In the brief demo video shared on Aireal so far – you can see if from the 0:44 point – a gamer plays a goalkeeper simulator, with balls fired toward them on-screen. The challenge appears to be knocking as many of the balls away, using physical movements tracked by a Kinect; the Aireal sits next to it, firing puffs of air at the player to recreate the sensation of objects impacting.

Disney Research describes the system as creating “interactive tactile experiences in free air”, and it relies on the inherent stability and range of a vortex of air. By spinning the flow of air around the central axis, the blast can be made far more precise and reach further into the room.

The developers – Rajinder Sodhi of the University of Illinois, along with Matthew Glisson and Ivan Poupyrev of Disney Research Pittsburgh – don’t say exactly what the range of the Aireal cannon actually is, only “large distances.” The system is “scalable and inexpensive” they claim, though would presumably need to be made more compact if it wanted to gain living room acceptance.

However, you could easily imagine Microsoft integrating Aireal into a future version of the Kinect sensor bar, which was updated for the Xbox One revealed earlier this week. The new Kinect has more accurate motion-tracking – now capable of identifying not only skeletal movement, but musculature and force, and even measuring heart-rate – as well as advanced microphones for voice control of the next-gen console.

So far, though, attempts to make gaming more immersive have tended to treat the sense of touch with relatively broad strokes. At most, there’s some sort of haptic feedback from vibration of the gamepad; the Xbox One controllers, for instance, have tunable vibration to suit the on-screen action, but harness systems and similar to spread the sensation across the player’s body have generally met with resistance.

Disney Research’s approach – though perhaps less targeted than strapping vibration motors across your torso – does away with the issues of clumsy bodywear, and it could also be used to good effect in media types other than gaming, such as movies and TV shows. Whether that will make it an acquisition target for one of the big game companies remains to be seen.

VIA Geek; ExtremeTech

As for details about the new show, they’re slightly limited, but we’ve been given a good idea on what to expect overall. The series will take place in an era between Episode III and Episode IV, and Dave Filoni is hopping on board as executive producer, who is the same person behind the The Clone Wars series, and it seems he’ll be bringing a lot of the original Clone Wars staff on board as well.

The show will also be based on concept art from the late Ralph McQuarrie, who designed the original Star Wars trilogy, the original Battlestar Galactica television series, and the ET movie. A one-hour pilot episode is already in production and is set to air in the fall of 2014 on the Disney Channel, with further episodes airing on Disney XD.

There’s no word on which characters will make an appearance, and what the plot will be exactly, but we can probably expect appearances of Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia, possibly showcasing the years that come after their separation at birth, but before their reunion on the Death Star, although we could also see more storylines appear throughout the show.

Of course, we still have over a year and a half until this show premieres, so we’ll most likely get more details in the future, but we’re interested in seeing what the art style will end up being, and if any popular names will show up to do the voice acting for the show. Plus, this is Disney’s second movie/TV project, and we would be surprised if we didn’t hear about more in the near future.

VIA: io9

Of course, the domains could be a mix between possible move titles and video game titles, but they give subtle clues as to what the title will be about. Some of the more notable domain names that were registered include Star Wars Rebels, Star Wars Wolf Pack, Star Wars Alliance, and our personal favorite: Wookiee Hunters.

Other domain names include Wolf Pack Adventures, Order 67, Bothan Spies, Gungan Frontier 2, Gungan Frontier 3, and Gungan Frontier 4. Of course, further details on these titles is far from unknown, but it at least tells us that Disney and EA are set to kick it into high gear with new Star Wars installments over these next few years.

Disney acquired Lucasfilm and LucasArts back in October, essentially getting full control over everything Star Wars. However, it came at a cost for the Mickey Mouse company, who paid just north of $4 billion for it all. It looks like that investment will come to good use, though, as Disney looks to milk the franchise for everything its worth.

[via Fusible]

Electronic Arts says that DICE and Visceral Games will produce new Star Wars titles in the future, as they join BioWare, who is continuing to develop games for the franchise. As for what to expect in upcoming games from EA, the company’s Labels President, Frank Gibeau, says that the new games will be “entirely original with all new stories and gameplay,” with some elements being borrowed from past films.

However, the agreement between EA and Disney doesn’t give the game publisher all the rights to the Star Wars game franchise, as Disney will still retain the rights for “mobile, social, tablet and online game.” Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed, but we’re guessing it was for quite a large sum of money, especially for something so popular like Star Wars.

However, this gets us thinking as to how these upcoming Star Wars games will be published. Electronic Arts doesn’t have a very good track record, and they were recently voted the “worst company in America” for the second straight year, which has us worried about the Star Wars franchise. It’s possible that EA could turn things around by the time they release a new Star Wars game, but we’ll ultimately have to wait and see.

We’ve known for some time that there are going to be multiple Star Wars film in the future, including standalone films, but today’s news is certainly a new development. We’ve even been teased with Star Wars Episode VIII, which isn’t announced yet, but there will surely be a move to come after Episode VII.

The Disney films of the movies and the standalone films are said to alternative summers, meaning that Episode VIII would come out in 2017, with Episode IX releasing in 2019. The years in between would be the standalone films that will focus on individual characters in the Star Wars universe, such as Yoda, Han Solo, and Boba Fett.

Star Trek director JJ Abrams is on board to direct Star Wars Episode VII, with the script being written by Michael Arndt, who penned movies like Little Miss Sunshine, Toy Story 3, and Brave. He also wrote the screenplay for The Hunger Games sequel Catching Fire. Several actors from the original Star Wars trilogy are also reported to be returning for this latest movie.

[via Coming Soon]

Peter Chernin was one of the individuals responsible for the early days of Hulu, and now it seems, if the sources are correct, that he has returned with a bid for the service. Chernin left Hulu back in 2009 to start The Chernin Group, which has holdings in a number of companies, including the popular online music streaming service Pandora.

His bid is said to be approximately $500 million, but neither his people, Disney, or News Corp. would comment on the rumor. Word has it that Disney and News Corp. have reached out to multiple potential buyers, but the two sources who provided this information do not know if any other bids have been placed for Hulu. All of this comes as methods for monetizing the service and taking it in a solid direction have been pondered.

Per past sources, News Corp. was leaning towards a model for Hulu that involved subscriptions as the primary way of monetizing the service, using something like the currently-implemented Hulu Plus service. Disney had different ideas, however, leaning more towards an advertisement-based model that would depend on advertisements, something the service also utilizes. For a long while, the two companies were unsure of whether they would sell the service, but if the sources are correct, it would seem they are close to making a decision.

[via Reuters]

Yesterday we reported that Disney was closing down the LucasArts game development studio. LucasArts and partner developers have delivered some of the coolest video games for Star Wars fans over the years such as Jedi Academy and Jedi Knight 2: Jedi Outcast. Those classic video games were worked on with LucasArts and a company called Raven Software.

Raven Software has announced as of today that it is releasing the source code for the vintage third-person Star Wars action games Jedi Academy and Jedi Knight 2: Jedi Outcast. Raven says that was saddened to hear about the closing of LucasArts this week and that it had enjoyed working with LucasArts over the years.

Raven for says that as a gift for the loyalty of the fan base for the Jedi games and in memory of LucasArts it is offering up the source code for both games for people to “enjoy and play with.” Both of these games are built on the Quake 3 engine with Jedi Outcast launching in 2002 and Jedi Academy launching in 2003. If you miss those games, you can check out a video showing some of the Jedi Academy multiple player game play below.

[via Eurogamer]

According to screenshots taken from a survey that was given to season pass holders and other frequent goers of various Disney parks, the company is asking folks what they would think about a possible “Star Wars themed land at the Disneyland Resort.” Needless to say, Disney may be looking at adding a little bit of Star Wars to its parks, which would be pretty amazing.

Of course, Disney World has been home to the Star Tours amusement ride for some time now, which is a “3D, motion-simulated space flight that launches you into the world of Star Wars.” (Get a feel for it here.) However, it looks like Disney is wanting to expand on that to dedicate an entire section of one of its parks to Star Wars.

Another question in the survey asks people how familiar they are with the Star Wars series, including the characters, settings, and stories, in order to get a feel for how many of their loyal guests know about Star Wars. However, it seems like a pretty obvious question to us, and we bet that as long as Disney built such a park, people will come.

Mr. Kilar’s blog post originally went out as an email to the Hulu team, and in it he states that Andy Forssell will be taking his place as the acting CEO of Hulu at the end of this month when Kilar steps down. The current CEO then goes on to praise Forssell, who is currently a “critical” senior executive for the company.

Says Kilar: “You know Andy well; he’s been a critical senior executive and has been here from the start of this great adventure. Andy exemplifies the Hulu culture and has been central to Hulu’s journey, helping to grow this company from 2 content partners and no revenue to over 450 content partners and approximately $700 million revenue in 2012.”

He then goes on to state that Forssell has “strong support” from the Hulu board, having built relationships with many of its members. The decision is not final, however, and won’t be until News Corp. and Disney, the primary owners of the company, decide the direction they will take Hulu in, after which point they’ll decide if Forssell remains as the permanent chief executive.

[via Hulu]

Per the two individuals who provided the information and are said to have knowledge about what is going on, News Corp. is of the opinion that Hulu should be primarily monetized via subscriptions, which is a current option with Hulu Plus ($8 per month). Disney, on the other hand, thinks Hulu should instead be dependent on an ad-based business model.

As part of the talks, both Disney and News Corp. will look into making changes to Hulu’s business model, or into possibly selling the service. Although they are in talks, says the sources, no deal is guaranteed and nothing may come of the alleged talks. Neither corporation has had anything official to say on the matter.

Hulu has grown since its humble beginnings, having been formed by Fox and NBC, which is now the minority holder. The service has grown, with the company reporting late last year that revenue had climed to $695 million, and that the number of subscribers was up substantially to 3 million. These rumors follow the upcoming leave of Hulu’s CEO Jason Kilar, who is set to step down at the end of the month.

[via Bloomberg]

This is similar to what the X-Men franchise did with the X-Men Origins: Wolverine movie. The tip on the standalone films comes from Disney CEO Bob Iger. He said that Disney was working on a “few stand-alone films.” He didn’t offer any specifics, but rumors suggest that the first standalone film would focus on Yoda.

Work on the standalone movie is said to be progressing alongside the new Star Wars trilogy. The first installment of that new trilogy will be directed by JJ Abrams, and is due out in 2015. The standalone films are reportedly expected between 2015 and 2021 and are being written by Lawrence Kasdan and Simon Kinberg.

The first Star Wars film we can expect from Disney will be written by Michael Ardnt, who wrote Toy Story 3 and Little Miss Sunshine. Iger noted that Disney plans to make Star Wars 7, 8, and 9 over a roughly 6-year. He said there would be a few other films released during that period. Star Wars fans may or may not know that Kasdan worked on the scripts for the original trilogy including The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.

[via BBC]

Very few details are available at this point, with only a release date to go by. Disney’s France PR representative Cecile Fouques confirmed the release date on Twitter, and with a rough and simple translation, the tweet says, “and soon, February 27, Temple Run OZ, inspired by the film The Fantastic World of OZ.”

We’re not sure what exactly the title of the game will be, whether it’ll just be Temple Run: Oz, or Temple Run: Oz the Great and Powerful. It would make the most sense that the game include the full title of the movie, but we’ll have to wait and see what the developers plan to do. If this is any conciliation, a tester of the game posted the news on Facebook as well, including the entire title of the movie in the post.

The new game is set to release one week before the theatrical launch of Oz the Great and Powerful, which will be hitting theaters on March 8. The movie is directed by Sam Raimi, who also directed Spider-Man 3. The movie stars Spider-Man veteran James Franco and That 70s Show star Mila Kunis, who is also known as the voice of Meg on Family Guy.

[via VG247]

Though 529,000 copies is better than what was originally claimed, it still isn’t great. Unfortunately, the game received mixed reviews upon release, which we can’t imagine is something that helped slow sales. Officially, Disney says it shut down Junction Point as “part of our ongoing effort to address the fast-evolving gaming platforms and marketplace and to align resources against our key priorities.”

It wasn’t too long ago that Disney also shut down Black Rock Studios, so Junction Point is just the latest developer to be closed by the company. The fact that Disney has shut down two studios doesn’t mean that it will leave the console space, though, as it recently announced Disney Infinity. With Infinity, Disney will try to tackle the market for Activision‘s Skylanders series, which has blown up into a massive franchise over the years.

Just as well, Disney announced the acquisition of Lucasfilm last year, meaning it now owns the Star Wars license. There’s a rich history of Star Wars video games, but Disney says it will probably focus more on social and mobile games based on the property. For now, all attention will stay on Disney Infinity, and you can bet more details are coming soon. Stay tuned.

[via Forbes]

The confirmation for Ant-Man came back in 2012, technically, with Marvel’s Kevin Feige confirming again with MTV this week that Ant-Man will only be made if director Edgar Wright can make it. And lucky you, this legendary man behind Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is indeed signed on for the Ant-Man movie for release in 2014. The Ant-Man movie being the only one of the “3rd” generation of Marvel movies at the moment, Feige was asked what characters would be up next.

Confirming two things at once, Feige noted that, “you probably don’t have to look too far to guess” at which characters will be coming in the next wave of films, this referring to the Avengers-specific corner of the Marvel Comics universe. He went on to know that “Doctor Strange, which I’ve been talking about for years, is definitely one of them.” He also added a quick note about how “Guardians of the Galaxy” will be just as “totally different from anything else we have [done]” as Doctor Strange will be and as Ant-Man eventually will be as well.

What we’re expecting with Ant-Man and Doctor Strange is a couple of films (or, again, perhaps just one together, no matter how wild that would be), in which we’re in the Marvel Comics Universe, but we’re not necessarily on The Hulk’s doorstep. When each of the new phases of the individual Avengers characters come forth over the next two years and the Avengers 2 movie appears in 2015, we’ll quite likely be seeing both of these characters hinted at, if not seen in their first appearances entirely.

Have a peek at our brief timeline of Avengers-centric updates in the timeline below and make sure you hit up our Marvel Comics tag portal as well as our Entertainment tag portal to stay up to date on the finest movie and entertainment action launching forth from the comics industry through the future!

[via The Verge]

Abrams’ role as director was confirmed in a post on the official Star Wars website earlier this evening, with Kathleen Kennedy saying he’s the “perfect director” for a new era of Star Wars. The announcement also confirmed that Academy Award-winning writer Michael Arndt will be penning the screenplay. Star Wars Episode VII, as many of you already know, will be the first in a new series of Star Wars movies that will be made under Disney‘s leadership, after Lucasfilm was sold to the company last year.

Abrams seems to have the blessings of many big names in the movie industry, including Dennis Muren from Industrial Light and Magic and the man who started it all, George Lucas. The creator of Star Wars says he’s “consistently been impressed” with the work that Abrams puts out, going onto say that the Star Wars legacy “couldn’t be in better hands.” Indeed, it seems that Disney and Lucasfilm could have done much worse when it came time to choose a director for the first Star Wars movie in a decade.

There’s no word on whether or not Abrams will direct more movies past Episode VII, but provided the movie performs well when it’s released in 2015, it isn’t hard to imagine Disney asking Abrams to return for more Star Wars films. More details will undoubtedly be revealed as we continue on through 2013, and we’re sure that plenty of fans have many burning questions about the direction Abrams is planning to take the series. What do you think of the choice of J.J. Abrams to direct the next Star Wars flick?

There’s always a problem, though, and this time that problem comes in the form of an Entertainment Weekly interview with Abrams from late last year. In it, he claimed that he wasn’t going to be directing the next Star Wars movie, seemingly settling the case. He’s also got something of a conflict of interest with his Star Trek films, the latest of which will be releasing in May. If he does sign on to direct Star Wars VII, that could potentially cause some issues with the Star Trek series should Paramount decide it wants a third film.

In any case, The Wrap says that LucasFilm’s Kathleen Kennedy has been spending time trying to sway J.J. Abrams to the project, and if these rumors are to be believed, then it sounds like she’s convinced him. Deadline has run a report supporting The Wrap’s claim, supposedly speaking to an anonymous source close to the project who claims that “It’s done deal with J.J.”

Again, keep in mind that with no confirmation from Disney or LucasFilm, it’s impossible to tell whether these rumors are legitimate or false. It goes without saying that you should take a claim as big as this with more than a few grains of salt, so it probably isn’t the best idea to get your hopes up for an Abrams-led Star Wars movie just. We’ll be keeping an ear to the ground for new details, so stay here with SlashGear for more.

There will be 20 characters in the initial batch of figures Disney produces for the game, and apparently each one will get its own Play Set. That equals out to a lot of money if one were to buy them all, and if Disney Infinity proves to be as popular as Skylanders, then we can see children endlessly asking their parents for each and every one. The starter pack, on the other hand, comes with three characters (Jack Sparrow, Sully, and Mr. Incredible) and the base game, which is why its price has settled dangerously close to $100.

Something worth pointing out is the fact that each character adds his or her (or its) own world to explore in-game, so there’s a significant amount of new content added with the addition of each character. Perhaps that’s why Disney has priced these Play Sets so much higher than the asking price for Activision’s Skylanders figures? It could be one reason, but then again, Disney has always charged a premium price for most items associated with its properties.

There will also be Power Disc bundles players can pick up for $4.99 each. These Power Discs can be used to power up your character in-game, granting them new abilities or items to use. With all of the extras Disney has introduced for this new game, we have a feeling the company won’t have a problem making a decent amount of cash from the title. That is, so long as Disney Infinity‘s popularity takes off when it releases in June. Stay tuned.

[via Joystiq]

With Disney Infinity, we’re seeing the same basic premise of collecting figures and then using them in-game, only Disney seems to have taken the idea one step further. Players will be able to adventure through famous Disney worlds – called “Play Sets” in Infinity – all the while solving puzzles, battling enemies, and collecting items and characters from Disney worlds. The items you collect get put into the in-game Toy Box, and it’s what players will do with the stuff in that Toy Box that’s especially impressive.

Using the items collected through gameplay, players will be able to build their own worlds for their friends to explore. So, think of Disney Infinity as something similar to Skylanders, only the Spyro characters have been swapped out for Disney’s line up and the company has added on a creative mode. What’s more, it appears that players will be able to transfer up to three characters into the game at a time using the portal, which is a feature that Skylanders lacks.

By moving a character into the game, you’ll unlock their world to explore. Disney Infinity will ship with a total of three characters: Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean, Sully from Monsters Inc., and Mr. Incredible from The Incredibles. Disney plans to release a total of 17 characters in this initial batch of figures, some of which can be seen in the announcement trailer above. Even better is the fact that the characters are cross-platform, so they’ll work with every version of the game regardless of the platform you’re playing it on. Disney Infinity will be arriving in June for Xbox 360, PS3, 3DS, Wii, Wii U, PC, and mobile devices, though we don’t have a price point to talk about just yet. Stay tuned for more details!

The deal will see Disney movies hit Netflix about six months after they come out of theaters, which is about the same timeframe that movies are allowed to broadcast on television. However, “high-profile Disney direct-to-video new releases” will be available for streaming starting next year, and older Disney films like Dumbo, Alice in Wonderland, and Pocahontas, are actually available right now.

Previously, Netflix had been able to stream Disney movies through its deal with cable network Starz, but that deal ended back in February. Since this new deal involves Marvel and Pixar, we should be seeing popular films like Iron Man, Toy Story, and Monsters Inc. However, we’re not sure if the recently-acquired Lucasfilm will be involved in the deal. If so, the upcoming Star Wars film will also show up on Netflix.

While this may seem like big news now, 2016 is extremely far off, which means the industry may change and Netflix’s competition could butt in to create a hellstorm for Netflix, Amazon being one of the biggest threats. However, Starz currently holds the Disney contract through 2015, which is why Netflix won’t get it until 2016, so that deal is definitely secure from other services.

Today we found out when the Samsung Galaxy S III Mini will be launching in the UK, and Kim Dotcom’s new website was overloaded shortly after “launch,” though at the moment the only thing you see when visiting Mega is a splash page. Apple has released iOS 6.0.1, and it was confirmed today that the iPad mini uses a 5-watt power adapter. Disney said that it will likely focus on Star Wars mobile and social games moving forward, while Sony’s Q2 2012 financial results are better than Q1′s despite the fact that the company still lost money in the quarter.

The Motorola Electrify M was announced for US Cellular earlier today, and Sony is apparently shipping out new PS4 developer kits that are based on AMD’s A10 Accelerated Processing Units. Time has named Google Glass the best invention of the year, while Amazon launched its Cloud Drive photos app for Android earlier today. Google Drive has gained support for direct sharing to Google Plus profiles, and Google Play carrier billing has popped up at Verizon Wireless. Our old friend OUYA made a new appearance today sporting Jelly Bean, scientists are currently trying to figure out a mystery surrounding Voyager 1, and leaked Grand Theft Auto V pre-order bonuses give away some of the game’s new locations.

Finally tonight, we have a couple original articles for you to have a look at. Chris Burns compares the photo quality of the Samsung Galaxy S III to that of the Nokia Lumia 920, while I go hands-on with the new Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 13 and give my first impressions of the intriguing new convertible notebook. That does it for tonight’s Evening Wrap-Up, enjoy the rest of your night folks!

As far as movies go, we already know that Episode VII will arrive sometime in 2015, and we’re actually pretty excited about it. However, what does Disney have on the schedule as far as Star Wars video games go? LucasArts was in the middle of developing Star Wars 1313, and so far, Disney has no plans of canceling it. They say that all systems are still a go.

However, Disney CEO Robert Iger addressed the company’s future plans for game development with regards to the LucasArts acquisition. Iger says that Disney is “likely to focus more on social and mobile than [they] are on console.” However, this doesn’t mean they’re completely giving up on console gaming. Iger says Disney will “most likely” license out Star Wars to other game developers to make console games.

The official reason for which Disney decided to focus more on mobile and social gaming isn’t known, but we think it’s a fairly obvious one. The mobile gaming market is huge and extremely popular, so no doubt will Disney profit by developing a series of Star Wars-themed mobile and social games in the future.

[via Polygon]

It was none other than Robert Rodriguez who made the comment about how quickly the film needed to be made. The excitement that many current big-names in directing and writing are feeling is a direct result of them having been draw into the industry originally by the first trilogy of Star Wars films. Rodriguez is certainly of age to remember the explosive nature of the first time Star Wars came into our universe.

“What an amazing world and legacy George Lucas has created — and it needs to continue in capable hands. I do think Disney is the best studio for the job and the fact that they brought in Kathleen Kennedy? I can’t imagine a better scenario. And 2015 can’t get here fast enough.” – Rodriguez

Kathleen Kennedy was up until now second in command at LucasFilm, and she’ll be in charge of operations now once the company is owned by Disney. Director J.J. Abrams had similar feelings about the situation, having once noted that it was difficult to pull Star Trek out into a major motion picture now in the present while Star Wars was still big, saying now that he’s pumped: “Part of me? Thrilled. Part of me? Terrified. Most of me? Thrillified.”

Disney also acquired Marvel Comics back in 2008, and since its acquisition made several films possible: Iron Man, Iron Man 2, The Incredible Hulk, Captain America, Thor, and The Avengers. Director of Iron Man Jon Favreau spoke up about the situation as well, noting that “The idea of another trilogy that further shrouds the Force in mystery as its secrets are lost to time – that’s extremely compelling. “I want so bad for it to be good. Can you imagine?”

We’ll be waiting too – and SlashGear will be running with no lack of insight on the goings-on inside LucasFilm and Disney as the next three years pass before Star Wars Episode 7 – prepare yourselves, readers!

NOTE: The image at the head of this post is a section of the cover art for Heir to the Empire, one of many possible next-episode storylines that will be followed by the ongoing Star Wars saga. Read it today!

[via Entertainment Weekly]

Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer told us that 4 million Windows users have upgraded to Windows 8 since it launched last week, and today the company release the Windows Phone 8 SDK for eager developers. Twitter outed its Windows 8 app a few months ahead of launch, while Microsoft confirmed that apps like PayPal and Dropbox will be hitting the new operating system shortly. Microsoft also responded to complaints about Office 2013 on Surface, so if you’ve got one of the company’s new slates, you might want to hold off on using Office until these problems are fixed.

The fourth generation iPad has been benchmarked, showing a 1.4GHz A6X processor and 1GB of RAM, and one analyst was spotted predicting massive sales for the iPad line up. Apple delayed the roll out of its new iTunes overhaul today, while Google said it will be pushing developers to make extraordinary app experiences for Android tablets. Hurricane Sandy knocked out a number of big sites like Gawker and The Huffington Post over the weekend, and Modern Warfare 4 was outed by one excited voice actor.

Shortly after announcing that Disney had purchased LucasFilm, George Lucas talked about the deal and the future of Star Wars in a new interview, and today the Pentagon clarified that it will still be using BlackBerry phones in addition to iPhone and Android handsets. Grand Theft Auto V has been confirmed for a Spring 2013 release, and we received quarterly reports from both MetroPCS and ASUS today, the latter of which did particularly well in its third quarter.

Before we go, we want to remind you that our reviews for the iPad Mini and the fourth generation iPad went live not too long ago, so check those out if you’re interesting in buying one! That does it for tonight’s Evening Wrap-Up, enjoy the rest of your night folks!

So, what now? What’s in store for the Star Wars franchise now that it’s part of Disney‘s portfolio? There are undoubtedly a ton of questions bouncing around in the heads of Star Wars fans after today, but luckily, we’re getting some explanation from the man himself, George Lucas. He and Kathleen Kennedy, who has been named the new president of LucasFilm, have taken some time to talk about the future of the franchise in a brand new YouTube video, which you can check out below.

Concerning the buyout, Lucas says, “There’s lots and lots of opportunities at Disney we wouldn’t have at any other studio.” Kennedy agreed with that notion, pointing to Disney’s success with Marvel and Pixar and adding, “In many ways, it’s the best company possible to take Star Wars into the future.” Lucas is turning over the Star Wars universe to Kennedy, saying that he’s already got treatments of the seventh, eighth, and ninth movies ready to be turned into films.

It sounds like there’s more beyond another trilogy in the pipeline too, as Lucas says there are even more movie ideas in the LucasFilm vault. Kennedy seems eager to get right to work on these new Star Wars movies, saying that LucasFilm is in the beginning stages of developing Episode VII. We have to say that we’re pretty excited to see what Disney can do with the Star Wars franchise – are you?

The next Star Wars movie has no real details surrounding it at the moment other than the fact that it will, indeed, be housed in the same Star Wars galaxy (of course), and that it’ll almost certainly be made with real-world actors. By 2015 though, there’s no knowing what that could entail – having seen the advancements in movies like Tron: Legacy, we wouldn’t rule out Mark Hamill and Carrie Fischer coming back for another jaunt. As the official release on the subject goes, the episode will expand the universe “well into the future.”

Kathleen Kennedy, current Co-Chairman of Lucasfilm, will become President of Lucasfilm, reporting to Walt Disney Studios Chairman Alan Horn. Additionally she will serve as the brand manager for Star Wars, working directly with Disney’s global lines of business to build, further integrate, and maximize the value of this global franchise. Ms. Kennedy will serve as executive producer on new Star Wars feature films, with George Lucas serving as creative consultant. Star Wars Episode 7 is targeted for release in 2015, with more feature films expected to continue the Star Wars saga and grow the franchise well into the future.

With the visual effects in films advancing at an exponential rate, by the time 2015 rolls around, we’ll have a new Star Wars film that’s advanced beyond our wildest imagination. George Lucas will continue to help with the process, but from there the sky is the limit. New directors can be brought in, and as Lucas has made clear:

“It’s now time for me to pass Star Wars on to a new generation of filmmakers. I’ve always believed that Star Wars could live beyond me, and I thought it was important to set up the transition during my lifetime. I’m confident that with Lucasfilm under the leadership of Kathleen Kennedy, and having a new home within the Disney organization, Star Wars will certainly live on and flourish for many generations to come. Disney’s reach and experience give Lucasfilm the opportunity to blaze new trails in film, television, interactive media, theme parks, live entertainment, and consumer products.” – Lucas

The next generation is coming, Star Wars fans! This is good news unless you’re one of those in love with the original trilogy – classic forever. If you haven’t let go of the idea that everything outside that first set of three is sacrilege, now would be a good time.

The deal is a stock and cash transaction, with Lucasfilm founder George Lucas receiving around half of the $4.05 billion in cash, plus approximately 40 million stock shares. Lucas says that “it’s now time for [him] to pass Star Wars on to a new generation of filmmakers.” Lucas always believed that the Star Wars name would live on well past his death, so Lucas “thought it was important to set up the transition during [his] lifetime.”

The deal also includes Industrial Light & Magic, Skywalker Sound, and LucasArts, meaning that all the Star Wars video games are also now owned by Disney. Kathleen Kennedy, Co-Chairman of Lucasfilm, will take over as President of the new Lucasfilm division and will report to Walt Disney Studios chairman Alan Horn. George Lucas himself will stay on as creative consultant for the new Star Wars films, with Kennedy serving as executive producer.

It’s obviously unknown what the transaction will mean for the future of Lucasfilm and its many movies that it produced, but going from being completely owned by just one person (George Lucas) to now being owned by a huge corporation will surely spark some changes in the company, and possibly even some changes to upcoming films.

Apparently Hulu’s CEO woes are brought on by the buyout of one of its investors, Providence Equity Partners. That buyout is expected to close sometime next month, and when it does, Variety says that “any Hulu executive with a significant number of vested shares” will be able to cash out. Hulu CEO Jason Kilar obviously has a lot of shares, and stands to make as much as $100 million in the event that the Providence deal closes successfully. That significant sum has Hulu worried he may take his $100 million and resign from the company.

Despite the worries, sources say Hulu isn’t searching for a new CEO just yet. Apparently Hulu board members have been talking to Kilar about his future with the company first, but so far those talks have been “without resolution.” This Providence buyout could bring more problems aside from having to search for a new CEO, however, as the memo also signals an incoming change in Hulu’s licensing agreements. It may not be long before News Corp. and Disney pare back their next-day offerings in an attempt to bring more visitors to their own websites, for instance.

Also a possibility is the end of exclusive content on Hulu. It’s suggested that these upcoming changes – or at least the possibility of them – might help convince Kilar to exit the company, but at the moment, all we have is this memo and Variety’s sources to go on. We won’t know what sweeping changes this Providence buyout brings with it until the purchase is officially on the books, but if these rumors are true, get ready for a pretty big shakeup at Hulu’s offices.

According to Lenovo, Windows RT tablets could cost $300 less than Windows 8 tablets, and it appears that Yahoo is on the lookout for a new COO. After discovering a glitch with digital signatures earlier in the week, Microsoft is once again publishing Windows Phone apps, and Twitter’s new API update restricts some third-party apps, so watch out for that. UK retailer Clove is reporting that the black Samsung Galaxy S III will be out in October, and a new Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 bundle comes packed with bonuses that students are going to find hard to resist.

There’s a particularly nasty Trojan dubbed “Shamoon” that’s making the rounds, and in some rather surprising news from the day, it seems that OnLive is shutting down today. OnLive executives said throughout the day that everything with the company is fine, but later, more evidence that supports such a shutdown surfaced. Not good. Both models of the Nexus 7 are now in stock again on the Google Play store, and third parties were right there to begin pushing all sorts of accessories for it, while we’re hearing rumors that claim Apple’s set-top box will come with cloud DVR and a simple UI.

The beta for Steam’s upcoming Big Picture Mode will be kicking off at the beginning of next month, and HP is getting serious about tackling the consumer tablet division (or at least trying to again). The iPad Mini – and future iPad iterations for that matter – will apparently be getting a special ITO film, and Warren Spector is really pushing for Epic Mickey on the Xbox 360 and PS3, but he needs your help in convincing Disney.

Finally tonight, we have a number of original articles for you to peruse. Don Reisinger asks if there will one day be a universal gaming console, Ben Kersey has SlashGear’s review of The Expendables 2, and Chris Burns has a hands-on with the Motorola PHOTON Q. Enjoy your weekend, folks!

Speaking to Joystiq during Gamescom, Spector said that he’s been trying to get Disney to go along with a port. “It’s been about four or five days since I’ve asked to get that project greenlit. It’s not my call to make. I can’t even tell you how much I want to see the first game with all the enhancements and improvements we’ve made on Xbox 360 and PS3,” he said, going on to suggest that those who would like to see such a port email Disney and show their interest.

Indeed, many fans felt shafted when it was revealed that Epic Mickey would be a Wii exclusive. Mickey Mouse has starred in some excellent games in the past, and Epic Mickey was something a lot of people were getting excited about. It’s encouraging to see Spector trying to get the greenlight from Disney, but despite the fact that he’s the legendary Warren Spector, he can only do so much by himself.

So, how about it? Would you like to see Epic Mickey come to HD consoles? If you do, there are plenty of ways to get in touch with Disney to show your support for such a project, but with Epic Mickey 2 currently soaking up the limelight, it’s going to take a lot of convincing to get Disney to go along with such an idea. Here’s hoping that Disney can be swayed, because Spector isn’t the only one who’d like to see Epic Mickey come to Xbox 360 and PS3.

This may well be the first step to creating something along the lines of the plants in the science-fiction film Avatar that create a light show when touched. Disney plans to pair the touch-sensitive plants with a visual display to allow input to be projected back to the user in a visual form. Disney created the interactive plants by embedding an electronic sensor into the soil of a normal plant.

The researchers then recorded the interruption of electric signals that occur when people touch the plant. After scrutinizing the readings from the sensor embedded in the dirt, the team was able to recreate the living plants as artificial plants with the exact same conductive properties of the real version. Turning the real plants into artificial plants would be a necessity because real plants would be unable to withstand constantly being poked, prodded, and squeezed by people at an exhibit.

You can check out both of the videos below to see the Botanicus Interacticus plants in action. This is a very cool invention. I wonder if this technology might be viable for security systems where plants would be able to alert a homeowner or business to intruders on their property when the plants are touched.

[via TheNextWeb]

They’ve now got on-demand ice cream trucks that’ll jingle their way to wherever you live in the major NYC area. Out in space, the folks on the International Space Station have shot a photo of a mysterious space sprite which is clearly the USS Enterprise.

AMD will be delaying their desktop launch until October. You can now migrate your Google+ account. Microsoft Office 2013 may well be revealed on July 16. If you’re part of the forums at NVIDIA, Billabong, or Android Forums, you’ll want to check your passwords.

And if you thought today was a slow news day thus far, you were right: Apple reveals Food and Drink category for iTunes app store. But for a pick-me-up and preparation for the rest of the day, check this: Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn, the trailer – right here:

Let’s be honest. Nintendo thrived when video games were all about popping in a cartridge and getting immersed into a solitary experience. It blew away the competition. And it still does thrive in that space. The only problem is that gaming is becoming less and less about that. It’s now going online, it’s becoming social, and gamers demand instant access to new content – they’re even willing to pay for it. But Nintendo is not on their level. There is no Nintendo parallel to the PlayStation Network.

The Wii U will be Nintendo’s big chance to show that it has learned over the last five years about just how much the industry has shifted. It needs to have an extremely robust system of digital connectivity and distribution. We haven’t seen any evidence that it will meet that requirement, but hopefully it will be able to. The console’s Miiverse online social platform may be what it needs to compete against things like Xbox Live. For now, though, Nintendo isn’t saying much.

[via NWSource]

If they have to wait 28 days before they can just run out to Redbox or get a copy in the mail, some fans of the movie may go out to the store and buy the physical disc, which provides significantly more revenue to the studio than a $1 rental. Studios are also happy if you pay $5 or so to get a digital rental of the movie. It’s going to be a constant problem for Netflix and Redbox.

Disney seemed like it didn’t have a problem, because lots of consumers still buy its movies as gifts or for their children, or because they like having a physical item for their movie collection. But it is branching out to other movies that appeal more to the digital crowd. The perfect example of this is John Carter, which was a flop at the box office, but with its second life in the home video market, there is a chance it might now find a new fan base. But Netflix is fighting back – it still wants to offer John Cartner and other Disney flicks ASAP so it is actually buying bulk copies of the movie from retailers. So even though John Carter just came out, Netflix subscribers can get a copy in the mail.

[via Mercury News]

Epic Mickey was one of the big holiday titles of 2010, and at the time everyone looked at it as a Wii exclusive. But the people behind the game never said it was tied exclusively to the Nintendo console. In fact, they even went on record saying they would want to bring it to other platforms if they were asked.

Well, it looks like other companies asked because Epic Mickey 2 is coming to the Xbox 360 and PS3 as well as the Wii. The new game’s official title will be Disney Epic Mickey: The Power of Two. As you might expect from that title, multiplayer gaming will be encouraged, with a full cooperative gameplay mechanic. There is no confirmed release window yet for the new game title, but it will be on display at next month’s E3 trade show.

TRON: Uprising is the story of the rise of Clu 2, the evil form of the main protagonist Kevin Flynn from both of the main films. This rise to power is rebelled against by the main protagonist of this series “Beck”, voiced by Elijah Wood, a young program trained by no less than the original TRON character – voiced here by the one and only Bruce Boxleitner, the only person to ever play TRON throughout the whole series. Have a peek at what you’re in for here:

This series is the first giant-scale release from Disney XD, the company’s newest look at “Television Animation” as they call it and set to be released on June 7th. Here we’re seeing a style that, again, mixes computer animation and the most classic 2D animation style known as Anime – lovers of classic series such as the original Batman and Samurai Jack will recognize the roots of this style, and it is interesting to note that the director of this Uprising series, Charlie Bean, was also a storyboard artist for Samurai Jack for a run of 7 episodes in 2002 and 2003.

This TRON series has the likes of Mandy Moore, Lance Henriksen, and even Paul Ruebens playing characters throughout. Stay tuned for more TRON history as it unfolds, and stick around our Entertainment hub as it expands through 2012 and beyond – and don’t forget our reviews of both TRON: Legacy and the original TRON (believe it or not) as well!

Epic Mickey: The Power of Illusion will be hitting a new segment of gamers – the handheld segment. The 3DS version of the game was announced earlier this month, and is being developed by Dreamrift, but other than that not much is known about this new title. It hasn’t even been officially announced by the companies that are working on it but details were revealed in the latest edition of Nintendo Power.

It was previously reported that the 3DS version would be completely different from the console sequel to Epic Mickey. According to the article, the game is a 2D side scroller, meaning it will be a completely unique experience and will look nothing like anything that Epic Mickey fans would expect to see. Power of Illusion was never a wildly heralded game, but it did have great platforming mechanics and gained a cult following. It’s infinitely awesome that Disney is giving a nod to the vintage game.

[via VG Chartz]

The original Epic Mickey title was exclusive to the Nintendo Wii, a decision that developers said almost from day one was a limitation, and they hoped the franchise would be able to expand its horizons. It looks like those hopes are absolutely being realized. Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two will be hitting all three home consoles, with a brand new cooperative multiplayer option that is sure to bring a completely new level of depth to the experience.

And now, thanks to a brief tease in the latest edition of Nintendo Power magazine, we know that Epic Mickey: The Power of Illusion will be hitting another segment, that of 3DS owners. This version is being developed by Dreamrift, but other than that not much is known about this new title. It hasn’t even been officially announced by the companies that are working on it. Expect many more juicy details to be revealed in the coming weeks.

[via Siliconera]

The new game’s official title will be Disney Epic Mickey: The Power of Two. As you might expect from that title, multiplayer gaming will be encouraged, with a full cooperative gameplay mechanic. In addition, developers hope to address some of the issues that plagued the preceding title. Specifically, many critics complained that Epic Mickey had awkward and unpleasant camera controls, which made navigating through levels an unnecessarily arduous process at times.

The biggest aspect of the game is the multiplayer aspect. So in a PlayStation Blog interview, Spector delved into just how Epic Mickey, which was a very extensive and intense single-player game, will be opened up to simultaneous cooperative play. There were many things Spector has been wanting to implement since the day he wrapped up the original game. The video of his interview is in the link below.

[via PlayStation Blog]

The new game’s official title will be Disney Epic Mickey: The Power of Two. As you might expect from that title, multiplayer gaming will be encouraged, with a full cooperative gameplay mechanic. In addition, developers hope to address some of the issues that plagued the preceding title. Specifically, many critics complained that Epic Mickey had awkward and unpleasant camera controls, which made navigating through levels an unnecessarily arduous process at times.

According to developer Warren Spector, the camera issues have been in the process of being tweaked for Epic Mickey 2 ever since the day the team finished Epic Mickey. “They’ll be working on it until the day we ship the second game. [There have been] over 1,000 specific changes made to the camera. Our goal is that you will not have to touch the manual camera controls even once to play through the main story path of this game,” he said in an interview. There is no confirmed release window yet for the new game title.

[via Gamasutra]

Hollywood are hoping their latest idea will win hearts and minds. The Wall Street Journal first repoted that five out of the six major movie studios are looking to partner with Wal-Mart to create a “disc to digital” scheme. It would allow customers to go to Wal-Mart stores to register their existing DVDs and receive a digital copy in the cloud with UltraViolet, as opposed to buying content all over again. The service would however carry a small fee.

Most notably missing though is Disney, who have been cautious to jump on board the UltraViolet initiative. Last month during Disney’s quarterly earnings call, CEO Bob Iger said of UltraViolet:

I don’t want to sound too critical, but we’re taking a wait-and-see approach on UltraViolet. I’m not suggesting that we’re not open minded about it, but so far, I’m not sure that it’s proven to be as robust as we’d expected or as consumer friendly as we had hoped.

Disney are instead have been keen on developing their own KeyChest system, which would work in a similar way to UltraViolet, allowing content to be purchased and then stored in the cloud, where it could be played back on any device supporting KeyChest’s DRM. As of yet, there is still no release date or plans for KeyChest.

Frankly, we can’t see consumers rushing down to Wal-Mart to scan all their DVDs when they can already make their own digital copies free of DRM, despite the legalities. Although UltraViolet has reportedly racked up 750,000 registered users since its launch, it remains to be seen how many of those users are active, and how many devices the service will ultimately land on.

[via Home Media Magazine]