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Miley Snubbed! Kanye Bested! David Cooked! More Grammy Surprises!

12/03/2009 12:35:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , , , , , 0 Comments

Miley Cyrus ain't no Taylor Swift. David Cook ain't no Carrie Underwood. Kanye West probably isn't happy. (What else is new?)


Here's a rundown of the snubs, surprises and other stuff of note from tonight's Grammy nominations, plus Michael Jackson's MIA status explained:

• Miley Cyrus started the year with a hit movie and hit soundtrack, and ended it with fewer Grammy nominations than Ed Asner. Translation: Zero. Translation: Eight fewer than Taylor Swift.

• Cyrus' "The Climb" earned one nod in a non-marquee category (Best Song Written for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media, where it'll probably lose to Slumdog Millionaire's "Jai Ho"), but none for its singer (the award is for the songwriters).

• Welcome to the real, cruel world, David Cook. The season seven American Idol winner got nothing for not growing up to become Taylor Hicks. Most notably, Cook came up empty in Best New Artist, the category fellow Idol alum Carrie Underwood won in 2007.

• Demi Lovato and Justin Bieber likewise failed to get Best New Artist love, making it a bad night for teenagers not named Taylor Swift.

• Where to begin with Kanye West? Yes, the award-show Grinch netted six nods, but no big fish: No Album of the Year, no Record of the Year, no Song of the Year, etc. Plus, his favorite Beyoncé song, "Single Ladies," got shut out of the ultimate prize, Record of the Year.

• Can't stop hum-hum-humming Owl City's "Fireflies?" Grammy voters could. The song and Adam Young's alterna-outfit got zip.

• The Black Eyed Peas are so powerful that only the Black Eyed Peas can stop them, with "I Gotta Feeling" nabbing a Record of the Year nod over the group's just-as-ubiquitous "Boom Boom Pow."

• Whitney Houston, we have a problem: Zero nominations for you and your comeback album, I Look to You.

• Michael Jackson, sit tight: This Is It, the soundtrack and the single, were absent from the nominations because the collection wasn't released until after the Aug. 31 eligibility cut-off date.

• Britney Spears, happy 28th birthday: You nabbed one nod. And while it wasn't for a prime-time award—with apologies to the Best Dance Recording category—it was for an award.

Susan Boyle's 'I Dreamed a Dream' tops U.S. album chart

12/03/2009 12:35:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , 0 Comments

Susan Boyle's I Dreamed a Dream sold 701,000 copies its first week, the biggest sales week of 2009, in another chapter to the Scottish singer's fairy-tale rise to stardom.

Her debut album, which hit shelves Nov. 23, handily beat the year's previous leader, Eminem's Relapse, which racked up 608,000 copies in May, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Dream had the best-selling first week since AC/DC's Black Ice entered Billboard with 784,000 in October 2008. It's also the biggest debut by a woman since SoundScan began tabulating sales in 1991. Until now, Ashanti held the title with her 2002 eponymous debut, which sold 503,000. The only debut that has outsold Boyle's is Snoop Dogg's Doggystyle, which moved 803,000 in 1993.

Boyle, 48, a church volunteer who lives with her cat, won worldwide notice after her audition on U.K. television show Britain's Got Talent, breaking YouTube records with performances of I Dreamed a Dream (from Les Misérables) and Cry Me a River.

Her voice is only one factor of her success, says Billboard chart analyst Keith Caulfield.

"It's the unlikely pop-star Cinderella story," he says. "It's so moving to a lot of people, who see something of themselves in her. They like to see the underdog achieve. You may not buy it just for the music but for the whole story, for a piece of that pop-culture moment."

Boyle's older fans, who infrequently buy music, are less likely than younger consumers to cherry-pick tracks or turn to piracy. "That's why her number looks disproportionately larger," Caulfield says. "Album sales are dreadfully lower now."

Fueling Boyle's debut was wide awareness of the album.

"You didn't have to do a lot of artist development," Caulfield says. "She's new, but everyone feels they know her. The sticker on the album cover says, 'As seen on YouTube.' There are great examples of artists who were signed or discovered thanks to MySpace or a viral network, but it's hard to think of anyone else who had such tremendous success via YouTube."

Boyle also got a boost from Thanksgiving week sales, though she faced stiff competition. American Idol runner-up Adam Lambert's For Your Entertainment sold 198,000 to enter at No. 3, behind Andrea Bocelli's My Christmas (218,000). Rihanna's Rated R opened fourth with 181,000, and Lady Gaga's eight-song The Fame Monster arrived fifth with 174,000, trailed by her debut and its reissue, The Fame, with 151,000.Also new to the chart: Shakira's She Wolf, No. 15 (89,000).

Taylor Swift, Beyoncé Lead Grammy Nominations

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

The nominees for the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards are in, and Beyonce is leading the pack. The “Sasha Fierce” hitmaker earned a total of 10 Grammy nominations during “The Grammy Nominations Concert Live!! — Countdown To Music’s Biggest Night” event hosted by LL Cool J on Wednesday night.


Beyonce is up for Album of the Year for her 2008 LP I Am … Sasha Fierce, Song of the Year for her mega-hit “Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It),” and “Record of the Year for her ballad “Halo.” Nipping at her heels is country sweetie Taylor Swift, who was close behind with eight nominations, including Album, Song, and Record of the Year.

The Black Eyed Peas tied with Maxwell and Kanye West for a total of six nominations each.

Winner will be announced in the 2010 Grammy Awards ceremony at The Staples Center in Los Angeles on Jan. 31, 2010.

SONG OF THE YEAR
Beyonce – “Single Ladies”
Lady Gaga – “Poker Face”
Maxwell – “Pretty Wings”
Kings of Leon – “Use Somebody”
Taylor Swift – “You Belong With Me.”

ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Beyonce – “I Am … Sasha Fierce”
Black Eyed Peas’ “The E.N.D.”
Lady Gaga – “The Fame”
Taylor Swift – “Fearless”
Dave Matthews Band – “Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King.”

RECORD OF THE YEAR
Beyonce – “Halo”
Black Eyes Peas – “I Gotta Feeling”
Kings of Leon – “Use Somebody”
Lady Gaga – “Poker Face”
Taylor Swift – “You Belong With Me”

BEST COUNTRY PERFORMANCE BY A DUO OR GROUP WITH VOCALS
Brooks & Dunn – “Cowgirls Don’t Cry”
Zac Brown Band – “Chicken Fried”
Lady Antebellum – “I Run To You”
Rascal Flatts “Here Comes Goodbye”
Sugarland – “It Happens”

BEST RAP SOLO PERFORMANCE
Drake – “Best I Ever Had”
Eminem – “Beautiful”
Jay-Z – “D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)”
Kid Cudi – “Day ‘N’ Nite”
Mos Def – “Casa Bey.”

BEST ROCK ALBUM
AC/DC – “Black Ice”
Eric Clapton & Steve Winwood – “Life from Madison Square Garden”
Green Day – “21st Century Breakdown”
Dave Matthews Band – “Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King”
U2 – “No Line on the Horizon.”

BEST POP PERFORMANCE BY A DUO OR GROUP WITH VOCALS
Black Eyed Peas’ “I Gotta Feeling”
Bon Jovi – “We Weren’t Born to Follow”
The Fray – “Never Say Never”
Daryl Hall and John Oates’ “Sara Smile”
MGMT – “Kids”

Microsoft demonstrates more Bing 2.0 features and shares new user stats

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

Microsoft sent a bunch of its top search execs to San Francisco on December 2 to show off more of what’s part of the Bing 2.0 fall refresh of the company’s search engine.


Microsoft announced the Bing fall refresh on November 11 and said to expect the new features to be rolled out over the coming weeks. To be clear, Microsoft doesn’t like to call these Bing 2.0, but that’s what employees at the company dubbed this update earlier this summer; Microsoft officials prefer to call these features examples of the “continuous improvements and updates” to Bing.

According to reports of folks in the San Francisco audience, Microsoft execs demonstrated a number of new visual-search add-ons, the new Bing Mobile search client and Silverlight-powered Bing maps. They also showed off “entity cards” and “task pages,” two more ways Microsoft is attempting to differentiate Bing from Google, presentation-wise, and to make searches more relevant.

Microsoft officials told attendees that Bing’s greatest growth is coming from the 18-24 and 25-34 age groups, to whom videos, shopping and image search are all important. Microsoft execs told event attendees that 50 percent of time in search engines is spent on sessions that are longer than 30 minutes and 60 percent of sessions include four queries or more. (I’d posit the length and number of queries could be related to the difficulty of finding the information being searched for, but that didn’t seem to come up in today’s remarks.)

Microsoft’s own internal survey found these to be the most popular queries from Bing searchers:



Given these stats, it’s not surprising that Microsoft is focusing on optimizing around visual search, video search and local mobile searches (and less so on general informational queries).

So what, exactly, did Microsoft show today? Microsoft provided more details via a Bing blog post and e-mail follow-up from a spokesperson. On the short list:

* The beta version Bing Maps that uses Silverlight and Photosynth imagery, available today. There’s also Twitter Maps “for real-time updates by area and Local Lens featuring hyperlocal, neighborhood content.”

* A new Bing Windows Mobile app that includes improved auto-locate and voice search that is due to be rolled out over the next few days.

* A new Bing toolbar “which flags online content and alerts you when you’re about to make a purchase that qualifies for Bing cashback.”

* A social-network Visual Search capability that integrates Facebook and Twitter. It’s “coming soon,” according to Microsoft. (Microsoft announced and began rolling out Visual Search this past fall.)

It will be interesting to see what Google announces on the search front next week on December 7 and whether Microsoft managed to grab any mind share by going out publicly with its latest demos days before Google holds its dog and pony show….

Britney Spears Spends Her 28th Birthday Shopping at Fred Segal

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

Happy Birthday, Britney Spears!

Just back from her "Circus" tour's stint in Australia, the pop star celebrated her 28th birthday in L.A. indulging in one of her favorite pastimes: shopping!

Going casual in oversize black glasses, a tan and black hat, white long-sleeve tee and a black sweater, the singer hit L.A. boutique Fred Segal with beau Jason Trawick.

After browsing the mens' sportswear section, she picked up some gifts not for herself but for her sons Sean, 4, and Jayden, 3.

It's been a great year for Spears after a seriously rocky period: her world tour went off without a hitch, she scored yet another #1 single in October with "Three," her body's back in prime condition...and, following a string of Mr. Wrongs, she has found a new, stable love in Trawick, 37.

A pal tells Us that Trawick is "absolutely fantastic with the boys." And the agent stood by Spears in her darkest days: in early 2008, she was involuntarily committed twice to a psychiatric hospital; in 2007, she had lost custody of her sons.

One of Trawick's biggest fans? Britney's mom Lynne Spears. "Lynne said, 'He's the kind of man you would dream of your daughter marrying. The kids love him, and he's stable,'" a friend tells Us.

Another news tweak for Google

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

Following modifications to its "First Click Free" policy that gives Google News users access to some content that would otherwise be behind a pay wall, Google has released an additional tweak that lets publishers decide whether they want their sites to show up in Google News, Google Web search, both, or neither.

Previously, if a publisher wanted to request inclusion in one or the other, but not both, sending a request to Google was required. This now automates the process.

These updates to Google's news indexing come at a time when media outlets are once again pointing fingers at the search giant as a revenue suck--and in response, Google insists it's good for publishers because it drives traffic. News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch has made concrete threats that he will pull his publications' content from Google and is reported to be in talks with Microsoft to strike an exclusive deal on its Bing search engine.

By offering more flexible options for choosing where exactly news outlets want their content to appear, Google comes across as friendlier and less authoritative--at least on the surface.

TVXQ performs together at FNS Music Festival

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

The boys of TVXQ / DBSK / Tohoshinki were together as 5 and participated at the prestigious FNS Music Festival on Fuji TV in Japan. Only the top recording artists are invited to the Music Festival and it's usually the most watched (top ratings) program annually.


The boys performed Rainy Blue along with Hideaki Tokunaga and also their hit single Stand By You. They also had a brief interview section where they stated that they were nervous because this was their first time on the show. They also interacted with SMAP stating that Kusangi is supposedly good friends with Jaejoong. Kusangi stated they became friends after TVXQ appeared on the SMAPxSMAP show. Jaejoong stated he hasn't been in contact with Kusangi for a while because Kusangi changed his cell phone number. Kusangi stated that he'll give him his new number after the show.

Talk:
Opening:

Rachel Bilson Sex Scene! [VIDEO]

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



Rachel Bilson just doesn’t feel that comfortable doing a nude scene with co-star Adam Scott for her upcoming film Hearts of Palm. However, after a little pep talk for her patient director, she dives right in.

Check out Rachel’s sex scene in this hilarious video from FunnyOrDie.com…..


Microsoft Bing Maps Beta adds much richer images

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

Microsoft is kicking Bing Maps into a higher gear, announcing a beta version of Bing Maps that uses Silverlight to display 3D images and its own version of street-level images.


The company announced the new beta Wednesday amid a discussion of other improvements to Bing Thursday at its San Francisco offices in a presentation for the media. Bing Maps Beta is rolling out Thursday along with several other new features in the main Bing search results.

Bing Maps Beta requires Microsoft Silverlight to deliver very smooth three-dimensional transitions between satellite and street-view imagery. Like Google Street View, Microsoft has driven the streets of major cities such as San Francisco and assembled its own library of map-related images.

The new beta service can also find images of items inside popular destinations, such as art exhibits inside museums and other geotagged images available on the Internet through Microsoft Photosynth. Developers can also create Web applications to run inside the Bing Maps Beta, such as an application that works with Newseum to index local papers inside maps and let Bing users see the front pages of newspapers across the country.

In addition, Bing Maps Beta users will be able to see local tweets through a partnership with Twitter demonstrated during the event. Twitter recently rolled out a geolocation service.

Microsoft has street-level imagery for around 100 U.S. cities, it said, and is adding more imagery on a constant basis.

Microsoft also talked about new enhancements to Bing called "entity cards," which are sections on the top of a search results page that contain a mix of structured and crawled data on a given topic. For example, searching on "Coldplay" will bring up an official photo of the band with a link to their Web page, tour dates, additional photos, and other information all displayed before your eyes scroll down to the search results themselves.

Similar enhancements will appear on searches for specific cities, with photos and weather information, as well as searches for companies, where financial information and news will appear. At some point in the future, Microsoft also plans to let searches hook up with their Facebook accounts to search for photos, upcoming birthdays, and status updates.








Cyndi Wang dances with big-built men; Soft toy Wan Xin Ni accompanies her on promotion activities

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

Cyndi recently filmed the MV for her new song "Heart to Heart (心电心)" in Taipei. The dance instructor Lan Bo specially found 5 big built males that were over 120kg to dance with Cyndi. Cyndi remarked that "This dance sure has a very unique aura." With her new album coming out soon, the music company has also caringly designed a very cute large soft toy "Wan Xin Ni (丸心妮)" for Cyndi, to accompany Cyndi through her huge publicity activities.


To bring out the feelings conveyed in the lyrics of the song "Heart to Heart (心电心)" :
"Tall or short, I don't care, and it doesn't matter what's your weight. Palm to palm, let's have a heart to heart" the dance instructor Lan Bo had his mind set on having 5 overweight males dancing with Cyndi for this MV. After months of searching, he finally selected 5 "big-built" males that came from various work industry. Within them, there's telecommunication staff, salesperson, dancer and even a wrestling instructor from a Wushu School. The lightest among the 5 weighs 110kg while the most overweight guy weighs over 140kg.



When it was Cyndi's turn to practice dancing with the 5 "giants" in the dance room, due to the big size of the 5 males, the dance room which can usually accommodate 10 people seemed rather full. The "heat" generated even caused mist to form on the windows of the dance room. Cyndi laughed and said "There's the feeling of leading a sumo wrestling team out for competition. And the practice room was like a sauna! Its the first time I've came across mist forming on the room's window and when we're practicing, I'll accidentally "eat" some of the sweat that they splatter across. This dance sure has a very unique aura!"



During the practice process, what troubled everyone most was not the dance step but rather that the 5 males might work themselves too hard in the dance and end up slimming down. The music company thus quickly forked out NT $20 000 as food fund and got the dance instructor to lead the team after every practice for a very full meal. Cyndi has gain some weight recently and employees have been joking that she went to eat supper with the 5 dancers. Cyndi's pretty worried too "Those 5 dancers add up to be 600kg and over. And there's still me. Will the dance stage be overloaded when we have this performance!"



For the "H2H (心电心)" album promotion activities, the music company specially invited reknown internet illustrator "Da Mei Yang (大莓羊)" to help design a uniquely Cyndi's big soft toy "Wan Xin Ni", which is 120cm tall. This soft toy can accompany Cyndi to all her promotion activities. Cyndi also said that "The schedule for the publicity period is very pack. I also hope that someone can be constantly with me so that I can open up and share my inner thoughts. Thank you everyone for being so sweet." However, when filming the "Heart to Heart" MV, a worker accidentally toppled "Wan Xin Ni" and it became all dirtied. Even after cleaning, "Wan Xin Ni"'s mouth still shows traces of mud and Cyndi's finding it very funny yet heart aching. She says that she wants to bring her to the dry-cleaning shop for SPA.

Kate Hudson Harper’s Bazaar Magazine January 2010

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

Kate Hudson gets glam in a NYC deli steps out on the streets of Manhattan in a wedding dress for the January 2010 issue of Harper’s Bazaar – but don’t worry, Yankees lothario Alex Rodriguez isn’t off the market just yet.


The Nine star tackles single motherhood, the tabloids, and dating in the new issue of the Couture Bible, but there was one topic that was off-limits; Kate didn’t want to talk to Harper’s Bazaar about her feelings for A-Rod, despite her prominent spot in the stands cheering him on during the World Series.

“I have a child, and there are people involved, and it’s unfair to talk about somebody else, especially when you’re not in that place yet to be discussing those things,” she explained. “I quickly kissed the cheek,” Kate said of a photo showing her planting a wet one on the third baseman. “And I remember one of the headlines the next day said, ‘Makeout Session.’ What is wrong with people?”





Kate Talks Tabloids: “If I walk out on the street with any man, I’m dating him. I’ve been dating two of my best friends from high school who are like girls to me … I’m not going to hide going to breakfast.”

Kate On Her Son Ryder: “I’m a pretty strict mom, which is funny,” Kate says. “I didn’t think I’d be so strict. I feel like he is so great, he’s such a good kid, people really connect with him, they want to give him things and do things for him, and I’m like no. The next thing you know, you have the kid who’s being cute in order to get something.”

Kate On Ex-Hubby Chris Robinson of Black Crowes Fame: “Chris is a great dad. I feel really lucky,” she said. “When we first met, it was so immediate. I had no question in my mind I was supposed to marry him and have children with him.”

The new issue of Harper’s Bazaar arrives Dec. 15.

Xiao Xiao Bing's change of heart, completly forgot about Jerry!

12/03/2009 12:30:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , , , , 0 Comments

Since GTV I dol drama "Down With Love" will start broadcasting on next January, nine of the cast including Jerry Yan, Ella, Xiao Xiao Bing, JI Xin-Ling, Yan YiEn and Amanda Chou got back together to take some wedding pictures in front of a church.

Xiao Xiao Bing is now filming with F4's Vanness，but as soon as Jerry saw him, he pinched the kid's cheeks and jokingly said :

" Did you forget me already ? Now you're Vanness' s "
Xiao Xiao Bing frowned and answerred"no"

Ella then also helped to "bully" Xiao xiao Bing
"Right ! You're Vanness's now !"

Hearing everyone making a big fuss he shouted "I am not !" and cried scaring the two, who came immediately to confort him making Xiao Xiao Bing smile again. As soon as they heard "4,3,2,1 " they immediately happily took pictures again.

Mozilla adds extra Firefox 3.6 beta, still plans to ship final in 2009

12/03/2009 12:30:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , 0 Comments

Aims for a release candidate this week

Mozilla last week slipped in a fourth beta of its upcoming Firefox 3.6 browser, but said this week that it is still shooting to ship the final code by the end of the year.

Last Thursday, Mozilla released Firefox 3.6 Beta 4 after developers decided that the browser upgrade needed further testing before moving on to a release candidate.

"Due to the excellent work on knocking down the Firefox 3.6 Beta topcrash list, we've decided that it would be worthwhile to ship another beta update to our close to half million testers to confirm our expectations," Mike Beltzner, the director of Firefox, said in a message posted to the Mozilla developers planning forum last Tuesday. "We'd also like to get as much feedback as possible on the more than 140 fixes we've made since we shipped the update last week."

Mozilla shipped Firefox 3.6 Beta 3 on Nov. 17.

In a follow-up post on the Mozilla developers blog last Thursday, Beltzner bragged that about 70% of the available Firefox add-ons -- a crucial component to the open-source browser's success in grabbing market share from Microsoft's Internet Explorer -- had been upgraded so that they were compatible with Firefox 3.6.

The insertion of the fourth beta has pushed back the delivery of a Firefox 3.6 release candidate, as well as the final code, although Mozilla maintained that it would still wrap up the latter before 2010 begins.

"Closing on blockers in order to deliver a release candidate build this week," Mozilla said in a note published Monday. "Still aiming to be ready to ship in late December."

As recently as September, Mozilla was shooting to deliver the final of Firefox 3.6 by early November. Subsequently, Mozilla began using a before-the-end-of-the-year window to describe its release plans for Firefox 3.6.

Delays are not unusual for Mozilla, or for other software developers. In 2008, for example, Mozilla originally shot for a late-year release of Firefox 3.5, but eventually pushed back the ship date to mid-2009 because it added new features and had trouble closing out some bugs, particularly ones in the then-new TraceMonkey JavaScript engine.

Mozilla has cast Firefox 3.6, and its follow-on 3.7, as minor upgrades driven by a faster-paced development cycle. Firefox 3.7 is to appear in the first half of 2010.

Firefox accounted for 24.7% of all browsers used during November, according to data from Web metrics company Net Applications.

Firefox 3.6 Beta 4 can be downloaded from Mozilla's Web site. People using an earlier preview of Firefox 3.6 should have been automatically upgraded to the newest beta.

Natalie Portman’s Pot-Free Teen Years

12/03/2009 12:29:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , 0 Comments

Just call it Portman’s pot-free youth. Natalie Portman, who stars opposite Tobey Maguire and Jake Gyllenhaal in the upcoming film Brothers, describes herself as a bit of a late bloomer in the Jan. 2010 issue of Marie Claire. “OK, so I didn’t really go to high school parties,” she tells the magazine. “I didn’t touch pot ’til I was in my 20s. I didn’t get flat-out drunk until I went to college [Harvard]. But I think that’s a good thing in many ways.”


Girl Group Nia Releases “Goodbye” MV

12/03/2009 12:29:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , , 0 Comments

Girl rock group Nia have released a music video for their second single "Goodbye."


While the group released their first single "My Everything" back in April, this is their first MV. The second single album was produced by hip hop music veteran MC Hansai. The MV shows various people going through "cry therapy" where one cries to release emotions. The four member group consists of leader/drummer SsoJi, Choi YongShin on bass, vocalist Jeon SoYeon and guitarist Hwang BoNarae.

It's nice to see a group that actually plays their own instruments!

MV and other songs from the single below.

Goodbye (Rap Ver.) (Feat. Mino Of Free Style)
Everynight
A Good Day For Sunshine
Their previous single "My Everything"

Motorola Sholes images leak: HDMI, 8MP camera and Android

12/03/2009 12:28:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , , , 0 Comments

It feels like rumors about the Motorola Sholes have been around forever, but the mysterious Android-based slate looks to be finally emerging from the geeky shadows. Mobile01 have acquired some images of the device, though not a full shot, together with some specifications: apparently the Sholes will have a 3.7-inch 854 x 480 touchscreen (just like the DROID) together with an 8-megapixel autofocus camera with Xenon flash and – in a first for an Android smartphone – an HDMI output.



That HDMI port will apparently be used to output 720p HD video (or perhaps even higher). There’ll also be a 3.5mm headphone jack while, under the hood, a TI OMAP 3430 Cortex A8 processor potentially clocking in at 800MHz should keep things running smoothly. There’s also multitouch support and Motorola’s Crystal Talk DSP system for voice calls, and while right now it’s running Android 2.0, the expectation is that it’ll get Android 2.1 by the time it launches.

Since it’s a slate rather than a slider like the DROID, the Sholes is tipped to be even thinner. Connectivity is apparently UMTS/HSPA – no word on bands – and we’d guess there’ll be WiFi, Bluetooth and GPS in there too. Given how impressive the DROID turned out to be, we’ve got high hopes for the Sholes.

ASUS UL30Vt now available at Amazon

12/03/2009 12:27:00 PM kenmouse , Posted in , , 0 Comments



Remember just a while back when we told you that you could pre-order the ASUS UL30Vt over at Amazon if you so wished? Well, it's actually, really available and shipping now. The Windows 7 Home Premium-boasting 13-incher is part of ASUS's thin and light line -- with looks we're quite fond of. It's also packing switchable graphics, DDR3 memory, and a 1.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo SU7300 CPU which can be overclocked. This baby is selling for $799 and it's in stock now, so if you want one -- well, you know where to find it.

Lady GaGa appears refreshingly normal as she reveals: 'I want a husband and children'

12/03/2009 01:01:00 AM kenmouse , Posted in , , 0 Comments

Without her usual bizarre outfit, outrageous make-up and eye-popping headgear, it's hard to tell that this is Lady GaGa at all.


With tumbling blonde curls and a sexy corset, the Bad Romance singer is virtually unrecognisable - in fact she looks more like a supermodel

Only the tattoo on her left bicep gives the game away as Stefani Germanott graces the cover of the January edition of Elle magazine.

And to go with her fresh-faced image, the kooky 23-year-old was refreshingly normal in an interview, talking about her future, having children and old jobs waiting tables.

She said: 'In eight to 10 years, I want to have babies for my Dad to hold, grandkids.

'And I want to have a husband who loves and supports me, just the way anyone else does. I would never leave my career for a man right now, and I would never follow a man around.'

Talking about being a waitress, she said: 'I was really good at it. I always got big tips. I always wore heels to work!

'I told everybody stories, and for customers on dates, I kept it romantic. It’s kind of like performing.'

The star also revealed how stress affects her.

'I get all the symptoms of a pregnant woman. I get headaches, I get tired, I get blurred vision sometimes during a really intense session with [her creative team] the Haus.'

She added: 'My album covers are not sexual at all, which was an issue at my record label. I fought for months, and I cried at meetings.

They didn’t think the photos were commercial enough…The last thing a young woman needs is another picture of a sexy pop star writhing in sand, covered in grease, touching herself.'

And she also explained why she fakes her own death on stage: 'I feel that if I can show my demise artistically to the public, I can somehow cure my own legend.

'I can show you so you’re not looking for it. I’m dying for you on domestic television—here’s what it looks like, so no one has to wonder.'

Chinese actress Li Bingbing married since 1999?

12/03/2009 12:59:00 AM kenmouse , Posted in , , 0 Comments

Chinese actress Li Bingbing, who recently won the Best Actress award at the 46th Golden Horse Awards for her role in spy thriller "The Message", may have been married since 1999, according to Chinese media reports.

Li, 34, reportedly said that she had a businessman husband during an obscure interview with a Chinese magazine ten years ago.

She said at that time that she "wanted to be taken care of" and hence picked "an older man who could give her a sense of security".

In 2001, when Li had just begun her acting career, she was already living at the well-known Guan Cheng Yuan luxury apartment complex in Beijing and drove a white Porsche 740. Chinese reporters checked the ownership records of both her apartment and her car and found that a Mr Shi Tao owned both assets.

The apartment complex's car washer said that Li and Mr Shi "were living together", describing Shi as "a stout, be-spectacled man in his 40s with a shaved head".

His description of Shi matched the appearance of a mystery man Li was photographed with earlier this year.

Though Li's manager denied that the actress is married, he also said "he was her manager only after 2004 and was unclear about her affairs before then".

Media reports cite these revelations from Chinese sources and her manager's ambiguous reply as evidence that she had been secretly married for at least a decade.

Li is no stranger to controversy. She was also involved in a scandal with Ken Zhu, a member of the defunct Taiwanese boyband F4, while shooting the drama series "City of Sky" in April 2005.

The pair allegedly entered a hotel together, got a room and then kissed intimately in the doorway.

Lee ByungHun, Ha JungWoo, Ha JiWon and Choi KangHee awarded the popular star awards at the 30th Blue Dragon awards

12/03/2009 12:58:00 AM kenmouse , Posted in , , , , , 0 Comments

Actors Lee ByungHun, Han JungWoo, Ha JiWon and Choi KangHee are awarded the popular star awards at the 30th Blue Dragon Movie Award.


The award cermony took place on 2nd December in Seoul KBS Hall with Kim HyeSoo and Lee BumSoo as the hosts of the ceremony.

Ha JiWon is said to have the best ‘ticket power’ this year with her 2 flicks ‘Haewoondae’ and ‘My love by my side’. She was also awarded the Best Actress for the first time since her debut 11 years ago during the College Movie Festival on 1st December.

Lee ByungHun is known to be popular not just in Korea but also overseas for his various overseas movies participation like Hollywood film ‘G.I. Joe’.

As for Ha JungWoo, he recently starred in the movie ‘National Representative’ which was 6th in the history of Korea’s box office watched by over 8.5 million Koreans. And this is his first award received at the Blue Dragon Awards.



Kris Allen vs Adam Lambert ... Again

12/03/2009 12:58:00 AM kenmouse , Posted in , , , 0 Comments

My father has baseball, my brothers have football and I have American Idol. I'm not much different from them while watching Idol. I cheer, curse and yell at the contestants just as they do at the players. Last season I was wrapped up in the competition between winner Kris Allen and Adam Lambert, who was the most popular runner up since Clay Aiken. I eagerly awaited their debut releases because I enjoyed most of their performances throughout the competition. The wait is over and both titles meet with mixed results.


Kris Allen's self-titled debut carries on the tradition of other Idol debut releases. There's radio-friendly fare ("Live Like We're Dying"), heart-tugging ballads ("I Need to Know"), and his most popular cover from Idol, Kanye West's "Heartless." There are some good tracks such as the self-penned "Red Guitar" and "The Truth." Allen's clear voice and sincere delivery helps him maintain his all-around good guy image. The overall problem is the blandness that dominates rest of his debut. Allen proved that he can make a song his own (check out his outstanding rendition of "Falling Slowly" from Idol on You Tube), but there's little of this evidenced here. Allen seems to want to go in the direction of Jason Mraz, but he lacks Mraz's fun and loose style. Kris Allen is a predictable and bland debut that hardly demonstrates why he became 2009's American Idol.

Adam Lambert's For Your Entertainment falls under the category of less is more. Highlights include "Aftermath" and "Broken Open," because they best showcase Lambert's powerhouse vocals and dramatic delivery. "Soaked" guarantees Lambert the lead if a film is ever made based on the life of Queen's lead singer Freddie Mercury. Other tracks such as "Music Again" and "If I Had You" are so overproduced that it's a wonder I'm not suffering from a broken eardrum after listening to them. Some of Lambert's lyrics try to be suggestive such as the title cuts--"Can you handle what I’m 'bout to do/ Cause it's about to get rough for you"--but feel as though they're recycled from artists such as Madonna and Lady GaGa. There is some evidence of what made Lambert popular on Idol on Entertainment. The problem is talents are overshadowed by silly lyrics and extreme overproduction. Lambert's debut will be remembered more than Allen's but more so for his antics promoting it than any of its songs.

Overall, I expected more from both Allen and Lambert. I figured if they’re capable of outstanding performances then they’ll make top-notch debuts. Hopefully they’ll progress as artists on their follow ups. I give them both credit for keeping Idol's awful 2009 coronation song "No Boundaries" off their debut releases. It shows good judgment on their parts and I don't have to be reminded of one of the low points of last season.

The 10 Top-Earning Taiwan/ese Singers of 2009

12/03/2009 12:58:00 AM kenmouse , Posted in , , , , , 0 Comments

Singers sacrifice their life, their privacy, their freedom and their love life in exchange for applause from fans & hundreds of millions of revenue. This year, Jay Chou tops the list once again.

1. Jay Chou: estimated earnings = $554million

6 commercial events = $28.8million
7 concerts = $140million
9 endorsements = $270million
2 films (The Treasure Hunter & The Green Hornet)= $115million

2. S.H.E: estimated earnings = $360million

20 endorsements = $200million
24 commercial events & concerts = $150million
book ‘3 Spas of Love’ & Ella’s idol drama ‘Down With Love’ = $10million

3. Jolin Tsai: estimated earnings = $350million

24 commercial events = $82.2million
2 concerts = $7.8million
11 endorsements = $230million
album sales = $20million
nail shop + own clothing brand = $10million

4.Leehom Wang: estimated earnings = $270million

15 commercial events = $30million
12 endorsements = $200million
10 concerts = $40million

5. Mayday: estimated earnings = $268million

5 commercial events = $10million
24 concerts = $76.8million
10 endorsements = $115million
merchandise = $5million

6. Wilber Pan: estimated earnings = $266.55million

20 commercial events = $72.5million
3 concerts = $21.15million
7 endorsements = $173.9million

7. Angela Zhang: estimated earnings = $246million

30 commercial events = $111.6million
8 endorsements = $88million
album sales = $5million

8. Show Luo: estimated earnings = $220million

20 commercial events = $45million
5 concerts = $15million
10 endorsements = $150million
2 dramas (Hot Shot & Hi My Sweetheart) = $6.5million
album sales (overseas edition) = $20million

9. A-mei Zhang: estimated earnings = $158.8million

25 commercial events = $91.95million
8 concerts = $26million
2 endorsements = $30.85million
album sales = $10million

10. Elva Hsiao: estimated earnings = $100million

12 commercial events = $30million
5 endorsements = $60million
album sales = $10million

Note: all figures are in New Taiwan Dollars (NT$)

G-Dragon sells the most albums in 2009

12/03/2009 12:54:00 AM kenmouse , Posted in , , , , 0 Comments

According to Hanteo Information System, which monitored album sales from January 1st to December 1st of this year, only two musicians have been able to sell over 100,000 albums this year and to no one's surprise, the big winners are G-Dragon of Big Bang and Super Junior.


G- Dragon's first album, “Heart Breaker,” which was released in August, has sold 127,252 albums, making it the #1 selling record of 2009. Following G-Dragon closely behind is the thirteen-member-ed Super Junior, who came back to the Korean music scene in March with their 3rd studio album, "Sorry Sorry." Since then, the album has sold 123,286 records.

In 3rd place is the newly formed girl group 2NE1, who released a self-titled mini album in July and with their single “I Don’t Care,” sold 89,007 records this year.

SNSD, who released their 2nd mini-album this past April, hold the 4th and the 5th spot as they released two very successful albums this year. Their 2nd mini album, “Tell Me Your Wish,” which was released in June, has sold 85,063 records and their 1st mini album, released in January, has gone to sell 81,445 records.

Congrats to all the artists and who are you surprised didn't make the cut?

Ha Ji-won Wins 1st Best Actress Award

12/03/2009 12:53:00 AM kenmouse , Posted in , , 0 Comments

Popular actress Ha Ji-won collected her first Best Actress award at the 5th University Film Festival of Korea, Tuesday.

Ha starred in the blockbuster disaster film ``Haeundae'' and the melodrama ``Closer to Heaven'' this year, proving both her box office appeal and powerful acting skills. This was her first acting award in her 14-year career.

Actor Ha Jeong-woo, who appeared in the hit film ``Take Off,'' was named Best Actor. Bong Joon-ho received the Best Director prize for ``Mother.''

The results were taken from a survey of 980 college students majoring in film. They were asked to name the Film of the Year, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Actress.

``Take Off,'' a sports film inspired by the South Korean national ski jumping team, captured the Best Film award.

Rising Star awards were given to Kang Ji-hwan, the heartthrob lead actor of ``My Girlfriend Is an Agent,'' and actress Park Bo-young of ``Speed Scandal.''

Best Supporting Actor went to Jin Gu, who appeared in Bong's ``Mother,'' while Best Supporting Actress went to Kim Hae-suk, who starred in Park Chan-wook's Cannes Film Festival award-winning film ``Thirst.''

The film festival opened at CGV Yeongdeungpo Times Square Tuesday and runs through Thursday.

Nokia N87 12MP to come with WVGA display

12/03/2009 12:53:00 AM kenmouse , Posted in , , 0 Comments

If we’re to believe a recently-appeared rumor, Nokia is working on a 12MP camera phone dubbed Nokia N87 12MP.


Like other Nseries smartphones (N96, N86), the N87 seems to be a dual slider. Its features should include: a 3.2 inch WVGA (800 x 480 pixels) capacitive touchscreen display, 16GB of internal memory, a 600MHz processor and, of course, a 12MP camera with Carl Zeiss optics plus dual LED and Xenon flashes. The N87 may also come with that revamped Symbian UI that Nokia talked about today.

Sure, there’s nothing official about this at the moment, but an N87 12MP would certainly be a logical successor to the Nokia N86 8MP.

Some older rumors had it that Nokia would announce its first 12MP camera phone before the end of 2009 so let’s wait a bit and see if this turns out to be true. Until then, here’s the video that started all the talk about the N87 12MP:


Samsung Omnia II unboxing and hands-on

12/03/2009 12:52:00 AM kenmouse , Posted in , , 0 Comments



It's here at last, and we're frankly thrilled to be holding Samsung's very first TouchWiz 2.0 device, the Verizon Wireless-bound Samsung Omnia II. The 2.0 software brings with it a Widget Store, and as a general UI manages to skin over a majority of Windows Mobile 6.5, which is puttering along underneath. The handset is a tad on the bulky side, but makes up for it with a wonderful 3.7-inch AMOLED WVGA screen and a very nice 5 megapixel camera. We'll have a review for you before long, but for now you can check out a quick video rundown (including some playtime with the Samsung-exclusive "Swype" keyboard) after the break. And if that video is enough to convince you, the phone is available now on Verizon Wireless for $200 after rebate.


Hero Jaejoong turned down cast offer for Iris season 2

12/03/2009 12:52:00 AM kenmouse , Posted in , , , 0 Comments

KBS2TV drama Iris, the Iris production representative explains, “We are already planning Iris season two, filming will begin in May of next year at the earliest.”

According to the representative, they already have plans for Iris season two; they will be filming in China, Japan, Europe, and other locations.

Iris lead actor is predicted to not be able to take a part in Iris season two, due to his already scheduled Hollywood film. Aside from him, other actors have possibilities of reappearing in season two, but until now nothing have been confirmed.

Related person informed reporters: “There was a proposal of having DBSK’s Hero Jaejoong to appear in Iris season 1. Also have him appear in the first season grand finale episode 20, then in season 2 have him officially appear, but this could not happen because Jaejoong turned down the part. Now we are looking for an actor to play the part.”

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