Wednesday, April 10, 2024

Post-apocalyptic TV shows get refresh with ‘Fallout’


While it’s been slim pickings for post-apocalyptic movies, TV series in the genre have been plentiful.
Current series getting new seasons include “Invasion” (Apple TV+), “Silo” (Apple TV+), “Twisted Metal” (Peacock) and “The Last of Us” (Max). There also are at least two “Walking Dead” franchise series developing new episodes (“Dead City” and “Daryl Dixon”). Plus, “Snowpiercer” has jumped to AMC from TNT for its fourth and final season.
Today saw the premiere of “Fallout” on Amazon Prime Video. The adaptation of the popular video game series released all eight episodes at once. The series is set 219 years after the outbreak of nuclear war sent Americans underground into fallout shelters called Vaults.
Last week, Netflix premiered the South Korean series “Parasyte: The Grey.” The alien-invasion horror series is more pre-apocalyptic, but the outlook looks pretty grim.
But with the era of peak TV at an end, the plentiful genre offerings could be slowing down.
The number of scripted TV seasons being ordered in the U.S. has nearly halved since 2019, according to Ampere Analysis. However, international TV production could pick up the slack, Deadline reported.

Sunday, March 31, 2024

Big-budget post-apocalyptic movies returning to cinemas this summer


After a several-year drought, post-apocalyptic movies from major studios are coming to the silver screen this summer. They come in the form of sequels and spin-offs – a tried-and-true formula.
First up is “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” on May 10. It’s the fourth installment in the rebooted series after “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” (2011), “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” (2014) and “War for the Planet of the Apes” (2017). The filmmakers are hoping to start a new trilogy of films with “Kingdom.”
Next is “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” on May 24. It’s a spin-off prequel to “Mad Max: Fury Road” (2015). It is the fifth movie in the franchise.
Finally, “A Quiet Place: Day One” opens on June 28. It’s the third film in the series and serves as a prequel to “A Quiet Place” (2018) and “A Quiet Place Part 2” (2020).
Over the past year or so, Netflix has helped keep the genre alive with movies such as “Bird Box Barcelona” (Spain), “Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead” (Japan), “Leave the World Behind” and “Badland Hunters” (South Korea).

See also: The complete post-apocalyptic movie list.




Sunday, March 24, 2024

My picks for Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction this year


While I’m not a member of the voting body for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, I’m a music fan who cares about who gets inducted into the hall.
Like other fans I vote in the online poll to participate in the fan ballot. But I realize that doesn’t have much influence over who actually gets enshrined in the hall. Nevertheless, I feel compelled to vote each year.
This year, my seven selections are Mariah Carey, Foreigner, Peter Frampton, Ozzy Osbourne, Sinéad O’Connor, Sade and Kool & the Gang. They are among the 15 nominees announced on Feb. 10.
I think my choices offer a good mix of rockers and pop music stars. My selections also lean more heavily on older acts in hopes of clearing out some of the backlog of worthy artists.
Three of my selections were on my list of “Who should be inducted next into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?” that I posted last November. They are: Mariah Carey, Foreigner and Sade.
This year’s inductees will be announced in late April. They will be officially enshrined at a ceremony in Cleveland this fall.

Related articles:

2024 Nominees Announced (Rock & Roll Hall of Fame; Feb. 10, 2024)

Mary J. Blige, Mariah Carey, Cher, Sade, Oasis and Ozzy Osbourne among Rock Hall nominees for ’24 (Associated Press; Feb. 10, 2024)

Cher, Mariah Carey, Sinéad O’Connor, and Lenny Kravitz lead Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominations (Entertainment Weekly; Feb. 10, 2024)

2024 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Nominees: Induction Odds From Least to Most Likely (Billboard; Feb. 10, 2024)

Which Foreigner Members Are Nominated for the Rock Hall? (Ultimate Classic Rock; Feb. 11, 2024)

Oh, By the Way, Here Are Our Nominees: The 2024 Rock Hall Ballot (Iconic Rock Talk Show; Feb. 12, 2024)

Quick Thoughts on the 2024 Rock Hall Ballot (Future Rock Legends; Feb. 13, 2024)

What is rock ’n’ roll? Hall of fame ballot fuels debate (Axios Cleveland; Feb. 21, 2024)

Let’s rank the 2024 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nominees (Axios Cleveland; Feb. 26, 2024)

Liam Gallagher Slams Fellow Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Nominees as He Claims He’s ‘Done More’ for the Genre (People; Feb. 27, 2024)

Saturday, January 27, 2024

CES 2024 news in review: AI, spatial computing, robots and more


The following is a roundup of my coverage of the CES 2024 technology trade show in Las Vegas.

Arm elbows into new arenas as chip designer takes on AI, auto, cloud, other markets. (Jan. 26, 2024)

Powerfoyle becoming “Intel Inside” for light-powered gadgets. (Jan. 19, 2024)

Robot barista looks to fill labor shortage. Say hello to Adam. (Jan. 19, 2024)

Apple isn’t the only player in spatial computing. Rivals populated CES 2024. (Jan. 17, 2024)

Garmin targeting niche markets in smartwatches for women, kids. (Jan. 12, 2024)

Dolby cranks up volume of licensing deals in autos, TVs, PCs. (Jan. 12, 2024)

Qualcomm in catbird seat for edge AI shift, CEO says. (Jan. 11, 2024)

Smart TV platform battle rages at CES 2024. Amazon, Roku make waves. (Jan. 11, 2024)

Automotive chipmakers squeezed by “accordion effect.” (Jan. 10, 2024)

L’Oreal adds glamour to CES 2024 with beauty tech gadgets. (Jan. 9, 2024)

Dell, HP join Intel push for AI PCs. Microsoft Copilot called “marquee” feature. (Jan. 9, 2024)

Nvidia steps up generative AI game with new chips. (Jan. 8, 2024)

AMD rounds out AI PC chip lineup with new desktop processors. (Jan. 8, 2024)

Consumers set to upgrade pandemic-era tech purchases. (Jan. 8, 2024)

“AI is the story of the show”: What to expect from CES 2024. (Jan. 6, 2024)

Photos: CES 2024 outside the West Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center (Patrick Seitz); LG Electronics WebOS tunnel at CES 2024 (LG)


Saturday, January 20, 2024

Celebrities at CES 2024: Robert Downey Jr., Eva Longoria, Will.i.am and more

Celebrities turned up at CES 2024 on the show floor, at conference events and for after-hours concerts.
Actor Robert Downey Jr. spoke at a conference panel at the C Space Studio.
Actress and model Eva Longoria, a L’Oreal brand ambassador, appeared at the L’Oreal keynote presentation.
Rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer Will.i.am came out to promote his sound system for Mercedes-Benz.
Media personality Paris Hilton also spoke at CES 2024.
South Korean rapper G-Dragon toured the CES exhibit floor and visited mostly Korean companies, including LG, Samsung and SK Group.
Businesswoman and media personality Martha Stewart took to the kitchen stage at Samsung’s CES booth to craft her “Martha-tini” and smashed potatoes using the company’s SmartThings technology.
Top-name music acts were featured at corporate evening events at CES 2024.
Green Day rocked the Virgin Theater for Harman, a unit of Samsung.
Wu-Tang Clan performed at Voltaire at the Venetian for Yahoo. (See article by the Las Vegas Review-Journal.)
Nelly rapped for a club party at the Allegiant Stadium for TCL.
Ludacris rapped at the Jewel Nightclub at Aria for Amazon Ads.
Finally, Weezer performed a concert for iHeartMedia and MediaLink.

Photos: Eva Longoria (top) and Will.i.am. (CES)

















Friday, January 19, 2024

CES 2024: The most talked-out companies and products at the massive tech show


CES 2024 unleashed a tsunami of exciting new products and technologies across a diverse range of industries and markets. For a general interest journalist, such as me, it was pretty overwhelming.
This week, the Social Media Analytics Platform of GlobalData provided a list of the most-mentioned companies and products showcased at the consumer electronics show, which ran Jan. 9-12 in Las Vegas. GlobalData is a leading data and analytics company.
Samsung ranked first on social media (both the X platform and Reddit) during CES 2024, based on the volume of discussions about its products at the show. Those products included its S95D OLED TV, folding-screen smartphones and transparent micro-LED TV displays.
Other top-mentioned companies at CES 2024 included Rabbit, Nvidia, LG, Sony, Intel, Microsoft, Qualcomm, Honda Motor and Walmart.
Artificial intelligence device startup Rabbit was the biggest surprise. The Santa Monica, Calif.-based company introduced a pocket-sized consumer AI gadget at CES 2024.
The Rabbit R1 is a walkie-talkie-like device with a built-in camera. It offers smartphone-free solutions to simplify tasks like booking a flight, getting an Uber or ordering a meal.
GlobalData said its analysis is based on online discussions from Jan. 7 through Jan. 15.

Photo: Word cloud showing the most talked-about subjects at CES 2024. (GlobalData)

Sunday, January 14, 2024

CES 2024 buzzword of the show: AI


For the last 15 years after the CES tech trade show, I’ve chosen the buzzword of the show. This year, for the first time, the buzzword was a repeat.
The overwhelming choice for the buzzword of CES 2024 was AI, or artificial intelligence. Excitement this year was driven by generative artificial intelligence and edge AI devices.
AI was also the buzzword of the CES 2018 show. Back then, AI was in vogue because of the rise of autonomous vehicles, smart devices, and voice-response personal assistants.
At this year’s show, consumer electronics firms, PC makers, semiconductor companies and others touted AI features of their new products.
CES 2024 was the coming-out party for AI PCs, with new chips for running AI applications locally instead of in the internet cloud.
Plus, the most talked-about gadget at the show was the Rabbit R1 pocket AI device from Santa Monica, Calif.-based startup Rabbit. It’s a small device that works with voice commands and interacts with your smartphone to simplify tasks.
LG Electronics tried to make artificial intelligence seem less scary by calling their approach to AI “affectionate intelligence.”
Runners up for buzzword of CES 2024 included “spatial computing” and “software-defined vehicle.”

CES buzzwords through the years:

2010: Green
2011: Smart
2012: Ultra
2013: Super
2014: Curved
2015: Wearable
2016: HDR (high dynamic range)
2017: Voice
2018: AI (artificial intelligence)
2019: 5G
2020: Streaming
2021: Pandemic
2022: Metaverse
2023: Augmented reality
2024: AI

Photos: Samsung CEO JH Han speaking at CES 2024 press conference (Consumer Technology Association; LG Electronics press conference at CES 2024 (Patrick Seitz); and Rabbit R1 AI Assistant (Rabbit).