'Avatar' vs. 'Up in the Air': The most symbolic Oscar race since 'Forrest Gump' vs. 'Pulp Fiction'



On Academy Awards night, the moment just before the announcement of the Best Picture winner is always, of course, intensely dramatic — even if it’s one of those years when it has become obvious, by the end of the night, which film is going to win (hello The Sting, Gandhi, The Silence of the Lambs, Titanic). But the Oscars can be even more dramatic if you have no clear idea what’s going to win (hello Annie Hall, Driving Miss Daisy, Crash). And the years, to me, when they have the most drama are those in which the competition for Best Picture is dominated by two front runners, and each one of those movies stands for something radically different within the Hollywood cosmos. Then you have a horse race charged with meaning.

To me, the last Academy Awards year that really had that full-on, King Kong vs. Godzilla culture-war vibe was 1994, when the competition boiled down to Forrest Gump vs. Pulp Fiction. The fact that Quentin Tarantino’s jubilantly violent and head-twisty independent-cinema landmark had zoomed to the front ranks of the Academy Awards derby was enough to electrify the evening all by itself. Clearly, this was an acknowledgement, by the Hollywood establishment, that the indie movement was no longer just a bunch of eager rude upstarts but that it had truly arrived, and was a force to be reckoned with. But, of course, the Hollywood establishment doesn’t tend to like eager rude upstarts who rewrite the rules of their business. And so it was poetically perfect that the movie Pulp Fiction was competing against was Forrest Gump, a sentimental patriotic afflicted-hero fairy tale that seemed, in many ways, to be a kind of crowd-pleasing candy box of “mainstream” values.

That night at the Oscars, in the spring of 1995, it wasn’t just one big-hit movie facing off against another. With Forrest Gump taking on Pulp Fiction, it was square vs. street, classic-rock boomer fantasy vs. surf-rock Gen-X reality, Establishment vs. Outsider — and, since both films had gone on to become cultural touchstones, it was, in effect, a battle over the question of which mythological movie Hollywood would most like to represent its core values. Perhaps it’s no surprise that, Hollywood being Hollywood, the establishment candidate won. By contrast, the famous Best Picture moment that left a bewildered daze on Harrison Ford’s face — the surprise victory by Shakespeare in Love over Saving Private Ryan — may well have been as dramatic as they come, but not because the two films really represented competing, which is to say conflicting, values. It was a dramatic upset that signified…nothing.

I predict that the Oscar race this year will have a similar symbolic heft to the one in 1994/1995. First of all, my premise is that the Best Picture race will probably come down to two movies — and let me take just a moment to explain why. Dave Karger, in his very shrewd analysis, has already listed what he thinks the Best Picture nominees would be if there were only five of them (Up in the Air, Avatar, The Hurt Locker, Inglourious Basterds, and Precious). Out of those five, I think that Inglourious Basterds, fantastic as it is, will be seen as a kind of grateful-to-be-there, come-from-behind nominee; it’s far too naughty and reckless a movie, with too little collective critical support, to have much of a chance for nabbing Best Picture. Precious, it has become increasingly clear, may well have peaked too early, and The Hurt Locker, while it keeps racking up awards and does have that collective critical support, wasn’t a big enough hit, at least by the classic yardstick of Hollywood history, to be a likely Best Picture winner. I do think that Kathryn Bigelow could take home the Best Director prize, but my instinct tells me that the Best Picture award will probably go to a movie that’s perceived, in raw Darwinian box-office terms, as “bigger.”

That leaves Up in the Air vs. Avatar. And to me, at least, that’s a very, very symbolic race. In this case, though, it’s not Establishment vs. Outsider. It’s Old School script-driven Classic Hollywood vs. New Age post-script 21st Century Entertainment. Up in the Air is a movie of such nimble wit and craftsmanship, and such timely humanity, that it has been compared, often and justly, to the venerable films of the studio system — the screwball comedies, for instance, that were rooted in clockwork elegant screenplays, incandescent star performances, and a certain tossed-off (but, deep down, rigorously achieved) insouciance. Whereas Avatar is the eye-popping techno spectacle of the Now era: a vision so “revolutionary” that it leaves many of those pesky old-fashioned story elements behind, but (at least according to its adherents, who are legion) more than makes up for that by placing the audience directly inside an organic wonder-world, using technology to return fabulistic awe to the big screen. I may be mixed on Avatar myself, but to me that certainly sounds like a potential prescription for Oscar victory. Especially now that the jaw-dropping success of Avatar has sealed the film’s promise as a preview — and a savior — of the movie industry to come.

I don’t claim to have a clue as to how the kremlinology of this year’s voting procedures will influence all of this. But if I’m indeed right about these two films becoming the front runners, what I do know is that each one, on Oscar night, will represent a radically different, even opposed, set of dramatic/aesethetic/pop-cultural values. And so the voting, as it always does, will inevitably reflect what the majority of the Hollywood establishment has chosen as a symbol of its values. In more ways than you can count, it’s the past versus the future.

Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart’s Boozy New Year!

ROBERT Pattinson and Kristen Stewart got rather tipsy over New Year!

The Twilight costars — who are widely rumored to be dating but have never officially confirmed they’re a couple — spent New Year’s Eve on the Isle of Wight, which is in the UK.

And according to one insider, the pair had a little bit too much to drink!

“Rob and Kristen were boozing all night,” a source said. “They were having a great time and looked very much in love.

“They’re probably still nursing hangovers!”

Pattinson, 23, recently revealed that he auditioned for his role in Twilight because he had a huge crush on 19-year-old Stewart.

Exclusive: Google Nexus One hands-on, video, and first impressions



That's right, humans -- Engadget has its very own Nexus One. You've seen leaked pics and videos from all over, but we're the first publication to get our very own unit, and we plan on giving you guys the full story on every nook and cranny of this device. In case you've been living under a rock, here's the breakdown of the phone. The HTC-built and (soon to be) Google-sold device runs Android 2.1 atop a 1GHz Snapdragon CPU, a 3.7-inch, 480 x 800 display, has 512MB of ROM, 512MB of RAM, and a 4GB microSD card (expandable to 32GB). The phone is a T-Mobile device (meaning no 3G if you want to take it to AT&T), and includes the standard modern additions of a light sensor, proximity sensor, and accelerometer. The Nexus One has a 5 megapixel camera with LED flash, and we have to say so far the pictures it snaps look pretty decent (and the camera software is much faster than the same component on the Droid). The phone is incredibly thin and sleek -- a little thinner than the iPhone -- but it has pretty familiar HTC-style industrial design. It's very handsome, but not blow-you-away good looking. It's a very slim, very pocketable phone, and feels pretty good in your hand. Thought you'd have to wait for that Google event for more on the Nexus One? Hell no -- so read on for an in-depth look. C'mon, you know you want to.



Now, of course everyone seems to have one question about the device -- is this the be-all-end-all Android phone / iPhone eviscerator? In two words: not really. The thing that's struck us most (so far) about the Nexus One thus far is the fact that it's really not very different than the Droid in any substantial way. Yes, we'd say the design and feel of the phone is better (much better, in fact), and it's definitely noticeably faster than Motorola's offering, but it's not so much faster that we felt like the doors were being blown off. It is very smooth, though we still noticed a little stuttery behavior (very slight, mind you) when moving between home pages. Still, opening applications and moving between them was super speedy, as was Google maps, and any area of the phone where you've got to get through long lists. Don't get us wrong, the phone cooks -- but it's not some paradigmatic shift for Android. One other note: multitouch has not been included here, so while the functionality is supported in Android 2.0 and up, we're still dealing with a one-finger-at-a-time experience... which leaves something to be desired when you've got a beautiful touchscreen like this to play around on.



Google has also included some visual enhancements you've probably heard about, and minor UI tweaks which make getting around the OS a bit more direct. Firstly, there are a set of really snazzy looking "live" wallpapers, some of which react to touch, but all animate in the background while you're on the homescreen. The company has also changed up its application menu navigation a bit, killing the sliding drawer for a more direct home button and overlay of the icons (which no longer scroll off the page normally, but wrap around a 3D cube on the edges). Google has also expanded the amount of homescreens to five, and gives you quick navigation to them by long pressing on the new "dots" which represent pages not in view. While most UI details look and feel the same, from just a bit of typing the keyboard does seem more responsive and accurate, and we're guessing the Snapdragon helps there as well. Throughout the phone there are also new animations and flourishes which make Android 2.1 feel way more polished than previous iterations (including the Droid's 2.0.1), though it's still got a ways to go to matching something like the iPhone or even Pre in terms of fit and finish. Regardless, it's clear Google has started thinking about not just function but form as well, and that's very good news for Android aficionados.



We're going to have a lot more info and a full review coming in just a few days, but for now, feast your eyes on the video and gallery, and hang tight for more Nexus One goodness. Oh, and if you've got some questions on the device, shout them out in comments and we'll try to answer and / or cover them in the review.




















10 Million Apple Tablets? A Glance Back for Perspective

The benchmark for a successful launch keeps changing, and Apple's own record is mixed as we await the "iSlate" entry.

Apple rumor of the moment: Former Google, Microsoft, and Apple executive Kai-Fu Lee has blogged that he's heard Apple thinks it can . (I persist in putting quotes around "iSlate" since we don't know if that's the product's name, assuming there is a product at all.)

That ten-million tablet figure is merely a rumor, albeit one spread by a smart guy who may have excellent sources. It certainly sounds ambitious. But how ambitious is it? For the sake of comparison, I dug up some sales figures for other Apple products -- starting with the Apple I, and including both numbers reported by Apple and some third-party estimates. Here they are, after the jump.

Total sales of Apple I, 1976-1977: about 200

Apple II units sold, 1977-1982: 750,000

Apple II units sold, 1982: 300,000

Total Apple III units sold, 1980-1984: 65,000

Original 1984 Macs sold in first 74 days: 50,000

Original 1984 Macs sold in first year: 250,000

Macs sold, October-December 1993: one million

Macs sold, 1995: 4.7 million

iMacs sold in first 139 days: 800,000

iPod during first full year: 378,000

iPod at 5 1/2 years: 100 million

iPod at 8 years: 225 million

Total original iPhones sold: 6.1 million

iPhone at 46 weeks: six million

iPhone/iPod Touch at 20 months: 30 million

iPhone, July-September 2009: 7.4 million

Macs sold by Apple in fiscal year 2009: ten million

The benchmark for successful sales keeps changing, of course: Back in 1982, selling 300,000 Apple II computers was an extraordinary achievement, considering that it was a pricey product in a category which most households and businesses hadn't yet adopted. And the fact that Apple only managed to sell 378,000 iPods in that gizmo's first year is explained by the fact that the first iPod only worked with Macs, not Windows PCs-more than 95 percent of computer owners couldn't have used an iPod no matter how much they craved one.

It's also impossible to gauge the ten-million tablet rumor without knowing how much the tablet will sell for. Lee's rumor merely places the price at "under $1000," which isn't very helpful given that nobody would expect it to sell for over $1000.

But this much is interesting: If Apple does sell ten million tablets in 2010, and you count the tablet as a computer, and Mac sales are neither radically higher nor radically lower than they were in the last fiscal year, then Apple thinks it can sell roughly as many tablets a year as it does Macs.

That's a lot of assumptions, and they don't factor in the possibility that an Apple tablet might cannibalize sales of Macs (or that the tablet may turn out to be a Mac, or at least more Mac-like than most people expect it to be).

One last thing: At the January, 2007 Macworld Expo keynote at which the iPhone was announced, Steve Jobs famously said the company was shooting to sell ten million iPhones in 2008. Even well into 2008, there was still plenty of skepticism about the company's ability to make that goal. (Charles Jade at Ars Technica: "...one can see why analysts with advanced degrees in business and economics might doubt. It's a good thing Steve Jobs dropped out of college.")

Apple ended up selling just short of 13.7 million iPhones in calendar year 2008. Which is evidence that most of us in the outside world aren't very good at crunching Apple's numbers for it-even when we know vastly more than we do about the "iSlate."

AVEX denies that TVXQ is headed for a breakup

We have previously reported on a rumour that TVXQ will disband in this summer, sourcing a Japanese news article. While SM Entertainment and the trio themselves have denied that this is true, AVEX, TVXQ's Japanese management, decided to join in and confirm that the group will continue performing as a band of five.


Nikkansports of Japan reported that a representative from AVEX stated "There will be no change to the policy that TVXQ will perform as five in Japan." The article went on to say "While the 5 have been performing together in Japan, the two that remains with SM Entertainment have been showing signs of displeasure on shows they appear together."

With all related parties denying the rumour of disbanding, it appears that the rumour was in fact just a rumour. Stay tuned as the case develops.

Donnie Yen 2009 movies best earner

With "Ip Man", Donnie succeeded to hand out last year's most stunning results in the Movie circle, earning 66Millions (HKD, currency used in this article) becoming the best earner of the year. For the females, it's Barbie Xu (DaS) who had switched battle to the Movies only for the recent years,with her talent fees getting to 2 Millions per film, she earned 8 Millions last year, even surpassing the movie queens like Zhou Xun and Li Bing Bing !

In 2009, the HK produced movies were very popular in Mainland, hence making those stars value and fees almost doubling. Among all the stars of the island, Donnie "fought out " a great future and showing his impressive earning skills, his talent fees raised from 12 Millions to 16 Millions (per movie).
Last year, he acted in 4 different movies including "14 blades" and earned a total of 66 Millions !

And the other earning King, Louis Koo acted in "Forbidden City cop 009" with DaS, which had been a big hit in mainland, he succeeded to raise his fees from 4 Millions to 8 Millions.Last Year, Louis starred in 5 movies, and earned about 40 Millions already only based in movies.

And Nick Cheung Ka Fai, who had the honour to be crowned 6 times Movie King, his fees skipped from 1 Million to 2.5 Millions, his incomes getting more and more lucrative. About being 2009's best earner, Donnie says : "While an actor performs, he only thinks about doing his best, I only wish to encounter a good script and a good director." he also revealed that his schedule for this year is already full, he'll do his best to earn the most money.

For the female stars, HK's Charlene Choi (Ah Sa) thrived was all by herself, she, whose acting fees reaches up to 2.5 Millions, filmed 4 Movies last year, but with one in which she was only guest starring, a conservative estimate of her incomes is 6 Millions. But Ah Sa humbly says that she's not a high earner, and said smiling "I only use a few tricks to stay in this world(闖江湖), in 2009, I was just lucky enough to have filmed a few movies which incidently had good box office "

Finally, DaS who only started to fight in the Movies world for those past years, handed out impressive results, earning 8 Millions, defeating movie queens such as Zhou Xun and Li bing Bing. And Zhou Xun whose acting fees are 2 Millions only participated in 3 movies last year, one less than DaS, that was the reason her earning didn't win to DaS'. Li bing Bing who won the Movie Queen title from Zhou Xun, earned only 2.8 Millions last year.

'Google phone' debut expected this week

Google is expected to ring in the new year by unveiling its own smartphone on Tuesday, the Nexus One, in a bid to expand its powerful Web brand in the booming mobile arena.

The Internet search and advertising giant has already gained a foothold in the market with its Android mobile operating system, featured in a number of phones starting with T-Mobile's G1 in October 2008 and more recently with the Droid from Motorola.

But the Nexus One, designed by Taiwanese handset maker HTC, represents a significant departure in that Google is expected to sell the Google-branded phone directly to consumers who will not be tied to any one telecom carrier.

Apple's popular iPhone, for example, is available exclusively in the United States through AT&T, but buyers of the "Google phone" will reportedly have their choice of wireless carriers.

Technology blog Gizmodo, citing leaked documents, said the Nexus One will cost 530 US dollars "unlocked" -- meaning it isn't tied to a specific carrier -- or 180 US dollars with a two-year service agreement with T-Mobile, a subsidiary of Germany's Deutsche Telekom AG.

Google has been coy about any plans to jump headfirst into the fast-growing smartphone market, dropping hints but not confirming its intentions outright.

Agence France-Presse and other media outlets have been invited to a press event on Tuesday at Google headquarters in Mountain View, California, billed only as an "Android press gathering."

"With the launch of the first Android-powered device just over a year ago, we've seen how a powerful, open platform can spur mobile product innovation," the invitation said. "And this is just the beginning of what's possible."

Google provided no further details about the event, whose timing appears to be an attempt to upstage the Consumer Electronics Show, the annual technology extravaganza which opens in Las Vegas on January 7.

Among the hints dropped by Google was a blog post last month in which the company said employees were testing a mobile product internally in an exercise known in the industry as "dogfooding."

Google's plunge into the smartphone market has drawn a mixed reaction.

"It looks like Google is moving to see if they can do the Apple thing," said analyst Rob Enderle, of Enderle Group in Silicon Valley, in a reference to the iPhone, which has enjoyed phenomenal success since it was introduced in 2007.

Pointing to Google's 750-million-dollar acquisition of mobile advertising company AdMob in November, a number of analysts said Google hopes to replicate its Web advertising success in the mobile space.

Not all are convinced by the wisdom of the move. "For Google to go into the business of selling phones just doesn't make a whole lot of sense," Gartner analyst Van Baker said.

"Just coming out with a high-end phone really doesn't buy you much," Baker said. "You'd be hard pressed to come up with enough revenue from pushing ads to pay for the phone service."

Ovum research fellow Jonathan Yarmis said Google will have to walk a fine line between marketing its own smartphone and being a supportive partner for the growing number of firms making their own handsets based on Android.

Although Android's share of the US smartphone market is relatively small, it has doubled in the past year to 3.5 percent in October, according to comScore, and Gartner predicts Android-based smartphones will capture 14 percent of the global market by the year 2012.

Hayden Panettiere and Wladimir Klitschko: Dating?

As random celebrity couples go, Hayden Panettiere being spotted poolside in Miami with Ukrainian boxing champ Wladimir Klitschko would be pretty high up there.


Okay, it would be on top of the list.

Klitschko is 33, so he's Hayden's type. The 20-year-old previously dated her Heroes co-star Milo Ventimiglia and British TV presenter Steve Jones, both 30-plus.

He holds the IBF, WBO, and IBO world heavyweight titles, but if Wladimir is holding Hayden Panettiere the way we think, that would be even more impressive...

He's 6'6" and she's 5'1", and they might seem to have little in common, but sometimes opposites attract. That's pretty much all we've got at the moment.

Click to enlarge more Wladimir Klitschko and Hayden Panettiere pictures below (we have no idea who that really small guy is with them in the photos) ...



Rumor: Google and HTC Working On a Chrome OS Tablet in A few Months

Everyone is clamoring about tablets these days—ourselves included—so it's not too surprising that Google and HTC are set to join the fray. They are reportedly working together on a Chrome OS Google Tablet.


Smarthouse, an Australian publication, reports that HTC and Google have been collaborating "for the past 18 months" and have produced "several working models of a touch tablet," including one outfitted with Google's Chrome OS. We wrote why a Google Tablet would be a good idea last month, and with the Apple Tablet discussion reaching a fever pitch, it's harder and harder to get excited about a Chrome OS netbook from Google.

Having collaborated on the Nexus One, a smart phone that impressed us with its design as well as its hardware, HTC and Google partnering on a tablet seems like a promising prospect. But will it "compete head on" with Apple's tablet as Smarthouse claims? Probably not.

From what we know, it seems like Apple is putting as much effort into their tablet's content as they are into the gadget itself. We've written extensively on how an Apple tablet could redefine newspapers, textbooks, and magazines. In the last case, we've already salivated, more than once, over concepts for how magazines might evolve in a multi-touch future. Add that to Apple's recent acquisition of Lala, a move that likely points to a cloud-based future for iTunes, and the reports that Apple is trying to secure TV show subscription packages for the iTunes store. Admittedly, not a whole lot is certain about Apple's tablet. But you start looking at all of those pieces and how they might fit together around one device, you can easily envision a gadget that is focused on streaming the stuff you read, the stuff you listen to, and the stuff you watch.

It's hard to foresee a future in which a Google Tablet tries to go head to head with Apple on the content level. That's not to say, however, that there aren't some compelling things that could be offered by a Google tablet. As the launch of Google's Chrome OS made clear, they're looking toward a future with a multitude of devices that can access the Internet quickly, cleanly, and cheaply. A Google Tablet could be just the thing to realize all of those goals. When we tried out the JooJoo tablet, we saw how a well-designed tablet for consuming web content could provide an engaging experience. A Chrome OS tablet by Google would likely work the same way, keeping typing to a minimum and offering a literal hands-on web surfing experience.

Fahrenheit deny lip syncing at the new year's celebrations

Fahrenheit member Wu Chun was suspected of lip syncing at the New Year celebrations, on the 2nd during their autograph session for their concert DVD they once again denied the claims and he even sang a couple of lines of " 愛拚才會贏" (you must fight in order to win) to prove that he can sing live.


After Fahrenheit had finished singing for the New Year's party, Wu Chun quickly rushed to the restaurants before they closed to buy a big New Year's set meal to return home to eat. Calvin Chen laughed at his love for food "I even asked him to play Texas poker, but he refused saying he had to return home to eat." Since it was the holiday season, oversea fans were present at the autograph session, Fahrenheit also stated till the end of the event their company will prepare them sushi, dumplings and chicken to feed them at any time to help replenish their energy.

Michael Tse and Nick Cheung support Francis Ng



Francis Ng was arrested for allegedly wounding a bakery worker on New Year's day. It was thought that he was trying to protect his wife. Following the incidence, his wife's waist was hurt and he was allowed out on bail. Michael Tse and Nick Cheung expressed that Francis is not a violent type of guy and both offer their support. Francis's other friends such as Anthony Wong, Dayo Wong, and Sean Lau have all maintained their silence and would not make any comment.

Michael Tse said "I have seen the media report, the Francis I know is not the type of guy who uses violence. I don't know exactly what had happened, as 2010 has just started, I hope he is OK and stay away from any trouble involving the law". Michael was asked if he had ever got into trouble with the law trying to protect his wife? Michael replied "As a man, it is our job to protect the ladies, I am sure there is a very good reason for what he did."


Nick is very concerned about Francis, but he wasn't able to contact him. He supports Francis by saying "Francis knows what he is doing, his EQ is higher than mine." Asked if he knows Francis loves his wife very much? Nick replied "Everybody wants to protect their family, I don't know what had happened, I can't comment."


However, Johnnie To told reporter that Francis had an "explosive" character, but he has changed since he got married. He believed that the whole saga is a misunderstanding and hoped that the incidence would blow over very soon.

Unlocked AT&T Nexus One is Google’s secret second handset?

Since leaked specifications, FCC testing and hands-on evidence regarding the Google Nexus One seemingly confirmed that the Android 2.1 smartphone would only support 3G/UMTS on T-Mobile USA, those AT&T subscribers eyeing up the handset have been steadying themselves for a diet of EDGE-only data. That diet may not be quite so concrete, however; a last-minute rumor has filtered through to BGR that Google will also be offering a second, unlocked Nexus One which would support AT&T 3G bands.

The AT&T model would be sold unlocked and for the full, unsubsidized price – $530 last we heard – whereas the subsidized version would be locked to T-Mobile USA. BGR’s insider was apparently “ so impressed by a Nexus One in person, they said they would 100% give up their T-Mobile BlackBerry 9700 for one when it’s available”; that’s more than ample praise for the Google handset. We’re expecting Google to launch the Nexus One at their press event on Tuesday January 5, and SlashGear will be there to bring you all the details from the day.

Palm’s WebOS Now Has 1,000 Apps. Only 99,000 To Go To Catch Up To Apple.

Palm’s App Store has reached a milestone. According to WebOS School, Palm now offers 1000 apps to its mobile users on its App Catalog. Of course, this number has to be taken with a grain of salt. Apple’s App Store has over 100,000 apps and the Android market has over 16,000 apps, making Palm’s achievement a little less thrilling.

The relatively small amount of apps for Palm isn’t surprising; Palm has had a lag in adding apps to its store for some time now and has not been able to match the speed or breadth of Apple’s App ecosystem. But it’s safe to assume that Palm may be adding apps more quickly now, after the company announced an easier approval process for apps and the ability to allow developers to fully distribute their apps via the web. What this means is that developers can simply submit their apps to Palm, and Palm will return to them a URL that they can then blog, tweet, do whatever they want to share it. When a person then clicks on that URL they can easily install the app, bypassing any kind of store. Palm realizes that it has to play nice with developers in order to get them to build on top of its software.

Will the App Catalog ever catch up to Apple’s App Store? Probably not, but Palm’s strategy could definitely still make the mobile device company a player in the mobile device world.

Here’s a list of the most downloaded apps from Palm’s App Catalog (they are all free) and a breakdown by type of app:

1. The Weather Channel
2. AccuWeather
3. Backgrounds
4. Topple Ball Mini
5. Pandora Radio
6. WHERE
7. Bubbles!
8. Card Ace: Hold ‘Em
9. Bubble Level
10. Trapster

Sony Vaio Y11, S11 and F11 leaked ahead of launch, Z and CW series refreshed



It appears that the Vaio T's return is only the tip of a giant iceberg of refreshes coming out from Sony HQ this month. Greek e-tailer Compuland has a trio of new models listed -- seemingly prematurely -- for sale: the Vaio Y11 (pictured) is a relatively standard 1.3GHz Core 2 Duo SU7300 machine with 4GB of DDR3 memory and 320GB of storage, and its nomenclature seems to fit given that its specs land somewhere between the underpowered X and fully-equipped Z series. Speaking of the latter, Sony is adding a Core i5-520M to its refreshed Z line, as well as to the new 16-inch F11 model which adds a half terabyte storage drive just for kicks. The lesser Core i3-330M Arrandale chip finds a home in the new 13-inch S11 laptop, which may or may not be replacing the SR series we know and love, as well as a freshened up CW number. Hit the read links for early pricing and more details, and if you hope really hard maybe we'll get proper announcements from the official channels some time soon.

Read - Compuland (VPCY11S1E)

Read - Compuland (VPCF11M1E)

Read - Compuland (VPCS11X9E)

Read - Laptopshop.nl (VPCZ11X9E)

Read - Laptopshop.nl ( VPCCW2S1E)

Taylor Lautner Taylor Swift “Cancun” Movie

The Taylors Do Mexico: It appears 2010 will be the year of “Sprung Exes Who Need To Buy A Clue…..”


Taylor Lautner is lobbying to have former girlfriend Taylor Swift cast in his upcoming hostage thriller, Cancun, despite the recent revelation that the country cutie kicked Boy Taylor to the curb after just two months of dating.

The Taylors met on the set of the upcoming romantic comedy Valentine’s Day and Taylor L’s hoping a few months of shooting in the Mexican sun will revive the young lovers’ extinguished flame.

A Star Magazine spy says: “She tours a lot for her music, but he’s hoping she’ll do more movies so they can stay closer. He’s very serious about her and wants it to work out.”

Paula Abdul “The X Factor” America Judge

Paula Abdul could get the last laugh on American Idol bosses when she joins Simon Cowell as a judge on the buzzed-about US version of the entertainment titan’s UK talent show, The X Factor.

According to the Jan. 11 issue of GLOBE, the word from TV industry insiders claims Cowell will leave Idol in May and launch his wildly-popular Brtish singing competition with ousted A.I. favorite Paula Adbul appearing as a judge on the new program.

As you’ll likely recall, comedienne Ellen DeGeneres replaced Paula Abdul as a judge on America’s highest-rated show after contract negotiations broke down between the former pop star and series producers in September.

Unlike American Idol, four X Factor judges choose their favorite singers and coach them throughout the season, hoping their guy or girl will become the final crooner standing at the end of the season. The show shot former Pizza Hut waitress Leona Lewis to the top of the charts in 2006.

Brad Pitt Jennifer Aniston To Star In Movie Together

Hollywood exes Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston are in discussions to share the silver screen in a new movie.


“Jen always wanted to work with Brad on a movie,” an industry expert told Britain’s Daily Mirror on Thursday. “She had the best time when he guest starred on Friends with her and now she wants to recreate that magic.”

The claims are further bolstered by a friend of Jennifer’s, who insist the former lovers are busily looking for the perfect script for their big screen debut.

We wonder how Ange feels about this?!

Ultimate Song Chart Awards 2009 winners

The Ultimate Song Chart Awards 2009 was held last night. 48 awards were given out. Eason Chan was a big winner yet again, scooping 5 individual awards. Joey Yung also snatched her Gold "Ultimate female singer" gold award for the third successive year. Mariam Yeung was awarded "My favorite female singer" award. She thanked her husband Real Ting when she received her award. When Hins Cheung got his award, he thanked the rumored couple Kenny Kwan and Ivana Wong for listening to his midnight moaning.


Miriam Yeung scooped "My favorite female singer" award


Eason Chan has won 5 personal awards including 'My favourite male singer"


Joey Yung has won the "Well-known music female singer award"


Leo Koo has added one more award to his award collection


Juno Mak in tears clinching his award


Female force well-known music award: Kate Tsui (silver) Le pipil (Bronze) and Chita Yu (gold)


Male force well-known music award: Hong Jie (Bronze) Aarif Lee (Gold) and Wong Xuan (silver)


Kay Tse received "Well-known music female silver award (silver)


Hins Cheung got his "Well-know music male singer award"(silver)


Denise Ho got her "Well-known professional referral" award

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