Now that all three seasons of the original run of Gene Roddenberry‘s sci-fi television classic Star Trek are available on Blu-ray, it’s time for Captain Jean-Luc Picard and his loyal determined crew of the Enterprise-D to take its continuing mission into the realm of high definition. Star Trek: The Next Generation is coming to Blu-ray in 2012, just in time for the show’s 25th anniversary, beginning with a sampler disc called Star Trek: The Next Generation: The Next Level that will feature several popular episodes. You can check out a trailer for the restoration along with the cover art of the sampler release here below.

In a recent interview with Trek Web, David Foster talked about a new Star Trek TV series that he’s been developing for around five years now.

Foster began secretly developing the revival in 2006 with Kevin Severson, who sadly passed away in 2010. But Foster has continued developing the project, and recently answered a few questions about his plans at the recent Creation Star Trek Convention in Las Vegas, Nevada.

For decades, Trekkies everywhere have surely fantasized about a special place dedicated to the world of Gene Roddenberry‘s legendary creation, Star Trek. A place where they could escape their own boring lives, and become their favorite Trek characters for a day or two.

Well, ladies and gentlemen, just such a place is on its way…though there’s a bit of a catch that comes with it.

Gene Roddenberry is a name synonymous with science fiction. The former Los Angeles police officer is responsible for creating one of the biggest sci–fi franchises known to mankind, Star Trek, which continues to thrive to this very day, well over four decades after its initial premiere.

Roddenberry created many other things in his life along with Star Trek, but he also started a production company called Roddenberry Entertainment, which to this day strives to find revolutionary ways to bring science fiction to the masses.

In keeping with that goal, today it was announced that Roddenberry Entertainment will be teaming up with technology lab Social Animal to create the first–ever 360° film titled White Room: 02B3. The movie will see six strangers forced to take part in an experiment that could change the face of humanity as we know it.

Continue reading for more and to see a video demonstrating how the technology works.

As the Star Trek franchise is about to get a much-needed re-boot later this week, I’ve been thinking a lot about the series and the role its played in my life. Being born during the run of The Original Series, I represent what I suppose could be called the “second generation” of Trekkies (there was no stigma associated with that term 30 years ago.) I got acquainted with Star Trek through endless re-runs on syndicated TV in the 1970s, The Animated Series on Saturday mornings, and Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Once I was hooked, love of Trek stayed with me for a solid 25 years — as I have previously discussed. There have been many changes during all that time, from movie to movie, series to series, and cast to cast. I’ve weathered nearly all of them, but I find myself wondering if I am ready to fall in love again.

Part of this has to do with the “origin” concept of J.J. Abrams‘ new film. I’ve never felt that an origin story for The Original Series crew has ever been particularly necessary. I can look at the first scene where William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy appear together in “Where No Man Has Gone Before,” and that holds up as well as their last scene together in The Undiscovered Country, twenty five years later. That’s an amazing thing to my mind, and a testament to the writing skills of Samuel Peeples and the production skills of Gene Roddenberry. Since Star Trek appeared nearly fully formed right at the beginning, why mess with that?