Three years ago, Game of Thrones blew away viewers with what immediately became one of the most iconic openings in television history. Paired with an epic score, the introduction to Westeros was both informative and imaginative, spanning continents while focusing in on some of the key locations of the story. The opening matched the tone of HBO’s show flawlessly, which makes YouTube user NicksplosionFX’s Mario-themed parody even more delectable. With the help of an 8-bit remix of the ubiquitous theme, NicksplosionFX has recreated the opening scene inside of the Super Nintendo classic, Super Mario World. From Yoshi’s Island to Bowser’s Castle, the Mushroom Kingdom isn’t quite as vast as Westeros, but the parody is spot on. Check it out below.

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Category: TV, Game of Thrones, HBO

It’s not often that electronics companies get a second chance at making a first impression, but that might be what Samsung is looking to do with the Galaxy S5 Prime later this summer. As expected, the Galaxy S5 launched to positive reviews and impressive sales numbers, but unlike previous years, no one seemed to be going out of their way to shout the praises of Samsung’s latest flagship. From a few questionable design choices to the relatively tame specifications, the S5 just couldn’t wow Android users as Galaxy phones had in years past. Samsung could change all of that with an upgraded device, which is why the S5 Prime is such an intriguing proposition.

South Korean search portal Naver reports that the Galaxy S5 Prime could be released as early as next month at a price of 900,000 KRW ($880 USD). The report notes that the primary reason Samsung would release an updated device so soon would be to offer an improved display. The Galaxy S5 Prime will apparently feature a 5.2-inch Quad HD display, which was once rumored to be part of the original Galaxy S5 model.

Although the report states that the S5 Prime could potentially be released on every major South Korean carrier simultaneously, there’s no indication that the phone will be leaving its home country any time soon.

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Category: mobile, Galaxy S5 Prime, Samsung

We’ve seen a lot of the LG G3 through leaked pictures but now LG is ready to give us our first official glimpse of the device. LG on Tuesday posted a teaser video that shows off the G3′s metallic frame, its revamped rear buttons, its new camera and what look to be some of the slimmest side bezels we’ve yet seen in a smartphone. LG is launching the G3 at a special event in London on May 27th and all the leaks we’ve seen of the device indicate that LG has really upped its game to compete with Samsung and HTC after disappointing us last year with the LG G2. Reported specs for the device include a 5.5-inch quad-HD display with a resolution of 1440 x 2560 pixels, 2GB of RAM, 32GB of internal storage, and a 16-megapixel camera. LG’s full teaser video for the G3 follows below.

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Category: mobile, G3, LG

Respawn Entertainment took to YouTube on Monday to reveal the first official gameplay footage of the upcoming Expedition DLC for the enormous popular first-person shooter Titanfall. The first DLC pack will include three new multiplayer maps: Swampland, Runoff and Wargames.

Swampland appears to offer more verticality than the standard maps, filled with talls trees to jump between while evading Titan fire. Runoff features a more traditional layout, separated by buildings, walkways and trenches. Wargames is the most interesting of the three, drawing inspiration from the initial training simulation that players are presented with at the start of the game.

Expedition is the first of three content packs Respawn Entertainment has planned for Titanfall. It will be available to purchase for $9.99 later this month for Xbox One and PC — Xbox 360 owners will have to wait until June to download the new maps.

If you’re a Titanfall fanatic, it might be worth picking up the Titanfall Season Pass for $24.99 (a $5.00 savings). With the Season Pass, you’ll have access to each content pack as it becomes available while saving a few dollars in the process. Respawn hasn’t revealed any information about the upcoming content packs.

Check out the full gameplay trailer for Titanfall: Expedition below.

Read more here: Boy Genius Report

Category: Gaming, microsoft, Titanfall, Xbox One

As far as Google is concerned, Android exists in its current form for one reason and one reason alone: to put Google services in front of as many eyes as possible. The mobile platform has been remarkably efficient at achieving this goal, and now we have yet another example of just how efficient it is.

Google’s Gmail application has just become the first app in the Google Play app store to reach the 1 billion download milestone.

The Play app store displays a range of downloads for each Android app and Gmail recently became the first ever to cross into the 1,000,000,000 to 5,000,000,000 range. According to Android Police, app tracker AppBrain shows that the milestone was achieved on or around May 6th.

The Gmail app comes pre-installed on all Android smartphones and tablets sold by big-name vendors, so it stands to reason that it would be among the first apps to reach this massive milestone. It also serves as yet another reminder of just how big Google’s role has become in the mobile industry.

Read more here: Boy Genius Report

Category: Software, Android, gmail, google

Google may be ready to roll out new Nexus hardware this year, but that doesn’t mean potential Android tablet buyers should forget last year’s models. In fact, Google and Asus are currently offering U.K. residents a very interesting Nexus 7 deal on the 16GB model: each purchase comes with a free £50 Google Play store credit, and is valid through June 1.

Buyers who will purchase their 16GB Nexus 7 (2013) unit from either Asda, Carphone Warehouse, Currys or Tesco will then be able to apply online to get their gift card. The 16GB Nexus 7 (2013) model sells for £169 from Carphone Warehouse, with the retailer already listing the special Google Play Credit offer on its website.

Furthermore, because the promo started on May 5th, all purchases made after that date are eligible to receive the free £50 in Google Play store credit.

Unfortunately, Android fans in other markets where Nexus devices are sold will not have access to similar local deals.

Google and Asus may simply be trying to clear out existing Nexus 7 (2013) inventory before the next Nexus device is launched in the region, but the offer should still pretty interesting, especially to those buyers looking to purchase an affordable Android tablet that doesn’t necessarily have to be the latest Nexus model.

Google is rumored to launch a high-end Nexus 8 tablet made by HTC at some point later this summer.

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Category: Tablets, google, Nexus 7

It was all going so, so well for American ISPs. Not only did they have a former cable lobbyist as head of the Federal Communications Commission, but he was even planning to push through a new proposal that would have given them the power to create separate Internet fast lanes where they could charge more to Internet companies to ensure their traffic got delivered faster. And to top it all off, many of them were planning to engage in a huge wave of mergers that would give them even more power over the broadband and/or pay TV markets, from Comcast-Time Warner Cable to Sprint-T-Mobile to AT&T-DirecTV.

But alas for them, it seems that America’s ISPs have finally overreached. FCC chairman Wheeler’s proposal to allow for Internet fast lanes has created an enormous backlash not just from net neutrality advocates but also from major tech companies such as Google, Microsoft, Amazon and Facebook, as well as major Silicon Valley venture capitalists and popular entertainers ranging from Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters to Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder to actor Mark Ruffalo to director Oliver Stone.

Emboldened by this backlash, net neutrality advocates have started banging the drum to get the FCC to reclassify broadband providers as telecom companies, which would let the commission enforce strong net neutrality rules that would make ISPs keep the Internet a level playing field where both big tech companies and small startups would all get the same treatment when it comes to traffic prioritization.

This has unsurprisingly completely freaked out American ISPs, which is why many of their CEOs have just sent a letter to the FCC warning them of all the horrible, terrible, scary things that will happen if they get reclassified as telecom companies. In fact, the ISPs say that “even the potential threat of Title II [reclassification] had an investment-chilling effect by erasing approximately ten percent of some ISPs’ market cap in the days immediately surrounding” the FCC’s original attempt to reclassify ISPs as telecom companies, which the commission backed down on under heavy industry pressure. The ISPs also warn that “such an action would greatly distort the future development of, and investment in, tomorrow’s broadband networks and services.”

What makes this last “threat” particularly hilarious is that ISPs have already started slowing down their investments in network upgrades even without being reclassified as telecom carriers. As Vox’s Matt Yglesias notes, the National Cable Telecommunications Association’s own data shows that average annual broadband investment peaked in the period from 2005 through 2008 but has declined since then to levels that are just above the average annual investment we saw between 2001 and 2004 — and that’s without even adjusting for inflation.

“The industry is acting like a low-competition industry, scaling back investment and plowing its profits into dividends and share buybacks and merger efforts,” Yglesias concludes.

And this is where American ISPs’ business practices over the last decade or so are really going to come back to bite them. While Comcast, Time Warner Cable, AT&T and Verizon are able to influence lawmakers with millions in lobbying dollars, there is no way that they’re going to rally the general public to their side, especially when well-loved companies such as Netflix and Amazon are pushing back against them.

While I’d still rate it highly unlikely that ISPs will actually get reclassified as telecom carriers, I also think it’s even more unlikely at this point that the FCC will hand them the power to fracture the Internet into fast and slow lanes. The days when ISPs could get whatever they want just by greasing lawmakers’ and regulators’ palms appear to be over. If they want to wield more influence over the public in the future they might have to start doing something truly radical, such as making their customers hate them a little less.

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Category: Internet, Net Neutrality