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Paradox's Star Trek: Infinite space-based strategy game leaves spacedock on Oct. 12 by John Callaham In June, Paradox Interactive first announced Star Trek: Infinite, an upcoming grand space-based strategy game from developer Nimble Giant. Today, it was announced that the game has a firm release date of October 12 for the PC and Mac. In a press release, Paradox offered a quick summary of the game, which is set decades before the events of the Star Trek: The Next Generation TV series: The immersive grand strategy game puts players in the captain’s chair to lead one of four unique Quadrant Powers: The United Federation of Planets, Romulan Star Empire, Cardassian Union, or Klingon Empire. While remaining faithful to Star Trek lore, Star Trek: Infinite introduces fresh avenues for adventure as players can explore the Alpha and Beta quadrants, govern empire dynamics, handle economic intricacies, and engage with undiscovered civilizations. You can preorder the game now on Steam for $29.99, or you can get the Deluxe Edition for $39.99. The Deluxe Edition has the following bonuses: Downloadable Soundtrack - Take the sounds of Star Trek: Infinite with you anywhere to keep your mind firmly fixed on leading your faction to victory, even when you are not. More Star Trek Music - Additional Star Trek music tracks to help explore the galaxy to, added into the game via a content pack. Art Book - Like many crews before us, we have documented our voyage for posterity. Explore the birth of Star Trek: Infinite from concept to completion with a 70-page artbook! In addition, both versions have special pre-order bonuses: U.S.S. Cerritos & California-class Uniforms - Add the ship class with the most heart to your fleet and don the uniform to match. From Star Trek: Lower Decks, take on the California-class ships and iconic uniform of the crew for yourself! Klingon Voice Pack - Bringing an extra layer of authenticity to your Star Trek story, the pre-purchase bonus also includes a Klingon advisor voice. The game release date announcement comes a day before "Star Trek Day", which commemorates the 57th anniversary of the first episode of the original Star Trek TV series in the US on September 8, 1966.

US residents can watch all 10 episodes of Star Trek: Lower Decks for free on YouTube by John Callaham Is the best Star Trek TV show ever made an animated and somewhat adult sitcom? Many folks believe that Star Trek: Lower Decks is indeed the best show in the nearly 50-year sci-fi media franchise. This week, Paramount+ added all 10 episodes of the show's third season to watch for free for YouTube US residents to watch for a limited time. The show, created by former Rick and Morty writer and producer Mike McMahan, centers on four junior officers on board the USS Cerritos. The series, which takes place just after the conclusion of Star Trek: Voyager, tells the tales of these crew members who don't usually get the best assignments. It's not only a funny show, with tons of references and Easter Eggs to previous Star Trek shows and movies, but stands up as a great Trek show on its own.' Indeed, two of the characters from Lower Decks recently made their live-action debut in an episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, in what must be the weirdest crossover in Trek history. Paramount+ is posting all of these episodes for free to promote the fourth season of Lower Decks, which is due to premiere on the streaming service on September 7. A fifth season of the series has been ordered, but production has been put on hold for now due to both the writer's and actor's strikes. Paramount+ currently has every Star Trek TV show and movie to stream . . . except for Star Trek: Prodigy. As we reported on earlier this year, the family-friendly 3D animated and Emmy-winning series was pulled from the streaming service so that Paramount could save money. Production of an already approved second season still continues and the hope is that the rights can be sold to another streaming service. Thankfully, all 20 episodes of season 1 can be purchased digitally from stores like Amazon Prime Video. You can also get the first half of season one now on Blu-ray or DVD, and the second half is available for pre-order on disk ahead of its September 26 release date. As an Amazon Associate when you purchase through links on our site, we earn from qualifying purchases.

It's official, Captain Pike gets his own series. Source: https://www.startrek.com/news/star-trek-strange-new-worlds-anson-mount-rebecca-romijn-ethan-peck-cbs-all-access

Star Trek: Prodigy gets canceled and will be removed from Paramount+ next week by John Callaham One of the best of the most recent Star Trek TV shows is about to warp off its streaming home. Paramount has announced that Star Trek: Prodigy has been canceled and will no longer be available to stream off its Paramount+ service starting next week. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the show will be part of an overall tax write-off for Paramount+, along with the removal of other original shows such as Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies, Queen of the Universe, and the revival of The Game. The decision also comes as the streaming service will officially bring in content from the cable TV service Showtime on June 27. In a statement, Paramount says: As we prepare to combine Paramount+ and Showtime later this month in the U.S., we are refining our content offering to deliver the best streaming experience for subscribers. This is consistent with our content strategy since launch and across our business, which ensures we make smart, efficient choices, informed by audience data and insights. We are removing select programming as we look to optimize Showtime’s robust slate of premium originals. Star Trek: Prodigy launched in October 2021 and had 20 episodes in its first season. Produced in cooperation with the kids TV network Nickelodeon, the 3D CGI series was set several years after the end of Star Trek: Voyager. It focused on a group of young aliens who escape from a prison colony and its evil leader on a previously abandoned Federation ship, the Protostar. The show's voice cast included Kate Mulgrew, who reprised her role as a hologram version of Kathryn Janeway from Star Trek: Voyager. Star Trek: Prodigy was critically acclaimed and was nominated for the 2022 Children's and Family Emmy Award for Best Animated Series. While the first 10 episodes have been released on Blu-Ray and DVD, there will be no other way to get the entire first season, either on disc or digitally, after it is taken down from Paramount+. The show was previously renewed for a second season. The Hollywood Reporter says that its production will be allowed to be completed, and both seasons of the show will be offered to other networks. However, there's no guarantee that any network or streamer will take on the series. Paramount+ will remain the home for all the classic shows in the franchise, along with the more recent original series, including Discovery, Picard, Strange New Worlds, and Lower Decks. A new show, Starfleet Academy, is in the works at the streamer, along with a Section 31 movie. This is just the latest move by streaming services to remove original shows and movies from their platforms to save money. A few weeks ago, Disney removed over 100 original shows and films from Disney+ and Hulu. As an Amazon Associate when you purchase through links on our site, we earn from qualifying purchases.

Check out the entire first season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds for free on YouTube now by John Callaham If you haven't watched what is perhaps the best of the current batch of streaming Star Trek TV shows, you have no excuses now. The entire 10-episode first season of the Paramount+ series Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is now available to stream for free on YouTube. Paramount+ is keeping the first season free on YouTube until June 30. This is, pretty obviously, a way to help promote the upcoming second season of Strange New Worlds, which is set to debut on the streaming service on June 15. In case you are unfamiliar with the series, here's a quick summary. It's a spin-off of Star Trek: Discovery, which in its second season introduced us to Captain Christopher Pike, an earlier captain of the famed U.S.S. Enterprise before Captain James T. Kirk took over. The new show takes place on board that starship, with some familiar characters, including younger versions of Mr Spock, Uhura, and Nurse Chapel and new ones with some ties to Trek lore. The first season of Strange New Worlds had some good old-fashioned Trek TV vibes, but with much higher production values and better visual effects. Unlike the serialized storylines of Star Trek: Discovery and Star Trek: Picard, Strange New Worlds' first season consisted (mostly) of stand-alone episodes. Like Star Trek: The Original Series, Strange New Worlds mixed in action, drama, and even some humor in its episodes as the crew of the Enterprise explores the galaxy. If you don't know anything about the first season of the show, we won't spoil things for you with specifics. We will say that, based on the trailers for the second season of Strange New Worlds, we are in for the same mix of drama, action, and humor. The series has been renewed for a third season, although its production has been delayed due to the current movie and TV show writers' strike.

I wonder if being she won an Oscar that she doesn't want to be tied down to a series or it was too costly to have her be on a series.

Like the original director's cut, the film will feature Wise's new treatment of the Motion Picture footage and the updated visual effects, but this time with a 4K restoration taken from the original negative and supervised by producer David C. Fein (who worked on the director's cut with Wise) and restorationist Mike Matessino.

Oversaturated streaming market set to push Star Trek fans to piracy by Paul Hill Image via IMDB An official Star Trek Twitter account has stated that season four of Star Trek: Discovery, which was due to arrive on Netflix on Friday for international audiences, has now been pushed back to early 2022 due to Netflix losing global rights to the show to Paramount. To be clear, those in the United States and Canada will be able to start watching the show on Thursday but international audiences will have to wait if they plan to watch the show legally. Over the last decade, many people have switched to streaming services like Netflix because they’re not overly expensive and are more convenient than pirating content. Unfortunately, the last few years have seen a staggering amount of streaming services come on the market including Disney+, Paramount+, BritBox, and several others. To our international #StarTrekDiscovery fans... pic.twitter.com/QATQzHxepK — Star Trek on Paramount+ (@StarTrekOnPPlus) November 16, 2021 With the launch of the new services, it saw different shows leave Netflix for the new services to try and attract customers but this has meant users have had to take out multiple subscriptions which can be expensive. For those who can’t afford all these services, it has meant piracy is being seen as an option by more and more people. It’ll certainly be interesting to see the piracy statistics that come out following the launch of Star Trek: Discovery season four once it has aired in the United States and Canada. Many people responding to Paramount’s decision on Twitter said they will turn to piracy to view the show rather than wait until next year. If there is a spike in piracy, perhaps the companies behind these streaming services should take note and reconsider whether fragmentation is the best approach.

Here's how to watch William Shatner go to space for reals by Paul Hill Blue Origin William Shatner, the actor famous for his role as the Star Trek Captain James T. Kirk, will have a chance to go to space today for real as he joins Blue Origin’s New Shepard Mission NS-18. He’s not going to explore strange new worlds, and he won’t be on a five-year mission – he’ll be in space for mere minutes but it’s very nice that he gets an opportunity to go to space himself especially given his role in encouraging people’s interest in space. Blue Origin will be streaming the event from 12:30 p.m. UTC (8:30 a.m. ET / 5:30 a.m. PT) on YouTube with coverage beginning 90 minutes before the launch is due. As is the case with these types of events, commentators will be on-hand to explain exactly what’s happening throughout the flight; it’s not just a simple case of launching the rocket but the launch sequence goes through several stages, all of which the commentators will explain as the mission progresses. The flight today will take the crew just past the Kármán line which is situated 62 miles above the Earth. By some estimations, this is the boundary between the Earth’s atmosphere and space but in reality, the boundary is very fuzzy. The crew will stay in space for about 10 minutes before making the trip back to Earth. During that time, the crew will be able to unbuckle their belts and experience low gravity. Shatner will be joined on the flight by Audrey Powers – Blue Origin’s vice president of mission and flight operations, Glen de Vries – a co-founder of the medical research platform Medidata Solutions and Chris Boshuizen – a NASA researcher who became a tech entrepreneur. The latter two crew members paid $250,000 for their tickets while Shatner was invited onto the flight by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos.

Star Trek: Voyager receives a 4K remaster courtesy of an AI-based software by Ather Fawaz Image via Imgur Originally released in 1995, Star Trek: Voyager, has now received a third-party 4K remaster. A Redditer (u/theboomsterz) who goes by the name of Billy Richard on YouTube has used a video AI program from Topaz Labs to remaster five episodes of the show thus far. Here's a short clip of the resultant video taken from the Season 6, Episode 4, Tinker Tenor Doctor Spy. The video was remastered to 4K from a DVD source using Gigapixel AI from Topaz Labs, and the episode above had three complete runs with the software. It is a time-consuming and expensive process, with Richard claiming that it took him around six hours to process the work from start to finish. As stated before, five episodes have been remastered as of now, but only short clips have been uploaded for viewership on YouTube. But Richard intends on saving up for upgrading from his current trial version of Gigapixel and subsequently making more episodes in the future. While the link to download or view full episodes has not been given, nevertheless, it will be interesting to see how CBS and Paramount respond to this. Source: Reddit

https://www.polygon.com/tv/2018/6/19/17479570/new-star-trek-tv-shows-cbs According to Variety, four new Trek series are actively in development at the network, presumably as programming for CBS All Access, the streaming-only service that premiered Star Trek Discovery in late 2017. More at the link above.

NeoBytes :) The Discovery on Star Trek apparently runs Windows by Muhammad Jarir Kanji NeoBytes :) is an occasional feature that takes a step back from the big headlines, to take a look at what else is happening in the vast, scary expanse of the tech world - often with a cynical eye, always with a dose of humour. Image credit: CBS If CBS is to be believed, Microsoft's Windows platform has a long, long, long future ahead of it. The third, and latest, episode of the new Star Trek: Discovery series currently airing on the network has Windows-related code running on the Starfleet ship. Discovery's timeline places it around the year 2255, meaning Windows will be around two centuries into the future. So in "Stark Trek: Discovery", they have the Vulcan debug some code. Apparently, Starfleet still runs on Windows. pic.twitter.com/RhS3ttL0aD — Rob Graham٩(●̮̮̃●̃) (@ErrataRob) October 3, 2017 The episode in question has main character Micheal Burnham analysing a string of code which, alongside being central to the plot of the episode, turns out to be Windows code. As spotted by some hawk-eyed Twitter users, the string is decompiled code from the Stuxnet virus used to target Iran's nuclear capabilities. Since Stuxnet's mode of operation was written for the Windows operating system, it would seem Windows will continue to be the platform of choice for the enterprise - ahem, Enterprise - well into the future. Star Trek: Discovery is already one of the most pirated series currently airing and we can only expect that number to rise given the show's inexplicable ability to predict the future. A bunch of Apple and Google execs are probably huddled around a conference table somewhere poring over every detail of the show to figure out how their rival beat them so long into the future. I think it's because the Surface Phone is actually a rebranded Zune that links with your HoloLens to hypnotise users into loving everything Microsoft. That's how Microsoft will take over the world. Source: Rob Graham via The Verge

Unsurprisingly, Star Trek: Discovery is being pirated at record rates by Muhammad Jarir Kanji Earlier this week, CBS aired the premiere of Star Trek: Discovery, the first TV series set in the universe since Star Trek: Enterprise in 2005. As expected, the premiere of the show was met with widespread viewership, raking in over 10 million viewers to CBS on Sunday. While the first episode of the season was made available on CBS' over-the-air network, the rest of the episodes are exclusive to CBS All-Access, the network's streaming service. The hope for the decision was to entice the massive following of the franchise to subscribe to the service and while no numbers were provided by the company, it did state that signups on the day of the premiere exceeded previous records. However, restricting access to such a popular franchise also had the significant risk of encouraging users to simply pirate the TV show and it seems that's precisely what happened. The first two episodes of the show are currently among the top 20 torrents on The Pirate Bay, one of the most popular torrenting websites on the web. The top of that list is dominated by Game of Thrones episodes but Episodes 1 and 2 of Discovery rank 9th and 19th on the list, respectively. The premiere, in fact, seems to also be climbing the list, going from the twelfth position to the ninth in just a few hours. Via: Ars Technica

Star Trek-themed ransomware "Kirk" has a Spock decryptor, uses Monero for payments by Justin Luna It seems some cybercriminals are channeling their inner Star Trek fanboy, as a new ransomware variant named after a character from the popular science fiction media franchise has recently been discovered. via Bleeping Computer Detected by Avast malware researcher Jakub Kroustek, the "Kirk" ransomware is written in Python. While it is not currently known how it is distributed, the ransomware is noted to be masquerading as an application called Low Orbital Ion Cannon, a network stress testing application. Once executed, Kirk will generate an AES password which will be used to encrypt a victim's files. This will subsequently be encrypted by an embedded RSA-4096 encryption key. The fake LOIC prompt | via Bleeping Computer Next, a prompt will display stating "The LOIC is initializing for your system ... This may take some time." At this point, the Kirk ransomware is silently encrypting files. The malware reportedly affects 625 file types, including widely used ones like .mp3, .docx, .zip, .jpeg, and .wma, among many others. A ransom note will be dropped soon after this process is done. Typical ransomware would usually ask for Bitcoins or MoneyPak as payment in order to unlock the files. However, the Kirk ransomware asks victims to pay in Monero, another secure crypto-currency like Bitcoin. For the first two days, it will ask for 50 Monero, which is equal to roughly $1265. It will double every few days, and if no payment is made by the 31st day, the decryption key gets permanently deleted, according to the ransom note. Of course, with the ransomware being named after a Star Trek character, the cybercrooks went all the way and named the malware's decryptor "Spock." The criminals promise to send the software to the victim once the Monero payment has been made. As of the moment, there is no known way to decrypt files that have been affected by the Kirk ransomware for free. There are still no known cases of anyone being affected by this ransomware. However, it still pays to be careful of our activities on the internet, to be able to lessen the chances of contracting such malware in the future. Source: Jakub Kroustek via Bleeping Computer

Star Trek Online now allows the creation of Starfleet captains from the Original Series by Gabriel Nunes Star Trek Online is a massive multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG) from Cryptic Studios released for PCs back in 2010 and for Xbox One and PlayStation 4 on September last year. The game, which is free-to-play, received a massive overhaul for its console debut, from the graphics to an entire revision of the game's back-end. September 2016 also marked the 50th anniversary of Star Trek: The Original Series, a landmark for the sci-fi community and the beginning of the Star Trek franchise. Back then, Microsoft joined the celebrations by releasing a Rewards offer, but only now, five months later, the development team on Star Trek Online has revealed their gift for its players: the release of the free expansion Agents of Yesterday. Star Trek Online: Agents of Yesterday brings the opportunity to play with the Starfleet captains set during the time of the Original Series (TOS) for the first time. The free expansion 'goes back' to the 23rd century, recreating uniforms, gear, ships, sounds, and settings from TOS. Also, several actors from Star Trek joined the developers on the creation of the expansion, including Walter Koenig, Chase Masterson, Kipleigh Brown, Matt Winston, and Joseph Gatt. Furthermore, the new expansion adds twelve new 'Featured Episodes' to the game, some of them not yet released onscreen. Also, players can now access eight new PvE queues and one new Battlezone for captains to team up and tackle threats together, not to mention three new Reputations, one new Fleet Holding, and a new Captain Specialization. And for those willing to purchase in-game features, eight new ships will be available for Federation captains and three new ships will be available for all game factions. Finally, Ubisoft is also working on a Star Trek game, this time for virtual reality devices. The game is expected to launch for the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, and PlayStation VR, with the ability of cross-platform playing. Unfortunately, the game was recently delayed again and you won't be able to play it before May 30, 2017. You can download Star Trek Online for Xbox One here. Source & Images: Xbox Wire

Star Trek: Bridge Crew game delayed again, won't take you to the final frontier until May 30 by Andy Weir The bridge of the starship Aegis, following the style of the 'alternate' Trek universe Last June, Ubisoft announced Star Trek: Bridge Crew, a new virtual reality game that was originally due to launch on November 29. However, in October, it seemed that the game's development wasn't exactly proceeding at warp speed, as its release was pushed back to March 14, 2017. Now, Ubisoft has revealed that the VR journey to the final frontier has been delayed again, with a new launch date set for May 30. The USS Aegis (NX-1787), the first of a new class of Federation starshipsStar Trek: Bridge Crew is set in the 'alternate' Star Trek universe, first established in the JJ Abrams movie that was released in 2009, and further explored in two additional films since then. It puts players in command of the USS Aegis (NX-1787), a brand new Federation starship, assigned to explore uncharted space in search of a new homeworld for the Vulcans, following the destruction of their planet in the 2009 movie. Where it all began: the VR version of the starship Enterprise bridge from the original 1960s TV series Despite its delay, it may well be worth the wait for Trekkies. Ubisoft has revealed that in addition to the starship Aegis, players will also have the option to serve aboard the original version of the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701), which featured in the first Star Trek series over 50 years ago. The Enterprise will be available in the game's Ongoing Voyages mode, which features "procedurally generated solo and co-op missions". “The original USS Enterprise is such an iconic part of the franchise,” says David Votypka, senior creative director at Red Storm Entertainment. “The adventures and relationships that took place on the ship are a special part of Star Trek history, so we were determined to give players the opportunity to create their own adventures and stories on this classic ship.” The game will be released for the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and PlayStation VR, allowing gamers who own it on one device to play with friends on other platforms. Source: Ubisoft via IGN

Star Trek: Bridge Crew will take you to the final frontier in VR on November 29 by Andy Weir Ubisoft gave the world a first look at Star Trek: Bridge Crew back in June, and we now know when the virtual reality title will arrive. The game is set in the 'alternate' Star Trek universe, first established in the JJ Abrams movie of the same name that was released in 2009, and further explored in two additional films since then. It puts players in command of the USS Aegis NX-1787, a brand new Federation starship, assigned to explore uncharted space in search of a new homeworld for the Vulcans, following the destruction of their planet in the 2009 movie. Ubisoft has announced that Star Trek: Bridge Crew will be released on November 29, with availability on the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and Sony PlayStation VR. While the game focuses primarily on multiplayer co-op, solo gamers can get in on the action too, assuming the role of captain. In addition to a story mode that plays out as the Aegis explores a region of space nicknamed 'The Trench', the game will also generate missions for players. Source: Engadget

Beam me up, Cortana: Official Star Trek combadge will connect you to your phone's assistant by Andy Weir This week, Star Trek celebrated its 50th anniversary, and after half a century of boldly going where no-one has gone before, the franchise is still going strong, including a blockbuster movie this summer, and a new TV series coming in January. Over the years, Star Trek has inspired generations of fans with its optimistic vision of the future, but its prescient use of technology has also inspired the development of many products that are now part of our everyday life - from tablets to holographic computers and digital assistants. Now, another real-world product is preparing to bridge the gap with the fictional Star Trek universe, and will no doubt bring great delight to fans around the world. It's an officially-licensed Star Trek combadge with a Bluetooth connection and integrated microphone and speakers, that will allow users to interact with the digital assistants on their devices with nothing more than a tap - just like on the TV show. The combadge is a "screen-accurate" replica of the design used by Starfleet in the Star Trek: The Next Generation era, and was also seen in early seasons of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. The product description explains: It hooks up to your phone or device via Bluetooth® and has a built-in microphone for hands-free calling. Once connected, one touch answers/ends calls, plays/pauses audio, or accesses Siri, Google Now, or Cortana. And, of course, a touch plays that classic communicator sound effect. Warning: you're going to want to keep the micro-USB charging cable handy right after you receive this, because making it chirp is well-nigh irresistible. The Star Trek TNG Bluetooth ComBadge is available to pre-order now from ThinkGeek, priced at $79.99, and will begin shipping in November. There may well be even more to look forward to as well. As we reported earlier this week, work is under way to create a fully digitized version of the voice of the LCARS computer system that featured in many of the Star Trek TV series and movies. Efforts to recreate the voice of the late Majel Barrett - who died in 2008 - include plans to make her voice available to fans "for things such as Siri". In the not-too-distant future, fans may well be able to tap their combadges, and speak with Siri, Cortana or Google Now, and hear the voice of Starfleet's legendary computer replying to them from their phones. Make it so. Source: ThinkGeek via SlashGear

Red alert! Star Trek Online is now available on Xbox One and PlayStation 4 by Andy Weir It's been six years since Star Trek Online, the massive multiplayer online roleplaying game (MMORPG) from Cryptic Studios, brought gamers one step closer to the final frontier with its launch on Windows PCs. The game went free-to-play in 2012, but today, it will boldly go onto two new platforms. After announcing its plans to do so back in May, Cryptic has now launched Star Trek Online on both the Xbox One and PlayStation 4. Here's a brief overview of what the game offers: In Star Trek Online, customize your Captain and enjoy your very own Star Trek experience with over 125 episodes through multiple story arcs, featuring content in both space and ground. Explore strange new worlds, in this ever-expanding, completely Free-to-Play online universe. Explore strange new worlds and seek out new life and new civilizations in a vast, expanding universe. Experience a triple-A MMO game for free. Play from level 1 to 60 free of charge. Star Trek Online has received a considerable graphics overhaul for its console debut, including improved lighting effects and richer textures. Its developers said they'd rewritten the entire back-end, as well as making "improvements to episodic flow and player progression". In May, the game's executive producer, Stephen Ricossa also spoke about the challenges of redesigning the game's controls - which were designed to use most of a desktop keyboard - for use with a console controller. You can get the game via the links below - but bear in mind that it's only available in certain regions and markets, for now at least. Download: Star Trek Online for Xbox One / PlayStation 4

Microsoft celebrates Star Trek's 50th Anniversary with Rewards offer by Cage Appleby To celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Star Trek, Microsoft kicked off a chance to earn Microsoft Reward points by renting or buying any of the Star Trek shows or movies through the Windows Store. Anyone who takes advantage of this offer can also be amongst the first to pre-order the newly released, Star Trek Beyond. The Microsoft Rewards program, originally titled Bing Rewards, gives users the ability to not only earn points by searching with Bing, but also using a slew of Microsoft services such as Microsoft Edge and shopping with Microsoft. To get started on a Star Trek marathon and earn points while doing so, just rent or buy any selected Star Trek titles in the Windows 10 Store. Movie rentals will earn you 500 reward points, 3,000 points for movie purchases and 4,000 reward points when you purchase a complete season. To browse the titles available head over to the Windows Store here. Source: Windows Blog

The voice of Star Trek's LCARS computer may soon be available for your devices by Andy Weir The likes of Microsoft's Cortana and Apple's Siri now allow users to interact with their devices - to a limited extent - simply by speaking to them. But for many users, the gold standard of natural language interfaces is the fictional Library Computer Access and Retrieval System (LCARS) that appeared in many of the Star Trek TV series and movies. Along with an interface of touch-sensitive surfaces, LCARS also allowed users on Starfleet vessels and facilities to interact conversationally with the computer. Of course, the system itself wasn't real - although it clearly inspired the development of real-world products like the digital assistants that we now use today. The voice behind the computer was that of the late Majel Barrett, wife of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry. Barrett's last 'performance' as the voice of LCARS came in JJ Abrams' 2009 Star Trek reboot, which she recorded shortly before her death in 2008. And yet, she may make a posthumous return in the new TV series, Star Trek: Discovery. Majel's voice is recorded phonetically, &we're working to get her voice for things such as Siri, maybe voice of the computer on #STDiscovery — RODDENBERRY (@roddenberry) September 4, 2016 The official @roddenberry Twitter account pointed out in a tweet yesterday that her voice has been preserved in phonetic recordings, which would make it possible to create a digital version that could be used not just in the new TV show, but also "for things such as Siri". Many fans would no doubt delight at the prospect of being able to interact with their phones, tablets and PCs, and hearing the response of Starfleet's legendary computer speaking back to them. And as @roddenberry also noted, when JJ Abrams approached Barrett to be the voice of the starship Enterprise in the 2009 movie, it "brought her so much joy". Given that she and Gene Roddenberry, who died in 1991, dedicated so much of their lives to the Star Trek universe, one could certainly imagine that she'd approve of her voice being shared with fans around the world in such a way. There are no further details about the plans to create a fully digitized version of Barrett's voice at this stage, but with Star Trek: Discovery set to premiere on CBS All Access in the US, and Netflix in other markets, in January 2017, fans may not have to wait too long to hear her voice come to life once more. Source: @Roddenberry via @mdtauk ​Majel Barrett image via fanpop.com; LCARS image from Star Trek: Nemesis - © Paramount Pictures

7 Days: A week of iPhone frenzy, the Note7 saga, and Surface anticipation by Andy Weir 7 Days is a weekly roundup of the Editors' picks of what's been happening in the world of technology - written with a dash of humor, a hint of exasperation, and an endless supply of (Irish) coffee. Even with the excitement of last week's IFA 2016 industry expo behind us, we were expecting this week to be a busy one - and it certainly didn't disappoint. There's been no end of big announcements, juicy rumors, and one or two surprises to keep us on our toes. As ever, 7 Days is here to make sure you're up to speed with what's been happening - so let's crack on. Our journey begins this week in the US, where entertainment giant Warner Bros - in an effort to curb piracy of its content - issued a set of takedown requests to Google... against itself. Image: Shutterstock Over in the European Union, where authorities previously announced that cross-border mobile roaming charges would soon be a thing of the past, it turns out that the devil is in the detail. Various caveats and conditions have emerged, which mean that some users will still have to pay for using their phones abroad. After the European Commission blocked its planned acquisition of O2 in the UK, the CEO of Three claimed this week that British consumers had been "robbed of the best mobile infrastructure in Europe". Japanese telecoms conglomerate SoftBank completed its $32.6 billion acquisition of ARM, the British company that designs the processor technology used in phones, tablets, embedded scenarios, wearables, networking equipment, and many more devices all over the world. On Friday, General Motors, the world's third-largest automaker, announced the global recall of 4.3 million cars, SUVs and trucks, due to a "software defect" related to the system that controls deployment of the airbags and seatbelt pretensioners - a flaw that's already been linked to one death and three injuries. Facebook has come under fire for censorship - including the removal of posts by journalists, and even the Prime Minister of Norway - after deleting content that featured an iconic, Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph taken during the Vietnam war. The world-famous image, showing a group of children fleeing a napalm strike, includes a naked minor, which Facebook says is enough to justify its removal. Nvidia's latest series of Pascal-based graphics cards - including its GTX 1070 and 1080 - are reportedly selling very well indeed. It looks like the company is preparing to offer another option too; the GTX 1050, offering strong performance at a more affordable price. The end may be nigh for the OpenOffice productivity suite. After 14 years of availability, it's now at risk of being discontinued due to a lack of volunteer developers. Amazon unveiled its all-new Fire HD 8 tablet on Thursday - and it'll be the first to include support for the company's Alexa digital assistant. Perhaps the most exciting device unveiled at IFA 2016 last week was - no, not the Windows 10 fridge - the Lenovo Yoga Book, an ultra-portable notebook that wants to be a 'real' notebook. While Lenovo announced that it will be offered with Android 6.0 Marshmallow or Windows 10, it said this week that it's working on a Chrome OS version too. Google said on Tuesday that its Chrome browser offers far better battery life on mobile devices compared with a year ago, as well as being much faster too. The company is continuing to make improvements to protect users' security in Chrome as well; from January 2017, the browser will warn users when they're trying to send sensitive data using non-secure HTTP connections. Google is also boosting security for future devices that run Chrome OS, with integrated support for fingerprint ID and other biometric authentication methods. But security on Android devices continues to be a concern; indeed, a fresh threat to devices running version 6.0 Marshmallow was uncovered this week, in the form of a Trojan that attempts to intercept users' online banking details. Meanwhile, Google announced an expansion of its Android Pay platform with new support for Chase, Santander and TSB. More rewards programs from a range of companies are now supported too. OnePlus is merging its Android-based OxygenOS and China-only HydrogenOS into a single offering, in an effort to streamline development and expedite delivery of future updates. The company rolled out OxygenOS 3.1.0 to the OnePlus 2 this week - but not everyone was happy about it. It seems that a successor Google's hugely popular Nexus 7 is on the way this year. The two previous versions were built by ASUS, but the new model is believed to have been created by Huawei. Huawei's Nexus 6P smartphone has finally got its first official taste of Android 7.0 Nougat since the production release of the OS began three weeks ago. Nexus 6P owners were left with a lengthy wait before the Nougat factory images were made available this week. Google's new Nexus Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones are expected to be unveiled alongside other new hardware on October 4, and it seems they may have identical - and highly capable - cameras. It's also believed that the two handsets will ship with a new Android update, referred to as version 7.1 Nougat. On Wednesday, LG announced the V20, the very first device in the world to launch with Android 7.0 Nougat onboard. Along with a range of high-end specs, the V20 includes the distinctive secondary display - positioned above the main screen on the front of the device - that debuted on its V10 predecessor. And in another first this week, the world's first handset with Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon 821 chip went on sale. The ASUS ZenFone 3 Deluxe features some pretty tasty specs, including 6GB RAM, USB-C, a 23MP rear camera, NFC, fingerprint sensor, and a very generous 256GB of storage. Samsung's woes deepened this week as the saga of its fiery new flagship continued to unfold. Numerous incidents of the Galaxy Note7 catching fire - including some in which its battery exploded - prompted the company to recall the device last week. But Samsung failed to initiate an 'official' recall process with the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), an independent US government agency, which would have led to an immediate ban on sales - and independent group Consumer Reports criticized the company for not doing so. That inaction also led to complications over how the aviation industry responded to the reports; after some international airlines instructed passengers to keep the handset switched off while onboard, the US FAA eventually issued the same guidance. On Friday, Samsung announced that it was finally working with the CPSC to implement an official recall. In an extraordinary move, the CPSC issued an immediate advisory to all Galaxy Note7 owners, telling them to immediately "power down and stop charging or using" the device due to the safety risk, given that some of the handsets had caught fire "during normal use". The situation is something of a disaster for Samsung, and is expected to cost the company hundreds of millions of dollars. The cost to its reputation, of course, could well be greater. But while Samsung was continuing to deal with its high-end headache, Apple was launching its own new flagship phones. On Wednesday, it unveiled the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, with all-new cameras, a big performance boost, and double the storage of their predecessors. It introduced two new color options, including one called 'Jet Black' - but it soon emerged that the glossy bodywork of that option is more susceptible to scratches and scuffs, leading the company to advise buyers to use a protective case. The new iPhones are also the first to offer IP67 dust- and water-resistance - but Apple's warranty doesn't actually cover 'liquid damage' to the devices. Apple announced that buyers in China and the UK will now be able to join its iPhone Upgrade Program too. But while US prices are roughly in line with last year's iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, Brits were a bit shocked to discover that Apple had quietly raised its UK prices by 10% for the new iPhones. Pre-orders are now available for the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus ahead of their release next week. As anticipated, Apple removed the 3.5mm headphone jack from its latest iPhones. Its explanation for doing so was smothered in the kind of arrogance that many have come to expect from the company. Apple's Phil Schiller said on stage: "It comes down to one word: courage. The courage to move on and do something better for all of us." *vomits* Apple will be including a set of wired earphones that connect to the new iPhones' Lightning port, along with a 3.5mm adaptor for those who supposedly lack the 'courage' to swallow its crap ditch their older headphones. But Apple would prefer that you buy its new $159 wireless AirPods, which offer five hours of battery life, and come with a portable charging case. If you'd prefer to use wired headphones, you won't be able to charge the new iPhones at the same time - unless you buy extra hardware to let you do so. But there was a rather lovely surprise in store at the iPhone announcement, as Nintendo announced that it will launch a new Super Mario game on iOS later this year. ...and don't worry - it's not just for iPhones. Super Mario Run is also coming to Android devices. Apple announced that it will release iOS 10 for older devices on September 13 - you can find out which devices will be eligible to upgrade here. And macOS 10.12 Sierra will be released on September 20 - the full list of supported Macs is available here. The new iPhones weren't the only devices that Apple unveiled this week - it also announced the Watch Series 2. With integrated GPS, a brighter display, and a new dual-core processor, the second-generation model is also water-resistant. There's even a new Pokémon GO app for the device. Like its predecessor, the Watch Series 2 is offered with a dizzying array of configurations, but the $10,000 gold options are no longer available, replaced by a cheaper ceramic model. There's also a new Watch Nike Plus model. Be sure to check out our Apple Watch Series 2 pre-order guide if you're thinking of buying one. Apple also quietly adjusted its iPad range, increasing the amount of storage available for each model. Independent analysis firm Kantar Worldpanel published its latest smartphone sales data for several key markets around the world. iOS sales market share rose in several countries, and Android saw some even greater gains - rising to a staggering 90% in one major European market. Predictably, though, Windows phone share continued to fall. Rumors of a new high-end Windows 10 Mobile handset from Alcatel have been swirling for months now. Photos emerged this week of the device, which is believed to be based on the company's Idol 4S Android flagship. Last week, ambitious US company WhartonBrooks announced that it would hold an event at a Microsoft Store to discuss its new flagship-class Windows 10 Mobile handset, which it claims "will radically change the mobile computing industry". That event was supposed to take place this weekend - but the company suddenly postponed it on Thursday. HP opened pre-orders for its new Windows 10 Mobile flagship, the Elite x3, on Monday - but just two days later, it was already out of stock. Curiously, the Microsoft Store - which previously promised Elite x3 deliveries from September 12 - pushed back its shipments by two weeks, and the device is now shown as out of stock there too. Owners of Microsoft's Lumia 950 on AT&T can finally get a firmware update that enables the 'double-tap to wake' function on the handset's display. Over in Europe, Microsoft cut €100 EUR off the cost of its Lumia 950 and 950 XL, reducing their prices to €299 and €399, respectively. Buyers in the UK and in the US can now get a free Display Dock with the Lumia 950 and 950 XL. The two handsets have recently received chunky price cuts in both markets. Buyers of Microsoft's Surface Book in the UK can now get a free Office 365 subscription, and free earphones worth £159. In the US, those thinking of buying a Surface Book or Surface Pro 4 can save 15% on their purchase, by opting for a "good as new" refurbished model. You might want to save your money for now though - Microsoft is reportedly preparing to host a launch event next month at which it will unveil refreshed versions of the Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book with faster processors. More excitingly, it's also expected to unveil its rumored Surface all-in-one PC, codename 'Cardinal', at that event. But it seems that its long-awaited Surface phone may not arrive until the second half of next year, sometime after the release of its Windows 10 Redstone 2 update. Microsoft didn't release any Windows 10 Insider Preview builds from the Redstone 2 branch this week, as it's been upgrading some of its back-end systems - but it looks like new builds should resume next week. Curiously, though, it appeared to re-release Windows 10 Mobile Anniversary Update build 14393.103 on Wednesday - but once installed, that release actually bumped the build number up to 14393.105. Also on Wednesday, Microsoft released its latest Office 2016 for Mac preview build to the Office Insider Slow ring... ...followed by a new preview for Windows - the first Office Insider build to be released to the Fast ring. A new Office for Android Insider build arrived a day later, including a new look in PowerPoint. Microsoft also delivered an update to OneNote for Android, including a range of new features. Microsoft's experimental Garage unit rolled out an update for its Arrow Launcher on Android, adding instant messenger support, Bing search features, and more. Microsoft's DreamSpark initiative provides students with access to free Microsoft tools and software - but it will soon be rebranded as 'Microsoft Imagine'. Microsoft is believed to be working on new additions to its Skype platform to directly compete with Slack. The company reportedly considered an $8 billion bid for Slack last year. If you read my editorial about using Microsoft HoloLens earlier this year, it may well have piqued your interest about the holographic headset. If you're in North America, you'll now have the opportunity to try it out for yourself, as Microsoft announced a series of HoloLens demos at its stores across the US and Canada over the next few weeks. Microsoft said on Friday that it's begun experimental development on WebVR technology in its Edge browser - a first step towards allowing developers to bring more immersive experiences to the web. While the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset has shipped with one of Microsoft's Xbox One controllers since launch, the company is preparing to launch its own controller soon - but it won't be cheap. The enormously fun racing car-soccer fusion game, Rocket League, is now available on OS X and Linux. Last weekend, Razer announced a new range of gaming keyboards, the world's first to include Mecha-Membrane technology that combines the best features of mechanical and rubber dome keyboards, promising increased comfort and accuracy. Following a similar report earlier this year, it's looking increasingly likely that games on Nintendo's upcoming NX console will come in cartridge form. Sony's CEO said this week that the company is "aggressively getting into" mobile gaming, in a shift from focusing exclusively on console-based gaming. But this week, Sony's spotlight was shining firmly on its console business, as it unveiled the new, slimmer PlayStation 4, along with a refreshed DualShock 4 controller design. But more excitingly, it also announced the new PlayStation 4 Pro, an upgraded version of the console featuring support for 4K video and gaming, as well as HDR (which will also be made available to existing PS4s via a software update). However, only a handful of games will initially support 4K resolution when the Pro is released in November - and bizarrely, the console doesn't support 4K Blu-ray discs. Microsoft released a new Xbox One Preview on Tuesday, bringing a range of new features that it first announced at E3 back in June. Also on Tuesday, Microsoft added three more Xbox 360 games to the list of those playable on the Xbox One, followed by a further five additions on Thursday. And on Wednesday, Forza Motorsport 6: Apex finally emerged from beta. As well as reaching its release milestone, the game is still free on the Windows Store, and now includes support for steering wheels too. MMORPG Star Trek Online is now available on both the Xbox One and PS4. The game originally launched on PCs six years ago, before going free-to-play in 2012. It's received a significant graphics overhaul, along with a redesigned control system, for its console launch. This week, Star Trek celebrated its 50th anniversary, and it will continue to boldly go where no-one has gone before with a new TV series starting in January. For years, Starfleet's LCARS computer - which featured in many of the TV series and movies - was voiced by the late Majel Barrett, wife of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry. But while Barrett died in 2008, the sound of her voice may live on in the new show, as well as being made available to fans "for things such as Siri", as efforts are underway to create a fully digitized version of her voice. Fans would no doubt delight in being able to talk to Siri, Cortana or Google Now, and hearing the voice of the starship Enterprise responding to them. And if that's not enough, an officially licensed Starfleet combadge - with a Bluetooth connection, and integrated microphone and speakers - is now available to pre-order for $79.99. It will allow users to tap on it, just like on the show, to be able to interact with the digital assistants on their devices. Make it so! But our trek through the week's tech news ends with more news from Turing Robotics Industries. Last week, Turing announced details of a phone with truly absurd specs - including dual Snapdragon 830 processors, 12GB RAM, 60MP camera and power from a hydrogen fuelcell - coming in 2017. This is a company that promised an "ultra-secure" and "unhackable" Android phone with a two-year-old Snapdragon 801 chip, delaying it at least four times. When it finally shipped, it did so with a different OS, and the company said that it shouldn't be considered a secure phone; "it's more a fashion phone". This week, it made fresh promises about another handset - with three Snapdragon 830s, 18GB RAM, 1.2TB of storage, and something called 'A.L.A.N.' - which it says will launch in 2018. Bonus content Before we wrap things up for another week, let me first highlight a few extra bits around the site that I hope you'll enjoy reading. Shreyas Gandhe published his review of the Xiaomi Redmi 3S Prime, an affordable handset that promises a lot, and delivers plenty too. It's not quite perfect though... Chris Schroeder wrote about his experience of playing Gears of War 4 and its new Horde 3.0 game type, which requires a team of five people. He didn't have high hopes going in, but after he'd given it a go, he was completely won over by it. While a refreshed version of the Surface Book is expected to be announced next month, the new Surface Book 2 isn't likely to arrive until Spring 2017. This week, we asked our readers what's on their wishlist for the next-gen device - check out their suggestions, and have your say! And finally, we also asked our readers if they were planning to buy an iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus, following Apple's unveiling of the two handsets earlier this week. See how the poll is going, cast your vote, and share your thoughts on the new devices. Stay tuned to Neowin in the days ahead for what's sure to be another exciting week, filled with official news, exciting updates and plenty of insights from around the world of technology. For now, though, there's plenty more to read across the site - including loads of interesting discussions over on our forums. From all of us on the Neowin team, live long and prosper ;)

http://dai.ly/x4skgar Nice bit of movie bits, nothing from the TV series but I think that's fine.