'How to Train Your Dragon' to lord over the weekend

Jeffrey Katzenberg should be thrilled with Paramount’s distribution team right about now. Why? The group was able to secure 2,178 3-D locations for its release of the animated pic How to Train Your Dragon. (And that includes IMAX.) That’s quite impressive work considering Alice in Wonderland has been holding steady in theaters for three weeks, and Clash of the Titans is barreling into those same theaters next weekend. Paramount also requires two-week guarantees so Warner Bros. may have a real fight on its hands next weekend as they scramble for 3-D screens. Regardless, this weekend Dragon is destined to win the number one slot. How well it does has a lot to do with the 3-D upcharge, which is going up between $3-$5 million at most theaters around the country. If consumers don’t balk at the increased fees, the weekend gross could be a lot higher than tracking suggests. It will take a lot of 3-D tickets, though, to get to numbers as great as Monsters vs. Aliens, Dreamworks Animation’s hit last spring that bowed to close to $60 million.

Also jockeying for some box office coin is MGM’s R-rated comedy with the best name since Snakes on a Plane. The John Cusack-starrer Hot Tub Time Machine will open in 2750 theaters and while the studio is trying to tamp down expectations for the film with the $35 million budget, prognosticators think its could get up to $20 million for the weekend.

Another Alleged Jesse James Mistress (Number 4!) Emerges

With the number of alleged mistresses adding up for Jesse James, celebrity lawyer Gloria Allred has finally found her way in the act.


Allred has put out word that she is representing "a beautiful model and business woman" who "had an intimate three year relationship with Jesse James."

This means two things really. 1) It's not a celebrity scandal unless Allred is involved somehow, so we've finally passed that benchmark. 2) The tally of alleged mistresses coming out is now unofficially at four.

Joe Jonas Demi Lovato Go Public With Relationship: “We’ve Always Figured It Would Happen”

After staying mum for months, Camp Rock co-stars Joe Jonas and Demi Lovato opened up about their blossoming romance on KIIS-FM’s “On Air with Ryan Seacrest” on Thursday.


“We’ve been best friends for the longest time, and now we’re taking the next step and it’s been really fun,” Joe told Ryan. “We’ve always figured that one day it would happen but we didn’t feel like it was the right time.”

Demi chimed in, “Being best friends for a while, over time feelings grow, and for me, as much as I wanted to deny it, the feelings were always there.”

Windows Phone 7 Destroys The iPhone (Well, Its Foursquare App Does)

There’s no denying that Windows Phone 7 (or Windows Phone 7 Series, or whatever awful branding was chosen) looks to be a huge improvement from the previous iterations of Windows Mobile. And there’s even some talk that it may be able to compete with the current golden boy of the smartphone industry, Apple’s iPhone. If an early look at the new Foursquare app for Windows Phone 7 is any indication, it just may.

As shown off by Windows Phone Senior Product Manager Anand Iyer on his blog this morning, Foursquare for Windows Phone 7 looks amazing. In fact, it looks much nicer than the recently-revamped version of Foursquare for the iPhone. As you can see in the screenshots, the app has a simple elegance to it, with most of the app being made of different color text against a black background (just about the opposite of Foursquare for the iPhone). Also nice is the maps (Bing, naturally) implementation on the check-in pages, venue pages, and individuals’ profiles.

The Windows Phone 7 version also has two killer features that the iPhone version of Foursquare does not: directions within the app, and a new “Society” area. The directions element is great — it seems like daily I’m looking at a Foursquare venue on a map in the app that I’m trying to get to, but would love access to step-by-step directions. To get that on the iPhone, I have to exit the app and open the Maps app. On Windows Phone 7, it’s all integrated into the app.

Mozilla tries social media to get its Firefox mojo back

I heard some grumbling about Firefox this morning. In the space of a few minutes via Twitter, I saw tweets from two people who had begun experiencing a sudden uptick in Firefox crashes. Falling back on my old J-school training (”Two is a coincidence, three is a story”) I asked if anyone else was having problems. In response came a small number of additional problem reports mixed in with a lot of all-clears. One tweet that stood out from the rest came from @FirefoxCares and read:

Can you get me a report ID, enter about:crashes in Firefox and DM or tweet the results? ^TM

I was initially skeptical. That’s a response I would expect from an official support alias like @ComcastCares. But I didn’t know Firefox had anything except community support. More red flags about the account: it only had 13 followers and appeared to have been created today. The Twitter profile page contained a link to the parent Twitter page, a social endless loop, and nothing more. Was the person behind this account legit? After a few messages back and forth, @FirefoxCares sent me this link to the Support/Social Media page at the Mozilla Wiki. According to the notes at the bottom, the goal of this experiment is to “be present on social networks to help users with their Firefox problems or prevent bad ratings from going viral, if help is not directly possible, and extract useful information for SUMO.” (SUMO is the Support Mozilla project.)

Rain reveals Love Song MV teaser

Earlier we revealed that Rain’s title track would be called The Song That Will Get You and that it would also shockingly be a ballad track. Now the official music video teaser has been released and it has a shorter title – Love Song.


The singer definitely took fans by surprise when he revealed that his title track would be a ballad. Usually his songs are party thumping dance songs with sweaty hot performances that involve the removing of his shirt. But Rain said that since this is a special album, he wanted to do something special for fans by changing things up a bit and showing a new side to himself.

Nine Muses, a new 9-member girl group to debut this year

Yet again, the netizens are curious of someone from a music video. This time, it’s “the girl” from ZE:A’s All Day MV!


On the 25th, ZE:A’s All Day MV was revealed. The MV showed the lives of high-schoolers as it was inspired by the classic movie, Friends. From the MV, netizens are curious of the identity of the tall beautiful girl, who seduced Joon Young and Dong Joon!

Apple job posting hints at LTE for a future iPhone?


What could possibly come after the iPhone 3GS? The iPhone 3GSS, of course! Joking aside, turns out Apple's already dropped the 4G bomb on one of its job postings in May 2009 while seeking for a "Cellular Technology Software Manager" with "expert knowledge of... WCDMA/UMTS, HSPA, HSPA+, LTE etc." That's right, LTE. Now, we're not saying this means a 4G-powered iPhone is next in line in the annual product cycle, nor does this listing confirm Apple's favored 4G radio (be it a decoy or an eventual change of heart), but given AT&T's interest in LTE plus its prolonged love affair with Cupertino, it's pretty hard not to consider LTE as a realistic option on future iPhones or even iPads. Frankly, it won't be the end of the world if a 4G iPhone fails to turn up this summer -- most of us here would rather have something with improved battery life, real multitasking, and 720p camera over those insane data speeds. No, really.

Apple App Store and Android Market rank highest in customer satisfaction

Marketing and advertising research company Nielsen has just published a new report on the state of mobile app stores in the US.


According to the company, the Apple App Store ranks highest when it comes to customer satisfaction, followed by Google’s Android Market. Interestingly, the next four places are taken by carrier app stores: T-Mobile Application Store, Sprint Application Store, AT&T Application Store, and Verizon Application Store.

At the bottom of the list we have the BlackBerry App World Store and the Windows Marketplace (which shows that Microsoft’s doing a pretty lousy job with its app store – but hey, maybe Windows Phone 7 Series will save it).

OpenPeak's OpenTablet 7 hands-on: Moorestown has found a friend


We've been hearing of OpenPeak devices for years, but the company is a little camera shy -- particularly because most of their products, like the Verizon Hub and O2 Joggler, are re-branded by carriers. However, the company seems to be getting behind its recently announced OpenTablet 7 in a big way, recently announcing a partnership with AT&T for data plans in the US. Neither party will confirm exact plan pricing, but we're getting the vibe that it will be "familiar" to folks who've seen iPad data pricing. The device itself is surprisingly well built -- not at all one of these dime-a-tablet jobs -- and the software is rather mature as well. OpenPeak claims to have "thousands of apps" for its platform that stretches across devices including phones, frames, and now a tablet, with a Linux-based platform with a Flash layer on top.

Sandra Bullock's Advice to Elin Nordegren: "I Would Have Kept Hitting!"

It looks like Tiger Woods got off pretty easy.


In an ironic twist of fate, Sandra Bullock found herself discussing the golfer's infidelity at the People's Choice Awards earlier this year with Niecy Nash for The Insider.

"If I were Elin [Nordegren]…man, I would have hit a lot more than she did…I would have kept hitting!" said Sandra, referring to the speculaton that Tiger's wife went at him with a club on that fateful Thanksgiving night.

"You would still be swinging the golf club?" asked Niecy.

"Yeah, she stopped. She was respectable," the actress added. "I'd get the baseball bat. I'd get everything out."

“Scott Pilgrim vs. The World” Trailer

The wait is over: The first trailer for Edgar Wright’s film adaptation of the wildly-popular graphic novel Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, starring eternal nerd Michael Cera, made it’s internet debut on Thursday.


Synopsis: “Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera), bass guitarist for the garage band Sex Bob-omb, has just met the girl of his dreams. However, he must defeat Ramona Flowers’ (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) seven evil ex-boyfriends, who are coming to kill him…..”

Project Natal “world premiere” on June 13th at E3 2010

Microsoft have announced that the Project Natal motion-gaming system for Xbox 360 will be making its “world premiere” at E3 on Sunday, June 13th 2010. Originally demonstrating the system back at E3 2009, this time around we’re hoping that Microsoft throw in some pricing and specific availability details for Project Natal. The “experience” event will be followed by a proper press conference on Monday morning.


Project Natal uses a sensor and camera packed Xbox 360 accessory to track movement in 3D space. Unlike Nintendo’s Wii or Sony’s Playstation Move systems, it requires no controller be held, using microphones, depth sensors, an RGB camera and custom processor instead; Microsoft also expect the system to have uses when hooked up to Windows PCs.

HTC Windows Phone 7 Series device coming this year, says Peter Chou

HTC has been a loyal Microsoft partner throughout the years (despite starting to make more Android smartphones), and it will, as we already know, continue the partnership after Windows Phone 7 Series is launched.


In a recent interview with Forbes, HTC’s CEO Peter Chou mentioned that the company expects to launch its first Windows Phone 7 Series handset before the year’s end.

While Mr. Chou didn’t disclose further details about the WP7 smartphone, he did talk about the Android-based Google Nexus One, which is manufactured by HTC and has been reportedly sold in about 150,000 units since launch.

T-Mobile HD2 can be had for $100 from Amazon, others


In the wireless industry, $100 is a rather magical psychological barrier -- a price point below which consumers generally have a much easier time pulling the trigger on a sweet upgrade. So when you offer a phone for $200, a percentage of your target demographic is generally going to drop out of the race with cries of "too rich for my blood." No worries with this new HTC HD2 for T-Mobile, though, because it turns out that a number of resellers are already discounting the phone right down into that $99.99 sweet spot despite the fact that it was just launched this very week. Most notably, anyone agreeing to a two-year contract through Amazon can get the phone for less than a Benjamin, and that's upfront -- no mail-in rebate craziness to contend with. Certainly makes the phone -- arguably WinMo 6.5's last real hurrah -- a more appealing buy, doesn't it?

Google cutting in Android carriers, manufacturers on ad revenue?


Free, ad-supported phones have long been a rumored endgame for Android, but the way that model ends up playing out may not happen the way everyone thought. mocoNews is citing "multiple sources who are familiar with the deals" in saying that Google has been sweetening the pot for both manufacturers and carriers of Android devices by tossing in a cut of the ad revenue generated from their services -- search, Maps, and the like. This would certainly explain Android's stratospheric rise through the ranks in carriers' lineups around the globe, and -- more importantly for consumers -- gives them more wiggle room to slap huge subsidies on handsets (assuming the trickle-down economic effect kicks in at all). For competitors, Google offers a unique value proposition here that can't really be met by anyone except perhaps Microsoft -- and with Redmond looking to reestablish its relevance in the mobile space this year more than any other in recent memory, we could definitely see the two sparring to line Verizon's and AT&T's pockets with the most green. Naturally, all the parties involved have clammed up -- no one's saying a peep about whether this is true, or to what extent -- but we certainly wouldn't be surprised.

JooJoo preorders shipping: deliveries expected March 29th

Chalk this one up under “things we didn’t really expect to see happen”, but according to Fusion Garage the JooJoo tablet is now shipping. Up for preorder since early December 2009, those people who risked their $499 should apparently receive their orders by Monday, March 29th.


The news follows a quite change in the JooJoo online store earlier this week, where orders were no longer referred to as “preorders”. No word on how long any newly-placed orders will take to ship; the press release doesn’t say, so we’re presuming Fusion Garage have sufficient stock to cater to anyone not holding out for an iPad.

China issues media rules for stories on Google

A Chinese government ministry ordered Chinese media companies to toe the government line this week in their reporting on Google's decision to move its search operations to Hong Kong.

The list of instructions, obtained by China Digital Times and published by The Washington Post, underscores the degree to which the Chinese government attempts to control the spread of information more than anything Google has ever said about search censorship. The list contains specific details on which types of stories can be published and asks media outlets in China to purge reader discussions from their pages that attack the government's view.

First Hands-On With the Pantech Link

As promised, here are some tidbits of information about the Pantech Link, as well as some pics and videos to keep you occupied for a little while.


The Pantech Link is very similar to the Pantech Slate or Samsung in that it’s a candybar phone with full QWERTY, except it looks to be much nicer. For instance, its back is rubberized to give it a more durable look and feel while adding extra grippiness. The Link is a 3G phone with all of AT&T’s recently announced features such as Address Book and Media Share/Online Locker, and will have MicroSD support (with support up to 32 GB) with aGPS and AT&T Navigator. It also has a substandard 1.3 MP camera, which while disappointing, it’s not the end of the world unless you are taking a decent amount of pictures.

Choi Siwon and Yoona look good together

Earlier in the month Super Junior’s Choi Siwon got together with SNSD / Girls’ Generation member Yoona to become the SPAO couple.


Recently a lucky fan was granted access to a photo shoot where the two came together once again. No word on what specifically this is for but it’s probably not for SPAO as the clothes look different from their style. Regardless for whatever it’s for, they look great together. Thanks to mindyc for the tip and WIW+宝蓝阁BY葵之语 for sharing the photos.

Jay Chou brings the 4D experience to his audience

Jay Chou was in Shanghai yesterday to promote Sprite as their spokesperson. The event reportedly cost a whopping 4 million RMB (18.65 million NTD) in total. In addition to the stunning 3D visual effects, snowflakes and foam were pumped into the venue to give the audience a “4D” experience.



Jay Chou’s illuminating jacket and tight pants was mocked by the press for topping the style of Lady Gaga. He laughed and said he would only wear something like that in a concert. He also revealed that his new album in May will include some techno-rock style music. Jay Chou said he liked the 4D technology (used at the event) very much and doesn’t rule out of using it in his upcoming concert.

Christina Aguilera Is 'Bionic' Woman on Album Cover

Christina Aguilera has been hard at work on her new album for the past year and has finally announced that the record, her fourth, will be released June 8 by RCA Records.


According to ChristinaAguilera.com, the title -- 'Bionic' -- "reflects Aguilera's ability to take her range to new levels and use her voice in various ways never heard before."

The album's first single, 'Not Myself Tonight,' is a "fiercely energetic anthem" produced by Polow Da Don. The song will premiere on ChristinaAguilera.com at 6 PM EDT on March 30 and will be available on iTunes on April 13.

Mila Kunis Has Nothing But Good Things To Say About Jason Segal’s Privates



Did you hear what Mila Kunis said about Jason Segel?

The former star of That ’70s Show is sounding off on the actor’s private parts – although we’re not sure how well that will go over with her boyfriend Macaulay Culkin.

Motorola Devour with Android now available at Verizon


Verizon Wireless’ second Android smartphone from Motorola, the Moto Devour, is now available for purchase for $149.99 ($50 less than the Droid) with a 2-yr contract agreement. You can buy the handset free of contract, too, for $479.99.

The Devour runs Android 1.6 and, unlike the Droid, it also comes with the MotoBlur UI, which is supposed to make it easier for users to stay in touch with their contacts and friends.

The handset also features a full QWERTY keyboard, 3.1 inch HVGA touchscreen display, EV-DO rev A, Wi-Fi, A-GPS, visual voice mail, 3.5mm headset jack, 3MP camera, and an 8GB MicroSD card in the box.

Microsoft hopes Bing users pick up the tab

When it released Bing last year, Microsoft hoped that users would be willing to click on a host of additional options presented in a column along the left side of Bing search results.

It turns out, though that disappointingly few users clicked on the added options. The low click rate meant that some of the pages that Microsoft invested the most in--topic pages, articles, and custom data feeds--were being overlooked by lots of users.

Aiming to try to get more attention for its special pages, Microsoft is testing a new look that will add a series of tabs in the center of its Bing results pages, prominently identifying when there are additional types of content.

Tavia Yeung - The Equation Of Beauty

Tavia’s performance in [Beyond the Realm of conscience] was a total change from her usual image, and based on this drama, she won the [My Favourite Female Character],[Best actress] and [Best Performance] awards. Her career has reached new heights and she appears to be more confident. She has no problems handling clothes of different styles and is more feminine when she wears miniskirts. Her success and beauty is due to her confidence and hard work. Her popularity today is not due to chance.

Short Hair

If truth be told, Tavia’s short hair does catch my eye and has a refreshing style which matches her frank personality perfectly; it is not surprising that it received positive comments. All this while, she has kept her long hair; the image of a good person left a deep impression on many. She has a motive for cutting her hair short. “I have always wanted to try keeping short hair and change my image, but because my face is more suited for filming costume dramas, cutting my hair short would appear more modern and broaden myself to different aspects, boldly accepting my new image,” Tavia giggled.

ZE:A releases the MV for ‘All Day Long’!


Looks like ZE:A (Child of Empire) is back with a new concept and music video! The story of friendship and love in the music video along with the acting from the members themselves is the perfect combination to start off the new album.

What do you guys think?!

Lady Gaga arrives for Melbourne concert looking shattered after passing out three times onstage

Let's hope Lady Gaga had time for a rest ahead of her Melbourne concert last night.

As she arrived for the show the singer looked tired and stony faced, raising her hand in a half-hearted greeting after spotting some watching fans.

A severe case of jet lag meant she passed out three times while performing her first show at Vector Arena in Auckland last week.

'I was so jet lagged,' she told Australian radio show Kyle and Jackie O.

'I passed out about three times on stage that night but I got myself to the floor. I'd rather die on stage than walk off because I was going to pass out.'

But Gaga did manage to fit in some time to wind down after the gigs, by going fishing in high-heels on Waiheke Island.

The Bad Romance singer joined Jason Schwarz, general manager of Waiheke's Goldwater Estate Vineyard, for a barbecue and fishing on the beach at the weekend.

Tom Cruise Reese Witherspoon Saddling Up For “Paper Wings?”

TOM Cruise is set to play a cowboy in his next movie role.


According to the LA Times newspaper, the Hollywood heavyweight is in talks to star opposite Reese Witherspoon in rodeo love tale Paper Wings.

The film sees a rodeo champ (Cruise) falling in love with a country singer (Witherspoon).

“The Hills” Cancelled After Six Seasons: “The Hills” Final Season Begins April 27

The upcoming seventh season of MTV’s The Hills will be its last, the show’s creator told Entertainment Weekly Wednesday.


The network has confirmed that it will pull the plug on the reality franchise at the end of the season. According to producer Adam DiVello, the hit reality series – a spinoff of Laguna Beach – will begin airing its final 12 episodes on April 27.

The show, which helped make Heidi Montag, Spencer Pratt, and Lauren Conrad pop culture stars, chronicled the lives of a group of friends and frenemies in Southern California.

Samsung clinch $240m iPad display contract; 4th-gen iPhone using Samsung LCDs?

You know when might have been a good time to have bought Samsung stock? Oh, a few hours ago; that way you could’ve reaped the rewards of what will probably be a healthy uptick as the market reacts to news that Apple have ordered a further 3m iPad displays from the company. According to an unnamed industry executive speaking to The Korea Times, Samsung is now Apple’s second supplier for 9.7-inch LCD panels – after LG Display Co. in a deal inked last year – with the agreement worth $240m.

Meanwhile an unnamed Samsung executive has confirmed that the company will be supplying Apple with their fourth-generation iPhone displays. ”As far as I know, Apple will use the LCD panels for its next iPhone models. We are receiving related orders from Apple” the executive – who requested anonymity – is quoted as saying; interestingly, there had been speculation that Apple would switch to an AMOLED display for their next-gen iPhone, though of course Samsung product such panels as well.

HTC CEO says Nexus One is doing well

The Google Nexus One has been around for a while now and was the first mobile phone with the Android OS to be offered directly to customers via Google. The handset hasn’t exactly been tearing up the sales charts though with reports that the device only moved 135,000 units in the first 74 days it was available.


HTC CEO Peter Chou has come out and stated that the Nexus One is doing well. Chou also stated that the intention with the Nexus One was to show what Android was capable of more than setting any sales records or dominating the market. Yeah, right.

CBS testing HTML5 iPad video out in the open, sorry Flash


Hey Dan, ever heard of a staging area to do your testing? Apparently not judging by the screenshot above. MacRumors took that "iPad - test - dan config - 3" content from the CBS.com homepage for a spin and discovered what appears to be HTML5 (not Flash) video. A bit more sleuthing reveals several "webkit" (the foundation of the iPad's and iPhone's mobile Safari browser) calls after peeling open the CSS. This suggests that CBS is preparing to serve up parallel HTML5 content with the launch of the notoriously Flash-less iPad -- take that Hulu -- becoming yet another high-profile company swayed into providing video and other content in an Apple friendly format. Then again, maybe CBS is just testing a "what if" scenario with no intention of moving this into production any time soon. US netizens can try it themselves by setting your browser to spoof the iPad's user agent and hitting the source below (for as long as it lasts) but you'll need the iPad SDK Simulator to view the actual HTML5 videos.

‘Fire of Conscience’ premiere; Leon Lai praises Michelle Ye skilled ‘internally and externally’

Hong Kong action movie ‘Fire of Conscience’ held its premiere at Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition centre where Director Dante Lam brought his casts Leon Lai, Richie Ren, Michelle Ye, Liu Kaichi, Wang Baoqiang, etc stars to attend the ceremony. Female lead Michelle Ye became the highlight of the premiere among the male dominated casts. She laughs claiming that her ‘police officer’ role of hers in ‘Fire of Conscience’ also happens to be the most ‘humane’ one. “She is the only one who cries and laughs expressing her emotions in the movie, Leon Lai is too depressed while Richie Ren is too cool, whereas Wang Baoqiang does not speak of his emotions.” However, Michelle also expressed that her role this time is the ‘most handsome’ and ‘most unfeminine’ one as compared to the past, where she not only need to have relationship scenes, but also stays by the side of her superior Leon Lai in facing life and death, in the scenes where they were battling with the bandits, she too has to accomplish the very challenging stunts that male actors did, the few explosion scenes nearly blew her eardrums.

Director Dante Lam at the press conference expressed his recognition for Michelle Ye, frankly revealing that she is the actress he has most confidence to portray an action role excellently, and has immediately invited her for more collaboration right after the completion of ‘Fire of Conscience’ filming, wanting to train her to become the successor of an action actress. Dante Lam also praised Michelle’s professionalism, where only three seconds of words of “Need to cut hair short” had made Michelle cut her long hair away without any hesitation at all, and he only knew after that it was her first time cutting short her hair in the lifetime. Leon Lai was full of praises towards Michelle Ye who plays his ‘subordinate’, saying she is very comfortable (to be with) be it ‘in or out of movie’. She is silently in love with him in the movie, does his laundry and took care of his daily necessities, and is a very compatible partner at work, while she is very earnest and professional out of the movie. ‘Fire of Conscience’ has stunts and action scenes that caused him muscle pain so severe it hurts to move, and thus he was in awe at how Michelle Ye who had to accomplish his same stunts could endure it.

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