Sense8 review: the creators of The Matrix find a new home on TV

Netflix is getting ready to release Sense8, the 12-episode TV series the Wachowskis created with writer J. Michael Straczynski (Babylon 5), it’s time to answer that question.

Sense8 revolves around a group of eight individuals across the world — or "sensates" — all of whom find themselves able to tap into and experience the senses of each other. A Chicago cop (Brian J. Smith) is disturbed by dance music next door, when in reality it’s the set that a London DJ named Riley (Tuppence Middleton) is spinning. A woman in Mumbai (Tina Desai) grabs an umbrella on a sunny day, while in Berlin a young criminal (Max Riemelt) attends a rain-soaked funeral. It provides for some fun connective tissue as the first episode unfolds, holding together a rather disparate set of stories — and of course it wouldn’t be a television show about people with mysterious powers if there wasn’t some sort of shadowy conspiracy in play. In this case it’s Lost’s Naveen Andrews, playing a enigmatic figure trying to bring the group of eight together for reasons unknown (or at least, reasons that remained unknown during the first three episodes that Netflix previewed).

The set-up sounds like Heroes or any other number of shows from the 2000s, but the Wachowskis — who direct the entire season — differentiate their show by taking different genre approaches with each character’s story. Wolfgang’s tale takes on the vibe of a gritty crime thriller, while the story of a closeted Mexican movie star and the actress who’s obsessed with him plays like a tongue-in-cheek comedy of errors. The show shot in eight different countries, and the Wachowskis are stretching their legs here, clearly having fun with the expanded canvas they’re able to work with, while never sacrificing their signature attention to detail or style. Whether it’s ponderous slow-motion or a dancehall rave, there’s no question: they’re going Full Wachowski.

At times, that visual styling does cause Sense8 to feel a bit like a throwback. Everything from the concept to the show’s opening credits font and music cue — a thinly veiled riff on Radiohead’s "Pyramid Song" — feels planted firmly in the early aughts. It’s distracting at first, especially coming from filmmakers that have been bent on pushing things forward at all costs, and it doesn’t help that Sense8 takes its time in distinguishing itself from existing shows. But as it picks up steam and begins delving into the familiar Wachowski themes — that we are all interconnected, across lines of race, sexuality, gender, and class — it begins to establish its own sense of identity. By the end of the third episode, when the show finally gets the chance to add the Wachowski’s penchant for action choreography to the mix, the combination had me fully on board.

But all of those flourishes and concepts pale in comparison to the patient stories Sense8 wants to tell. While there are crimes, unjust incarcerations, and chases, over the first three episodes, the bombastic plot twists are relatively rare and there’s no fantastic sci-fi to be seen. Instead, the show takes its time, building its world moment by methodical moment. It’s not as heavy on plot as many binge-hungry viewers are going to want, but the approach lends a sense of intimacy to the show that I've never seen the Wachowskis pull off before. Nowhere is it more apparent than in the story of Nomi (Jamie Clayton), a transgender writer living in San Francisco. Sense8 is one of the most diverse shows in recent memory, and while that deserves praise in and of itself, it also feels like the show would argue that’s not the point. Nomi is simply an incredibly relatable character brought to life by Clayton’s vulnerable, standout performance. She is the beating heart of Sense8, and Clayton allows the Wachowskis to move beyond intellectual discussion, and imbue the show’s ideas with an actual soul.

From the globe-spanning production to the bold choices in characters, Sense8 feels like the exact kind of show Netflix needs to make to stay vital — one that could be matched only by the likes of HBO. And for the Wachowskis themselves, it’s a new beginning: a chance to adapt to a new medium and start a fresh chapter in their careers when the odds are they may never again get the free rein in big-budget filmmaking they once enjoyed. Of course, plenty of shows have had promising starts only to collapse as they stretch on; hell, the Wachowskis have already done it once themselves with the Matrix trilogy.

Microsoft Has Hijacked Android In A Hostile Takeover.

Microsoft has its own mobile operating system and devices. Thanks to a variety of legal and strategic moves, though, Microsoft also owns a sizeable chunk of its largest competitor. Microsoft already generates significant revenue from Android and it is poised to rake in the cash from Android users thanks to a newly announced partnership to pre-install Microsoft Office and Skype apps on a wide variety of Android tablets.

Microsoft revealed yesterday that it has entered a strategic agreement with 20 different Android OEMs—including Sony and LG—to install Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, OneDrive and Skype on their Android tablets. A new LG tablet and the Sony Xperia Z4 are slated to come with the Microsoft apps pre-installed in the next 90 days.

“Our strategic agreements with these partners demonstrate how Microsoft is leveraging the scale of the hardware ecosystem, and working with partners in new ways to deliver rich experiences to our customers,” said Microsoft’s Nick Parker in a blog post announcing the new relationships. “This is a cornerstone of our cross-platform services strategy, to bring an array of Microsoft services to every person on every device.”

It is part of Microsoft’s broader cross-platform strategy. Under Satya Nadella’s leadership Microsoft has taken a much more aggressive platform-agnostic stance rather than trying to force users to stay on Microsoft’s own operating systems and devices. Microsoft has made significant progress in providing access to its tools and services no matter what platform or device a customer chooses. More importantly, it has focused on ensuring a consistent and seamless experience which makes it more likely customers will choose to use those familiar Microsoft apps no matter what device they’re on.

Microsoft offers the same—or sometimes better—apps on iOS than it does on Android, or even on its own Windows Phone mobile devices sometimes. However, iOS is a closed ecosystem controlled by Apple. Apple owns the operating system. Apple manufactures the hardware. Apple controls access to the App Store. Microsoft is doing an excellent job of navigating iOS but there’s no mistaking that Microsoft is playing in Apple’s world.

Android is a different story. While Android was developed by and is closely tied to Google it is an open source operating system. Google doesn’t “own” it per se, and Google makes zero dollars of revenue from licensing the Android OS itself. Microsoft on the other hand generates about $2 billion a year in revenue from Android manufacturers in agreements over licensing Microsoft patents that are infringed by the Android OS.

Because Google does not own the platform and has no direct control over the manufacturers who produce Android smartphones and tablets, Microsoft is free to negotiate arrangements like this one—strategic alliances that enable Microsoft to more or less hijack Android from the inside. Android users generally default to using Google productivity apps and services because they’re pre-installed on the Android devices and tied to the Google account the user logs into the mobile device with. It’s just easier to use the apps that are already there rather than seeking out and installing something else.

By making the Microsoft apps available by default on those same devices Microsoft is reducing the friction for users. With the Microsoft apps pre-installed they become the path of least resistance. They offer a consistent, familiar experience and integrate seamlessly with Microsoft Office applications on other devices. Storing files in OneDrive makes them instantly accessible using those same Office applications on other platforms and the user doesn’t need to re-learn anything or figure out how to convert files.

The move by Microsoft will also spark more revenue from Office 365. The basic functionality of Microsoft Office is available for free on smartphones and tablets, but Office 365 customers unlock the full features and capabilities of Office. Pre-installing the free apps will give users a taste and many will choose to invest in Office 365 to gain access to the full power of Microsoft Office from the Android tablet.

'San Andreas' Review: The Rock's Earthquake Spectacular

Funny Dwayne The Rock Johnson- San Andreas Interview

REVIEW :

Mother Nature always gets the last word, but don’t tell that to the filmmakers of San Andreas, who envision California bravely persevering after a series of earthquakes of unprecedented severity erupts along the titular fault line. West-coasters are known for their frequently nonchalant attitude toward disasters, but Warner Bros.’ third big-budget release of May is far too upbeat in the face of catastrophe to spur any tectonic shift in perspective.

Whether the “Big One” will play out anything like the movie imagines may be debatable, but San Andreas will clearly inject some fresh PG-13 action into theaters, and while it may not exactly tip the Richter scale, it could still resonate with crowds gearing up for summer vacation.

Any feature inclined toward a realistic depiction of a monster earthquake would be wise to stick with first-responders, so San Andreas gives us Ray (Dwayne Johnson), an LA Fire Department search and rescue helicopter pilot. Ray’s expertise aloft isn’t matched by his interpersonal skill though, as he’s reminded when his estranged wife Emma (Carla Gugino) serves him with divorce papers and announces she’s moving into her wealthy boyfriend Daniel’s (Ioan Gruffudd) fancy mansion, along with their daughter Blake (Alexandra Daddario). Ray’s plans for spending a final weekend with Blake before she begins university in the San Francisco area are dashed when a major earthquake hits Nevada and his squad mobilizes to respond, so Daniel offers to fly Blake up north on his private jet.

The LAFD isn’t aware, however, that the Nevada quake is part of a “swarm” of temblors headed toward LA, as predicted by Lawrence Hayes (Paul Giamatti), a seismology professor at CalTech. Before Hayes can get word out to the public, however, the first big one hits downtown, where Emma is lunching in a highrise restaurant as the building begins crumbling around her. Already airborne and flying solo, Ray plucks her from the roof in his chopper and they impulsively zip off to retrieve their daughter.

Blake has already reached San Francisco when another quake hits and she’s trapped in an underground garage. After managing to reach Ray by cell phone with her location, she’s rescued by handsome Brit engineer Ben (Hugo Johnstone-Burt) and his younger brother Ollie (Art Parkinson). The three quickly flee into the marginally safer streets of San Francisco and start developing a plan to rendezvous with Ray and Emma.

Although the geological principals that underlie the plot are fairly solid, the film predictably exaggerates them to an unlikely degree, as earthquakes split California apart with a zipper-like effect. Those particulars may be of little concern to audiences, but some may wonder why an active-duty LAFD pilot would ignore orders and go AWOL on a personal mission with one of the department’s helicopters. No matter, the extended trip north gives Ray and Emma a chance to try and sort out their failing marriage as they make a beeline for Blake.

Unpacking all of that personal baggage makes for an uneasy fit with the action-adventure scenario and the movie is at its strongest when it integrates family dynamics into the plot rather than indulging in extreme couples therapy. Johnson is totally up for it, however, remaining one of the few contemporary action stars who can reassuringly embrace emotional situations at the height of catastrophe. Otherwise, he gives the type of heroic alpha-male performance we’ve come to reliably expect, along with the occasional twinkle of characteristic humor. Gugino and Daddario are no slouches either, barreling full-bore through physically intense scenes that are no less demanding for all their liberally deployed special effects.

Together with cinematographer Steve Yedlin and VFX supervisor Colin Strause, director Brad Peyton achieves a persuasive blending of practical shots and superior CG techniques for the most complex sequences, which may even have some viewers holding onto their seats for stability (the movie will be released in 3D in select theaters.) The scale of the spectacle is often disproportionate to the destruction depicted, however, with few scenes of the inevitable death and trauma that follow a major earthquake.

So if San Andreas eventually emerges as a feel-good disaster movie, it probably just reflects our aspirations for maintaining order in the inevitable chaos of a catastrophic quake. Wishful thinking, indeed.

Trailer:

DC Comics build its own TV superhero squad : Legends of Tomorrow

Everyone's favorite superhero team is back again! They're all here — there's the tech genius with a metal suit, the hyper-accurate archer dude, and the mysterious backflipping assassin woman. That's right, it's the heroes from DC Comics' upcoming Legends of Tomorrow, the first trailer of which was shown off by TV network The CW today ahead of the show's premiere early next year.

Of course, The Avengers are hardly the first selection of superheroes to band together, but for viewers whose only exposure to comic book superheroes has come via TV and movies, some of Legends of Tomorrow's stars appear on first glance to have borrowed particularly liberally from Marvel's crew. The Atom, in particular, shares traits with not one but two of DC's rival's creations — using his red metal suit, ex-Superman actor Brandon Routh can both fly like Iron Man, and shrink like Ant-Man.

LEGENDS OF TOMORROW PREMIERES EARLY NEXT YEAR

But there are some distinct differences. Where Tony Stark has both charm and smarm in equal measures, The Atom, is almost dopey and eager to please. The Legends also have one up on the Avengers in terms of gender parity, featuring two female characters in Hawk Girl and resurrected assassin White Canary. Importantly, the show is set to beat Marvel's own small-screen superhero team — The Defenders — to air, something of a victory for DC as the competing comic companies work to flesh out live action versions of their own intricate universes with movies and TV shows.

The show should also benefit from featuring Arrow and The Flash, two heroes who've established themselves in their own successful shows. Their success has allowed The CW to renew both for the fall season, keeping both Arrow and the The Flash in their current positions on Tuesdays and Wednesdays in the process. The CW's only new show for the fall slate is Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, which stars Rachel Bloom as a woman who gives up her career and her life to move to suburban California, and will air on Mondays.

Supergirl pilot leaks six months early in full HD

The first episode of CBS's forthcoming Supergirl series has leaked online a full six months before it was scheduled to air. Two versions of the 46-minute episode (one in full HD and another in lower resolution) made their way onto torrenting sites late last week, with BitTorrent news site TorrentFreak describing the leak as a "complete surprise" to the pirating community. As seen in the six-minute trailer for the series released earlier this month, the pilot shows former Glee star Melissa Benoist as Superman's cousin Kara Zor-El (known as Kara Danvers to us humans), struggling to get to grips with both her newfound powers and the harrowing trial that is life in New York City.

LESS DAMAGING THAN THE GAME OF THRONES LEAK

The pilot is reportedly free of any watermarks or warnings that might distinguish it as an advanced screening copy, leading some to speculate that the supposed leak is actually a marketing ploy by CBS to generate positive buzz. Unlike the leak of the first four episodes of Game of Thrones season five last month (which HBO blamed on early screeners), this incident isn't likely to affect Supergirl's viewing figures simply because the show's debut is still so far away. Early responses to the pilot have also been broadly positive — good news for CBS after a mixed reaction to the frothy, Devil Wears Prada feel of the show's trailer.

Here's The First Look :

EA preps Need for Speed reboot: NFS Underground 3

Electronic Arts this week announced that it will reboot the Need for Speed franchise later this year with a new game that promises to start a new era for the series. Based on the initial information, the new title will inherit the soul of the legendary Need for Speed Underground.

Trailer :

Need for Speed in clearly one of the best known names in the video games industry. Throughout its 20-years history, the franchise redeveloped itself multiple times and even changed genres from simulator to arcade and back. While there were multiple great Need for Speed games in the series, there are two that stand alone: Need for Speed Underground and Need for Speed Underground 2. Both games featured unique atmosphere of underground racing culture, tuning and challenge, a combination that has not been replicated by any title since then. Now, Electronic Arts wants to bring this back.

Not a lot of information is known about the new title, which is in development at Ghost Games. In fact, even its name is unclear. EA claims that the new Need for Speed will return everything that the fans loved about Need for Speed Underground: deep customisation, authentic urban car culture, a nocturnal open world, and an immersive narrative that pulls you through the game.

The developers promise that the level of detail and real-world authenticity will “envelop gamers in an exciting world to discover and enjoy.” The new Need for Speed will let gamers tweak and adjust car’s appearance and improve car’s performance with various options that will make it unique. There is no word about online-only, hence, this may not be another Need for Speed World.

“Need for Speed is one of the most iconic names in gaming, and we’re returning it to greatness in this reboot,” said Marcus Nilsson, Executive Producer at Ghost Games. “Pulling on our 20 years of history, and then taking a year out from releasing a game, we are making the game we’ve always wanted to. We are listening to the fans and delivering an experience that will capture their imagination and unleash their passion for cars and speed.”

The game was developed in collaboration with Speedhunters, a web-site dedicated to racing cars owned by Electronic Arts. The new Need for Speed will be released for PC, Microsoft Xbox One and Sony PlayStation 4 platforms later this year.

EA will reveal more details about its next Need for Speed game as well as give the first look at customization on the 15th of June, 2015.

'The Flash' Season 1 Finale Review: A Brilliant Conclusion

Spoilers through Season 1 of ‘The Flash’ follow.

Tuesday night’s Season 1 finale of The Flash was surprisingly powerful, an emotionally poignant, no-nonsense episode that ended on a great cliff-hanger. It’s so good, they could just stop here and we’d always remember this as one of the best series finales of all time. I’m glad that’s not the case, of course, and that we’ll all be treated to a Season 2.

Not everything about “Fast Enough” was surprising, though I admit I didn’t have a clue how it would all end. Time travel stories follow certain tropes and guidelines, but that doesn’t mean they’re necessarily predictable.

Eddie’s sacrifice, his moment of true heroism, was an emotionally stirring moment—even though it was straight out of Looper. (And I don’t mind that it wasn’t entirely original, it was still deeply effective.)

Of course, as one commenter said sometime back, all Eddie really needed to do was get a vasectomy. Oh well. Hindsight, 20/20 vision, all that jazz.

The conversations surrounding coincidence and destiny really set the tone for the episode, too, both for Eddie and Barry. Eddie’s first realization that he was destined to meet Iris, later supplanted by his realization that he was actually here to sacrifice himself for the greater good; Barry’s realization that he couldn’t save his mother.

The real star of the episode, however, was once again Harrison Wells. Eobard Thawne. The Reverse Flash.

Tom Cavanaugh is so unnervingly brilliant in this role, you can’t help but root for him on some level. I wanted him to escape through the wyrm-hole, a lot actually. He’s an evil villain, but he’s still so infuriatingly likable.

When he tells Barry that he hates him, but that he’s also come to admire and even love him, I for one never doubt his sincerity for a second. Sure, he’ll kill him in a flash, but that’s just his own, twisted brand of love.

Likewise, when he and Cisco talk you can sense his genuine, bizarre affection for the young prodigy. When he says he’s sorry to Cisco, it’s not for killing him in another timeline, but because Cisco is a meta-human, too.

One who can see through time, like an Oracle.

Will this figure in to Legends of Tomorrow, DC and the CW’s Flash/Arrow spin-off?

I hope so. Cisco is the second best part about The Flash.

Dr. Wells is the best part, which leads me to my biggest concern now that Season 1 is over:

How can any other season of this show possibly match the brilliance of its freshman effort? How can any villain live up to the terrifying, crazy-smart, ominous, strangely likable Dr. Harrison Wells?

When Barry goes back in time to save his mother, he ultimately chooses not to—he lets her die. He tells her he was given a chance to go back, not to save her, but to let her know that he and his father are okay. It’s a tear-inducing moment, not just for Barry and his mother but for your humble narrator as well. In fact, there’s still a little dust in the air or something, even as I type.

But he doesn’t just choose to stand idly by, not on his own—or, well, not really. He sees himself, another version of himself, battling with the Reverse Flash. He watches his other self grab his third, child-self and whoosh him away. But before that, Barry #2 looks over at him and shakes his head, motions for him to stop, to not intervene.

This tells me two things: First off, that the story of his mother’s death, of time-travel, and of Eobard Thawne is not over. Thawne is dead now, in the Flash’s reality, in his present, but he is still alive in Time. Somehow, even with Eddie’s sacrifice, Thawne is still alive somewhere. He still killed Barry’s mom. He still built the particle accelerator that made the Flash and the rest of the meta-humans who they all are. None of that has changed.

And no, it doesn’t make any sense. Time travel never makes any sense. There is always a failure of logic involved.

But it is good news, because it means we’re likely going to see more of Dr. Harrison Wells in the future. Or, er, the past? We’ll see more of him on the show, in any case. He’s simply eradicated from the present. With Legends of Tomorrow taking place across epochs, who knows how time will work in future seasons of both The Flash and Arrow?

Meanwhile, Eddie’s death frees up Iris and Barry to finally hook up, if that’s what they decide. I’m not sure I like this. Like the Oliver/Felicity hook up, it feels a little forced. Just like with “Olicity” I don’t really see that special spark between Barry and Iris that means the two are meant to be. (Ironic as that statement may be given the way Iris learned the Flash’s true identity.)

Still, the season and its finale were so good, I can give the next season the benefit of the doubt. I can’t imagine trying to top what they’ve already achieved, but if they stay as focused and as restrained as they did this time around, we’re in for another treat when Season 2 airs.

Dr. Martin Stein, one half of the Ronnie/Stein Firestorm duo, will take on the new role of “old smart guy” I assume. I’m a little curious (perversely curious?) how relations between Ronnie and Caitlin will affect him, though I suppose that’s better left off the show. (I suppose they haven’t waited until marriage either, for that matter.)

Ultimately, this was a terrific episode in a terrific season that managed to unshackle itself from unnecessary character drama just in time. I’m a little sad that the Wells story was played out as quickly as it was—dragging it out over two or even three seasons could have been so fascinating—but overall this is one of the best comic book inspired shows I’ve ever watched, and that applies to movies as well.

Trailer :

This beautiful Mad Max poster is animated with oil paintings

Mad Max is absolutely gorgeous, relying on sweeping shots of deserts and real vehicles to create its strange, post-apocalyptic world. But gorgeous as it may be, a fan-made poster manages to improve upon it — for at least a few frames. Artists Zachary Johnson and Ronen V put together a poster that animates scenes from the Mad Max trailer with oil paintings. Their style brings the brief animations alive in an incredible way, filling each frame with a ton of motion and a surprising amount of detail. The way each painting bleeds over the edge of its frame is a wonderful touch that definitely falls in line with the Mad Max vibe.

There's no way this look would make sense for the entirety of Mad Max, but it's hard not to wonder what it would be like to watch an entire film this way. Fortunately, Johnson happens to have made already a five-minute-long music video out of oil paintings. It took over 3,400 paintings in total, and it's a pretty incredible sight.

Here's Another Animated Oil Painting You Would like.

Sorry, you're not going to get a laser TV

Overview :

Apple will actually be fighting the cable monopolies instead of co-opting them. Last night, The Wall Street Journal dropped the news that Apple gave up on plans to make a 4K TV a year ago. To the casual observer, the news feels like a bombshell, but to people watching Apple rumors for the past five-plus years, it just felt inevitable. Steve Jobs may have famously said he "cracked" TV, but the reality is that knowing what the right solution is and actually implementing it are two vastly different things. So what actually happened to Apple’s long-awaited TV?

Problem :

Part of the problem with understanding the TV business is that we use shortcuts to talk about it. TV is the shows you watch. TV is the cabal of cable networks standing between you and the shows you want to watch. TV is the remote. TV is the software. TV is the tooth-and-nail fight to be the default thing that appears when you press the power button. TV is the cable box. TV is the way that the shows get to your TV. TV is the way that you pay for those shows. TV is who you pay to get those shows. And last of all, TV is the panel you stare at nightly. When we talk about TV, we tend to talk about all of those things all mixed up together like some kind of demonic Venn diagram whose center is a black triskaidecagon of suffering.

TV IS A DEMONIC VENN DIAGRAM

So how was Apple trying to change things? According to the WSJ, it chased 4K panels long before they became available — or even feasible — on the consumer market. It considered embedding cameras for FaceTime calls that could track your position in the room. It even considered wild, transparent panels that used laser beams to project images. But the tech was never enough to differentiate Apple’s hardware. In fact, every single one of those technologies would have been a bad decision. Apple was well ahead of the curve on 4K technologies — so much so that cost and content have been major problems until very recently. Now that those problems are on their way to being solved, 4K panels are quickly becoming a commodity. The laser-based display sounds whiz-bang, but apparently it couldn’t produce enough picture quality. And last but not least, TVs equipped with cameras are more than a little creepy.

Apple's Drawback :

But to actually disrupt an ecosystem, you need something more than just the most advanced hardware. TV is a muddled mess of bad software, the greedy and/or incumbents, and really good content. Apple’s solved similar problems before: both the iPod and the iPhone were devices that combined hardware, software, and aggressive corporate negotiations to carve out a space for a product that was genuinely consumer friendly.

But pulling off that same trick with TV is much harder, if only because the TV industry has seen Apple run this playbook before and isn’t much interested in letting Apple do it again. Back in February, Peter Kafka at Recode told us that Apple had shifted away from trying to get cable companies on board to talking directly to the programmers. And in March, the WSJ revealed that Apple had indeed been trying to work with Comcast, but talks broke down.
If they hadn’t, maybe coming out with hardware that wasn’t radically differentiated might have made sense for Apple. Sure, the panel wouldn’t have been much different, but the overall experience would have been. The iPhone and the iPod were ahead of their time in terms of hardware — but not by that much. It’s the whole package that matters, and the cable companies seem to have kept Apple from creating it.

First Steve Jobs trailer shows Michael Fassbender as the Apple founder

The first teaser trailer for Danny Boyle's Steve Jobs biopic, the appropriately titled Steve Jobs, has arrived. The minute-long clip doesn't reveal much about the upcoming movie, but does give us the first glimpse of Michael Fassbender in character as the Apple boss, shot from behind as he prepares to stride out onto stage to deliver one of his trademark keynotes. Fassbender's joined by Seth Rogen, in character as Apple co-creator Steve Wozniak complete with big bushy beard, Kate Winslet as Joanna Hoffman, and Jeff Daniels as former Apple CEO John Sculley.

Leaked emails from Sony Pictures showed that Steve Jobs had something of a torturous development process. The movie was originally in production at the studio, with David Fincher set to direct, but it slipped from Sony's grasp to Universal in late 2014. Slumdog Millionaire director Danny Boyle is now at the helm, working with a script written by West Wing creator and The Social Network writer Aaron Sorkin. With its production problems apparently ironed out, and an accomplished cast in place, the movie's finally set for release on October 9th.

Microsoft reveals all the editions of Windows 10

While Microsoft has not yet revealed an exact date for the Windows 10 launch (other than summer), the software giant is revealing all the editions today that will be made available when the operating system is finalized. Windows 10 Home is what Microsoft calls the "consumer-focused desktop edition." It’s the edition that will ship on most home PCs and laptops, and it includes all of the main Windows 10 features like the new Microsoft Edge browser, Windows Hello face-recognition, and built-in universal apps. To complement the home desktop version, Microsoft also has a Windows 10 Pro edition. This will be the equivalent to Windows 8 Pro, with the ability for businesses to connect up to domains and take advantage of Windows Update for Business.

Microsoft is also renaming Windows Phone with the launch of Windows 10 across PCs, phones, tablets, and the Xbox One. Windows 10 Mobile is the official replacement name, and it will include new touch-optimized versions of Office and support for the new Continuum for Phone feature. It will support phones and small tablets (less than 8-inch displays), with the familiar Windows Phone interface. Microsoft is also offering a Windows 10 Mobile Enterprise edition, designed for big businesses to license the operating system on smartphones and small tablets.

SEVEN EDITIONS IN TOTAL

Alongside these main editions, Microsoft will have Windows 10 Enterprise, Windows 10 Education, and Windows 10 IoT Core for smaller gateway devices. That’s seven editions in total, across a range of devices and use cases. "We are making strong progress with Windows 10, and we are on track to make it available this summer," says Microsoft’s Tony Prophet. "And because we have built Windows 10 to be delivered as a service, this milestone is just the beginning of the new generation of Windows. Starting this fall, customers can expect ongoing innovation and security updates for their Windows 10 devices, including more advanced security and management capabilities for businesses."

Marvel's latest Ant-Man trailer punches Paul Rudd in the face a lot

It's barely been two weeks since Avengers: Age of Ultron premiered to a record-breaking box office, but the Marvel movie-making machine can't stop to celebrate as it rumbles ever onwards. Ant-Man is the studio's next release, and ahead of its July 17th premiere, Marvel has shown off yet more footage of the shrinking superhero. The latest trailer aired during the series finale of Agents of SHIELD, and shows star meeting mentor Michael Douglas, earning his miniaturizing suit, and being punched in the face — repeatedly.

Between them, the Avengers have enough firepower to wreck vast cities. Ant-Man's action looks to be a little smaller in scope — the most recent TV spot has Paul Rudd and antagonist Yellow Jacket tussling on a toy train track before being hit by a child-sized Thomas the Tank Engine. Nonetheless, the fun-sized Ant-Man is still super in stature, and future Marvel movies will undoubtedly see him link up with the comic book company's other, taller, heroes.

Chester reflects on Linkin Park's The Hunting Party, talks work on a new album

One of the biggest rocks bands around today dropped their latest album last June in the form of The Hunting Party. That was the first album Linkin Park released since their 2012 record Living Things. Their most recent album is perhaps one of Chester Bennington's favorites.

The Hunting Party was the most raw, aggressive album Linkin Park has made in years. The band's desire was to create a more in your face rock album and they succeeded. Songs such as A Line In The Sand, Guilty All The Same and Rebellion are a few of the tracks that personify the vision of The Hunting Party.

Chester has been working with Stone Temple Pilots as of late, but during a recent interview , Chester provided some thoughts on The Hunting Party and where it stacks up against other records Linkin Park has made.
"We really enjoyed making The Hunting Party and everybody seemed to respond well to the rawness of it. I think The Hunting Party was a great record for us and I think it’s definitely one of my favorite records that we’ve made. I think A Thousand Suns and The Hunting Party are our best records," Bennington said.

A Thousand Suns was originally released back in September 2010, but the band's sound has evolved in a fascinating way since then. For fans who enjoyed the Linkin Park's first two records, The Hunting Party was the closest resembling album simply due to the level of aggression that was audible.

As has been the recent pattern of Linkin Park since they released A Thousand Suns in 2010, it's safe to assume their next record will land in stores sometime during 2016, but that has yet to be confirmed. Linkin Park is in the studio beginning work on their next album, but Bennington said they are still working on mapping out the creative vision for what will come next.

"We’re starting to get into [the creative] phase right now. I know we want to make music that is fun to play live, that’s pretty much our goal in life right now (laughs). I don’t know exactly what the nature of the next record will be or what the mentality of it will look like.I think we want to keep carrying [the rawness] forward, but we also want to move in a different direction like we always have. When we go into the studio, we just want to go in and make music that’s super fun to play live. I imagine [our next album] is going to be a fun record," Bennington said.

This developer has a web browser running on his Apple Watch

Comex:The Developer Behind

Comex, the developer behind JailBreakMe and former Apple intern, has figured out a way to hack the Apple Watch OS to get a web browser to run on the device, 9to5 Mac reports. In a recent video, Comex shows Google's homepage displayed on his Apple Watch.

Obviously, it's not very practical

Unsurprisingly, it looks a little ridiculous. Google's search bar is only shown in fragments as Comex's thumb fiddles with the display, and when the Copy/Define menu from an iOS interface pops up, it covers nearly the entire watch face. For now, Comex hasn't released any details of the hack.

Screenshots

WINDOWS 10 : THE LAST WINDOWS OS

'INTERVIEW'

Jerry Nixon, a Microsoft development executive, said in a conference speech this week that Windows 10 would be the "last version" of the dominant desktop software. His comments were echoed by Microsoft which said it would update Windows in future in an "ongoing manner". Instead of new stand-alone versions, Windows 10 would be improved in regular instalments, the firm said. Mr Nixon made his comments during Microsoft's Ignite conference held in Chicago this week. In a statement, Microsoft said Mr Nixon's comments reflected a change in the way that it made its software. "Windows will be delivered as a service bringing new innovations and updates in an ongoing manner," it said, adding that it expected there to be a "long future" for Windows. 'No Windows 11' The company said it had yet to decide on what to call the operating system beyond Windows 10. "There will be no Windows 11," warned Steve Kleynhans, a research vice-president at analyst firm Gartner who monitors Microsoft. He said Microsoft had in the past deliberately avoided using the name "Windows 9" and instead chose Windows 10 as a way to signify a break with a past which involved successive stand-alone versions of the operating system. However, he said, working in that way had created many problems for Microsoft and its customers. "Every three years or so Microsoft would sit down and create 'the next great OS'," he said.

'Reason'

The developers would be locked away and out would pop a product based on what the world wanted three years ago." Microsoft also had to spend a huge amount of money and marketing muscle to convince people that they needed this new version, and that it was better than anything that had come before, he explained. Moving to a situation in which Windows is a constantly updated service will break out of this cycle, and let Microsoft tinker more with the software to test new features and see how customers like them, he added.

'Positive step'

Most of the revenue generated by Windows for Microsoft came from sales of new PCs and this was unlikely to be affected by the change, Mr Kleynhans pointed out. "Overall this is a positive step, but it does have some risks," he said. "Microsoft will have to work hard to keep generating updates and new features, he said, adding that questions still remained about how corporate customers would adapt to the change and how Microsoft would provide support. "It doesn't mean that Windows is frozen and will never move forward again," Mr Kleynhans told the BBC. "Indeed we are about to see the opposite, with the speed of Windows updates shifting into high gear."

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Arrow & The Flash - Three Minute Fight Club

We don't talk about the club, but we suspect you'll be buzzing about this amazing new promo for The CW's Arrow and The Flash, featuring characters from both shows. So who will win in a fight? You're about to find out!

Video : Three Minute Fight Club

'The Flash' Season 1, Episode 21 Review: 'Grodd Lives'

The Flash : Plot

At 11, Barry Allen's life changed completely when his mother died in a freak accident and his innocent father was convicted of her murder. Now a crime-scene investigator, his dedication to learn the truth about his mother's death drives him to follow up on every new scientific advancement and urban legend. When his latest obsession -- a particle accelerator heralded as a world-changing invention -- causes an explosion, it creates a freak storm and Barry is struck by lightning. He awakes from a coma nine months later with the power of superspeed. When he learns that others who have gained powers use them for evil, he dedicates himself to protecting the innocent, while still trying to solve the older mystery.

Review : 'Grodd Lives'

While the giant, telepathic gorilla might get all of the attention from this week’s The Flash - and he should obviously get some of it - Grodd Lives is also full of great Iris stuff. That’s right, everyone – great Iris stuff. Miracles can happen, I guess. Because it addresses almost all of our frustrations with the character, simply by including her in the same show as everyone else. It’s so straightforward and so easy that it makes the rest of Iris’ treatment in this first season all the more irritating but, now she knows, and Barry knows that she knows, and she’s about 100 times better than she was before. My concern is whether it’s too little, too late. Comparing her to Laurel Lance on Arrow, which it’s all too easy to do, fans have never really gotten over her initial characterisation. The romance didn’t work, the character didn’t work, and by the second season she had become someone completely divorced from what was going on with the show’s hero. The same has been happening to Iris and, now, even though she proved that she could be a wonderful, Chloe Sullivan-esque addition to the STAR Labs team if The Flash so chooses, I wonder if the audience will ever accept her as anything other than the clueless love interest she’s been boiled down to for so long. But at least we had this episode, because this episode was wonderful. A balance of the show’s genuine, absolute revelry in the comics world with the first real introduction of Grodd and the humanity that’s also consistently been weaved through the show from the start, Grodd Lives was a pretty great example of all the things The Flash does brilliantly. We had an Iris voiceover to start – a statement of intent if ever there was one – and, just as I was readying myself for an hour of passive-aggressive questioning, she goes right ahead and strides into STAR Labs. That’s the first thing the episode gets right. The second and third things are the dressing down of everyone who's lied to her over 20 episodes, and the believably organic, remaining obstacle between her and Barry getting together. Sticking with Eddie at least until they rescue him gives her a sliver of integrity, and her words to both Barry and Joe were a perfect summation of everything the fans have been saying all year. The reason she gets to help at all, though, is down to the presence of the show’s most anticipated villain – Grodd. It’s a miracle The Flash has been able to pull this off - giant gorillas not usually coming across well on a television budget - but it did, and it’s great. One criticism you could level against the episode, of course, is that it was essentially filler on the way to a bigger showdown with Thawne, but we can’t have everything. For his first episode, Grodd really needed to act solo because, as filled with comic-booky aspects as The Flash undoubtedly is, a telepathic ape sharing the screen with Captain Cold may have been a little too much to handle right away. As it stood, the episode revelled just enough in the lunacy of its very existence and that, of course, is why so many of us love this show so much. And the Wells stuff is still going on in the background, ready to become the main thrust of the season finale in two weeks' time. Thawne spent much of the episode reminding Eddie of his inadequacy and, if that’s not a recipe for a super-villain origin story, I don’t know what is. It’s an embarrassment of riches though, because, one week after Grodd was brought to life in a believable way on screen, we’re getting a huge crossover event in next week’s penultimate adventure. With one of the show’s biggest, most commented-upon issues now being addressed, I can’t see why the next two episodes won’t live up to everything The Flash has promised thus far.

Sneak Peek

Why Daredevil Made It Hard for Me to Love Avengers: Age of Ultron

Plot

The first in a planned series of shows detailing the Marvel universe, "Daredevil" follows Matt Murdock, attorney by day and vigilante by night. Blinded in an accident as a child, Murdock uses his heightened senses as Daredevil, fighting crime on the streets of New York after the sun goes down. His efforts are not welcomed by powerful busiman Wilson Fisk -- aka Kingpin -- and others whose interests collide with those of Daredevil. Though Murdock's day job portrays a man who believes in the criminal justice system, his alter ego suggests otherwise, as he takes the law into his own hands to protect his Hell's Kitchen neighborhood and the surrounding communities.

Review

Those familiar with comics will know Frank Miller's run on Daredevil is up there with the highest points of his career. Other writers, such as Bendis and Brubaker, hit similar highs in their writing of the character. It's something about Daredevil that brings out incredible storytelling, whether it be the downtrodden and persevering Matt Murdock or the gritty realism of the setting in contrast to the colorful heroes that populate comic books, Daredevil has had a history of fantastic luck with having its potential tapped on paper. Now, that potential has been tapped on the screen. From the first episode you can tell the property has been adapted with love and a lot of hard work. The cinematography is beautiful in every frame. The characters could not have been cast better. If this weren't actually a better deal for fans, getting 13 hours of (excellent) content, I would hope Charlie Cox could front a Daredevil movie franchise. Because he could carry it. Daredevil has been the star of some of the best comics ever written, so the adaptation was always going to come under scrutiny. But how it holds up against them? This might actually be better.

Ratings

iZombie Is So Good It Makes Us Mad At Other TV Shows

Plot

When over-achieving medical resident Liv Moore attends a party that turns into a zombie feeding frenzy, she ends up joining the ranks of the living dead. Determined to pass as human despite her pale appearance and newly listless demeanor, Liv forms a plan to resist her drive to consume fresh human brains by taking a job at a coroner's office, where she can secretly snack on the brains of corpses delivered there. Soon discovering that she absorbs the memories of those she feeds on, she finds new purpose by posing as a psychic and working with a detective to help solve their murders.

review

Veronica Mars meets something new. Thats really the only way to describe this. The dialog is quick witted and funny. Its got a case of the week set up which makes it perfect for casual watching and the expected twist at the end of the first episode shows there will indeed be a story going beyond the case of the week. The lead actress is really good for this part. I liked her from the start and expect she's going to carry this show. Her supporting cast is a little bland at this point but given time I think they can grow into better characters. When you sit on your couch and complain about all television shows being the same and about them making yet another CSI:Alaska THIS is the show you should start watching. Ignore the Romero fan boys complaining about the Zombies. this isn't a show about Zombies! This isn't The Walking Dead. This is a light hearted take on what if a Zombie with the ability to eat brains and see visions of the persons life had to interact with the real world. Would she sit on her couch and be a Zombie or would she go out and help those that can't help themselves?

Ratings