Strapped Lindsay Had Trouble Posting $300K Bail


Lindsay Lohan was released from jail after only 12 hours late Friday, however, sources tell me it nearly didn't happen when Judge Patricia Schnegg set bail at a whopping $300,000.

"Lindsay hasn't earned that sort of money in a long time," a family insider tells me. "There was a moment when the family honestly thought Lindsay wasn't going to be released because they didn't have that amount of money available to post bail."

My source tells me it would have been a "tragedy" if, after all her lawyer's hard work, Lindsay would have had to stay locked up just because of family money issues.

And whose fault is it that she doesn't have much green these days?

Lindsay hasn't been earning A-list cash for a long time, but she has continued to live the lifestyle of a major star. When I saw the troubled star recently in New York, she was wearing thousands of dollars in designer clothes and was being chauffeured around in a fancy car, all while staying at one of the city's most expensive hotels.

Many insiders have wondered how she paid for this while working so little in recent years.

"It's not a big secret that Lindsay needs money," a friend of the LiLo tells me. "She makes most of her cash selling stories or photographs to the magazines and tabloids, but that is nowhere near the sort of cash she used to earn as an actress. The real problem is that every penny she earns she spends. She's always buying new clothes and shoes from expensive stores. There's no one in Lindsay's life telling her she can't afford it. It's a problem almost as serious as her drug addiction."

Hayden Panettiere takes the plunge at Oktoberfest party in racy German outfit

With a giant jug of beer in hand, Hayden Panettiere looks the part as she dressed up in full traditional German dress for Oktoberfest celebrations.

The actress, who turned 21 last month, poured her figure into a racy low cut dirndl at the party in Munich, Germany, and was joined by her boyfriend, Ukrainian boxing champion Wladimir Klitschko.


The Heroes star was enjoying the festivities last night at Boris and Lilly Becker's Oktoberfest Trophy 2010 bash.

The couple, who attended The United Peoples Charity Event the night before, enjoyed an evening of beer and bratwurst whilst dressed in their traditional German attire.

Microsoft UK October 11 event likely Windows Phone 7′s debut



Microsoft UK has officially confirmed an October 11th event, and while there’s unsurprisingly no mention of Windows Phone 7, the coincidence with previous rumors regarding the new smartphone OS’ launch are too big to avoid. Although the WP7 handsets themselves aren’t expected to go on sale in Europe until October 21st, we’ve heard several rumors in the past few months regarding an earlier launch event featuring all of the UK carriers.

Earlier today, a November 8th 2010 launch for North America was suggested, lending further weight to earlier rumors that Microsoft would debut Windows Phone 7 in Europe first, before following on with North America a month later. The company’s only public release timeframe so far has been “in time for the 2010 holiday shopping season,” though we’ve seen multiple leaked WP7 handsets from a variety of manufacturers.

Chou quashes Jay -Jolin reunion "in this lifetime"

Asian superstar Jay Chou has completely ruled out any possibility of getting back together with old flame pop princess Jolin Tsai during an interview on Friday, reported Taiwan media.

"I think it is impossible for us in this lifetime, it is good to just be friends," said Chou, in response to queries about the chances of him reuniting with Tsai.

The 31-year-old singer was also quizzed about his thoughts on the new man in Tsai's life, Singapore model Vivian Dawson, who holidayed with Tsai in Tokyo recently.

Chou said it was "great" that Tsai, 30, may be seeing someone, before adding cryptically that "exported things are not bad".

Interestingly, Tokyo is not only the city where Tsai was spotted with her rumoured new beau Dawson, but also the city where Chou was photographed with news anchor-turned-television host Patty Hou back in 2005, which triggered Tsai's highly-public separation from Chou.

Since their split, Chou had consistently denied that they would reunite, though never in such a direct manner.

RIM on the edge of a big move?

Research In Motion is known for basically one thing: making reliable smartphones that brought e-mailing from a phone to the mainstream. But it might be branching out very soon.

The Canadian company is the largest smartphone purveyor in the U.S., and despite the surging sales of Apple iPhones and Google Android-powered devices, RIM has held its ground--for now. Its BlackBerry accounts for 41 percent of smartphones in the U.S., and is second overall worldwide after Nokia.

But even though RIM has been able to hold on to its lead in smartphones, Apple's iOS software and Android are not staying put there. Both are moving on to bigger, more powerful mobile devices: touch-screen tablets. The iPad's runaway success has created a new device category for consumers who want to buy something that's lighter than a laptop and easier to type and browse on than a smartphone. And almost everyone is jumping in: Dell, HP, and Samsung are looking to get a piece of this market early on, too, which analysts expect to hit 15 million units this year, and more than 20 million next year.

RIM, somewhat surprisingly, is one of those with its eye on this market. Since the spring, reports have leaked out that the company was testing a tablet to work in conjunction with its smartphone. RIM was found to have bought the domain name "Blackpad.com," which has led some to nickname the yet-to-be confirmed device "BlackPad."

Lindsay Lohan Visits Homeless, Teens at L.A. Shelter


Two days after getting out of jail, Lindsay Lohan has emerged from hiding.

Accompanied by two friends, sister Ali and mother Dina, the troubled starlet, who will be heading back to rehab possibly as soon as Monday, spent part of Sunday evening visiting the Dream Center, a mission and outreach center connected to the Angelus Temple in Los Angeles' Echo Park neighborhood.

What brought her there?

According to a source, LiLo's business manager Lou Taylor, who also was part of her group, is a supporter of the facility and encouraged her to visit.

LG Optimus 7 pops up on Amazon.de with 5 megapixel camera, 3.5-inch touchscreen, €499 price


Amazon's German branch has been a tiny bit fast on the trigger. Windows Phone 7 isn't due to launch at least until October 11, but here we are, dazing dreamily at the first listing of a device bearing the hot new OS: LG's Optimus 7. Or is it the E900? You can tell Amazon's offering is way early since the e-tailer has opted to list both names -- it now seems like the E900 was the codename and the Optimus branding will be what you see in stores -- just to make sure snoopers like us don't miss out on it. So what's there to see? Not much actually, official product images are predictably missing and all we're told is that the handset will cost €499, include a GPS chip, and be capable of filling five million pixels with photonic data and then displaying the results on a 3.5-inch touchscreen. Such teases, these online retailers are.

Cecilia Cheung is Hong Kong's highest earning celebrity mum

Power mum Cecilia Cheung proves that one's popularity does not decline with marriage and kids.

Ever since the birth of her second son, Quintus, in May this year, the actress-singer has been hot property amongst commercial bosses, directors and movie producers - all of whom are scurrying to get Cecilia to collaborate on their projects.

Cecilia's current asking fee is reportedly double of that before she got married. The actress reaped a whopping HKD 20 million (SGD 4 million) from endorsements alone. This figure is only set to increase if the actress makes her return to the silver screens.

Cecilia's elder son, Lucas, is a lucrative cash cow himself, with actor-director Stephen Chow reportedly offering both mother and son roles in his upcoming film,The King of Comedy 2.

The three-year-old is rumoured to be worth HKD 3 million (SGD 600,000).

Coming in second on the chart is singer Kelly Chen, who had reportedly cashed in TWD 7 million (SGD 1.4 million) just from attending fuss-free endorsement events and filming simple commercials.

Kelly gave birth to her first child, son Chace Lau, in July last year. Like mum, the toddler is also on his way to reaping big bucks. It was rumoured that a businessman was willing to offer HKD 5 million (SGD 1 million) to get the boy, and his celebrity mum, to star in a commercial together.

Second runner-up on the chart is actress Michelle Reis. The star, who recently announced her pregnancy, is rumoured to be worth HKD 5 million (SGD 1 million).

Nokia E7: Pre-order Price and Release Date

Almost two weeks ago we revealed a price for the upcoming Nokia E7 smartphone, now we have a new price for you along with a release date.

Expansys has listed the E7 for £584.99 with a release date of January 10th 2011, if you would like to pre-order yours you can here,


This price is a bit too high in my opinion, especially as Expansys are offering the HTC Desire HD for £499.99, the Nokia N8 for £419.99 and the HTC Desire Z for £459.99.

The Nokia E7 is undoubtedly one of the most exciting upcoming Nokia smartphones we have seen, you can see the E7′s specs and photos here and a hands-on video here.

Do you think the Nokia E7 price is too high?

Motorola, HTC and ASUS adopt NVIDIA Tegra 2 for tablets, smartphones

NVIDIA’s second-gen Tegra 2 chipset is yet to set the world alight, but that could all change if DigiTimes‘ sources are correct. They’re claiming that Motorola, ASUS and HTC are all among the companies placing orders for Tegra 2, with Motorola planning to use the 1080p-capable CPU in an upcoming smartphone while HTC and ASUS use it in tablets.

MSI and Toshiba have already shown off their Tegra 2 based tablets, in the shape of the MSI WindPad 110 and Toshiba Folio 100. HTC’s, though, is still something of a mystery; the company continues to deny that it is working on a large touchscreen device, but rumors continue to peg it as landing as early as Q1 2011.

Meanwhile, Motorola has previously stated that it aims to produce a 2GHz smartphone by the end of 2010, though failed to identify which silicon provider would be involved. According to NVIDIA CEO Jen-Hsun Huang, Motorola “is one of the major clients that Nvidia is cooperating with for the long term.”

Rainbow Rihanna! Singer's bright clothes match her mood as she shoots new music video in New York street

She's got two singles riding high in the charts, so no wonder Rihanna has got such a spring in her step.

The Bajan singer was pictured today shooting a new music video on the streets of New York where she put on a smiling, energetic display.

Rihanna was dressed in another wacky outfit, consisting of hot pants, cut-off fishnet tights and a zebra print jacket.



She teamed the look with brown heels and her now trademark red wig as she strutted her stuff around the lower east side in New York.

At one point she took up a pair of drumsticks and started thrashing them around, and in another shot she is snapped seductively pressed against a lamppost.

The 22-year-old has topped the iTune chart with her new track Only Girl In The World this week, with a quarter million first week downloads.

Jennifer Love Hewitt Eyeing Role In New FOX Comedy


There’s life after The Ghost Whisperer for actress Jennifer Love Hewitt.

The vagina vajazzler is in negotiations with FOX to star in a new network comedy, Deadline Hollywood informants have revealed.

Details of the show, from Wild Hogs director Walt Becker and Nancy Drew writer Tiffany Paulsen, are being kept under wraps, but it’s been described as a female version of CBS’ The Big Bang Theory.

The move would mean a return to series television for Hewitt, whose CBS drama The Ghost Whisperer was cancelled by CBS last spring. The Friday night series — which saw Love Hewitt as Melinda Gordon, a woman with the supernatural ability to see the dead –was scrapped last May after five seasons.

The actress/author recently filmed a guest appearance in new series Love Bites and has been linked to a role in Castle.

WebOS 2.0 gets fresh round of screenshots; new Palm phones and Touchstone certified?


The name of certification firm TÜV Rheinland may not ring a bell, so allow us to jog your memory: these are the guys that outed the GSM versions of the Pre Plus and Pixi Plus prior to their announcement earlier this year. Hence, the interwebs are paying pretty close attention this evening now that we've found US and Canadian certifications for Palm models P102UNA and P102EWW, which -- following Palm's typical model numbering convention -- would correspond to North American GSM and CDMA versions of some new device, respectively. To put things in perspective, the P101UNA was unearthed in the certification database on January 23rd and announced for AT&T on March 22nd, so we could reasonably still have a couple months' wait on these... or a couple days. No way of knowing yet how Palm plans to play this. There's also a listing for a new "inductive battery charger," which would certainly imply a new Touchstone -- which may or may not still bear the Touchstone name.

On a related note, we've received a slew of new webOS 2.0 screen shots -- and while some of them look familiar, our eyes were drawn to the sexy new "classic" and flip-style digital clocks. Important? Not necessarily, but sometimes it's the little touches that count. Hit up the gallery for the full show (and don't forget our first batch from a few weeks back, while you're at it).

Sharp Galapagos ereader Android tablets get official

Sharp has spilled the official beans on its two new ereader tablets, with the bizarrely named Galapagos platform being the name both for the hardware and the company’s new ebook ecosystem. The two Sharp Galapagos slates each run Android: the “mobile” model has a 5.5-inch 1024 x 600 display, while the “home” version has a 10.8-inch 1366 x 800 display; LCD displays are used, rather than the E Ink panels more regularly found on ereaders.



Navigation each is via the touchscreen, though the smaller model also has a trackball for more straightforward one-handed operation. No sign of integrated 3G (at least at this stage; we’ve heard talk of a Verizon partnership for the US in the past) but there’s WiFi b/g to take advantage of the Galapagos ebook service’s automatic periodical delivery for things like regular newspapers and magazines.

miss A reveals “Breathe” MV


miss A has been stimulating their fans with their hot teasers for their upcoming single album “Step Up” and their announcement of a comeback stage next week!

It’s been confirmed that they will make their comeback through “M! Countdown” on October 7th, which is just around the corner. Park Jin Young himself wrote and composed their title track “Breathe.”

The album is comprised of four songs: ”Breathe,” “Step Up,” “Blankly” and “Play that Music DJ.” Their title track, “Breathe” has the girls singing about how smitten they are over their love.

They’ve just released their MV, so check it out below!

Matt Kemp Rihanna Engaged?


Always a bridesmaid, never a bride…” is one old saying that has no place in Rihanna’s world.

The pop tart has been bitten by the marriage bug and is itching to rush slugger beau Matt Kemp to the altar after hosting a Sin City bachelorette party for engaged galpal Katy Perry earlier this month.

After all, the girls spent the night dancing with midgets and munching on a cake crafted in the shape of a penis. With all that debauchery and partying piled into one weekend — we’d get married just for the Hen Fest!

Katy Perry wears VERY low cut Elmo top as she laughs off Sesame Street cut scenes furore

Katy Perry has something to get off her chest.

The 25-year old California Gurls singer retaliated last night against the negative backlash from a music video she shot with Elmo for Sesame Street this week.

The scenes were pulled from the show after a slew of comments from angry parents claiming she was showing too much cleavage.

But an undeterred Perry appeared on Saturday Night Live, the famous U.S comedy sketch show, wearing a low cut t-shirt with Elmo's face on it.



In the sketch Katy plays a 16-year old library volunteer, Maureen DiChico, who appears on a mock daytime chat show, Bronx Beat hosted by Amy Poehler and Maya Rudolph.

Wearing the Elmo t-shirt, which clearly shows off her ample chest, accompanied by a short tartan skirt and with her hair in pigtails Katy looks every bit the naughty school girl.

The hosts both make a big deal of the fact that 'Maureen' appears to have developed quite substantially in a certain area since they last saw her.

Lindsay Lohan Heroin Pictures


Lindsay Lohan has made no secret of her penchant for illegal substances, but notorious British tabloid News of the World (NOTW) believes cocaine may not be the only drug fueling Lohan’s downward spiral into the powerful and dangerous world of addiction.

On Sunday, News Of The World published shocking new photos that allegedly depict Lindsay Lohan injecting heroin. NOTW insiders say the “terrifying” pictures of Lilo with a syringe in hand were snapped during a drug-fueled party hosted by Paris Hilton in 2007. In the exclusive shots, a woman who looks a helluva lot like Hollywood’s Favorite Milkaholic appears dazed as she poses with a tourniquet wrapped around her lower arm. Drug users regularly use tourniquets to raise a vein to inject.

Rumor: Windows Phone 7 Launches in Europe On October 21

The Windows Phone 7 release date buzz is going on in earnest these days, and while this latest rumor won't solidify things just yet, they do serve to help us hone in on when the new mobile OS could launch.


Here's what's circulating today: Neowin is reporting that the launch will be preceded by several marketing events, with a U.S. one slated for New York City on October 11. Ten days later, on October 21, Windows Phone 7 will allegedly launch in the UK, France, Germany , Spain and Italy.

Suspiciously absent, beyond the NYC marketing event, is a U.S. release date, which remains unknown.

[Neowin via Pocket Lintvia Engadget]

VanNess Wu confirms break up with girlfriend Arissa

Back in April of this year, the now 32-year old Taiwanese singer/actor Van Ness Wu was caught by the media while on a date with his 28-year old Singaporean girlfriend Arissa. The couple had also once dated back in 2006 before their break up a year later. Over three years since the pair broke off their relationship, the two got back together in April at a time when Van Ness publicly expressed the prospect of marriage in the start of their second relationship attempt. Netizens though recently discovered that Van Ness and Arissa separated again when the two of them ceased following each other’s tweets on popular social networking service Twitter. Rumors have been circulating that the split was instigated by Van Ness’ now ex-girlfriend new love interest with another man. But yesterday, Van Ness revealed through his manager Katie that “the split is true, but that they will still keep in touch and be friends.”

Van Ness’ netizen fans further pointed out that Van Ness tweeted on September 4th, speculating that his messages are connected to his emotions following their breakup:

"No I'm not saaayin~ I'm soooorrry~ One DAY! Maybe we'll meet again~~~ Closer to the edge~"

A follow-up message was posted by the Taiwanese entertainer the next day:

"Where it lies, is where you left it, where you left it, is where it died... revive, revive... revive the heart."

G-Dragon reveals the real reason behind Big Bang’s album delay


Since November of 2008, Big Bang has taken an extremely long hiatus from the Korean music market. Although the boys have created digital releases for CFs and contributed in drama OSTs, fans have been patiently waiting for a solid official release. Yet the longer the hiatus stretches, the more anxious fans have become. The situation has degenerated to the point where there are whispers of deteriorating relationships amongst the members, or that the members enjoy acting more than music.

Big Bang appeared at Taeyang’s ‘Solar’ concert on September 26th to show their support for their fellow member. As the concert came to a close, leader G-Dragon met with reporters and revealed the current progress of their next album.

Alec Baldwin Weighs in on Lindsay Lohan, Wants to See Blake Lively Naked

What do Lindsay Lohan, Blake Lively and animal rights have in common?

Alec Baldwin.

Huh?

Read on to find out what the heck I'm talking about...

I caught up with the 30 Rock star last night at the Palladium in Hollywood, where he hosted PETA's star-studded 30th anniversary gala.

Who would you like see in naked in one of PETA's "I'd Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur" ads?
Wow, that's a very personal question. [Laughs]. I don't think I should names—Blake Lively. It's wrong of me to say anyone—Blake Lively.

Why Blake?
These younger girls, whether they get naked or not, are the biggest stars, who are the role models...I'm a big fans of hers. I think she's a really really gorgeous woman, very stylish. These are the ones who have all the influence. There are certain people who, I won't name, but they are in and out of rehab, they're getting arrested for drug use and they're twittering about their drug problem—it's a shame.

'Spartacus' may 'close up shop' in wake of Andy Whitfield's cancer relapse

Although Starz execs have yet to decide how Andy Whitfield’s cancer relapse will impact the future of Spartacus: Blood and Sand, exec producer Steven S. DeKnight reveals that one of two things will likely happen: a new actor will be brought in to replace Whitfield or the series will end.

“The two main options are to close up shop or recast,” says DeKnight. “I want to talk to Andy and find out how he feels about the options. That’s obviously very important to us.

“We’re still absorbing what’s happened,” adds DeKnight. “I think it’s going to be a little while before we reach any conclusions.” (Spartacus: Gods of the Arena, a prequel to the series, will still air as scheduled in January 2011.)

DeKnight says his primary concern remains Whitfield, who bowed out of the show’s second season after doctors advised him to resume “aggressive treatment” for Non-Hodgkin lymphoma. “He’s a trooper,” marvels DeKnight. “He has a very positive outlook.”

Andy Lau Gets Emotional At Birthday Party, Fans Won't Leave Him

Tomorrow is the heavenly king Andy Lau's 49th birthday. Suffered from the secret marriage incident last year, yesterday he held a birthday party to celebrate with fans, and his parents appeared as special guests. But wife Carol Chu didn't show up.


Andy danced and sang at the party, making it seem like a mini concert. He got emotional towards the end and had to wipe tears constantly. Then staff brought out a huge cake with many photos of him over these years, and invited his parents to the stage to cut the cake and open changpane.

Hu Die's hands tremble, suddenly super thin: Thyroid gland hyperfunction stirring up trouble

Hu Die Jie Jie (Butterfly Sister) has lost weight to the point where she is only 40 kg (88 pounds), liable to getting hungry, being nervous, and going through palpitations. After getting a medical examination, it was found that she had a thyroid gland hyperfunction issue. Hu Die: "I heard that eating medicine for the thyroid gland causes moonface and edema, so I asked the doctor if it was okay if I didn't take it. The doctor said that if I didn't take the medicine, my heart would not be able to bear/support anymore."

The trembling of her hands were severe to the point that all the pictures she took would always be blurry. Her heart causing her to feel unwell, she said, "Each time my pulse was taken, the nurse thought that I had ran there." After two weeks of taking medicine, her symptoms made a marked improvement. Because she is an only child and daughter, her father likes to cutely go, "You never come back to visit and keep me company!" She wants to bring both her parents to Taipei so they can all live together. To effectively make use of time, her mother and father often wait outside the television station for her and then directly go to look at houses. She wishes to use 18 million TWD (~570,000 USD) to buy a house with an indoor surface area that is over 30平 in the Neihu/Nangang area.

At Show Lo's (Xiao Zhu's) event yesterday, Hu Die and the Party Boys attended as support. He was nominated for best lead actor in the Golden Bell Awards and Hu Die gave him a pair of red underpants, congratulating him for being a film (drama) emperor. He gave a present of hair-removal paste, "Because the hair on your arms is so long," causing Hu Die to happily laugh.

'Wall Street' leads market with $19 million debut

Movie fans are investing in Michael Douglas and Oliver Stone's "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps," which opened as the No. 1 weekend movie with $19 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.

The 20th Century Fox release led a crop of so-so to weak newcomers, though the sequel to Douglas and Stone's 1987 hit "Wall Street" did not quite set off a bull market at the box office.

Its financial returns were solid but unspectacular as Hollywood experienced a typically sleepy early fall weekend, with audiences finding nothing to bring them out in huge numbers.

The "Wall Street' sequel reunites director Stone with Douglas, who reprises his role as investment shark Gordon Gekko. The movie co-stars Shia LaBeouf, Carey Mulligan and Josh Brolin in a tale set against the 2008 economic meltdown.

Nexus One gets MeeGo, plus Dell Streak & HTC Desire [Video]

If you’ve a taste for MeeGo and a Google Nexus One lying around – or, for that matter, a Dell Streak or an HTC Desire – then you’ll be pleased to hear that the open-source team over at the MeeGo Wiki are busy slapping the Intel/Nokia collaboration onto all manner of Android handsets. As you’d hope, much of the device functionality is working, so you could feasibly have a MeeGo smartphone long before Nokia get their act together.



The Nexus One port seems to be the most advanced right now, though the UI doesn’t take advantage of the hardware acceleration on offer and so is a little slower than you’re likely used to from Android. There are also a few errors, while although the touchscreen is working it does require rotating.

Rainie Yang and Wu Chun went to take a bath together?!


It was a wrap for GTV’s upcoming drama, “Sunshine Angel”. Rainie Yang and Wu Chun were filming their very last scene together at the Bai Sha Wan beach in the afternoon. After the scene was completed, the crew decided to celebrate at a BBQ restaurant, but the two stars were missing from 7pm and didn’t show up at the restaurant until 10pm. Wu Chun joked, “We went to that auto…something.” But Rainie interrupted, “Yeah! We went on a date!” Wu Chun then finally explained, “After filming at the beach, our bodies were really sticky since we were covered with sand, so we went to take a bath.” When asked if they were bathing together, Rainie humorously said, “Yes! Wu Chun has a great body!” She then added, “We’ve already talked about this and decided anyway that If we are rumored to be dating, we’ll just admit to it.”

Rainie revealed that when she received the nomination for Golden Bell’s Best Actress Award for her role in “Hi! My Sweetheart”, her good friend Ariel Lin immediately called to congratulate and she was moved to tears. Wu Chun couldn’t help but ask, “Why didn’t you cry when I congratulated you?” Rainie made fun, “Wu Chun has improved a lot in ‘Sunshine Angel’, so everyone should stop saying that he only has his ‘no. 1’ expression.” Realizing what she had just said, Rainie tried to explain, “Sorry! I’m not saying that you only have ‘no. 1’ expression, it’s what the netizens say.”

Source: Appledaily

iPhone 4 hits UAE and Qatar, but without FaceTime installed


The iPhone 4 launched this weekend in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, but buyers wound up with a surprise -- their handset's front-facing cameras couldn't do FaceTime. The National reports that the video chat feature is missing from phones sold at UAE carriers Etisalat and du, as well as those from Vodafone Qatar. Carriers are blaming Apple for the missing feature, and spokespersons from both Etisalat and Vodafone say they're speaking to Cupertino about reinstating FaceTime post-haste, which was reportedly advertised on Middle Eastern versions of Apple's iPhone website until around September 20th, when all references to FaceTime were removed. TUAW reports that some UAE denizens have actually tested FaceTime on phones bought abroad and found it working just fine, but that the functionality disappears after installing the local version of the iOS 4.1 update.

RIM's Mike Lazaridis famously warned that countries threatening to ban the BlackBerry might thumb their nose at other forms of internet transmission too, but if's far too early to tell if Apple was pressured into removing FaceTime or chose to for another reason entirely. It's worth noting that both the UAE and Egypt (also missing FaceTime website ads) have banned certain VoIP services in the past.

[Thanks, Mohammed]

HTC Shift Given Limited Dose of Mac OS X 10.5.6


Want OS X on a tablet, or something else that's tiny and portable? Don't look to the iOS-packing iPad. Nay, look instead to this hacked HTC Shift, which—although slightly gimped—seems to run OS X 10.5.6 just fine.

There are instructions in case you're feeling particularly ambitious this weekend, but be mindful of the fact that there's no upgrade OS X path in this tablet's future, nor is there wifi support.

Still, novelty and geek cred are yours for the taking.

[PocketNow via Lilputing]

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