The Hollywood Reporter has an article on Wednesday night with developing news of a series based on Niel Gaiman’s series The Sandman.
“Warner Bros. TV is in the midst of acquiring television rights from sister company DC Entertainment and in talks with several writer-producers about adapting the 1990s comic. At the top of the list is Eric Kripke, creator of the CW’s horror-tinged “Supernatural.”
There was an earlier attempt to bring Gaiman’s masterwork to TV by HBO, but it never came to fruition. Gaiman is not currently involved with this project, which is unusual since the author usually works closely with all his project when they transition to other media. Given that The Sandman is his best known work, and with the legion of fans who celebrate the series, this development process is still in early stages.
Peter Schmeiser – Giggaheim Director
Peter is normally answering several questions everyday about continuity of the DC universe, the status of Spider-man, who has been cast in the latest movies, and what counts as canon in Star Wars. Pete enjoys voicing his opinions on the latest comic books, playing video games, and sharing his wealth of useless comic book knowledge with his friends. The Giggaheim was made to share that.
Well here it is. This is Apple’s holiday lineup and it was a biggy. We at the Giggaheim felt it would be easier to not just post several smaller articles detailing 1 thing but to just do the entire event in one post. Apple has done it again. We are gonna go in the order that Apple did:
Apple has always done well with there retail stores. Steve revealed 3 new stores openings around the world and the elegance that is presented with the stores is stunning. I am an engineer and I gotta say I was impressed. The locations consisted of Shanghai, Paris and London. The Paris and London stores were built in refurbished old buildings and are HUGE. The Shanghai store has a glass cylinder enterance and is large as well. Just take a look at some of the photos Steve released of the new stores.
Apple has stated that they almost get 1 million visitors a day across all 300 stores worldwide. They are doing something right!!
iOS 4.1 is going to be good update. It is scheduled to be released sometime next week and will be available for the iPhone and iPod Touch (*excluding some models). It will be a free update and will include these features:
These fixes include performance improves for the iPhone 3G. It also improves the Bluetooth functionality and fixes some of the proximity sensor problems some user may have been experiencing. (I have to be honest, my iPhone 4 is experiencing the bluetooth and sensor issues.)
HDR photos is something new that Apple is pushing on us to improves the quality of our photos. What it does is when you take a standard photo on the iPhone, it actually takes 3 photos. 1 photo at regular exposure, another underexposed and the last one overexposed. It then uses software(probably black magic Photoshop) to improve the image; and it WORKS! Some of the examples Steve was showing showed massive improvements in the photos but
removing a lot of the light that was taking some of the detail out of the images and sometimes adding some in darker images. Check out some of the examples Engadget took; the first image being before HDR, the second with HDR processing. Unbelievable!!!
Since the iPhone 4 has been released there have been a lot of complaints about how the iPhone cramps the HD resolution to 480p when uploading to YouTube directly from the phone. Apple has addressed that and will allow for 720p uploading to YouTube when connected to Wifi. Trust me, you’ll eat the crap out of your data if you do this over cell and it will probably take forever.
Apple has implemented a way where you can actual rent and watch TV shows directly on the iOS device. This is done through the iTunes app.
Because of the huge success of the iPod Touch, Steve announced that the iPod Touch has outsold Nintendo and Sony by holding a 50% market share. There have been 120 million iOS devices sold since the original iPhone. Because of this success, Apple is now going after Xbox Live and is trying to getting into the multiplayer aspect of gaming. You can now use Gamecenter to unlock achievements in games, have a friends list, play online with friends and matchmaking as well. You can challenge your friends and some of the games look stunning. Epic Games has an amazing looking game coming out this year and its running on an iPhone. The power of this device continues to astound us.
iOS 4.2 is everything in iOS 4 and 4.1 but for the iPad. It is scheduled to be released in November and it looks to be huge. Multitasking is coming to the iPad, folders, and now wireless printing. You can print to any connected printer right from your iPad. Another cool feature about 4.2 is something called Airplay. More on that later.
Steve then moved onto iPods, so I will go in order of the Shuffle, Nano and Touch.
The new shuffle is getting a pretty significant upgrade. They are bringing back the click-wheel from the 2nd generation and are keeping the Voice-over from the 3rd generation. Think of it as the 2nd and 3rd generations combined. The shuffle has a max battery life of 15 hours of music. They come in multiple colors and all look awesome. It will retail for $49 and has a 2GB flash based memory.
The iPod Nano is also getting a significant overhaul. Apple has made it even smaller. To make it smaller they removed the clik-wheel and made it just a multi-touch screen. The built in all the touch controls we use with our iPhones and iPod Touches but with some customized features. There is no accelerameter, but to concur that you just twist 2 fingers on the screen and it rotates. It can rotate all 360 degrees in 90 degree increments. The battery life on the nano will last about 24 hours worth of music playing. The new Nano will come in 7 different colors and has 2 different versions. An 8GB model for $149 and a 16GB for $179. There is no longer a camera on this; so no more video recording or picture taking.
The iPod Touch seems to be the biggest thing Apple “touched.” The retina display, the A4 chip, the 3-axis gyro, front-facing and rear-facing camera are all coming to the iPod Touch and they were still able to make it thinner. How have they done that??? The new Touch will has a battery life of 40 hours worth of music playing and can record HD videos just like the iPhone 4. This sucker will retail in 3 different configurations. The 8GB model will go for $229. The 32GB model for $299 and the 64GB model for $399.
ALL NEW iPODS WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE NEXT WEEK!!!!
Steve announced that iTunes is still going strong as being the #1 retailer of music purchased PERIOD. There have been 11.7 billion songs, 450 million TV shows, and 100 million movies downloaded from iTunes. So what are they doing with iTunes in the next release. Well iTunes 10 is out TODAY and here is what they have added:
That was all UNTIL Steve has “one more thing…or hobby.”
Apple’s AppleTV was never a big success. Why?? It was too expense, too hard to use and ran very hot and loud. Apple has addressed all of this. First thing they did was remove the hard drive. Everything you do to the new Apple TV is streamed based content only; whether from iTunes or you computer. You can stream movies, TV shows, music and photos directly to the new device. The interface is much easier to use and a lot of third party based services have been implemented. Some of these sites include: Netflix, YouTube, Flickr, Rotten Tomatoes and others. Apple also released there new TV show rental services with ABC and FOX (currently) which will let you rent TV shows and stream them over to AppleTV for only $0.99 a show. These are not just SD shows, these are HD shows for $0.99. New released movie rentals will also be available for rent for $4.99 a movie.
The coolest thing about AppleTV now is something I referred to earlier as AirPlay. AirPlay is the reworked version of AirTunes but this time not only lets you stream music over but movies, TV shows and photos to another device. The other device I am talking about is AppleTV. Steve demonstrated this but streaming UP from his iPad to AppleTV without the use of the computer. All you do is play the movie on your iPad, hit a button and it instantly plays on the AppleTV right where you left off. It was awesome. You can also do this from your iPhone and iPod Touch. All of these features and then some and AppleTV will retail for only $99. Not $229 but $99. That’s more like it Apple. It will be available in 4 weeks and pre-orders start today.
So this was it. Apple’s lineup for the holiday season this year and it is shaping up to be a very big year for Apple. All products will be available within 4 weeks and some are available today!!! Pre-orders yours now before they are gone!!!!
If you would like to watch the Keynote, you can either stream it from Apple’s website, if you have a Mac or iOS device, or by downloading it from iTunes.
MCSpartan017 – Giggaheim Webmaster
If you are a comic book reader, know of one, or ever had a slight run it with one, you know that Wednesday ahs been the traditional day for new comic book releases. Every Wednesday, the local comic book readers will make their pilgrimage to whatever strip mall, shopping complex, or dark alley to pick up the latest books. All of these books come from Diamond Comics Distribution who has announced that in January if 2011, new comics can come out in Tuesday. Well at least your local comic shop CAN get the books earlier if they pay a $5/week extra charge. I know things are tight at my LCS, so I’m not too sure if they would pony up for it, but Perhaps Diamond is making progress by offering this extra incentive. What do you think? Comment below.
Here is the official press release by Diamond:
“Effective in January, 2011, Diamond retailers in North America and the UK will have the option of “day-early” delivery of weekly product shipments on Tuesdays for sale on Wednesdays.
Day-early delivery – which was outlined to retailers in the form of a Q&A following Diamond’s Retailer Summit in April — will take effect with shipments delivered on Tuesday, January 11, that have a scheduled on-sale date of Wednesday, January 12.
Please Note: The current industrywide Wednesday new release day will remain unchanged, and retailers who do not wish to use the new option may continue to receive their shipments on Wednesdays.
“Our decision to proceed with day-early, Tuesday-for-Wednesday delivery resulted from positive discussions with leading publishers and vendors, from retailer requests and feedback, and from retailer responses to our recent survey on the topic,” explained Diamond Vice President of Sales & Marketing Roger Fletcher.
In that survey, retailers were asked how they thought the day-early option would affect their business and the Direct Market. “Of more than 1,000 retailers who responded to the survey,” Fletcher said, “75% believe day-early delivery will benefit their business, while 72% believe it will benefit the entire Direct Market.”
The survey also asked retailers: “If given the choice between Monday delivery for Tuesday on-sale, and Tuesday delivery for Wednesday on-sale, what would be your preference?” Retailers could choose between the two options, or for “Either Monday for Tuesday or Tuesday for Wednesday.”
“The number of respondents who selected Tuesday delivery for Wednesday on-sale and the ‘Either’ option totaled 63%,” Fletcher said, “while those selecting the Monday-for-Tuesday alternative and the ‘Either’ option totaled 38%. This encouraging consensus has convinced us that moving forward with day-early delivery for Wednesday on-sale holds considerable advantages for vendors, retailers, and the industry.”
With the implementation of day-early delivery, Diamond will also initiate a “mystery shopper” program to ensure that participating retailers abide by the industrywide Wednesday release date for books received on Tuesday.
Fletcher urged retailers to “stay tuned” to Diamond Daily and Diamond Dateline for more details about registering for the day-early delivery option.
Additionally, Diamond has announced that — working in concert with vendors — Diamond will deliver product on its normal Wednesday schedule in December. The first shipment of 2011 will arrive after the New Year’s holiday on Wednesday, January 5. Day-early shipping will commence the following week.
“During the holidays, our retailers and their customers depend upon Diamond to keep the newest and hottest product flowing into stores, and we’d like to thank our vendors for working with us to maintain our regular schedule,” Fletcher said. “We’d also like to thank our vendors and our customers for working with us to get 2011 off to a great start by making the day-early shipping option a reality. We look forward to a smooth transition to what we feel will be a highly beneficial and profitable service.”
Peter Schmeiser – Giggaheim Director
Peter is normally answering several questions everyday about continuity of the DC universe, the status of Spider-man, who has been cast in the latest movies, and what counts as canon in Star Wars. Pete enjoys voicing his opinions on the latest comic books, playing video games, and sharing his wealth of useless comic book knowledge with his friends. The Giggaheim was made to share that.The Internet is a-buss with rumors of Bruce Willis lending his voice to a CGI version of The Thing in Marvel Entertainment’s new production of The Fantastic Four. Even though several sources are coming up with this information…it just feels a bit wrong. While Bruce can deliver on a wide range of roles, I’m having trouble visualizing him as The Thing.
Well….That helps.
Peter Schmeiser – Giggaheim Director
Peter is normally answering several questions everyday about continuity of the DC universe, the status of Spider-man, who has been cast in the latest movies, and what counts as canon in Star Wars. Pete enjoys voicing his opinions on the latest comic books, playing video games, and sharing his wealth of useless comic book knowledge with his friends. The Giggaheim was made to share that.It has been rumored that a new Xbox 360 Controller was in the works with a new and improved D pad. For most games the D pad isn’t used too often but for some games it kind of sucks to use. I use the D pad when I play Mortal Kombat 3 (Arcade title) cause it is easier to perform the combos with the D pad. Thanks the Major Nelson, the new controller has been confirmed and is scheduled to be released on November 9th. We at the Giggaheim will definately pick up at least 1 of these bad boys. Here is what is new:
The new controller sports and awesome metallic looking design removing the color in the color buttons A, B, X, and Y. The new metallic grey look as shown in the picture looks freakin awesome. The new D pad is a combination of the older D pad from back in the day and the current Xbox 360 D pad. The default configuration is the current Xbox Controller but with a twist of the D pad it drops the rounds that were the problem and looks like an old Nintendo D pad from back in the day.
Check out the difference:
The new controller will be released on November 9th, and will retail (only with the Plug and play bundle) for $64.99. Good thing I waited on replacing my older controllers cause this new one looks to awesome.
Message from Major Nelson:
MCSpartan017 – Giggaheim Webmaster
