload photos from your iPad or iPhone to Google+ automatically, and check out your Nearby stream to see which contacts of yours are physically near to you – and what they’re doing at the moment. You’ll be able to check this app out right this minute, if you do so please, in the iTunes App Store. It’s there for free, of course, and is up for download starting today.
This week AT&T will be pushing the Samsung Galaxy Note Premium Suite upgrade with Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich, and we’ve got our hands on it right this minute. This upgrade in software brings you several features in S-Note and S-Memo and also brings on Android Beam with NFC as well as facial unlock – the strangest screen unlock of them all! You’ll also gain access to a strange application that’s also out now for the Galaxy S III: Samsung’s My Story app.
First have a peek at some of the behind-the-scenes changes, starting with NFC. This device is now able to use Android Beam to send photos, videos, and more to other devices just so long as they also have NFC and Android Beam activated. At the moment it does not appear that this feature works between the Galaxy Note and the Galaxy S III – each time we’ve tried it out, S-Beam interferes and says that it is incompatible with the Galaxy Note. A similar situation happens with our Galaxy Nexus with Jelly Bean – the beam option appears on the Nexus side, but trying to send a photo results in a message that informs us that the other device (the Note) does not accept large file transfers. The Note itself does not appear to have any response other than the “boooh” sound effect and a haptic shake, no beaming out anywhere. We expect that this situation will be fixed rather rapidly.
Recent Apps can now be pulled up by holding down your Home button. This ability works perfectly well, and closely resembles the vanilla version of the feature.
Face unlock has been activated for your lockscreen. This ability also works just as well as it does with the most updated version of Ice Cream Sandwich on the Galaxy Nexus (the only Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich Nexus device on the market. Android 4.1 Jelly Bean updates this feature to be able to work with more than one photo of your face for added security, and this one does as well, but here you’ve only got to hold up a still photo of yourself to make the unlock work. In Jelly Bean, the unlock screen requires that you move your face and head to get in – this being called a Liveness Check – the Note doesn’t quite have that yet.
This updated Galaxy Note also comes with better data usage monitoring, now allowing you to add warnings and shutoff for data caps.
S-Note
Starting with the app S-Note’s new Productivity Tools, Samsung’s suite of note and memo-taking apps has just gotten a bit sweeter. In the Productivity Tools you’ve now got, you can work with Formula Match, Shape Match, Handwriting-to-text, and Knowledge Search. You’ll be using Wolfram Alpha for both formula and knowledge.
With Formula Match, you’ve got handwriting recognition that works undeniably well to turn a scribbled down equation into something perfectly legible, first of all. Then once you’ve got that equation – however complicated or simple it may be – sent to Wolfram Alpha to either give you the answer or graph out the system’s findings.
In Shape Match you can now draw simple shapes and they’ll be corrected for you. This means that if you draw a wobbly circle, it’ll be turned into a perfect circle. If you draw a three-sided shape that looks kind of like a triangle, it’ll be a perfect straight-edged triangle. You can also make lines.
You’ll have Handwriting-to-text working for you, but it’ll take a bit more getting used to than the other features when you use it straight up. Write one word, it’ll be translated into whatever the system thinks it is essentially instantly. After one word, you’ve got to tap the space bar or the next word will be entered right after the first, and so on. It’s a good start, and it’s extremely smart!
Then there’s Knowledge Search for when you just don’t want to speak your questions out loud. Here you’ll also be working with handwriting to text (if you want to) or you can straight up type into the app, but in the end you’ve got a sentence and you’ll be entering it into Wolfram Alpha again.
Have a peek at each of these four in the hands-on video here:
You may now also add a collection of items to a new note in S-Note, including:
• Photos from your gallery or a brand new photo • Objects you’ve clipped using your S-Pen • S-Memos • A map of your current location or a map of a location of your choosing
You’ll find that PDF Annotations are also now activated inside S-Note. Here you’ll be able to insert and annotate PDF documents to your heart’s delight, share or save a PDF, or print straight from the app. You’ll have to import a PDF before you begin to annotate, and you’ll find your annotated files in the Galaxy Note file directory if you need to access them later from outside the app.
There’s an S-Memo Widget that’s brand new as well, here allowing you instant access to the S-Memo app in general as well as shooting you straight to Type, Write/Draw, Add Picture, Voice Recording, or Search.
As a bit of a bonus it seems, both the Galaxy S III and the Galaxy Note have gotten access to a Samsung-promoted app that only works thus far on the two devices themselves. This app is called Samsung’s My Story and it allows you to make greeting cards that can be shared to and from the app to other users also using the app. Inside the app you’re able to add photos, change titles, and generally have an entertaining time fiddling around until you’re ready to send it off to a friend whose also got a Galaxy S III or Galaxy Note. Samsung continues to build a vertically integrated system, piece by piece.
Benchmarks
As a bit of a bonus, here are a few benchmarks run on the Galaxy Note with this software upgrade installed. Compare these to the original benchmarks we’ve got in the full review of the AT&T Galaxy Note and/or your own AT&T Galaxy Note as it stands here and now. Note that these benchmarks are taken without the device being rooted, it being in its stock state.
Software Update Timeframe
This Premium Suite software upgrade will be dropping this week – starting on the 10th of July, 2012, and pushing to users throughout the USA across the whole week. You’ll need to use your Samsung Kies desktop software to make this update happen, just as you’ve had to for each other software update for the device.
In the gaming world created and crafted by Nintendo, games make or break the company. When solid titles like Super Mario or the Legend of Zelda make their way to the market, consumers care. And in the process, they buy an awful lot of consoles.
When the Wii U launches later this year, Nintendo will need to rely on games in order to sell more consoles. However, in the past, the company has relied nearly entirely on first-party titles. In fact, the Wii’s third-party lineup was so sub-par that many folks (including myself) made it a last-resort gaming opportunity in the living room. Soon after the allure of motion gaming wore off and the first-party titles dried up, there was little else to enjoy.
For that reason, Nintendo must rely heavily on third-party publishers with its Wii U. The days of simply carrying a console over the finish line on the back of first-party games are over. Nowadays, in order for console makers to be successful, they’re going to have to deliver not only solid first-party games, but allow other companies to offer up outstanding titles themselves.
For Nintendo, playing nicely with third-parties has always seemed difficult. For years, third-party developers have criticized the company on everything from its hardware design to its seeming unwillingness to allow other games to shine. In Nintendo land, first-party titles still reign supreme.
“With the Xbox 720 and PS4 incoming, longevity is the name of the game”
But with the Wii U likely launching this year, to be followed by the Xbox 720 and PlayStation 4 either next year or in 2014, longevity will be the name of the game. And in order to stick it out until the bitter end, Nintendo must be able to foster strong relationships with third-party developers and urge them to bring their best and brightest games to the console.
At E3, Nintendo seemed willing to do so. Rather than spend too much time on hardware, the company focused on games and brought up several third-party developers to show off their latest and greatest titles for its new console. It was a good start. But let’s not forget that Nintendo had some backing at the Wii’s start, as well. And now, Wii owners are left wishing more solid titles would have been launched.
Of course, Nintendo fans would disagree with that argument. They would say that Nintendo’s first-party titles are really all customers need, but even in those cases where third-party games are on the ready, they hold up quite well. In fact, some Nintendo fans might go as far as saying that the Wii’s game library is just as deep (if not more so) than the Xbox 360’s or PlayStation 3’s.
But are we really supposed to believe that? If that was the case, the Wii wouldn’t see its sales slumping and Nintendo wouldn’t be having so much trouble keeping pace with its past successes. If the Wii had a deeper library, trust me: the gaming space would look much different.
Remember third-party developers, Nintendo. Believe it or not, you’re going to need them with the Wii U.
This week the Verizon 4G LTE version of the Samsung Galaxy S III smartphone is arriving here on our review bench as well as in the homes of thousands across the USA. What we’re going to do for you right here at the start is take a moment to get you some comparison speeds on each of the main three Galaxy S III’s USA carriers: Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile. Have a peek at one of the only factors that will allow you to tell these devices apart.
First let’s check on the Verizon unit’s 4G LTE. This network has been the most reliable 4G LTE network in the past, but has AT&T catching up quick for coverage. This Galaxy S III unit is the latest to hit the shelves and also the only to carry Verizon’s specific selection of carrier-based apps (with one bonus). First let’s have a peek at some data speeds, starting with Verizon and checking in on AT&T and T-Mobile as well.
Verizon Speeds:
Next we’ve got the AT&T version of the Galaxy S III, here again with 4G LTE. Each of these speed tests are being performed in Arizona in the exact same spot and that tests like these are going to be accurate only to a certain degree. The only perfect test would be hitting every single spot in every single city in the United States and testing each phone from each of those spots, taking an average then of all the speeds. By that time there’d be a Galaxy S IV, so for now we’ll be just testing from one spot.
AT&T Speeds:
Finally have a peek at T-Mobile’s Galaxy S III with their own brand of 4G. This unit is, again, just like the others in almost every single way save for the carrier billing, some carrier-based apps, and the network speed.
T-Mobile USA Speeds [only getting EDGE in our test location]:
Take special care to notice the massive difference between these three carriers. In the Verizon version, we’re seeing speeds in both upload and download that blow the other models out of the water. Of course you’ve got to take into consideration that these tests are, again, not done in the most ideal location for each carrier, but you’re not necessarily going to be in the most ideal location for your carrier when you purchase the device either.
If you live in a fabulous place for T-Mobile’s 4G network and there are no Verizon towers to be found, you might have a different decision to make. That’ll be extremely rare though, of course, so more than likely you’ll want Verizon if you want the fastest data speeds in the greater part of the USA. AT&T isn’t doing so bad themselves lately as well.
Another thing to consider is battery life. At the moment, it appears that heavy usage is not boding well for the Galaxy S III on Verizon, as shown in our first outing here:
Standby battery usage wasn’t much better, as shown in this overnight test:
The Verizon version of the GSIII comes with the Facebook-connected app Color. This is unique to the Galaxy S III lineup.
The full set of apps comes in three screens in the app drawer as seen here:
Essentially all Verizon has done is to add Color and their set of four constant apps:
One strange bug we’ve found thus far is a broken lock-screen feature – with the Galaxy S III you’re able to set a timer on your lockscreen after your screen has shut off. You can set your screen to time out after 5 minutes, then your lockscreen to 5 minutes after that. This feature exists for people who don’t necessarily want their screen on constantly, but do need quick access to the screen quite often if they’ve just used it recently. When used in combination with the basic swipe lock on this version of the Galaxy S III, the lockscreen does not appear as it should. This will likely be fixed in the first software update.
Finally, be sure to check out our AT&T and T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S III review as well as our Galaxy S III international edition review to make sure you’ve got a full round view of each of the ever-so-slightly different models. Also be sure to check out the timeline below to stay up-to-date on all things Galaxy S III as the device in whatever iteration you choose makes its way to the palm of your hand!
This week as The Amazing Spider-Man is released to audiences in the USA, we’ve gotten our hands on an exclusive look at a scene broken down layer by layer to reveal how the visual effects have been constructed. We’ve got an interview with the effects wizards behind this magic coming up soon, but for now it’s time to dig deep in an entirely aesthetically pleasing sense. Have a peek at this SlashGear exclusive video below.
What you’re seeing here is a battle in the sewers between Peter Parker (aka Spider-Man) and Dr. Curtis Connors (aka The Lizard). You’ll see Spider-Man modeled from (and acted by) Andrew Garfield in full spandex getup. You’ll see layer upon layer of light, muscle, wireframes and more as both Spider-Man and The Lizard come to life.
Spider-Man is mostly in his full costume here, though he does not rely on it the entire film – you’ll see the mask come off more than once! The Lizard also works with what’s generally accepted as his classic costume – full scientist robe as he’s just been transformed from the noble Doctor.
You’ll hear this “Sewer Battle” scene commented on by Senior Visual Effect Supervisor Jerome Chen and Digital Effects Supervisor David Smith, both of them from Sony Pictures Imageworks. The work you’re seeing above is the combined efforts of a massive set of special effects powerhouses, all of them headed off by Sony Pictures Imageworks in the end. Note: we’ve had a chat with Chen this month as well, the full feature with him coming up in our main news feed soon!
This scene should readily break down the action to a degree that will have you jumping for joy at the chance at getting to see the film, we would hope, and will have prepped you also to grab on to the other special features we’ve got surrounding this film as well. Have a peek at The Amazing Spider-Man in timeline form below, and get ready for more, on the way soon!
With The Amazing Spider-Man in theaters this week, it’s high time you read up on the making of the film and it’s future as spoken by the stars themselves, today’s interview being with none other than Dennis Leary. Playing the role of Peter Parker’s girlfriend Gwen Stacy’s father, Leary lets it be known that he’s not letting go of the series as easily as the classic plot-line surrounding his character would suggest. Note that this interview is especially littered with swearwords and spoilers galore, so if you’re rather young or don’t want to know what happens to Leary’s character in the movie specifically, watch out – otherwise dip in on this rather candid talk with the actor.
Also be sure to check the timeline at the end of this post to see each of the other interviews we collected last month (with more on the way) from the New York City press junket for the film. Don’t miss our first impressions of the movie as well – it’s a blast!
[Dennis Leary] First of all, I have a question. You guys f*ckin bored yet? *laugter*
You just had Sally Field and Martin Sheen up here, I bet you’re really looking forward to me. Two screen legends, and then this a**hole.
I’m sure we can make this very fast.
How about that Martin Sheen. Did he mention his book? I’ll do it for him. He just wrote a book with Emilio. It’s about the father son relationship – A total dysfunctional book book about Emilio wanting to beat the sh*t out of his father on the set of Apocalypse Now. -Which by the way, I don’t know what kind of stuff you like to read, but when he told me about it today and I said, ‘I’m reading that sh*t.’ How great would that be? You know?
[Q] What’s the name of the book?
[DL] Sh*t. I’m sure if you just Google ‘Emilio Esteves punching Martin Sheen’ you’ll get it.
[Q] Hi Dennis, how are you?
[DL] Good, how are you doing?
[Q] Good. I was just wondering – after writing, acting, producing duties on “Rescue Me”, was it nice to be able to come in and do this and just focus on the acting?
[DL] It was awesome. You know that 3D cameras sometimes need to take a break, because they’re air conditioned? They’re big rigs and I just go back to my trailer, watch ‘Sports Center.’ I didn’t have to write anything or fix anything. It was awesome; it was great; it was really good.
Above: The Amazing Spider-Man viral marketing video with Leary as Captain Stacy.
[Q] You played a New York City cop and a New York City fireman, can you tell us, in real life, what experiences you’ve had with either job – how people on the job affect you? And I also wanted to get the inside story on how – you have one of the best lines in the movie with the Godzilla reference – I was wondering if you could tell us how many takes that took, whether or not that was scripted or if it was improvised?
[DL] It was improvised. Marc is like an actor’s director, and he made a small movie, I don’t know if you’ve seen it it’s called 500 Days of Summer. It’s a terrific little movie with a lot of heart. And it’s an actor’s movie – and that’s what he described this as when I first got on the phone with him. And he actually stayed true to that. That he was making a character movie that happened to cost a good jillion dollars and have a big blockbuster name. -And a July 4th release date!
[DL] But it really was like an acting movie. Even in the big action sequences. So in rehearsal and stuff, he was talking about wanting to improvise around certain things and in certain scenes and play with it. That was one of the scenes he had earmarked. And I don’t know what take it was but we filmed a number of different versions of it. It was just myself and Andrew that day with a lot of extras. And we just started playing around with it and somewhere in the middle of it Marc walked up and said ‘what about this?’
Because it feels like, I imagine that we had about 8 or 9 takes where we just played with it and some where my ideas and some where Andrew’s ideas and Marc had come up with that line. And I said, ‘let’s shoot it!’
And I don’t know what they did from there, if they tested all the takes, or if they just decided in the editing room.
[Q] Have you seen the final cut of the movie?
[DL] I haven’t seen the movie.
[Q] What are some of your best real life experiences with real-life New York City cops and New York City fire-fighters?
[DL] Too many to mention with fire-fighters, but, when I was doing a television show called “The Job” for ABC which was based on the real life of a detective, who I knew, who was my technical advisor on The Thomas Crown Affair. So the guy was clean and sober when I was working with him on the television show, but he had been a pill head and kind of a mess – and he had had a mistress while he was married, and he had both things going on which was what the show was about.
And I was standing with Lenny Clark who was an actor in that show, outside of the Steak House after we had just eaten dinner. And the detective, who was on the job, who was under cover, we both see this guy who was scouting stuff out, he had a radio thing and he started to move and he saw us and and he went ‘hey Dennis, thanks a lot, now my wife’s really pissed, she found out about my girlfriend.’ *laughter*
And I thought that summed it up.
[Q] Dennis, I wanted to know what it was like working with Emma Stone –
[DL] Horrible. It was just a nightmare. *laughter*
[Q] It’s apparent you had a really great bond with her and you got to know her so I’m wondering if you could just talk about that.
[DL] We had makeup and hair tests and all that stuff you normally do, but we had some rehearsal time, and ah… listen man, honestly speaking, I had seen her in a couple movies and I’d heard on the grapevine great things about her. And Andrew I’d seen in a couple movies and I knew Rhys’s work, but I didn’t know him – the only person I knew coming in was Martin Sheen, we’d done a movie called Monument Avenue together years ago.
But I really, you know – I thought that Rhys was just a great actor… I didn’t know what to expect from Emma, and quite frankly, they were the real deal. I mean, they were all about the work. They were able to improvise, which not everyone can do – everyone thinks they can but they can’t really do. Every actor thinks they can do comedy and that’s just not f*cking true. *laughter* And everyone thinks that they can improvise and a lot of people can’t!
She’s great at it, and so is Andrew – so the first couple of days was getting used to the idea that these couple of kids were going to steal the movie from me and Rhys. And then, I remember in the dinner scene which was the first big acting scene that we shot and one of the first things we shot on the movie. We had three days to shoot, and we were playing around, improvising and all this stuff, and ah, I still wasn’t there yet.
I was supposed to be intimidating Andrew’s character but it didn’t feel like it was working. Because he was really coming to strike right back at me. And Marc walked in after a take and he just kneeled down next to me and he said ‘hey you really gotta step it up.’ *laughter*
And I just go… ‘f*ck.’ *laughter*
I mean that’s how good they are. I don’t know if you saw Death Of A Salesman but he was really outrageously good and that’s one of the most difficult roles you can take on in the theater and he was just – he was outrageously good, so, they’re the real deal. They’re going to be around for a long time and I’m just saying really nice things about them because I’m going to ride their coattails. *laughter*
That’s what I’m hoping to do. I’m going to be really nice to them, from here on in.
[Q] I have a question about –
[DL] -Where are you?
[Q] Oh, down here.
[DL] Oh, geez. How did you get the microphone? -Oh, she hands it to you, I see. There’s not like a hundred mics! She has a mic, and she has a mic. OK, sorry. I was confused.
[Q] What’s the difference between the effects films you worked on, say, 10 years ago, compared to now? Especially in regards to 3D.
[DL] There’s a huge difference now. Even in the course of “Rescue Me” which we shot for seven years. With a lot of action sequences which involve fire which is famously, obviously, dangerous with real smoke, real flame. And there’s sometimes effects that you need to lay in under that.
We went from having to do everything completely real – fire and smoke, to make it look real – to by the end, in the first five years of the course of that show, finding that there were details that we could do, that we could do digitally, that the audience would never see the difference of. And it would save a lot of safety concerns.
But at the same time there’s a lot of stuff that Marc purposely shot in front of the cameras, to avoid CGI, in terms of the stunt work.
You know, the audience will always know that there’s been a cut, or an edit, or an effect tossed in. I remember the movie “Children of Men”, did you see that movie? There’s a couple of sequences in that movie where it’s clearly one take, and it’s really the actors, and you’re never gonna really get away from that. We all know, we know more than ever when we’re being tricked, so when you’re not being tricked, you’ll stay on the edge of your seat longer.
[Q] How about in regards to 3D? I know that the rigs that are being used are using RED cameras, and then there’s two of them set up in a rig made by 3ality Technica –
[DL] I didn’t know that.
[Q] They make a rig that’s made specifically so that 3D filming is not intrusive. So you’ve got these 3D cameras that are going all over as easy as 2D cameras – did you notice them? Was it difficult to work with them?
[DL] Yeah they’re pretty big, it was pretty difficult not to notice them. But you know, you get used to it after a while.
[Q] Could you talk about – what was your hardest thing to do physically for this movie, and also was it fun to go back to Ice Age with a movie coming out in a few weeks?
[DL] Listen man… those things… Chris Rock said something about them at the Oscars this year. They’re the greatest. You come in, you look like sh*t – I don’t like to dress up, I wear the same clothes every day, you’re lucky I’m wearing – I changed my shirt and my tie like, I basically wear the same sh*t every day and I, you know, I don’t even wear underwear, I’d be in a bathing suit, that’s what I would wear, so.
When you can walk into a room and talk to an electric stick, and pretend to be, I don’t know, some f*cking tiger or something, and they give you all this money for it? That’s the greatest job in show business. It’s an insane job. I love it. I think it’s fantastic, and I’m truly hoping that we do – I want to do Ice Age until we do the Civil War, the Johnson Administration, and Obama gets elected. We’ll have Ice Age 13 when we catch up to the current timeframe and we’re moving into the future. They’re unbelievable man, they’re great.
[Q] What about physical stuff [for Spider-Man]? Do you get scared doing any of that?
[DL] Hey man, that’s what stunt men are for. I’m not one of those actors that’ll walk around saying ‘oh I do all my own stunts’ – f*ck you. First of all there’s a lot of stuff they wont let you do, you know what I mean? Then there’s sh*t you’ll look at and say ‘yeah, I want to do that, that looks pretty cool, let me try that.’ Then there’s stuff where at my age I’m like ‘f*ck this, I’m not doing it.’ F*cking stunt double, man.
[DL] The one thing I wanted, I told Marc, ‘I’m shooting that shotgun, every time the shotgun is fired.’ There was like four days of that, man. And that was a blast. Shooting the shotgun… so I like to do all the shooting. And some of the falls, you know. Sh*t that makes you look cool, I’ll do, but once it gets a little dangerous it’s like; no. That’s where that CGI sh*t comes into play.
[Q] What originally attracted you to this film?
[DL] I’d just finished filming the last season of Rescue Me, we were still cutting and mixing music and making choices. And Marc called me, I got on the phone with him, like I said he described this small little acting movie and I was like ‘this guy’s crazy.’ I’ve done action movies before, nobody, you know, you don’t get to do any acting.
And then I just said, ah, I’ll just jump in. I mean I’m not writing or producing it so how hard is this gonna be? It took longer than I thought but my job was basically just the acting, I didn’t have to do anything else. Which was great. And then just like any film, you figure like, you just hope it comes out in the wash. You know, comes out good. But it was no pressure on me.
I’m not like a comic book guy – my friends that are like Captain Stacy fans I had to like, stop talking to them. Because that’s like, insane, the sh*t that they want you to know about the character and so forth. So I went into work and focused on the other actors and that was it. So I had it easy, on this, you know? It was really no pressure on me.
Now I just gotta make sure I’m in Amazing Spider-Man 2 and 3 and 4 – which, by the way, is not impossible. Flashbacks… I really get in Peter Parker’s head there at the end with the dialog…
I was like ‘guys, you know I can come back, right? You know I can come back in a flashback, I’m in his head.’ And they’re like ‘oh that’s true, yeah man.’
F*ck yeah. By the time we get to The Amazing Spider-Man 5 it might be called “Captain Stacy’s Story.”
[Q] While you said that you’re not really that familiar with the comics, how early on did you know about Captain Stacy’s fate – which was pretty direct from the comics?
[DL] Yeah pretty much from the get-go, yeah.
Captain Stacy as he originally appears in the pages of Spider-Man courtesy of Spider-Man Crawl Space – note his retired status.
[Q] Was that something that made you hesitant or did it make you more excited about the role, getting to be the big act 3 tragedy?
[DL] Well I’ve been around long enough to think ahead. So I’m like, ‘ahh f*ck. My guy dies.’ As an actor I’m like, ‘well I get to do a big juicy death scene.’ But I could be out on the sequels… which is where the real money is.
Because in the original Ice Age, the ape was supposed to die – at the end of the first Ice Age. So I said, ‘this isn’t going to work, you can’t kill a major character, kids bum out.’ Right? So they screened it the first time and kids bummed out. Not because it’s me, because you have to kill the mother at the beginning of the child movie, and it’s OK. But you can’t kill a major character at the end.
So I got in on that! And I had a brief conversation with Marc where I was like ‘how about if I die, and then at the end, I come back to life.’ And he’s like, ‘no you gotta die.’ And I’m like, ‘alright.’ But that’s why I gotta plant the seed for flashback city. Two and 3, you know? Gotta get in there.
[Q] When you were talking about the dinner scene before, and Marc told you to step it up, I was wondering where it went from there, how you stepped it up and intimidated Andrew in that scene?
[DL] Ah, that next take. I kind of saw his, his head move back a little bit. I’ve got it in me, I was just still playing around trying to figure it out, you know? But they’re really good, and they’re not, you know, Andrew and Emma, I don’t know how they’re so good at such a young age, I really don’t.
[DL] Rhys and I would just stand to the side and say, ‘how did these kids get this good this young?’ They’re concerned about all the right things. You know, it’s not the size of the trailer, it’s the meat of the scene. That’s what they’re concerned about, so, you know, hats off to em, man. I wasn’t anywhere near that good when I was their age. Or that mature.
[Q] Did this movie get you thinking about the limits of science, and like, pissing God off by going too far and that kind of thing?
[DL] Yeah, Lapsed Catholic. I not believe there is a god because the Red Sox won the 2004 World Series. *laughter* I also think God is a gangly Irish guy who smokes and drinks and is not the guy that most people believe in. And I flunked science and math in highschool, and I still don’t understand science. So yeah, I don’t really…
I think it could be really cool if you could get bit by a spider and then fly around. I’d f*ckin do that tomorrow. You know? But I don’t investigate that stuff morally. I don’t know anything about science but I can basically recite the entire starting lineup of the 1967 Boston Red Socks – and their batting averages. And why wasn’t that on a math test when I was in school? You know? Like Bobby Doerr‘s stats, I could have been a straight-A math student if that had was on the math test. But no!
[Q] People don’t know that you’re a doctor.
[DL] They should know that because I published a book under the name Doctor, two books under the name Doctor actually.
[Q] A lot of people don’t realize this.
[DL] Yes I am, in fact. It’s nice that it follows the science question. Just incase you didn’t know – but you probably did know because of the celebrity world of becoming a doctor, which is you don’t actually have to go back to school. You’re just famous and they give you one if you speak at the graduation – which I used to think was really bullsh*t, but now that I have a doctorate, I think it’s a really smart system. *laughter*
I actually graduated with honors from my college, it was an acting and a writing degree, and then years later they gave me a Doctor of the Fine Arts. So there you go, Bill Cosby.
Bill Cosby actually went back to school and got his real doctorate, I’m like, ‘f*ck man, he must be pissed.’ I’m Doctor Dennis Leary, he’s Doctor Cosby. You know what I mean? But it’s cool to be able to say Doctor Leary.
I just went to – my son just graduated from the school I went to, and the guy looked down his nose at me because they were putting the doctors, the doctorates in a special seating area. And we were going in there, and this guy, like a real academic looking, like real doctor, of letters, turned around and he’s like, “excuse me but this is for the doctors.” And I’m like, “yeah I’m Doctor Dennis Leary.”
And he went like this, *surprised look* like that, and then there I was sitting next to him at the graduation. With all the other f*ckin doctors. *laughter* He was pissed, man, he was not happy.
[Q] Where is this school located?
[DL] In Boston, it’s a great college. Emerson College. I went there, there’s a lot of famous people that went to school there. It’s a fantastic school for acting, writing, and now filmmaking as well. My son just graduated with a degree in filmmaking. I can’t say enough about that school. It’s where I ultimately met my wife, after I graduated, she was going to school there, and… a lot of great alumni from that school from Henry Winkler to Norman Lear back in the way old days to – you know, a lot of the Simpsons original staff writers came out of that college. David Cross, me, god – the list, Gina Gershon, Mario Cantone, ah… I’m forgetting people man, Laura Keitlinger, it’s just, it’s – Steven Wright, the comedian.
It’s a really great school.
I should be getting paid for this.
Be sure to stay tuned for our whole series of interviews being posted immediately if not soon for this fabulous film. Have a peek at the timeline below to see what we’ve already got and hit our Entertainment hub for more awesome interview and film feature action in the future. Also don’t forget to see The Amazing Spider-Man in theaters now!
Remember those cool-looking Parrot Zik wireless headphones we saw back at CES? Well, now we have a date and a price for you Philippe Starck fans out there. Announced at the Hong Kong launch event earlier today, these NFC-enabled, active noise cancelling Bluetooth cans will be available globally in August, with the US getting a price tag of $399 before tax (and for those who care, you’ll be able to nab one in Hong Kong for HK$3,399 or US$440). During our brief ears-on, we certainly enjoyed the Zik’s great audio quality, noise isolation and the intuitiveness of its swipe gesture input. While the battery is swappable, note that this expensive package only comes with one cell (accessible under the magnetic cover on the left can) that typically lasts for around five hours, so road warriors will need to chip in about $30 for a spare one. Alternatively, product manager Theodore Sean (whom we had the pleasure to interview at CES) pointed out a unique and handy feature that sort of bypasses this problem: you can still use the Zik as a pair of passive headphones using the included 3.5mm audio cable, but without any battery juice left, you obviously won’t be able to enjoy the noise cancellation function (on a plane, for instance) or even make phone calls.
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.
