Aug 05

Australia Suffering iPhone Drought

Apple's iPhoneWell, it has been a long time since I did an iPhone story, so I felt it was about time.

I called Optus a couple of days ago to ask about upgrading my iPhone 3G to a new iPhone 3Gs, I was met with an answer that I had trouble believing after the last iPhone launch a year ago, “we can’t take any orders at the moment because we have no phones and don’t know when we are getting any more.”

A year ago, Optus ran out of handsets a few days into the release and it took weeks to get new stock. Just go back to posts on this site from that time and you will see me bitching about it. I believed that this wouldn’t happen again. Come on we learned from that experience didn’t we? We know now that the iPhone is a hot item that everyone wants and so we get in tons of stock, right? Wrong. According to an article on news.com.au, the world is actually in a bit of an iPhone drought.

The new iPhone 3Gs was launched on June 26 and all 5 telcos carrying the phone have run out of stock. Telstra blames a worldwide shortage while other telcos say they will have more stock in a couple of weeks. I think Telstra is actually in the right in this case as Apple chief operating officer Tim Cook has admitted that Apple can not keep up with the tremendous demand on the phone. He said, “We are currently unable to make enough iPhone 3GSs… and we’re working to address this.”

Hopefully, by the time I am ready to upgrade my iPhone Apple will have sorted out their supply lines.

Aug 05

Peter Jackson’s The Lovely Bones

The Lovely BonesI have been waiting for a long time for this, Peter Jackson’s latest film “The Lovely Bones” has finally got a trailer. The film was delayed because the studio wanted to release the film closer to Oscar season. Jackson has moved on and is working on the “Tin Tin” films at the moment so this was not a “Ghost Rider” situation. In the case of “Ghost Rider” the delay in it’s release made us all worry, in the case of “The Lovely Bones” the film has been finished for some time and it has just been in a holding pattern. Anyway, whatever the studio is thinking, the film is now finally going to be released and here is the first trailer.

You can also watch the trailer in high quality Quicktime here

“The Lovely Bones” is based on the book by Alice Sebold and directed by Peter Jackson. The film stars Saoirse Ronan, Mark Wahlberg, Rachel Weisz, Susan Sarandon and Stanley Tucci. It will be in cinemas in December. You can visit the official website here.

Aug 02

Geek Actually Episode 45 – Happy Birthday to Us

Geek ActuallyDavid McVay is joined by Josh Philpott and Katrina Smith

Recorded live on Ustream. It’s our first birthday here on the Geek Actually podcast, so we have a long show this week. First, Josh fills us in on the new PS3 virtual pet experiment and game design company THQ’s commitment to Project Natal on Xbox.

Tech News This Week: Microsoft partners up with Yahoo and Josh and David are here to keep you up to date on the developments of the Great Internet War of 2009! Google gets rejected by Apple but picked up by Palm, new vending machines in Japan use a new type of biometrics and just how big is that damn internet thing anyway?

Film News This Week: The Tron Legacy trailer is released and it is pure gold, director James McTeigue (V for Vendetta) gets out from under the shadow of the Wachowski (The Matrix films) Bro’s with “Ninja Assassin” starring Rain, Hollywood kicks The Pirate Bay while its down and the 1979 film “Alien” gets a prequel and a shock new director.

For our feature review we look at Michael Mann’s latest effort, “Public Enemies”. This film is not received well by any of us here at Geek Actually. From cheap ass video cinematography and a cast that looks like they are sleep walking, all we can really say is that this (after “Miami Vice”) could be the end of Michael Mann for us. This film even managed to make Johnny Depp look bad and that takes some kind of effort!

As always this episode carries an explicit tag due to small amounts of bad language.

Listen or download it here or subscribe to it on iTunes

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Geek Actually is brought to you by listeners, just like you. Thanks for your contributions. If you wish to make a contribution, click the link on the main page.

Just a reminder, if you have any comments about the episodes please leave them in the comments field below or email us using the contact link above. If you are an iTunes user, please leave a review as we are trying to get on the featured list and every review helps. Your comments (good or bad) help us improve the show.

The Geek Actually Podcast is recorded live on Ustream every Saturday Morning 11am Australian Eastern Standard Time (UTC+10). If you still just want to listen to the audio podcast, it will go out as normal on Sunday.

Aug 02

Geek news: Iron man 2 viral site up

While searching around the net this morning  I stumbled across www.starkindustriesnow.com. It seems like the early parts of a viral campaign, its kinda empty at the moment but I think its worth keeping an eye on.

I will keep everyone posted as I hear more.

Josh out

Jul 30

Geek Actually Episode 44 After Show – Kid’s Films

Geek ActuallyDavid McVay is joined by Josh Philpott and Sarah Kalpokas

Recorded live on Ustream. Our first live after show is a candid discussion about what is acceptable and what is not acceptable in kid’s films.

A reminder, this is not a proper episode of the Geek Actually podcast, this is a conversation that took place after the recording of the proper show. Join us in the chat room during the recording sessions on Saturday mornings and get your voice heard. If the after shows are popular we will continue recording them. Let us know if you enjoy (or not) the after show in the comments below.

As always this episode carries an explicit tag due to small amounts of bad language.

Listen or download it here or subscribe to it on iTunes

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Geek Actually is brought to you by listeners, just like you. Thanks for your contributions. If you wish to make a contribution, click the link on the main page.

The Geek Actually after show was recorded live on Ustream after the main show on Saturday Morning. The Geek Actually podcast is recorded live on Saturday mornings, 11am Australian Eastern Standard Time (UTC+10).

Jul 29

There Are Some Things You Just Can’t Unsee! Doggie Sex Doll – WTF

Dog Sex DollThis is not film or tech related but I came across this and it made me gag on my lunch. The Baltimore Sun had a story today about a Brazilian company called Petsmilling that has created a sex doll for your dog! Now you have gotten back in your seat, go back and look at the companies name again :-)

Why am I posting this? Sometimes you see or read something that you just can’t unsee or unread, so I decided to share my pain :-)

I have put a picture of the device above. My mind started to run in overdrive: How bored does your dog have to be that a chew toy isn’t enough? Do you have to teach him how to use it (eeww!) or will he figure it out? And the most disgusting part, how do you clean it?

So, if you feel your dog might like this pleasure toy or if you are feeling kinky (oh man, I should not have gone there!) check out the original article here.

What do you think about this truly weird gadget? Let me know in the comments below.