ICYMI: Tiny sperm motor, tablet for the blind and more

Today on In Case You Missed It: Male fertility issues usually contribute to about half the cases of infertility in couples, which is why some German researchers invented a tiny little Spermbot designed to help sperm swim faster. The Spermbot is a...

Re-Reading Rainbow: an interview with LeVar Burton

LeVar Burton has to take a moment. He pauses, dabs his eyes with a tissue, taking it all in: the washed-out white room, over-exposed by the sun, filled with journalists, industry reps and friends in rows of folding chairs, red, orange, yellow, green and blue. Large balloons hang from the corners of the room, dressed up like hot air balloons, carrying small, empty baskets. A guitar sits next to an amp off the corner of the stage while the Reading Rainbow logo beams on a flatscreen monitor, largely unchanged since its heyday a quarter-century ago. Burton, too, appears mostly unchanged since those days, aside from closer-cropped hair, more neatly manicured facial hair and a smart, mustard suit jacket.

There's plenty to be emotional about, of course, hitting the stage on the tail of an introduction by producer Mark Wolfe, who calls Burton, "my best friend." The return of Reading Rainbow - now in the form of an iPad app - has been a long time coming, the beloved children's series having been largely MIA since being pulled from the airwaves in 2009, after a 26-year run. "This is two years in the making," Burton begins in his familiarly gentle cadence as we sit down for an interview roughly an hour later, "and I'm really just overwhelmed with the response. It's like making a movie. You're just so close to it and you sometimes lose perspective, you can't see the forest for the trees, that sort of thing. There's so much that's gone into it, so much work, so much sweat, so much blood."

A lot, certainly, has gone into the launch, Burton singling out theme song composer Steve Horelick and singer Tina Fabrique in the audience. "It's my first time meeting her in-person," he explains, extending a hand to bring her up on stage. "Butterfly in the sky," she begins, as though not a single day had passed in the last two and a half decades that she didn't wake up singing that line. "I can go twice as high," Burton joins in. By "take a look, it's in a book," nearly everyone in attendance adds to the chorus. It's a surreal sight placed up against the standard fare of tech press conferences, where bloggers elbow one another to shoot tablets on stands behind bulletproof plexiglass, and before the crowd finishes singing "a Reading Rainbow," Burton's eyes aren't the only misty ones in the house.

Continue reading Re-Reading Rainbow: an interview with LeVar Burton

Filed under: ,

Re-Reading Rainbow: an interview with LeVar Burton originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Jul 2012 14:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

Distro Issue 48 arrives with the Nexus Q, Levar Burton and more

Distro Issue 48 arrives with the Nexus Q, Levar Burton and more

After a brief respite to recover from last week's hot dog and homemade ice cream comas, our tablet mag is back in action. Getting our e-publication affairs back in order, Brian Heater sits down with Levar Burton to chat about Reading Rainbow, a new iPad app and Star Trek gadgetry. Hitting on another bit of childhood nostalgia for many of us at Engadget HQ, Alexis Santos drops by NASA's Launch Control Center (LCC) for a tour after more than three decades of operation. On the review front, we roll up our sleeves and put both the Nexus Q and the Samsung Series 9 through the wringer while offering some in-depth impressions. "Eyes-On" takes a peek at the Google booty offered to I/O attendees, "Hands-On" our latest gadget outings and Gaikai's founder admits his reliance on the PowerPoint gods in the Q&A. Don't take our word for it. Snag your copy of the e-magazine with a few clicks on the download links that follow.

Distro Issue 48 PDF
Distro in the iTunes App Store
Distro in the Google Play Store
Distro APK (for sideloading)
Like Distro on Facebook
Follow Distro on Twitter

Filed under:

Distro Issue 48 arrives with the Nexus Q, Levar Burton and more originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 13 Jul 2012 09:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceiTunes, Google Play  | Email this | Comments

Reading Rainbow launches iPad app, we go hands-on (video)

Reading Rainbow launches iPad app, we go handson video

The rainbow chairs, miniature hot air balloons and child care at yesterday's Reading Rainbow press event were a welcome change from the standard mood lighting and Adele songs that set the scene for most tech launches these days. Of course, this wasn't just any press event -- this was Reading Rainbow, the eagerly anticipated return of the beloved children's program cancelled by PBS back in 2009 after a 26 year run. Host LeVar Burton was clearly emotional when he hit the stage, dabbing tears before discussing the two-year journey that culminates today with the release of the Reading Rainbow iPad App.

Burton gave a quick demo of the app on stage (including a little technical hiccup, resulting in the sly TNG nod, "I'm not an engineer, I just play one on television"), and after a brief, misty-eyed rendition of the Reading Rainbow theme song by its original singer, Tina Fabrique, the walls behind us opened up to reveal a group of kids sitting on beanbag chairs around a table, putting the app through its paces. We also managed to get some hands-on time with it, without having to elbow any small children in the process (not that we weren't willing to do what it took to get the story). Check out some impressions and video after the break.

Continue reading Reading Rainbow launches iPad app, we go hands-on (video)

Reading Rainbow launches iPad app, we go hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 20 Jun 2012 00:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments