It's Star Trek Into Darkness release day! In honor of director J.J. Abrams's latest installment of the Star Trek franchise, now in theaters, we thought we'd spice things up with a little Trek on Trek action.
You've devoted dozens of hours to Star Trek viewing marathons and stood in line at midnight for Chris Pine's take on Captain Kirk, but can you tell Picard from Riker? Kirk from Spock? Put your Star Trek: The Original Series and TNG knowledge to the test in our Who Said It? character quiz.
Happy Birthday, Craigy Ferg! Our favorite geeky Scotsman turns 50 today. Craig is a nerd-lover's dream; his love of science fiction and geekery come through on every episode and his Twitter account. Plus, he's got a TARDIS on his desk.
As host of the Late Late Show, Craig Ferguson has been keeping us in stitches since taking over late-night hosting duties in 2005. Here are seven reasons why we love the Ferg:
If you need any more proof as to why you should be loving Craig Ferguson, watch the song and dance performed on the Doctor Who episode of the Late Late Show. It wasn't aired on the show due to rights problems with the theme song, but it was later, thankfully, leaked on the web.
When Google holds an event, expect big news to go down. Between the announcement of a streaming music service that combines Google's cloud library with your own downloads to an updated search system that uses conversational speech, the Android crowd had plenty to get excited about during the tech company's Google I/O Wednesday keynote. Here, catch up on what changes are coming to the Google-sphere.
Talk to Google like it's your best friend. Really, the search giant insists that with its improved conversational search functions, demoed at Google I/O on Wednesday, you'll be able to speak commands not just from your mobile device with the Google Search app, but also from Chrome on desktops, using less-robotic speech and receiving spoken responses from Google.
During the live demo, we watched Johanna Wright, vice president of Mobile, ask Google a series of questions about an upcoming trip to beach town Santa Cruz, CA, getting decidedly more human and conversational with each question. After asking Google for attractions and restaurants in Santa Cruz, when Johanna said, "How far is it from here?," the result that populated was directions from our location in San Francisco to Santa Cruz, showing the search algorithm's progression from understanding strict computer speak to more casual conversation using predictions to determine which locations the user is referring to.
Google Now, the personalized search function that might know you better than you know yourself, also received an update today in the form of reminders, public transit cards, and entertainment cards that populate based on your past preferences. These reminders will appear within your Now account based on when you've set a need for them. For example, a reminder to leave to catch a taxi may appear two hours before a scheduled flight. Just like a web search, Google says many of these notations can be made with your voice commands.
Make room on your home screen for one more monthly music subscription service, this one backed by the power of the Google Play store and your own music library. Google Play Music All Access, announced Wednesday at Google I/O 2013, is the tech company's take on the growing popularity of services like Rdio and Spotify, which give customers instant access to millions of songs based on monthly subscription models.
What sets Play Music All Access (a name not for the easily tongue tied) apart from the others? For starters, users can access their Google Play Music locker — their personal music collection of up to 20,000 songs — in addition to Google's catalog of millions of licensed songs all within one service.
Read on for how much Google's music streaming will cost you per month.
Keeping tech organized is sort of a hobby in itself for us. The first step in our quest for the title of Titan of Tidy Tech: picking up the charging cords off the ground. Meet the quickest way to a life of iPhone 5 efficiency: the Bluelounge Lightning MiniDock ($40).
We loved the MiniDock in its previous 30-pin incarnation and are relieved to see the dock finally available for those who have upgraded to Lightning iDevices. Plug the MiniDock into an existing USB power adapter, set the phone in its spot, and voilà! Nothing to worry about except what you'll do with all that open space on the floor or tabletop now free of tangled cords.
Neil Gaiman last took control of the Doctor Who writing reins in "The Doctor's Wife," the season-six episode where the TARDIS came to life, which, he said in conference call this week, was to "remind people that the TARDIS was a living entity, if they had forgotten." Fresh off his Neverwhere BBC radio drama success, Neil returns to the Time Lord's world in this Saturday's new episode, "Nightmare in Silver."
What's so frightening about metal? Cybermen. As a child watching the Second Doctor, Patrick Troughton, battle the classic nemesis, Neil recalled finding them so much more thrilling than Daleks: "I loved the clanky clanky steampunk Cybermen." Neil's involvement with the episode began with an email from executive producer Steven Moffat, who begged the sci-fi writer to "make the Cybermen scary again," which is what he did with a tactic the tech world would appreciate — an upgrade.
We've previously seen the cyborgs lumber toward the Doctor and his companions, but in their newest adventure, they're lighter and faster on their feet, just like your brand-new smartphone as compared to its previous generation. Neil explained why the metallic villains of 2013 had a need for speed:
Having now added tech entrepreneur to her accomplishments with the lifestyle website goop and its accompanying travel guide apps, Gwyneth Paltrow was right at home during an Apple Store Meet the Developer panel in New York City last night. We had a chance to talk with the Iron Man 3 star about the gadgets in her carry-on, her favorite iPad games to play with the kids, and the eternal question: text or call?
POPSUGAR: Why did you want to get into this travel app business?
Gwyneth Paltrow: It was a natural extension of what we do at goop anyway, which is curation basically. I love food; I love to travel; I’m a very curious person. I was always the person my friends call and say, "I’m going to New York, where should I do this? I’m going to Paris" . . . whatever. I was always that person. I had books everywhere of things that I loved in various cities and I just thought, "I would love to have it for myself." I started working on the content and I love having a place to go to where it’s places that I love and doctors that are amazing, just all that useful information. When I moved to England, for example, I didn’t know that if you have an emergency, you don’t dial 911. All that stuff. Anything you would need as a traveler.
PS: We’re in the Apple store — are you a texter or a good old-fashioned phone call?
GP: I’ve become a texter. I find it so quick. It’s also made phone calls a lot more special. I do text more than I call, for sure. Now a phone call is a real thing — it’s like, "Are you available to talk?" It’s not like it used to be.
PS: When you travel, what are your must-take travel gadgets?
GP: iPhone and iPad, for sure. I love my iPad mini: I’ve got all my books on there, TV shows — I think that thing is a genius. And my Bose noise-cancelling headphones.
Discover the iPad games Gwyneth plays with her kids and the "girl porn" social network after the jump.
When you've created an App Store success yourself, just any ol' app won't suffice on that precious homescreen real estate. Since Gwyneth Paltrow's goop City Guides app ($4) — in-the-know travel tips and must-see destinations in New York, Los Angeles, and London — is an iOS hit, you can bet the actress and digital media entrepreneur has curated her own list of recommended downloads, which she recently shared with us.
From tools that ease travel woes to a "pinteresting" addiction, discover the international jet-setter's most-used apps after the jump.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who, and the Internet can barely contain its excitement (two Doctors in one!). Where do Web citizens turn during these momentous events? Reddit, of course. The Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Gift Exchange pairs Whovians around the world with their Time Lord brethren to celebrate all things timey wimey by sending themed care packages.
Sign-ups are now open and run through May 13, when the Reddit system will select your pen pal match. You then have until May 24 to find and post a Who gift based on the recipient's provided information. Specify your favorite Doctor, favorite enemy, favorite companion, and preference for Classic Who vs. New Who to give your match inspiration for your ideal Doctor memorabilia.
Ready or not, Google Glass is poised to become a part of our tech lives. One question on our minds: if the augmented reality glasses catch on, how will users' behavior differ from those of us constantly with our heads down, looking at smartphones? Will Glass be as intuitive as it's purported to be? Saturday Night Live thinks not. On the most recent "Weekend Update," Fred Armisen appeared as tech blogger Randall Meeks to show just how "easy" and incognito Glass is — or is not.
Preview our Google Glass future below!
Not only is today May 4, but it's also Free Comic Book Day — a geek extravaganza, to be sure! In case you had forgotten to prioritize a visit to your local comic book store to snag free copies of Action Time Buddies, Grimm, and dozens of others, Mr. Wolverine himself, Hugh Jackman, has come to the rescue to remind us all. Watch Hugh talk comics and give a quick plug for the new Wolverine film below.
Dear Mom is on our minds with the approach of Mother's Day, so we're looking to gift her with our favorite things: geeky goods. Look back at our picks for Mom, along with the apps that debuted this week, in the Tech Recap.
Trackpad fingers, ready, Jedis: tomorrow, Saturday, May 4, Her Universe is releasing a new line of dresses and tees exclusively on Hottopic.com. The Japanese Poster Dress and Stormtrooper Dress are perfect to pack for Comic-Con in July.
Get the details on the latest Star Wars dresses and t-shirts in the gallery.
