The entry, called Paramount Pictures…100 Years of Movie Magic, paid homage to past studio productions, including Star Trek.

Fifty-five feet in length, the float included Star Trek‘s USS Enterprise, the 1948 Ford Deluxe “Greased Lightning” from Grease, the Paramount Bronson Street gate, Transformers character Bumblebee, the WWI biplane from Wings and the bench from Forrest Gump.

Photos of the process of creating the float can be seen at Byrne Robotics where Rick Senger, who helped to decorate the Paramount float, can be seen decorating the Enterprise, using sweet uber white rice. Onion seed was used for the black colorings on the ship.

This was Paramount Pictures first ever entry into the Rose Parade. Ten Paramount employees rode on the float during the parade. Click on the thumbnail to enlarge.

http://youtu.be/VMHnWB4mezs

Fans waiting for Star Trek 2 finally have a release date.

An unexpected opening in the movie release schedule for 2013 has made room for another movie to be released on that newly-vacated weekend and Paramount is taking advantage of that opportunity and releasing Star Trek 2 on May 17, 2013.

Sony had moved Roland Emmerich‘s Singularity from May 17, 2013 to November 1, 2013, so Paramount jumped at the opportunity to take that highly-desirable pre-Memorial Day time slot and they will release Star Trek 2 on that date.

Star Trek 2 will be filmed in 3D.

Fans hoping for Star Trek 2 in 2012 are in for a bit of a disappointment, as it’s more likely that the J.J. Abrams sequel will arrive in theaters in 2013 instead.

Viacom CEO Phillippe Dauman mentioned Star Trek 2 during a Viacom quarterly earnings call.  Abrams is “focused on developing the next installment of our Star Trek franchise” for a possible release in 2013, Dauman said.

Star Trek 2 had originally been slated to release on June 29, 2012.

The films and shows included amongst the honorees include: Avatar, Extraordinary Measures, Star Trek XI, Iron Man 2, Social Network, Drop Dead Diva, Simpsons, Bones, Burn Notice, CSI: Miami, and Law & Order: SVU.

According to a press release, “The S.E.T. Awards, which are produced by the Entertainment Industries Council, Inc. (EIC) in collaboration with The Boeing Company as part of EIC’s Ready on the S.E.T. and… Action! initiative, honor productions for bringing attention to the fields of science, engineering, and technology.”

“The entertainment industry is magical in reaching within the popular culture, and accurate depictions are key to having young people be entertained and informed about the wonders of science, engineering and technology and how to make the world a better place,” said Brian Dyak, President, CEO and Co-Founder, Entertainment Industries Council, Inc. “The submissions being honored at the S.E.T. Awards are proof positive of the commitment within the creative community to change the perception of S.E.T.-related fields – making them an entertaining and exciting venture for today’s youth.”

“EIC, a nonprofit organization, was founded in 1983 by leaders of the entertainment industry to bring the power of the industry to bear on public discourse regarding health and social issues. The organization is considered to be the chief pioneer of entertainment advocacy outreach and one of the premiere success stories in the field of entertainment education and information resources. EIC continues to provide critical and quality information for entertainment creators through innovative and time-proven methods of ‘encouraging the art of making a difference’ from within the entertainment industry.”

The S.E.T. Awards ceremony will be held on November 17 at the Beverly Hills Hotel.

Eternal Image, Inc. has released an officially-licensed line of Star Trek-themed cremation caskets and will soon release Star Trek-themed cremation urns.

Crafted from fiberboard and cloth, the official Star Trek cremation caskets offer a new and previously unavailable option for families of Trek fans that have arranged a traditional viewing followed by cremation for their loved one’s remains. The casket is cremated along with the remains.

There are three models of caskets from which to choose: Star Fleet Delta, Federation of Planets, and for fans of the Klingon Empire, a Klingon casket. The suggested retail price for a Trek casket is $1,374.

“Our Star Trek cremation caskets provide customers with a complete package for their loved one’s cremation service,” said Nick Popravsky, VP of Sales & Marketing for Eternal Images, Inc. “We will soon be announcing the availability of a new Star Trek cremation urn that will provide the perfect complement to this cremation casket line.”

Pictures of each casket can be seen on the Eternal Image website.

Kurtzman and Orci’s deal with DreamWorks is due to expire at the end of the year, and the split from DreamWorks is “said to be a friendly one.”

The duo is in negotiations to move K.O. Paper Products from DreamWorks to David Ellison‘s Skydance Productions. Sources claim that the deal will be “more than a basic production pact,” but details are not yet available.

Ellison, Kurtzman and Orci will produce the thriller Without Remorse, based on the Tom Clancy book of the same name, with Skydance Productions. Star Trek 2 will also be co-produced through Skydance.

Netflix had begun to expand its streaming service, first to Canada in 2010, and then to forty-three countries in Latin America and the Caribbean in September of this year.

“Upon launch, Netflix members from the UK and Ireland will be able to instantly watch a wide array of TV shows and movies right on their TVs via a range of consumer electronics devices capable of streaming from Netflix, as well as on PCs, Macs and mobile tablets and phones,” said a Netflix press release.

While it has not yet been announced which shows would be available for streaming in the UK and Ireland, Netflix currently offers all of the televised Star Trek series plus Star Trek XI for U.S. customers of its streaming services.

The UK/Ireland Netflix will launch in “early 2012.” Closer to the launch, details about pricing, content and supported devices will be announced.

The Roddenberry Foundation, co-founded by Rod Roddenberry, donated five million dollars to establish the Center, which will “build on Gladstone’s existing expertise in stem cell science, helping to speed the process by which discoveries are turned into therapies for a host of devastating illnesses.”

“This gift is our largest to date, and with it, we hope to help accelerate advances in biomedical research,” said Roddenberry. “In addition, if our support can inspire one child to become a scientist, one organization to become more charitable, one person to simply invest himself or herself in improving the future of our world, then our foundation can be a catalyst in making the future envisioned through Star Trek a reality.”

“Today’s biggest challenge for solving disease is getting the investments required to transform our basic-science discoveries into health solutions that can alleviate human suffering,” said Deepak Srivastava, MD, who directs both stem cell and cardiovascular research at Gladstone. “We are a basic science institute—but with the purpose of solving three major disease groups.”

The three major disease groups include: cardiovascular disease, viruses such as HIV/AIDS and neurological conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease.

“Research at the new center can help to change that, in part by building on pioneering work done by Gladstone senior investigator Shinya Yamanaka, MD, PhD. In 2006, Dr. Yamanaka and his Kyoto University team discovered how to reprogram skin cells into cells that, like embryonic stem cells, can develop into other cells in the body. This discovery of induced pluripotent stem cells, or iPS cells, has since altered the fields of cell biology and stem cell research, opening promising new prospects for both personalized and regenerative medicine.

“To further develop Dr. Yamanaka’s iPS technology in order to create patient solutions, the Roddenberry Center for Stem Cell Biology and Medicine at Gladstone today is also announcing a collaboration agreement with CiRA. This accord will clear a path for these two leading stem cell centers to freely exchange materials and knowledge—all in order to accelerate the advancement of their stem cell research results into therapeutics to improve human health.”

“The Roddenberry gift will help us create the human, iPS-based disease models that we need to accelerate the development of drug therapies for a host of devastating diseases, honoring Gene Roddenberry’s call to ‘live long and prosper,’” said Dr. Srivastava.

The products to be shown include books, action figures, Bluetooth headsets, ornaments and busts.

For Star Trek readers, Abrams will have the Star Trek Vault book at its booth (#1144). Simon and Schuster (#2612) will have three new or upcoming Starfleet Academy books on hand.

Picard and the Borg action figures will be available at the Diamond booth (#338). Original series and The Next Generation busts will be at Titan Entertainment’s booth #940.

Hallmark ornament fans will be able to see this year’s line of Star Trek ornaments; have a sneak peek at next year’s ornaments; and will be able to purchase a limited-edition New York Comic-Con exclusive ornament.

Finally, the Earloomz Live Long & Prosper Bluetooth headset, recently reviewed here at TrekToday, will be available at booth #137.

Star Trek guests of interest at NY Comic-Con will include Christopher Bennett, Brannon Braga, Peter David, David Mack and James Swallow,

Burton was the producer and the host of PBS’s award-winning Reading Rainbow, which ran from 1983 until 2006.

According to a press release from RRKidz, “RRKidz will be available as a free app on iPad and select Android devices, offering hundreds of books via a subscription service and will be curated by Burton, providing the high level of trust parents seek.

“For twenty-five years Reading Rainbow gave me the opportunity to excite children about books and reading through the medium of television,” said Burton. “With RRKidz, I will be able to bring that same spirit of discovery, imagination and adventure to today’s digitally connected kids through enhanced e-books. RRKidz’ innovative platform allows us to deliver an incredibly exciting interactive storytelling experience through partnerships with leading publishers.”

“Teachers and parents grew up with LeVar Burton and Reading Rainbow, and the thought of the brand coming back in a big new way is thrilling,” said John Raymonds, Raymonds Capital, LLC. “RRKidz empowers every parent to say yes to reading by making content more accessible and affordable for families.”

The first RRKidz product to be released will be a “multimedia-enhanced reading ecosystem on the iPad. Hand-selected stories are given a digital upgrade with voice-overs, light animation, and games.”

Burton will be able to “enhance a PDF book with voice-over, light animation, and games ‘in a matter of hours.’”