Holy Inception! Christopher Nolan Scores With Leonardo DiCaprio—and Without Batman

Christopher Nolan has more than one trick up his utility belt.

Inception, the Caped Crusader director's latest, ruled the weekend box office with a bigger-than-expected, bigger-than-Batman Begins $60.4 million.

Nicolas Cage's The Sorcerer's Apprentice, meanwhile, was outta luck.

The $150 million-ish Disney extravaganza managed only $17.4 million from Friday-Sunday, and only $24.5 million overall since opening Wednesday.

Lindsay Lohan Reality Show: E!, Spike, & Bravo Offering Troubled Star Lucrative Deal

Things are looking rosey for soon-to-be jailbird Lindsay Lohan. Word on The Curb has it that the child star-turned-trainwreck has been offered lucrative deals to front her own docu-soap by at least three US cable networks.

First up there’s Entertainment Television — perhaps best known simply as E!. Apparently, they want to revive there 2008 Living Lohan series, which co-starred Lindsay’s mother Dina and sister Ali, now 16.

Then there are basic cable rivals Bravo and Spike. They’re also looking to seal a deal with the 24-year-old actress before she begins her 90-day sentence in a Los Angeles jail for probation violations on Tuesday.

Verizon Wireless DROID X slated to receive update starting July 19th


Good news for Motorola DROID X owners as Verizon Wireless is releasing an update to the newly launched handset. The update, Version 1.13.604.MB810.Verizon.en.US/Baseband: BP_C01.09.04P, includes the following improvements and enhancements:
  • Improved battery charging status indicator.
  • Smoother transition for camera and camcorder functions.
  • Redesign of weather widget icons.
  • Faster Exchange ActiveSync® email loading.
  • Streamlined organization of newly downloaded applications.
  • Organized favorite contacts by call count.
  • Updated Bluetooth® connection for enhanced video sharing experience.
  • Coordinated date and time across phone displays.
  • Cleaner looking status bar for GPS symbol.
  • Improved sync capabilities for 3G Mobile Hotspot.
  • Faster Visual Voice Mail loading.
  • Take advantage of the enhanced, preloaded My Verizon application.
  • Preloaded Amazon Kindle® application lets you read Kindle books on your AndroidTM phone, including thousands of free books.

The OTA is slated to roll out starting the 19th and will hit handsets in stages over the following few days.

White iPhone 4 delay: the challenges faced by Apple's glass supplier


This almost goes without saying, but it's truly been a wild ride for the iPhone 4 over the last three weeks. While most of us will just happily open our hands to Stevie J's freebies, there's one question that's still bugging us: what's actually holding back the white iPhone 4? Sure, Apple's now promised us an "end of July" delivery for its latest iTemptation, but it has yet to specify what the manufacturing difficulty is. According to Chinese newspaper 21st Century Business Herald, the problem stems from a little-known Chinese factory by the name of Lens Technology, which is apparently responsible for transforming fine raw glass into the majority of iPhone glass panels out there (and contrary to previous reports, there's no mention of Corning here). Read on to find out what's causing our invisible hero to stall.

SHINee releases entire 2nd album Lucifer!


Having revealed their video teaser a couple days ago for title song Lucifer, SHINee is back with the release of their entire 2nd full-length album Lucifer!

With the album including 13 brand new songs, fans are sure to enjoy their talented voices and are bound to adore each and every song.

Be sure to check out all of the songs below!

2NE1 shows off their hidden feminine side in August issue of Vogue Girl


2NE1 girls show off the feminine side of them.

The girls recently did a photoshoot filming for the August issue of fashion magazine Vogue Girl. And in a teaser photo revealed, the girls were seen with showing off their hidden feminine side.

Sandara Park revealed, “I want to film pretty photoshoots from now too.” 2NE1′s usual style and concept is strong and powerful images, while this time, the girls were seen in skirts and laces.

Meanwhile, ahead of their singer comeback August, 2NE1 will be making a comeback on TV with 2NE1TV season 2 on Mnet.

Steve Jobs Continues To Answer The Questions That AT&T Won’t

During Q&A session after Apple’s press conference on Friday, one of the more interesting things CEO Steve Jobs said was about AT&T. He said that it takes the carrier three years to get approval for a new cell tower in San Francisco. Yes, three years. “That’s the single biggest problem they’re having,” Jobs said.

What’s interesting is that neither Apple nor AT&T have brought this up before. I’ve talked to AT&T on a dozen or so occasions about the horrible service in San Francisco. When I ask why it’s so bad, most of the time I simply get vague statements about how hard AT&T is working on it, and that things will be getting better soon. Soon. This conversation has been going on for three years now.

I’ve never gotten anything from AT&T nearly as specific as the answer Jobs gave in his offhanded remark on Friday. Perhaps that’s because AT&T is scared shitless to say anything even remotely specific about the iPhone, even if it’s about their own network. That’s been my read on AT&T’s responses for these past few years; they’re scared to death of Apple. Even to the point where they wouldn’t defend themselves against allegations that they were the ones behind the Google Voice app block last Summer.

It could also be because it’s better to string people along, telling them that things are always just about to get better, rather than give the reality that a fix is three years out. Had I known from the get go that AT&T would not be able to fix their network for three years in San Francisco, I may not have stuck around.

First official Droid 2 pictures spotted in teaser site code?


Astute reader Dominic was just minding his business, hunting for hints in the Droid Does website source code, when what should he allegedly discover but an entire Droid 2 spread inside an Shockwave Flash file. To our knowledge these may be the first official images of the Motorola A955, though of course we've already seen it a number of times before. We just need Verizon to leak an official announcement with price and release date now -- we're hearing August 23rd -- and perhaps a nice Hollywood trailer to round things out. See a larger version of Dominic's discovery right after the break.

Vanessa Hudgens and Hayden Panettiere Hit the Beach — For Charity!


When Vanessa Hudgens and Hayden Panettiere hit the beach yesterday in L.A., it wasn’t just to soak up the rays. The two beautiful actresses (and Neutrogena brand ambassadors ) joined forces to announce the new Neutrogena Wave for Change campaign, a charitable initiative that lets teens help the company decide how to distribute up to $200,000 from sales of the Wave Sonic Power-Cleaner and Oil-Free Acne Wash Pink Grapefruit product sold for disaster relief, education and environmental causes through GlobalGiving. Through August 23, visitors to the Neutrogena Facebook page can take a quiz to see which cause they’d like to support, which will help determine where funding eventually goes. “Often people want to participate, but they don’t know how so the fact Neutrogena is opening the door and kids are getting to be a part of something and help the world is an amazing thing to be a part of,” says Panettiere. Hudgens seconds the feeling, telling PEOPLE that “It’s so cool that Neutrogena is letting the fans go to Neutrogena’s Facebook page to take a quiz to determine how the money raised for charity is being distributed. By taking a few minutes to join in, everyone can make a big difference in the world.”

Enrique Iglesias’ Nude Water-Skiing Plan Raises Ire Of Miami’s Finest

Enrique Iglesias will not be doing any naked water skiing in front of the city of Miami — at least not if local cops get their way.


In June, the Spanish heartthrob, 35, promised fans that he would “get drunk and ski naked” if the European hub won the soccer World Cup, which they did on Sunday, July 11.

“If Spain wins, I’m going to get drunk and ski naked in Biscayne Bay. That is what we used to do when we were kids,” Iglesias, whose crooner father Julio was once a top goalkeeper for Spain, told The BBC last month.

Upon Spain’s win last week, his longtime rep confirmed that Enrique would likely undertake the challenge, telling Access Hollywood: “A bet is a bet!”

Not so fast, Iglesias!

Intel needs to build its own iPad, iPhone

Intel is wasting precious time waiting for its "partners" to build the equivalent of an iPad and iPhone.

In the wake of Intel's hiring of a former Palm and Apple executive Mike Bell, Intel should short-circuit the ugly process of watching customers like Hewlett-Packard and Acer prattle about Intel-based tablets, then do nothing.

Friday's announcement stated that Bell "in his new role...will lead a team with the charter to build breakthrough smartphone reference designs with the explicit intent of accelerating Intel architecture into the market." A reference design--essentially a product blueprint for customers--will do little for seeding Intel-based designs in the brave new markets for smartphones and tablets.

In these markets, Intel does not carry the clout (potential for big revenue streams) as it does in PCs. (Remember the MID?) United Kingdom-based ARM does, however. Though a tiny chip company by comparison, it is surrounded by a satellite of big, muscular chip manufacturers (not unlike Intel) such as Samsung, Texas Instruments, and Qualcomm, who have big customers--Apple, Motorola, and RIM, to name a few. In tablets and smartphones, Intel is just another chipmaker--and not seen as competitive, to boot.

Nokia Kinetic Concept Declines Calls Using Playful Flicks


Designer Jeremy Hopkins, perhaps taking a cue from those inflatable clown punching bags that would always right themselves thanks to a special weight, has designed the Nokia Kinetic to do pretty much the exact same thing.

F.T.Island's Lee Hong Ki sings in Chinese

The Korean drama, “You’re Beautiful” will soon air in Taiwan on ETTV. Lee Hong Ki, who is part of the cast, is also the lead vocal of F.T. Island. Thus, Lee Hong Ki decides to re-sing the drama's theme song, “Still (As Ever)” in Chinese, with lyrics by Amber Kuo.

Amber got the inspiration to write the Chinese lyrics for the song after watching the drama portraying the unrequited love story. The Chinese version of the song is titled, “牽著妳的手” (Holding Your Hand). Lee Hong Ki comments, “It’s my first time singing in Chinese. It’s so hard.” Last time when Lee Hong Ki visited Taiwan in March, his record company specially arranged for Lee Hong Ki to film the music video with the Taiwanese version of "Julie" (Julie is the name of his pet dog in the drama).

The full MV will be broadcasted on Channel [V] at 9pm.

Zune Pass for UK gets briefly teased, priced?


If the above picture is to be believed, it looks like Microsoft's Zune Pass is gearing up to make its UK debut. An across-the-pond tipster via LiveSide apparently stumbled upon (and was able to successfully score the 14-day trial) a Subscription page with pricing tiers. In addition to the tryout period, there were also options for a £8.99 (about $13.74) one-month pass and £26.97 / $41.23 for three. Further details are just barely hinted at in the sidebar, but if it's anything like the US progenitor, we're looking at an all-you-can download music service and ten DRM-free MP3s each month, playable on Windows, Xbox 360 (soon), Zune devices (still not available outside US), and Windows Phone 7. We know Microsoft is planning to move its "challenging" music service into every country its phones will venture, but that little tidbit doesn't absolve this image of scrutiny. Try as we might, our UK editors are unable to find this screen anywhere. According to the original tipster, even though he has access to the trial, he still can't use it. We'll keep digging and will let you know what we find.

Verizon's LTE rollout is imminent, computers updated for 4G SIM cards


We just got some alleged (but very convincing) internal documents on Verizon's 4G plans, and it's mostly stuff we've already heard -- 5-12Mbps down, aircards before smartphones, and plans to roll out in 30 cities in 2010. That said, documents dated this week show the company's still on track to serve up 100 million connections by the end of the year, and a pair of independent tipsters have just sent us pics of Verizon computers ready and waiting for those precious LTE SIM cards. Furthermore, the docs also claim that the planned LTE isn't just fast, it's got a lag-destroying 30ms latency too, and fans of wider wireless computing can expect 4G tablets of some sort in 2011 as well.

'Inception' earns dreamy reception with $60.4M

Leonardo DiCaprio and Christopher Nolan's "Inception" is anything but a sleeper as the thriller opened big with $60.4 million and a No. 1 finish at the weekend box office, according to studio estimates Sunday.

The Warner Bros. action tale about a team that sneaks into people's dreams is DiCaprio's biggest opening weekend, topping his previous best of $41.1 million for last winter's "Shutter Island."

"Inception" falls far short of director Christopher Nolan's best, though. Nolan is the man who directed the Batman blockbuster "The Dark Knight," which opened over the same weekend two years ago with a record $158.4 million.

Warner Bros. has carved out a niche with this particular mid-July weekend. The studio followed "The Dark Knight" with a $77.8 million opening for "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" over the same weekend last year.

"We like this spot. Not to sound superstitious, but stay away from this weekend. I own it," said Dan Fellman, head of distribution for Warner Bros.

No 'get out of jail free' card for Lohan

Lindsay's new lawyer, Robert Shapiro, made it clear to the troubled starlet that she'd get no 'get out of jail free' card.

The troubled starlet recently checked in at Pickford Lofts, a rehab treatment center that Shapiro started after the death of his son Brent from a drug overdose

“Ms. Lohan is suffering from a disease that I am all too familiar with,” he said. “Hopefully I can be of assistance.”

Before he took on the role of Lohan’s lawyer, he told the actress that he would not be appealing her jail sentence.

Shapiro has represented a number of celebrities and was a member of the “dream team” that defended O.J. Simpson

Lindsay Lohan is set to begin her 90 day prison sentence on Tuesday. Once she’s out of jail, Lindsay has to take part in a three-month long rehabilitation process.

Rep: Brutal Oksana Pic "True and Accurate" ; Mel Gibson's Ex Tired of Seeing Him Painted as 'Heartless, Abusive Monster'

A rep for Oksana Grigorieva is slamming reports that a brutal image of the singer with chipped front teeth has been altered.

"The photo released by RadarOnline.com is 'true and accurate' and real," Grigorieva's spokesman Stephen Jaffe tells Entertainment Tonight. "It was not doctored by Oksana or anyone associated with her.

"As a former photo analyst, I can say that I see no credible evidence of any alterations or 'doctoring' of the photograph as some have asserted," Jaffe continues. "The reports that it was doctored are simply false."

The photo shows Grigorieva, 40, with two damaged upper front teeth allegedly after a heated fight with Mel Gibson, with whom she is engaged in an ugly custody dispute over their 8-1/2 month-old daughter, Lucia.

In an UsMagazine.com poll conducted Friday, 67% of readers said they believed Grigorieva's injuries were authentic.

Experts who have examined the photo, however, tell TMZ it is inconsistent with being punched it the face. TMZ also claims that "law enforcement is investigating the scenario that the damage to the veneers could have been self-inflicted."

As Facebook Users Die, Ghosts Reach Out

Courtney Purvin got a shock when she visited Facebook last month. The site was suggesting that she get back in touch with an old family friend who played piano at her wedding four years ago.


The friend had died in April.

“It kind of freaked me out a bit,” she said. “It was like he was coming back from the dead.”

Facebook, the world’s biggest social network, knows a lot about its roughly 500 million members. Its software is quick to offer helpful nudges about things like imminent birthdays and friends you have not contacted in a while. But the company has had trouble automating the task of figuring out when one of its users has died.

That can lead to some disturbing or just plain weird moments for Facebook users as the site keeps on shuffling a dead friend through its social algorithms.

Facebook says it has been grappling with how to handle the ghosts in its machine but acknowledges that it has not found a good solution.

“It’s a very sensitive topic,” said Meredith Chin, a company spokeswoman, “and, of course, seeing deceased friends pop up can be painful.” Given the site’s size, “and people passing away every day, we’re never going to be perfect at catching it,” she added.

James E. Katz, a professor of communications at Rutgers University, said the company was experiencing “a coming-of-age problem.”

“So many of Facebook’s early users were young, and death was rare and unduly tragic,” Mr. Katz said.

Now, people over 65 are adopting Facebook at a faster pace than any other age group, with 6.5 million signing up in May alone, three times as many as in May 2009, according to the research firm comScore. People over 65, of course, also have the country’s highest mortality rate, so the problem is only going to get worse.

Tamu Townsend, a 37-year-old technical writer in Montreal, said she regularly received prompts to connect with acquaintances and friends who had died.

Ming Dao applies "life-saving" CPR on duck

The upcoming idol drama "Zhong Wu Yan" will premiere on TTV and SETTV on July 25th, and the drama's actor Xiao Xuan Xuan has stolen the spotlight. This Xiao Xuan Xian, who is actually a duck, not only swaggers with attention onto the bed of drama's lead actress Cheryl Yang, but also gets CPR from the drama's lead actor Ming Dao.

Since "Fated to Love You" and its dog Baby Ji, idol dramas have started a trend of using animals, such as Anthony from "Easy Fortune Happy Life", Lulu from "Lucky Days", Kang Kang from "Ni Ya Da", and Xiang Cai from "Tian Xia Fu Mu Xin". Nowdays, it's "Zhong Wu Yan" and Xiao Xiao Xuan, and unlike the other animals who are dogs, this one is a handsome white duck!

Xiao Xuan Xuan, who came from a family of farmers in Yilan, Taiwan, is the medium of love used between Cheryl Yang and Ming Dao's characters in the drama. When Xiao Xuan Xuan first arrived, the staff raised it at the the third floor of the outdoor stairs of SETTV's building and labeled it as the newest signed artist, arousing the focus of the staff.

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