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Rihanna unloads new single 'Russian Roulette'

10/21/2009 12:32:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , 0 Comments

The wait is officially ova.

Making good on her countdown-clock-underscored promise of big things, Rihanna has debuted her immensely anticipated single, "Russian Roulette," streaming it online this morning at precisely 11:23 a.m. ET. (For those playing along at home, her fourth album, Rated R, is coming out Nov. 23—another 11/23—got it? Good.)

If ever a song's lyrics were up for intense media scrutiny and armchair overanalysis, this is it. So let's jump in, shall we?

"Said I'm terrified, but I'm not leaving/I know that I must pass this test," Ri-Ri sings. "So just pull the trigger."

"So many won't get the chance to say good-bye/But it's too late to think of the value of my life," she goes on in her lyrics, rife for the mining by pop-psychologists. Lest we forget, the song is Rihanna's first musical output since her attack last February at the hands of Chris Brown.

As it is, the surefire hit, produced and cowritten by Ne-Yo, has proven true the reports that her new sound is a darker one, what with her oft-repeating chorus of "pull the trigger," and dramatically abrupt ending—a sharp intake of Rihanna's breath and a single echoing gunshot.

Of course, while it's dark, it likely won't be that dark, as the music video is set to debut during prime time on the family-friendly ABC.

So the wait is ova. Was it worth it?

Twilight Cast Hunted by "Vultures" and "Rogues"

10/21/2009 12:29:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , , , 0 Comments

While Eclipse filming is nearing its end, not all Twilight castmembers are breathing easy.

We recently chatted with a very high up Summit source who emphasized to us the living hell these kids have been going through up in Vancouver.

It's been more than rumored that Breaking Dawn will be filmed somewhere other than British Columbia next year, and the reason has less to do with tax issues and more to do with the sanity of our favorite cast.

"It's not just the media invading [the Twilight cast's] privacy—it's the whole world," dishes a key Summit player.

How so?

It's obvious that we all are seeing Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart way less, and we've told you just how miserable their privacy is up in Canada. But even we have recently learned just how bad it's gotten.

"Civilians are flying in all over the world to hunt down whoever they can find," fesses the concerned power suit. "It's bad. Literally [Rob and Kristen] have no choice but to stay inside."

Apparently the tourist companies up in Canada are also getting out of control. While we're told there are some that are very respectful and keep their distance, more than a few companies and fans (one woman in particular) cross the line.

"Everyone calls them the Vultures," our insider tells us. "The cast hates, hates, hates them. The Vultures actually stalk [the cast]—hunt down every set location and hide out in order to record them everywhere they go off set. It's become unmanageable."

These "rogue tourists"—as Robsten, Summit and the whole Twi group calls them—have had some major impact on how the cast goes about their daily lives (more specifics on that tomorrow).

"These kids are just trying to film a damn movie—wish the world could let them."

Guess counting their millions can only go so far.

With Windows 7 comes Netbook, notebook confusion

10/21/2009 12:29:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , , 0 Comments

Dell, Acer, Intel, and others together are, in effect, creating a muddle of light laptop categories as part of a not-so-well-orchestrated marketing strategy, according to an analyst. This is expected to become particularly acute when a deluge of new Windows 7 laptops hit the market this week.

Acer offered a graphic example of this recently when it introduced a small, inexpensive Windows 7 notebook--the Aspire Timeline AS1810T--that, from all outward appearances, looks like a Netbook. But it isn't--at least as defined by Intel. It's a new category of laptop called an ultrathin.

"There's a lot of confusion that Intel has created and they haven't really segmented the market that well," according to Bob O'Donnell, an IDC Research vice president.

And it gets more complicated. The inexpensive ultrathin is, in turn, competing now with the expensive luxury laptops, like the Dell Adamo, according to O'Donnell. "Ironically, what's actually happening we think is that the (ultrathin) is actually killing the high-end ultraportable," O'Donnell said.

Here's the problem: any given Windows 7 laptop with an 11.6- or 12-inch screen could be a Netbook, an ultrathin, or a high-end ultraportable. "There's too many overlapping products," according to O'Donnell. Intel tried to prevent this from happening by declaring that any laptop with a screen larger than 10 inches diagonally is not a Netbook. That policy is fine in theory but does not carry over to the real world of head-butting competition among PC makers where even the subtlest production differentiation can mean a leg up on the competition.

Intel says look at performance and price. "Which offers the best performance overall? That's important," said Intel spokesman Bill Calder. "Pricing is a factor too. While some ultrathin laptops including 11.6 and higher are very affordable, none are in the $249 to $399 range that typically defines a Netbook," Calder said.

Some consumers might say it's not a big deal. But it's not just a nomenclature or arbitrary categorization problem. There are big differences--not only in price--despite the aesthetic similarities.

Netbook:

* Under $400
* Low-performance single-core Atom processor
* Low-performance graphics
* No optical drive
* Limited memory and storage
* Good battery life
* Build: plastic
* Examples: HP Mini 5101, Dell Latitude 2100

Ultrathin:

* $400 to $800
* Dual-core Pentium, Core 2 Duo, or AMD Neo processors
* Mainstream laptop-class integrated or discrete graphics
* No optical drive (typically)
* Mainstream laptop memory and storage
* Good battery life
* Build: plastic
* Examples: HP Pavilion dm3, Acer Aspire Timeline

Ultraportable (luxury laptop):

* $1,200 to $4,000
* High-performance Core 2 Duo processors
* Mainstream laptop-class integrated or discrete graphics
* Optical drive (internal) in some models
* Mainstream laptop memory and storage
* Average to good battery life
* Build: metal or plastic
* Examples: Dell Adamo, Toshiba Portege R600

By sight alone, Acer has blurred--if not buried--the line between Netbooks and laptops with the introduction of Acer Aspire Timeline AS1810T. In addition to the Netbookish 11.6-inch screen, it is about 1-inch thick and weighs only 3 pounds.

But instead of a meek Atom processor, it uses a dual-core Core 2 Duo SU7300 (1.3GHz) processor paired with Intel's laptop-class 4500MHD graphics chip. Other specifications are also typical of mainstream laptops, including 4GB of memory, a 320GB hard disk drive, and 802.11n Wi-Fi.

It also ships with the 64-bit version of Windows 7 Home Premium and that 11.6-inch screen is high resolution at 1366 x 768, with a 16:9 aspect ratio. Again, neither of these features would ever ship with a Netbook.

And like Netbooks, battery life for ultrathins is relatively long. The Timeline claims up to eight hours of battery life, about twice that of standard laptops.

The Timeline's price of $599.99 will give prospective Netbook buyers pause. By contrast, a 10.1-inch Acer Aspire One Netbook, for example, is about $350 with a single-core Atom N280 processor, 1GB of memory, 160GB hard disk drive, and 802.11b/g Wi-Fi. Cheaper than an ultrathin but not necessarily a better deal.

CEOs are not helping the Netbook cause either. Last week, during Intel's earnings conference call, Chief Executive Paul Otellini made a point twice during the call to underscore that mainstream laptops--not Netbooks--are on a sales tear, adding that Netbooks are merely "additive." There's a lot of semantic wiggle room in the word "additive" but it's clear that Netbooks are not a high-priority market, comparatively, for Intel.

Michael Dell was more blunt. Dell offered up a critique last week of the Netbook saying that the screens are too small and the performance unsatisfactory.

Though Dell's opinion is not quite as harsh as the "junky" remark made by Apple's COO Tim Cook, the consensus seems to be--even by the companies selling these devices--that the appeal is limited.

Allison Iraheta's 'Just Like You' album cover: EW's exclusive first look!

10/21/2009 12:29:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , 1 Comment

Friday I will not be over this…no way in hell. In fact, the Idoloonie within may never quite be the same after getting an exclusive first look at the cover art for Allison Iraheta’s debut album, Just Like You, due December 1 via 19 Recordings/Jive. I’d compare my current condition to someone who just dove into a swimming pool holding a plugged-in extension cord, except for instead of getting a lethal dose of electricity, I’ve been fried by pure joy. Call me crazy, but after watching Allison’s amazing season 8 trajectory — from that sizzling and unexpected first impression on “Alone” to that beyond-her-years take on “I Can’t Make You Love Me” to that gut-wrenching exit performance of “Cry Baby” — it’s a beautiful thing to see her dreams of music stardom on the brink of being realized.

Also? That belt? A jangly delight! The hair? A perfect explosion from the fuchsia end of the Crayola box! And the slight hint of a smirk? I like to think of it as a not-so-subtle message to a certain Idol judge who never quite gave her the respect she was entitled to. (No, we will not sully this moment with his name.) What’s more, and as I’m sure is obvs to everyone, the heat of Allison’s music is melting the paint on the wall behind her. Yes? Yes. Now, let’s go straight to the slow clap. Rocker saved. Rocker signed. Rocker pre-ordered.


Yahoo lap dancers make wrong moves

10/21/2009 12:28:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , 0 Comments

Company issues apology for racy entertainment for developers in Taiwan

Yahoo has apologized for its use of scantily clad lap dancers to entertain mainly male software developers and engineers in Taiwan last weekend. The Internet search company Monday acknowledged its politically incorrect step.

"I wanted to acknowledge the public reaction generated by the images of female dancers at our Taiwan Open Hack Day this past weekend," said Chris Yeh of Yahoo's Development Network on the company's blog.

"Our hack events are designed to give developers an opportunity to learn about our ... (programming) and technologies. As many folks have rightly pointed out, the 'Hack Girls' aspect of our Taiwan Hack Day is not reflective of that spirit or purpose. And it’s certainly not the message we want to send about our values here at Yahoo! Hack Days are about making everyone feel welcome, including women coders and technologists."

Yeh said that what happened is "regrettable and we apologize to anyone that we have offended. Rest assured, it won’t happen again."

The dancers, wearing bras and miniskirts, performed before the male audience during what has been described as a brainstorming meeting. "Honest, honey, she was just showing me her social networking APIs" was the headline on one blog today.

Photos and videos showing the women pretty much throwing themselves on the men were initially posted on photo-sharing site Flickr, but have since been marked for only "private" viewing.

All Things Digital columnist Kara Swisher noted, "Perhaps worst of all, this kind of thing is not new for Yahoo’s hack events in Taiwan, at least, where there seems to be some history of this sort of Pussycat-Dolls-meets-geeks tone.

"It is not clear why all the thumpa-thumpa music and dancing gals did not engender complaints last year," but photos from this year's event may have made a difference.

Web development expert Simon Willison shared some of the images on his blog, writing how upset he was with the Hack Day event, which he has attended at various places around the world since 2005.

"I’ve also been to every one of Yahoo!’s Open Hack Day events in London," he wrote. "They’re fantastic, and the team that organises them should be applauded.

"As such, I care a great deal about the image of hack day — and the videos that emerged from last weekend’s Taiwan Hack Day are hugely disappointing."

Adam Lambert: Not Above Kissing Women

10/21/2009 12:28:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , , 0 Comments

We blame Lady Gaga for this.

After working with her on his new album (the rather lamely named For Your Entertainment), Adam Lambert now says his lips are made for smooching—either sex.

"I am gay, but I like kissing women sometimes," he admits in the new issue of Details. "Women are pretty. It doesn't mean I'm necessarily sleeping with them."

This little revelation came after a groupie encounter during the Idols Live Tour.

"There was one woman in Jersey who was actually gorgeous," says the singer. "She had obviously had a couple of cocktails, and during an after-show meet-and-greet, she just slithered up next to me and started kissing my neck. I was cool with it. But then it started to get a little weird because she was, like, moaning. She gave me a note that said, 'I want to make out with you, here's my number,' and I was like, wow, this is crazy. Of course, had I been the one drinking the cocktails, I probably would have made out with her."

Naturally, the cynical side of us can't help but wonder if Adam is simply saying all this just to further his appeal with both genders to sell more copies of his upcoming album.

Then again, after seeing these photos inside the magazine, maybe we stand corrected.

TVXQ's Yunho, "It's Lonely."

10/21/2009 12:27:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , , 0 Comments

TVXQ's Yunho (real name Jung Yunho) is currently acting in MBC's drama "Heading to the Ground". He shared his thoughts on being away from the group and entering the acting career.

Yunho said this in response to an interview he did with fashion magazine "W", for their November issue, where he also did a gravure photoshoot. Yunho said, "It's difficult since its a heavy role, but I'm putting a lot of effort into acting", and showed the spirit of acting.

Coming from his background as a singer, when asked on how he felt about debuting alone as a new actor, Yunho answered, "Lonely. But I think this is just the process of growing pains. I have to grow."

Officials from "W" magazine informed that, "Although it was very difficult to do the gravure photoshoot and interview after his drama filming and rehearsals for their Shanghai concert, he was bright and full of energy on the set."

Reese Talks Cucumbers, Cozy Time With Jake

10/21/2009 12:27:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , 0 Comments

There's a reason why Reese Witherspoon is one of the craftiest broads in Hollywood.

Even though we know we're being manipulated with each interview into thinking of this pixie as the sweet girl next door (which she ain't), she does it in a way that makes us still like her. Jennifer Garner take notes, by all means.

Reese covers In Style next month and totally takes a play outta the Brangelina interview book.

Like opening up about her sex life, perhaps?

Hardly. Unless growing a garden is considered foreplay for Gyllenspoon.

"Jake is a great cook," Reese tells the mag. "He does a lot. We spend the weekends outside L.A, in Ojai, where I have a farmhouse. We have chickens and we grow cucumbers and tomatoes. I love it."

Boring.

Come on, Brad Pitt had no problem pointing out one of his and Angie's secret sex spots in their stone grotto. What, Gyllenspoon doesn't get frisky? Guess they're just more the undercover-lover types.

But Reese did have one major thing in common with Brange: claiming she wants to cut back on work.

"My ideal scenario is to do one movie a year. But as an actor, I don't think you can do an awful lot of planning. In fact, my new philosophy in life is I'll cross that bridge when I come to it."

At least Reese is more realistic about it than Brad is. Still, don't expect R.W. to be going anywhere anytime soon. She's made all the right moves to get to the top, and she's not giving it up that easily.

10 things you need to know before moving to Windows 7

10/21/2009 12:26:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , 0 Comments

Windows 7 officially ships on Thursday, which means end users and administrators running Windows XP (and to a lesser extent, Windows Vista) have some interesting decisions to make.

Test of Windows 7

To help you make those tough choices, here are 10 things you need to know, based on our hands-on testing of Windows 7.

1. Windows 7 is faster

Win 7 performance is better than Windows XP SP3 and Vista SP2, but only if you run 64-bit Win 7. One potential gotcha: Much of the performance gains are reliant on having up-to-date 64-bit hardware drivers and components. That may mean buying new hardware, as older hardware may not have the necessary components and updated drivers.

2. Buy Microsoft's Desktop Option Pack

It's only $10 a seat, and well worth it. MDOP contains important components, such as Microsoft's Diagnostics and Recovery Toolset (DaRT), which helps users and support personnel deal with catastrophic machine failures. There's also Advanced Group Policy Management, which allows for active and "pushed" policies to users and groups. This feature can prevent damage from zero-day failures and fine-tunes policies for system admins. And there's Asset Inventory Service, which tallies software inventories for both compliance and provisioning purposes. Other MDOP components address application and desktop virtualization.

3. Win 7 offers a clean start

There's a school of thought that says, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." In other words, why not stick with good old XP? Our answer is that where Windows on the desktop is needed, Win 7 is the way to go. Win 7 has the inherent architectural changes that secured XP, but it also doesn't have the estimated 1,300 patches (including Microsoft Office patches) that XP SP3 has. The user interface has improved dramatically with Win 7, we found that it's Microsoft's best-behaving operating system since Windows 2000, and migrating to a fresh environment rids machines of the clutter that has built up over the years.

4. Upgrading from XP on the same hardware will be tricky

If you're considering upgrading from XP to Win 7 on the same machine, Microsoft doesn't directly support this, and recommends that a fresh installation be made on new hardware. Any attempt to upgrade will move the directory structure known as Documents and Settings into the new, Unix-like "user" directory structure, and registry settings for Win 7 will break many applications.

Many applications will need post-Win 7 upgrade adjustments, or even re-installation. Win 7 also needs at least 5GB of extra space to perform an in-place upgrade from XP temporarily.

Of course, it is possible to upgrade. We tried it and found that upgrading a single machine from XP could take up to two hours.

5. Consider Windows Upgrade Advisor

Microsoft is offering a free download of an upgrade tester beta called the Windows Upgrade Advisor. It's good but not infallible, we found, especially when upgrading from XP 64-bit editions. Because it's beta, some of its foibles may be fixed by the time it's offered as a production app.

It's installed, examines a machine, and annotates a list of what will and won't work in an upgrade from XP and Vista editions. (However, Microsoft makes clear on its Web site that Upgrade Advisor is recommended only for Vista users and that XP users should buy new hardware.)

6. Another option: Third-party upgrade tools

Third-party tools like Laplink Software's PC-Mover Windows 7 Upgrade Assistant allow you to upgrade from XP to Win 7 on the same hardware. But, of course, the Laplink software isn't free, so that's an additional expense and an additional complication that you would be adding to the equation.

7. Check for hardware compatibility

Fresh Win 7 installations on new hardware will likely be successful if the hardware has Vista support, as most Vista drivers can be used successfully in lieu of Win 7 drivers, and drivers are the biggest portion of compatibility -- unless running XP is desired.

Remember that a 64-bit installation is what we recommend, and the drivers need to be 64-bit to gain best performance.

A trip to a hardware vendor's Web site to explore it for specific machine drivers is worth the effort. Some vendors, such as HP, have Win 7-specific information on compatibility, while others have promised Win 7-specific drivers -- especially for 64-bit kernel use.

8. User Access Controls are much improved

Underneath the surface of Win 7 is a reformed kernel that's similar to Vista's in construction. Userspace is now separate from kernel space in strong ways, a policy that shocked and rocked the world at the advent of Windows XP SP2, and was then manically manifested in Vista's User Access Controls (UAC).

The UAC was designed to isolate bad behavior caused by viruses/malware from the basic components of the system and apps running above userspace. This isolation alone stopped many forms of badware. This same protection can be found in Win 7, but it won't drive you as ballistic as the constant nervous messaging to the user found in Windows Vista. By comparison, it's calm and its UAC messaging can be largely disabled.

9. Virtualization allows XP on Win 7

If you buy Windows 7 64-bit Professional version and higher, then XP can be run on Win 7 in a virtual machine. That's if you have a V/VT-compatible CPU in your machine and you remember to add additional memory (a gigabyte will often do) for running an XP session. XP must still be secured separately in this configuration as though it were stand-alone.

10. Go for 64-bit

We can find no reason to recommend running Win 7 on existing 32-bit hardware, since the 32-bit version of Win 7 has little performance advantage over Vista or XP in our comparative tests. The 64-bit version, however, can be much faster.

Eminem's Relapse 2 Is 'Comin' Out Good,' Just Blaze Says

10/21/2009 12:25:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , 0 Comments

'I've been quietly goin' back forth from New York to Detroit the past two months,' producer reveals.

Eminem has said that the forthcoming Relapse 2 will be more "emotionally driven," and pointed out that he's working with some new collaborators.

"[The album] is gonna be a lot different than people expect," Eminem said in an interview on his Shade 45 satellite-radio station last week. "As far as the contrast from the last album to this one, I got a couple of tracks with [D12's] Mr. Porter, two tracks with him so far. Four, possibly five with Just Blaze. The overall basis of this record, I went back to songs that are more emotionally driven. The last record I made, I think I was concentrating more on spitting. On this album, I feel like there's some of that, but I went back to songs with [feelings] to them as opposed to just rap records."

Blaze — who has worked in the past with Jay-Z, Kanye West, Usher, Mariah Carey, and many others — talked about working with Eminem during an interview with Distortion to Static that was posted on Monday.

"Now that he's put it out there, I am working with Eminem on his new album," Blaze said. "We are working on Relapse 2 pretty heavily. As of yesterday, we've done about six or seven records. I go back in with him in a couple of weeks and do three or four more maybe. I've been quietly goin' back forth from New York to Detroit the past two months, just gettin' a feel for it and gettin' a feel for working with each other. He hasn't worked with too many people outside his camp. I haven't worked with him before. We got a good working relationship now, a good friendship now, so the records is comin' out good."

While Eminem has kept a fairly low profile in the weeks since the first Relapse was released, he told Shady 45 that he'll decide whether to go on tour after the second album is released.

"During the process of me getting sober and starting to record again like I used to, I got so excited about making music again that I wanted to concentrate [just] on that," he said. "I started recording so many records that we thought about putting out two albums. Then that became my motivation. I wanted to stay grinding and keep making music. But the time I got engulfed in [Relapse 2], it just kind of worked out this way, where I wanted to fall back from live performances for right now and concentrate on making the best music I could make. After this record comes out, we'll see what happens from there."

Kim Tae Hee Was Cautious while filming bed scene with Lee Byung Hun

10/21/2009 12:23:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , , 0 Comments

Actress Kim Tae Hee plays the role of a beautiful agent named Seung Hee who develops a relationship with her handsome colleague, Hyun Jun (Lee Byung Hun) in the new drama IRIS. In one particular scene [In the drama] the two actors had to sleep together.

According to the script, both Seung Hee and Hyun Jun secretly enjoys a vacation of hot springs and skiing at a hidden resort that later leads to the two later spending the night together.

During the scene, Kim Tae Hee was very cautious while Lee Byung Hun was feeling burdened. The PD expressed. "The two keeps laughing whenever their eyes met between but when the camera turns back on, the two instantly becomes serious."

George Clooney's New GF Does Maxim, But Is She Last Month's News?

10/21/2009 12:23:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , , 0 Comments

In case you haven't seen Elisabetta Canalis on the arm of George Clooney at the film fests in Venice or London, now you can check her out in all her buff-body glory in this month's Maxim.


Of course, racy pics are nothing new for this Italian TV presenter...she's already posed for (NSFW) naked pics before.

And while we admit she looks great in the four-page spread, we have to wonder if her relationship with George is bound to go the way of those of Krista Allen, Lisa Snowdon, Celine Balitran...well, you get the idea.

Remember Sarah Larson...

She was the Vegas cocktail waitress turned Clooney girlfriend?

She was plucked from her job serving drinks in Sin City and soon was accompanying George on romantic motorcycle rides and even on the red carpet at the 2008 Globes.

But that all ended when the two went their separate ways after a year of dating.

George went back to partying with Brad Pitt and Sarah headed back to Vegas to try her luck elsewhere.

Is Eli headed for the same fate come next summer? A year seems to be George's past-due date for a lot of his romantic relationships.

Maybe, maybe not.

According to her Christmas in New York costar Alessandro Siana, Clooney has been pursuing Canalis since 2006.

Either she really played hard to get (she must be a Rules girl), or they've managed to keep their amore under wraps for a really long time.

Apple new MacBook first-impressions

10/21/2009 12:23:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , , 0 Comments

With their entry-level MacBook sticking at $999, Apple have obviously decided that avoiding the price-race to the bottom is no way to better the last quarter’s excellent financial performance. We’ve just picked up our 13.3-inch polycarbonate MacBook review unit, and to be frank we can’t blame them; it’s a little thicker and a little heavier than the 13.3-inch MacBook Pro, but it’s also quite a bit cheaper, too.


Hands-on, the new MacBook feels a whole lot more like its Pro sibling this time around thanks to its unibody-style casing. We arguably prefer the cheaper machine’s base, too; Apple have coated it in a soft-touch, non-slip material that stops it from sliding around on your desk or lap. Key touch-points – such as the new, glass multitouch trackpad – are also improved, and in short it feels like a more expensive machine.


The LED-backlit display is bright and clear, a definite improvement on its predecessor, though we’ll be doing some side-by-side comparisons with the MBP range to see exactly how much difference there is between the two. As for the specifications, your $999 gets you a 2.26GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB of RAM (expandable to 4GB), a 250GB hard-drive and NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics; the absence of an SD card slot does seem a little miserly, however, especially now that even the iMac gets one as standard.


We’ll save our full opinion – plus benchmarking – for the final review.







Chris Brown Picks Hell of a Day to Unveil Tour Plans

10/21/2009 12:22:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , , 0 Comments

So, we're checking out the new Rihanna single and...wait, what? Chris Brown's going on tour? Say, that is news!

Just hours after his ex released her first solo single since being assaulted by Brown in February, Brown's label announced plans for a Fan Appreciation Tour to—just as it sounds—thank the folks who have stood by him in the wake of his arrest and subsequent guilty plea.

Brown twittered a couple weeks ago that his "first show back" would be Oct. 27 at Power 105's Powerhouse show in New Jersey, but of course he's not the only one on the bill there.

His month-long jaunt kicks off Nov. 14 at the House of Blues in Houston and will touch down in similar venues in 19 cities across the country, including Los Angeles, Chicago and Boston.

Small theaters were chosen to encourage a "fans only" atmosphere, according to tour organizers.

A portion of the proceeds from the tour will go to Best Buddies International, which provides friendship, employment and leadership opportunities for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and to Los Angeles' Jenesse Center, a nonprofit that supports victims of domestic violence.

Brown, who has been busy performing community labor in his home state of Virginia when not laying down tracks in the studio, unveiled his first single since February, "I Can Transform Ya," last month."

Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 to be company’s first Android smartphone?

10/21/2009 12:21:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , , 0 Comments

It seems we could have been calling Sony Ericsson’s first Android smartphone by the wrong name, at least according to a Tweakers forum member. That individual, who claims to have not only talked to Sony Ericsson staff about the device but to have played with a prototype, says that rather than the XPERIA X3, the handset will most likely be branded as the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10. They’ve also let slip some details about a possible launch window.


Unfortunately, that launch window is February 2010, a long time after the previously-tipped announcement in November. In fact, such a release date would put the Android smartphone in the right month for Mobile World Congress, rather than attempting to battle for coverage in January at CES.

As for his hands-on impressions, he found the XPERIA to be slim, speedy and pretty impressive, and happily showing none of the lag that some HTC Hero owners have reported:

“The device is super flat and further the size of the screen similar to that of the HTC Touch HD. Furthermore, the device is slightly rounded, according to the two-SE employees that the new trend in SE … What had struck me as the big screen and the thickness of the device. The device is really ultrathin fact! I also do not specifically on the camera side view, but the device is comfortable to hand and is much lighter than a x1″ Sjef Sjef, Tweakers forum

Unfortunately due to the circumstances of the encounter Sjef Sjef was unable to take a photo of the XPERIA X10 (aka X3, aka Rachel), so we’ll have to make do with the previous leaked image for now.

[via GSMArena]

Big Bang has an unfair contract?

10/21/2009 12:21:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , 0 Comments

Entertainment companies, including YG Entertainment, were ordered to correct their unfair contracts after a government inspection by the Korean Fair Trade Commission (FTC).

FTC announced on the 20th that 198 contracts between an entertainer and their company were corrected after their inspection on 20 entertainment companies. The inspection was carried out from April to May of this year.

For example, YG deleted the clause that reads “After the day that the contract between the company and the entertainer ends, the company is relieved from the duty to pay royalties from recorded materials to the entertainer and all proceeds from said materials belong to the company,” meaning that YG’s entertainers can now receive royalties from the songs they made with YG even after they leave the company. YG also changed the clause that reads “Entertainer must receive permission of the company in order to travel outside of Korea” to “Entertainer must inform of their out-of-country travel plans to the company beforehand to not cause any disruptions in management planning process,” meaning that YG’s entertainers like Big Bang and 2NE1 now may travel outside of the country without YG’s permissions.

Entertainers are now given the right to retire at will as well. “Entertainer may not cease performance or retire during the life of the contract without permission of the company” was changed to “If entertainer seeks to cease performance or retire during the life of the contract, the company and the entertainer may discuss the topic.” “Entertainer must use their talent and skills in accordance with the company’s decisions” was changed to “Entertainer must perform by fully employing their talent and skill, and the company must aid the entertainer with appropriate opportunities,” giving entertainers a bit more legal freedom with their decision making.

Overall, clauses that overly invade an entertainer’s privacy, invade an entertainer’s right to be a part of the decision making process for their career and performances, and clauses that force entertainers to perform for the company’s promotional activities without compensation and without consent of the entertainer were corrected.

This is a step towards a better environment for Korean entertainers, but this is just a small step. Merely 20 entertainment companies were inspected and corrected, as 320 companies under Korean Entertainment Producers Association were not a part of this inspection. FTC acknowledges the fact that unfair contracts are common in the entertainment industry and plans on directing the association in inspecting and correcting its members. It may be hard to imagine SM giving freedom to its entertainers, especially after the whole Kangin fiasco, but one day SNSD will be free to travel to Canada, to hang out with me without having to receive SM’s approval. One day.

Apple Magic Mouse hands-on

10/21/2009 12:20:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , , 0 Comments

While the new 27-inch iMacs may be Apple’s eye-catchers, especially in Apple Stores, it’s the company’s new Magic Mouse peripheral that will find its way to the most desks. By junking the trackball of the Mighty Mouse and replacing it with a touch-sensitive surface, Apple have not only catered for the demands of desktop users calling out for multitouch, but bypassed ongoing reliability frustrations of the mechanical ball. After the cut, our live Magic Mouse gallery together with some hands-on first impressions.


In the hand, the Magic Mouse is flatter than the Mighty Mouse, though the level surface does sit under the first two fingers neatly. It still clicks if you apply pressure – and will automatically choose a left- or right-click depending on where your fingers are in contact, just as before – but now recognizes one- and two-finger gestures. You’ll need to install the driver for anything more than basic mousing, which does demand a restart, but after that reconnection is as seamless as with its predecessor.


Something that’s oddly absent, though, is pinch-zoom. While the movement itself isn’t as natural on the Magic Mouse’s surface as the other gestures it recognizes, we’d still like to see it added in. There’s also no three-finger gestures like flipping between open apps on a MacBook Pro, or four-finger Exposé, and you can’t tap to click. We’ve had a quick trawl of the settings and it doesn’t look like this is something you can enable, either.


Still, two-finger side swipes work well, and the quad-directional scroll is just as you’d expect. We’ll be playing with the Magic Mouse some more before giving our final judgement.

Adam Lambert is working with Lady Gaga: Who benefits more?

10/21/2009 12:20:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , , 0 Comments

Adam Lambert announced yesterday in a series of messages on his Twitter page that there’ll be at least one more A-list collaborator on For Your Entertainment, his upcoming debut album: “Yes it’s true: I spent yesterday in the studio w the insanely talented and creative Lady GaGa recording a song that she wrote! I love her.” “Gaga wrote the song a while ago and she thought it would be a good fit for me. It’s a solo track. I feel so honored and lucky to be asked.” “GaGa just gets it, ya know?”

Gaga may get “it,” but I’m wondering which artist gets the biggest career boost from this collaboration (even though it sounds like Gaga was only working behind the scenes, and not actually performing a duet with Adam)? On paper, the balance of power is a no-brainer: Runner-up from a televised singing contest that’s produced as many Katharine McPhees as it has Kelly Clarksons teams up with a woman whose singles have been a fixture in the Top 10 (”Paparazzi” is currently No. 7) for the last year and whose album remains at No. 27 on Billboard’s Hot 200 after 50 weeks on the chart.

And yet, maybe it’s not that simple. For all her chart success and blogosphere buzz, it seems as though Lady Gaga has morphed into a celebrity that a lot of folks love to hate. While I couldn’t stop giggling every time I caught sight of her fanciful “bird’s nest accouterment” (pictured) at last month’s VMAs, an EW.com poll the following day found that 71% of our readers were sick of Gaga’s fashion hi-jinks. And I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen or heard the Lady’s name without an immediate outcry of “Lady Gag Me” or “I’m so sick of her face!” So maybe the equation is more like this: “Beleaguered diva whose backlash is threatening to drown out the sound of her ubiquitous radio hits latches on to up-and-coming star with hotly anticipated album and seemingly endless media good will.”

Microsoft slates Office 2010 public beta for November

10/21/2009 12:20:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , , 0 Comments

CEO Steve Ballmer announces upcoming betas of Office 2010, SharePoint 2010

Microsoft will launch the public beta of Office 2010 next month, company CEO Steve Ballmer said Monday.

In a keynote that kicked off Microsoft's SharePoint Conference 2009 in Las Vegas, Ballmer announced that the public beta of Office 2010 will be made available in November.

When pressed for details, a Microsoft spokeswoman said the company did not have a specific timeline beyond Ballmer's pinning the beta to next month.

So far, Microsoft has offered a preview of its next desktop suite only to a relatively small group of testers. It has also opened the online edition, Office Web Apps, to a similar preview. Office Web Apps includes lightweight versions of Word, Excel and PowerPoint and will be made available to millions free of charge in the first half of next year, the only timetable Microsoft has set for Office 2010's ship date.

Anyone will be eligible to test drive the Office 2010 beta, said Microsoft today. The company declined to answer questions about whether the number of copies of the beta will be limited or available only for a limited time, as was the case with the Windows 7 beta earlier this year.

Last summer, Microsoft said that it expected to distribute millions of copies of the Office 2010 public beta.

In April, Microsoft said that it would not offer users the chance to test Office 2010 as it had done with other editions, including Office 2007. The company quickly backtracked, saying that it had simply given "the wrong impression" about its plans.

Also unknown is whether Microsoft will charge users to download the beta, a tactic it used with the second beta of Office 2007, when it let customers try out the suite from within their browsers for free, but charged them $1.50 to download the preview. The latter move, Microsoft said in July 2006, was because "the beta 2 downloads have exceeded our goals," prompting it to "implement a cost-recovery measure."

Microsoft may use Click-To-Run, a new technology that debuted in July with the Technical Preview, to deliver the beta of Office 2010. Click-To-Run "streams" pieces of the suite to users who begin a download, letting them start using the suite within minutes. While users work with the suite, the remainder of the code is downloaded in the background. Two weeks ago, Microsoft said it would use Click-To-Run to offer a limited-time trial of Office 2010 when the final bits ship next year.

The company will also offer an advertising-supported version of Office 2010 to computer makers, who will install it on their new PCs as an alternative to the retired Microsoft Works. Dubbed Office Starter 2010, it will include scaled-back editions of Word 2010 and Excel 2010.

An after-market "key," purchased either on a card at electronics retailers or online from Microsoft, will unlock the appropriate for-a-fee version, so that no additional software need be downloaded. Customers will be able to upgrade from Starter to Office 2010 Home & Student, Home & Business or Professional. Microsoft has not yet announced prices for Office 2010.

Ballmer made the Office 2010 beta announcement at the same time he revealed some of the features of the upcoming enterprise SharePoint 2010 software. He said that a public beta of SharePoint 2010 would also be available to the public next month.

Tavia Yeung only hopes for high ratings for series

10/21/2009 12:19:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , 0 Comments



During TVB Lighting Ceremony last night, Tavia Yeung was standing right in the middle front row position and thus indicated the importance of her position. Regarding rumours about Kenix Kwok exchanged contract with award, Tavia frankly expressed that it doesn't matter on who win the award. Most important is [Beyond] can achieve high ratings and she will use a normal attitude to face it. She will not give herself too much pressure and even said that she still has many spaces for improvements.

Motorola 'Calgary' to bring BLUR to Verizon, Droid not looking worried

10/21/2009 12:19:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , , 0 Comments



The Droid's shaping up to be a beast of an Android phone -- well played, Verizon -- but Motorola's banking much of its future on its MOTOBLUR platform, which the Droid curiously lacks (though Android 2.0 adds at least some of BLUR's functionality back in). Don't worry, though -- Verizon hasn't forgotten about BLUR altogether, and the rumored Calgary is looking to arrive as the carrier's next Android phone from Moto featuring BLUR in all its social network-aggregating glory. It's clearly positioned as a lower-end device than the Droid, stepping down to a 3 megapixel cam but still managing nifty features like an optical pad, 3.5mm jack, and naturally, a full QWERTY keyboard. Considering Rubin's ties to Danger, you could think of this as the ill-fated Sidekick Slide all grow'd up. Word has it this might hit before the end of the year, so we'll see just how much breathing room Verizon and Moto feel like giving the Droid before coming back for Round 2, eh?

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