Month: August 2024

The first Sonic 3 trailer confirms everyone’s suspicions about new villain Shadow the Hedgehog – and teases an unlikely team up.

It’s been a long time coming, but the first trailer for Sonic the Hedgehog 3 has finally raced online and confirmed one of its biggest rumors: Keanu Reeves is voicing its villain, Shadow the Hedgehog.

Released today (August 27), the first teaser for one of 2024’s final new movies goes hard and fast as Paramount Pictures begins to ramp up its marketing campaign for the highly anticipated sequel. And hey, what better way to increase the hype than by revealing beloved actor Keanu Reeves is lending his instantly recognizable voice to Shadow, one of Sonic’s most notable adversaries.

The teaser is, by design, a pretty hefty one – indeed, it clocks in at almost three minutes. Ordinarily, such a runtime leads to a trailer basically revealing a film’s entire plot, but it seems Sonic 3‘s first-look is holding back some elements of its story until it lands in theaters worldwide.

That said, the trailer doesn’t withhold every secret. Yes, we expected Shadow to appear in Sonic‘s latest live-action-animated hybrid film – he was teased in Sonic 2‘s post-credits scene, after all – but I didn’t expect to hear Reeves utter any words as the laboratory-created anthropomorphic hedgehog until I took my seat at my screening. That would’ve preserved one mystery, but maybe Paramount (in conjunction with Sega, Sonic the Hedgehog‘s creator) felt it necessary to include Reeves’ voiceover work, especially with his involvement leaking months prior to the trailer’s unveiling. Regardless, Reeves feels like an adventurously great fit for Shadow and, following similar voice work he’s conducted on Toy Story 4 and Cyberpunk 2077, recording lines for an animated project won’t have been foreign to him.

Reeves’ involvement isn’t the only thing that Sonic 3‘s first teaser reveals. Before I get onto that, however, here’s a brief story synopsis that reveals a bit more about the movie: “Sonic the Hedgehog returns to the big screen this holiday season in his most thrilling adventure yet. Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails reunite against a powerful new adversary, Shadow, a mysterious villain with powers unlike anything they have faced before. With their abilities outmatched in every way, Team Sonic must seek out an unlikely alliance in hopes of stopping Shadow and protecting the planet.”

So, what’s the unexpected partnership that the plot brief teases? As the trailer establishes, Team Sonic will be forced to ally themselves with none other than Doctor Eggman, aka Sonic’s iconic adversary in his videogame franchise and villain of the first two films. That means Jim Carrey is back to play the mad scientist once more, despite his insinuation that he was retiring from acting after Sonic 2’s release in early 2022. Clearly, Team Sonic need all the help they can get to stop a seemingly grief-stricken Shadow from threatening Earth’s very existence.

Jeff Fowler, who directed the first two Sonic movies, is back in the director’s chair for this one. Ben Schwartz, James Marsden, Tika Sumpter, Idris Elba, Colleen O’Shaughnessey, Natasha Rothwell, Shemar Moore, Adam Pally, and Lee Majdoub join Carrey on the returning cast roster. Alyla Browne and Krysten Ritter also accompany Reeves on the newcomer casting front.

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is set to land in cinemas worldwide on December 21, and there’s plenty of blue blur-themed content to keep you occupied until then. The previous films are both available on Paramount Plus, aka one of the best streaming services, right now. The franchise’s first TV spin-off, Knuckles, was also released on the same platform earlier this year, with the series hitting hard to become the streamer’s most-watched TV Original to date.

You might also like

Sonic movie spin-off Knuckles isn’t a total Paramount Plus knockout – watch these 3 great video-game shows insteadSee if Knuckles is part of our best Paramount Plus shows guideOr get the lowdown on the best Paramount Plus movies to stream today

Read More 

Nokia will take its 4G to the Moon to help astronauts communicate with mission control and one another.

Nokia has teamed up with Axiom Space to integrate advanced 4G LTE capabilities into the next-generation spacesuits set to be used for NASA’s Artemis III mission.

The results of the partnership will see astronauts equipped with network connectivity during their mission to the lunar surface in 2026, marking a significant leap in space exploration.

By integrating network connectivity into Axiom Space’s Extravehicular Mobility Unity (AxEMU) spacesuits, astronauts will be able to capture and transmit real-time HD video, voice communications and telemetry across several kilometers on the Moon.

Nokia chosen to put 4G in astronauts’ spacesuits

Besides enabling seamless interaction with mission control on Earth, the 4G network is also expected to enhance crew-to-crew communications.

Key to the development is Nokia’s Lunar Surface Communications System (LSCS), which consists of “network-in-a-box”, comprising the radio, base station and core elements of a terrestrial cellular network packaged into a single unit, and device modules integrated directly into the spacesuits.

The components are to be optimized for size, weight and power efficiency, as well as to withstand the harsh conditions of the lunar environment.

Russell Ralston, Axiom Space EVP of extravehicular activity, commented: “Adding high-speed 4G/LTE network capability on the Moon will serve as a vital bridge linking astronauts to Earth, facilitating crucial data exchange, and enabling high-definition video communication over long distances.”

“We are taking advantage of the same standards-based technologies that connect billions of devices on Earth every day, while bringing new innovation and technologies to bear on the specific challenges encountered in space,” noted Thierry E. Klein, President of Bell Labs Solutions Research at Nokia.

The collaboration builds on Nokia’s previous efforts to deploy the first cellular network on the Moon as part of Intuitive Machines’ IM-2 mission. During its mission, Nokia aims to demonstrate the viability of cellular connectivity for future lunar missions and those further afield on the red planet.

More from TechRadar Pro

GSMA and European Space Agency team up to build the next generation of space networksTravelling somewhere on Earth instead? These are the best eSIMs for international travelMake the most of your 4G and 5G connections with the best business smartphones

Read More