"QUOGs"

TrekMovie.com report that CBS are launching a new sub-brand of Star Trek called "QUOGs" which will feature stylised Star Trek stuffs in a variety of forms, including:

The previously announced Funko figurines:
Watches by Gluck:
T-shirts by Trevco:
Hallmark greetings cards:
And make your own QUOG animations at Go Animate.com. Like this:

Romulans in the Spotlight

Newsarama have posted a report from the IDW panel at the New York Comic Con. It has a single little bit of new news on Star Trek comics in the section talking about Alien Spotlight II (sort of):

"Other Star Trek projects include an aliens spotlight on Tribbles by Stuart Moore and Mike Hawthorne titled “The Trouble with Humans.” Keith R.A. Candido and J.K.Woodward are creating Star Trek: Klingons, for which Woodward said he will be “debuting two different styles” for the first two stories, and the last story will be drawn “in [his] original Fallen Angel style.” A Romulans special will tie in to villains of the new movie."

So I'm confused; just a couple of months away from Alien Spotlight starting they still aren't announcing all the issues, and are referring to the Klingon issue as it's own series? Is this Romulan issue (or issues?) a Spotlight? *looks clueless*

Star Trek Online updates

An article at IGN has released some new details on Star Trek Online. The game's premise is summised as follows:

"In the year 2409 the Khitomer Accord that preserved peace between the Federation and the Klingons has broken down and the two factions find themselves on the edge of an all-out war. Into the midst of this conflict, an age-old threat returns to the galaxy to become a third player in this drama. Though Cryptic isn't yet willing to publicly reveal who exactly this new threat is, we can definitely say that it's a force that fans of the series will surely recognize."

The article mostly details what we've already been told about the game; each player is a captain, with a customisable crew, ships can go on missions and battle in space as well as taking away teams down to planets. The article did offer some new information on the story structure of the game:

"...a lot of the content would be episodic and instanced. Rather than relying on collecting rat hides to drive player advancement, the team is hoping to structure the content much more like a traditional episode of Star Trek. Players will start in space, for instance, before beaming down to rescue scientists on a hostile planet, and then beaming aboard a nearby space lab to help put out fires and make some repairs before finally engaging in a climactic space battle."

"Players can expect all the iconic locations and themes from the franchise. Players will be able to visit well known planets, space stations and even meet the descendants of famous characters from the series' history. There will even be nods to particular episodes and plot points that hardcore fans will surely pick up on. In true Trek fashion, there will also be a fair bit of kitsch in the shows as well, from time travel missions to, yes, even tribbles."

The article also came with three new images:

And cryptic has also released a video showing off the character customisation in the game (Memory Beta nightmare!):

Sisko in the chair

Toy News International, reporting from the New York Comic Con have revealed Diamond Select Toys have plans for a Captain Sisko figure with Defiant command chair, due for release in July.

Tribble preview pages continue to multiply

The artist for the Tribble Alien Spotlight, Mike Hawthorne, as released another preview page from this issue:

He also posted a pencil version of the same page. And will apparently have pages from the book for sale on his website in the future.

USB communicator

As reported by Everything USB, a company called Dream Cheeky are to be producing a USB (ie, it has a wire coming out of it...) TOS communicator which functions as a voice over IP speakerphone (ie Skype). It will have lights to indicate the volume control and a velcro backing to stick it places...

On his website, author Christopher L. Bennett has release the final blurb for his forthcoming Titan novel, Over a Torrent Sea. It goes like this:

As the Federation recovers from the devastating events of Star Trek: Destiny, Captain William Riker and the crew of the U.S.S. Titan are ordered to resume their deep-space assignment, reaffirming Starfleet's core principles of peaceful exploration. But even far from home on a mission of hope, the scars of the recent cataclysm remain with them as they slowly rebuild their lives.

The planet Droplet is a world made mostly of water without a speck of solid ground. Life should not exist here, yet it thrives. Aili Lavena, Titan's aquatic navigator, spearheads the exploration of this mysterious world, facing the dangers of the vast, wild ocean. When one native species proves to be sentient, Lavena finds herself immersed in a delicate contact situation, and Riker is called away from Deanna Troi at a critical moment in their marriage.

But when good intentions bring calamity, Lavena and Riker are cut off from the crew and feared lost. Troi must face a life-changing event without her husband, while the crew must brave the crushing pressures of the deep to undo the global chaos they have triggered. Stranded with her injured captain, Lavena must win the trust of the beings who control their fate -- but the price for Riker's survival may be the loss of everything he holds dear.

Crew, Tribbles and Last Generation previews

On his forums John Byrne has released yet more imagery from the third issue of his Crew miniseries, featuring a flashy shot of his newly designed USS Ventura, and a DY-series ship:


Meanwhile on his blog, Mike Hawthorne has released another sneaky peak at the Tribble Alien Spotlight, with a dramatic two page spread (also released a as a pencilled version):


Finally, in his deviantART gallery, colorist John Hunt has released two pages from the final issue of The Last Generation:

Online updates

Cryptic Studios have updated the Star Trek Online website with some new screenshots, featuring a futuristic looking Miranda class sort of starship, a less futurfied Klingon Raptor class looking sort of ship, and a big warp core complex:

"What are you talking about man?"

Paramount have released a new trailer for the new movie, originally aired as part of the Super Bowl

Lots of action eh? Here are some pretty pictures from it: