News: Foursquare revamps business pages to take on Yelp as web visitors hit 50 million per month   As Foursquare has evolved from friend-finder to expansive recommendations engine,Yelp has emerged as the company’s most formidable enemy. Foursquare’s mobile apps have for some time stood head and shoulders above Yelp’s, but there was always one area [...]…

Show notes lost to the ether of the Internet. Sorry!…

News: It’s official: Google Fiber is coming to Austin “by mid-2014” Product, pricing will be “roughly similar to Kansas City,” Google says Just days after Google sent out a sneaky little announcement inviting the press to the Texas capital, the company has now confirmed what we’d all long suspected. Austin is slated to receive the [...]…

News:   ‘House of Cards’ coming to Blu-ray and DVD June 11th according to Amazon   Sure, House of Cards has proven enormously popular among Nettflix subscribers, but someone was bound to cash in on physical media sales. Per a newly discovered listing on Amazon, Sony Pictures Entertainment will bring the political drama to Blu-ray [...]…

News:   Hands on: Apple’s Podcasts app loses reel animation, gains playlists Apple’s Podcasts 1.2 for iOS replaces skeuomorphism with iCloud and playlists. Last summer, Apple released the Podcasts application as a new way to play podcasts on your iOS device. Until that time, this was a job done by the built-in iPod or Music [...]…

News:   Amazon planning to launch a $99 Kindle Fire HD, claims report   Amazon may be expanding its Kindle Fire line of tablets with a new, low-cost version of the 7-inch Kindle Fire HD, according to a report from TechCrunch. Allegedly, this new Kindle Fire HD will have a TI processor just like its [...]…

Enjoy TWO episodes of The Geekcast!   Show Notes for #343:   News: Target reportedly signs on with rumored Google Shopping Express same-day delivery service Google’s rumored same-day delivery service may already have one major partner on board. In an alleged internal letter printed by TechCrunch, Google says that it is “excited to open Google [...]…

News: PS4 release date, news and features UPDATED PlayStation 4 is headed for a ‘Holiday 2013′ release date The DualShock 4 pad will launch alongside the PS4 The PS4 has been announced by Sony! At long last we’ve had our first look at the new PlayStation and so far it looks very… next-geny. Sadly, and [...]…

News: Outlook.com moves out of preview mode with multimillion-dollar ads aimed at Gmail users Microsoft first introduced Outlook.com back in July as a preview service designed to replace Hotmail. Starting this week, the company plans to aggressively market it as an alternative to Gmail and other web-based email services in a multimillion-dollar advertising campaign. “Outlook.com [...]…

  News: Comcast acquires full ownership of NBCUniversal ahead of schedule Comcast, the nation’s largest cable provider, will consolidate its control over NBCUniversal by buying out the 49 percent of the media company that it doesn’t already own. Comcast will pay General Electric $16.7 billion for the shares and shell out $1.4 billion for related [...]…

News: Dell goes private in $24.4 billion deal, including $2 billion loan from Microsoft   Dell has officially closed a buyout of the company, taking the company off the publicly-traded stock market and into private hands. The deal is being financed by cash and equity from CEO Michael Dell, funds from investment firms Silver Lake [...]…

News: THX Tune-Up iOS app will have your new HDTV looking better than ever Can an app make your TV look better? According to THX, the answer to that question is yes. Today the company is releasing THX Tune-Up, a calibration app for iOS it claims can help you get the best performance from your [...]…

News: RIM CEO says company is open to licensing new OS, stock jumps 10 percent A week before BlackBerry 10′s launch, exec says firm undergoing major “review.” After Research in Motion’s CEO told a German newspaper the company may be considering big changes, the company’s stock shot up on the Toronto Stock Exchange, ending Monday [...]…

News:   Facebook Unveils a Smarter Search Engine   Now we know what Facebook is building: a better internal search system. Speaking at a much-hyped event at Facebook HQ, founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced a raft of improvements to “graph search” — that is, the ability to search within your social graph for specifics. [...]…

News:   Walmart and Straight Talk Wireless Now Carrying iPhone 5 Walmart and Straight Talk Wireless are now carrying the iPhone 5, offering a $45 unlimited talk, text and data plan with no contract. It was previously reported by That’s It Guys. Straight Talk is a subsidiary of TracFone, and its iPhone customers will use [...]…

On today’s show we review our tech predictions. 2012 Tech Predictions: Aaron: Google puts parts of Chrome into Android and then kills the Chrome OS. Netflix announces a landmark licensing deal with all content companies that ends all content problems with streaming and enters a renaissance for their service. Color eInk hits the market, leading [...]…

News:   Microsoft expands retail distribution for Surface RT tablets   Microsoft revealed today that it is expanding the retail availability for its Surface RT tablets. Surface RT will be made available at additional retailers from mid-December and Microsfot is also transitioning some holiday stores into permanent retail outlets.   http://www.theverge.com/2012/12/11/3756004/microsoft-surface-rt-retail-stores-expansion   Twitter takes on [...]…

News: Netflix signs unprecedented movie deal with Disney The deal will let Netflix subscribers stream films from Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar Animation Marvel and Disney nature. Starting in 2016, that is. You knew there was a catch. First the good news: Disney is giving Netflix access to some of its top movies at the [...]…

News: Chevy details 2014 Spark EV: under $25,000, 0-60 in 8 seconds and a 20-minute fast charge News of Siri integration isn’t the only tool in Chevy’s belt today, as it’s also unveiling key details of the 2014 Spark EV. The all-electric subcompact won’t reach dealers until the summer, but it may be worth waiting [...]…

News: Nexus 4 and Nexus 10 now on sale through US Play Store Google has started accepting orders for the Nexus 4 and Nexus 10 in the Play Store. Shoppers in the UK eager to pick up the stock Android phone can choose from 8GB or 16GB variants, priced at £239 and £279 respectively, while [...]…

News: Disney Buys Lucasfilm, ‘Star Wars 7′ Set For 2015 Release In one of the biggest movie studio purchases in history, Disney is paying $4.05 billion to buy Lucasfilm Ltd., the production company behind the blockbuster “Star Wars” franchise. The payment will be made with both cash and stock — around 40 million shares. Lucasfilm’s [...]…

Enjoy today’s episode where we cover NY Comic Con. We speak to Mattel, eat candy, and interview Batman.…

News: Android 4.1.2 goes live, gives Nexus 7 owners landscape home screen We’ve been seeing a mysterious Android 4.1.2 update mentioned in conjunction with a few unreleased devices in the past few hours, so it’s only fitting that we’re seeing the official release today. Google’s Android Open Source Project lead Jean-Baptiste Queru has posted word [...]…

    News: Nest 2.0: Slimmer, sleeker thermostat smarter than ever When the “Father of the iPod” Tony Fadell unveiled Nest, the “learning thermostat” last fall, it was likely the first time anyone had ever thought of a thermostat as sexy. Now, less than a year after the first version of the product arrived, bringing [...]…

News: TiVo settles patent lawsuit with Verizon for at least $250 million, is ‘exploring’ Redbox Instant support While some patent lawsuits continue to drag on, the battle between TiVo and Verizon over DVR technology has come to a resolution. In exchange for cross licensing their patents and dismissing all pending litigation, the two parties have [...]…

News: Apple announces iPhone 5 preorders top 2 million in first 24 hours By AppleInsider Staff Preorders of the iPhone 5 surpassed 2 million in its first 24 hours of availability, more than doubling last year’s record set by the iPhone 4S, Apple announced on Monday. Demand for the iPhone 5 exceeds supply, though Apple [...]…

    News: Apple officially announces iPhone 5 SAN FRANCISCO — The iPhone 5 is finally here. After months of rampant rumors and hype, Apple debuted its latest smartphone Wednesday in front of a packed house at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, claiming it is the world’s thinnest. The iPhone 5 features a [...]…

News: Apple vs. Samsung: the verdict After two and a half days of deliberations, the Apple vs. Samsung jury returned a decisive verdict in Apple’s favor today — holding that Samsung owes Apple $1.049 billion for copying Apple’s intellectual property. Specifically, the jury found that all three of Apple’s software patents on the iOS user [...]…

News: OnLive sold to new company, OnLive, amid layoffs: the full story OnLive, the popular streaming gaming company, has been sold to a “newly-formed” enterprise amid controversy and accusations of mismanagement. Although there is clear evidence of mass layoffs, company spokespeople have said that nearly half of employees will be re-hired by the mysterious new [...]…

News: Mars rover’s test drive set for next week The canyons and buttes of Mount Sharp beckon the $2.5 billion rover, some 5 miles away from the rover’s Aug. 6 landing site. The rover is halfway through tests of its 10 science instruments, and has completed an “intellect upgrade” of its steering computers, says mission [...]…

  News: Mountain Lion is Apple’s ‘most successful’ OS X release with three million downloads in four days Apple’s recently released OS X 10.8, codenamed Mountain Lion, is officially the California company’s most successful OS X release to date. Totalling more than three million downloads in its first four days of availability, it overshadows OS [...]…

News: Google’s Marissa Mayer becomes Yahoo CEO Yahoo has named Marissa Mayer, one of Google’s top execs, as its next CEO, ending a hunt that began after Scott Thompson was forced out in May for padding his resume. Ross Levinsohn, who has been the interim CEO, had been considered the top candidate for the job. [...]…

News: OUYA: a hacker-friendly Android console seeking Kickstarter funds A new Kickstarter project is making waves, by proposing an open-source, hacker-friendly platform using Android as its backbone. “OUYA” merges the “satisfying” experience of a console with the developer-friendly nature of the Android marketplace. The project is seeking nearly a million dollars in funds, but it’s [...]…

  News: Vizio’s Co-Star: $99 Google TV box with OnLive gaming support Vizio, a company best known for its inexpensive HDTVs, is looking to expand into another new market: it has just announced the Co-Star, a Google TV set-top box that will begin selling in July for $99.99. In addition to the standard complement of [...]…

  News: Microsoft unveils Surface tablets, powered by Windows 8 One tablet with NVIDIA chips, another with Intel, and a really smart cover. Microsoft The Earth-shattering Microsoft announcement we’ve been waiting for is finally here. As several pre-event rumors suggested, Microsoft is indeed building its own tablet. Make that two tablets. One Windows RT tablet [...]…

News: WWDC 2012 Breakdown iOS 6: http://www.theverge.com/2012/6/11/3078570/ios-6-everything-you-need-to-know -Apple’s maps – Turn-by-turn -Enhanced Siri -Passbook -FaceTime over cellular -More: Phone reply enhancements, Facebook integration, Mail VIP, coming to iPad (w/ Siri). Fall release (likely w/ next iPhone) OS X Mountain Lion: http://www.apple.com/osx/whats-new/ -Full iCloud Integration -Notification Center -Twitter / Facebook built in -AirPlay -Messages / unification [...]…

Question of the week: Facebook, G+ or Twitter? Or all of the above? Gozer: Twitter & G+ ( kind of ) Aaron: All News: WWDC 2012 schedule posted, keynote confirmed, app released WWDC 2012 is on. Apple confirmed the keynote, released this year’s app, and posted the talkschedule for attendees first thing Tuesday morning, officially [...]…

Question of the week:What super power would you want and why? Gozer: Invisibility, telekinesis Aaron: Invisibilty News: Report: New MacBook Pro to feature retina display     The new 15-inch MacBook Pro will be a significant departure from the current design, with a retina display and an ultra-thin profile, 9to5Mac claims, citing sources from Apple’s [...]…

News: Avengers: Battle for Earth could be Ubisoft-published tie-in game Let’s face it: The new Avengers movie is one of the best comic-book-to-film adaptation to come out in a long time (thanks, Joss Whedon). Given its big-budget status and plethora of superheroes, it only stands to reason that the next step is a film-to-video game [...]…

News: Is Time Warner bringing its live streaming TV service to Roku boxes? After debuting on iOS and later expanding to web browsers and Android, Time Warner’s live streaming TV service, TWC TV, may soon be made available for Roku set top boxes. Citing an unnamed source, Engadget claims that company representatives are currently being [...]…

Poll the geeks: We’re trying out a new addition to the show where we want to know what you think! We’ll feature your answers on our next episode. Be sure to call, email or tweet your responses to us.This Week’s Question: What “future”  technology would you like to see become the norm? Aaron: self-driving cars [...]…

Poll the geeks: We’re trying out a new addition to the show where we want to know what you think! We’ll feature your answers on our next episode. Be sure to call, email or tweet your responses to us. Question: physical or digital media? Why? Aaron: Digital…. always Gozer:  physical News: Google X reveals “Project [...]…

News: Instagram for Android hands-on By now, you’ve got to be familiar with Instagram. Sure, you may have never used the app, which until mere minutes ago had yet to make its way beyond iOS, but you’ve surely seen the results, in tweets, emails or littering your Facebook feed. And beginning this very moment, you [...]…

News: Google’s Dropbox Killer coming in April Google has been thinking about launching an online storage service for more than five years now, but this time it might finally happen. Om Malik reports that the fabled Google Drive or GDrive will come out in the first week of April. It’s a direct competitor to Dropbox, [...]…

News: The new iPad: everything you need to know http://www.theverge.com/2012/3/7/2852312/new-ipad-third-generation-specs-features Walmart to offer in-store ‘disc-to-digital’ conversions, powered by Vudu and UltraViolet: $2 for SD, $5 for HD The rumors are true: Walmart has just announced that it is launching an in-store “disc-to-digital” service powered by its existing Vudu on-demand solution, powered by UltraViolet. Walmart has [...]…

News: WSJ: Walmart to offer in-store disc to digital UltraViolet service Hollywood’s latest digital ecosystem offers lots of promise, but in the five months since its release, it couldn’t be further from delivering on it. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Walmart will finally make use of its membership to the Digital Entertainment Content [...]…

News: Interactive video turns Facebook fears into 2 minutes of horror Unfriend this man, now. “Take This Lollipop” combines horror movie tropes with online security fears. (CNN) — A sweaty, wild-eyed man in a stained undershirt hunches o…

News: Nintendo’s Miyamoto Stepping Down, Working on Smaller Games The creator of Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda will step down from his current position at Nintendo but remain with the company to work on smaller, more personal projects, Wired…

News: Microsoft’s bid to rule your living room with the Xbox 360 begins tomorrow Microsoft laid out a grand plan to turn your Xbox 360 into an even stronger hub for everything from television shows and movies to music at E3 this year. That dashboard…

Today we begin our holiday episodes. Enjoy Aaron, Gozer and Allen’s freestyling of holiday’s past.…

On today’s show we review our tech predictions episode 249. You can find that show here: http://www.geekcastonline.com/2010/12/the-geekcast-249-2011-predictions-special/ 2011 Tech Predictions: Aaron: Google TV is a complete bust, will be discontinue…

Enjoy the bloopers, pre-show singing and fun we had in 2011!…

News:   Gaming preview 2012: From PlayStation Vita to ‘Halo 4′ The PlayStation Vita and the Nintendo Wii U are both expected to hit the shelves, with the Vita hitting North American and European shores in February after a Japanese launch …

News: SOPA defeated, Megaupload taken down It was big week on the Internet. Many popular sites spent an entire day protesting SOPA, which resulted in both it and PIPA being put on life support. Good job, Internet! Megaupload was also taken down by the fed…

News: Zappos customer data accessed in security breach Zappos is urging its customers to change their passwords after an intruder gained unauthorized access to the online shoe retailer’s servers. Customers’ names, e-mail addresses, billing and…