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Rihanna Breaks Silence About Chris Brown

11/03/2009 12:49:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , , 0 Comments

Nine months after her fight with Chris Brown, Rihanna finally opens up about the night that left her bruised and bloody.

"This happened to me. … It can happen to anyone," the singer, 21, tells Diane Sawyer in an interview airing Thursday on Good Morning America and on 20/20 on Friday.

Rihanna says it was particularly difficult because of the special place Brown held in her heart: "He was definitely my first big love."

Both singers have worked to move on. Brown is serving his sentence and working on new music, his album Graffiti will drop Dec. 15; and Rihanna is shaking things up with her edgy fashion and releasing her fourth album Rated R on Nov. 23. The album's first single "Russian Roulette" debuted last week.

Chris Brown Reveals Graffiti Album Cover Art

11/03/2009 12:49:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , 0 Comments

Singer appears as a serious, space-travelling, guitar-playing graffiti artist.

Chris Brown released the album cover for his forthcoming Graffiti album (due December 15) on Monday (November 2). The singer tweeted the image on Monday afternoon, just as images from his "Crawl" music video were released.

On the cover, Brown is decked out in all black wearing a blazer, turtleneck, sunglasses and army boots and holding an electric guitar one shoulder and a can of spray paint in the other hand — which actually looks like a mechanical hand. He appears to be standing in a spacecraft, in front of a window showing stars and the Earth. The album's title is in a liquid, futuristic silver font, contrasting oddly with a collection of colorful cartoon characters.

"CHRIS BROWN 'CRAWL' VIDEO STILLS & ALBUM COVER+NIKE SPORTSWEAR RIVALRY COLLECTION FEATURING CASSETTE PLAYA & MORE!" Brown tweeted, with a link to his site, MechanicalDummy.com, where he posted photos.

In stills released from his "Crawl" video, Brown is seen on two main sets — one in a desert, the other a snow- and puddle-spotted alleyway. In both settings, the singer wears the same outfit: thick black glasses, brown leather trench coat, white T-shirt, fingerless gloves, white belt, jeans and high-top sneakers. In one photo, he is joined by Bad Boy artist Cassie, who will make an appearance in the video.

The video was directed by his "I Will Transform Ya" director, Joseph Kahn. "I mean, everything that's happened to him in the year, I think this is going to be his big statement, in terms of what he's feeling and what he's living through right now," Kahn explained to MTV News. "I don't even know if Chris is trying to say anything with the video. I think he just sort of, as an artist, I think Chris communicates more through what he does ... and so what he does in the video will speak for itself."

Jaejoong, Junsu and Yoochun deny interview and statements

11/03/2009 12:48:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , , , , 0 Comments

Earlier today, we reported an interview between three members of TVXQ and Sports Seoul.

Sports Seoul said that the interview was conducted through an acquaintance of the three members; now, another acquaintance of the three members claim that the interview did not take place. From a phone call with Nocut news, an acquaintance of the three members claimed, "No interview happened between Sports Seoul and the members. We do not plan on holding an interview any time soon. Please refrain from reporting stories using an acquaintance as the source."

The problem with this? This phone call was made by someone other than the three members themselves as well. Anybody here interested in paradoxes?

Stories on the TVXQ dispute have been so epic for the last 24 hours that they've got the drama rivaling that of a TV show. The plot thickens with deception and exposé... who is to trust and who is to ignore? Stay tuned to allkpop as we follow this controversy.

Rob Pattinson Says He and Kristen Stewart Are "Good Friends"

11/03/2009 12:47:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , , , 0 Comments

He says she's just a friend.

Once and for all, Robert Pattinson would like enquiring minds to know that he and Kristen Stewart are platonic. For real.

In a new cover story, the Twilight actor insists to Vanity Fair that he and his onscreen paramour are simply "good friends," and that he considers her "the best young actress around."

Stewart is even more emphatic, telling the magazine, "It's so retarded . . . We're characters in this comic book."

And the naturally shy Pattinson, who was a virtual unknown before Twilight debuted a year ago, finds all the attention excruciating. "I'm trying not to drown," he tells VF writer Evgenia Peretz, who observes that his San Diego hotel room is strewn with "beer bottles, old scrambled eggs, a half-eaten Twix bar, and a dirty pair of jeans."

"I guess I'm not the type of guy cut out to do a franchise," the 23 year-old actor says, noting his aversion to crowds and his particular fear of paparazzi snapping him with his "a** crack showing." He scoffs at suggestions that he's anything to look at, too, calling himself "a cartoon character."

Yet Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke clarifies that her new star wasn't shy during the filmmaking process. At night, she recalls the young actor as "always drunk" and frequently regaling castmates with his guitar-playing.

Of the Stewart-Pattinson dynamic, Hardwicke says "What Rob and Kristen had is a multitude of feelings for each other . . . Complex, intense fascination."

The issue hits newsstands Wed. Nov. 4; the sequel The Twilight Saga: New Moon hits theaters Nov. 20.

Windows 7 Early Adoption Already Outpacing Vista's

11/03/2009 12:47:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , , , 0 Comments

Watch out, Vista: Windows 7 may soon put your sales to shame.

Microsoft's new operating system is showing strong early growth compared to past releases, some new data suggests. About 3.6 percent of Net-connected computers were sporting Windows 7 over the weekend -- less than two weeks after its launch -- according to the analysts at Net Applications.

Windows 7 Market Share

For only 10 days into Windows 7's life, 3.6 percent isn't too shabby of a number. Compare for yourself: More than a month after its debut, Vista claimed only 2.04 percent of the operating system market, gauging by Net Applications' measurements at the time. It didn't hit 3.74 percent until May of 2007, four months into its release. And that's following a launch absolutely jam-packed with "wow."

Granted, the new Win 7 data is based only on computers that accessed the Web over Saturday and Sunday, and that number may rise or fall as the week moves forward. Still, it's the first time the software has cracked the 3 percent mark, so it's a milestone well worth noting.

Personally, I suspect all those wild Windows 7 launch parties had something to do with it. Plus, you've gotta imagine plenty of people dressed up as "unspecified errors" for Halloween -- that's free marketing right there.

All joking aside, though, let's hope the "Save Vista" campaigns don't kick in anytime soon.

Rihanna’s Second Song Is Leaked: Wait Your Turn (The Wait Is Ova)

11/03/2009 12:46:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , 0 Comments

Rihanna just can’t seem to catch a break these days. Although we’re not the biggest fans of the pop singer, we doubt there wasn’t one soul in the world who didn’t felt sorry for her unexpected brawl with ex-boyfriend, Chris Brown.

Her first single, “Russian Roulette” was recently leaked and now a second song titled, “Wait Your Turn (The Wait Is Ova)” has unfortunately hit the internet before the album release date of November 23rd. There is no confirmation about whether the second song is a also a single, but it has more of a pop feel when compared to “Russian Roulette,” which is a dark mid-tempo tune.

Check “Wait Your Turn (The Wait is Ova)” out below and see what you think.


According to Reuters (via Billboard), Rihanna will be making an appearance on morning talk show, Good Morning America on Thursday and on a special 20/20 episode on Friday to talk about her traumatic event in regards to Chris Brown for the first time.

TVXQ Jaejoong, Junsu and Yoochun’s Full Statements

11/03/2009 12:46:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , , , , 0 Comments



We previously reported about Jaejoong, Junsu and Yoochun's reaction to SM Entertainment's press conference. The full interview and statements from the 3 TVXQ members have now been revealed. Both parties are now in a full on battle and have added yet another layer of complexity to this already complicated story.

Q: Yunho and Changmin are still with SME.

"That is very unfortunate. SME offers unacceptable conditions to their artists. It breaks our hearts to know that Yunho and Changmin are still there."

Q: You have partially won the trial. How do you feel about your victory?"

"We're more worried about how Yunho and Changmin would feel confused about the ruling. They must have thought that SME, a major entertainment company, would win."

Q: Yesterday, Yunho and Changmin showed their support for SME.

"They can't help but do such thing. They have to do something like that because they're with SME. We've done a lot of things we didn't want to do as well, because we were forced."

Q: How are you finding their decision?

"It'd be a lie if we didn't find it somewhat bitter. But we know that they have their own story, so we understand them."

Q: What do you plan on earning through this lawsuit?"

"All we want is to part from SME. The contracts were unfair, especially the length of 13 years. Division of profit was problematic as well. The three of us have yet to receive our share of income amounting up to couple hundred thousand dollars each."

Q: Some view the lawsuit as the end of DBSK?

"We do not want to cease working as or break apart from DBSK. We just want to end our relationship with SME."

Q: Are you in contact with Yunho or Changmin?

"We lost contact with them after we took legal actions. But we can assume why that would have happened."

Q: How do you plan on maintaining your relationship with those two members?

"If they have something that is holding them back from talking to us, then we will fight to change that. They will speak up when the time comes."

Q: So you are willing to stay together with two other members?

"When this whole thing is over, we will resolve our misunderstandings with the two. We will wait for that day."

Q: Any plans on working as three?

"We will not release an album or perform on stage until Yunho and Changmin comes back to us."

Q: Are you going to stay together until the end with the other members?

"We want to keep DBSK. The stage means something only when all five of us are on it. We are one. We will walk in the name of DBSK until the end."

Stay tuned for more developments.

Jessica Simpson Thinks Melrose Place Is "Crap"

11/03/2009 12:45:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , , , , 0 Comments

Jessica Simpson finally got around to tweeting about Melrose Place firing her sister, Ashlee, and she is none too happy with the writing staff. In fact, Jess thinks the show is worse than any of her straight-to-DVD movies like Major Movie Star and Blonde Ambition.


Last night she tweeted: "CW catching up on MP.who writes this crap?i have had bad scripts to work with,but this?thank God my sister is amazing and got you some press...Watch til Jan.. :)"

Wow. So Jessica believes that Melrose Place only got press because of Ashlee's amazing acting? That's not entirely accurate. While it's true that Ashlee was the most buzzed-about castmember and did most of the press leading up to the soap's premiere, it's the "amazing" part we're not quite buying. That said, we do think it's nice Jess is being a supportive big sister.

And in case you're curious, this is the "amazing" Ashlee Simpson-Wentz in action:


As for why Ashlee was fired, there are two rumors going around right now: one that it was all Heather Locklear's doing and another that "she's the worst actress, but nobody will tell her." It's kind of a choose-your-own-rumor adventure.

2PM releases full single “Tired of Waiting!”

11/03/2009 12:44:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , 0 Comments



Last night 2PM teased Hottests with their cryptic single teaser "Tired of Waiting," which seems to be reaching out directly indirectly to Jaebeom.

Well, the full single is now out, so enjoy and stay tuned for more 2PM news tonight!

Adam Lambert Breaks Up With Boyfriend

11/03/2009 12:44:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , 0 Comments

'American Idol' runner-up Adam Lambert is single again.

The singer and boyfriend Drake LaBry have broken up, Usmagazine reports.

"They're still friends, and it's totally mutual," a source said. "They will still talk and see each other."

According to the source, timing was the issue. "Adam is crazy busy right now getting the album done and squeezing in rehearsals."

"They both felt this moment is too important for Adam to focus on anything else but getting this album out and having it be a huge hit," the source added.

Chrome and others nibble away IE usage

11/03/2009 12:43:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , , , , 0 Comments

Google's Chrome is still the fourth-place browser in terms of usage, but it gained more than others in October when it comes to stealing usage away from the dominant Internet Explorer.

According to Net Applications' browser usage share statistics, Chrome gained from 3.2 percent to 3.6 percent from September 2009 to October. The company bases its statistics on visits to a global network of 40,000 Web sites, dusted with some statistical processing.

Next was Mozilla's Firefox, which rose from 23.8 percent to 24.1 percent. Apple's Safari rose from 4.2 percent to 4.4 percent. Opera was essentially flat at 2.2 percent.


Net Applications' September 2009 browser usage share statistics.


Net Applications' October 2009 browser usage share statistics.

The big loser was IE, which dropped from 65.7 percent to 64.6 percent, according to the statistics.

Chrome's early gains are notable--the software has only been publicly available for 14 months. But Google's challenge in spreading the software will gradually change as the supply of experimental early adopters peters out and the company must look to the slower-moving mainstream crowd for growth.

Although a few tenths of a percent may appear small, they represent large numbers considering how many people actually use browsers. The absolute number of users is relevant to Web developers dealing with customer support questions from people who might experience browser incompatibilities.

Speaking of incompatibility, one interesting statistic deeper in the Net Applications figures is the growing use of IE 8's compatibility mode, a feature introduced to help the new browser handle Web sites that are coded for IE 7 or before. In a departure from earlier versions, IE 8 by default tries to conform to Web standards to display Web pages--which can cause problems with Web sites built not for those standards but for those earlier versions of IE. The compatibility mode seeks to smooth over this discontinuity.

In September, 2.3 percent of usage was with IE 8 using compatibility mode. In October, that increased slightly to 2.4 percent.

IE 6 still is the dominant version of Microsoft's browser, with 23.3 percent usage. That version is built into Windows XP and was first released in 2001. IE 7, at 18.2 percent, is on the brink of being surpassed by IE 8 at 18.1 percent.

Chrome offers an interesting contrast to IE's slow change rate. By default, Google upgrades the browser automatically without giving people any say-so. That might cause some heartburn among some, but it rapidly distributes security patches and new features. To Google, Chrome version numbers are for bookkeeping in the background, not for splashing prominently in front of users.

In September, Chrome 2.0 was the leading version, with 1.7 percent usage compared to 1.2 percent for Chrome 3.0.

In October, though, Chrome 3.0 had taken over with 3.1 percent share. Chrome 4.0 is rising, but it's still only available as a rough developer preview version while Google programmers work on Mac and Linux versions mature enough to be called beta software.

2009 Golden Disk Awards Nominations List

11/03/2009 12:43:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , 0 Comments

DISK BONSANG AWARD*
Super Junior - Sorry, Sorry
G-dragon - Heartbreaker
SG Wanna Be - Vol.6 - Gift
Lee Seung Chul - Mutopia
Drunken Tiger - Feel Ghood Muzik : The 8th Wonder
Seo Taiji - Atomos
Shin Hye Sung - Side 2: Keep Leaves
Bobby Kim - Love Chapter 1
Jo Sung Mo - Second Half
Jang GiHa and Faces - Living without special things’
Epik High - E
Lee Sora - Winter, lonely and warming song’
Baek Ji Young - Sensibility
Lee Seung Gi - Shadow
FT Island - Cross & Change
Park Hyo Shin - Gift Part 1
Brown Eyed Girls - Sound G
MC Mong - Humaniamal
KARA - Revolution
Fly to the Sky - Decennium
LeeSsang - Hexagonal
Younha - Peace Love & Ice Cream : Part.A
Lim Chang Jung - Return To My World
Lee Sun Hee - Love
Outsider - Maestro
Dynamic Duo - Band of Dynamic Brothers(10.21)
Wheesung - Vocolate(10.21)
IVY - VOL.3 - Goodbye Tears
Lee Soo Young - DAZZLE
2pm - 1집정규앨범 - 1st full length album (Releasing this November)

DIGITAL BONSANG AWARD*
SNSD - Gee (The First Mini Album)
2NE1 - 2NE1 1st Mini Album
Super Junior - The 3rd Album 'SORRY, SORRY'
Baek Ji Young - Sensibility
Davichi - Davichi In Wonderland
Son Dambi - Type B
SS501 - Boys Over Flowers OST
2NE1 - Fire (Digital Single)
Lee Seung Gi - Will You Marry Me (Featuring Bizniz)
8eight - The Golden Age
2pm - 2:00PM Time For Change
Brown Eyed Girls - 3rd Album Sound G.
SNSD - The Second Mini Album: Tell Me Your Wish (GENIE)
K.Will - Dropping Tears
Lee Seung Chul - A Sad Story Than Sadness O.S.T 2nd
SG Wanna Be - Vol. 6: Gift
Outsider - Maestro
Hwayobi - Hwayobi Mini Album
4minute - Hot Issue
Seung Ri (Big Bang) - REMEMBER
Shinee - 2009 Year Of US: The 3rd Mini Album
SS501 - SS501 Rebirth

Samsung Yepp popularity award
-Voting for this award will open on 3rd November

Super Junior
GDragon
SG Wannabe
Drunken Tiger
Seo Taiji
Shin Hye Sung
Bobby Kim
Jo SungMo
Jang Gi Ha and faces
Epik High
Lee Sora
Baek Ji Young
Lee Seung Gi
FT Island
Park Hyo Shin
Brown Eyed Girls
MC Mong
KARA
Fly To The Sky
LeeSsang
YoonHa
Im ChangJung
Lee SeonHee
Outsider
Dynamic Duo
WheeSung
Ivy
Lee SooYoung
Davichi
Son DamBi
8eight
K Will
SeungRi
SHINee
Lee Seung Chul
2PM
So Nyeo Shi Dae ‘Gee’
2NE1 ‘I Don’t Care’
SS501

Samsung Yepp newcomer award
2NE1
T-ara
4Minute
f(x)

HipHop music award
Drunken Tiger ‘Feel Good Music’
Epik High ‘Trot/Wannabe’
MC Mong ‘Indian Boy’
LeeSsang ‘The Girl Who Can’t Break Up, The Boy Who Can’t Leave ‘
Outsider ‘Alone’

Rock music award
Jang Gi Ha and Faces ‘Cheap Coffee’
YB Band ‘Still You’
BooHwal ‘Think Of You’
Cherry Filter ‘Pianissimo’

Russell Brand shares romantic clinch with Katy Perry as he reveals he's ready for children

11/03/2009 12:43:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , , 0 Comments

He's become infamous for his sexual appetite and is loved and hated in equal measure by men and women alike.


But randy Russell Brand claims to be a reformed man since getting together with U.S. singer Katy Perry.

The 34-year-old comedian says he is 'living in a different' way and even admits he is ready for children.

Speaking about his new girlfriend, he made it clear that his agenda has changed, admitting: 'She's lovely. I am living in a different way at the moment.

'Regardless of what happens in my current situation, I am unlikely to be satisfied with the calamitous promiscuity of the preceding five or six years.'


The couple got together at the MTV VMAs in New York earlier this year, cementing the relationship on a not-so-secret holiday to Thailand.

Now seemingly settled with his new love, Russell admits he is ready for children after making a success of himself despite a prior addiction to drugs, including heroin.

Asked if he was ready for babies, he said: 'I am, actually. It's seven years since I took drugs. I've made a film. I don't think I have to fight so much. I think I have grown weary of the carousel.'


And Russell says he's changed his life for the better by taking up yoga and meditation: 'I’m living in a disciplined way, do lots of yoga, exercise and transcendental meditation. It’s not half good.

'They give you a mantra… You feel attuned to a consciousness that is beyond your identity and beyond life.'

The comic is set to reprise his role as Aldous Snow in the Forgetting Sarah Marshall spin-off Get Him To The Greek, along with various other acting gigs during the coming year.

So, with the work flowing in, a new take on life and a new girlfriend, could this signal the end of 'randy Russell Brand'?

2009 Miss Asia Pageant winners list

11/03/2009 12:42:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , 0 Comments

2009 Miss Asia Pageant was held at the Headquarter of ATV last night. 21 year old black horse Hui Ying took the crown. First runner up went to Wong Hei Yiu, who had so much negative press before hand, but it didn't influence the judges. Second runner up was Hui Kai Wai. Hot favorite Lau Yee sum only scooped the "Perfect Body Award". She was upset and expressed her disappointment. Wong Jin Jin got the "Miss Photogenic" award and the youngest contestant 17 years old Sing On won the "Crystal Clear Skin" Award.

Miss Asia 2009 dance teacher Hui Ying is 5 ft 8, she won the Miss Asia award in the mainland earlier. During the contest, she demonstrated Waltz which showed her as a talented dancer and probably won her the award. She also won "Outstanding Dance Beauty" and "Sleeping Beauty" award. Hui Ying appeared confident throughout her performances. Apart from her 2 million HKD prize money, her crown is worth 1.78 million HKD too. She told reporter she considered herself as a black horse "I think I performed OK in the contest. I am most confident in my dance performance. I believe I won because I have the positive state of mind throughout the competition."

First runner up Wong Hei had a negative press about her plastic surgery all over the newspaper before the contest. It was noted that her body figure changes all the time. When it was announced she was the first runner up as Miss Asia, she was stunned. 26 years old Wong Hei looks like "Michele Reis". She didn't show her excitement after she won. She expressed that she wanted to cry, she felt very satisfied and thanked everybody for supporting her. Asked how did she lose to Hui Ying, she replied "I haven't thought about that, I will tell you later."

Second runner up Hui Ka Wai doesn't have a prominent appearance and she was almost ignored by the press. It was a break through for her to have won the third prize as an under dog. 21 year old Hui Ka Wai was a university student and she won the second prize in Miss Asia Division and Miss Photogenic Award in Taiwan too. In this contest, she was also voted by the contestants to win the "CFLs beauty prize". After winning tha award, she kept blowing kisses to the judges.

Hot favorite Lau Yee Sum was in tears after losing the contest. She had to go back stage to put her make up back on. When she was interviewed by the reporter, she cried again and her make up was ruined yet again. She told reporters "I am very disappointed, I feel disappointed and very hurt. I thought I would be in the final three." Lau Yee Sum stressed that she did admit defeat and the result is also fair. She lost because she had not done enough preparation before the competition. She may consider to enter for the next contest again.

First runner up Wong Hei Yiu, Winner Hui Ying, Second runner up Hui Ka Wai

Miss Photogenic : Wong Jin Jin
Miss Beautiful crystal clear skin Award: Sing On

Miss Friendship: Cheung Ka Wai

Fashion style Award: Chan Yee Ting


2009 Miss Asia Pageant list

Miss Asia Winner: Hui Ying (China)
First runner up: Wong Hei Yiu (HK/Macau)
Second runner up: Hui Ka Wai (Taiwan)
Miss Photogenic: Wong Jin Jin (China)
Miss Crystal Clear Skin Beauty: Sing On (HK/Macau)
Miss Perfect Body: Lau Yee Sum (Taiwan)
Miss Fashion Style: Chan Yee Ting (HK/Macau)
Miss Friendship: Cheung Ka Wai (HK/Macau)

Major Death Revealed: Heroes Is Killing Off Adrian Pasdar

11/03/2009 12:42:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , 0 Comments

As I have been teasing for weeks, Heroes is killing off a major character later this season.

The death is a huge twist for the show so I didn't want to ruin the surprise for you, but now that another outlet has leaked the secret, it's time for me to reveal the truth:

Adrian Pasdar's Nathan Petrelli is the major character death happening on Heroes this season, and no, he wasn't told he was getting fired, he learned about it from a script.

But what about reports from fellow Heroes castmembers that the Petrelli brothers were definitely safe?

After Heroes star Greg Grunberg recently told a radio station that Nathan and Peter weren't the Heroes death, I doubled back with my source and he confirmed, "I know Adrian is getting killed off and was pissed about it because they didn't tell him...Greg could be talking about another death but I think he's probably covering and throwing fans off."

And of course, Greg certainly doesn't want to meet the same fate!

What do you think of the news that Adrian Pasdar is being killed off Heroes for good? Shocking since he's one of the major original players? Or, in the words of a certain Brazilian television aficionado I know: "Again? How many times have they killed that guy on that show?"

Microsoft chops price of its hosted software

11/03/2009 12:42:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , 0 Comments

Microsoft said Monday that it's cutting by a third the subscription prices for the hosted versions of Exchange, Sharepoint, and Office Communications Server.

The software maker plans to cut the monthly per-user cost of licensing all three products from $15 to $10, while the cost of licensing individual products is also dropping by as much as 50 percent. The move comes as Microsoft faces continued pressure from rivals, including Google.

Last week, the city of Los Angeles voted to go ahead with a deal to shift many employees to Google Apps from Microsoft Office.

In an interview, Microsoft Vice President Chris Capossela said the move has less to do with competitive pressure than that "it's the price that customers are really excited to buy our suite at."
,p> "We're pretty excited about the price and not so much focused on free services or the price Google or others might charge," Capossela said.

In addition to the price drop, Microsoft is also touting several new customers and announced its plan to bring the year-old Microsoft Online services to more than a dozen new countries.

The company is announcing its commercial launch in Singapore, as well as trials in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Czech Republic, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Israel, Malaysia, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Poland, Romania, and Taiwan. Microsoft also expects to have commercial availability in India later this year.

Among the new customers are McDonalds, Aon, Lions Gate Entertainment, and Rexel Group. They join existing customers, such as Blockbuster, Coca-Cola and Autodesk as those paying Microsoft to run hosted versions of its products. Microsoft formally launched Microsoft Online at a San Francisco event a year ago.

Next week, Microsoft will also formally launch Exchange 2010 at its TechEd Berlin developer event. Microsoft said last month that it had finalized the product. Traditionally, Microsoft has developed products first as a server and only later, if at all, customized them to run in hosted form.

Exchange 2010, though, was designed first as an online service and then crafted into a product that businesses can run on their own servers.

G-Dragon’s album no longer suitable for minors!

11/03/2009 12:41:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , 0 Comments

If you were planning on visiting Korea to buy G-Dragon's first solo album in person, don't count on it. That is...if you're a minor. On the morning of November 3rd (KST), G-Dragon's solo album Heartbreaker was declared unsuitable for children or anyone under the legal age (which is 19 in Korea).


After analyzing the lyrics of G-Dragon's songs "She's Gone" and "Korean Dream" off his album, officials deemed the lyrics too inappropriate for children. According to officials, "She's Gone" has an underlying suggestive meaning of drug use, while "Korean Dream" promotes an inappropriate "dream" of Korea. The title track of the album, "Heartbreaker," was said to be an automatic no-no for the young adult community. It's funny that they don't mention the most obvious one--"Breathe." G-Dragon clearly says, "You and me hardcore, baby. Let's do it some more. I can't breathe..." which I think is more suggestive than the other three songs.

These songs will not be available on television before 10pm, and his album cannot be purchased by anyone under the age of 19. The album, after selling nearly 200,000 copies by the end of September, will soon have the "19 only" sticker on it. Distributors who fail to comply will be issued a severe punishment or a heavy fine. Koreans seem to really take censorship seriously, don't they?

Take That, NBC! TNT Picks Up Southland

11/03/2009 12:41:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , 0 Comments

Anyone who watched the final season of The O.C. knows that Benjamin McKenzie is a true (hot, sweaty and scantily clad) fighter.

And now his new, much-ballyhooed police drama Southland is living to fight another day.

A TNT rep just confirmed to us that the cable network has picked up NBC's not-so-sloppy seconds and will air Southland in the new year. The series, from ER's John Wells and also starring Regina King and Tom Everett Scott, received acclaim from critics and fans alike before NBC pulled the plug on production last month.

Starting Jan. 12, TNT will debut the six episodes of the sophomore season of Southland that never aired, along with seven episodes of the previously aired first season. It will air opposite Jay Leno in the 10 p.m. slot.

All this sounds pretty fantastic, but here's the crappy gray lining:

There is no mention anywhere at this time of TNT producing more episodes of Southland, so it seems this is only a temporary reprieve. Sources contend that the series would cost a pretty penny, by TNT standards, to continue. We're waiting to hear the official word on that from TNT, so stand by...

Of course, this begs the question: Is it worth investing more time in a TV show that might go away after only six more eps?

UPDATE: A rep for TNT just told us: "As with all of our series, TNT will evaluate the performance of Southland before deciding whether to order more episodes."

Clean install with Windows 7 upgrade media? Get the facts!

11/03/2009 12:40:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , , , 0 Comments

Last week I complained about Microsoft’s shoddy documentation of how its upgrade procedures are supposed to work. I’m delighted to report that I got a tremendous and immediate response from within Microsoft, offering assistance in my testing and also promising to clean up and expand their documentation. I spent most of the weekend working on a table that I’ll publish later this week. I’m also testing various upgrade scenarios to see which ones work and which require a workaround.

Meanwhile, an argument that should have died ages ago has reared its head again. If you purchase a discounted upgrade edition of Windows 7, can you use it to perform a clean installation of the operating system on a PC that doesn’t currently have Windows installed?

The answer is really simple. If you qualify for an upgrade license, then yes, you can use any number of workarounds to install the operating system legally. If you don’t qualify for an upgrade license, then those same workarounds might technically succeed, but your license is not valid. Will you get away with it? Probably. But if you’re running a business, you run the risk that an employee will turn you in to the Business Software Alliance, which could lead to an audit, civil charges, and eventually some stiff penalties.

Let me see if I can help uncomplicate things.

The overwhelming majority of PCs are sold with Windows preinstalled by an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM). The rules are in the license agreement that you see when you first turn on that PC. You can find any license agreement for Windows (retail or OEM) at the Microsoft Software License Terms page. If you read the retail and OEM license agreements, you will see that there is absolutely no requirement to install the software in a specific way. Here, for example, are the details from the OEM license agreement for Windows Vista Home Basic/Home Premium/Ultimate. I have used bold type to emphasize key terms.

Section 2: “The software license is permanently assigned to the device with which you acquired the software. That device is the ‘licensed device.’ A hardware partition is considered to be a separate device.”

[In Windows 7, the language is slightly clearer: "The software license is permanently assigned to the computer with which the software is distributed. That computer is the 'licensed computer.'"]

Section 13: “To use upgrade software, you must first be licensed for the software that is eligible for the upgrade.” [This identical language appears in Section 14 of the Windows 7 license.]

Section 14: “Proof of License: If you acquired the software on a device, or on a disc or other media, a genuine Microsoft Certificate of Authenticity label with a genuine copy of the software identifies licensed software. To be valid, this label must be affixed to the device or appear on the manufacturer’s or installer’s packaging. If you receive the label separately, it is invalid. You should keep label on the device or the packaging that has the label on it to prove that you are licensed to use the software. If the device comes with more than one genuine Certificate of Authenticity label, you may use each version of the software identified on those labels.” [This text appears in the Windows 7 license in Section 16, with the word "device" replaced by the word "computer."]

That sticker on the PC is the proof of your original full license, the one that qualifies you for the discounted upgrade to a new version. There is NO requirement in the license agreement or elsewhere that the qualifying software be installed first for the upgrade to be valid.

Finally, there’s the question of what older Windows versions qualify for an upgrade to Windows 7. The answer is on the retail upgrade box: “All editions of Windows XP and Windows Vista qualify you to upgrade. … If you are upgrading from Windows XP, you will need to back up your files and settings, perform a clean install and then re-install your existing files, settings, and programs.”

Here’s a picture. Note that it specifically says “clean install,” not “custom install.”


So what are the rules? Let’s break it down by some specific situations:

You originally purchased a PC with a copy of Windows XP or Windows Vista. You qualify for an upgrade on that specific PC. Any version of XP or Vista qualifies for an upgrade to any version of Windows 7. So if you bought a Dell in 2007 with Windows XP Home preinstalled, you can buy a retail upgrade of Windows XP Professional and install it on that PC. This is true even if along the way you wiped the hard disk clean and installed a beta of Windows 7. The license for Windows XP was permanently assigned to that machine when you first turned it on and accepted the license agreement. The fact that the original operating system isn’t currently installed on the PC is irrelevant.

You just bought a brand-new Mac and you want to use Boot Camp to install Windows 7 on it. You do not qualify for an upgrade license. Apple didn’t sell you a copy of Windows with your Mac, so there is no original Windows edition to qualify for an upgrade license. From a contractual point of view, you must purchase a full license to install in the Boot Camp partition.

You installed virtualization software on your PC or Mac and you want to run Windows 7 in a virtual machine. You do not qualify for an upgrade license. A virtual machine is considered a separate PC. In fact, Section 3(d) of the Windows 7 Professional license agreement makes this explicit: “Use with Virtualization Technologies. Instead of using the software directly on the licensed computer, you may install and use the software within only one virtual (or otherwise emulated) hardware system on the licensed computer.” Because there is no previously licensed version of Windows XP or Vista in your newly created virtual machine, you do not qualify for an upgrade. The exception, of coufrse, is Windows XP Mode in Windows 7 Professional and higher.

You have Windows XP or Windows Vista on your current PC and you want to use Windows 7 on a separate partition as a dual-boot machine. You do not qualify for an upgrade license. Refer back to the previous wording in Section 2 about a hardware partition being a separate device. The Windows 7 license agreement covers this in Section 14: “Upon upgrade, this agreement takes the place of the agreement for the software you upgraded from. After you upgrade, you may no longer use the software you upgraded from.”

You built your own PC from parts and you want to install Windows 7 on it. You do not qualify for an upgrade license. You need a full retail license. (You can also use a System Builder OEM license, but that’s a separate issue I’ll cover later.)

As I said earlier, this stuff is irrelevant to most people. If you buy a new PC with Windows on it from a legit dealer, you don’t have to think twice about licensing. If you buy a retail upgrade and install it on your system that’s currently running XP or Vista, you also have no hassles except those associated with upgrading.

The real people this information applies to are two groups: PC experts who support other PC users or want ultimate control over their own PCs, and people trying to get a bargain. For either group, it pays to understand the rules.

I’ll have several follow-up posts on the whole messy licensing issue. Stay tuned.

Actor Takeshi Kaneshiro heading to Hollywood?

11/03/2009 12:40:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , 0 Comments

Actor Takeshi Kaneshiro, one of Asian cinema's biggest superstars, could soon be following in the footsteps of fellow Asian stars Rain, Jay Chou and Lee Byung-hun and heading to Hollywood.

The 33-year-old was recently spotted by fans in Los Angeles, fuelling speculation that the Taiwan-based actor is in talks to star in a Hollywood film.

While Kaneshiro's agency has confirmed that the actor is indeed in Los Angeles, it said he is actually there on vacation to visit friends.

The actor has always been cautious about taking on foreign films. In 1998, he starred in "Too Tired To Die" with Oscar-winning actress Mira Sorvino but has kept his distance since, and even turned down a role in "The Last Samurai" starring Tom Cruise.

In recent years, the actor has once again caught Hollywood's attention after starring in 2004's "House of Flying Daggers" with Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi and Hong Kong director John Woo's war epic "Red Cliff".

His agency said that while the star has received several Hollywood offers, it will not reveal any details until he has signed on the dotted line.

Droid good but not great

11/03/2009 12:40:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , 0 Comments

Motorola's new Droid smartphone has attracted a fair amount of attraction as quite possibly the toughest challenger yet for the iPhone.

It's the first phone to run Android 2.0, the latest version of Google's smartphone operating system. It's the first Android phone offered by Verizon, which is reputed to have the best wireless network in the nation.

And it's the first Android phone available in the United States that has taken the iPhone's aesthetic into account in its design: The Droid is thin but sturdy and places its large touch screen front and center.

But as much as the Droid improves on previous Android phones, it's still no iPhone. Both its hardware and software lack the refinement of Apple's iconic device.

The first thing you notice about the Droid is that it feels solid in your hand. Unlike the myTouch 3G, the Android phone that came out this summer on T-Mobile, the Droid doesn't feel like it's made of cheap plastic. On the other hand, it weights about an ounce more than my iPhone, and that difference was noticeable as I held it in my hands surfing the Web or typing email.

Unlike the iPhone, the Droid has a slide-out keyboard. The keys were small for my thumbs, but they give a satisfying sensation when you tap on them.

Unlike previous Android phones, the Droid doesn't have a trackball or any physical buttons on its face. Instead, it has four dedicated touch-sensitive buttons: back, menu, home and search.

I found these hard to use. Because they don't depress like physical buttons and don't change color like virtual touch-screen ones, it can be hard to know if you've pressed them or not, particularly if the phone is running slowly for some reason. This kept happening to me repeatedly.

And when the screen turned off, I found myself missing having a big, front-facing button to turn it back on. Touch the "home" button (as you would on the iPhone), and nothing happens. Instead, you have to press the tiny power button on the top of the device.

The software on the Droid includes some nice features. It's one of the first Android phones to be able to sync to Exchange right out of the box, so you can not only check your work mail, but download your work contacts and calendar. Like Palm's Pre and the new Motorola Cliq, it also syncs your contacts with Facebook.

As you'd hope, given the Droid's links to Google, its search feature is much improved from those on previous Android phones. On the myTouch, the search bar only performed Web searches. Now it will search the device as well. You can use it to locate and launch programs and look up contacts. It's still not as good as the one on the iPhone, though; it doesn't seem to include appointments in its search results.

The Droid does have some nice features that you either won't find on the iPhone or that improve on what's there. It has a 5-megapixel camera, compared with the 3-megapixel one that's in the iPhone 3GS. And, unlike the iPhone, it has a built in flash.

Like other Android phones, the Droid will run multiple programs at once. So, you can listen to a radio station on Pandora while downloading an application from the Android Market and checking your email. That's great for multi-taskers like me — and something you can't do on the iPhone.

And unlike the version on the iPhone, the Droid's built-in Google Maps program turns it into a GPS device, offering turn-by-turn navigation. Google Maps Navigation works well; it plots directions quickly, keeps track of your movements in real time and rapidly re-plots your route when you stray from its course. Best of all, it's free.

But Android still feels unrefined compared with the iPhone — or even the underappreciated Palm Pre, whose WebOS software is even better than the iPhone's. Unlike those phones, it supports few gestures; you can't pinch to zoom in or out of a picture, for instance. And closing or switching between programs isn't nearly as simple or intuitive.

Still, there's a lot to like about the Droid and Android. It may not be as easy to use as either the iPhone or the Pre, but it's probably the best smartphone available from Verizon, which has far fewer deadspots than either AT&T or Sprint, the carrier partners of Apple and Palm, respectively.

The Android Market is a distant no. 2 to the iPhone's App Store in terms of available programs. But 12,000 applications — a number that is growing rapidly — is nothing to sniff at. You'll find versions of many of the most popular iPhone programs on Android; using programs I found in the market, I was able to listen to Pandora, send tweets to Twitter and play a tower defense game.

If I were on Verizon, I'd definitely give the Droid a look. If you've got an iPhone, though, I'd stick with it.

SHINee’s Jonghyun diagnosed with swine flu!

11/03/2009 12:39:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , , 0 Comments

Following SS501's Kim Hyun Joong, K.Will and 2AM's Jo Kwon, SHINee member Jonghyun has been diagnosed with swine flu!


On the night of November 2nd, Jonghyun had symptoms of a cold so he visited the hospital to get a check up. For precautionary measures he was given Tamiflu, but on November 3rd (today), he was declared positive with swine flu. Jonghyun is currently staying at home and resting.

Due to his health, Jonghyun will stop his activities with SHINee. SME has stated that for the time being, SHINee will promote Ring Ding Dong as a 4 member group.

We wish Jonghyun a speedy recovery.

Motorola MILESTONE official: DROID for Europe

11/03/2009 12:36:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , 0 Comments

Having been spotted over the weekend, albeit unofficially, Motorola Europe and O2 have officially announced the Motorola MILESTONE, the GSM version of the Verizon DROID. The MILESTONE will run Android 2.0, just as with the CDMA handset, and has been confirmed for Germany and Italy on – according to Motorola Germany – at least Vodafone and O2.


The MILESTONE has 900/2100 UMTS/WCDMA support and quadband GSM, but otherwise the hardware specifications are identical to the Verizon version that goes on sale at the end of this week. As for software, we’ve already heard that the MILESTONE lacks Google Maps Navigation for turn-by-turn directions, as currently that software beta is only available in the US; instead, the smartphone will ship with MOTONAV which offers only a trial of easy search, lane guidance, mapping and points-of-interest.

However, Motorola Europe have also added pinch-zoom multitouch, which the DROID lacks. Right now the Motorola sites aren’t listing a release date or pricing, but over the weekend we heard that the MILESTONE would drop on November 9th and – for business customers at least – be priced at €404.20 before taxes ($595).

Yunho and Changmin supports SME - Their father speaks against jaechunsu

11/03/2009 12:36:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , , , , 0 Comments

Yunho and Changmin of DBSK/TVXQ have stated that they are on SM Entertainment's side on the legal dispute between the company and other three members. They said that they trust SME and will be with them in the future. The two also gave a deadline to other members, saying that DBSK will come back to promote in Korea next spring, so the other three members must make a decision before the 12th of this month.


The two members' thoughts were delivered through a document compiled by Yunho and Changmin themselves, which stated:

We five members of DBSK signed the same contract with the same clauses and for the past five years, and have worked together under same conditions with utmost trust in the company, each other and our dreams. We intend to share our dream and future with the company and keep the promises we made in the contract. DBSK was made by SME and we intend to work as DBSK with SME.

No other company can create DBSK, as only SME can provide the best production and management team available. The three members must know better than anyone else that SME is the one who knows DBSK the best and made DBSK the best. We intend to keep trust and promise and thus intend on staying with SME. DBSK's grand future will be with SME. We believe that our Korean promotion, planned for next spring, should be prepared at least six months in advance before our future as one DBSK becomes unclear. If the other three members truly want to stay as one DBSK, they must make a decision before it is too late.


They also commented on the beauty product controversy which sparked this legal dispute:

The beauty product business changed everything. We are not familiar with the matters but we believe that a legitimate company that seeks to do business with DBSK must consult with SME first. It is common sense. We did not get involved as getting involved with a company that sought to do business without SME would have meant that trouble was ahead.


We did not want the reputation and pride of DBSK, earned by our hard work, to get ruined by a beauty product company that did not work in a legally respectable manner. We are not aware of the contract between that company and the three members, nor do we know what those members were told or how much they have earned through their deal. What we do know is that the fact that DBSK, forged together for 5 years by all of our dreams, has fallen into its current state because of an unethical company that is simply unacceptable.

With DBSK crumbling away like this, the current situation is unbelievable. It is sad to see that this was all caused by some beauty product company, and we hope that the three members would come back to the days when we were all working hard for our dreams.

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

Yunho and Changmin’s fathers express strong disapproval of other members

The fathers of Yunho and Changmin, the two members that have sided with SM entertainment, spoke in support of their sons and SME while condemning other three members and their parents. They claimed that the dispute has more to do with the trouble that have arisen from the beauty product business rather than contractual matters.

Mr. Chung, the father of Yunho, stated:

The two members who did not involve themselves in this legal dispute are the real victims here. They suffered from financial loss, psychological suffering and most importantly they lost their reputation. Who is to compensate them for their losses? I intend to ask the three members this: Whatever the reason, why do you intend to cause such great controversy and drive DBSK, an international brand name, into a break-up? Do you care at all about the other two members and their suffering?

The beauty product business wasn't something that was supervised by SME. On top of that, the beauty product company itself wasn't very trustworthy. When it was started, I felt that DBSK's reputation could potentially suffer from involvement with that company and advised my son of the issue. He shared my concerns as well, and that is why he did not involve himself in the business. SME later asked the three members to withdraw from the business but their parents resisted unreasonably. Mr. Shim (Changmin's father) and I tried to convince them as well but they simply refused to change their minds. I later learned that the three members took up legal actions against SME without consulting me nor Mr. Shim. DBSK is not owned by those three members only. They ignored not only the controversy that would rise but also the rights of other two members.

Mr. Shim, father of Changmin, stated:

Simply put, the other three members took legal actions against SM because of the beauty product business matter and other reasons which involve their financial gains. What they claim as their reasons, reasons such as unfair contract and unclear profit division are merely excuses to hide the true reason behind their actions. After the three members started the beauty product business, one of the parents called me and told me shenanigans like "This business can be worth millions or even billions in the future. When we tell the media that DBSK has started a business, share price of our company will hit the roof - we will tell you in advance so you can profit from the information."

Three members claim that the contract is unfair and calculations are unclear, but my son and I have read over the contract with SM clearly and agreed to all clauses, from the very first contract through all five revisions that have been made. For every income my son has received I reviewed all of the the numbers. I feel sorry for the three members and their parents as they must know of the truth but they continue to make false claims."

Adobe engages Apple in passive aggressive warfare with iPhone's Flash message

11/03/2009 12:34:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , , , , 0 Comments

Adobe's seemingly tried everything in its fight to get Apple to tear down enough development barriers to get Flash ported to the iPhone, culminating in a native compilation option in CS5 that... well, really doesn't solve much of anything. So far, nothing's worked. What's next? Get the masses fired up with some old-fashioned propaganda and let 'em riot down at One Infinite Loop, of course! Visiting Adobe's Flash download page from an iPhone now shows a pretty tersely-worded message informing the user that they're getting short-changed simply by Apple's refusal to budge, so yeah, if you hear an occasional cry of "this is outrageous, I'm writing Apple immediately!" while sitting at an airport gate or a coffee shop, you can safely guess what just happened.

Moses Chan will not make way for Wayne Lai for TV King

11/03/2009 12:34:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , , 0 Comments

Wayne Lai opened his mouth and told Moses Chan to make way for him for the TV King title. Yesterday at an event that they both attended at different times, Moses said: "I will not make way for him! Wayne has a lot of strength, I greatly support him, I have always thought he's a good actor. This year if I lose to him, it be worth it! But I do have confidence for myself as well, ever since I've entered the television industry, there has been many roles of mines that have done well, well supported by the audience."

When speaking of signing a contract for TVB management and become a "biological son", he said: "Earlier I rejected TVB, we both have a good collaborative relationship. I like my freedom, I'm worried that if I get a manager, then there might be a bad ending, now it is not the time." He also expressed that something on paper affecting the chances for an award, makes the award pointless. He has confidence towards himself.

blacksn0w iPhone 3.1.2 unlock coming November 4th [Video]

11/03/2009 12:33:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , , 0 Comments

Been waiting for an unlock for your iPhone 3GS? Thanks to George Hotz, who goes by the handle of Geohot and offers the blackra1n unlock tool, a new version – blacksn0w – capable of unlocking iPhone OS 3.1.2 will be launched on November 4th. According to Hotz, one unlocking company has gone as far as to offer him $10,000 for the necessary code; however the good news is that the blacksn0w unlock will remain free.

Problem is, that won’t stop various less-than-honest unlock merchants from “borrowing” blacksn0w and charging iPhone owners for what they could readily do themselves for free. Hotz is asking people to share the information about his – and the iPhone Dev Team’s – offerings, to try to reduce the number of people conned into paying unnecessarily.

blacksn0w will support hacktivation of iPhones delivered running the latest firmware, so if you can pick up a handset without AT&T (or whichever regional carrier offers the smartphone near you) then you don’t even have to go through the rigmarole of activating it and then cancelling your contract. Demo of the unlock – which only takes seconds – in the vide below.

TVXQ not allowed to continue group activities

11/03/2009 12:33:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , 0 Comments

SM Entertainment will have a press conference today regarding the conflict with TVXQ/DBSK/Tohoshinki.


Lawyers of SM Entertainment said:

"The court's ruling for TVXQ is not fair. They didn't consider the main reasons of the case. Their long contract is so that we can let them grow and have a long term deal with them. We want to look at their career in the long run and the court's decision is not letting us do that. This is going to affect TVXQ's international promotions. It'll also create confusion for stars that want to have long term contracts and move on to bigger things later in their careers and for the companies that want to nurture talented people for a longer time. Not only that, it'll have some unwanted consequences on exports of Korean music as well as other issues."

They continued to say:

"Each year, we adjusted the contracts in favor of the members. Before this problem, the three members never complained about anything. Now that they have succeeded this much, they are complaining. They have just started to reach the top and now want to separate. Before a final decision is made, the three can do their personal and individual work. But we will not allow them to do any activities as TVXQ right now. Because of all this, TVXQ has not been able to work and we want to request money that could've been made by TVXQ during this time."

Stay tuned for more information from the press conference.

T-Mobile nabs HTC's Touch HD2, schedules release for November

11/03/2009 12:32:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , 0 Comments



WinMo folks, we wouldn't blame you for getting a bit of Android envy after last week's DROID onslaught, but if there's one thing that could make people pine for your OS it's HTC's HD2, and T-Mobile has just confirmed it's coming on November 9 -- a mere weekend after Moto's new hotness hits Verizon. Mind you, there is some confusion going on here, as the picture on T-Mo's site is of the old Touch HD, not the HD2 we met and loved, and the mention of "loads of applications to download from Android Market" is particularly perplexing. But, we've been told to go ahead and blame a bumbling marketeer rather than to expect some sort of cross-platform app marketplace love fest -- groovy as that may sound.

Update: We've also just learned that HTC is going to officially launch the HD2 on November 4 ahead of a November 11 release elsewhere. We're not entirely sure what there is left to learn about the thing, but we're always game for another press event.

Update 2: Just to clarify things, this is T-Mobile UK. Also, as many have pointed out in comments, we're now thinking the "09" above means 2009, not November 9, which likely points to a November 11 release. Surely you can swallow that DROID envy for another two days, yeah?

Joe Chen Qiao En might leave her company

11/03/2009 12:31:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , 0 Comments

Chen Qiao En is said to mind her being frozen by the company in the past. Sun De Rong said: "We did not freeze her, it's part of her education process."

Tony Sun’s band 5566 and Ming Dao’s 183 Club, has only 1 month left in their contract with J-Stars but all seven artistes haven’t renew their contracts. There are signs of a mass exodus. Fans petition Chen Qiao En to leave her company which is on the blink of collapse. J-Star’s general manager Sun De Rong retorted “What does fans know?” Rumours goes that the possibility of her leaving is high and her new drama “Jia Qi Ru Meng” will be her graduation work. Regarding this, Sun De Rong said: “We have shown our sincerity. If others can do better, we will wish them well.”

Earns 30 millions last year, may not renew contract.

Chen Qiao En rose from a minor artiste to the first sister of idol drama with idol dramas like “Prince Turned To Frog” and “Fated To Love You”. She has no lack of drama offers, as well as many commercials and event contracts. This year, her dramas “Easy Fortune Happy Life” and “Staying By Sunshine, Staying By You”, and five endorsements for lingerie and spectacles etc brought in an income of nearly 30 millions. However, she may not renew her contract with J-Stars with whom she has worked with for eight years.

J-Stars repelled enemies, offer bigger cut

According to sources, many companies are trying to win Chen Qiao En over. In order to keep this “golden goose”, J-Stars offers to reduce their cut of 30% of her earnings. “Jia Qi Ru Meng” also allows her to choose her dramas. Sun De Rong said: “People must remember to be grateful.” Her fans said that J-Stars is on the brink of collapse. Sun De Rong said angrily: “This is a result of the environment. If we can earn money at home, who wants to leave their home country? Now fans are like famous mouths (people known for their eloquence), they only know how to talk.”

Sun De Rong is open-minded, stay if able to work together, leave otherwise

Sun De Rong manages J-Stars which brought to frame the band 5566 which includes members Sam Wang, Zax Wang and Jason Hsu. 183 Club was left with only Sam Wang, Ming Dao and Ehlo Huang after Jacky Chu and Johnny Yan left the group. Tony Sun, Zax Wang and Ming Dao may take into account the many years of friendship with the company and renew their contracts, especially Ming Dao who is “highly productive”. He participated in three dramas and earns more than 20 millions this year and has the least complaints against the company. Regarding artistes who have yet to indicate their intentions, Sun De Rong is open-minded: “Stay if able to work together, leave otherwise.”

Edison Chen's boss: It's not time for his comeback

11/03/2009 12:10:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , 0 Comments

Lin Chien Yueh, the boss of Hong Kong artiste, Edison Chen, who is also known as the "godfather" of the Hong Kong entertainment circle revealed that he looks upon Edison as his own family and shared that the artiste will not be making his comeback anytime soon.

Since the eruption of Edison's sex photos scandal in 2008, Lin has been continuously supporting the latter in his career. In an interview with the Chinese media, he openly talked about Edison's supposed comeback to the entertainment industry.

On Edison's recent participation in a Hollywood movie, Lin said, "[I] can't say if he is making a comeback of leaving. He was in the wrong, everyone knows the mistakes he made. That was a kind of life he led when he was a child. He said that he will not be making a return to the Hong Kong entertainment industry yet but he did not say that he will not be doing any other things. It is unfair for a 20-something child to not be able to do anything else.

"He has been running his fashion business, there is no comeback or not. I can only say that he has that one [Hollywood] movie. If the public can accept him, he can make a comeback anytime, however if the audiences do not welcome him, he can't make a return.

Lin succinctly summarized everything, "At this period of time, there are many people looking for him, but I do not think that the timing is right yet, there are still many opposing voices."

Reporters asked Lin if he treats Edison like his own and he said, "Everyone has friends and relatives. When they make mistakes, they are able to better understand and empathize with them. If you do not help him, who do you help? We have already done whatever the company can do to help him. Whether or not it succeeds is another thing altogether."

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