Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead will dominate TV for years

Fans of genre television rejoice -- Game of Thrones is likely sticking around for at least two more years, while The Walking Dead may linger for as long as its undead threat.

Although the upcoming sixth season of Game of Thrones is about to overtake the source material in George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire novels, the ground-breaking and perennially popular fantasy series is likely to be ploughing ahead for at least another three years.

Back in 2014, HBO showed extreme confidence in Game of Thrones' future when it committed to renew the series for not one but two new seasons. With the second of those premiering on 24 April, it looks as though the production network will repeat the move, seeing the show through to at least season eight.

As reported by Hollywood trade site Deadline, HBO president Michael Lombardo has said the network is in discussions with series creators and executive producers David Benioff and Dan Weiss, and that a multi-year pickup is likely. American broadcasters are usually incredibly cautious over such matters, but with Game of Thrones constantly setting viewing records (and other, less salubrious milestones), it's not hard to see why HBO is keen to keep the show going.

Whether season eight brings the end of the television side of the saga remains to be seen though. At the Television Critics Association tour in July 2015, Lombardo said "David and Dan are feeling there's probably two more years after season six [...] we hope that they would change their minds, but that's how they are feeling now."

With Martin yet to complete book six, The Winds of Winter, let alone the planned finale, A Dream of Spring, the showrunners will likely be creating their own ending, however long it runs. Martin confirmed via his LiveJournal that progress on Winter had stalled, and that season six would air before the book's release.

Sky Atlantic has announced it will be airing Game of Thrones season six in the UK in sync with the US, with a simulcast at 2am on the morning of 25 April for fans who just can't wait, followed by a more reasonable 9pm screening for those who enjoy sleep.

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Meanwhile, AMC's The Walking Dead may have many more seasons ahead of it. In fact, speaking to Vulture, network chief Charlie Collier and head of programming Joel Stillerman indicate the zombie survivalist drama may be as open ended as the comics that inspire it.

"The answer to how long the show will go on in some way is directly correlated with the health of the storytelling in the comics," said Stillerman. "Those comics are firing on all cylinders. [Creator Robert Kirkman] still writes every line of dialogue in those books, and is as engaged as he was when I think he was sitting around in Kentucky writing the first issue. That is very much part of the DNA of the show. He sort of felt like, in real life, this goes on for a very long time. We're along for that ride."

"I will tell you we are not actively talking about the end of The Walking Dead," added Collier. "We're talking about how to keep this number one show on television feeling as fresh as it does in season six. As a brand, we're very sensitive to making sure that every aspect of it feels fresh and original, and that it's not treated in any way that's derivative or taken for granted. Our planning is current and future-focused, and it is not focused on the end at this time."


The show is currently in the middle of its sixth season, and still several years behind the events of the comic. AMC also doesn't rule out further explorations away from the source material, such as this year's original Fear the Walking Dead mini-series. The dead may keep walking for a long time yet.

Tesla Model S Can Now Drive Without You

Well, authorities in Hong Kong aren’t going to like this one bit. Back in November, they told Tesla to remotely disable its semiautonomous driving technology until they can confirm that the features, released in mid October, are safe. They were concerned (sort of understandably) by widely reported hijinks by drivers who were using Tesla’s new Autopilot software to shave and sit in the backseat of the car, among other things.

Tesla complied. That doesn’t mean the company isn’t moving forward at full speed, though. Today, it released version 7.1 of its software for the Model S and X that includes a “Summon” feature that enables the car to drive itself without anyone inside.

More specifically, using their key fob, Tesla owners can now direct their cars to park themselves in a spot within 39 feet, and to drive themselves into and out of their parking garages.

In a nod to safety concerns, the company has also now restricted its Autosteer technology on residential roads and roads without a center divider. When Autosteer is engaged on a restricted road, Model S’s speed will be limited to the speed limit of the road, plus an additional 5 mph.

The site Electrek was first to publish the news. Tesla says the following in its release notes for v7.1:

Autosteer is now restricted on residential roads and roads without a center divider. When Autosteer is engaged on a restricted road, Model S’s speed will be limited to the speed limit of the road plus an additional 5 mph. When entering such a restricted road, Model S will reduce its speed if necessary and will do so even if you increase the cruise control set speed.

Tesla says that Autosteer’s lane keeping has been improved near highway exits and when the lane markings are faded.

Autopark features in the Tesla Model S have been updated with a ‘beta’ version of its Summon feature as well. Here’s how it works:

To prepare to park your vehicle, align Model S within 33 feet of the final parking space so Model S can move straight into the space in either Drive or Reverse. With Model S in Park, stand within 10 feet of the vehicle and press and hold the center button on your key fob until the hazard lights flash continuously. While the hazard lights are flashing, press the frunk button once on the key fob to drive Model S forward into the parking space or the trunk button once on the key fob to back Model S into the parking space. Model S will move up to 33 feet or until the sensors detect an obstacle, at which point parking is considered completed and Autopark will shift the car to Park. Repeat the process above to use Summon to exit a parking spot remotely.

You can cancel the procedure by tapping the center button on the key fob. If you’ve set up your Model S with Homelink, it will open and close garage doors for you as well.

Back at an October press briefing, when Tesla’s last software update enabled cars to steer, change lanes, and park on their own, Tesla CEO Elon Musk had said he envisioned fully driverless cars.

He said then that while its still “important to exercise great caution at this early stage,” in the long term, he added, “people will not need hands on the wheel — and eventually there won’t be wheels and pedals.”

For now, the wheels and pedals remain. For the beginning and end of the drive, however, the humans are now optional.

You can check out video of the Summon feature in action here, courtesy of an undoubtedly excited Tesla owner:

Touchscreen iPod Comes This December ans IPHONE

The iPod/iPhone rumour mill is something so clouded that as TR News Ed I made the executive decision to circumvent the vast majority of it a long time ago, but yesterday I had a conversation with an extremely well informed exec which I’m going to share.

Naturally the identity of this friendly and talkative fellow has to stay a closely guarded secret but he works in a multinational company that develops iPod products and which sport ‘Made For iPod’ accreditation and the info flowed after I questioned the value of one of his company’s new iPod accessories. In a very matter of fact tone I was told that the product was not designed for the current generation of device, but the official 6G iPod (fanboy art above - the current generation is referred to as 5.5) which is to be released in December. His company’s device only comes onto the market shortly before then and would benefit hugely because the new iPod would sport a screen that filled the full side of the device and consequently offer higher resolution video.
He explained that Apple had told him 480p content was the target but could only promise whatever did appear would be of a much greater quality than is used today. When I enquired about the control method he confirmed it would be virtual (see official Apple patent application above) and that essentially Apple was finally delivering the type of device we’ve seen journos talk about since the turn of the year.

“This is why Jobs isn’t afraid of the Zune,” he said, though he had no knowledge of whether wireless would make an appearance.

Furthermore he also said Apple has been informing partner companies that its long awaited ‘iPhone’ (fan art again above) will debut in January and Apple wants to feature a subscription iTunes service where tracks could be downloaded for free as long as the subscription was maintained. He said Apple is already in negotiations with networks about bundling a trial period of the service with user contracts. Apart from that he said Apple did confirm to him that a three megapixel camera will be onboard.

When I asked this exec why we should believe any of this info he explained that Apple works incredibly hard to keep its third party manufacturers in the loop because “it makes more money from the affiliates programme than from selling iPods” and that Steve Jobs believes it is brand’s vast array of add-ons which plays the biggest part in maintaining Apple’s market dominance. “He needs third parties to be ready with products when each new generation launches,” he explained, “and we will be…”

So there you go. The usual caveats apply, don’t shoot the messenger, etc, etc but – just maybe – get a little bit excited…

In related news Apple has confirmed less than one per cent of its 5.5G iPods have shipped with the RavMonE.exe Windows virus. It does nothing to the iPod but transfers itself to Windows on connection. An infected Windows computer on Apple’s assembly line has been blamed and the company has put up a fix page here.

Link:
Apple UK

Internet Explorer 7 final

Microsoft's next iteration of Internet Explorer is predictably a solid contender in the browser category. A sleeker and more spare interface will have some old IE users running for the preferences, but even with fewer buttons the new IE works fine right out of the gate. The adoption of tabs is a welcome change for more efficient browsing, and the Quick Tabs feature is an especially nice touch for viewing the contents of all of your tabs in one window. The addition of a RSS feed manager is nice for news addicts, blog fans, and hobbyists, but we would like a way to search for RSS feeds beyond only adding the ones we come across. We also like the integrated search bar that offers a pull-down menu, letting you add your favorite search engines and sites quickly.

A welcome addition is an antiphishing option to check a site's legitimacy, which you can enable at first launch. While Internet Explorer doesn't offer the user-made plug-ins, themes, and extensions found in other browsers such as Firefox and Opera, there are several useful plug-ins you can choose from at Microsoft's Web site. Finally, security concerns with what will undoubtably be the most used Web browser are always an important consideration, but with the proper security programs, most people will be able to surf safely. Overall, we find the latest version of Microsoft's megabrowser to be a fine way to browse the Web, with the addition of many long-awaited features that make the entire Web experience more efficient and enjoyable.

Samsung SGH-i520 smartphone runs on Symbian OS 9.2

The battle for mobile operating system supremacy continues. Some enjoy the familiarity Windows Mobile 5, others love the open source-ness of Linux. Symbian fanatics will soon have another option, because Samsung has just introduced the SGH-i520 smartphone, running on Symbian OS 9.2, Series 60 v3.1. This isn't the first Symbian-powered Samsung for Europe, it's the fourth. High-speed data is a cinch with the HSDPA radio, and you'll surely enjoy the Bluetooth mobile printing feature so that you can show off those 2 megapixel snapshots. You'll also notice the signature slider form factor, but this phone appears to have touch panel keys on the front much like the LG Chocolate. Borrowing popular elements from your Korean cousins, are you?

Toshiba TDP-FF1AU ‘palm-sized’ mobile projector available now

Toshiba today has introduced their super compact DLP TDP-FF1AU mobile projector . The energy-efficient system uses an LED light source rated for 10,000 hours of use, 400 Lux of brightness, native SVGA 800 x 600 resolution, and an impressive contrast ratio of 1500:1. “The projector can be used for small meeting presentations, family functions, or gaming at a friend’s house. No longer tethered to a power source, the presentation and entertainment possibilities are limitless.” said Sam Malik, director of projector sales and marketing, Toshiba Digital Products Division. The battery is rated at only 2 hours, projection dimensions range from 11 to 68-inches, unit dimensions are 5.5" x 2.2" x 4.0", it has video and audio inputs, headphone output and USB port for digital photo viewing or PC-free presentations. You would think that a projector this tiny (weighs only 1 pound), this sexy (white pearlescent finish), would cost you a small fortune. Surprisingly enough Toshiba has the sleek TDP-FF1AU projector priced at US $699. Availability is now.

Apple working on an iSmartphone?

That's the latest rumor coming out of Think Secret. We're not only going to be treated to a regular musicphone; word is that a full QWERTY'd-out business tool is in the works as well, complete (naturally) with iTunes integration. This new smartphone will make it easy for you to enjoy Apple's new iTunes Movie Store offerings, but you can still take care of your day-to-day work-related tasks as well. There is also a distinct possibility that this new handset will rock WiFi capabilities as well. The Zune can share tunes, but the iSmartphone can make calls. That is, if it's for real. We'll probably find out at January's MacWorld.