Can 'Nightmare on Elm Street' turn around the box office ahead of 'Iron Man'?

Everyone knows that the official start of the summer movie-going season begins next weekend with the debut of Iron Man 2. But this weekend’s A Nightmare on Elm Street opening just might prime the pump for what’s sure to be a huge box office bonanza in the months to come. And that would be good news for a business that, in the last weekend, fell beneath $100 million for the first time all year.

It helps that a horror film hasn’t hit theaters since February. And with Iron Man hot on the Nightmare reboot’s tail, Freddy Krueger needs to slash through as much box office coin as he can this weekend since there ain’t gonna be anything to share next weekend. Also bowing this frame is the Brendan Fraser-starrer Furry Vengeance, which is unlikely to help quell the box office downturn that began last weekend. In fact, How to Train Your Dragon, which will be entering its sixth weekend of release, is destined to open higher then this PG-rated flick. Read on for my predictions.

Cheryl Cole smoulders in glamorous photoshoot

She has maintained a dignified silence since announcing her separation from her errant husband two months ago.


Instead, it seems Cheryl Cole has chosen to let her image do the talking.

In the new issue of fashion magazine Harper's Bazaar, the 26-year-old pop star smoulders as she adorns the front cover.

Discussing the future, Mrs Cole admits she has no set plans and is planning to 'go with the flow'.

Inside, the singer is featured in a selection of revealing couture outfits looking every inch the classical beauty.

Microsoft Courier Not Heading Into Production

Here’s some remarkably bad news. It seems that the Microsoft Courier, the dual-screen digital journal with Tegra 2 inside, has been scrapped. According to the report from The Wall Street Journal, it seems that Microsoft executives informed the internal team working on the Courier that the project was no longer supported by Microsoft, and that it’s been removed from future production. Of course, Microsoft had never officially come forward and publicly announced the Courier, but we know it existed.


The Courier first broke cover at the end of last year, and since then it’s caught the love of tablet fans all over the place. The second time we got a real good look at the concept of the tablet, our interest was piqued considerably. It made it all worse when rumors broke that the dual-screen digital journal would be using Tegra 2 under the hood. Simply put, the Courier was one of the best conceptual ideas to come out of Redmond in a long time, and we’re sad to see it go.

HP Windows 7 Tablet Gets Canceled, We Hope for webOS Tablet Instead

Apparently tonight is not a good night for tablet devices. Though, if you were to ask a few people, it may still continue to be a very good couple of days for Hewlett-Packard. After the announcement that HP had bought Palm, suggestions of an HP Slate with webOS started coming left and right. It doesn’t help when HP is telling the world that tablets are definitely on the agenda. And now, word is that HP has killed the Windows 7 tablet project, better known as the HP Slate (which debuted at CES this year). Coincidence?


According to a report coming out of TechCrunch tonight, a source that’s been briefed with the matter says that HP has canceled the entire project. The source also mentions that HP as a whole isn’t happy with Windows 7, at least not when it’s on a tablet device. And, considering an early review, that may be far more accurate than anyone could have guessed. However, this also may mean that HP is abandoning Intel-based tablets, due to their power-mongering ways. Again, this would rule out Windows 7 as a tablet OS.

Ronald Cheng and Ah Sa No Oppose To Play A Couple On-screen

Although they couldn't be husband and wive, Ronald Cheng and Charlene Choi (Ah Sa) are still friends. Lately there's a report from Mainland saying a director planned to make martial arts novel '萍擪俠影錄' into a TV series. He wanted to invite couples or husband and wife in the showbiz to act. It was reported the team once invited Ronald and Ah Sa, who didn't file for divorce yet. But they didn't want to be in the same series together and scared off the team with a demand of 8 million pay.

Ah Sa attended to izzue fashion show yesterday and she expressed she never heard anyone inviting her and Ronald to film as a couple, so she felt the report is quite humorous. Company didn't notify her? She said: "Shouldn't be. If if there is an offer, still have to look at the scripts first. But I'll go Beijing to film '翡翠明珠.' Soon I'll film '財神客棧' with Nicolas Tse and Barbie Hsu. Jobs are arranged till November." If scripts are suitable, paid is high, will she work with her ex-husband again? Ah Sa said: "Might try it if I'm free. I don't oppose. How much pay will make me say yes? I only like to film, company will decide the amount of money."

Siobhan Magnus: "I’m Not Going to Change for Other People"

Just call Fox the inner-beauty network.

On the heels of Tuesday's emotional, "I am beautiful" episode of Glee, Siobhan Magnus—who was just booted off of American Idol last night—is rallying the cause against exterior judgments. "I get letters from younger girls who've said, 'I get made fun of at school because I'm different, but watching you has helped me accept the fact [that] that's a good thing to be who I am,'" Siobhan just told us.

We'll pause while you grab your hanky.

Siobhan's exit interview today was inspirational and enlightening, including a certain truth that Lee Dewyze's BFF Andrew Garcia might not like so well (we kid)…

Where do you get your confidence?
It's definitely something that's been important to me, from the beginning, to show people that's something I care about and take seriously. I've always been an independent person and a different person, but I'm very stubborn and strong-willed and it's important for me to get that across, that I'm not going to change for other people. I do what I do because it rests well on my heart and who I am. The feedback that I've received from fans was tremendous. I've achieved something that meant so much to me for so long, to influence the lives of young girls in a positive way and it shows them that who you are on the inside is a beautiful thing.

When American Idol Meets The Twilight Saga...

We were shocked to see Siobhan Magnus go home last night.

But that actually wasn't the strangest development on the American Idol results show.

During their weekly Ford commercial, the remaining six finalists made like Robert Pattinson, Kellan Lutz and company, baring fangs and pretending to be vampires... while Michael Lynche fought them off with a garlic pizza.

It was a strange sight all around, though Casey James and Crystal Bowersox actually pull off the look well, don't they? Watch the commercial below now, before Fox yanks it off YouTube:


What do you think of the commercial? Very cool, or very WTF?!?

Adobe's CEO: Jobs' Flash letter is a 'smokescreen' for 'cumbersome' restrictions

There's no official transcript yet, but the Wall Street Journal just live-blogged an interview with Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen, in which he responded to the Steve Jobs "Thoughts on Flash" letter posted this morning. Substantively, Narayen didn't offer much we haven't heard Adobe say before, but his frustration with Apple is palpable even in summary form: he called Jobs' points a "smokescreen," said Flash is an "open specification," and further said Apple's restrictions are "cumbersome" to developers and have "nothing to do with technology." What's more, he also said Jobs' claims about Flash affecting battery life are "patently false," and suggested that any Flash-related crashes on OS X have more to do with Apple's operating system than Adobe's software.

Perhaps most importantly, Narayen reiterated that Adobe is fundamentally about making it easier for devs to write multiplatform tools -- a stance Jobs specifically took issue with in his letter, saying multiplatform tools lead to bad user experiences. Apple and Adobe and the rest of us can argue about battery life and performance all night, but that's clearly the central philosophical difference between these two companies, and we doubt it's ever going to change. That is, unless Adobe absolutely kills it with Flash 10.1 on Android 2.2 -- and given our experiences with Flash on smartphones and netbooks thus far, we'll be honest when we say that's going to be a major challenge. We'll link over to the full transcript when it goes up, but for now, hit the source link for the liveblog.

f(x) 1st minialbum title song ‘NU ABO’ unveiled!


f(x) 1st minialbum title song has finally been unveiled.

SM Entertainment revealed, “Coming 3rd May at 10am, the title song from f(x) 1st minialbum ‘NU 예삐오’(NU ABO) will be revealed on various music sites.”

‘NU 예삐오’(NU ABO) is a reverse beat dance song, written by hit maker Yoo YeongJin who also made BoA ‘Eat You Up’ and SHINee ‘Juliette’. As for the name of the song, it is made to sound similar to English word ‘New’ with the word ‘Nu’ and is joined with the word ‘Abo’.

Patrick Tse: Lucas Will Step Into The Showbiz

Although Nicloas is back to Hong Kong, but he still has to voice for a movie, he was asked: "Did Cecilia pick an auspicious hour to deliver through c-section?" He said: "No, still quite early. (How does your wife feel and does she have a good apetite?) Of course she's all good, I'll be with her in the delivery room."

NDDaily interviewed Patrick Tse lately and he praised greatly of his daughter-in-law: "I never thought she would stop during her golden period of her career, and get married and have kids. I've been in the showbiz for this long, there was never a girl like that. In the past, she would play mahjong and go to sing karaoke with friends, now she won't go anymore, only stay at home or visit her grandma and mother-in-law, or take care of kids and shop, she is a very optimistic and strong woman."

Microsoft to get $20 to $40 from every HTC Android phone sold?

We’ve reported about the HTC – Microsoft agreement according to which HTC has agreed to pay royalties to Microsoft, because it turned out that the Taiwanese company’s Android phones use some technology patented by the Redmond giant.


While HTC and Microsoft have not disclosed the financial aspects of the agreement, it looks like HTC may have to pay serious cash to Microsoft.

A Bloomberg article has it that analyst Rob Enderle estimates that HTC, as well as other unnamed phone makers, may have to pay Microsoft $20 to $40 for each Android handset sold. Of course, analyst predictions can be (and often are) wrong. $40 per phone is way too much.

The people involved in sale of lost iPhone revealed

The saga of the lost prototype iPhone started with a 21-year-old Silicon Valley resident who says he regrets not trying harder to find its real owner, according to a published report.

Brian J. Hogan, a 21-year-old resident of Redwood City, Calif., is the person who found the iPhone and was paid by Gizmodo, according to a story published on Thursday by Wired.com.

Hogan's lawyer issued a statement to Wired and said Hogan was in the bar with friends when another patron handed him the phone after finding it on a nearby stool, asked around if anyone owned it, and then left the bar with his friend and the prototype.

Hogan, however, had help in finding a buyer for the phone. CNET has learned that Sage Robert Wallower, a 27-year-old University of California at Berkeley student, contacted technology sites about what is believed to be Apple's next-generation iPhone. The device was lost by an Apple engineer last month. Police in San Mateo County have said they are investigating the lost phone as a possible theft.

Britney Spears has some support for a change as she heads to lawyer's office in flattering pink vest top

Britney Spears was all business as she headed to her lawyers today.


Dressed in a pink vest top, smart black jeans and high heeled boots, she looked ready for a serious discussion.

Britney remains under the conservatorship of her father, Jamie Spears, after her widely publicised breakdown three years ago. He controls much of her life, from her finances to her clothing.

Would You Do...an X-Rated Xtina?


If Christina Aguilera's recent pit stop at the Puppetry of the Penis gave us a sneak peak of how down and dirty the mommy could get, well, we still weren't prepared for the new look she's rocking in her "Not Myself Tonight" video.

The video is set to debut tonight at midnight, but Xtina's official website spent the week riling fans by releasing teases from the video. They show the pop star licking a riding crop, straddling a bondage babe and crawling on her hands and knees toward a bowl of milk.

Skyfire 2.0 beta for Android video preview!


We just spent a few minutes playing with the beta version of Skyfire 2.0 for Android that was released today, and we'll cut to the chase: this is easily the best browser we've used on the platform. Clearly we'll need to spend more time with it to make sure it can handle all the typical sites you'd want to visit while you're on the road -- but loading the desktop version of Engadget is always a great barometer for this sort of thing, and this browser rocked it. Rendering is about as reasonably fast as you can expect it to be (on our Snapdragon-powered Nexus One, anyhow), and everything we saw displayed spot-on perfect (save for embedded Flash, of course), but if you're in a situation where you don't need to see the full page or it looks screwy, you can toggle it to send an Android user agent right from the app's toolbar below the URL field. It works just about as well as Steel and the built-in browser on a G1 we tested, and Flash videos work just fine there as well.

The browser touts compatibility with Flash videos, too, so we headed over to YouTube to try our hand at it; it immediately detected the presence of a video and popped up the so-called "SkyBar" at the bottom of the screen, where you can press the Video button to load the video in a new window. It doesn't work embedded in the page, but considering how small your phone's screen is, that's really for the best -- you get the full-screen experience, and in our testing, it looked fantastic. One downside is that you don't seem to be able to scrub videos while they're playing, but maybe this is something these guys can get patched up for the final release. Follow the break for our full video!

TVB fires "Stephen Party" Producer; A greater loss to TVB than the Producer



Referred as part of the "Stephen Party", TVB producer (Poon Yue Kai) earlier left the company with TVB's reason being "nothing for him to do". Yesterday TVB "takes out the knife" again and fired Producer (Tang Yuen Mei) who produced the programme "On The Road". TVB's spokesperson (Tsang Sing Ming) expressed that the decision was made because of the new combination of production crew, she will not be meeting the future production needs and this does not rule out the chances for another collaboration opportunity in the future. He also stressed that this has nothing to do with Stephen Chan. Yesterday Ms. Tang admitted to the fact: "TVB gave me two options. One was I leave myself or two I get fired. I told TVB to fire me because I did nothing wrong. ("Stephen Party" getting fired?) I don't even know if I'm considered in the "Stephen Party". I just feel a programme that received good ratings, many awards, good feedback and had a good production team gets fired, I don't understand what TVB uses as their standards. I know that this is more of a loss to TVB than it is a loss to me."

Eminem Is 'Back' On 'Not Afraid,' Fans Say

'THAT is the eminem I like hearing,' one fan tweets about the lead Recovery single.

Eminem's "Not Afraid" has been the talk of blogs, message boards and social-media networks on Thursday (April 29), as the rapper detoured from his normal route of celebrity-bashing numbers and instead delivered an honest take on his life and career, even calling last year's Relapse "ehh."

Fans have mostly been supportive, with many noting his departure from zanier fare.

"Very different than his usual 1st singles, but I like it," kevi-B wrote on MTV.com.

The Detroit rapper's last album, Relapse, was among 2009's highest sellers, but fans complained that it didn't show off the MC's skills. The album was Eminem's first in five years, after suffering from drug dependency and the loss of his close friend, D12 rapper Proof. In interviews, Em noted that the album helped him work his way through writer's block, and he returned to his Slim Shady persona for aid.

More Lindsay Lohan: Strapped, Ready For Cinemax

The ridiculous things Lindsay Lohan Tweets don't even cause us to bat an eye most of the time, but given recent events in her life, this one has us concerned.


Posting links to her "artistic" recent photo shoot with Tyler Shields, Lindsay looks like she's trying out for a Cinemax late night movie. Seriously. What a mess.

Someone whose friends already think will die soon probably shouldn't be packing heat, no matter what "art" form inspires her. And the lingerie shots ... wow.

Heidi and Spencer Pratt Named Time's Least Influential People

This'll give Spencer Pratt something new to rant about on Twitter.

He and wife, Heidi, have been named to the Time's Least Influential list -- the "moron" category, to be precise.

Snipes the mag about Heidi, 23, "You used to be famous for being famous. Then you were famous for getting lots of plastic surgery and selling only 658 copies of your album in its first week. Now you're not famous. That was fast."

Their criticism for Spencer, 26, was even more biting.

"Montag fired him as her manager," Time writes. "It's like we need a whole other list of the uninfluential to the uninfluential."

The new issue of Us Weekly reports the couple are in "panic mode" about falling out of the spotlight when the The Hills goes off the air after this season.

Time also mocks Joaquin Phoenix , Nadya "Octomom" Suleman, Paula Abdul and former American Idol host Brian Dunkleman.

Lady Gaga was named the Most Influential artist.

Lady Gaga, Sarah Palin Top Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People List

This year's Time 100 brings an array of artists, leaders, heroes and thinkers who are considered the 100 most influential people in the world -- as assembled by Time Magazine. So whose ideas, innovations and actions are shaping our world? Lady Gaga, Sarah Palin and Taylor Swift -- just to name a few.

While there's no denying Gaga's impact on our culture, the cover speaks for itself, with the pop songstress standing next to former President Bill Clinton and professional footballer Didier Drogba. Other notables making the list: President Barack Obama, 'Twilight' star Robert Pattinson and 'Glee' actress Lea Michele.

Inside the issue, Grammy Award-winning pop singer Cyndi Lauper admits, "I first heard the name Lady Gaga through a mutual friend. He couldn't stop talking about her. Then I heard her music, and I thought, 'Wow, I love this kid.'"

Cheryl Cole holds on to her crown as Sexiest Woman In The World for second year

Her private life may be suffering, but Cheryl Cole has been given a boost after being named the Sexiest Woman In The World for the second year in a row.


The X Factor judge, 26, came top in a poll of the 100 sexiest women by male readers of FHM magazine, narrowly beating Hollywood actress Megan Fox and bikini model Marisa Miller.

Cole's new accolade comes after a rollercoaster year for the Geordie star, which has seen her taste success as a solo artist, but split from her husband Ashley Cole.

Steve Jobs on Flash: Adobe should focus on the future, not criticize Apple


Steve Jobs just posted an open letter of sorts explaining Apple's position on Flash, going back to his company's long history with Adobe and expounding upon six main points of why he thinks Flash is wrong for mobile devices. HTML5 naturally comes up, along with a few reasons you might not expect. Here's the breakdown:

HTC DROID Incredible sold out, new orders ship May 4th


In the real world, the early bird catches the worm..and in the world of mobile technology, the early bird gets the phone. Such is the case with the highly anticipated HTC DROID Incredible, which debuted early this morning on Verizon Wireless’ website, and sold out within two hours. We don’t know how many units Verizon Wireless had on hand, but the initial inventory is long gone, and all new orders will not ship until May 4th. If you absolutely must have Android’s latest and greatest handset, you will have to try your luck at your local Verizon Wireless store. Happy hunting!

Jay Chou latest single "Fireworks Cool Easily" exposed, Chinese style gains recognition once again

Jay Chou's look in his new album "The Era" has been exposed! His cool looking face turns into a "vampire prince", making the theme of his new album prominent, he said: "I hope my music is like a vampire, never aging!"

It's been well over 1 year since his last album, Jay Chou's 10th big piece is finally ready, he turns himself into a vampire from medieval ages, he wears a suit with a feathered cape inside a gorgeous old castle, so handsome. Even though 9 years ago Jay Chou already wrote a vampire song "William's Castle", but he guaranteed that there'll definitely be a breakthrough this time, he hopes his music can be like vampires "spanning across era after era". "The Era" album will be up for pre-order on the 28th of April at all major record shops and 7-Eleven.

Hot on the heels of the first broadcast of Jay Chou's new album main plugged song "Superman Can't Fly" on radio yesterday, another of Jay Chou's new song "Fireworks Cool Easily" is exposed, compared to "Superman Can't Fly", "Fireworks Cool Easily" is a song full of Chinese style, the melody is sweet and elegant, the lyrics are deep, it's an excellent piece that is great to listen to.

Cecilia Cheung to give birth in May

Second time mother-to-be Cecilia Cheung is resting at home in preparation for the arrival of her second child with husband, Nicholas Tse, who has currently halted all work projects to be with her. The couple has picked an auspicious date to welcome their little one in early May.

The pair's first child, Lucas Tse, is all geared-up to welcome his younger sibling. He is particularly "energetic" at the thought of becoming an older brother.

Apart from praising Cecilia for being a good daughter-in-law, Lucas's grandfather Patrick Tse expressed that young Lucas is showing a keen interest for showbiz, "Its 100% showbiz for him."

Lindsay Lohan Gun Picture Surfaces On Twitter


Uh-oh — LiLo’s in trouble for a gun-totin’ image snapped during her photoshoot with shutterbug Tyler Shields this week. Lindsay has attracted the ire of some of her fellow Twitter junkies — and much of the rest of the blogosphere — after uploading a TwitPic of herself holding a gun to her lips. The photo will appear in Shields’ new coffee table book, The Dirty Side of Glamour (Below).

It’s just one in a series of gory images that show Lohan stripped to a bra, skirt, stockings, and high heels while cavorting in a blood-soaked room.
(As we speak, a press statement from Michael “Will Snitch For Food” Lohan is probably being faxed to Access Hollywood, Entertainment Tonight, E!, and anyone else who’ll still listen….)

Lady Gaga Go-Go Dancer Pictures [2007]


Before she was singing about telephones and the dangers of the paparazzi to international acclaim, she was just Stefani Germanotta — a girl who liked to swing on poles.

New pics have surfaced of Lady Gaga in her pre-fame years, working as a bikini-clad go-go dancer at a New York club in 2007.

Skyfire 2.0 now ready to set Android ablaze


We've been seeing mobile browsers steadily raising their game lately, so it was inevitable that Skyfire would look to shock and awe us with its first release for the Android platform. Version 2.0 introduces a brand new SkyBar -- which ironically sits at the bottom of the screen -- providing users with a trifecta of new features. Firstly, the Video link serves as a workaround for those pesky "your phone ain't got no Flash" missives by doing server-side conversions of Flash video into universally comprehensible formats like HTML5. If implemented well, this should be a major coup for the company, particularly in light of a potential iPhone release as well. There's also a streamlined sharing feature for social networks, and an Explore function that suggests internet content on the basis of what's currently on display. We'll be testing out the usefulness of these shortly -- for now, hit the source link to get your own Skyfire going.

Nokia N8 gets second preview: far more positive

After the Nokia N8’s first – pretty appalling – preview we’ve been hoping for a second opinion on whether the eye-catching megapixel-toting smartphone really does spectacularly miss the mark. Happily Tweakers have filled that niche; the Netherlands site have put together a multi-page preview of the N8, and their conclusion is a more positive one than we’ve heard before.


They’re not 100-percent convinced by Symbian^3 – to be honest, we’d be suspicious if they were – but they give it kudos for being open-source. It’s still described as feeling “old fashioned”, though an improvement on what you’d find on the Nokia N97, but the hardware gets two thumbs-up.

Audrina Patridge Felt Pressured Into Surgery to Get "Perfect" Body

Good girl Audrina Patridge has at least one thing in common with estranged Hills costar Heidi Pratt: plastic surgery.


Although the 25-year-old has publicly denied it, a pal confirms to Us Weekly that Patridge went under the knife -- and it was just the confidence boost that she needed.

The aspiring actress "feels she has to be perfect to continue her career in TV and film," the pal continues. (After The Hills wraps later this year, Patridge hopes to launch her own reality TV show with producer Mark Burnett).

Sean Kingston Justin Bieber “Eenie Meenie” Music VIDEO Premiere

It’s been nearly three years since Sean Kingston debuted on the music scene with his Summer 2007 smash hit, “Beautiful Girls.” Now the Jamaican-American reggae/hip hop singer is back — and working with cute-as-a-button Canadian heartthrob Justin Bieber. Sean and Justin are putting their voices together on “Eenie Meenie,” the first single off of Kingston’s upcoming third album. The track is also be featured on Justin’s Billboard No. 1 album, My World 2.0.


'Commando' remake in the works: Who should take Arnold Schwarzenegger's role?

Fox is readying to remake Arnold Schwarzenegger’s 1985 hit Commando, according to a report from Deadline‘s Mike Fleming. Training Day scribe David Ayer is set to write and direct the update of the classic kill-em-all action pic, in which the future Governator starred as a government agent forced out of retirement to rescue his daughter from an evil dictator.

So who’s up for filling Arnie’s shoes, you ask? We’ve got a few nominees: How about Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, star of the upcoming A-Team movie and professional UFC bone-breaker? Or maybe Channing Tatum, if he’s ready to rumble again getting mushy in Dear John? Or maybe you swap “father” for “brother” in the movie’s pitch and cast an up-and-comer like Twilight star Taylor Lautner? Come to think of it, who says it has to be a guy? Something tells us Angelina Jolie could take out a maniacal despot and still make it home in time for Shiloh’s afternoon nap.

Motorola posts surprise profit

Motorola's strategy may be starting to pay off as the company announced a surprise profit and topped forecasts for the first quarter.

On Thursday, the company said it earned $69 million, or 3 cents per share, in the quarter. During the same quarter a year ago, it lost $231 million, or 13 cents per share. Analysts had expected Motorola to lose 1 cent to 3 cents a share in the first quarter.

Revenue was down 6.1 percent to $5.04 billion from a year ago. Analysts expected revenue of about $5.1 billion.

The handset maker has been trying to turn around its business for the past couple of years. Ever since its Razr phone commanded consumer attention, Motorola has had a hard time finding a new hit. The company has been shifting its strategy and has started focusing more on smartphones, such as the Droid, which features the Google Android OS and is sold through Verizon Wireless.

Motorola sold 2.3 million smartphones in the first quarter. Previously, it had said that it would sell fewer than 2 million such phones. The smartphone focus, in addition to stronger sales in non-phone products, helped lift the company to profitability.

LG Innotek supplying iPhone HD 5MP camera as OmniVision shunned?

While the leaked iPhone HD was partially dismantled before being returned to Apple, unfortunately that wasn’t enough to confirm who are supplying them with what’s expected to be a 5-megapixel camera chip. According to a new report this week, contrary to earlier predictions the next-gen iPhone will use an LG Innotek CMOS, rather than an OmniVision version.


OmniVision are Apple’s current camera sensor suppliers for the iPhone 3GS, and a report in December last year suggested that they’d won the contract for the new, higher-resolution chip this time around. That was followed up with OmniVision executives apparently hinting earlier this month that a deal was in place. Whichever supplier is chosen, the 5-megapixel camera is expected to be paired with an LED flash, and have a second – lower resolution – counterpart on the front of the handset for video calls. We’re expecting Apple to announce the iPhone HD at the kick-off of WWDC 2010 on June 7th.

PS3 owner sues Sony over removal of "Install Other OS" feature

A PlayStation 3 owner from California has filed a class-action lawsuit against Sony for the removal of the “Install Other OS” feature.

The suit was filed by Anthony Ventura at the United States District Court for the Northern District of California on April 27th. The suit seeks redress for what is describes as Sony’s “intentional disablement of the valuable functionalities originally advertised as available with the Sony Playstation 3 video game console.” The suit also alleges that Sony has breached the sales contract with its customers, and that this amounts to “an unfair and deceptive business practices perpetrated on millions of unsuspecting customers.”

So far, Sony has apologized to customers for the removal of the feature, but claims that it is a necessary step to prevent piracy. Sony claims that its actions are legal and points disgruntled owners to the EULA (End User License Agreement) which they agreed to the first time they used the games console.

It appears that Amazon in the UK has given one Sony PS3 owner a partial refund for the removal of the feature.

Apple invisible button patent promises secret controls

A newly published Apple patent suggests that the company is looking to rid themselves of one more of the few hardware controls they allow onto their mobile devices. ”Disappearing Button or Slider” describes a system whereby rather than a physical button – such as the home key on the iPad, iPhone or iPad touch, or the power key on a MacBook Pro – could be replaced with a capacitive touch sensor that responds to fingertips but has no visible markings.


That, the patent goes on to describe, might be fashioned from invisible perforations drilled into the aluminum chassis of a MacBook Pro, with light source refraction used to track user contact. The end result could be a hidden cluster of iPod controls in the palmrest of a notebook, or alternatively four virtual home keys for every orientation of the iPad, only one of which works – accelerometer dependent – at any one time.

Siobhan Magnus Voted off "American Idol"

The music of country singer Shania Twain spelled Siobhan Magnus' downfall on Wednesday, leaving only one woman among the five remaining finalists on "American Idol."

After 33 million votes Magnus, a tattooed, punk-styled singer from Cape Cod, Massachusetts, was eliminated from the hit television show's ninth-season despite the judges' overall praise for her rendition of "Any Man of Mine."

Magnus showed very little emotion at being voted off the singing contest, saying she had done her best before launching a farewell performance of "Think."

The other two singers at the bottom of this week's pack were Casey James and Michael Lynche. All of the performers had landed in the bottom three in past weeks, and Lynche was actually voted off by fans before being spared by the judges, who used their once-per-season save to keep him singing.

The other remaining finalists are teenager Aaron Kelly, Lee Dewyze and Crystal Bowersox, this season's last woman singing and a strong contender to win, despite uncharacteristically tepid feedback from the judges this week.

Wednesday's live broadcast included several musical performances, including Rascal Flatts singing "Unstoppable" before they teamed up with Colombian pop singer Shakira, debuting her new single "Gypsy."

Sons of Sylvia, introduced by season No. 4 winner Carrie Underwood, sang "Love Left to Lose" while Lady Antebellum took to the stage for "Need You Now."

Cameron Diaz and Antonio Banderas also made a brief appearance to promote their new movie "Shrek Forever After."

Harry Connick Jr. will next mentor the finalists for a songs-of-Sinatra themed week.

Sandra Bullock Knocks Julia Roberts Off Mag Cover

This week, PEOPLE magazine was all ready to unleash its celebrated annual listing of the most beautiful people in the world. Julia Roberts was to be the cover girl; her classic movie star features -- those eyes, that smile -- were set to grace every supermarket checkout in America. The honor marks Jules' fourth time wearing the pretty people crown and her twelfth appearance on the list.

Each year, the mag runs its list as a cover story, and it's a big one -- the issue annually ranks among PEOPLE's bestsellers.

But what happens when the mag's big reveal, which is planned well in advance, is suddenly overshadowed by a bona fide bombshell -- exclusive news that demands not only immediate coverage but a cover? Well, sadly for Miss Roberts, she gets bumped (well, not entirely, that's her up there in the corner) to make room for the bigger story. And this week, we doubt there's a much bigger story (celeb-wise) than Sandra Bullock announcing that not only has she filed for divorce, she went ahead and adopted a bouncing baby boy.

It appears Julia has been usurped by her nemesis. One's nemesis is "an opponent or rival whom a person cannot best or overcome." Julia and Sandra have been nemeses for years. Both are beautiful and talented. Both are known for starring in blockbuster romantic comedies. And both are beloved by the public in a way few movie stars these days are.

Julia Roberts Named "World's Most Beautiful" by People

Julia Roberts topped the list of People magazine's "World's Most Beautiful People" on Wednesday, marking the 12th time that the "Pretty Woman" star has appeared in the annual special issue.

Roberts, 42, the mother of 5-year-old twins and a 2 year-old son, is joined by Halle Berry, Angelina Jolie and Jennifer Lopez on the 2010 list.

Garry Marshall, who directed Roberts in her breakout role as a prostitute with a heart of gold in the movie "Pretty Woman" 20 years ago, said she was "as beautiful as ever."

She's much more centered and calm now and not so stressed. She is quite the mom -- very nurturing," Marshall told People.

Roberts, who won an Oscar in 2001 for her lead role in "Erin Brockovich", will be seen next in August in the movie "Eat, Pray, Love" based on the best-selling book of the same name by Elizabeth Gilbert.

Ashley Greene, 23, who plays a vampire in the "Twilight" hit movie franchise, was among the newcomers to the widely-read list that annually is a measure of celebrity status.

Her "Twilight" co-star, heartthrob Robert Pattinson, as well as Canadian teen singer Justin Bieber and 2009 "American Idol" runner-up Adam Lambert made it to the male section of "world's most beautiful", while actresses Jessica Biel, Jessica Alba and singer Jessica Simpson were featured in a new "Beautiful Jessicas" section.

Why HP Buying Palm Is Good for You


Rejoice: HP is buying Palm! If the boring beigeness of HP doesn't kill it in the process, this could only be good for anyone looking for a neat, solid smartphone that beats Google and Apple in many areas.

What Happened

It's not the first time Palm has come back from the dead. After Palm PDAs went down, Treo and Handspring temporarily resuscitated the business. WebOS arrived late, but it looked like it may save the day for a while. The third time may be the charm: After a precipitous decline in Palm's business and several weeks of speculation, HP announced today that they're acquiring the beleaguered phone company for $1.2 billion. The deal is expected to close by July 31, the end of HP's third fiscal quarter. Palm CEO Jon Rubinstein will remain with the company, though it's not clear in what capacity.

HP buy Palm for $1.2bn

In a move that frankly none of us were expecting, HP have announced that they are buying Palm for $1.2bn. Announced today, the deal will see HP produce devices using Palm’s webOS platform; current Palm CEO Jon Rubinstein is “expected” to remain with the company.


The full details of the deal are unclear, though HP are promising a live audio webcast for financial analysts and stockholders to discuss the agreement later on today. That will take place at www.hp.com/investor/webcast and kick off at 5pm EST/2pm PT. The acquisition is expected to close by July 31st 2010.

Palm had previously been connected with Lenovo as the most likely candidate for buying the company out, after it was leaked that talks with HTC had petered out. Until the end, Rubinstein insisted that the company was still a viable prospect, suggesting only that they were considering potential webOS licensing deals rather than courting acquisition.

2010 Forbes Chinese Celebrities List: Jackie Chan is No. 1

Yesterday, Forbes announced its "2010 Forbes Chinese Celebrities List" for the 7th year in a row. For the first time, the list this year includes celebrities from all 3 regions of China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan; the order of the standings is based on the amount of money the celebrities made in the past year as well as the frequency of exposure in the media. The “overall” list takes into account artists from all 3 regions combined.

With his international superstar status, constant media exposure, and close to 200 million Yuan [Chinese Yuan / Renminbi] in earnings last year, 56 year old martial arts star Jackie Chan took the No. 1 spot overall. Last year, Jackie was the first celebrity to hold a concert at China’s Olympic venue “Bird’s Nest” and his movie "Little Big Soldier" broke the 150 million Yuan mark at the box office.

Coming in at 2nd place overall is Taiwan singer Jay Chou, who made close to 120 million Yuan. His strategy last year of branching out into other areas (singing, acting, as well as directing) paid off, taking the #2 spot and also ending up #1 in the “Singers” category among all 3 regions combined. His ex-girlfriend Jolin Tsai took the No. 7 spot, earning 46.5 million Yuan last year.

The No. 3 spot went to Hong Kong artist Andy Lau, whose ‘secret marriage’ situation was a huge focus in the entertainment industry last year. Add to that his unceasing workload throughout the year, which brought in earnings of 86.2 million Yuan.

Jay Park to make his big return with new single, Demon!

New facts regarding Jay Park’s return have arrived, and it looks like he’s ready to bring back his fame again (not that he ever lost it…) by releasing a brand new single titled Demon!


As previously announced, Jay Park alongside his family members, production staff, and his fellow Art of Movement crew will be flying to Korea between May 31st to June 1st for filming Hype Nation. It has now been confirmed that Jay Park will also be releasing his very own single on July 10th, officially launching his activities as a singer. Yes, Jay Park is returning back on stage!

To double the excitement, Jay Park and other famous American artists including B2K will be opening up Hype Nation World Tour starting in December. The team is scheduled to visit more than ten U.S. cities, plus several major cities in Asia.

Why Brad Pitt Thinks Jen Aniston "Is Pathetic"



Touche!

Brad Pitt couldn't help but notice a recent press clipping featuring his ex-wife Jennifer Aniston -- and he was none too pleased, a Pitt pal says in the new Us Weekly.

"Brad thinks she is pathetic," the source tells Us of a recent Aniston interview, adding that the 46-year-old actor was "disgusted" with his former spouse (the pair divorced in 2005).

"Brad feels this is all so desperate," adds the insider. "It was a ploy to get his attention."

What was Aniston's offense? Check out this week's Hot Stuff video and find out!

Sandra Bullock's Divorce Likely Won't Be Messy

Sandra Bullock's split from Jesse James will likely be a clean break, a legal expert tells PEOPLE, and the actress's new son Louis won't be an issue in the case.

Bullock filed for divorce on April 23 in Austin, Texas, where she maintains a home and discreetly used her backwards initials "B.A.S." and James's initials "J.J.G" on the paperwork.

"Her legal filing indicates that both she and Jesse are seeking an amicable settlement and that there will be no children at issue in this divorce," says Daryl Weinman, an Austin-based family law attorney who's not involved with the case. "I wouldn't be surprised if this divorce wraps up quietly within two months."

The lawyer adds that Bullock has no legal rights over James's three children and if she wants visitation, she'll have to request that from a judge in a separate proceeding. The former couple could also reach a private visitation agreement. Bullock has said she intends to remain in their lives.

Gizmodo considers suing police after iPhone raid & more

A lawyer for Gizmodo says the gadget blog could sue the sheriff's office in San Mateo County, Calif., for raiding an editor's home last Friday as part of a criminal probe into an errant iPhone prototype.

The option of a lawsuit "is available because search is not the appropriate method in this situation," Thomas R. Burke, a media lawyer and partner in the San Francisco offices of Davis Wright Tremaine, told CNET. He said the search warrant violated a California journalist shield law designed to limit searches of newsrooms.

Burke added, however, that he has been in discussions with the San Mateo County District Attorney's office and that he appreciated prosecutors' agreement not to search editor Jason Chen's seized computers, iPad, and iPhone while talks are in progress.

iPhone tethering on AT&T still waiting on better network performance


AT&T's own Ralph de la Vega mentioned as early as November of 2008 that you'd be able to tether your iPhone to your computer and use it as a modem "soon," but here we are some ten months after the initial announcement of official tethering support in the platform and there's no sign of it. Considering that many iPhone carriers around the world deployed it as soon as Apple had it ready -- and many more came online over the months to follow -- it seems that AT&T's silence on the issue has spoken volumes. We reached out to the company today to get a statement on the feature's status, and here's what we got back (text bolded by us, not AT&T):

"We understand that there is great interest in tethering but cannot provide any details at this time. We know that iPhone users love their devices and mobile broadband, and that they're likely to embrace tethering just as they have other features and apps – by using it a lot. iPhone tethering has the potential to exponentially increase traffic, and we need to ensure that we're able to deliver excellent performance for the feature – over and above the increases in data traffic we're already seeing – before we will offer the feature."

Peter Ho and Huang Xiao Ming go shirtless for sake of ratings

In hope for big ratings at the start of the show, FTV/GTV's Summer’s Desire will follow the trend of having its male leads shirtless in the first two episode in order to seduce the viewers. Peter Ho, who has previously done underwear commercials, was asked to go on screen with only his swimming briefs. Despite his previous experience, he still felt a little uneasy, “I asked the director if I could wear swimming trunks instead, but the director said that swimming trunks does not show enough pride, so he forced me to wear swimming briefs.”


Peter expressed that he felt like he was the monkey being watched in the zoo during the filming of the scene (while in his swimming briefs). He explained, “We were filming at the pool at the hotel and it was open for all to see. Although we were filming on the weekend and closed off the area, the floor above could see the pool in full through the windows. While I was filming downstairs, many people watched from above.”

f(x) Amber under criticisms again, “She’s really not a guy?”

Girlgroup f(x) member Amber has once again been caught under criticisms of her gender through her recent photoshoot.


Amber was seen doing a couple concept with the other members for the group’s latest K-Swiss photoshoot. And she was seen wearing guy’s outfit throughout the whole photoshoot, playing the role as a guy.

An official said, “Amber wears the guy outfit and plays the role of a guy, taking turns to take photos with the other members.” It was said that not only in terms of the appearance, Amber’s facial expression was also much masculine, creating the perfect couple atmosphere.

New 'Scream 4' poster, plus an interview with director Wes Craven

It’s been 10 years since his last appearance in Scream 3, but Ghostface is back for more, as is the original Scream team of director Wes Craven, screenwriter Kevin Williamson (The Vampire Diaries), and the acting trio of Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, and David Arquette. Dimension Films gave EW.com the first look at the final teaser poster for Scream 4, which will hit theaters April 15, 2011. Horror movie maestro Craven, who’ll start shooting the new sequel this June, kindly set aside a few minutes to chat about the fourth entry in his memorably meta series.

EW: So how did Scream 4 come together?
WES CRAVEN: Bob Weinstein [the head of Dimension Films] felt that 10 years was enough of a wait. He felt it was time to give the original three films their due, so he called Kevin Williamson, who started coming up with ideas. For some years, Kevin had the notion of the general course of the next three movies. There was a point where Bob came to me and said, “We want to start showing you pages — do you want to do it?” And off we went.

Did you have any trepidation about revisiting the series so many years down the road?
No, I’m fascinated by what this movie is. I can’t think of another film that has not only a true trilogy, where you’re following a single central character over three pictures, but has the complexity to the story and other characters that also have continued along. And then 10 years later, to come back to those same characters and same actors, and continue that story in a way that’s totally organic. It’s kind of unprecedented.

Listen Adam Lambert Bonus Track "Can't Let You Go"

Are you sitting down, Adam Lambert fans? Have we got news for you!

The singer may be performing for crowds in Europe as we type this, but his gift to them is also now available in the States: Lambert has included a bonus track on the U.K. version of his debut album.

It's titled "Can't Let You Go" and it's great. Listen below and then sound off on the single...


Lindsay Lohan “Celebrity Rehab” $1 Million Offer

Lindsay Lohan won’t be getting a reprieve from her heavily-rumored cashflow troubles by checking in with Dr. Drew.



The actress — who is reportedly deep in debt after being out of work for nearly a year — pooh-poohed a $1 million offer to appear on VH1’s addiction-centered reality series Celebrity Rehab, Sober House, and a possible third spinoff presently in the works.

Bret Michaels Is Conscious and Talking

After days of bad news regarding Bret Michaels, finally there's a good sign: The Poison rocker and 'Celebrity Apprentice' contestant is reportedly conscious and slowly speaking for the first time since being hospitalized with a brain hemorrhage last week.

Michaels' rep confirms to PEOPLE that the singer is alert and speaking, though few other details were given.

Michaels, 47, was taken to the hospital on April 22 because he was suffering a horrific headache, which turned out to be a major hemorrhage at the base of his brain. He was in critical condition, but has recently been upgraded to stable.

Then, on April 27, his team revealed that Bret suffered a "minor setback" in the form of a disorder that may now cause him to suffer from seizures. There's no word if he has actually suffered a seizure already, or if his hemorrhage simply led to a condition that could trigger seizures in the future.

Flash Player 'Gala' brings hardware decoding support to Mac OS X


Even amidst all their fighting, it appears Apple and Adobe can manage to lay down arms and work together every once in a while: Apple just enabled low-level access to NVIDIA GeForce 9400M, 320M and GT 330M H.264 GPU hardware in Mac OS X 10.6.3, and Adobe's followed up six days later with a new preview version of Flash Player code-named "Gala" that takes advantage of it. That's good news for anyone who's ever heard their fans spin up while watching a YouTube video on a Mac (so, everyone) but we doubt it means there's any détente on larger issues between these two coming -- Apple remains committed to HTML5, while Adobe's pulled all investment from iPhone-related Flash development, and the company's relationship with Google seems to be heating up. We'll take what we can get, we suppose -- we'll hit you with some benchmarks just as soon as we get things installed.

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