Here’s your first look at the cast of the standalone Han Solo film

From left to right: Woody Harrelson, Chris Miller (director), Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Alden Ehrenreich, Emilia Clarke, Joonas Suotamo (as Chewbacca), Phil Lord (director), & Donald Glover

We’ve been hearing about it for months but now we get a closer look at some of the cast and crew of the upcoming Han Solo movie. The untitled film started shooting yesterday at Pinewood Studios in London. The story will supposedly “explore the duo’s [ Han and Chewbacca] adventures before the events of Star Wars: A New Hope, including their early encounters with that other card-playing rogue from a galaxy far, far away, Lando Calrissian." As we know, Calrissian will be played by Donald Glover. The titular character will be played by Alden Ehrenreich and Joonas Suotamo will play Chewbacca.

Disney and Lucasfilm haven’t confirmed the roles of the others in the photo above, namely Woody Harrelson, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, and Emilia Clarke. Not included in the photo is Thandie Newton, who has been confirmed to be part of the film as well. It’s been rumoured that Harrelson will be playing Han’s mentor and Waller-Bridge will be a droid in a CGI-driven performance. This Han Solo film is expected to hit cinemas in May 25, 2018.

Source: IGN

Review: 2017 Mercedes-Benz C-Class 4MATIC Sedan

Class leading luxury and comfort with sportiness to satisfy discerning drivers.

Text and photos by Don Halliwell

This week I was treated to some time in the recently restyled 2017 Mercedes-Benz C 300 sedan. Naturally, I was inspired enough to collect my thoughts and snap a few photos, which I can’t wait to share with you in the review below.

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Apple patent looks to be taking on Bitmoji

UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE

Looks like it isn’t just Facebook who’s taking cues from Snapchat. Apple looks to be creating an “avatar editing environment” which has a design an editing process that looks so eerily similar to Bitmoji. To be fair, the patent was filed back in 2011 but we can’t help compare the similarities. With Apple upping the game on its iMessage service, perhaps it’ll make sense for them to develop more features for it—including a 3D avatar model. As seen in some diagrams, it shows you can edit everything from hair color, eye color, skin color, etc. Based on the patent, though, it just won’t be used for chatting. It could also have applications in gaming, eye-tracking, and responsive action. Think of it as something you can use in virtual reality.

We don’t know if Apple will make use of the feature but there is a sense of ridiculousness in trying to patent this kind of feature. Bitmoji isn’t exactly new. Plus, if you remember avatar creation has been around for a while. Yahoo Avatar, anyone? Either way, let’s see what Apple decided to do with this.

Source: CNN + Mashable

Toronto-based teacher creates smartphone-based guitar amp

Chris Prendergast, a Toronto-based science teacher, takes his love for robots, guitars, and hands-on learning to create what’s considered the world’s first attachable guitar amplifier. Called JamStack, the 10-watt speaker can attach to the bottom of your guitar and have you strumming within minutes. It’s capable of delivering sound in both high and low volume levels and with the use of your smartphone, you can access effects from apps such as AmpKit. With its portable size, you can take it anywhere with you and play when you want. With it in high demand, there seems to be a waitlist on the product’s Kickstarter page. If this interests you, you might want to sign up now.