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HBO renews Game of Thrones for two more seasons
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Corporate News, Home Entertainment,
HBO has announced that it's ordered two additional seasons of Game of Thrones, which just started its fourth season this past Sunday. It makes sense, as the show was recently recognized as the most torrented television show out there, proving its popularity. Even with the rampant piracy, the season 3 finale was seen by over 5 million people.
If you didn't realize, Game of Thrones is based on A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin. It's comprised of five books, which two more to come. This means that Game of Thrones producers have plenty of content to pull from. In fact, Game of Thrones seasons 3 and 4 are based on Storm of Swords, the third novel in the series.
"Game of Thrones is a phenomenon like no other," said Michael Mobardo, president of HBO programming. "David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, along with their talented collaborators, continue to surpass themselves, and we look forward to more of their dazzling storytelling."
The Game of Thrones season 4 premier garnered 6.6 million viewers. To put that into perspective, that is the most-viewed HBO show since the last episode of The Sopranos brought in 12 million viewers in 2007. Game of Thrones is expected to have a 7 or 8 season run when all is said and done.
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Let's be honest--we've all wanted to rock an Iron Man suit, right? We just aren't millionaire superheroes, which makes it fairly impossible. The next best thing, though? This awesome, wearable Iron Man suit that's made of cardboard.
Made by Kai-Xiang Xhong using the process of pepakura, he has taken regular cardboard and turned it into a work of art. Again, this thing is fricken wearable! Kai-Xiang decided to leave the colors and textures as they are, but if you're up for replicating it, feel free to bust out some red and brass-colored spray paint.
Check out more of his work here.
2014 WWE WrestleMania Reading Challenge wrap-up
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Features, Home Entertainment,
Last week, WWE Superstars and Divas visited Langston Hughes Academy Elementary school in New Orleans, LA for the annual WrestleMania Reading Challenge event in conjunction with The Pearson Foundation and the Young Adult Library Services Association. Children in the school gathered in the gymnasium, where they were able to meet AJ Lee, Cody Rhodes, and Stephanie McMahon after learning about the We Give Books ReadMobile and how it travels the country promoting literacy. The Superstars took turns reading a book called Otis by Loren Long, about a little tractor who could.
Click to continue reading 2014 WWE WrestleMania Reading Challenge wrap-up
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WWE Network stress testing this week leading in to WrestleMania 30
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Home Entertainment, Internet,
The WWE Network, announced at CES 2014, went live on February 24th--and it crashed hard. The company has had about 5 weeks to fix all the issues (and not all have been fixed as of press time,) and stress test the MLBAM servers in anticipation of what many believe to be the "make or break" event for the unique live streaming service that's paired with a vast on-demand content vault.
On April 6th, WWE presents WrestleMania XXX, which will be the very first live pay-per-view event that is broadcast on the WWE Network. It just so happens to also be the biggest event of the year for pro wrestling, as WrestleMania is seen as the Super Bowl of wrestling. The company has been broadcasting live programming several times per week in order to get a handle on load, but WrestleMania is a beast all its own. To prepare, the WWE Network will be doing daily live shows this week, along with a two-hour pre-show before WrestleMania begins. We've got the full schedule of special events that'll air on the WWE Network this week, below.
Click to continue reading WWE Network stress testing this week leading in to WrestleMania 30
We're huge fans of The Walking Dead, and we already love Funko (found in our Loot Crate Launch box giveaway!), so now that they're teaming up to release a new series of Walking Dead bobble heads, well...we're ready to adorn our desks with this new hotness. Characters include Rick Grimes, Michonne, early Daryl Dixon (as well as current, longer-hair Daryl,) and a couple of zombies. Zombie Merle and a Zombie RV Walker (with the screwdriver lodged in his eye that Andrea put there.)
You can pick up the Funko Walking Dead Wobblers now!
Read More 
| Amazon
HTC One (M8) teardown shows repair difficulty
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Smartphones, Handhelds,
HTC announced the new HTC One M8 last week, and we've got one in that we're putting through it's paces (stay tuned for our full HTC One (M8) review!) iFixit was also able to get one of the new smartphones, and it performed the now-expected teardown, revealing the build quality and all the innards. The result? The HTC One (M8) build quality is solid, but repairability is very difficult. The battery is buried beneath the motherboard and is adhered to the enclosure, and the display can't be removed without taking apart the entire phone. This is likely why HTC includes free cracked screen repair for the first six months of HTC One (M8) ownership, where the company will take care of the issue absolutely free, regardless of the reason for the damage. Head on over to iFixit to see the full teardown.
Read More | iFixit
Rumor: Amazon to launch free video streaming service
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Home Entertainment, Rumors,
Amazon has sent out invites to select press to attend an Amazon Video event next week in New York City. Aside from the rumored Amazon Video set-top box, the Wall Street Journal is reporting that the company will also launch a free, ad-supported video service that'll be paired up with the device that will allow customers to watch television shows and music videos gratis.
It should be noted that this isn't Amazon taking its current video product and making it free--rather, it would likely be a small subset. All of the Amazon original series, and anything specifically licensed. The company would likely still keep the best stuff for Amazon Prime customers.
What do you think? Would an inexpensive set-top box with free streaming content be enough to get you to buy one?
Amazon holding major video launch event on April 2
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Corporate News, Home Entertainment,
This morning Amazon sent out invitations for an April 2nd event that invites us to "Please join us for an update on our video business." In the background is a couch, with a few pieces of popcorn spilled on it. It looks like the company may finally launch the long-rumored Amazon Video set-top box, a product that would compete with devices like the Apple TV, Chromecast, and Roku products. Amazon's box may even differentiate itself by offering gaming right out of the gate, as we saw a prototype of an Amazon game controller leaked a couple of weeks ago. There are plenty of Android games that Amazon could see success with with game controller support built-in.
We'll know for sure on April 2, and we'll bring you the full details.
Update: It looks like Amazon may also launch a free video streaming service at this event as well!
Microsoft Office for iPad now available, requires Office 365 for editing
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Handhelds, Microsoft, Software,
New Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has announced the availability of Office for iPad, making it his very first public announcement since taking the helm of the tech company. Microsoft Office for iPad was not only announced today, but it's available for download today from the Apple App Store as well.
Office for iPad is comprised of three free apps: Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. You can use each app to view and present their respective Office documents, but if you also want to be able to create and edit documents, an Office 365 subscription is required. Through the power of OneDrive, changes made to documents in one place (like the iPad app) will sync over to your other environments (like your Windows laptop.) Here are the download links:
We'll have a full Office for iPad review shortly to let you know our thoughts!
The first 16 LEGO Simpsons Minifigs are awesome [Gallery]
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Design, Features, Toys,
Hot on the heels of the release of LEGO The Simpsons House 71006, the first 16 LEGO Simpsons Minifigs have been revealed. They all look great, and we're sure Chief Wiggum appreciates the slimming down that LEGO happened to give him. Each Minifig will cost $4, and they'll hit stores in time for the LEGO-themed episode of The Simpsons that's set for May 4th on FOX. Check out each Minifig over in our LEGO Simpsons Minifig gallery.
