Saturday, November 8, 2014
The Avengers 2
In an (entirely unnecessary) attempt to build interest in next year’s Avengers: Age of Ultron at San Diego Comic-Con, Marvel has been releasing two limited-edition posters per day, with each poster spotlighting a member of the team and combining to form a giant piece of concept art for the Joss Whedon-directed sequel. But what (if anything) can be learned about the movie from the posters?
Well, for one thing, there’re a lot of Ultrons in that image. For comic book fans, this might be taken as a hint that Whedon has taken some inspiration for his story from Kurt Busiek and George Perez’ late 1990s comic book storyline “Ultron Unlimited,” in which the Avengers famously faced off against an army of Ultron robots that had laid waste to an entire Eastern European country, committing an act of genocide that required Thunder Gods, Iron Men and Star-Spangled Sentinels of Liberty to stop. Sounds a little over the top, sure, but also a threat on a scale that feels right for the follow-up to a movie about New York getting invaded by aliens. Meanwhile, on the images released to date — spotlighting Quicksilver, Hawkeye, Black Widow, Captain America, Iron Man and the Scarlet Witch; presumably the Hulk and Thor will follow in tomorrow’s posters ahead of the Marvel panel in Hall H — all of the team looks somewhat overwhelmed by sheer numbers. There are two exceptions: Iron Man (who has his repulsor rays to defend himself) and the Scarlet Witch (whose magic seems to be melting the head of one of the killer robots). Again, this makes a certain amount of sense; the rest of the team are essentially just regular people with a special skill— and Quicksilver, who can run really fast — and regular punching, traditionally, doesn’t have much effect on a killer robot, never mind an entire army. (That Thor and the Hulk are the last characters to be revealed may be intentional; as the “heavy hitters” of the team, it’s possible that they’re having the greatest impact in the fight against the Ultrons — or, perhaps, they’re in the greatest danger.) The most interesting thing about the concept art, however, is literally hidden in the background. Look at the character floating in the air above the fray in the newly-released Quicksilver image: That’s the first chance anyone has had to see the Vision, Paul Bettany’s new character in the movie. It’s not a good chance — his back is to the viewer, and he’s essentially in shadow, obscuring almost everything about the character — but even seeing the bright yellow cape of the comic book Vision is a surprise. (Seeing that cape makes me hope that, even though we know that Hank Pym won’t be Ultron’s creator in the movies, we’ll still end up with the robot’s desire to procreate being the reason behind the Vision’s creation, leading to one single tear rolling down his cheek at some point in the film.) Ultimately, there’s nothing in these images/the uber-image that comes as a surprise to the Marvel faithful already familiar with the comic book Ultron and Avengers stories, but that may be the point: that Age of Ultron will, instead, be exactly the Avengers vs. Ultron story that fans have always wanted to see on the big screen, done just the way they want to see it. Heroes against an unstoppable enemy and unbeatable odds, nonetheless finding a way to triumph. Isn’t that really all we needed to know to get excited?
In an (entirely unnecessary) attempt to build interest in next year’s Avengers: Age of Ultron at San Diego Comic-Con, Marvel has been releasing two limited-edition posters per day, with each poster spotlighting a member of the team and combining to form a giant piece of concept art for the Joss Whedon-directed sequel. But what (if anything) can be learned about the movie from the posters?
Well, for one thing, there’re a lot of Ultrons in that image. For comic book fans, this might be taken as a hint that Whedon has taken some inspiration for his story from Kurt Busiek and George Perez’ late 1990s comic book storyline “Ultron Unlimited,” in which the Avengers famously faced off against an army of Ultron robots that had laid waste to an entire Eastern European country, committing an act of genocide that required Thunder Gods, Iron Men and Star-Spangled Sentinels of Liberty to stop. Sounds a little over the top, sure, but also a threat on a scale that feels right for the follow-up to a movie about New York getting invaded by aliens. Meanwhile, on the images released to date — spotlighting Quicksilver, Hawkeye, Black Widow, Captain America, Iron Man and the Scarlet Witch; presumably the Hulk and Thor will follow in tomorrow’s posters ahead of the Marvel panel in Hall H — all of the team looks somewhat overwhelmed by sheer numbers. There are two exceptions: Iron Man (who has his repulsor rays to defend himself) and the Scarlet Witch (whose magic seems to be melting the head of one of the killer robots). Again, this makes a certain amount of sense; the rest of the team are essentially just regular people with a special skill— and Quicksilver, who can run really fast — and regular punching, traditionally, doesn’t have much effect on a killer robot, never mind an entire army. (That Thor and the Hulk are the last characters to be revealed may be intentional; as the “heavy hitters” of the team, it’s possible that they’re having the greatest impact in the fight against the Ultrons — or, perhaps, they’re in the greatest danger.) The most interesting thing about the concept art, however, is literally hidden in the background. Look at the character floating in the air above the fray in the newly-released Quicksilver image: That’s the first chance anyone has had to see the Vision, Paul Bettany’s new character in the movie. It’s not a good chance — his back is to the viewer, and he’s essentially in shadow, obscuring almost everything about the character — but even seeing the bright yellow cape of the comic book Vision is a surprise. (Seeing that cape makes me hope that, even though we know that Hank Pym won’t be Ultron’s creator in the movies, we’ll still end up with the robot’s desire to procreate being the reason behind the Vision’s creation, leading to one single tear rolling down his cheek at some point in the film.) Ultimately, there’s nothing in these images/the uber-image that comes as a surprise to the Marvel faithful already familiar with the comic book Ultron and Avengers stories, but that may be the point: that Age of Ultron will, instead, be exactly the Avengers vs. Ultron story that fans have always wanted to see on the big screen, done just the way they want to see it. Heroes against an unstoppable enemy and unbeatable odds, nonetheless finding a way to triumph. Isn’t that really all we needed to know to get excited?
In an (entirely unnecessary) attempt to build interest in next year’s Avengers: Age of Ultron at San Diego Comic-Con, Marvel has been releasing two limited-edition posters per day, with each poster spotlighting a member of the team and combining to form a giant piece of concept art for the Joss Whedon-directed sequel. But what (if anything) can be learned about the movie from the posters?
Well, for one thing, there’re a lot of Ultrons in that image. For comic book fans, this might be taken as a hint that Whedon has taken some inspiration for his story from Kurt Busiek and George Perez’ late 1990s comic book storyline “Ultron Unlimited,” in which the Avengers famously faced off against an army of Ultron robots that had laid waste to an entire Eastern European country, committing an act of genocide that required Thunder Gods, Iron Men and Star-Spangled Sentinels of Liberty to stop. Sounds a little over the top, sure, but also a threat on a scale that feels right for the follow-up to a movie about New York getting invaded by aliens. Meanwhile, on the images released to date — spotlighting Quicksilver, Hawkeye, Black Widow, Captain America, Iron Man and the Scarlet Witch; presumably the Hulk and Thor will follow in tomorrow’s posters ahead of the Marvel panel in Hall H — all of the team looks somewhat overwhelmed by sheer numbers. There are two exceptions: Iron Man (who has his repulsor rays to defend himself) and the Scarlet Witch (whose magic seems to be melting the head of one of the killer robots). Again, this makes a certain amount of sense; the rest of the team are essentially just regular people with a special skill— and Quicksilver, who can run really fast — and regular punching, traditionally, doesn’t have much effect on a killer robot, never mind an entire army. (That Thor and the Hulk are the last characters to be revealed may be intentional; as the “heavy hitters” of the team, it’s possible that they’re having the greatest impact in the fight against the Ultrons — or, perhaps, they’re in the greatest danger.) The most interesting thing about the concept art, however, is literally hidden in the background. Look at the character floating in the air above the fray in the newly-released Quicksilver image: That’s the first chance anyone has had to see the Vision, Paul Bettany’s new character in the movie. It’s not a good chance — his back is to the viewer, and he’s essentially in shadow, obscuring almost everything about the character — but even seeing the bright yellow cape of the comic book Vision is a surprise. (Seeing that cape makes me hope that, even though we know that Hank Pym won’t be Ultron’s creator in the movies, we’ll still end up with the robot’s desire to procreate being the reason behind the Vision’s creation, leading to one single tear rolling down his cheek at some point in the film.) Ultimately, there’s nothing in these images/the uber-image that comes as a surprise to the Marvel faithful already familiar with the comic book Ultron and Avengers stories, but that may be the point: that Age of Ultron will, instead, be exactly the Avengers vs. Ultron story that fans have always wanted to see on the big screen, done just the way they want to see it. Heroes against an unstoppable enemy and unbeatable odds, nonetheless finding a way to triumph. Isn’t that really all we needed to know to get excited?
In an (entirely unnecessary) attempt to build interest in next year’s Avengers: Age of Ultron at San Diego Comic-Con, Marvel has been releasing two limited-edition posters per day, with each poster spotlighting a member of the team and combining to form a giant piece of concept art for the Joss Whedon-directed sequel. But what (if anything) can be learned about the movie from the posters?
Well, for one thing, there’re a lot of Ultrons in that image. For comic book fans, this might be taken as a hint that Whedon has taken some inspiration for his story from Kurt Busiek and George Perez’ late 1990s comic book storyline “Ultron Unlimited,” in which the Avengers famously faced off against an army of Ultron robots that had laid waste to an entire Eastern European country, committing an act of genocide that required Thunder Gods, Iron Men and Star-Spangled Sentinels of Liberty to stop. Sounds a little over the top, sure, but also a threat on a scale that feels right for the follow-up to a movie about New York getting invaded by aliens. Meanwhile, on the images released to date — spotlighting Quicksilver, Hawkeye, Black Widow, Captain America, Iron Man and the Scarlet Witch; presumably the Hulk and Thor will follow in tomorrow’s posters ahead of the Marvel panel in Hall H — all of the team looks somewhat overwhelmed by sheer numbers. There are two exceptions: Iron Man (who has his repulsor rays to defend himself) and the Scarlet Witch (whose magic seems to be melting the head of one of the killer robots). Again, this makes a certain amount of sense; the rest of the team are essentially just regular people with a special skill— and Quicksilver, who can run really fast — and regular punching, traditionally, doesn’t have much effect on a killer robot, never mind an entire army. (That Thor and the Hulk are the last characters to be revealed may be intentional; as the “heavy hitters” of the team, it’s possible that they’re having the greatest impact in the fight against the Ultrons — or, perhaps, they’re in the greatest danger.) The most interesting thing about the concept art, however, is literally hidden in the background. Look at the character floating in the air above the fray in the newly-released Quicksilver image: That’s the first chance anyone has had to see the Vision, Paul Bettany’s new character in the movie. It’s not a good chance — his back is to the viewer, and he’s essentially in shadow, obscuring almost everything about the character — but even seeing the bright yellow cape of the comic book Vision is a surprise. (Seeing that cape makes me hope that, even though we know that Hank Pym won’t be Ultron’s creator in the movies, we’ll still end up with the robot’s desire to procreate being the reason behind the Vision’s creation, leading to one single tear rolling down his cheek at some point in the film.) Ultimately, there’s nothing in these images/the uber-image that comes as a surprise to the Marvel faithful already familiar with the comic book Ultron and Avengers stories, but that may be the point: that Age of Ultron will, instead, be exactly the Avengers vs. Ultron story that fans have always wanted to see on the big screen, done just the way they want to see it. Heroes against an unstoppable enemy and unbeatable odds, nonetheless finding a way to triumph. Isn’t that really all we needed to know to get excited?
In an (entirely unnecessary) attempt to build interest in next year’s Avengers: Age of Ultron at San Diego Comic-Con, Marvel has been releasing two limited-edition posters per day, with each poster spotlighting a member of the team and combining to form a giant piece of concept art for the Joss Whedon-directed sequel. But what (if anything) can be learned about the movie from the posters?
Well, for one thing, there’re a lot of Ultrons in that image. For comic book fans, this might be taken as a hint that Whedon has taken some inspiration for his story from Kurt Busiek and George Perez’ late 1990s comic book storyline “Ultron Unlimited,” in which the Avengers famously faced off against an army of Ultron robots that had laid waste to an entire Eastern European country, committing an act of genocide that required Thunder Gods, Iron Men and Star-Spangled Sentinels of Liberty to stop. Sounds a little over the top, sure, but also a threat on a scale that feels right for the follow-up to a movie about New York getting invaded by aliens. Meanwhile, on the images released to date — spotlighting Quicksilver, Hawkeye, Black Widow, Captain America, Iron Man and the Scarlet Witch; presumably the Hulk and Thor will follow in tomorrow’s posters ahead of the Marvel panel in Hall H — all of the team looks somewhat overwhelmed by sheer numbers. There are two exceptions: Iron Man (who has his repulsor rays to defend himself) and the Scarlet Witch (whose magic seems to be melting the head of one of the killer robots). Again, this makes a certain amount of sense; the rest of the team are essentially just regular people with a special skill— and Quicksilver, who can run really fast — and regular punching, traditionally, doesn’t have much effect on a killer robot, never mind an entire army. (That Thor and the Hulk are the last characters to be revealed may be intentional; as the “heavy hitters” of the team, it’s possible that they’re having the greatest impact in the fight against the Ultrons — or, perhaps, they’re in the greatest danger.) The most interesting thing about the concept art, however, is literally hidden in the background. Look at the character floating in the air above the fray in the newly-released Quicksilver image: That’s the first chance anyone has had to see the Vision, Paul Bettany’s new character in the movie. It’s not a good chance — his back is to the viewer, and he’s essentially in shadow, obscuring almost everything about the character — but even seeing the bright yellow cape of the comic book Vision is a surprise. (Seeing that cape makes me hope that, even though we know that Hank Pym won’t be Ultron’s creator in the movies, we’ll still end up with the robot’s desire to procreate being the reason behind the Vision’s creation, leading to one single tear rolling down his cheek at some point in the film.) Ultimately, there’s nothing in these images/the uber-image that comes as a surprise to the Marvel faithful already familiar with the comic book Ultron and Avengers stories, but that may be the point: that Age of Ultron will, instead, be exactly the Avengers vs. Ultron story that fans have always wanted to see on the big screen, done just the way they want to see it. Heroes against an unstoppable enemy and unbeatable odds, nonetheless finding a way to triumph. Isn’t that really all we needed to know to get excited?
In an (entirely unnecessary) attempt to build interest in next year’s Avengers: Age of Ultron at San Diego Comic-Con, Marvel has been releasing two limited-edition posters per day, with each poster spotlighting a member of the team and combining to form a giant piece of concept art for the Joss Whedon-directed sequel. But what (if anything) can be learned about the movie from the posters?
Well, for one thing, there’re a lot of Ultrons in that image. For comic book fans, this might be taken as a hint that Whedon has taken some inspiration for his story from Kurt Busiek and George Perez’ late 1990s comic book storyline “Ultron Unlimited,” in which the Avengers famously faced off against an army of Ultron robots that had laid waste to an entire Eastern European country, committing an act of genocide that required Thunder Gods, Iron Men and Star-Spangled Sentinels of Liberty to stop. Sounds a little over the top, sure, but also a threat on a scale that feels right for the follow-up to a movie about New York getting invaded by aliens. Meanwhile, on the images released to date — spotlighting Quicksilver, Hawkeye, Black Widow, Captain America, Iron Man and the Scarlet Witch; presumably the Hulk and Thor will follow in tomorrow’s posters ahead of the Marvel panel in Hall H — all of the team looks somewhat overwhelmed by sheer numbers. There are two exceptions: Iron Man (who has his repulsor rays to defend himself) and the Scarlet Witch (whose magic seems to be melting the head of one of the killer robots). Again, this makes a certain amount of sense; the rest of the team are essentially just regular people with a special skill— and Quicksilver, who can run really fast — and regular punching, traditionally, doesn’t have much effect on a killer robot, never mind an entire army. (That Thor and the Hulk are the last characters to be revealed may be intentional; as the “heavy hitters” of the team, it’s possible that they’re having the greatest impact in the fight against the Ultrons — or, perhaps, they’re in the greatest danger.) The most interesting thing about the concept art, however, is literally hidden in the background. Look at the character floating in the air above the fray in the newly-released Quicksilver image: That’s the first chance anyone has had to see the Vision, Paul Bettany’s new character in the movie. It’s not a good chance — his back is to the viewer, and he’s essentially in shadow, obscuring almost everything about the character — but even seeing the bright yellow cape of the comic book Vision is a surprise. (Seeing that cape makes me hope that, even though we know that Hank Pym won’t be Ultron’s creator in the movies, we’ll still end up with the robot’s desire to procreate being the reason behind the Vision’s creation, leading to one single tear rolling down his cheek at some point in the film.) Ultimately, there’s nothing in these images/the uber-image that comes as a surprise to the Marvel faithful already familiar with the comic book Ultron and Avengers stories, but that may be the point: that Age of Ultron will, instead, be exactly the Avengers vs. Ultron story that fans have always wanted to see on the big screen, done just the way they want to see it. Heroes against an unstoppable enemy and unbeatable odds, nonetheless finding a way to triumph. Isn’t that really all we needed to know to get excited?
In an (entirely unnecessary) attempt to build interest in next year’s Avengers: Age of Ultron at San Diego Comic-Con, Marvel has been releasing two limited-edition posters per day, with each poster spotlighting a member of the team and combining to form a giant piece of concept art for the Joss Whedon-directed sequel. But what (if anything) can be learned about the movie from the posters?
Well, for one thing, there’re a lot of Ultrons in that image. For comic book fans, this might be taken as a hint that Whedon has taken some inspiration for his story from Kurt Busiek and George Perez’ late 1990s comic book storyline “Ultron Unlimited,” in which the Avengers famously faced off against an army of Ultron robots that had laid waste to an entire Eastern European country, committing an act of genocide that required Thunder Gods, Iron Men and Star-Spangled Sentinels of Liberty to stop. Sounds a little over the top, sure, but also a threat on a scale that feels right for the follow-up to a movie about New York getting invaded by aliens. Meanwhile, on the images released to date — spotlighting Quicksilver, Hawkeye, Black Widow, Captain America, Iron Man and the Scarlet Witch; presumably the Hulk and Thor will follow in tomorrow’s posters ahead of the Marvel panel in Hall H — all of the team looks somewhat overwhelmed by sheer numbers. There are two exceptions: Iron Man (who has his repulsor rays to defend himself) and the Scarlet Witch (whose magic seems to be melting the head of one of the killer robots). Again, this makes a certain amount of sense; the rest of the team are essentially just regular people with a special skill— and Quicksilver, who can run really fast — and regular punching, traditionally, doesn’t have much effect on a killer robot, never mind an entire army. (That Thor and the Hulk are the last characters to be revealed may be intentional; as the “heavy hitters” of the team, it’s possible that they’re having the greatest impact in the fight against the Ultrons — or, perhaps, they’re in the greatest danger.) The most interesting thing about the concept art, however, is literally hidden in the background. Look at the character floating in the air above the fray in the newly-released Quicksilver image: That’s the first chance anyone has had to see the Vision, Paul Bettany’s new character in the movie. It’s not a good chance — his back is to the viewer, and he’s essentially in shadow, obscuring almost everything about the character — but even seeing the bright yellow cape of the comic book Vision is a surprise. (Seeing that cape makes me hope that, even though we know that Hank Pym won’t be Ultron’s creator in the movies, we’ll still end up with the robot’s desire to procreate being the reason behind the Vision’s creation, leading to one single tear rolling down his cheek at some point in the film.) Ultimately, there’s nothing in these images/the uber-image that comes as a surprise to the Marvel faithful already familiar with the comic book Ultron and Avengers stories, but that may be the point: that Age of Ultron will, instead, be exactly the Avengers vs. Ultron story that fans have always wanted to see on the big screen, done just the way they want to see it. Heroes against an unstoppable enemy and unbeatable odds, nonetheless finding a way to triumph. Isn’t that really all we needed to know to get excited?
In an (entirely unnecessary) attempt to build interest in next year’s Avengers: Age of Ultron at San Diego Comic-Con, Marvel has been releasing two limited-edition posters per day, with each poster spotlighting a member of the team and combining to form a giant piece of concept art for the Joss Whedon-directed sequel. But what (if anything) can be learned about the movie from the posters?
Well, for one thing, there’re a lot of Ultrons in that image. For comic book fans, this might be taken as a hint that Whedon has taken some inspiration for his story from Kurt Busiek and George Perez’ late 1990s comic book storyline “Ultron Unlimited,” in which the Avengers famously faced off against an army of Ultron robots that had laid waste to an entire Eastern European country, committing an act of genocide that required Thunder Gods, Iron Men and Star-Spangled Sentinels of Liberty to stop. Sounds a little over the top, sure, but also a threat on a scale that feels right for the follow-up to a movie about New York getting invaded by aliens. Meanwhile, on the images released to date — spotlighting Quicksilver, Hawkeye, Black Widow, Captain America, Iron Man and the Scarlet Witch; presumably the Hulk and Thor will follow in tomorrow’s posters ahead of the Marvel panel in Hall H — all of the team looks somewhat overwhelmed by sheer numbers. There are two exceptions: Iron Man (who has his repulsor rays to defend himself) and the Scarlet Witch (whose magic seems to be melting the head of one of the killer robots). Again, this makes a certain amount of sense; the rest of the team are essentially just regular people with a special skill— and Quicksilver, who can run really fast — and regular punching, traditionally, doesn’t have much effect on a killer robot, never mind an entire army. (That Thor and the Hulk are the last characters to be revealed may be intentional; as the “heavy hitters” of the team, it’s possible that they’re having the greatest impact in the fight against the Ultrons — or, perhaps, they’re in the greatest danger.) The most interesting thing about the concept art, however, is literally hidden in the background. Look at the character floating in the air above the fray in the newly-released Quicksilver image: That’s the first chance anyone has had to see the Vision, Paul Bettany’s new character in the movie. It’s not a good chance — his back is to the viewer, and he’s essentially in shadow, obscuring almost everything about the character — but even seeing the bright yellow cape of the comic book Vision is a surprise. (Seeing that cape makes me hope that, even though we know that Hank Pym won’t be Ultron’s creator in the movies, we’ll still end up with the robot’s desire to procreate being the reason behind the Vision’s creation, leading to one single tear rolling down his cheek at some point in the film.) Ultimately, there’s nothing in these images/the uber-image that comes as a surprise to the Marvel faithful already familiar with the comic book Ultron and Avengers stories, but that may be the point: that Age of Ultron will, instead, be exactly the Avengers vs. Ultron story that fans have always wanted to see on the big screen, done just the way they want to see it. Heroes against an unstoppable enemy and unbeatable odds, nonetheless finding a way to triumph. Isn’t that really all we needed to know to get excited?
In an (entirely unnecessary) attempt to build interest in next year’s Avengers: Age of Ultron at San Diego Comic-Con, Marvel has been releasing two limited-edition posters per day, with each poster spotlighting a member of the team and combining to form a giant piece of concept art for the Joss Whedon-directed sequel. But what (if anything) can be learned about the movie from the posters?
Well, for one thing, there’re a lot of Ultrons in that image. For comic book fans, this might be taken as a hint that Whedon has taken some inspiration for his story from Kurt Busiek and George Perez’ late 1990s comic book storyline “Ultron Unlimited,” in which the Avengers famously faced off against an army of Ultron robots that had laid waste to an entire Eastern European country, committing an act of genocide that required Thunder Gods, Iron Men and Star-Spangled Sentinels of Liberty to stop. Sounds a little over the top, sure, but also a threat on a scale that feels right for the follow-up to a movie about New York getting invaded by aliens. Meanwhile, on the images released to date — spotlighting Quicksilver, Hawkeye, Black Widow, Captain America, Iron Man and the Scarlet Witch; presumably the Hulk and Thor will follow in tomorrow’s posters ahead of the Marvel panel in Hall H — all of the team looks somewhat overwhelmed by sheer numbers. There are two exceptions: Iron Man (who has his repulsor rays to defend himself) and the Scarlet Witch (whose magic seems to be melting the head of one of the killer robots). Again, this makes a certain amount of sense; the rest of the team are essentially just regular people with a special skill— and Quicksilver, who can run really fast — and regular punching, traditionally, doesn’t have much effect on a killer robot, never mind an entire army. (That Thor and the Hulk are the last characters to be revealed may be intentional; as the “heavy hitters” of the team, it’s possible that they’re having the greatest impact in the fight against the Ultrons — or, perhaps, they’re in the greatest danger.) The most interesting thing about the concept art, however, is literally hidden in the background. Look at the character floating in the air above the fray in the newly-released Quicksilver image: That’s the first chance anyone has had to see the Vision, Paul Bettany’s new character in the movie. It’s not a good chance — his back is to the viewer, and he’s essentially in shadow, obscuring almost everything about the character — but even seeing the bright yellow cape of the comic book Vision is a surprise. (Seeing that cape makes me hope that, even though we know that Hank Pym won’t be Ultron’s creator in the movies, we’ll still end up with the robot’s desire to procreate being the reason behind the Vision’s creation, leading to one single tear rolling down his cheek at some point in the film.) Ultimately, there’s nothing in these images/the uber-image that comes as a surprise to the Marvel faithful already familiar with the comic book Ultron and Avengers stories, but that may be the point: that Age of Ultron will, instead, be exactly the Avengers vs. Ultron story that fans have always wanted to see on the big screen, done just the way they want to see it. Heroes against an unstoppable enemy and unbeatable odds, nonetheless finding a way to triumph. Isn’t that really all we needed to know to get excited?
In an (entirely unnecessary) attempt to build interest in next year’s Avengers: Age of Ultron at San Diego Comic-Con, Marvel has been releasing two limited-edition posters per day, with each poster spotlighting a member of the team and combining to form a giant piece of concept art for the Joss Whedon-directed sequel. But what (if anything) can be learned about the movie from the posters?
Well, for one thing, there’re a lot of Ultrons in that image. For comic book fans, this might be taken as a hint that Whedon has taken some inspiration for his story from Kurt Busiek and George Perez’ late 1990s comic book storyline “Ultron Unlimited,” in which the Avengers famously faced off against an army of Ultron robots that had laid waste to an entire Eastern European country, committing an act of genocide that required Thunder Gods, Iron Men and Star-Spangled Sentinels of Liberty to stop. Sounds a little over the top, sure, but also a threat on a scale that feels right for the follow-up to a movie about New York getting invaded by aliens. Meanwhile, on the images released to date — spotlighting Quicksilver, Hawkeye, Black Widow, Captain America, Iron Man and the Scarlet Witch; presumably the Hulk and Thor will follow in tomorrow’s posters ahead of the Marvel panel in Hall H — all of the team looks somewhat overwhelmed by sheer numbers. There are two exceptions: Iron Man (who has his repulsor rays to defend himself) and the Scarlet Witch (whose magic seems to be melting the head of one of the killer robots). Again, this makes a certain amount of sense; the rest of the team are essentially just regular people with a special skill— and Quicksilver, who can run really fast — and regular punching, traditionally, doesn’t have much effect on a killer robot, never mind an entire army. (That Thor and the Hulk are the last characters to be revealed may be intentional; as the “heavy hitters” of the team, it’s possible that they’re having the greatest impact in the fight against the Ultrons — or, perhaps, they’re in the greatest danger.) The most interesting thing about the concept art, however, is literally hidden in the background. Look at the character floating in the air above the fray in the newly-released Quicksilver image: That’s the first chance anyone has had to see the Vision, Paul Bettany’s new character in the movie. It’s not a good chance — his back is to the viewer, and he’s essentially in shadow, obscuring almost everything about the character — but even seeing the bright yellow cape of the comic book Vision is a surprise. (Seeing that cape makes me hope that, even though we know that Hank Pym won’t be Ultron’s creator in the movies, we’ll still end up with the robot’s desire to procreate being the reason behind the Vision’s creation, leading to one single tear rolling down his cheek at some point in the film.) Ultimately, there’s nothing in these images/the uber-image that comes as a surprise to the Marvel faithful already familiar with the comic book Ultron and Avengers stories, but that may be the point: that Age of Ultron will, instead, be exactly the Avengers vs. Ultron story that fans have always wanted to see on the big screen, done just the way they want to see it. Heroes against an unstoppable enemy and unbeatable odds, nonetheless finding a way to triumph. Isn’t that really all we needed to know to get excited?
In an (entirely unnecessary) attempt to build interest in next year’s Avengers: Age of Ultron at San Diego Comic-Con, Marvel has been releasing two limited-edition posters per day, with each poster spotlighting a member of the team and combining to form a giant piece of concept art for the Joss Whedon-directed sequel. But what (if anything) can be learned about the movie from the posters?
Well, for one thing, there’re a lot of Ultrons in that image. For comic book fans, this might be taken as a hint that Whedon has taken some inspiration for his story from Kurt Busiek and George Perez’ late 1990s comic book storyline “Ultron Unlimited,” in which the Avengers famously faced off against an army of Ultron robots that had laid waste to an entire Eastern European country, committing an act of genocide that required Thunder Gods, Iron Men and Star-Spangled Sentinels of Liberty to stop. Sounds a little over the top, sure, but also a threat on a scale that feels right for the follow-up to a movie about New York getting invaded by aliens. Meanwhile, on the images released to date — spotlighting Quicksilver, Hawkeye, Black Widow, Captain America, Iron Man and the Scarlet Witch; presumably the Hulk and Thor will follow in tomorrow’s posters ahead of the Marvel panel in Hall H — all of the team looks somewhat overwhelmed by sheer numbers. There are two exceptions: Iron Man (who has his repulsor rays to defend himself) and the Scarlet Witch (whose magic seems to be melting the head of one of the killer robots). Again, this makes a certain amount of sense; the rest of the team are essentially just regular people with a special skill— and Quicksilver, who can run really fast — and regular punching, traditionally, doesn’t have much effect on a killer robot, never mind an entire army. (That Thor and the Hulk are the last characters to be revealed may be intentional; as the “heavy hitters” of the team, it’s possible that they’re having the greatest impact in the fight against the Ultrons — or, perhaps, they’re in the greatest danger.) The most interesting thing about the concept art, however, is literally hidden in the background. Look at the character floating in the air above the fray in the newly-released Quicksilver image: That’s the first chance anyone has had to see the Vision, Paul Bettany’s new character in the movie. It’s not a good chance — his back is to the viewer, and he’s essentially in shadow, obscuring almost everything about the character — but even seeing the bright yellow cape of the comic book Vision is a surprise. (Seeing that cape makes me hope that, even though we know that Hank Pym won’t be Ultron’s creator in the movies, we’ll still end up with the robot’s desire to procreate being the reason behind the Vision’s creation, leading to one single tear rolling down his cheek at some point in the film.) Ultimately, there’s nothing in these images/the uber-image that comes as a surprise to the Marvel faithful already familiar with the comic book Ultron and Avengers stories, but that may be the point: that Age of Ultron will, instead, be exactly the Avengers vs. Ultron story that fans have always wanted to see on the big screen, done just the way they want to see it. Heroes against an unstoppable enemy and unbeatable odds, nonetheless finding a way to triumph. Isn’t that really all we needed to know to get excited?
Friday, August 1, 2014
The Avengers 2
In an (entirely unnecessary) attempt to build interest in next year’s Avengers: Age of Ultron at San Diego Comic-Con, Marvel has been releasing two limited-edition posters per day, with each poster spotlighting a member of the team and combining to form a giant piece of concept art for the Joss Whedon-directed sequel. But what (if anything) can be learned about the movie from the posters?
Well, for one thing, there’re a lot of Ultrons in that image. For comic book fans, this might be taken as a hint that Whedon has taken some inspiration for his story from Kurt Busiek and George Perez’ late 1990s comic book storyline “Ultron Unlimited,” in which the Avengers famously faced off against an army of Ultron robots that had laid waste to an entire Eastern European country, committing an act of genocide that required Thunder Gods, Iron Men and Star-Spangled Sentinels of Liberty to stop. Sounds a little over the top, sure, but also a threat on a scale that feels right for the follow-up to a movie about New York getting invaded by aliens. Meanwhile, on the images released to date — spotlighting Quicksilver, Hawkeye, Black Widow, Captain America, Iron Man and the Scarlet Witch; presumably the Hulk and Thor will follow in tomorrow’s posters ahead of the Marvel panel in Hall H — all of the team looks somewhat overwhelmed by sheer numbers. There are two exceptions: Iron Man (who has his repulsor rays to defend himself) and the Scarlet Witch (whose magic seems to be melting the head of one of the killer robots). Again, this makes a certain amount of sense; the rest of the team are essentially just regular people with a special skill— and Quicksilver, who can run really fast — and regular punching, traditionally, doesn’t have much effect on a killer robot, never mind an entire army. (That Thor and the Hulk are the last characters to be revealed may be intentional; as the “heavy hitters” of the team, it’s possible that they’re having the greatest impact in the fight against the Ultrons — or, perhaps, they’re in the greatest danger.) The most interesting thing about the concept art, however, is literally hidden in the background. Look at the character floating in the air above the fray in the newly-released Quicksilver image: That’s the first chance anyone has had to see the Vision, Paul Bettany’s new character in the movie. It’s not a good chance — his back is to the viewer, and he’s essentially in shadow, obscuring almost everything about the character — but even seeing the bright yellow cape of the comic book Vision is a surprise. (Seeing that cape makes me hope that, even though we know that Hank Pym won’t be Ultron’s creator in the movies, we’ll still end up with the robot’s desire to procreate being the reason behind the Vision’s creation, leading to one single tear rolling down his cheek at some point in the film.) Ultimately, there’s nothing in these images/the uber-image that comes as a surprise to the Marvel faithful already familiar with the comic book Ultron and Avengers stories, but that may be the point: that Age of Ultron will, instead, be exactly the Avengers vs. Ultron story that fans have always wanted to see on the big screen, done just the way they want to see it. Heroes against an unstoppable enemy and unbeatable odds, nonetheless finding a way to triumph. Isn’t that really all we needed to know to get excited?
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Nokia 3210
Design
The Nokia 3210 has a total weight of 153g. The handset measures 123.8mm x 50.5mm x 16.7mm (min), 22.5mm (max) and features customizable fascias which clip on. It was the first mass market phone with an internal antenna, after the feature had been introduced by Nokia on the luxury phone 8810 in 1998. The 3210 was designed by Alastair Curtis in Nokia's Los Angeles Design Center.
Notable features
Three games came preinstalled: Snake, Memory (pairs-memory game), and Rotation. The addition of such games encouraged high sales within a youth market which was enlarging at a very fast rate. Some versions of the 3210 included the "hidden" games React and Logic. They were activated by special software using a data cable.
- The 3210 was one of the first mobile phones to feature an internal antenna. This distinguished the handset from others which featured large, awkward and unsightly antennae. Reception, although poorer than that of its predecessor, the 3110, was still very good.
- 'Picture messages' sent via the SMS texting service were implemented in the handset, allowing users to send preinstalled pictures to one another. These included a 'Happy Birthday' picture amongst others.
- The phone allowed creating single channel ringtones via internal software. It was possible to send the ringtones to another Nokia phone.
- The handset was competitively priced and aimed specifically at teenagers and young professionals. This was at a time when few young people had access to a mobile phone, being generally identified with older professionals and business people.
- The 3210 was originally designed with a vibrate alert function. Nokia decided not to implement this feature on some handsets within certain jurisdictions. A few months after its UK release, some mobile phone repair shops offered customers a handset upgrade to the vibrate function for a small fee.
Handset specifications
Standby Time (hrs): 55-260
- Talk Time (mins): 180-270
- Charge Time (hrs): 4
- Ringtone Composer
- Dual Band: Yes
- Vibrating Alert (optional)
- Speed Dialing
- 3 Games
- Internal Antenna
- Green back light
- Interchangeable Fascias
Success
A combination of cutting-edge features such as internal antennas and T9 ensured the 3210 huge commercial success. The 3210 can also attribute much of its success to an advertising campaign aimed predominantly at young people, a first in the mobile phone industry. The inclusion of 3 games, changeable covers, an internal antenna, customisable ringtones and competitive prices led to the handset's huge popularity with those aged 15–25. It was also thinner than previous Nokia models.
Nokia 9110i communicator
The Nokia 9210 Communicator is a third generation Communicator series smartphone produced by Nokia, introduced November 21, 2000.[1] It greatly improved on the second generation Nokia 9110 Communicator, providing colour main screen, changing toSymbian OS platform and ARM processor. It is one of the few mobile phones able to send and receive fax.
It is used as a normal though bulky mobile phone in closed mode, when it is flipped open it can be used like a very small notebook computer with a 640×200 screen. The earpiece and microphone are located on the back so one must hold it with the front screen and keypad facing out to make a call. The phone also has speakerphone functionality. It was also the first Nokia with a card slot for expandable memory.
Nokia c5-03
The Nokia C5-03 is a budget resistive touchscreen smartphone with WLAN from the Cseries that was released in December 2010.[5]The phone has Shazam music identification software and social networking software included or available for download.
Hardware[edit]
| CPU | 600 MHz ARM11 processor (ARM v6 architecture) |
|---|---|
| Storage | 40 MB storage, 128 MB RAM |
| Developer Platform | S60 5th Edition |
|---|---|
| Operating System | Symbian OS v9.4 |
| Screen Resolution | 360 x 640 pixels |
| Development Frameworks | Qt,[1] Web Runtime, Java, Symbian C++, Flash, Open C/C++ |
| Screen Resolution | 360 x 640 pixels |
| Screen Color Depth | 24 bits |
| Screen Size | 3.2 inches |
| Display Technology | LCD transmissive |
| Device Size | 105.8 x 51 x 13.8 mm |
| Volume | 65 cc |
| Weight | 93 g |
| Display Touch Technology | Resistive Single-Touch |
| Input Method | Touch Screen |
| Other Keys | Call Creation Key, Call Termination Key, Lock Switch, Menu Key, Volume Keys |
| Frequency Bands | GSM 1800, GSM 1900, GSM 850, GSM 900, WCDMA Band I (2100), WCDMA Band II (1900), WCDMA Band VIII (900) |
| Data Bearers | Dual Transfer Mode (MSC 32), EDGE Class B, GPRS, HSDPA Cat9 10.2 Mbit/s, HSUPA Cat5 2.0 Mbit/s, WLAN IEEE 802.11 b/g |
| Regional Availability | Brazil, China, Eurasia, Europe, India, Latin America, Middle East, North America, SEAP |
| CPU Count | Single CPU |
| CPU Type | ARM 11 |
| CPU Clock Rate | 600 MHz |
| Notes | 1 Qt content can be published to Ovi Store. |
| Extra Features | Accelerometer sensor, Flight Mode, Firmware over the Air (FOTA), Nokia Maps 3.0, Nokia Music, Nokia Store, Ovi Contacts, software updates, themes |
| Positioning | A-GPS, GPS |
Nokia e6
The Nokia E6-00 is a smartphone running the Symbian^3 based "Symbian Anna" operating system. It supersedes the Nokia E72 as the new Symbian business mobility solution from Nokia.[5]
The smartphone is notable for its backlit 4-rows QWERTY keyboard and touch screen input methods, for its long battery life (Talktime : 7.5 to 14.8 h and Standby : 28 to 31 days),[3] the out-of-the-box access to Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync, Microsoft Communicator Mobile and Microsoft SharePoint[5] and the high pixel density of its VGA display (326ppi).[6]
Like its predecessors (Nokia E71/E72), the Nokia E6-00 integrates a stainless steel and glass design.[5] The back removable cover, the raised panel for the back camera, dual LED flash and loud speaker and the contour of the front are made of stainless steel. The front of the phone (except for the QWERTY keyboard, short cut buttons and Navikey) is covered with Corning Gorilla Glass.
Its casing has three color options (black, silver and white).
Contents
[hide]History and availability[edit]
The predecessor of the E6-00 in the Eseries, consisting of business-oriented smartphones, was the Nokia E72 which shipped in November 2009. As with the E71, the E72 received mostly praises from the press. It is worth noting that Nokia released theE7, a landscape QWERTY slider smartphone in the E-series based on Symbian^3, that shipped in February 2011.
The first hints that the Nokia E6-00 was being developed came, in early January 2011, from a Nokia XML[7] and pictures from a Picasa album with pictures taken with the device.[8] Various information could be retrieved from the XML such as the 8 MP camera, VGA display and QWERTY keyboard.[9] The device was not officially announced at the Mobile World Congress held in Barcelona (14–17 February 2011).[10] Various pictures and videos of the Nokia E6-00 leaked during the months of February and March.
It was officially announced at a special event, named Discover Symbian, on 12 April 2011 along with the Nokia X7 and the latest update of Symbian software.[5] It is expected to be released in Q2 2011 in Europe at a price of €340 (before taxes and subsidies) and in Q3 2011 in North America.[4]
In May 2011, the Nokia E6 became available at the Nokia Deutschland online shop for preorder at the price of €429.[11]
Hardware[edit]
Processors[edit]
The Nokia E6-00 is powered by the same processor found in other recent Symbian devices such as the Nokia N8, E7 and C7, which is an ARM11 clocked at 680 MHz with a Broadcom BCM2727 GPU which supports OpenVG1.1 and OpenGL ES 2.0 support.[12][2]
Screen and input[edit]
The Nokia E6-00 has a 62.5 mm (diagonally) capacitive touchscreen with a resolution of 640 × 480 pixel (VGA, 326 ppi).[1]According to Nokia, it is capable of displaying up to 16.7M colours.[1] The screen brightness of the E6-00 is "more than double the brightness of the E72" when measured in candelas.[13] There is a proximity sensor which deactivates the display and touchscreen when the device is brought near the face during a call.[1] The Nokia E6 also understands PictBridge protocol so it's possible to directly print from the phone to a printer without using a computer to handle the data transfer in between.
The optical Navi key of the E72 has been replaced by a Navi key on the E6-00.[1] It has also an ambient light sensor that adjusts the display brightness and activates the backlit of the 4-row keyboard. A 3-axis accelerometer is present but will not switch the display to portrait mode when the device is turned sideways. It will, however, take pictures in portrait and show them the right way in the photo gallery.[13]
The device has an autonomous GPS with optional A-GPS functionality, Wi-Fi network positioning and Cell-ID and comes pre-loaded with the Ovi Maps application. Ovi Maps for Symbian^3 provides: free life time, turn by turn, voice guided car and pedestrian navigation.[1] If the map is already downloaded to the device, Ovi Maps does not require an active data connection and can work as a stand alone GPS navigator. For other services, for example Google Maps, a data connection is required.
The 8-megapixel (3264 x 2448 px) back camera has an extended depth of field feature (no autofocus), dual LED flash, 2X digital zoom (3X in video mode) and offers high definition (720p, 16:9 aspect ratio) video recording at 25 frame/s or 4:3 aspect ratio.[4] The 0.3-megapixel front camera is capable of video recording (176 x 144 px at 15 frame/s)[2] for video calling.
The Nokia E6 has a loudspeaker and two microphones.[2] The microphone at the front of the device collects voices of the user, another microphone at the back of the device collects environmental noise for active noise cancellation, which makes user's voice in noisy environment sound clearer to the person at the other end of the line. Noise cancellation is not available when using the loudspeaker or a headset.
Buttons[edit]
On the front of the device, there is a QWERTY keyboard, call creation and call termination keys, home (menu), calendar, contact and email shortcut keys with short and long press features and a 5-way Scrolling (Navi key).[1] On the top there is the power/lock button, on the right hand side there is the lock/unlock slider, which also turn on the torch (dual LED flash of the camera). Above that button, there are three keys: (1) volume down, (2) volume up and (3) a middle key for activating the voice commands (long press) and the voice recorder (short press).[14][12] When the device is locked, pressing the Navi will also bring up a menu which allow to unlock the Nokia E6-00 from the touch screen.[12]
The QWERTY keyboard comes in a variety (24) language versions, including Arabic, Thai, Russian and Chinese.[15]
Audio and output[edit]
The E6-00 has a microphone and a loudspeaker located on the back of the device. There is a 3.5 mm four-contact audio jack which simultaneously provides stereo audio output and either microphone input or video output.[1] PAL and NTSC TV out is possible using a Nokia Video Connectivity Cable (not included upon purchase) or a standard 3.5 mm audio jack to RCA cable.
There is a High-Speed USB 2.0 USB Micro-B connector provided for data synchronization, mass storage mode (client) and battery charging. The Nokia E6-00 supports for USB On-The-Go 1.3[2] (the ability to act as a USB host) using a Nokia Adapter Cable for USB OTG CA-157 (not included upon purchase).[1]
The built-in Bluetooth v3 supports wireless earpieces and headphones through the HSP profile. The Nokia E6-00 is also capable of stereo audio output with the A2DP profile. Built-in car hands-free kits are also supported with the HFP profile. File transfer is supported (FTP) along with the OPP profile for sending/receiving objects. It is possible to remote control the device with the AVRCP profile. The DUN profile which permits access to the Internet from a laptop by dialing up on a mobile phone wirelessly (tethering). Other profiles are also supported (BIP, GAP, GAVDP, GOEP, HSP, PBAP, SAP, SDP and SPP).[2] The device has an 87.5-108 MHz (76-90 MHz in Japan) FM receiver with RDS support. It has Wi-Fi b/g/n connectivity (single band) with support for WEP, WPA and WPA2 (AES/TKIP) security protocols.[1]
Battery and SIM[edit]
The BP-4L 1500 mAh Li-Ion battery performance, as provided by Nokia, are up to 14.8h of talk time, 681h standby, 9h of video playback, 4.7h of video recording and up to 75h of music play back.[1]
Storage[edit]
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