Takara Tomy xiao Tip-521 Camera/Printer

Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Cameras, Corporate News,

Takara Tomy has come up with the xiao Tip-521 camera that not only shoots, but prints borderless, full color photos as well. The compact 5Mpix digital cam has a 2.48-inch LCD, 16MB internal memory and an SD/SDHC card slot. The clever camera will store up to 20 sheets of paper and can store images for later PC downloading using its built-in ZINK printer. Expected out in Japan November 28, no price has been released at this point.

Read More | ZINK

Toshiba Qosmio Gaming Laptop

Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Corporate News, PC, Portable/Mobile, Wireless,

We found the ultimate gaming laptops for the hardcore player. Toshiba’s Qosmio X305-Q706 and X305-Q708 are filled with three NVIDIA GPUs, one GeForce 9400M and two 9800M GTSs. To help save energy and battery power, the user can turn off the 9800Ms. Both have 17-inch displays, Bluetooth availability and Harman Kardon stereo speakers plus a sub-woofer. The X305-706 features a Core 2 Duo P8400 CPU and comes at a price of $1,999.99. Move up to the X305-Q708 and you get a Core 2 Extreme QX9300 CPU, a DVD burner, a 1.3MP webcam, and a second 128GB SSD at a price of $4,199.99. Both are available at Toshiba Direct.

Read More | Yersys Technology

Motorola MOTONAV GPS System

Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Smartphones, GPS, Transportation, Wireless / WiFi,

Motorola seems to be breaking out of their cell phone niche with their new MOTONAV. The TN20 has text to speech with turn-by-turn directions as well as lane guidance. With an anti-glare 3.5 touchscreen you can look for over a million points of interest with pre-loaded maps of the Continental U.S. in either 2D or 3D. The TN20 is 3.7 x 3.2 x 0.7-inches at a weight of 5 oz., can go for 2.5 hours before needing a recharge and comes at a price of $299.99. For another $100.00, Motorola is offering their MOTONAV TN30 that includes a cell phone with Bluetooth capability, which makes them not quite all the way out of that niche.

Read More | Motorola

Captain America movie gets a director!

Posted by David Torres Categories: Movies, Marvel Comics,

The Hollywood Reporter has announced that Marvel Studios have decided to go with Joe Johnston as the director for the Captain America film.  Johnston was the director for films such as “The Rocketeer”, “October Sky”, and “Jurassic Park III”.  According to imdb.com he is in post-production for a remake of the “Wolf Man” staring Benicio Del Toro and Anthony Hopkins.  “First Avenger: Captain America” is scheduled for a May 6, 2011 release.

Click to continue reading Captain America movie gets a director!

Read More | Hollywoood Reporter

Interesting Villians Help Make Interesting Heroes

Posted by David Torres Categories: Editorials, Marvel Comics, Wizard Entertainment,

I just noticed in the latest issue of Wizard magazine that War Machine will be getting his own on-going series.  It will be written by Greg Pak who has done some amazing things on the Hulk recently.  Cool.  I wonder how long this series will last.

I say this because if you are a long-time comic book fan as I am, you know that when a supporting character gets their own on-going series, very rarely do these books last more than a year or two.  Some break the trend and do last awhile, but many last twelve issues or so and then get canceled.  Some characters don’t even deserve their own series and get canceled because nobody cares.  Marvel Comics’ Quicksilver had his own series in the ‘90s.  Why ask you?!?  Why?!?

I think a major reason why supporting characters don’t last in their own series is because the powers that be (writers/editor-in-chief/editors) don’t take the time to really develop interesting antagonists for these characters. 

Click to continue reading Interesting Villians Help Make Interesting Heroes

Read More | Wizard Magazine

The Perfidy of Marvel

Posted by Joel Rosenberg Categories: Editorials, Marvel Comics,

Comic shop owners, such as I, recently took quite a jolt courtesy of our dear friends at Marvel Comics. Of course that is not all that unusual, but this one was a killer.

Marvel had a program called First Looks, which, along with the regular Wednesday shipment, gave the dealers five-to-eight comics that were due to be released in the next week. These were never the biggies such as “Secret Invasion,” but there were always a few goodies such as “Captain America,” “Spider-Man,” and a few stinkers. My regulars would sniff around, but, although I could let them look at them, I wasn’t permitted to sell them… at least until my partner read them. 
 
Beforehand, Marvel e-mailed all its retailers and informed us that due to paper, ink, shipping, and other cost, the fee to be a part of the program would rise to $20 from $7 and asked us if we still wanted in. I did, but 95% of the dealers didn’t and so, Marvel canceled the entire program. Getting the books in advance was the main reason I went into this business because it certainly isn’t the money. This isn’t the first time the publishers have dissed the retailers and it won’t be the last… until Wal-Mart figures out a way to sell comics and puts us all out of business.
 

How Does Superman…?

Posted by Joel Rosenberg Categories: Editorials, DC Comics,

Back in the 1950s, also known as my misspent youth, the editors at DC Comics actually tried to answer all the “real life” questions that got tossed at their superheroes, particularly, Superman.  Ignoring the fact that this isn’t real life in the first place, there were a million questions. As no one seemed to worry about continuity back then, a story was written that explained various things such as the following questions.

How did Superman cut his hair?  Afterall, it was invulnerable, just like the rest of him. The answer is he used his heat vision reflected off a mirror. How he shaved they never got into.

Where did the supersuit come from? It had to be invulnerable because the bullets everyone always futilely shot at Supes bounced off it. If it wasn’t invulnerable, there would have been holes in the suit after the shot bounced off Superman.  The answer was that Ma Kent sewed it from the blanket he was wrapped in when the ship that brought Superman to earth crashed. That, of course, begs the question of what kind of super needle she happened to have in her sewing kit.  That’s neither her nor there at this point though.

And the glasses?  I mean, was that all it took for anyone to not notice the resemblance between Clark and Superman?  The answer is that one of Supes’ little know powers is super hypnotism and he used the glasses to focus it so that no one in the world would notice how much they looked alike. Believe me, I wish I was making this explanation up, but I am not.  My colleague, David Torres, wonders what happens if Clark Kent loses the glasses.

Anyway, does anyone remember any more of these?  Want to make up your own scenarios and answer them or have other readers answer them, leave your comments below!

Adam: Legend of the Blue Marvel - Quick Review and Coincidence

Posted by Joel Rosenberg Categories: Editorials, Reviews, Marvel Comics,

This past Wednesday, Marvel Comics released a book entitled “Adam: Legend of The Blue Marvel.”  It revolves around a superhero who appears in the early 1960s and is discovered to be (gasp) a black man. Gross injustice ensues.  In this humble comic store owner’s opinion, it’s a really good read.

Although I have a DC Comics rep, I don’t have a Marvel rep. If I did, I would be calling him everyday for the lottery numbers. Come on now, how much of a coincidence that Marvel publishes this book one day after America elects its first (gasp) black president? Sure, the book was thought out months ago, written whenever, the political leanings of Marvel staff are irrelevant, and certainly the editors can make a good guess, but it still is a remarkable piece of luck that the release date was November 5th.

Writing works of fiction is difficult enough without putting words and thoughts into the heads of real people. Some will debate how the “real” JFK would have acted had this situation risen up. In this first issue there are no other heroes floating around to pick up the slack for when the next large meteor threatens the earth and, therefore, asking his hero to stand down seems a bit far fetched but what the heck. It is, after all, a comic book and certainly doesn’t have to reflect reality. Still, my family motto is, “It’s better to be lucky than good” and when both hit at the same time… well, a good comic book comes out of it.

Biovein Secuity Control System Uses Vascular Recognition

Posted by Patrick Phelps Categories: Misc. Tech,

Although biometric access controls such as retina and fingerprint recognition are nothing new, in the search for ultimate security, the Biovein security control system from French innovator Easydentic Group, verifies your identity through vascular recognition. WHAT??? Here’s how it works: Based on the Hitachi technology known as VeinID, the system scans the finger’s vascular area and authorizes access only after recognizing the image. Even if you had the technology to forge finger vein patterns, you’d have to get your hands on the original – and few bad guys are willing to take things that far…

Read More | Easydentic Group

Apple Passes RIM And Becomes Number 2 Smartphone Maker

Posted by Ponzi Black Categories: Apple, Smartphones, Corporate News,

An analyst has confirmed that Apple has made it to number 2 where smartphone vendors are concerned.  The iPhone has become a holder of 17.3 percent of the market share with RIM trailing at 15.2 percent.  Apple also came in with the highest marks in customer satisfaction, operation, physical design, operating system, battery aspects, and features.  RIM could bounce back to the 2nd place mark with the Bold and Storm, but with the growing sales of iPhone and the “coolness” of the Apple brand, it will certainly be a challenge for RIM.  The results are due to the 6.9 million iPhones shipped during the summer months with no signs of slowdown even though the economy has moved in the other direction.

Read More | J.D. Power