Taylor Swift's brand-new song 'Mine': Hear it now

There is no rest for the wicked—nor for those merely possessing of wickedly split-endless amber waves, approximately eleventy million platinum records, and a Jenga-like stack of golden trophies that Kanye can never take away.

Which is to say: Yes, Taylor Swift is back. The ringleted czarina of country-pop crossover has just dropped the first single from her upcoming Speak Now, and while it won’t go to iTunes until August 16, several websites have it streaming already, including this one.

As per several previous hits, “Mine” follows the narrative arc of young love blossoming—in this specific case, young college love. (Though 20-year-old Swift is, as of yet, only a student at the University of Superstar, at which she already appears to have picked up her honorary Masters).

So–the world’s first taste of Speak-era Taylor has arrived, and it sounds very much like we expected: just like Fearless-era Taylor, maybe a little older and wiser, but still as peachy-sweet as ever. What do you think, Swifties?

Lindsay Lohan's Life in Treatment

According to those closest to her, Lindsay Lohan is a jumble of emotions as she completes her journey from nightclubs to courtrooms to a jail cell and, now, to rehab.

"She's just so happy to be out of jail," says a source close to the actress. "But she also has a lot of anxiety about treatment and what it will be like. Being there for 90 days is scary to her, and, she thinks, way too long."

However Lohan may be feeling, the staff at UCLA's Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital – where the troubled star, 24, is reportedly undergoing treatment for both psychological and addiction issues – has seen it all before. They also happen to be one of the most widely respected addiction treatment and research operations in the country.

"She will be neither unique nor the usual thing there," says a source intimate with the program. Both patients and employees refer to the program as "4 East," after the floor on which a majority of the treatments take place and the building in which it is housed, Resnick East.

"They will customize a program to help her with whatever she is going through," adds the source. "Everyone there is treated differently."

Schmidt: 200,000 Android devices sold each day

Google CEO Eric Schmidt said on Wednesday that Google believes that some 200,000 new Android devices are being sold each day, leading to significant revenue in the form of increased mobile search traffic.

"People are finally beginning to figure out how successful Android is," Schmidt said at the inaugural Techonomy conference here, pointing to recent studies showing the growth of the mobile operating system outpacing even the popular iPhone.

"The number was about 100,000 (a day) about two months ago," Schmidt said. "It looks like Android is not just phenomenal but incredibly phenomenal in its growth rate. God knows how long that will continue."

Even though Google doesn't get revenue from Android itself, Schmidt said Google loves the success of Android because it means more people have phones capable of doing lots of Web searches for which it does get paid.

"Trust me that revenue is large enough to pay for all of Android's activities and a whole bunch more," he said. "I should also say that we love the success of the iPhone because the iPhone also uses Google's search and we get a chunk of that revenue when people search on the iPhone."

As for Chrome OS, Schmidt said that Android's success hasn't caused the company to rethink its dual-OS strategy.

"Maybe we can get the same success out of Chrome OS," he said. "Chrome OS is targeted at a different part of the market."

Details emerge about the next-gen iPhone and a smaller iPad

It might be hard to believe, but only a little more than one month has passed since the iPhone 4 was released. The iPad has only been available for a few months at this point.

Yet the rumors have started about Apple’s next moves in the smartphone and tablet spaces.

The iPhone 5 may come in early 2011, its release will reportedly be pushed to January (as opposed to the usual June release cycle for the all the past iPhones) as a result of the whole ‘Antennagate‘ debacle. It’s unclear at this point if what will launch in January of 2011 will just be a repackaged iPhone 4 without any reception issues, or a more substantial hardware upgrade.

Also, a smaller, 7-inch screened version of the iPad is reportedly ready and due for release either later this year or in early 2011.

Apparently Apple has been prototyping devices with 7″ screens since even before the first iPhone. Why they’ve then decided to release the 9.7″ version of the iPad first is not known.

As is always the case with Apple-related rumors, please take this with a substantial pinch of salt. Clearly, as time goes by, more and more rumors regarding future Apple mobile products will emerge, and most may turn out not to be true.

BoA unleashes her 6th album, Hurricane Venus


With the fellow SM Town groups of SHINee, SNSD, and Super Junior already congratulating BoA, it’s now time for fans to take a listen to her album and praise the diva on yet another fabulous job.

Her sixth Korean album Hurricane Venus was recently released on various music sites, and BoA sure knows how to impress her fans! Be sure to check it out below, and support her hard work by purchasing her album on YesAsia!

Sammi Cheng writes thousand word statement in response to ‘reunion’ rumors

With Andy Hui’s sudden announcement last week that he broke up with his girlfriend Michelle over 1 month ago, his relationship with former girlfriend Sammi Cheng is back in the spotlight. Even though Andy has not said anything further in the last few days since the announcement (on 7/31), that has not prevented rumors from spreading about a possible reunion between the two – the rumors have even gone so far as to say that Andy has already proposed to Sammi.

After 4 days of silence, Sammi finally ‘responded’ to the rumors – yesterday, she uploaded a 1300 word written statement to her Weibo in which she clarifies her relationship with Andy, states her position, and dispels the rumors regarding a possible reunion. In the statement, she writes that to change her relationship with Andy from friends back to lovers will be impossible and that since they broke up years ago, they never reunited at any point.

With regard to public opinion that Sammi has or will reunite with Andy, she writes: “Since the breakup, we never got back together [reunited] again – not at any point.” She admits that in the first few years after the breakup, she had thought about getting back together with Andy, but it never happened. She also says that both of them are very committed to being friends only – the romantic love that they used to have has turned into friendship; they are each other’s guardian angel. In the years since the breakup, both she and Andy have changed a lot – since it involves her future happiness, she cannot take it lightly and get back together with him just because of memories from 20 years ago. She also states that there are some relationships that she does not want to and cannot afford to disturb – she also emphasized that Andy did NOT propose to her.

BlackBerry Torch review


When we began our review of the BlackBerry Torch (aka the Bold 9800), our hearts were all aflutter. The leaked shots we'd been seeing of some kind of Palm Pre-esque RIM slider were different and frankly weird enough to cause a kind of low hum gadget lust. Furthermore, although no one on the Engadget team was blown away by what the company had shown us in recent BlackBerry OS 6 demo videos, the promise of a substantially revamped UI and new, Webkit-powered browser certainly got us interested. Even if Research in Motion had been slipping on its once-unassailable smartphone game, there was a sentiment amongst the team that the opportunity for a return to innovative, industry-driving design was wide open for the Canadian company. So when we got our very own Torch to play with, we were understandably excited. A new OS, a new form-factor (completely new for RIM), and from what we could tell, a new outlook from the company about where it wanted to target this product: namely, the average consumer. A great story in the making, no? But it's a fiercely competitive market out there, with devices like the EVO 4G, iPhone 4, and Galaxy S line all vying for the hearts, minds, and pocketbooks of the buyer. Can the BlackBerry Torch pick up where hugely successful models like the Curve and Bold have left off? Or is the new phone too little and too late in an industry where technology advances not by tiny step but leaps and bounds? Get the answer to that question -- and many, many more -- in the full Engadget review below!

Prop 8 Overturned: Ellen & Portia, Kim Kardashian, Adam Lambert, More Celebrate


It's a happy day in Hollywood.

"This just in: Equality won!" Ellen DeGeneres tweeted Wednesday upon hearing that a federal judge had overturned the gay-marriage-illegalizing Proposition 8, ruling that it violated constitutional rights to both equal protection and due process.

Added her wife, Portia de Rossi: "I am ecstatic that proposition 8 has been overturned in the state of California. This is an incredibly exciting and historical day and a big step towards equal rights for all."

And the happy couple, who tied the knot during the brief window that gay marriage was legal in 2008, aren't the only big names—both gay and straight—who are celebrating the court's ruling, written by U.S. District Judge Vaughn R. Walker.

The ruling "affirms the full legal protections and safeguards I believe everyone deserves," California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger told the Los Angeles Times.

Microsoft releases final IE9 preview, beta due in September


Internet Explorer 9 continues its steady pace toward a final release. Today’s milestone is an important one. The fourth and final Platform Preview, like its predecessors, is intended for developers to test their web sites and report bugs. Most of the major pieces of IE9’s HTML5 support were put in place in the previous release. This preview incorporates a slew of bug fixes (more than 1300 bug reports have been filed at Microsoft’s Connect site) and shows off what Microsoft claims are big improvements in its new Chakra JavaScript engine. IE boss Dean Hachamovich argues that how a JavaScript engine is integrated into the browser is as important as the engine itself, in terms of performance:

The fourth Platform Preview moves the new JavaScript engine, codenamed Chakra, inside IE9 and brings them together into one single, integrated system.

Through this deep integration, the performance of real world websites significantly improves, and IE9 becomes the first browser to have a shared DOM between the browser and the script engine based on ECMAScript5. The benefits start with real-world performance and consistency.

Microsoft has published test scores that show the new JavaScript engine acing the SunSpider test (and beating the current shipping version of Safari), but the company continues to emphasize holistic, real-world performance measurements.

New Kings Of Leon Album “Come Around Sundown” Oct. 19

Hey Music Fans: Nashville-based family band Kings of Leon will release its much-anticipated fifth album — entitled Come Around Sundown — on Oct. 19, Spin.com said Wednesday.


The set is the follow-up to 2008’s wildly-successful Only By The Night, which won four Grammys and spurred hits like “Sex On Fire” and “Use Somebody.” The album has sold more than 1.2 million albums in the US to date, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Come Around Sundown was recorded last winter and spring at Avatar Studios in New York. The disc will feature production by Angelo Petraglia and Jacqire King.

A Bumper Won't Keep Your Dropped iPhone 4 Safe

While Apple's Bumper is a decent way to prevent iPhone 4 reception problems, it unfortunately—and somewhat obviously—doesn't keep the device all that safe if it takes a fall.


The NYT's Nick Bilton discovered this sad fact earlier after dropping a Bumper-clad iPhone 4 onto concrete. Thankfully for Nick, the device he was using is a loaner unit from Apple—provided for a review—and not his personal gadget, but the lesson is the same: Be careful, because the odds of any case or wrap preventing the fragile iPhone 4 glass from shattering aren't great.

Google Buys Slide for $182 Million, Getting More Serious about Social Games

We’ve just learned that Google has agreed to buy Slide for $182 million, in a deal to be announced Friday. And sources also tell us that this is not the last move Google is going to be making to cobble together a serious social gaming and apps strategy to counter Facebook.

As we previously reported, Google invested in Zynga to form the cornerstone of Google Games, which Eric Schmidt somewhat confirmed will launch later this year.

No word on whether Slide founder Max Levchin will be joining Google or what his continuing role will be. $182 million is a nice exit no doubt, but it’s a come down from Slide’s $500 million valuation in 2008. And Levchin has said many times that success to him was Slide becoming bigger than PayPal.

Looks like it hasn’t. But it’s still possible that Levchin—who was the first investor in Slide too—is making a comparable or bigger amount personally from this sale.

Bill Gates Convinces 40 Billionaires to Give Away Half Their Fortunes

Our favorite charity-worker Bill Gates has successfully signed up 38 billionaires to give away half of their wealth to those less fortunate, in what could be the largest-scale philanthropic work ever.

Together with Warren Buffett, their "The Giving Pledge" project nabbed Larry Ellison (founder of Oracle), George Lucas, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Barry Diller from IAC (an internet media company that owns Ask.com, Bloglines, Vimeo, Match.com and others), along with many others.

While they're not legally bound to give away at least 50 per cent of their wealth to charity, it's more of a trust-promise—particularly now that it's been reported all over the media. They're not expected to give their notes to any one charity, but if every single person on the Forbes 400 richest American list signed up to The Giving Pledge, that would mean charities would be $600 billion better off. Presumably some of those charities will be green-focused, considering Gates' obvious passion in that field.

Justin Bieber on CSI: First Look

Justin Bieber really is coming to CSI this fall.

While the news that this adorable young singer would play a recurring role on one of TV's most highly-rated dramas seemed a bit far-fetched at first, we now have photographic evidence to back it up.

With executive producer Carol Mendelsohn saying Justin “did a really good job" during filming on July 23, here's your first look at the cutie as the character of Jason McCann:



Multiple sources confirm that McCann is a troubled teen with a foster father in prison. His brother is out to seek revenge on police, leaving Jason "in the middle," Mendelsohn explained, adding: “Is he a good kid stuck in a bad situation or is he a bad kid hiding behind the cutes?”

Bieber will appear on the September 23 season premiere. He'll then return for a second episode likely to air in February.

Droid 2 flyer confirms Froyo (again), promises 40 percent boost in website load times


It's not often that we know this freaking much about a major smartphone prior to its announcement -- not to say that we're complaining. Latest in the never-ending string of Droid 2 leaks is this handy little flyer, seemingly part of internal training for sales reps, pimping a variety of features like Android 2.2 out-of-the-box (something the original Droid is just now getting), the 8GB of on-board storage with another 8GB on an included microSD card, the Droid X-like UI skin, Swype, and -- this is interesting -- a claimed 40 percent gain in website loading time over its predecessor thanks to the 1GHz core. Of course, Froyo's quite a bit faster than Eclair, so if they're benchmarking a Froyo Droid 2 against an Eclair Droid, that could account for part of the performance improvement, too -- not to say that we're complaining.

Google Wave no Longer in Development as a Standalone Project


Wave goodbye (sorry, we couldn't resist) to Google's "community collaboration" tool. In a post on Google's official blog, Senior VP of Operations Urs Hölzle has announced there are "[no] plans to continue developing Wave as standalone product." Blame it on a lower-than-desired user adoption rate, he says, all the while praising the learning experience and innovative tools it fostered. The site will reportedly be maintained "at least through the end of the year," with no promises beyond that, and tools will be eventually released "so that users can easily 'liberate' their content from Wave." We said early on that many of Wave's best ideas seemed better fit integrated into existing Google products like Docs and Gmail, and the company seems to agree: it plans to "extend the technology for use in other Google projects." We look forward to it, but in the meantime, a moment of silence for Google Maps co-founders Lars and Jens Rasmussen's now-fallen experiment.

Samsung Fascinate (Galaxy S) and Samsung Gem for Verizon spotted in the wild

Verizon sure planned many big smartphone releases for this summer. At first there was the Motorola Droid X. Rumors then suggested that the Motorola Droid 2 will launch on August 12th.

And let’s not forget that Verizon’s version of the Samsung Galaxy S is still not available. This, the Samsung Fascinate, has just been spotted in the wild.



Doesn’t look at all like pre-release hardware or software, so the only possible reason for it not being available yet is that Verizon may indeed want to pace themselves and only launch the Droid 2 this month.

Too many high-end Android smartphone launches too close to each other and sales may not be as good as expected.

The Fascinate is, spec-wise, almost identical to its other versions, be it the international i9000 Galaxy S, the M110S for Korea, the Captivate for AT&T or the Vibrant for T-Mobile.

Jennifer Aniston: "People Laugh at Me"


It’s Jennifer Aniston like we’ve never seen her before: As Barbra Streisand! Aniston, who stars in the new comedy The Switch, pays homage to the legendary Barbra Streisand—and proves that everyone loves a funny girl — in the coveted September Fall Fashion Issue of Harper’s Bazaar Magazine on newsstands Aug. 17.

The photoshoot captures Jen as she strikes classic Streisand poses, illustrating iconic scenes from Streisand classics like Funny Girl, What’s Up, Doc?, and more.

Jennifer on What She’s Learned From Barbra Streisand: “You don’t have to stop at one thing. You can do it all if you want to.”

Lindsay Lohan Shows Off Boobs in New Ad

Lindsay Lohan was sentenced to jail for skipping DUI classes -- but she managed to make time to appear in yet another racy ad campaign.


The actress, 24 -- who checked into rehab early Monday morning -- posed in panties and striped thigh-highs for Marc Ecko's "Muse" campaign. She also reveals her nearly-naked breasts as she lifts a shirt over her head.

TMZ.com reports Lohan secretly shot the ads in May -- around the same time Judge Marsha Revel sentenced her to 90 days in jail. She even wears a mask in several shots. See the top 10 bad movie babes.

Ecko chose Lohan because he wanted someone "who fascinated us -- for better or worse," TMZ reports.

Avenged Sevenfold bumps Eminem to No. 2 on Billboard 200 albums chart

Avenged Sevenfold Nightmare debuts at No. 1 this week on the Billboard 200 albums chart with 163,000 copies sold, ending Eminem‘s five-week run as the list’s leader. Now at No.2, Em’s Recovery moved 159,000 albums. Last week’s No. 2, Rick Ross’ Teflon Don, moves to No.3 with 63,000 copies sold. Justin Bieber’s My World 2.0 moves up two spots to No. 4 selling 38,000 sets.

At No. 5 with 34,000 copies sold is Drake’s Thank Me Later. It fell one spot. The Kidz Bop 18 collection falls one space to No. 6 moving 29,000 units.

Need You Now by Lady Antebellum jumps up two to No. 7 selling 27,000 copies. Sheryl Crow’s 100 Miles From Memphis drops five positions to No. 8 with 24,000 sets sold. Lady Gaga’s The Fame moves up one to No. 9 selling just under 24,000 albums. Rounding out the top 10 is the Now 34 compilation, falling two to No. 10 and selling 22,000 copies.

Android top selling smartphone platform in U.S. for Q2

Android is now the leading smartphone operating system in the U.S. in market share, according to a report released Wednesday by NPD Group.

Following a slew of new smartphones released in the second quarter, the Android operating system accounted for 33 percent of all smartphones sold in the U.S. consumer market. That number pushed it ahead of Research In Motion with 28 percent and Apple with 22 percent. It also marked the first time since the fourth quarter of 2007 that RIM dropped to second place, said NPD.

Among the top five Android phones, the Motorola Droid was the best-selling handset in the quarter, followed by the HTC Droid Incredible, the HTC Evo 4G, the HTC Hero, and finally the HTC Droid Eris. Though Android's surge has helped it overtake RIM in market share, the Google OS-based phones still need to compete with heavy consumer demand for Apple's new iPhone 4.

72 percent of iPhone 4 users 'very satisfied'

A new report released Wednesday by market research firm ChangeWave shows that 72 percent of iPhone 4 users are "very satisfied" with the new Apple device.

The report, which tallied the results of 213 iPhone 4 users in July, also said that 21 percent were somewhat satisfied with the device.



ChangeWave said that one third of iPhone 4 users surveyed said the device exceeded their expectations, while 50 percent said it met expectations. Taken together, the iPhone 4 numbers fall short of the satisfaction rating of the iPhone 3GS after its release: 82 percent reported being "very satisfied" while 17 percent said they were "somewhat satisfied."

Of course, the iPhone 4 had its issues as soon as it was released--namely the antenna problems that prompted Apple to hold a press conference and offer users a free case. ChangeWave asked iPhone 4 users how much of a problem the antenna issue was for them. Nearly two-thirds said they "hadn't experienced any problem" while 14 percent said it "wasn't much of a problem." But 1 in 5 said it was "somewhat of a problem" and 7 percent called it a "very big problem." However, the antenna issue did not top the list of the biggest dislikes of the iPhone 4--that distinction went to AT&T.

Jackie Chan and Theresa Teng’s love story exposed

Former executive Du Huidong discloses the reason why the two ex-lovers did not end up together

Former studio executive Du Huidong has been making waves by exposing celebrity secrets in his new book.

Former superstars Brigitte Lin and Joey Wong were implicated and even the late Anita Mui was not spared.

Actor-director Jackie Chan's romance with the songbird Theresa Teng was a major talking point.

Theresa, who passed away in 1995, was one of the most prolific and loved singers in the 80s.

It was said that Jackie had met her when he was taking English lessons overseas and it was also there that their relationship started. However, things fell apart when Jackie's current wife, Joan Lin appeared.

In the book, Du seemed to imply that Joan had used underhanded means to force Theresa to give up on Jackie.

Arashi's new album sells 275,000 copies on first day


Boy band Arashi released a new album on Wednesday, titled "Boku no Miteiru Fuukei." In its first day of sales, fans bought 275,000 copies, setting a new personal record for the group. Last year, their "All the BEST! 1999-2009" collection set their previous record with 261,000 copies in its first day. That album went on to sell 753,000 copies within the first week, so many are hoping to see "Boku no Miteiru Fuukei" break that record as well.

Arashi's last original album was "Dream A live" in 2008. Since then, they have released several hit singles, including "Monster" and "Troublemaker," which both sold more than half a million copies in their first weeks.

Poor Apple can't seem to catch a break

Most readers know that I tend to pick on Apple. Heck, I’ve even pretty much reserved Tuesday each week as the day I try to see if I can make little fanbois’ heads spin. This week, however, we have three pieces of news (two that even happen to be government-related) that almost make me feel sorry for the company. Almost.

First, Sam Diaz reported on an unconfirmed report that hackers are breaking into iPhones simply by virtue of users downloading a PDF file.

Next up, Adrian Kingsley-Hughes wrote a nice piece about how easy it is to jailbreak your iPhone. Now that it’s officially legal to do so, there’s even a Web-based application that makes the task almost ridiculously easy.

Next up, the fine folks at Wired are reporting their suspicions that the FTC is in the middle of an investigation into Apple, primarily because of Apple’s effective screwing of Adobe over the whole CS5 Flash thing.

How Russell Brand Makes Katy Perry Feel Beautiful

She may don her Daisy Dukes and bikini tops with pride, but Katy Perry still struggles with her self-image – and that's when she turns to her fiancé, comedian Russell Brand.

"I think he taught me a lot about inner beauty and confidence in myself," the singer, 25, tells Seventeen magazine in its September issue.

"I don't really feel pretty ever," she says. "Without makeup, I feel ugly. And so I would have to sleep with makeup on, or feel ugly and gross. He looks beyond all of that, which is such a win, because I've never felt that with anybody."

The couple may have their differences ("He's a very spiritual person, and I'm constantly struggling with the idea of being spiritual and material"), but Perry says their love is the real deal.

"He's in love with the person inside of me," she says, "and the outside of me is just a bonus."

And as the couple prepares to tie the knot, Perry stills remembers her initial attraction to Brand.

"He changed my mind about him the moment I met him," she says. "I said, 'You are a better person than how you are portrayed.'"

Five Windows 7 security features that businesses need to know about

Windows 7 brings several security enhancements that don't sacrifice usability

The words Windows and security have not always been compatible. In the past, Microsoft's quest to make its operating system as easy to manage as possible for the "typical" user has often meant sacrificing adequate safeguards against intrusion and infection. Windows XP's notorious vulnerability to network worms stands as a recent example; Microsoft shipped the operating system with a firewall but initially left it turned off by default.

For all its flaws, real and perceived, Vista marked a huge step forward in Windows security. Windows 7 has continued that improvement, adding several new features and enhancing many others -- most obviously the User Account Control system, which proved so obnoxious in Vista that many users turned it off, leaving their systems vulnerable to intrusion in exchange for a less annoying experience. UAC has been revamped in Windows 7 to be less intrusive and more discerning about what constitutes a true threat, and therefore more effective.

Other Windows 7 security features are less apparent, especially those intended for businesses concerned with protecting not just one computer but an entire network. Among the most important new features are DirectAccess, a VPN replacement for computers on Windows networks; the Windows Biometric Framework, which standardizes the way fingerprints are used by scanners and biometric applications; and AppLocker, which improves on previous Windows versions' Software Restriction Policies to limit which software can be run on a machine.

Also key are BitLocker To Go, which extends the full-disk encryption of BitLocker to external hard drives, and a refined procedure for handling multiple firewall profiles so that the level of protection better matches the location from which a user connects to the Internet.

Microsoft hopes WP 7 speech features surpass Android, iPhone

Hoping to leapfrog over Google and Apple's successes in the smartphone market, Microsoft plans to use cloud-based speech recognition and natural language processing technology to offer user interface capabilities not found on the iPhone or Android devices.

"We believe speech is not a separate application. Rather it is an integral part of the user experience," said Zig Serafin, Microsoft unified communications general manager, before an audience at the SpeechTEK 2010 conference, being held this week in New York.

In order to boost Windows Phone 7's capabilities for understanding a voice command and delivering the requested result, the company plans to tie in Windows Phone 7 handsets with the company's Tellme cloud-based voice recognition and natural language processing service, said Serafin, in a subsequent interview with IDG News Service.

Microsoft purchased the company that created this service, Tellme Networks, in 2007.

Before the SpeechTEK audience, Serafin chastised the Android and iPhone operating systems for using icons as the chief form of interaction. "Most smartphones are a grid of icons, much like Windows 3.1," he said.

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