I’ll spare you my thoughts on the new Star Trek film, given this isn’t a movie-review site, and I seem to stand in the minority with my opinions, but if you were a fan of Abrams take on the Trek universe you might be interested in this limited edition version of the film which comes on a 4GB Starfleet insignia flash drive. (Each one is individually numbered.) The digital copy of the film is all DRM’d up so it can only be played on up to 5 registered devices, or burned to a DVD, and it’s about 1GB in size, leaving you 3GB of storage to boldly store what no man has stored before. ~$28 from Play.com.

[ Star Trek (2009) USB Stick ]

By Chris Scott Barr

I’m always on the lookout for cool new Star Wars merch to decorate my place with. It’s what we geeks do. I’m not a big fan of the Trek, but I know that some of you are, so I thought I’d pass along this little gem. It’s a record player that’s shaped very much like the classic USS Enterprise from the original Star Trek TV show.

It really makes perfect sense, as the whole front of the ship is shaped like a giant disc. This is one of those creations that inspires facepalms from people saying “why didn’t I think of that?” For now this would seem to only be a concept, but I’m sure that some enterprising fellow could actually produce a few of these and make a mint.

[ StarTrekMovie ] VIA [ GearFuse ]

By Chris Scott Barr

The three posters hanging in my living room are evidence enough that I’m definitely a Star Wars fan. I can appreciate Star Trek, but I’m not exactly a huge fan. Knowing how much I would give for a perfect replica of a lightsaber, I’m sure that fans of the Trek might be interested in this spiffy Type-I Phaser Kit, which lets you build a prop worth of the original show.

It’s a little strange that this is only being offered in kit-form. I guess assembling your own phaser will give you a bit more geek cred at the next con. All you need is $200 and a a free afternoon to be the envy of all your geeky friends.

[ ThinkGeek ] VIA [ Dvice ]

A new medical diagnosis device known as the SPTT, or Standoff Patient Triage Tool, could be our first glimpse at a real-life tricorder, or at the least a primitive ancestor of one. The SPTT uses lasers to measure vibrations of a human head and chest to calculate the vital signs of a patient, like pulse, body temperature and muscle movement from a distance of up to 40 feet away.

Now the device is no replacement for a doctor or a paramedic, but in the event of an accident or emergency where there are multiple victims, it could let first responders determine who needs medical treatment first, a process known as triage. Normally it takes a medic about 3 to 5 minutes per person to determine the severity of their condition or injuries, but using the SPTT it could take as little as 30 seconds, which really could mean the difference between life and death.

The Standoff Patient Triage Tool is expected to start field tests sometime this Fall.

[ Scientific American - Trekkie triage: Could a new device aid medics? ] VIA [ io9 ]

By Shane McGlaun

I was hooked on sci-fi the first time I saw Star Wars on video when I was a kid. I missed the first two in the theaters, but I saw Return of the Jedi like 18 times in one weekend. The New Star Trek film starts this week and to celebrate Blockbuster polled sci-fi fans to find the most popular starship captain.

According to the poll, the most popular captain was Malcolm Reynolds from Firefly. Following him were James T. Kirk, Jean-Luc Picard, Han Solo, and William Adama. Seriously, Picard is a better captain than Reynolds and Kirk, and he had all those catchy phrases like “Make it So.”

Other categories includes best sci-fi villain, Darth Vader naturally. Favorite sci-fi dude was David Tennant from Dr. Who. My favorite category is hottest sci-fi babe. The winner of the category was Seven of Nine. Yeah she was hot, but way down in fourth place is the hottest sci-fi babe ever — Caprica-Six from Battlestar Galactica. She almost made me wish for an invasion of robots.

[ Block Buster ]

By Shane McGlaun

If you are a movie fan, you know that the Star Trek film is set to launch this week. This should be one of the coolest films of the summer. At first, I didn’t like Sylar from Heroes as Spock, but with those crazy eyebrows, the dude makes a good Spock.

If you want to see the movie on opening weekend, you had better buy your tickets now. According to Fandango, the movie has sold out in more than 100 theater times around the country. The online ticket seller says that ticket sales for Star Trek alone make up 81% of its daily sales.

Of all sci-fi fans, I think that Star Trek fans may be the geekiest. Fandango polled 4,000 movie fans and found that 10% of them plan to show up at the theater in some sort of costume. A full 83% of those surveyed plan to see the film opening weekend and as you might expect, most of the people wanting to see the movie are guys (67% to be exact).

[ Fandango ]

By Shane McGlaun

I tend to play more video games than board games, but when you have a group of friends over sometimes it can be fun to go old school and whip out some board games. Star Trek fans looking to prove that they have the most useless sci-fi factoids stored away in their neural net will be glad to hear a new Star Trek board game is available.

The game is called Star Trek Scene It and it’s a trivia game that uses a DVD to show clips from the various TV series and feature films int the Star Trek franchise. I see Picard is included on the box image; he was the best Enterprise captain ever if you ask me.

Two collector’s editions of the game are being offered that both come with additional content and embossed metal tins that the standard versions lack. Among the collector’s editions are the Captains box and the limited edition Ships version, both available to purchase now. I wonder if the instructions are written in Klingon.

[ Screenlife Games

By Chris Scott Barr

I’m more than happy to admit that I have three Star Wars posters in my office, as well as an autographed picture of Chewbacca. What can I say, I’m a Star Wars geek. Even I have to draw the line somewhere. I really don’t think I could turn an entire wall into the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon, that would just be too much. However, if you’re a Star Trek fan and don’t mind going a bit over the top, then you might be interested in this wall mural.

For the low price of just $187 you can turn a 6′x10′ chunk of your wall into the cockpit of the original USS Enterprise. Now all you need is a replica of Kirk’s chair and the ladies will be lining up outside your door.

[ Urban Collector ] VIA [ The Awesomer ]

It looks like the Star Trek marketing machine is up to full speed again (warp 9?) so besides new toys, games and collectibles, you’ll soon be able to add a set of Trek-themed fragrances to your Captain Kirk shrine. Created by Genki Wear, the trio of scents will be available in department stores come April for about $30-40 a bottle, and will include names like “Tiberius”, “Red Shirt” and “Ponn Farr.”

I really have no idea what to say, except please don’t get any ideas Mr. Lucas. (Though I imagine Yoda would have a pleasing bouquet…)

[ TrekMovie.com - Trek Spring Collection Preview: First Look At Genki Star Trek Fragrances ] VIA [ Slashdot ]

With a new and improved Star Trek film just around the corner, we all better brace ourselves for an onslaught of movie merchandise that will probably rival the efforts of the Lucas camp. Like a Star Trek themed version of 20 Questions for example. Besides being shaped like the classic Enterprise, making it completely pocket-unfriendly, this edition of 20 Questions is chock full of trivia from the Star Trek movies, television series and characters. So with just 20 questions you’ll be amazed as the game manages to quess that you still have a creepy obsession with Seven of Nine.

20 Questions Star Trek Edition will be available from Entertainment Earth sometime in March for about $21.

[ 20 Questions Star Trek Edition Game ] VIA [ Chip Chick ]