Users should delay Windows 7 upgrade, support firm warns

Wait for Service Pack 1 to show up, or back up data and buy a new PC

Users should wait for Microsoft to work out the bugs in Windows 7 before jumping on the new operating system, a Syracuse, N.Y.-based computer support company said today.

"From the calls we're getting, as well as our own experience in the past with all Microsoft's operating systems, we're recommending that people stick with their time-tested OS and wait for the dust to settle," said Josh Kaplan, president of Rescuecom.

Citing a litany of reasons, ranging from the risk of losing data during an upgrade to tough economic times, Kaplan urged Windows users to put off upgrading to Windows 7 or buying a new PC with the operating system pre-installed. "There are some compelling reasons for both businesses and home users to move to Windows 7," Kaplan said, "so we're saying 'just wait for a bit.'"

Upgrading an existing machine -- whether it's running the eight-year-old Windows XP or the much newer Vista -- is particularly risky, he added, especially if users haven't taken time to make a full backup before they migrate their machines.

"Transferring all their data, their digital life essentially, is one of the most common, and most troubling, issues that users have," said Kaplan, noting that the chore is among the top problems Rescuecom's support technicians field. "Even if you're doing an in-place [upgrade], if you don't have a proper backup, you're still at risk. Without the proper preparation, moving to a new OS is risky for anybody."

Some users have found that out first hand. Among the top subjects on Microsoft's support forum is one that has put some PCs into an endless reboot loop when their owners tried to upgrade from Vista to Windows 7. Microsoft has not yet come up with a solution that works for all the users who have reported the problem, sparking frustration.

"I have had enough. I have now given up and have gone back to XP, which still works fine but is getting a little old," said "daeld" on the support thread dedicated to the endless reboot problem.

"Wait until your current hardware dies, buy a new PC with Windows 7 then transfer your data from backup to the new one," said Kaplan. "If you wait, there will be even more computers designed for Windows 7, and the driver situation will be better. While Windows 7 is made to be compatible with the same hardware and software as Vista, there are always exceptions. It's safer to wait for the patches and new drivers to be released."

Another consideration, noted Kaplan, is the price of Windows 7. The least-expensive single-license upgrade to the new OS costs $119.99, while the three-license Family Pack runs $149.99. "Given the economy, is that really a necessary expense right now?" he wondered.

Last May, Rescuecom posted five steps users can take to extend the life of their aging PC. "Making sure it's protected from malware, viruses, all the evil things on the Internet, that goes a long way," Kaplan said today. "Cleaning up your hard drive, the normal day-to-day computer maintenance, that's another."

Computerworld's How to make Windows XP last for the next seven years, although more than two year's old, also includes tips that still apply.

"Any upgrade is a challenge," Kaplan concluded. "At the least, wait for the first service pack," he said, referring to the major updates and bug fix collections that Microsoft rolls out at infrequent intervals.

Rob and Kristen Holed Up at Chateau Marmont!

Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart wasted no time, um, possibly getting to business, once they landed in L.A. yesterday. Think they're finally answering our pleas to show us all a li'l more kissy stuff?

After they wrapped Eclipse early Thursday morning, the duo left Vancouver only to check in to the Chateau Marmont together yesterday afternoon.

Check it out:

A source close to the couple tells us that Rob and Kristen were driven into Chateau's private valley Thursday evening.

"They went straight up to a room," says a hotel source. "No one saw them the rest of the night."

Why are we not surprised?

We're told Robsten were not seen leaving the hotel, nor were they spotted in the public lobby area last night.

Today, Rob's been spotted running errands, and Kristen found time to stop by her parents' house.

If you remember, the Chateau was their hotel of choice when they shacked up together the weekend of the Teen Choice Awards.

Hopefully Rob and Kristen are managing to get some rest because they have a whirlwind next couple of weeks.

We're told the two will be hitting the road next week for New Moon promos before coming back to L.A. in a few weeks for the N.M. junket and premiere.

Motorola DROID review

It's hard to look at the DROID without looking at the company which brought the device to life. Motorola: for years the name has been synonymous with... well, disappointment. While the industry-stalwart made cellphones sexy with the RAZR, the days which followed have not been especially fruitful or compelling. Over the past year or so, we've seen Motorola beating its way back into the mainstream through a series of smart plays: first embracing Android as a platform, then shucking off the weight of Windows Mobile and finally bringing some desirable (and high profile) devices to market.


With the DROID, the company has perhaps created its most attractive and intriguing piece of technology yet. Forging an alliance with both Verizon and Google, Motorola has come up with a second compelling reason to count the phonemaker down, but certainly not out, while the other two giants have finally found a seemingly worthy device to position against the iPhone. So we must pose these questions: is this the phone which will catapult Android into the mainstream? Is it the device that will pull Motorola back from the brink? And -- most importantly -- is it the lynchpin Google and Verizon have needed to challenge the leader in mindshare in the smartphone market? After putting the device through its paces, we think we can give you the answers you seek -- so read on to find out!

Hardware


The DROID is an odd and beautiful device. Looking at the hardware from a purely philosophical standpoint, the ID of the phone seems staunchly defiant. Instead of taking its cues (and lines) from current contenders in the smartphone space, the DROID is all hard edges and angular slopes. The construction is a mix of plastic and metal, and the phone has a solid, expensive heft to it. Couple that weight with soft touch materials and gold highlights, and the effect is somewhere halfway between a Vertu device and the European version of the Hero -- and it's a good mix.

The basic structure of the phone is made up of two main pieces, the large, glass display up top, and the slightly longer keyboard / mainboard lower half. Above, the 3.7-inch screen dominates, almost filling the space edge-to-edge, though there are four capacitive buttons at the bottom of the display: back, menu, home, and search (which might be tricky for folks coming from other Android devices, since they've thrown the order of the buttons in the blender). The top section slides smoothly upwards to reveal the aforementioned QWERTY keyboard, though unlike other models of this ilk, it doesn't snap automatically into place; rather, it requires a bit of force to move up, then clicks firmly once settled. The keyboard is a wide (though mostly flush) affair, with minimal amount of spacing between the keys. To the right of the four row QWERTY is a 5-way rocker -- a bizarre deviation from the CLIQ's left-sided controls -- and the bottom piece has a strip which juts out from the device with a small mic hole (closed or open). It's almost like Motorola's version of the HTC chin... though tempered somewhat. Atop the phone is a 3.5mm headphone jack and a power / sleep button; along the right edge is a volume rocker, and camera button on opposite ends; the left side houses a MicroUSB port; around back the 5 megapixel camera (and flash) are revealed, along with a thin, gold, crosshatch strip that hides the DROID's speaker.


The thickness of the DROID is striking, coming in at just a hair (13.7mm vs 12.33mm) thicker than the iPhone 3GS. The body itself is actually narrower than the iPhone. While thinness is important (though typically not a deal breaker for us), the fact that the phone packs a larger, higher resolution screen and a physical keyboard in such a small frame is notable.

In all, Motorola has pulled off what seemed unimaginable for them just 12 months ago; they've made a device which is truly lustworthy, even next to the best efforts of Apple, HTC, and Palm.

Internals

Inside the DROID beats an Arm Cortex A8 CPU (a 600MHz, OMAP3430 chip downclocked to 550MHz), 256MB of RAM, and 512MB of ROM. If that CPU sounds familiar, it should -- it's similar to the chip inside the iPhone 3GS and Palm Pre. If you're wondering about performance, you can breathe a sigh of relief... kind of. Yes, there is a noticeable bump in speed when switching applications on the phone, scrolling through lists, and generally getting any basic tasks done. We did notice, however, that paging through homescreens on the the DROID actually seemed somewhat stuttery; odd, considering this phone is certainly better equipped than most Android devices to handle pixel pushing. Pulling down the window shade notification area also seemed less than optimal. We don't know if this was due to the screen resolution being jacked up, or just a software quirk, but it was mildly disheartening -- especially considering that the rest of the phone's performance seemed extra snappy to us. As an aside, in a totally unscientific test of playing a 3D game (Mystique, in case you're wondering) the rendering seemed considerably smoother on the DROID than with other, older Android-based phones we've used.

Throughout our tests, we were consistently impressed with the tightness and speed of navigation on the phone. The DROID makes Android feel modern the way the iPhone 3GS and Palm Pre are -- like machines designed for a pace of life that's increasingly more Twitter and less USPS.

Display


As we mentioned, the screen on the DROID is a 3.7-inch capacitive touchscreen -- a full glass display with a WVGA resolution clocking in at a handsome 480 x 854. We found the responsiveness on the DROID to be on par (if not better) than most of its Android contemporaries; gestures and flicks registered with little to no lag. Whether that can be attributed to Moto's screen technology, Android 2.0 improvements, or just the speedy CPU inside the DROID is anyone's guess, but we certainly won't knock the phone for it. Another perk to having that big screen is seeing webpages how they're meant to be viewed (or at least closer), and browsing on the DROID is a solid experience. Those additional pixels definitely come in handy when you're looking at something graphically intensive or wordy... such as Engadget.

As you have probably heard (or guessed), there's no multitouch on this device. That's clearly an issue with Android 2.0 and choices that Google is making about user interface -- we're fairly certain there's nothing technically holding back the DROID from utilizing multitouch input, and we wouldn't be surprised to see some tweaked ROMs hit the information superhighway with the functionality onboard. Regardless, the resolution, materials, and clarity of the DROID display make it an absolute pleasure to keep your eyes on. Motorola gets a +1 for the bump in resolution, and we can only hope everyone else follows suit.

Note: Android 2.0 does support multitouch events, but the functionality isn't implemented here.

Keyboard


A physical keyboard can be a blessing or a curse, depending on just how well (or poorly) it performs. In the case of Android devices, QWERTYs have definitely been hit or miss. We think the closest case for comparison with the DROID's version would be the G1; both have shallow, clicky keys, and both force your right hand into a bit of an awkward position. On the G1, it's due to the placement of the "chin," and with the DROID, it's all down to the five-way rocker living next to the 'board itself. We're happy to report, however, that after a short adjustment period, typing on the DROID is a reasonable experience. It's not as slick or comfortable as a nice, portrait-oriented Tour or (better yet) Bold layout, though it bests the CLIQ, and holds its own against other landscape contenders like the Moment.

Visually, the keyboard is an easier read (and more aesthetically pleasing) than those other QWERTY phones too, though sometimes the keys can feel a bit cramped. Additionally, we had major issues with the auto-dimming on the DROID. If we left the screen in auto brightness mode, the constant on / off dimming of the keyboard was intolerable; eventually we had to just switch the auto dim off altogether. We also had issues with the keyboard not lighting up at all in some instances, requiring us to close and open the pad again. Not a huge deal, but annoying when you're trying to quickly tap out a message. Admittedly, we missed the CLIQ's two-stage keyboard backlighting that only enabled the second light when ALT was pressed, but it's a luxury we can do without.

As you would expect, Android 2.0 includes the onscreen keyboard as well, but there don't seem to be many improvements in this area. As a backup keyboard for quick SMSs and the like, it works, though we eventually had to replace it with the Better Keyboard application -- which we think is more usable and snappier. In comparison to the iPhone keyboard (really the high bar for virtual keys) Android continues to feel like a distant second. Still, you won't go to it that much -- the DROID's physical keyboard is solid, but it's going to take some getting used to for most people.

Camera


Google has made some pretty major changes to the camera application in Android 2.0 (including more control over white balance, focal length, flash settings, and effects), and Motorola has smartly outfitted the DROID with a 5 megapixel camera coupled with an LED flash. It sounds like a match made in heaven, right? Well, not quite.


While the camera certainly seems capable of taking great looking photos, getting everything to play nice isn't as easy as it should be. First off, the camera is painfully slow to focus and snap pictures -- and when it does, the results can be unpredictable. Strangely, the lens seems to be able to take pretty sharp macro photos (it's even a setting in the camera app), but it struggled with getting adjusted to close subjects, even in broad daylight. Sometimes we got lucky and cranked out a decent pic, but the process was frustrating. Furthermore, the new settings Google has added to 2.0 are contained in a hard to get to and counterintuitive menu which sits to the left of your viewing area. Trying to make changes on the fly was a hassle. If this is the best the engineers at Google can do, they need to outsource this work.

Video, on the other hand, was somewhat of a pleasant surprise. The DROID is capable of shooting at a 720 x 480 resolution, and in our tests, produced watchable -- if not totally shake-free -- video. The phone definitely fares better in this department than with stills, and we could easily see using the DROID as a stand-in for a flip cam. You can check out a little of the action in the video below (with a surprise cameo from !!!'s Nic Offer).


Speaker / earpiece

The sound on the DROID is second to none -- really. In fact, this is simply one of the best sounding devices we've ever used. Whether it's audio through the loud (but undistorted) earpiece, or a speakerphone call -- even music -- the sound which Motorola's device outputs is crystal clear. Now, obviously Verizon's reception has something to do with our in-call sound, but it's likely Moto put some thought into the aural aspect of the phone. There's not really much to say except that we were more than pleased with the audio fidelity of the DROID, and we can only hope that future phone makers (ahem, Apple) look to this device as a high water mark in this department.

Software


Besides the introduction of the phone itself, obviously 2.0 is a major update for Android. Based on the launch and hype surrounding Moto's device, we'd say it's fair to assume that Google wanted as many eyes on the achievement as possible. They definitely got it with the DROID -- but was it worth all the fuss?

The first thing you should know is that Android 2.0 isn't drastically different than 1.5 or 1.6, save for a few notable features and tweaks that have significant impact. True to form, Google hasn't gone for visual flair or wild embellishments for the sake of a few dropped jaws; most of these changes are about functionality and usability.

One of the first major changes Google has made is support for multiple Gmail or Exchange accounts, and a new universal inbox which allows you to get a look at your electronic correspondences in a single view. For BlackBerry users, this concept is old hat, but for most people with multiple accounts, it should feel like manna from heaven. We would have been slightly more stoked about the feature if it allowed you to look at both Gmail and POP / IMAP / Exchange accounts in one field. Instead, you can view your Gmail accounts separately (not in a single stream, but in one place), and your other accounts can be blended in the "Combined Inbox" view. Not exactly a perfect implementation for those of us with both Exchange and Google accounts, but certainly a solution light years beyond what previous versions of Android were offering. Another minor niggle: deleting an email now takes you to the next email in your inbox rather than bumping you back out to the list of emails, as it did in 1.5 and 1.6. We preferred the old functionality, though we imagine some will prefer the new as well.

We loved being able to keep a few of our accounts in the phone, but we ran into a weird and annoying issue when attempting to remove one of them. We were using the DROID with two Gmail accounts active, but when we tried to remove the second one we'd added (note: not the account we used for our contacts or calendars) the device informed us that we would need to factory reset the phone because that account was "required" for certain applications. Try as we might, we couldn't find a way around the problem, and we eventually did reset the device. The behavior was strange to say the least, especially since it was a barely-used, secondary account -- not a daily use address which tied into services.

As you may have heard, Facebook account integration is now built into 2.0, and there should be more of that coming, as Google has created "sync adapters" which allow third parties to plug into the contact and calendars of your phone. Mercifully, Google has figure out that you might not want your Facebook contacts in your address book, and gives you the option to turn off contact syncing (as it does with Exchange and Gmail accounts). You're also given the option to sync contacts, but keep certain sets from displaying in your contacts list; this variation is best demonstrated with Facebook integration, because it merges duplicate names and pulls the accompanying images, but doesn't clutter up your Gmail contacts with additional names. Beyond that, the pairing doesn't go tremendously deep, even though we're told Facebook had a hand in this version of the OS as well. Really, you get a widget for your homescreen which auto-updates, and that contact integration if you really want it. This is obviously just the tip of the iceberg for this kind of... er, synergy, and we expect to see lots of people taking advantage of the feature (hello, Twitter). Regardless, it's a forward thinking move that will clearly obviate the need for some of the functionality built into BLUR, and makes the DROID (and other 2.0 phones) competitive against the Pre and Pixi when it comes to social networking integration.

Speaking of contacts, Google has made some big and thoughtful changes to how contacts are handled (and used) in Android 2.0, most notably adding a "Quick Contact" menu to your contact list. The quick contact function allows you to tap on someone's name and get a context menu with jumps to the various ways you can reach out; if you're friends with someone on Facebook, you'll be given an option to message them there, along with SMS, phone, and email choices. It's a brilliant little touch that makes quickly pinging someone a cinch. Android 2.0 also improves the SMS and MMS experience by giving you the option to search your messages, and also allowing you to set a limit on how many SMSs to store before beginning to delete old threads. It's not groundbreaking stuff, but nice choices to have (finally).

You'll notice some major changes within the browser, most notably the fact that when you load up pages now, you're presented with a fully zoomed-out "overview" (much like the iPhone and Pre). If you've been griping about that weird, half-zoom that Android has relied on for so long (as we have), this is a breath of fresh air. Coupled with the DROID's massive display, it makes navigating pages roughly a million times more pleasant. The updated browser also now supports double-taps to zoom (as does Google Maps) -- making navigation a bit more natural -- though we noticed some weird column display issues on our site and others. As we mentioned before, there's still no multitouch, but this does stand in quite well for pinch zooming. While the overall browser speed still isn't as snappy as the iPhone 3GS (or even the Pre), it's a step up from previous efforts, and when you factor in little touches like auto-prediction on URL entry, it's eminently usable.

As we said, most of the alterations are under the hood -- not stuff that immediately jumps out at you, though there are some notable visual tweaks which bear mentioning. Google has added some new fades and cross-application animations into 2.0 which makes Android seem a bit more contemporary. Of course, older iterations of Android contained animations, but 2.0 seems far more polished to our eyes. Additionally, icons and elements have been updated across the board to give the OS a more modern look, sadly there is much of this UI and its applications that remain unchanged -- and not for the better.


A few of the obvious spots include the music player, which is quite frankly a mess; not only is the navigation poorly thought out, but the application is just straight-up ugly. It's not easy on the eyes, and not much fun to use either. The same goes for the phone app -- the remnants of a hastily thrown together interface are plain here, and the functionality of the phone itself gave us some issues. Often the screen was confused or unresponsive during calls, as if the hardware and software weren't communicating with each other properly. It seems obvious to us that some portions of Android need a serious, ground-up reworking... but they don't get them here. Another annoyance was the home screen -- unlike with HTC's tweaks (or even Motorola's BLUR), you only get three screens for icons and widgets. Furthermore, the DROID doesn't come equipped with even the most basic widgets you see in most new builds, like weather. The weird thing is that there is a weather app in the dock display, but no way to access the application in standard phone mode.

Additionally, some third-party (and even some first-party) software seems unable to deal with the DROID's new resolution. There are bitmaps that look upscaled and jagged, such as the attachment icon in Gmail. The game Robo Defense seemed to play slower than it did on the Hero, which was a bit of a surprise, though it has been updated to support the new resolution. None of these problems are show stoppers, but it points to a disconnect between where Google is at versus its developers. There is catch-up to be played.

Also notable (and perhaps a selling point for some) is that the DROID is a Google Experience device, which should theoretically mean that it's more likely to receive fast and frequent software updates than its skinned cousins like the CLIQ. The Google Experience is sort of the "gold standard" Android showcase for the company, so to speak, and it's in Google's best interest to keep it rock solid at all times -- and since there's no third-party skin to revalidate after every Android version is released, the update process should go a heck of a lot smoother.

One thing to keep in mind: when it comes to media syncing, you're in the same boat you were for previous versions of Android -- which means sideloading or additional desktop apps. doubleTwist has just introduced DROID compatibility, though the experience leaves much to be desired. In fact, after our tests, we'd say you're better off just mounting that SD card and dragging your content over.

Navigation


One of the biggest pieces of news (perhaps the biggest) to come out of the DROID launch was the introduction of dedicated, fully realized turn-by-turn navigation which integrates with Google Maps. The DROID makes further use of this functionality by switching into a nav mode when snapped into a dock (you can also enter the application normally, sans dock). Google has gone all out on this, providing a rich mixture of its satellite, map, traffic, and location info with text-to-speech directions. Of course, the big G takes it one step further and adds layers like parking info, ATM spots, restaurants, and gas station locations (amongst others) to the stew, making the navigation more robust than many dedicated PNDs -- which would explain that nasty drop in Garmin and TomTom stock we saw yesterday.

In our tests, the nav worked excellently for the most part, though as you can see in the video above, we did run into some minor issues on our hunt for cannoli. It's not uncommon for a GPS unit to send you the wrong way down a one way street, and maybe it was just unlucky coincidence that it happened on our first outing, but being told to turn left where you can't -- then being sent in a loop -- doesn't fill us with warm, fuzzy sensations. Still, the navigation is super intuitive and cleanly laid out, and even if there were major issues (which there really aren't), it's hard to knock a service that is completely free. We think a little more time and some longer trips will help put it in better perspective, but we like what we've seen so far.

Accessories


The DROID will get a few nifty extras when it launches, most notably a dock for setting your phone on a nightstand (or appropriate flat surface), and a car mount for using the device as a proper GPS unit. Both are notable because they use sensors to alter the DROID's functionality. The dock turns the DROID into something that looks not entirely dissimilar from Verizon's now defunct Hub, while the car mount just boots the phone into nav mode. Both are nice touches, and you'll want the car mount if you plan on taking Google up on that offer of free satnav.

Battery life

We haven't had a lot of time to put the DROID through its paces when it comes to battery life, but at a glance it seems to be holding its own against the current crop of 3G devices -- impressive considering it's only packing a 1400mAh battery behind that extremely sexy door. Paul Miller, who has been concurrently testing the phone, claims he had 24 hours of on and off usage before requiring a recharge (syncing, but no major phone calls or lots of screen time). In general, you won't be blown away by the DROID's staying power, but it doesn't deviate in any wild ways which should make you take pause. It's solid, not breathtaking, and it seems better than the CLIQ, which -- despite using the same battery -- typically manages to just barely eke through a day's worth of typical use.

Wrap-up


It will be difficult for casual observers not to see the DROID as a kind of anti-iPhone in Verizon's arsenal. Certainly the company has played up the comparison with its "DROID does" ad campaign, and it's no secret that Verizon and Apple have previously had some friction -- the V famously passed on the first-generation iPhone, after all. Of course, it's easy to draw parallels between the two devices; as with most current smartphones, they share a tremendous number of similarities, though there is plenty that set the two apart as well. And that's really kind of the point -- it's useless to look at devices like this in black and white, or to try and figure out if an Android device on Verizon is better than an Apple device on AT&T (or any other device on any other carrier, for that matter). What it ultimately comes down to when judging this kind of device is more complicated than a "yes" or "no" answer.

If you must compare the DROID to the iPhone, then know that the Android platform still has a ways to go before the experience of using the phone is as seamless as the one Apple has created -- but also know that Apple has a long way to go before its messaging, email, and customization can match what Google is offering. Both products have very distinct strengths and weaknesses.

So, is the DROID a good smartphone? Yes, the DROID is an excellent smartphone with many (if not all) of the features that a modern user would expect, and if you're a Verizon customer, there probably isn't a more action packed device on the network. That's not to say the device doesn't have its faults; the camera was unpleasant to use, the application selection feels thin in both quantity and quality (despite the claim of 10,000 options), and the phone has bits of basic, non-intuitive functionality that might chafe on some users after a while. But even still, it's hard not to recommend the DROID to potential buyers eager to do more with their devices. It's easily the best Android phone to date, and when you couple the revamped OS, Verizon's killer network, and an industrial design straight from a gadget enthusiast's fever-dream, it makes for a powerful concoction. Ultimately, the DROID won't usurp the iPhone from the public's collective mindshare or convince casual users that they must switch to Android, but it will make a lot of serious geeks seriously happy -- and that's good enough for us.

Watch Britney Spears "3" Full Video


For those of you needing more than the few seconds of the "3" video that Britney Spears teased us with yesterday, you're in luck, as the whole darn thing now makes its debut.

And of course, given the song's ménage à trois theme, it's really no surprise to see the pop princess bringing the sexy here, complete with lacy outfits, revealing leotards and a whole lot of gyrating with her multiple backup dancers.

Much like those few seconds from yesterday.

Mozilla releases first beta of Firefox 3.6

Those keen to try out Mozilla's latest browser--and its new process to update the software more frequently--now can try Firefox 3.6 beta 1.

Among the features in the new version, according to Mike Beltzner, Mozilla's director of Firefox, and Mozilla evangelist Chris Blizzard:

• Personas, which lets people customize the browser appearance. Personas has been available as an add-on, so there are plenty of Personas skins to choose from.

• Faster execution of Web-based JavaScript programs, better browser responsiveness, and faster startup time. Mozilla has been working on JavaScript performance for many months, but the urgency of that and other performance improvements increased with the arrival of Google's Chrome browser.

• The ability to drag and drop files from the computer to the browser. This is useful for uploading files to Web sites, as will a feature not in the beta but planned for the final version, support for the multiple-file input tag so more than one file can be added in Web forms.

• Expanded support for geolocation technology so it can provide a Web site with an approximate physical address of the user, not just latitude-longitude coordinates.

• The ability to detect the computer's orientation for machines that offer accelerometer support.

• Video built into Web pages with the HTML5 "video" tag now can be viewed full-screen.

Mozilla also released a full list of Firefox changes developers should know about with more details.

Firefox is at the vanguard of the second generation of browser wars. Although it competes with Google's Chrome, Apple's Safari, and Opera, all those browsers are also allied in a way against Microsoft's Internet Explorer, which though dominant is relatively slow at some tasks and only now complying more fully with Web page standards of yesteryear. The rivals, meanwhile, are pushing ahead with new features in HTML5 in development right now.

Mozilla released the alpha version of Firefox 3.6, code-named Namoroka, in August.

The organization plans to release the final version by the end of the year, with Firefox 3.7 in the first half of 2010 and Firefox 4.0 in about a year.

One complication of the upgrade is compatibility of add-ons that extend Firefox's features; the new browser version makes some changes. Mozilla is debating whether to release Firefox 3.6 as a minor update automatically distributed to 3.5 users or as a major update that requires those users to actively retrieve it.

One major element of Firefox 4.0 is a new add-on technology called Jetpack that eases this compatibility problem.

Glambert Debuts New Single: Are You Entertained?


Just in time for Halloween, the Glampire himself has loosed upon the ever-critical Interwebs the first single/title track from his debut album.

Described by Adam Lambert as "dance music with a glam-rock shuffle beat," "For Your Entertainment" premiered on Ryan Seacrest's KIIS-FM radio show this morning and is currently streaming on Lambert's official site.

While the cut may not show off the American Idol runner-up's pipes as much as his reality stint did, it more than defined his style.

And ferocity...

"Do you know what you got into/Can you handle what I'm 'bout to do/Cause it's about to get rough with you/I'm here for your entertainment," he sings.

"Bet you thought that I was soft and sweet/You thought an angel swept you off your feet/ I'm about to turn up the heat/I'm here for your entertainment."

"Let me entertain you til you scream," he, well, screamed.

But despite the anticipation preceding his debut, no one was more excited than Lambert himself.

"Turn it up really loud, guys!" he implored listeners before the radio debut. "I know it's really early, but turn it up!"

Forget being the love child of Ziggy and Bowie. It's Britney who may want to watch her back.

For Your Entertainment the album is due out Nov. 23.

SM-TVXQ Contract w/r/t/ Income Distribution

The Court has granted the injunction filed by the members of TVXQ against SM Entertainment.The Court found that the Contract between SM and the Members was unconscionable and against public policy. Following this victory, the Members are proceeding with the main suit to ask for the rightful shares of all income generated from their activities.

The following is a summary of the outrageous terms of the Contract that relates to the distribution of income. The clear conclusion is that the TVXQ members have received next to nothing for their six years of work, and that virtually all money we spend to buy SM products stay with SM. Please read the below to see the extent of the injustice.

Please keep in mind that SM's contract with TVXQ has been amended five times and therefore the applicable terms have varied over time. Accounting for all the resulting complexities, the truth adds up to the following:

-------------

I. TVXQ has received $0 for their album sales prior to July 2008, and only a negligible amount after that date.

Prior to the fifth and final round of amendments on July 1, 2008, the Contract read that for any album or single with sales not exceeding 500,000 copies, SM would be entitled to 100% of the profits, leaving the members with nothing. From the time of TVXQ's debut in late 2003 and until TVXQ's release of their 4th Korean album "Mirotic" in September 2008, no Korean album had sold more than 500,000 copies. Therefore, prior to July 2008 TVXQ has had absolutely zero income from their album sales.

On July 1,2008, SM amended the Contract to give each Member 1% of total sales for each album that sells over 200,000 copies. For any albums that sell fewer copies, the members are to receive 0.6% to 0%. SM has not honored even these outrageous terms, as it has not paid TVXQ a single cent since February 2009.

In sum, SM has kept 100% of all sales that TVXQ has generated with the sales of their albums and singles prior to July 2008, and has kept 95% or more of the sales after that date.

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II. TVXQ has received $0 for the sales of concert DVDs and albums featuring recordings from such concerts.

Under the Contract, the Members are not entitled to receive any share of the profits generated from sales of concert DVDs and "live" albums.

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III. TVXQ has received $0 for their appearances on TV programs.

Under the Contract, Members are not entitled to receive any share of the profits made through their TV appearances if the appearance is of a temporary nature. As all programs on which TVXQ appeared have featured the Members as "guests"and therefore by nature have been temporary, SM has kept all profits that TVXQ has generated from these TV appearances.

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IV. For all other possible sources of revenue, SM subtracts from the total revenue all expenses, including salaries of other staff, stage preparation expenses, rent, travel expenses, food expenses, and the like, then gives TVXQ only a fraction of the remaining amount.

As for all other sources of income, the Contract states that TVXQ is entitled to varying percentages of the "net income." The Contract defines "net income" to be the amount remaining after the applicable "operating costs". The "operating costs" are defined to include such expenses that are traditionally expected to be covered by the employer, including but not limited to 1) salaries of the staff (manager, clothing coordinators, makeup artists, dance crew, and the like), 2) performing stage preparation costs, 3) living expenses, including rent and water/electricity bills, 4) travel expenses, including plane ticket costs, 5) meal expenses, and the like.

Even after all these "operating costs" are deducted from the net income, the Members are only entitled to a small percentage of the remainder while SM keeps the rest.

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In conclusion, please realize that SM has kept virtually all of the profits that our Members have generated over the past six years. Our Members have received, literally, next to nothing.

Following thevictory of the granting of the preliminary injunction, the Members now prepare for a suit to claim their rightful share of the profits that they themselves generated. Please help them win the lawsuit by boycotting all SM-made products and merchandises (this excludes all Avex-made products, which includes Japanese albums and singles released in Japan).

Please remember that every cent you spend on SM will be used to fuel SM's efforts against our Members in the main suit. We as fans support TVXQ in their rightful fight fortheir rights.

Bing's new mobile site wants to be touched

Microsoft on Friday released a refreshed version of its mobile search site (m.bing.com) that's optimized for touch-screen devices. The new page includes finger-friendly buttons that are easier to both identify and to press, as well as a movie finder that lets users browse by what's near them by time and theater.

So far, the only devices that work with it are the iPhone/iPod Touch, T-Mobile G1, Samsung Omnia, Verizon Imagio, and the Zune HD. Microsoft says support for other phones and portables is coming. In the meantime, phones that can't access the touch-friendly interface get defaulted to a simpler version.

Also worth noting is that the touch interface is only available to users in the U.S. for the time being.

Along with touch, Microsoft also added two new search query types that pull from near real-time data sources. This includes a way for users to check on NFL football scores and flight status. Users looking to get an updated score or player stats just need type in the team or player name. As for flights, you'll need the airline and flight number and it will cull the most recent information about arrivals, departures, or delays.

Now how about fitting some of that neato visual search action on the mobile site too?

X-Man Doesn't Mark the Spot for Oscars: Hugh Jackman Won't Rehost

Hugh Jackman would like to thank the Academy, but no thanks.

Despite his critically (the gig garnered several Emmy nominations) and publicly (he breathed new life and viewers into the ratings sinkhole) acclaimed Oscars hosting stint last spring, the Aussie actor will not be returning to the podium for the 2010 telecast.

Jackman's quiet exit doesn't mean he won't one day become this generation's Billy Crystal. His rep confirmed to E! News that he has not ruled out a return to the Oscar stage, but just didn't want to emcee for two consecutive years.

Fair enough. After all, how are we supposed to realize how good this is until we spend a year without it?

No frontrunner has emerged to fill Jackman's sizable song-and-dance shoes, but with one obvious fill-in, Ricky Gervais, suddenly bringing new buzz to the Golden Globes, the Academy better bring out the big guns.

So…Stephen Colbert, Neil Patrick Harris, Conan O'Brien, Chris Rock, Ellen DeGeneres, uh, Robert Pattinson…who would you like to see host the 82nd Annual Academy Awards when they return March 7?

Songs for Jay Chou's new album already written; delayed for the first time

Every October Jay Chou releases his new album, it's now nearly November, besides news about him being in "The Green Hornet", there's no news about his new album at all. But reporters have found out, the songs for Jay Chou's new album have already been written, in next few days his recorder Gary Yang will fly to Las Angeles to help Jay Chou record his new album. But because of the busy schedule of filming and opening a new restaurant, Jay Chou's new album will be delayed for the first time.


Yesterday reporters found out, the release date for Jay Chou's new album still has not been set, fans will have to wait patiently. "The songs are actually already written, he is working with Vincent Fang and persisting with his past style. But recently he has been busy with filming, there's no concrete timeframe of when it will be recorded, the company will not rush him." The JVR Music staff told the reporters this. Reporters have found out that in the next few days, Jay Chou's recorder Gary Yang will be flying to Las Angeles to produce the album.

This is the first time Jay Chou's new album has been delayed indefinitely, it is indeed surprising. According to reports, besides being busy with filming, he has placed a lot of his efforts into his own restaurant. After opening dessert house "Mr. Qute" in July, his fourth restaurant is in preparation. Even though he is in Hollywood filming "The Green Hornet", Jay Chou is remote controlling the preparations for the restaurant everyday from America. According to reports, he intends to make the store in American style "D Topic Restaurant".

Google Chrome: The Fast Browser With Slow Adoption

The launch of Google's Chrome browser a little over a year ago brought with it a mountain of hype and expectations, with some suggesting it could be as instantly disruptive and beneficial as Gmail was to the webmail market.

After all, here was Google opening another front against Microsoft with a big and bold move, and also turning into a competitor to its close partner Mozilla, maker of Firefox, the darling browser of techies worldwide.

Positioning itself as a reluctant entrant to the market, Google stated dramatically that it had no other choice given its deep dissatisfaction with existing browsers, specifically with their speed and performance running Web applications.

This browser wasn't a side project, Google said, but rather a serious endeavor with far-reaching implications for the future of its online services and applications.

It was an epic move: the mighty Google, like Achilles, marching into battle. The problem is, Chrome hasn't precisely turned things around as the mythical hero did, mercilessly and unequivocally, on behalf of the Greeks against the Trojans.

With a modest market share of about 4 percent, Chrome, which was launched on Sept. 1 last year, hasn't yet come close to approaching market leader Internet Explorer, nor the second-most-popular browser, Firefox.

"To date, Chrome really hasn't had the success that I suspect Google had anticipated for it," said Sheri McLeish, a Forrester analyst.

As it turns out, Chrome has more than a few Achilles heels.

For starters, it doesn't exist for Mac OS and Linux users, two camps full of technology enthusiasts and early adopters. The Mac OS and Linux versions are delayed. To make matters worse, the doors of most workplaces, particularly large enterprises, remain closed to Chrome because it lacks basic features that IT departments need.

While Google will remedy these two issues at some point, there are other obstacles to Chrome's adoption that may be harder to fix.

One is the widespread ignorance among many consumers about browsers, and their tendency to default to the one that comes with their PC. Another issue goes back to a question asked repeatedly at Chrome's launch: Does the world need another browser? Or put another way: Does Chrome offer enough of an improvement to justify switching to it?

Google certainly didn't help Chrome's chances to sprint out of the gate by releasing it as a beta product that was quite rough around the edges. Not only was Chrome unstable and buggy at first, but it didn't play well with many Web sites, including some of Google's own, because Google made its release a surprise and didn't give webmasters advance notice to adapt their sites.

While Chrome's low adoption in workplaces isn't surprising, its modest popularity among consumers is more worrisome. "We haven't seen any mass exodus from consumers to jump to Chrome from other browsers," McLeish said.

Since Chrome hasn't taken the world by storm, and considering that Microsoft, Mozilla and Apple continue to enhance their respective browsers, should Google stick with this project?

"Google should stay in the game if they think they can innovate and differentiate in the long run and put enough marketing and R&D [research and development] behind the effort," IDC analyst Al Hilwa said via e-mail.

This is Google's intention, according to Brian Rakowski, a Google group product manager in the Chrome team. "There's still a lot of work to do, but it'll be pretty great," he said.

Rakowski takes exception to the idea that Chrome lacks appeal, saying it has about 30 million active users, even though it doesn't yet fully play in the Mac OS, Linux and enterprise IT segments.

"Given the remaining chunk of market that's there, we've done pretty well in a short period of time. If you look at historical browser growth rates, it's a slow process. It takes time," Rakowski said.

A big reason why it takes time is the complacency of consumers. "Most people honestly don't know and they don't care about browsers. They just want to get on the Web," McLeish said. Even Microsoft struggles with this, as many consumers resist upgrading to newer versions of IE, she said.

Hilwa's research reflects a similar reality. Consumers have been conditioned to think of the browser as an integral part of their PC and its operating system, and thus are unlikely to switch.

"Using browsers not supplied with the machine remains the province of power-users, which creates a bit of disconnect in the strategy Google has, which is to bring browser innovation to the masses," Hilwa said. "Ultimately, this might become a war about operating system platforms again before it becomes a seriously competitive browser market again."

Aware of this, Google is planning an attack from that flank with its still-unreleased Chrome operating system, which will be deeply interwoven with the Chrome browser. In addition, Google is making moves to have the browser pre-installed on PCs, as a recent deal with Sony shows.

Still, Google, horrified at consumers' ignorance about browsers, has enlisted its marketing department to help educate people. "There's a large number of people who just don't know what a browser is. That's a huge challenge for us," Rakowski said.

In the meantime, the Chrome team keeps focusing primarily on performance improvements, which are the browser's main selling points and ultimately the key reasons for its existence.

"Everything [in the Chrome browser], from the new Javascript engine to its multiprocess architecture, is designed with heavier, more intensive Web apps in mind," Rakowski said.

While this is a valid effort, the average user cares or understands little about browser speed and performance, so this is unlikely to draw many new users.

"Most of the internal stuff is really lost on the unwashed masses of users who are not going to get into the complexity of browsers," Hilwa said.

Plus, the browser is far from the only element that affects the performance of online applications and services, McLeish said. Local network bandwidth, ISP (Internet service provider) traffic, the user's PC hardware and the landing Web site's server all play a part.

Google argues that the value of the Chrome project isn't limited to its own success. As an open-source browser, Chrome can help spur innovation in browser technology across the board, which is crucial for Google, Rakowski said.

However, it's unclear to what extent it will be feasible for other browsers to incorporate Chrome code, when one hears Rakowski explain why Google decided to build a new browser instead of simply contributing to Firefox.

"There were reasons not to build on existing technology. Some of the architectural changes we wanted to make were so different and disruptive that it would have been very hard to do in existing code base and very disruptive to existing road maps and plans of these teams," he said. "You would have had to put the entire development cycle on hold while you experimented with some of these research-y things."

What's clear is that, as Chrome enters its second year, the Chrome team is moving as fast as it can, eager to release versions for Mac OS and Linux and add enterprise IT features, as well as work its way down its long to-do list.

"As soon as we get some time to breathe we'll add those things and that'll enable us to reach a whole other set of users," Rakowski said.

And when that happens, it will be not a moment too soon.

Miley Cyrus Calls 'Sex And The City 2' Cameo 'A Total Dream Come True'

Fans will have to wait until next year to see all the crazy shenanigans that Miley Cyrus will get herself into for her cameo in the "Sex and the City: The Movie" sequel, but she's already dishing about her cameo in the film, where she plays the easiest role of her life: herself!

"It was the best job I've ever done," she told Ryan Seacrest when she spoke to him on his radio show on Friday. "It was a total dream come true."

The shoot took place earlier this month in New York City. And, in her scene. she shows up to Smith's (Jason Lewis) movie premiere in the same dress as his lady, Samantha Jones (Kim Cattrall). Faux pas! And, we're sure that Samantha wasn't too keen on it, but Miley says that in real life, Kim was quite the opposite of her alter ego. The teen queen described working with Kim as "really cool" and added that "Sarah Jessica Parker was the nicest person in the world."

Miley also saw the chance to be in the film as a little vacation to the city that never sleeps. Not a bad gig, if you ask us! "I didn't end up shooting until 11 p.m.," Miley said. "It was awesome — I got a free trip to New York. I hung out in New York all day and then I got to go to the set. I literally shot for an hour-and-a-half, and it was done."

2PM new album release date on Cyworld taken down; Underground moves on with their 2nd boycott exercise

Following the chain of speculations and discussions after the date 10th November was stated as PM’s comeback new album release date on Cyworld on 28th October, the release date for the album was taken down from Cyworld on 30th October.

And on 28th October, fan union Underground handed over 6192 passbooks with 11,000 KRW in each to JYP headquarters in ChungDamDong, asking to return JaeBum to the group with the money the fans will be using to buy 2PM’s upcoming album.

The album release date and also new song preview release date on Cyworld and Melon respectively was posted up 2 days back.

But on 29th and 30th October, the dates were taken down from the sites.

And at the same time, on 28th October, 2PM fan union Underground return 6192 passbooks with 11,ooo KRW deposited in each one to JYP Entertainment. In each passbook is written, “We wish to use the money meant to buy 2PM’s new album for JaeBum to return” and “I ? ??” at the back of the passbook.

UnderGround members revealed that this is one of their boycott measures to demand for JaeBum to return to 2PM.

And for this boycott exercise, fans from middle and high school, college, working adults in their 20s and 40s, parents and also overseas fans were mobilized.

Xperia Pureness unboxed, performs for the camera (video)



As you are no doubt well aware, the launch date for the Xperia Pureness is looming. If you've been dying for a closer look, you're in luck: the fashion icons over at MobileBurn have got their hands on one and have been kind enough to make us a short film of the reveal. At first blush, the phone doesn't look any less impressive than it did in the shots and video we've seen before. There doesn't appear to be any hint of a keypad before the thing when shut off, although that obviously changes once it's powered on. As far as that transparent glass display goes, we can tell from here that it's not likely to be visible in direct (or even some indirect) sunlight -- but since you're a jet-setting nightclub habitue' who hasn't been outside in the daylight in four years that probably shouldn't bother you much. The UI is pretty much standard for an SE feature phone, and the battery is not removable. The price? Looks like it will run you a healthy £530 (about $875). Still interested? Peep the video in action after the break.

50 Cent And Polow Da Don Create A 'Hit Record' With 'Baby By Me'

'That was the first joint I played him,' Polow says of Fif instantly loving the beat.

If at first you don't succeed, try, try (and try and try and try) again.

It took five attempts before 50 Cent and producer Polow Da Don could finally lock into a studio session together for the G-Unit superstar's "Baby by Me" track, but once they connected, their chemistry was instant. Polow said Fif knew right away they had a hot one on their hands.

"He came in the studio, we had some time set up — we had, like, five sessions; the other four fell through," Polow told MTV News. "The fifth one, we got together, he came in and that was the first joint I played him. He said, 'That's a hit record.' "

The Atlanta-based beatsmith said Fif only needed 20 minutes to craft the track. The song is the lead single for 50's forthcoming album, Before I Self Destruct, and features Ne-Yo on the hook. Polow said he and 50 settled on a hook for the song but after sending the track over to Ne-Yo, the songwriter reworked it into its current incarnation.

"We had the record done," Polow said. "What's so crazy [is] we had a different hook on it. We went back and forth with the hook, but then we sent it to Ne-Yo and he wrote his own hook and that was that."

"When [50] first sent me the joint, I was like, 'You don't need me for this,' " Ne-Yo told MTV News recently during the video shoot for the song. "I thought the beat was hot, what he was talking about was hot — I just tried to add to the hotness."

There are two versions of "Baby by Me," one featuring Ne-Yo and another with newcomer JoVan Dais. But despite the syrupy single, 50 has said his next album will be his most aggressive yet, even more so than his debut.

"Before I Self Destruct is absolutely harder than Get Rich or Die Tryin' or other projects in between," 50 said.

Toda Erika Kisses on the Streets

Actress Toda Erika, from the Japanese drama 'Ryusei no Kizuna' has a new romance! Towards the end of last year, Toda was already rumoured with Kanjani8 member Murakami Shingo. However at that time, the two denied they were dating, only acknowledging they were 'friends'. But yesterday's issue of Josei Seven published photos of them strolling hand in hand and sharing kisses together in public. After the incident, Murakami expressed his feelings towards Toda, saying that she is very important to him.

Toda, who is 21 years old, is currently filming 'Liar Game 2'. As for the 27 year old Murakami, aside from his musical activities with Kanjani8, he is also working on a new drama titled 'My Girl', alongside Arashi's Aiba Masaki. While both dramas are competing against each other this season, Josei Seven managed to catch the two busy actors out for a meal together during a weekend evening this month. The photos are of the two at an izakaya (Japanese pub).

Bystanders said they stood out from the crowd of older customers. While the two were easily recognized, it didn't seem to bother them as they sat close together and held hands the entire time. They didn't leave until an hour later.

As the two were walking on the streets, Toda suddenly stopped and edged closer to Murakami. Just as they were leaning in to share a kiss, they abruptly pulled away and laughed. Perhaps they realized they were in a public area. Toda probably had a few drinks during dinner as she seemed a little unsteady on her feet. Murakami kept a hold of her hand the entire time until they reach her place.

When Murakami accepted an interview after the incident, he said that they were both busy filming and coincidentally had a free day, so they decided to go for a meal. The two have a lot in common as they are both from the Kansai region. He admits that: "We are very comfortable when we're together and very compatible. She's an important female friend of mine." Murakami's reply could almost be taken as an acknowledgement of their relationship.

Sony Ericsson Android XPERIA X3/X10 teaser video

Sony Ericsson’s XPERIA teaser may have been accused of being a little presumptuous, but that doesn’t mean we’re not excited about the Android device they’re announcing on November 3rd. Now a teaser video has emerged showing the XPERIA X3/X10 Rachael in action, and darn it if we’re not excited again.


There’s no new detail on the device, at least nothing we didn’t know already, and neither the full front nor the OS is shown. However, we’re pretty certain that this is the company’s first Android smartphone, complete with the own homegrown UI that, from the video demo we’ve seen of it in the past, looks like it could take on HTC Sense.

Previously tipped specs suggest the XPERIA X3/X10 will have an 8-megapixel camera, HSPA, a huge touchscreen and Qualcomm’s 1GHz Snapdragon processor. We’ll have to wait until next week to find out for sure.

"Ip Man 2" Shifts Focus to Life

The cast and crew is currently filming "Ip Man 2" in Shanghai, Sohu reports.


Helmed by director Wilson Yip, the film has gathered actor Sammo Hung and Lynn Hung from the original with the addition of popular star Huang Xiaoming.

The continuation focuses on the life of the protagonist, differeing from the serious theme of 'fighting for survival' in the original. Family relations are highlighted in the action-packed flick, according to the director Wilson Yip.

"Ip Man 2" is slated for release in summer 2010.





ASUS' Android-based 'secret weapon' smartbook launching in Q1



We got our first glimpse at a computing future filled with low-cost, ARM-based ASUS smartbooks running Android on a 1GHz Snapdragon processor all the way back on June 1st. Since then, however, the pencil-spinning boys in Taiwan have been poo-pooing plans to launch such a device due to what ASUS called an uncertain market opportunity -- or was it pressure from Wintel, we never can tell? Then yesterday, ASUS' Jerry Shen pulled an about-face at an investor meeting in Taipei with talk of launching a $180 smartbook in Q1 of 2010. Bristling with confidence, Shen goes so far as to call it a "secret weapon" in a category offering potential for huge, Eee PC-like growth. Well, with the first big-name smartbooks just starting to ship, even a dozen or so sales could be considered statistically significant.

Nicholas Tse confirmed Cecilia Cheung is pregnant

Nicholas Tse attended the "Arts & Film" event today. Besides talking about his filming progress he also confirmed that wife Cecilia Cheung is pregnant.

During the interview, Nicholas did not intend/wish to disclose that Cecilia is pregnant again. However, the reporters continued asking Nicholas about it. He think for a few minutes and finally for the first time he disclosed that Cecilia is indeed pregnant again. He added that he still do not know whether Cecilia is pregnant with twins or not. When asked whether did his son Lucas said that he wanted a sister or not; he smiled and reply "Lucas is only 2 years old. He do not know how to say."

Watch Video Nicholas Tse confirmed

Verizon DROID Eris by HTC caught in wild

Neither Verizon nor HTC have officially confirmed the existence of the Verizon DROID Eris, but unless you’re looking at the handiwork of a particularly impressive Halloween costume (sized for hamster) then we’d say the Android smartphone’s existence is pretty much assured. The BGR received two live shots of the HTC DROID Eris – you can see the second after the cut – together with a little feedback as to how the handset performs.


“Overall” their source explains, the DROID Eris feels “the same as the Sprint Hero but for some reason it seems faster, slightly thinner and taller.” Under HTC Sense there’s Android 1.5, but there’s no reason not to assume that HTC’s upcoming Android 2.0 upgrade for the Hero won’t find a place on the Eris too.

The expectation is that the Verizon DROID Eris by HTC will arrive on November 6th alongside the Verizon DROID by Motorola. Pricing is believed to be $99.99 following the usual rebates and assuming a new, two-year agreement, making it a bargain compared to what Sprint are charging for the HTC Hero.

Michael Jackson Autopsy Picture Leaked?

Rumors are swirling that someone leaked a photo of the King of Pop’s autopsy. The Daily Beast’s Gerald Posner investigates.

Last week I received a telephone call from a photo agent in London who I had met in 1999 while investigating the death of Princess Di for Talk magazine. Then, he had helped me chase down rumors of photos snapped immediately after the accident in the Pont Alma tunnel. In the spring of ’99, surrounded by tight security in a clandestine location, I was shown low-resolution images of a dying Diana still trapped in the crumpled Mercedes. Those pictures were offered to me for $2 million. I passed. Some of the less graphic ones were finally aired in 2004 by CBS’s 48 Hours. CBS was widely condemned for showing the pictures, from Diana's brother who said he was "sickened" to Prime Minister Tony Blair who called the broadcast of the grainy black-and-white images "distasteful."

But the call from London was not this time about Di. It was about Michael Jackson, and an equally distasteful photo, one supposedly snapped at Jackson’s autopsy.

“There are rumors that a photo is being flashed around Los Angeles,” he told me. “Supposedly was given to someone from who was at the autopsy.”

If what he told me was true, it would constitute a remarkable breach of security for the Los Angeles investigators on the Jackson death probe, as well as the coroner’s office where the autopsy was conducted. Since that call, The Daily Beast followed a trail through dozens of people in the U.S. and Europe and tracked down a prominent Los Angeles restaurant owner who has a high-resolution copy of what is evidently a photo from the Jackson autopsy. That person has shown it to friends on his BlackBerry, including several California-based television executives. The restaurant owner told at least one of those TV execs that the photo had been given to him by a “high-ranking police friend.”

Two of those who saw it described it to me independently, one of them saying it was “shocking.” It is of Jackson, his eyes wide open, lying on his back on a metal autopsy table. The picture is of Jackson’s head only, and taken from the corpse’s left side, from someone who was standing, and at about a 30-degree angle toward the body. The front of the pop star’s skull is shaved. His ashen face is stripped of any makeup. The lips are flat and wide, but without lipstick. A scar, which he had hidden under makeup whenever he went out, is visible on his left check. His tattooed eyebrows are the only other visible mark on his face.

One executive who saw it, although not a professional photographer, told The Daily Beast that he was certain it was “not a cellphone picture. The quality was far too good.”

I traded email and text messages with the restaurant owner. “Who gave u my contact infor?” he first replied to me. He refused a personal visit when I offered to fly to Los Angeles to see him. “Thanks for ur interest, good luck to u and ur continued success,” he said, trying to end any further contact.

When I continued pushing, he only replied, “Thnk u, but at this time I’m not interested.” When asked whether he still had the photo, he didn’t answer.

Though there’s no evidence the restaurant owner has offered the photo for sale, somehow word of what he has had spread across the pond to London. The photo editors from likely British tabloids buyers of such a picture—The Sun, News of the World, or The Daily Mail—refused to say whether they had heard about a Jackson autopsy photo for sale. However, one editor told me off the record that such a photo would fetch easily over $1 million for worldwide rights.

But no one with the photo better plan their retirement soon. If the picture is real, then the Los Angeles coroner and police might have something to say about that.

Chief Coroner Ed Winter told me that officially his office had no comment on any aspect of the Jackson autopsy, including even disclosing the number of people present at the postmortem examination, much less their names.

“I know who was there and I know what pictures were taken,” he told me. If he saw a copy of the photo being flashed in Los Angeles, he could determine, he said, whether it was authentic—the left cheek scar was potentially important, as even if it was faked, there would be few people outside of Jackson’s entourage who knew about that private, identifying mark.

If the picture is real, “we would conduct an internal investigation here, and one would be done in all likelihood by the police department and the district attorney.”

Winter said he had heard rumors of an autopsy photo that circulated, but could never find anyone who had a copy. But he also stressed that until he saw it personally, he couldn’t dismiss the chance that it was a fake worthy of a Hollywood studio’s special-effects department. Not long ago, he told me that The Sun and News of the World had shown him a purported copy of a Jackson autopsy report. “If you paid for that,” Winter told them, “you got taken.” The Associated Press claimed to have obtained access to a copy of Jackson’s autopsy last week. “When I asked them if I could see what they had,” Winter told me, “they couldn’t produce anything.”

Los Angeles prosecutors and police have shown a recent tendency to pursue criminal investigations when it comes to leaked information about high-profile cases. Just during the past two weeks, news has broken that TMZ’s chief, Harvey Levin, had his phone records seized by a secret warrant, as part of an official probe into how the Web site obtained details of the drunk-driving arrest and anti-Semitic outburst of Mel Gibson in 2006.

If Los Angeles prosecutors are upset about who broke the law by leaking word of Gibson’s drunk driving, they are likely to be steamed at the possibility that someone may have shared an autopsy photo of the dead pop star.

Winter understands that while any potential investigation into the restaurant owner’s phone records might well reveal who in the Los Angeles coroner’s office or police department was the leaker, it might also force others who have copies of the picture “to go underground for the time being.” That happened with the Princess Di photos. After my 1999 report that they were for sale, none ran for five years.

“No one here would ever want to see that type of picture published,” Winter told The Daily Beast. “And the people that have it, if it’s real, they should ask themselves how they would feel if someone printed a picture of one of their loved ones from an autopsy.”

Microsoft Haunted By Windows 7 Upgrade Issue

Rumblings of discontent within the Windows user community are growing louder this week over Microsoft's failure to provide clear direction on the Windows 7 upgrade process.

For the past several months, Windows 7 testers have been asking Microsoft for technical details on Windows 7 upgrades, but have heard nothing but crickets from Redmond. So Microsoft bloggers have taken matters into their own hands by publishing detailed workarounds for clean installing Windows 7 using upgrade media, something Microsoft says is illegal.

On Tuesday, Eric Ligman, global partner experience lead in Microsoft's Worldwide Partner Group, suggested that these bloggers are advocating behavior that violates Microsoft's software licensing terms. Paul Thurrott, author of the Supersite For Windows blog, fired back at Microsoft on Thursday and said the company should have clearly documented the issue months ago.

"I'm not endorsing piracy. Obviously. I'm just trying to support the millions of people that Microsoft fooled into pre-ordering Windows 7 by offering steep discounts, only to discover later that the Upgrade version they purchased unknowingly might not actually install properly," Thurrott wrote in a blog post.

Ed Bott, another noted Microsoft blogger, believes the lack of communication from Microsoft on this issue has worrisome implications.

"Does Microsoft not understand that information abhors a vacuum and that the most likely outcome of stonewalling on this issue is that people will simply make stuff up or post inflammatory (and wrong) conclusions based on something that happened to a friend of some guy who posted on a message board?" Bott wrote in a blog post.

Microsoft couldn't be reached for comment on the Windows 7 upgrade hack issue, but it's safe to say the problem isn't going away anytime soon.

Microsoft faced the same issue with Windows Vista upgrades, and reacted in much the same way -- by insisting that the Vista upgrade workaround violated its licensing terms and claiming that anyone who used them could run into legal issues down the road. But while no one would argue that software piracy isn't a huge problem for Microsoft, the subtle threats of legal retribution could end up casting a dark cloud over the otherwise successful Windows 7 launch.

Andy Kretzer, director of sales and marketing at Bold Data Technology, a Fremont, Calif.-based system builder, said Microsoft has always treaded carefully when it comes to making any sort of alteration to its software licensing terms, for fear of providing a roadmap for circumventing them.

"Microsoft doesn't want to open loopholes in their licensing, and it's starting to show in the way they construct their licensing terms," said Kretzer. "Take XP downgrade rights for example. When you read the nitty gritty machinations that you have to follow, it becomes very complex."

Microsoft is in a no-win situation because it has to balance the need to fight software piracy with the needs of its customers, notes Michael Cherry, an analyst with Directions On Microsoft, Kirkland, Wash.

"You always have this trade-off on how secure you make it, at the risk of making it too hard for average person to work with," Cherry said. "All of the mechanisms that are designed for improper use are an escalating war, and vendors will have to make sure that they don't put too many barriers in place for the people who want to do the right thing."

Britney Spears Teases Fans With '3' Video Sneak Peeks

Clip for her provocative new single premieres Friday.

A day after announcing the Friday premiere of her "3" video, Britney Spears took to her Twitter to give fans a taste in three five-second clips.

In the first preview, a montage of Spears pictures flashes on the screen. One flash is a close-up of Spears as she sings and holds up her hair. It's cut together with black-and-white footage and images of just the bottom half of her body walking across the screen. "Here's the first video clip from Britney's 3 video... more later today!," she tweeted.

In the next clip, that same close-up is used, but this time it's spliced together with an image of Spears pressed against the camera with bed-head hair. "Another 5 second clip from Britney's 3 video... are you ready for tomorrow?" she wrote.


In the final preview clip, she's seen dancing a bit more in the black-and-white section of the video, and this is once again mixed with that same close-up shot and the images of her walking across the screen. "3...2...1..... Are you ready?" she tweeted. "Here's the last video clip of the day- Are you ready for the premiere tomorrow?"

Late Thursday (October 29), Spears also tweeted an additional photo from the video. In it, you just see her legs decked out in lacy tights and ankle boots.

TVXQ Sing Theme Song For NHK's New Drama

Popular Korean group TVXQ has been chosen to provide the theme song for the upcoming drama series "Tomehane! Suzuri Koukou Shodoubu." This will be their first one for a Japanese drama on NHK.

The song will be a rhythmic pop tune titled "BREAK OUT!" It is planned for release as a single this winter.

The "Tomehane!" drama series was first announced in June. Adapted from a manga by Katsutoshi Kawai, the story follows a young high school girl named Yuki Mochizuki (Aki Asakura), a top judo athlete who winds up in her school's calligraphy club.

NHK will air "Tomehane!" on Thursday nights at 8:00pm, starting on January 7.

Taylor and Taylor Continue to Kill Us With Cuteness

The tale of two Taylors and their rumored romance just seems to get more adorable by the day.

On the heels of creating some serious buzz about their relationship after attending a hockey game together earlier this week, Taylor Swift and Taylor Lautner were seen hanging out, yet again, on Wednesday—first hitting up an L.A. boutique and then following it up with dinner at a steakhouse in Beverly Hills.

But we're not the only ones wondering if this is the real deal and not simply some sort of publicity stunt for the genetically blessed couple's upcoming film, Valentine's Day…

During Swift's appearance on the Ellen DeGeneres Show, airing Thursday, the talk show host quickly cuts to the chase. Kinda, sorta.

"Who were your scenes with?" asks a knowing Ellen, referring to Valentine's Day.

"Taylor Lautner," a giggly Swift replies.

"The guy from Twilight," says Ellen. "Oh, yeah he's cute."

"Yeah, he is," Swift answers sheepishly.

Upon holding up a picture of T & T smooching and confirming that it's from their movie, Ellen naturally inquires if Lautner's "a good kisser," which Swift quickly responds with a coy "What?"

Well, we know what that means, now don't we?

Anita Yuen invites TVB Executive out for dinner secret negotiations

Just returned to the music industry Chilam Cheung had a rare day off yesterday. He and his wife Anita Yuen invited TVB executive Tommy Leung and his wife and some friends out for dinner at Causeway Bay. The group left the restaurant nearly midnight. Chilam first exited the restaurant with his male friends, Anita followed behind. With a heroic personality, Anita was happily chatting with her friends and did not care about the passbyers looking at her.

Also, recently it was rumored that Anita only accepted to shoot <House of 72 Tenants> for TVB only on one condition. That is, they had to reduce the screen time of past rumored to have not got along with Charmaine Sheh and to let her become TV Queen. Anita said with laugh: "I really haven't thought about TV Queen! (Did you request to reduce Charmaine's screen time?) It's only Miss Fong, Miss Lok and Eric Tsang who decides the roles and who does what. I have no control."

Miley does Michael in new show

“SHE'S just being”… Michael Jackson?


A black leather version of Miley Cyrus performed live in concert at the United Center in Chicago on Tuesday.

The 17-year-old made an attempt at a crotch grab in her short shorts during the show — perhaps in honour of This Is It’s premiere earlier that same night?



Apple releases iTunes 9.0.2, kills Palm Pre sync ... again

Apple has released iTunes 9.0.2, which, amongst other things, again kills the ability for the Palm Pre to sync with the software.

According to Apple, iTunes 9.0.2 features the following improvements:

" iTunes 9.0.2 adds support for Apple TV software version 3.0, adds an option for a dark background for Grid View, and improves support for accessibility."

No mention of the fact that it kills the Palm Pre sync hack that Palm relies on.

If you want the update, check Apple Software Updater, but if you rely on the Palm Pre sync feature, stick with 9.0.1.

50 Cent Goes 'Psycho' With Eminem On Before I Self Destruct Leak

Fif takes aim at Game and Young Buck on the album, which wasn't supposed to drop until November 23.

Well, at least 50 Cent knows people are dying to get their hands on his album. Unfortunately, Fif definitely didn't want fans to hear his new music this early.

On Wednesday (October 28), 50's Before I Self Destruct leaked almost a month before its planned November 23 release date. There has been no comment from 50 or Interscope Records as of press time.

For the most part, Self Destruct is the rugged, gangsta, hardcore hip-hop Fif has said is missing from the game. The album opens with a song called "The Invitation," which tells the firsthand story of a drug baron who loses a friend in a shooting but bounces back and gets retribution and grows even more menacing. "You want some? Come get some," 50 says bluntly on the chorus. "N---a, it's murder one when you see my gun/ I just squeeze and squeeze till the whole clip done/ You just bleed till the cops come."

"Death to My Enemies" isn't any less harsh. "Boy, I'll put your body in my bag," Fif sings along to a deranged melody. Later, the listener is left to dissect whether he is throwing a jab at Lil Wayne or referencing the infamous crack haven from the film "New Jack City." "This ain't the Carter, n---a, this is Sparta/ It's harder, I'll die, I'll be a martyr/ Respect me like your father."

On the very next record, there is no need to infer anything. 50 gets very blunt on "So Disrespectful," calling Young Buck a drug addict and the Game jealous. "C'mon, Game, you'll never be my equal," he raps. "Your homies shoot doors, my n---as shoot people/ See me, I'm what you're never gonna be/ I'm in that tax bracket you're never gon' see.

"I ain't know he f---ed with more dope than B.G./ Plus a n---a sip more syrup than Pimp C," Fif continues on the track. "Man, keeping these mutha----as rich ain't easy/ Especially when a n---a wanna stunt like Jeezy/ And his CDs didn't sell like his CDs/ Man that n---a blew all his chips on them breezies/ Mad cause the world won't treat him like Weezy."

"Psycho" features Fif's family member Eminem. "I'm a psycho, a sicko, I'm crazy," 50 declares on the hook. " ... You wanna see me shot up, locked up, cage me/ I'll come back bigger, stronger and angry."

Em checks into the psych ward, rapping, "Man, these are average raps, I'm keeping the savage batch hidden/ A can of whup-ass with the Shady-Aftermath lid/ You pop the top, it's like opening vats of acid/ Beat the Octo-Mom to death with a Cabbage Patch Kid."

Other guests on the album include R. Kelly and Ne-Yo.

JYP to keep contract with JaeBum, “Time is the problem”

JYP Entertainment will maintain and keep its contract with 2PM member JaeBum, who has left the group recently and is currently staying in the States.

The contract period for JaeBum is 7 years. Currently, it has been over a year after his debut, and there are still 5 years left on the contract. So what remains now is when he will return to Korea to resume his activities, and what many calls “the problem of time”.

JYP will be holding an audition in Seattle coming 7th November, and through one of the officials from the company, JaeBUm has also been scouted during the audition by JYP in 2004.

It is still not decided if Park JinYoung will be present at the audition in Seattle. An official said, “Because of JaeBum, there has been much concern about the audition this round.”

JYP Entertainment has also been very careful when asked if JaeBum will return to Korea and resumes activities sooner. But what we know is JaeBum’s contract with JYP will remain.

An entertainment industry expert said, “Because his contract with JYP will be kept, it is high chance that he can return and resumes activities naturally, but time is the key here.”

LG GW620 gets mini-site, videos, full specs & manual

It’s an Android week alright, with LG’s first Android smartphone, the LG GW620, getting its own mini-site. The page appears to be a work in progress, with form text rather than any actual press copy, but there are two video demos – which you can see after the cut – plenty of stock photos, and both the user manual and specification sheet for download.


The latter confirms that the GW620 will be a dualband UMTS (900/2100) quadband GSM device, with both WiFi and Bluetooth, measuring 109 x 54.5 x 15.9 mm and tipping the scales at 139g. It has either 2GB or 4GB of internal storage, along with a microSD card slot, and a 5-megapixel autofocus camera with LED flash.

The touchscreen is a 3-inch HVGA resistive panel, while the OS is Android 1.5 Cupcake with LG’s own S-Class UI on top. There’ll also be LG’s “SNS Manager” (Social Networking Service) which ties Facebook, Twitter and other networks into the Contacts app, together with facial recognition that automatically spots people in photos and links those shots to the individual’s Contact entry. LG have previously said that the GW620 will arrive in “select European markets” before the end of 2009.









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