Kate Winslet Steps Out in Spain with Her New Man


They kept quiet about their romance at first, but now Kate Winslet and Louis Dowler appear to be comfortable in the public eye.

The couple attended the 58th annual San Sebastian International Film Festival in Spain on Monday in dramatic style: Winslet in an off-the-shoulder, very short black dress, and Dowler in a black suit with a barely buttoned white shirt.

Winslet, 34, separated from husband Sam Mendes in March after nearly seven years of marriage.

Five months later, the Oscar winner debuted her new beau, also 34, during a night out at some of London's trendy nightclubs.

Microsoft confident IE9 browser will regain market share

Microsoft expects the latest installment of its Web browser, Internet Explorer 9 (IE9), to help regain its stronghold share in the market despite declining figures and lack of support for the still widely-used Windows XP operating system.


At a demo session for the media held here Tuesday, Microsoft's Asia-Pacific chief marketing officer (CMO), Haresh Khoobchandani, told ZDNet Asia that the software vendor expects to see a "huge momentum" of upgrades to deploy Windows 7 over the next 12 to 18 months.

"That's going to fuel the IE9 deployment as well, given the improved performance, security and simplicity of the browser", he noted.

Released worldwide in beta last week, IE9 touts a cleaner user interface, hardware acceleration, better graphics performance and support for Web standards including HTML5 and CSS3.

HTC Mozart specs unveiled in new Windows Phone 7 video


The unannounced HTC Mozart is back again, this time in a video that shows some of its specs.

Apparently, the new Windows Phone 7 handset has a 3.7 inch WVGA Super LCD display, 8MP camera, 1GHz Qualcomm processor, 576MB RAM, 512 MB ROM, 8GB storage space, and a 1300 mAh battery. Nothing surprising here, of course.

The Mozart also comes with quad-band GSM (850/900/1800/1900 MHz) and dual-band UMTS/HSPA (2100/900 MHz) connectivity – which means it’s a Europe-bound device.

Save for the specs, the new video doesn’t show too much: just the Mozart being paired with the Nokia BH-503 Bluetooth Headset.

Jimmy Lin and Barbie Hsu named biggest earners

Taiwanese celebrities Jimmy Lin and Barbie Hsu are certainly getting a fat paycheck this year.

In a recent research conducted by a Taiwanese magazine, both Jimmy and Barbie are champion moneymakers in the male and female category respectively.


Jimmy Lin had raked in an estimated TWD 120 millionfrom an upcoming clothes endorsement deal, where he replaces Andy Lau as the new spokesperson, as well as two drama and movie projects in China.

Popular idol drama actor Mingdao took second place with an income of TWD 100 millionwhile model-actor Peter Ho came in third, earning TWD 85 million (SGD 4.25 million).

Eric Tsang sings for the first time as Jay Chou's guest and is applauded by audience


Yesterday night Jay Chou held his 3rd night at the Hong Kong Coliseum, a special guest appeared, it was Eric Tsang. What was surprising was that Eric sang Jay Chou's "Chrysanthemum Flower Bed" very seriously. His voice was pleasing to the ears, and was full of emotion. Later, clips of the two in "Kung Fu Dunk" were show on the big screen. After Eric finished singing, he was applauded by the audience, he laughed ridiculing himself: "I'm very happy to be on stage at Jay Chou's Hong Kong Coliseum concert singing, I'm not joking, I'm really scared. When I heard about the invitation I nearly had a heart attack, because I was worried when I came out it would become a 'toilet'."

Originally Jay Chou invited Eric to sing a fast song with him. Eric jokingly said: "You don't know what you're singing, I also don't know what you're singing, why not sing one we know off by heart!" Jay Chou was astonished: "I don't have a song called 'know off by heart'." Eric said: "I was saying that you had a new song that I've already learnt off by heart, I'll definitely sing it better than you, it's called 'It Rains All Night'."

Why Our Schools Suck, The Movie

Whether it’s this post or Oprah, today may be the first time you hear of the movie “Waiting for Superman” but it won’t be the last. A flood of pissed-off parents, Charter Schools and reformers and deep-pocketed billionaires and millionaires will make sure of that.

But the other reason you’ll keep hearing about this documentary on the state of America’s public education system is that it’s just a really great documentary.

I’ve never quite understood how the public school system of the wealthiest country in the world–one where every President pledges to “fix” education and one where education spending continually goes up–could be so intractably horrible. The problem seems too big, bloated, complex and confusing to even have a smart debate around, much less try to fix. Fortunately, since I’m not a parent, it’s an issue where I can just throw up my hands, assume any politician saying they’ll fix it is lying, and start saving for the private school I’ll one day need when I do have kids.

Analyst: iPhone 5 has 4G aspirations

The iPhone 5 will support both 3G and 4G services as Apple switches suppliers for critical silicon, an analyst said Monday. The report also said a new iPad is expected.

Following earlier iPhone 5 rumors, Ashok Kumar, a managing director and analyst at Rodman & Renshaw, chimed in with a report Monday saying Apple's iPhone 5 "will be Apple's first phone to support LTE," or Long Term Evolution, which is being marketed as a 4G technology.

And Kumar echoed other reports, saying that Qualcomm is the expected chip supplier for both a future Verizon-based iPhone, based on the CDMA standard, and the iPhone 5. "We believe the company has selected Qualcomm as its modem supplier for the CDMA iPhone as well as for the iPhone 5," Kumar wrote. "The iPhone 5 will likely use a two-chip modem, allowing the company to create 3G and 4G products."

"Switching suppliers for something as critical as a baseband (3G/4G) modem is a very complex and time-consuming task," Kumar said in an interview. But once the switch is made, a commitment is typically long term, Kumar added.

Hangeng Won’t Give Up Korean Market

Super Junior member Hangeng, who launched his solo singing career in China after he sued his agency, SM Entertainment, said he will not give up the Korean market despite focusing on the Chinese music market.

In a recent interview with Chinese media, Hangeng said being a solo artist is quite stressful compared to being in Super Junior where he would only do his part.

Hangeng, the only Chinese member of Super Junior, sued SM Entertainment in December last year to void his exclusive contract with the Korean agency.

He returned to China where he started charting his solo career as a singer.

Despite what happened, Hangeng believes that he still has fans in Korea.

“There are still fans who are supporting me over there after all,” Hangeng said in a translation by fan forum geng-bao.net.

Hangeng released his first solo Chinese album “Geng Xin” in July and to date, it has sold 350,000 copies in China, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Hong Kong.

Raymond Lam denies hospitalisation was publicity stunt

Hong Kong actor Raymond Lam denied rumours that his recent hospitalisation was an attempt to garner attention and sympathy, reported Chinese media.

"I don't know what their (the rumour mongers') intention is, but I was hospitalised because of an old injury. The displaced bones in my neck have still not yet completely gone back into position," said Lam during a publicity event in Beijing on Monday.

"The doctors originally told me that I need to rest for another week but there are really too many things I need to do. I have no choice but to come back to work."

His statement also indirectly quashed speculation that Hong Kong's Television Broadcasts (TVB) had put him on ice as it was not happy with Lam's alleged attempt to gain attention.

The actor, who was hospitalised after he collapsed on the set of his upcoming drama "The Colourful World of Sister Fa", went on to clarify that there was nothing between him and co-star Charmaine Sheh.

"Almost every time I appear in a show, there will be rumours. The rumours have become like a reflection of my work schedule. Everyone should not take them too seriously," he said.

The 31-year-old actor was previously linked to actress Linda Chung.

TerreStar Genus hybrid satellite phone hits AT&T at long last for $799


It's been just shy of a year since TerreStar's Windows Mobile-based Genus was announced for AT&T, offering a unique combination of GSM / HSPA backed up with satellite capability for those times when you find yourself in the middle of nowhere; in fact, you may have assumed that it had already been released by now. After all, this isn't the phone for 97 percent of the population -- it runs Windows Mobile and still works in places where us soft city folk would never dream of going -- so odds are good you never bothered to follow up on it. Fact is, though, it's just now available for the first time today, so as long as you've got a line of sight to TerreStar's bird and a willingness to tolerate WinMo 6.5.3, you'll be able to make and receive calls throughout the US, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands and in the surrounding waters -- and it's all on one telephone number. Of course, having a single number eliminates the cool factor of being able to say "if you can't reach me, try my sat phone," but let's be honest: convenience wins here. Right now, the phone's only available to business and government users... and with $799 upfront for the phone and satellite service running $25 a month plus per-minute, per-message, and per-megabyte charges of 65 cents, 40 cents, and 5 dollars, respectively, that's probably for the best.

BlackBerry Bold 9780 in the wild one more time, still looks exactly like a 9700


Look, we know that every new BlackBerry model is going to bear a striking resemblance to the model it replaces -- that's just how RIM does things -- but isn't this getting a little out of hand? The BlackBerry 6-equpped Bold 9780 has been leaked a few times at this point, but we're seeing it now for the first time totally unshackled from Mr. Blurrycam's surly bonds... and yeah, if you had any doubts as to whether it was a dead ringer for the 9700 it'll likely be replacing, you can put those doubts to rest. Of course, when you've got a keyboard as good as the Bold series does, sometimes it's best to leave well enough alone, we suppose -- just makes that lucrative early upgrade market a little tougher to tap.

The 45th TV Golden Bell Awards Nominees Announced : Show Lo Contends For TV King


The nominees for the 45th Taiwan Golden Bell Awards were announced in the afternoon on the 20th. In the most anticipated category for best TV series, Idol Dramas "Hi My Sweetheart," "Rock and Roll Nanny," "Year of the Rain," and Da Ai TV's "Moonlit Affection," and Hakka TV's "Holding Hands With a Paper Crane," all 5 were nominated. And other popular dramas this year "Autumn's Concerto," "Summer's Desire," etc., did not get nominated in this year's Golden Bell Awards.

Categories for a series, Best Actor nominees went to idols Show Lo, James Wen, and Chung-Tien Wu, contending with acting senior Morni Chang and Hakka actor Zhengdi Wu. Female lead in a series, idols Rainie Yang, Amber Kuo, Bianca Bai, Chien Man Shu, and the only one that could be pass off as a fine actor, aborigines rep, Francesca Kao were nominated.

Finally admits girlfriend status, Aaron Kwok will marry Lynn within 5 years


Yesterday Aaron Kwok attended Sina Weibo's 1st Anniversary event, Michelle Reis who was also present announced her pregnancy, Aaron quickly congratulated her having a perfect life. Asked when Aaron plans to have a little Lynn or little Aaron? He said: "I believe I have plans on both marriage and having children, but now at this time. (Already planned to have children with Lynn?) I haven't had time to plan what I'm going to do in the future, if one day I do get marry, I will definitely announce it on Weibo. Even if I have plans, it could only happen if Lynn has the thought too, I can't just say it randomly now."

Asked if he reached consensus with Lynn? He stressed again that he does not have this plan yet. Asked again if he and Lynn talked about it before? He became stiff and said: "Can't. Even just saying it, I have to be responsible. I don't dare to, I don't dare to do this in my life, even if for the female friends around me, cannot just randomly say these things."

Surprise! Arrest Warrant Issued for Lindsay Lohan

You saw it coming: After failing two drug tests just weeks after leaving rehab, a judge has revoked Lindsay Lohan's probation and issued a bench warrant for the troubled starlet's arrest.

According to TMZ, Lohan won't actually be tracked down and loaded into the back of a police cruiser unless she misses a court date later this week. The warrant has been placed on hold until 8:30AM on Friday, at which time it will be activated if she fails to appear before Judge Elden Fox.

The 24-year-old 'Machete' star took to Twitter over the weekend and admitted that she "did in fact fail my most recent drug test" and that she was "prepared to appear before Judge Fox next week as a result."

According to the terms of Lohan's probation, a failed drug test means she is looking at another 30 days in jail.

In other tweets from Lohan, she added, "Substance abuse is a disease, which unfortunately doesn't go away over night. I am working hard to overcome it and am taking positive steps ... forward every day. I am testing every single day and doing what I must do to prevent any mishaps in the future."

Gwyneth Paltrow in Talks to Guest Star on 'Glee'; Carey Mulligan Reject

Looks like Fox's hit show 'Glee' can add another huge name to their list of season two guest stars: Oscar-winning actress Gwyneth Paltrow. E!Online reports that the 'Shakespeare in Love' actress is in discussions to appear on a two-episode arc airing in November. And it sounds like she'll be singing!

Per reports, Paltrow will play a love interest for Will Schuester, played by Matthew Morrison. She'll play a substitute teacher who takes over the glee club when Mr. Schuester gets sick. The kids in the club apparently fall in love with her--as does Mr. Schuester which adds stress to his relationship with Emma, played by Jayma Mays.

E!Online also reports that 'Glee' creator and executive producer Ryan Murphy wrote the role specifically for Paltrow. Should the talks work out, he'll be directing her first episode, which reportedly starts shooting in two weeks. The actress and director previously worked together on the 2006 film, 'Running With Scissors.'

This won't be Paltrow's first time singing onscreen: she recorded and performed the song 'Cruisin'' with Huey Lewis for her movie 'Duets' and she performs quite a bit as a washed out country singer in her highly-anticipated upcoming film, 'Country Strong.'

Britney Spears and Javier Bardem are a few of the other A-list celebrities to bring their star power to the second season of 'Glee.' The new season kicks on Tuesday, September 21.

Rumor Has Chrome OS Succeeding Android On Tablet Devices


The Sunday Times reported yesterday that Samsung’s much-hyped Galaxy Tab would be able to have its Android 2.2 OS “replaced with Chrome, when that arrives, though owners who aren’t tech savvy should have this upgrade carried out by a professional.” This information was supposedly confirmed by Samsung, which has since said that they have no plans to replace the OS on the Galaxy Tab. Typical corporate prevarication, or something more?

This information could be obvious, revealing, or questionable. I’m leaning towards questionable.

The way it might be obvious is simply that any piece of hardware, with the proper amount of fiddling, will likely be able to run Chrome OS, and the Galaxy Tab is no exception. This is the interpretation that must be implied if the writer doesn’t actually have any inside information. There’s no reason to suppose one way or another, but the Sunday Times isn’t just some rag, so I’d like to think this statement was made purposefully.

iPad Coming in 7-Inch Version, Bringing Two Cameras Along With it in 2011

A new report from Rodman & Renshaw analyst Ashok Kumar claims that Apple is currently working on a smaller, camera-featuring iPad, which is set to debut some time in the early part of 2011. Annual refreshes for Apple-based technology isn’t a new thing, so everyone is already expecting Apple to announce a new iPad next year, but these new claims make it sound like Apple is indeed taking a look at the competition, and readying their hardware to reflect that.



The competition is coming the strongest from Android, Google’s mobile Operating System. And from other manufacturers, like Samsung, which just introduced their brand new tablet device, the Galaxy Tab. The Tab features a 7-inch display, and both front- and rear-facing cameras, which will let it take advantage of video chatting. And considering the iPhone and iPod Touch are currently taking advantage of FaceTime, Apple’s own video chatting application/feature, it’s no surprise that the next version of the iPad would want to take advantage of that.

Hayden Panettiere cast as Amanda Knox in Lifetime TV movie

According to Variety, Hayden Panettiere will play Amanda Knox, the girl accused by Italian authorities of killing her then-roommate in an upcoming Lifetime TV movie. The Amanda Knox Story will air sometime next year.

The real Knox is currently serving a 26-year jail sentence for murder, sexual assault, and obstruction of justice in the death of Meredith Kercher, a British woman who shared an apartment with Knox and two others in Perugia, Italy. The case remains controversial because many believe the media frenzy in Italy lead to Knox’s unfair trail. Although definitely an interesting story, I find it odd that they’re trying to make a TV movie out of this case, especially since there’s still so much speculation about what exactly occurred the night of Kercher’s murder. But Lifetime also greenlit The Pregnancy Pact, so I guess this really isn’t that strange. (No judgment! I definitely DVR’d that Lifetime movie.)

More strange, however, is seeing Panettiere cast in a made-for-TV movies. It might be just me, but I feel like she’s better than that. I remember a promising up-and-comer in Remember The Titans. But now, she’s been limited to the teen comedy genre — Bring It On: All Or Nothing and I Love You, Beth Cooper. (Okay, so maybe a Lifetime movie is a step in the right direction.) Next up on her plate is a role in Scream 4 — should be a welcome change of pace for the starlet. (Even if her character will inevitably end up in a body bag, right?)

Lindsay Lohan Settles $100 Million "Milkaholic" Lawsuit

Win some, lose some?

On the same day that a new bench warrant was issued for Lindsay Lohan, the actress got some better news on the legal front.

Her $100 million lawsuit with E*Trade has been settled, TMZ confirmed Monday. The actress, 24, sued the company earlier this year for its comical ads featuring a talking baby named "Lindsay" who identified herself as a "milkaholic"; Lohan claimed the stock trading company violated her rights.

"The case between Lindsay and E*Trade has been settled," her lawyer Stephanie Ovadia said. "There is no further comment."

Terms of the settlement are confidential, but the actress' mom Dina said, "The family is pleased that the case has been settled."

An E*TRADE rep said: "With the case now withdrawn, we are pleased to have the matter behind us."

Lohan is due to appear in an L.A. court 8:30 a.m. Friday on a different matter; after she admitted failing a court-ordered drug test, her probation was revoked and her bench warrant was issued.

Lohan could face 30 days behind bars for the latest offense.

"Substance abuse is a disease, which unfortunately doesn't go away over night. I am working hard to overcome it and am taking positive steps forward every day," Lohan said in her Twitter statement.

HP says webOS tablets to be 'similar to the iPad'

HP's been saying it'll use webOS on a tablet since the first moment it bought Palm, but it looks like things are starting to pick up ahead of that "early 2011" due date -- in an email to the Palm Developer Community, HP's Peter Helm says webOS will be used on "tablet-style devices similar to the iPad." Check it:


Now that we are officially part of HP, we are going full speed ahead with our applications initiative. Our proprietary operating system, webOS, is now the OS that will be used in HP's mobile devices. This includes mobile handsets as well as tablet-style devices similar to the iPad. We will accordingly leverage Palm's ability to innovate and the scale of HP's vast install base and distribution network previously unavailable to us.

Yeah, that's pretty much the Rorschach test of seemingly-innocuous quotes; you can read it as anything from a meaningless passing reference to the market leader to an overt hint that we'll be looking at an ARM-based device with a 9-inch display and a lengthy battery life. The possibilities are endless -- let's just hope whatever Palm and HP are actually working on delivers on the enormous promise of the platform.

Microsoft expanding Zune internationally, Zune Pass coming to to UK, France, Italy, and Spain


It's been years of waiting, but Microsoft is finally expanding the Zune service internationally -- a move that precedes the big Windows Phone 7 launch. Version 4.7 of the Zune software will be the desktop sync client for WP7 devices, and as such it'll be available in more than 20 countries. Don't get too excited, though -- Zune Marketplace is a much more complicated situation, since Microsoft has to hammer our agreements in every country, and it's not coming everywhere with every feature. Here's the breakdown:
  • The Zune Pass subscription service will hit the UK, France, Italy and Spain, offering unlimited streaming for £8.99 / €9.99 per month but no ability to keep 10 tracks a month as with the $14.99 US service.
  • Music purchases will arrive in the UK, France, Italy, Spain, and Germany, and the format will be unencumbered MP3.
  • Video purchases will come to the UK, France, Germany, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, with playback support across the PC, Xbox Live, and Windows Phone 7.
  • Video rentals will hit the UK, France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Ireland, Netherlands, Switzerland, Mexico, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, and can be synced to the PC, Xbox Live, and Windows Phone 7.

Yep, it's a little complicated unless you live in the UK or France, but we're sure Redmond's working furiously to wrap up all the deals it can. We're also a little bummed that international Zune Pass subscribers won't be able to keep 10 tracks a month, but hey -- there's a reason why America is awesome, and it's not just football.

I Forgot How Bad The iPhone Is

I’ve been an Android-only user for just over a year now – I actually ported my phone number to Google from my old iPhone so that I could take advantage of the deep integration that Google Voice has with that platform. I often switch phones, but I’ve stayed on the Android platform over the last year.

I need to be familiar with all the different phones, though. And so I bought an iPhone 4 a couple of weeks ago to try it out. And I switched to using only the iPhone 4 when the third party Google Voice apps were re-approved by Apple over the last few days.

And wow, I forgot just how bad the iPhone is at calls. Everything else is perfect. The UI, the screen and the battery life are all hands down superior to any Android phone. But the thing just won’t do calls properly.

First, the dropped calls. Nearly every call I’ve had has ended by it being dropped. It doesn’t matter how many bars I have, calls are dropped. Yesterday I had a five part conversation that ended every few minutes. It’s particularly bad when you’re driving (and yes I’m using a headphone).

I’m not so sure that long time iPhone users even remember what it’s like to have a phone call that doesn’t drop at the end.

And the issue with the proximity sensor is absurd. Calls without a headset are constantly being put on hold or muted. Usually just before the call is dropped.

And finally, so many calls just aren’t coming through at all. I see the calls being missed on Google Voice, and I see the missed calls on my backup phones that I use, but the iPhone never rings.

This thing is eye candy but it’s a very flawed phone. I’ll be going back to the Nexus One.

Lindsay Lohan Second Failed Test -- Amphetamines

We broke the story ... Lindsay failed two drug tests -- One for cocaine, and now we know the second was for amphetamines.

Our sources would not divulge the nature of the amphetamines, but Adderall -- the drug Lindsay was prescribed and hooked on -- is an amphetamine.

We do not know which test came first -- the cocaine or the amphetamine. But we're told both tests were taken close together. Lindsay failed her cocaine test the week before last.

Katy Perry Sings 'Hot and Cold' Parody With Elmo on 'Sesame Street'

Katy Perry is taking her talent to 'Sesame Street' to play with Elmo -- or at least that's what she thinks.

The singer shows up to play with the little red muppet, but he isn't exactly up for the fun.


Perry then breaks out into a kids version of 'Hot and Cold,' singing about how Elmo won't play dress up, although we're a little concerned with what she's wearing herself.

Her appearance on the long-running children's series is part of the show's 41st season.

Download VLC Media Player for iPad Right Now


The play-whatever-you-throw-at-it Swiss Army Knife media player VLC is now available as an iPad app. And it's free! So unless you get some sick pleasure out of transcoding, dust off some DivX files and try it out.

BlackBerry Storm 3 image leaks?


BerryReview has been sent in an image of what their tipster is claiming to be the BlackBerry Storm 3. The device is reported to have a 3.7-inch display and 8 GB of internal memory; no processor, touchscreen, or other specifications were given. If the image is in fact real, we’re unclear as to why RIM would put an optical trackpad on a full-touchscreen device… your guess is as good as ours. Take a look at the above image and let us know what you think.

SNSD lands a spot on FHM’s Top 100 Sexiest Women in the World


With their Japanese debut being a great success, SNSD / Girls’ Generation has taken a step toward international fame. However, it seems like the girls are already being recognized all over the world, as they managed to get a spot on FHM’s Top 100 Sexiest Women in the World.

Although nothing is found about the group on FHM’s official site, a video recently surfaced on the web from XIN MSN that proved they were a new entry (#99) on the list.

Check it out below (start at around 40 seconds)!

Jerry Yan down with gastritis

Medical check-ups reveal that pop idol's illness is caused by stress

Jerry Yan is feeling under the weather these days.

According to reports, the Taiwanese singer-actor has not been in the best of health lately, often looking pale and haggard during public appearances.

The 33-year-old star was also said to be in weak health and being prone to recurring colds.

Speculations were rife that Jerry Yan could possibly be suffering from a strange illness, which had caused the 1.8m lanky hunk to suffer a weight lost.

Despite pleas from concerned fans, Jerry reportedly refused to undergo any forms of intrusive health check-ups, and only relented after much persuasion from his close doctor friend, Hou Wenyong.

"I arranged for it (the check-up). He is already a grown man and should do a full body examination once every year," said Hou.

He added that Jerry's illness was mostly due to pressure from work, and would develop into stomach ulcers if aggravated.

Jerry Yan has since started treatment for his condition.

HP's Photosmart eStation Android tablet hands-on


So here it is, after months of details coming to light an inkdrop at a time, the HP eStation all-in-one printing solution. But we're not gonna dwell but on half of that: the 7-inch tablet skinned out by Yahoo and powered by Android 2.1. As we expected, though, the Google experience is decidedly less that you're accustomed to: search is Yahoo only, and our attempt to find an alternate method was met with a barebones settings menu. Additionally, there is no access to Android Market, relegating your customization instead to HP's print-heavy app store -- sorry, no games, as that's not what the company wants to focus on here, according to the rep. That also means no Gmail, much to our dismay. What Yahoo has provided is a suite of apps and widgets that actually work well in their simplicity, from weather to stocks and search.

We were reminded at numerous points that this is a prototype build, and for good reason -- the responsiveness was questionably slow, especially in the browser. That said, the Nook store and e-reading app was as fluid as you'd ever need. WiFi is equipped on both the tablet and the printer for cloud-based connectivity on the go. Battery life is measured at four to six hours, and Android 2.2 is expected by holiday still sans Market, but beyond Flash (and at this point we question its performance on this hardware), there's probably not a lot of value-add in the update. Expect this AIO to be shipping the in the next few weeks.

Paris Hilton pleads guilty to misdemeanors, avoids jail

As was speculated to take place, Paris Hilton has agreed to plead guilty to two misdemeanors in her drug-possession case – and she will be sentenced to a year of probation but no jail time, reports the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

The socialite, 29, is due before Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Joe Bonaventure on Monday, at which time she will formally plead guilty to misdemeanor drug possession and misdemeanor obstructing an officer, says the newspaper, which obtained a copy of Hilton's plea deal.

"We fashioned a resolution which would give us complete control over her future. If she does not toe the line and stay out of trouble she will do one year in the Clark County Detention Center," said Nevada's Clark County District Attorney David Roger.

Should Hilton be arrested during her probation, her plea deal stipulates that she serve a full year behind bars.

"Defendant shall stay out of trouble. Defendant agrees that an arrest for any charge, excluding minor traffic violations for which a citation is issued, shall result in the immediate termination of her probation and the execution of the suspended sentences," reads the deal.

Also demanded: That Hilton successfully complete a substance abuse program, pay a $2,000 fine and perform 200 hours of community service, whose nature and location is to be later determined.

Hilton, who served three weeks in 2007 for violating probation in a drunken driving case, had been charged with felony drug possession after an Aug. 28 arrest in Las Vegas.

Nokia N8 delayed 'for a few weeks to do some final amends'

Sounds like it's not much of a delay -- but be that as it may, if you were hoping to pick up your colorful N8 in the tail end of this month... well, we don't quite know how to say this, but you're going to want to make other plans. Backing up rumors that have been going around the past couple days, locales that had expected to get the N8 in September have now been pushed back to October while Nokia makes "some final amends." On the upside, some rumors had the delay pegged for November, so this doesn't seem to be as bad as it could've been. For what it's worth, Nokia mentioned during Nokia World last week (and again today) that the N8 is seeing strong pre-order demand -- the strongest ever for a Nokia device, allegedly -- so this is likely to bum out a lot of folks, and for a few, it might even be just the impetus they needed to hold out for the upcoming E7. Here's the full statement:

"The amount of preorders has exceeded our expectations and we are working hard to deliver the Nokia N8 to the market. In some markets, we had planned to start delivering the Nokia N8s to our pre-order customers by the end of September. To ensure a great user experience, we have decided to hold the shipments for a few weeks to do some final amends. We're thrilled with the response that we've had to the Nokia N8 and assure everyone who've pre-ordered it already that it'll be worth the wait! We expect consumers to get their Nokia N8s during October."

Coming soon: Google Docs on your iPad & Android mobile devices

Tucked behind Google's announcement about its new 2-step security verification process was an announcement I think should have gotten more attention: "today we demonstrated new mobile editing capabilities for Google Docs on the Android platform and the iPad. In the next few weeks, co-workers around the world will soon be able to co-edit files simultaneously from an even wider array of devices."

It's important given how many businesses seem to be switching to Google Apps (Google Docs is one of several standards in the paid Google Apps suite). Heavy hitters like Genentech and the Motorola Mobile Services Division, as well as the City of Los Angeles and the District of Columbia Government, are all using Google Apps. The idea that you can now edit on your iPad or Android device (tab or smart phone) is cool.

It's been a thorn in the side of many mobile phone (and now, tablet) users who count on Google Docs to get their work done. So we know folks who have been itching for this are saying, it's about time.

Another HTC HD7 leak: mid-October looks like a go, price is €559 without contract


We're getting very used to spotting the as-yet-unannounced Windows Phone 7-powered HD7 embedded in tables of serial numbers and release dates, and while, you know, a picture would be nice, it's good to see that it still exists in the world of carrier databases. WMPoweruser.com has a leaked O2 Germany lineup courtesy of a tipster, and that chart names an HTC HD7 for the 42nd week of the year, which lines up nicely with that original October 18 rumor we heard for O2 in the UK. What's more, this chart names a price, with €79 on a two year €20 monthly contract, and a hefty €559 tag if you'd like to go contract free. We suppose that sort of decision making is best left for after we've seen the handset, but we won't judge if you'd rather just rush in headlong -- with the HD series pedigree, we doubt you'll be disappointed.

Carina Lau: It' a beautiful misunderstanding

The actress talks about the complex love triangle among hubby Tony Leung, Maggie Cheung and herself

"I know that this beautiful misunderstanding (referring to their relationship) has been great (for the media and fans) to watch," said Carina Lau.

Speaking at a promotional event for her latest movie, Detective Dee, in Beijing recently, the actress spoke openly about the alleged love triangle - one that has been ongoing for many years.

Carina had no qualms about praising her "rival-in love" Maggie Cheung, saying that the latter was "quite good" and "very pretty".

"Everyone has been chasing this news for so many years (such that) it's useless for me to clarify them now. I understand the mentally of the media and fans," she quipped.

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